Finishing Valance Update and Safari-ite Visitors

I put the finishing touches on my Valance Updating.  Did you know the two side pieces of a window treatment are called "Lamberquins"?     Well, the ones in our motorhome had little plastic button type screw covers.  They were in light blue to match those blue velvet straps I took off the valances.  So I stopped at Lowe's and got beige ones.   (anyone need 12 blue plastic screw covers?)   So I swapped them out yesterday to finish up my project.  There! Done!

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from a fellow Safari-ite (Safari Motorcoach Owner) named John. He has reservations for Thursday, but he was ahead of schedule and able to come to the park on Wednesday!   I called down to the office to find out if his site was reserved for Wed, and no, it was vacant. So I buzzed down there quick and paid for it while John made his way to High Cliff State Park.


He unhooked his toad and dolly from behind his motorhome, and got settled into his campsite. He has a Safari motorhome the same length of ours but the colors of Mel and Paula's rig.  Speaking of Mel and Paula, they will be here later today to enjoy time with us other Safari-ites!  They are only staying for the day, and not bringing their rig.   Mel is still recovering from his surgery, and even a day trip will be wonderful to see them again.

We slapped a slab of fresh/frozen Salmon on the grill.... yummmm  

It was a very big piece, as that is a full size cookie sheet underneath it. LOL

Later on, Steveio got some firewood and started us up a campfire.  (please ignore the Girl Scout Water in his hands, he don't want his secret let out?)

Note the Thermocell units on the end table.  Yes, the skeeters are out in full force, as we had rain here the other day and a whole new crop has hatched.  But the Thermocells work wonderfully to keep them away and we can sit and visit and relax without bug sprays or slapping every three minutes from those incessant buggers.



(I have had questions in the comments section about Thermocells, so this portion now is added to the blog:)
Here is a link to the Thermocell post I did up when we first got them....
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2010/04/shakey-lake-menominee-county-park-part.html

We swapped stories and tales of places to go and places we have been... 

and enjoyed our company well into the night.      

Ahhhhhh campfires.... 

(and I think we will have another campfire tonight!) 

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Motorhome Modifications - AC vent

Back in June I did a blog post about our air conditioner in the front livingroom area of the motorhome.   blog link    It had to do with increasing the air flow downwards instead of out each end of the unit.  Mel (our fellow Safari-ite with great ideas) had opened up a hole in the lower cover portion to allow the cooled air to come downwards into the living area space.

Well, Mel had gone one step further.  He added a nice cream colored matching grid that can control the flow if you wish.  It has little louvers and a lever to close or open for more comfort.

Fortunately Mel bought TWO of these grids!   He gave us the other one....  so Steveio jumped right on it and got out his tools to install it in our motorhome.

First he took off the bottom cover and measured carefully where to enlarge his circular hole into a rectangular one.

He took it outside and cut it out with a skill saw.  Then he used a drill and rivet gun to use rivets instead of screws to attach the grid,  which might crack the plastic.   Soon he was back in the rig installing it back into place.

Snap the filters back into place....  Voila!  now we can control the air flow that comes down on our heads if we wish, or with a little flick of the lever, the louvers close on the grid and instead it blows out the black end vents like it did before!

I brought the camera along this morning on our grueling 1.6 mile commute to Steve's workshop in the park.  Of course, because I brought the camera, I didn't see ANY wildlife!  Yesterday I did see a fat groundhog wandering alongside the road.  I told him to get back in the woods and stay away from cars! 

Seeing as I had the camera along, here are a few shots of the scenic view along our commute:

SOME OF THE LIMESTONE CLIFFS IN THE PARK

WINDING ALONG THE ROAD TO THE SHOP

EARLY MORNING SUN PEEKING THROUGH THE TREES

ROAD INTO THE CAMPGROUND AREA 

DOWN ONE OF THE HIKING TRAILS

It is going to get hotter today, and more humid.  ewwwww   Tomorrow we have fellow Safari-ite John coming to stay one night in the park in a site right across from us.  We hope to have a campfire and also fellow Safari-ites Mel and Paula are planning a road trip to come for the day and visit too.  Imagine, three Safari Motorhome owners in one place?  Our own little Mini-Safari-Rally!!!



