More Motorhome Projects - and a Grandkiddie Weekend

Well, that Mel has gone and did it again!  He inspired Streveio to do another project to the motorhome---  Mel has a motorhome like ours and keeps giving Steveio so many ideas of things to try.


This project was to relocate the air intake for the air filtration system from underneath to the motorhome to a new area on the side.  When you travel the gravel roads as much as we do, the dust can fill up the air filter quickly.  The air filters on our big Cat 3126 diesel engine are big round cylinders larger than a 5 gallon bucket, and quite costly.  ($100.00+ range)   So keeping them cleaner and longer is a bonus to us and our meager pocketbook.

First... he had to CUT A HOLE in our fiberglass side!!!! ACK! 

(I just gasp and then hold my breath when he does things like this!) 

Then he fashioned a new configuration of ductwork to reroute the air filter intake from below.
This piece is a couple of feet long and wide and crazy shaped, but he said it will work. 

He cut and measured and fitted the ductwork to the opening and lined it up just right!

 AWww just look at that hard-working guy....  best to get this stuff done before the snow flies! 

--you might notice in the picture below, he is missing a side marker light (project number two)  

and a small silver pipe sticking out the corner of our rig (project number three)  

He bent back the duct work to secure it into place, 

and he had painted the grid piece with a silvery aluminum colored paint to match 

the stainless steel compartment doors on our rig.  Another job well done, Steveio! 

Now, as for that small silver pipe sticking out the corner in that photo up above?  

Well, that is a re-routed "slobber tube"!  Diesel engines have a slobber tube to drip excess oil and moisture to the ground below as you drive.  If left hanging down, the spray flows back and all over your vehicle that is towed behind, and also can spray all over your radiator and cause more dirt and gunk to cling to the radiator.  This can cause serious overheating and damage the engine.  

Common practice among motorhome owners is to extend the slobber tube so it is lower, with a piece of hose, or to route it to one side like Steve did in the pics below, using a piece of conduit and angling the slope of the pipe to let the fluids escape and drip to one side.

It was after dark by the time he got the new side marker light into place, so I didn't get a pic of that.
But all three of his projects are done.  Wonder what Mel will dream up next???

Now for the grandkiddie portion of the post...    we had the lovely opportunity to spend time with all three of our grandkids this past weekend.

On Friday, I brought little 9 month old Chelsea to the library for their weekly story hour.  She enjoyed seeing other children and played with some of the toys till the stories began.  The kids all sit in this vinyl padded *pit* seating area to enjoy their stories.   She tried out the pit area, but felt a little intimidated. 

Chelsea listened too, but from the comfy location of my lap, with a bottle.  LOL 

As the last story was finishing up, she just HAD to get off my lap and go visit with the other girls.

I knew she would warm up and enjoy the other children.  They are all older, but played gently with her.  One little boy even patted her on the head, carefully, and said she was a Little Baby! 

I just love this shot I took of her... she is watching some squirrels on the deck after I filled the feeders.  She seems to be wondering if they will come and play with her?   She has a realistic squirrel puppet that plays with her, so I suppose she figures those guys out there are her puppets too! 

Saturday afternoon we took Jameson, 2 years old, for an overnight with us.  He was all full of energy and fun and curiosity.  We ate raw veggies --green and white *TREES*-- for the first time, and he liked the white (cauliflower) trees better than the green (broccoli) trees.  My friend Connie had tempted my kids with naming the raw veggies as *TREES* when they were little too.  It's only fitting to pass along the tradition! 

He had a very busy visit with us.  He played with all of the toys here, he helped fill the bird feeders, and helped me bake cookies. Here he is, patiently waiting for them to come out of the oven.  He proudly brought a zip lock bag of them to his Mommy and Daddy when we returned him on Sunday afternoon. 

Oh, this was a cute cut-out device I highly recommend for every grandparent to get for little lunches.  

I even bought one to keep in our motorhome.  Tee heeeee   When is the last time YOU ate a dinosaur???

On Sunday afternoon, we met up with our son Dan and his wife, Heather and their darling daughter Allegra.  She is already 11 months old!  Wow, where did the last year go?   It is Dan's 28th birthday, so we went out to eat to celebrate his birthday.  Green Bay's west side of town was very busy due to a home game starting at 7:30pm, so we kept to the far east side of town at The Woods supper club, bar and grill.

Little Allegra was wearing her Packer Cheerleader outfit.... because it was a Packer Game night, what else? 

She was so cute and just about walking, and stands so well on her own.  She was cute at the supper club, and it wasn't too busy, so we got to walk around a bit with her and let her see things.  She ate good from most of our plates and didn't want any of her own food.  Who can blame her?  

Oh yes, and the Packers won! 

We got in a good dose of grandkids and really enjoyed their company.  Having these little people in our lives has brought us such riches and joy.  We cherish our time with each one of them, and hope they look forward to the next time they get to come see Granmuddah and Granfaddah Pfun! 

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