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Doc gave O.K. and we are back to High Cliff State Park

A relaxing morning of hot coffee and sweet cinnamon rolls with our friends... it was a great way to start a great day!   Then the guys had a few more tasks to do, and I had to reset a few of the sensors on our Hopkins Tire Pressure Monitor.  I swapped a few from the Tracker to the motorhome, just to be sure we had sensor coverage on our steer tires.

Last week, I had called the NVision Hopkins company about the bulging sensor that let the air outta the tire last week.   The person I spoke to was very helpful and offered to not only replace the sensor, but to replace ALL ten of my sensors, along with the main control module too!  Seems they have a newer system and better sensors with better batteries.  Hmmmmm  So he said he would put them all in a box and shipp them to me in care of Steve's work address.  I will let you know how the new system works as soon as I get it set up!   And to make it even nicer, he said he will ship them out right away, and include a pre-paid shipping label to return my set to him AFTER I receive the new ones!   Amazing!  Now THAT is Customer Service! http://www.nvisionsafety.com/tire_safety/

Speaking of tires.... Mel hauled out his "wreath" to show us what happens to a toad tire on his Saturn when pulled behind his motorhome.  They had a flat and this is ALL that was left of their tire!!!!  So this creative couple made a wreath outta it to hang in the campgrounds during the holidays.

The guys were waiting for the dew and dampness to dry off Mel's motorhome roof to add one last coat of the elastomeric paint with the leftovers in the bucket.  But the danged humid weather would not cooperate.  Instead we made ourselves "road-worthy" to head on out.  Then we got all teary eyed and huggy.  Geesh, we are gonna see these friends in probably a few days over at High Cliff for a visit, but we were all weepy anyhow.  We kinda went through "stuff" together the last 10 days and it was hard to leave! 

We finally left Paula and Mel's with big blasts of the air horns (sorry neighbors)  and some toots from the little Tracker horn.   I followed behind Steve as we drove over to nearby King's Campers to refuel our propane tank.  Our motorhome has a large built-in tank so it is necessary to drive up to a propane seller to get it filled.  Our tanks holds 50 gallons liquid propane (LP) and it is only filled to 80% so that is 40 gallons.  Well, our tank took 31.5 gallons, so I guess we were getting pretty low.  King's Campers was only $2.95 a gallon... whereas Van Boxtel RV in Green Bay was at $4.00 a gallon.  It was worth filling up where we did, and saved us over $30 bucks!   http://www.kingscampers.com

At 2 p.m. we had an appointment with Steve's surgeon in Green Bay to take out his remaining stitches and give him the okay to get back to work.  Well, I say "remaining" because Steve had been snipping and pulling out some of the most irritating stitches on his own!   Honestly though, his incisions are healing well, no sign of redness or pulling or irritation.  Might as well, eh?  After a quick check of Steve's vitals, the nurse snipped off the remaining stitches and gave us the complimentary tweezers and the tiny scissors paid for by the comp insurance (the scissors will be great in my knitting stuff!)   and the doc came in.  He really liked the look of Steve's knee, and was very encouraging and positive all was well. He showed us photos of the surgery and examined the knee.  Then he signed the release paper to allow Steve to get back to work.   We really like this guy, his name is Dr. Eric Nelson, and if you need any orthopedic work done, we recommend him.   Dr. Eric Nelson

I like this line on his bio: 

I really do my best to be punctual and respect my patient's time. No one likes to sit and wait. I am always honest, and I work very hard to involve the patient in the decision making process. I don't like the passive "you're the doctor..." approach; my strong belief is "yes, but we are talking about you're health, life, and goals." 

After we left the doc office, we headed on down to High Cliff State Park.  It was only 30 miles to the park.  We stopped at the office and sure enough, the box with our Hopkins Tire Monitor and Sensors were there, just as Hopkins promised!   

Steve caught up with the boss for a bit, and then we headed to the dump station to empty our tanks from the 10 days at the Stuplich's.  We had reservations for our site number 57, so we headed on into the campground and are all set up and cozy in our "home" ...  our site is very nice and wide in the back yard area and wooded all around.  

After supper, we buzzed over to The Chubby Seagull near the entrance to the park.  This place is gonna be the downfall of us all!  http://www.chubbyseagull.com/     

They put chocolate dip on their waffle cones and then roll them in sprinkles!  Then they have 14 flavors of hand dipped ice cream (oooh Mackinaw Island Fudge)  or soft serve.   Also pizza, burgers and other treats. We are going to have to limit ourselves to ONE cone a week!   And we did take a nice long walk around the campground to wear it off.  LOL 

Tomorrow Steve goes back to work, and I have some fiber shipments to send out.  

Back to the old routine, but in a FUN setting of this park

and living in our motorhome! 

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Last Day at the Stuplich RV Resort and Convalescent Center

These guys are making the most of our last 24 hours here at the Stuplich RV Resort and Convalescent Center!  We depart tomorrow morning to head to the doctor in Green Bay to get Steve's okay to return to work paper.

We woke up this morning to rain and damp weather... but these guys had a whole list of tasks to accomplish once it stopped.

First off, Paula and I snuck off to Joann Fabrics to get some pretty brocade upholstery ribbon.  Since we changed our livingroom colors in the motorhome, the old blue velvet trim just wasn't doing it for me on the valances around each window.... So I redid them!

 BEFORE

AFTER

(now I just gotta replace those little blue button covers on the side lambrequins 

with maybe green, cream or burgundy ones)

Paula was very busy with a new project for our table... it is pieced together now and will later be quilted and finished up as a table topper.  She is a very talented quilter and has a great sense of color and style to pick this out for me!

The guys were VERY busy! 

• They got up on the roof and tied down Mel's cable to his King Dome with new wire ties.
• They reassembled the inside of Mel's air conditioner unit they took down to do the roof.
• They reinstalled Mel's vent cover over the bathroom fan.
• They cleaned out Steve's water heater burner tube.
• They visited Fleet Farm to compare fuel conditioners and research on price, value and performance.
• They forgot to buy four other things on their list. 
• We went out to Texas Roadhouse for a wonderful meal, treat of Mel and Paula! 
• (Steve drank over a pint of beer, teased the waitress, Mel ate fish, and Paula took home half her meal! 
• Oh... and they changed the tire on the Tracker to the repaired once that had not been done since we had our flat in June.  ahem? 

And they filled up our freshwater tank in preparation of our departure tomorrow....  Mel directed Steve on how to do it, and Paula was observing with humor.

To our good friends.... 

Mel and Paula:

we thank you for letting us hang out with you for the last ten days... 

and we will be seeing you again soon! 

Coating Mel and Paula's RV Roof with Elastomeric Paint

Friday was kinda held in limbo, as Mel had a medical situation to be addressed.  He needed to have a carotid artery rotor-rootered out ....  (errr sliced open and cleaned out with a pipecleaner, according to Steveio)   All came out fine and he is fit as a fiddle.

Saturday morning was dawning with sunshine and ewwww heat.  But at least we had clear skies to work on the roof without the threat of rain.

Steveio removed the old caulking and redid all of the seams with ProFlexRV by Geocel tripolymer nonhardening caulk. Great stuff for the thin seams on our rigs.  Then he taped off the sides for our painting task.

The Eternabond tape on the front and rear end cap seams was all settled nice and flat and sealed well.

In lieu of flowers or candy or balloons, I decided the best "Get Well" present for Mel would be to scrub his motorhome from top to bottom with car wash and our big soft brush.  I was just finishing up that job as Paula drove up with Mel, freshly released from the hospital!

Now it was time for the fun stuff to begin!  We were prepped and ready to coat their motorhome roof with elastomeric paint.   From Menards it was the same stuff we used, called White Elastomeric Roof Coating by Seal Best, on sale for about $13. Normally $18.99 a bucket.  Beware... it's only a .9 gallon!  Since when did they start making .9 gallon buckets of paint????   hmmmmmmmm

Pa-Fundtner Roof-Coating Company, Inc. 

We rolled the first coat of the entire roof in about 20 minutes, with me cutting in around the areas with a brush, while Steveio manned the roller.    Mel supervised from below, while Paula kept the rice krispie bars a-coming!    And lots and lots of ice water!!!

Steveio and Mel took a break while I decided I had enough fun for the day and hopped in a cool shower.  The temps were over 90 degrees, but with a nice breeze, it all dried very quickly.

Steve rolled the second coat later on in the day, while we all supervised from below and told him where he missed spots... (Yah, right, like we could see it)

Once he was done, he set the ladder against Mels' garage, he hopped up there and snapped these photos from the vantage of the garage roof:

A JOB WELL DONE! 

 I am not so sure what they have on the schedule for tomorrow...  

but I am sure it's gonna be some fun task!  

(added later----) They used up a full bucket, and half of another.  So that would be 1.35 gallons?   But today before we leave, Steve is gonna coat the "waterfall" sides area where the mauve paint came down to the first trim strip a third coat as you can see some brush marks.  Then he will roll the rest of the bucket across the top layer to use it up.   So really, two .9 gallons is all that is needed.

Mouse Tales and RV Roof Prep

Yesterday was occupied by running Steve back to High Cliff for an administrative meeting.  It's 250 miles round trip from here, so I drove the Tracker. (stick shift was hard for Steve to clutch with his left leg yet)  We stopped off in Waupaca for a nice impromptu supper with his older brother Mark and lovely wife Shirley.  So that pretty much took up the whole day.

We got back about 8 p.m. and had a little time to visit with Paula and Mel before turning in.

Oh poor Paula and Mel... about 10 p.m. Paula noticed a little black thing scooting across their floor in their house.  We could hear the screams from our motorhome...  EEEEEEKKKKKKKK  the little bugger of a mouse had come in from the open patio door earlier in the evening, and must have hung out till he thought the coast was clear.  Mel hoisted the couch, the coffee table, the cabinets and the lamps while in hot pursuit of the little bugger.  First, Paula tried to sweep it out the open patio door with a broom.  No go. Then on to the next idea: Mel tossed his sweatshirt on top of the mouse, he would STOMP on the sweatshirt....much to Paula's horror.  But each time the mouse was far gone under another piece of furniture.  Finally Paula got a bucket from the garage, and they dumped it over the mouse, while sliding in a piece of cardboard underneath.  The mouse was deposited outside as a trophy to show us this morning about their late night mouse-hunting escapade!    We were wondering what all that screaming was about????   Sadly, the little guy died from internal injuries.

As I type this now, my feet are up on the Mouse Urn .... a bucket (with lid) over the carcass of the little bugger.  Tomorrow we will dump him in the woods.

Because... today we were soooo busy!

Mel and Steve completed a few other jobs today on Mel's motorhome...

• Finished the grease/lube job on all lube points and the fan zirc too
• Examined the door deadbolt lock and figured out a repair
• Lubed the antenna mechanism 
• Lubed the pac brake

Then it was time to work on the BIG project for the day....  They trooped on over to the local RV dealer and equipped themselves with all of the supplies needed to do their motorhome roof.   They are lucky to live 1/4 of a mile from Kings Campers, in Wausau, WI


Up went the ladders and out came the power cords to the driveway and got plugged in.  Time for these guys to get serious about this roof recoating with Elastomeric paint.  Our Safari motorhomes have a special roof material called "Filon" which is a fiberglass and nylon type material.  It is not fastened tight, but is allowed to flex and shrink with heat and cold.  After 10-12 years of exposure, this material is known to develop tiny microscopic cracks which could allow water intrusion.  The best practice is to clean it well, and then coat it with an elastomeric paint.

Here is the blog post from when we did our roof on our rig:

http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2009/10/coating-our-fiberglass-roof-on.html

So it was time to get the prep work done in order to do the roof in the next few days, now that Steve's knee is feeling pretty good.  Steve goes back to the doc on Monday to get a release to go back to work.


Mel has this wonderful tool from Harbor Freight, and Steve used it to remove the old caulk along the front and rear end caps.  On sale for about $18.

They stripped off the old caulk along both the caps, and cleaned the surface good with thinner.  Once it was all dry and clean, they applied the Eternabond tape (bought at Kings by the foot for 40 feet they wanted for both caps, around the skylight, and around fridge vent)

Then I got up on the roof with my handy dandy wooden rolling pin, and a wall paper roller.  The more you roll and squish this stuff, the better it activates the glue inside the membrane.  It was stuck tight and I took care of the rolling.  You blog readers never get to see ME doing the jobs, just my pics of Steve and Mel doing them.  So this time, Steve grabbed the camera and snapped one of me!

Tomorrow will be scrubbing the roof with TSP

Saturday will be coating with elastomeric paint (if the weather cooperates)

We ran outta daylight, so it was time to make supper-----

Yummmmm a local meat market has wonderful tenderloins on sale for $7.59 a pound, so we stocked up enough for supper and filled our freezers with enough for half a dozen more meals.

Boiled baby red potatoes, a tossed salad with fresh tomatoes, and a bowl of Lemon Fluff.  We eat like Kings with hanging out with the Stuplichs, that is for sure.


Another little treat are these Bartels and James Margarita Wine Coolers, we pour them over crushed ice and salt the rims... voila!   Quick margaritas!!!!!

My RV camping buddy, Canadian Dan Dan the Camping Van Man showed me about these.  Great when you want ONE margarita and don't want a half-used bottle sitting in the fridge.

Okay, it's dark now, the bugs keep flying into my laptop screen, and I am ready to head to bed.

Tomorrow is another day.

We know someone who could use some extra thoughts and prayers during a health issue tomorrow, so please if you can, send a prayer this way?


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Another day at the Stuplich RV Resort and Convalescent Center

And another glorious day of weather too!   I failed to mention our wonderful weather in Wisconsin (after all of that complaining I did during the hot horrid humid days)...   we are in the mid 70's during the days and down into the 40's at night.  Last night we did kick in the furnace a few times to take out the chill, and we slept with the electric mattress pad on too.  Very comfortable.

Monday was a busy day again for Steve and Mel.  They did some configuring and confabulation, some comparisons and considerations, and then some complaining too... what about?  Their repair bills!

They were sitting side by side, with their cases of paperwork, with manuals, warranties, instruction books and repair bills!  LOL   They were checking how much they were charged for what part number, what procedure or what service at various places.  I think they came to conclusion that motorhome ownership is just plain old EXPENSIVE!!!!    

We took the "Tour of Wausau" yesterday with Mel and Paula, seeing all the sights, places they had lived, and scoped out some places we need to get to in the next few days.  Of course, the guys needed a stop at Harbor Freight. and we also stopped at a small town style meat market for some great steaks for supper. 

The guys were working on changing the oil in Mel's generator, and Paula rinsed out the washable filter.  She also got the grease outta Steve's good shorts!  Thanks Paula! 

We ended the evening again with a few bottles of beverages around the canned propane campfire.  The Stuplich RV Resort and Convalescent Center is located within city limits and you are not allowed to have a campfire, so this portable propane one of Mel's just fits the bill perfectly.   It even gives off heat, but not smoke or ash. 

Today's schedule holds a few more projects, including washing all my motorhome windows inside and out.  This is our view this morning as we raise our powered windshield shade (you can't quite see all of the bugs but they are there) 

Steveio's knee is doing great.  The doc office called yesterday to check on him, told him to get up and around and move it.  He has the bandage off and is able to take a shower.  Then put on smaller bandages to keep the dirt off.  He is walking around pretty good, and getting almost full range of motion already.

Time to perk up another pot of coffee, and head on over to the side porch of the Stuplich RV Resort!  I heard she has some great Mocha Bars for breakfast.....


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