Squirming In The Cabinet

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 23, 2024

Well tonight it is a stopped up kitchen sink that makes me late on the blog. It is not fixed but is diagnosed and should be repaired tomorrow morning with a lot of squirming in the cabinets under the sink. Just what the OFM needs is a lot of up and down efforts in a confined area. We will see what happens next.

As we were returning from lunch we noticed that the golf course had taken the freeze covers off the greens on the golf course. The OFM sure misses his golfing days on that very fun course. But they are ready for play now and a few folks were on the course as we passed by.

We were considering things earlier today when we counted up how long we had been here thanks to all the repairs that have come up. We arrived June 1, 2023 planning leaving by September 15 2023. Well that did not work out very well. That makes eight months here thanks to lots of repairs on equipment and the OFM. But it still looks like February 1, 2024 is still the rolling date. Rockport Texas is still where we are heading to visit old friends.

The OFM Teams are looking into moving into a style of snowbird type RV travel. We started rving in 1972.The OFM started full time rving on October 7, 2007 so we have over 16 continuous years of doing it this way. In the last few months the OFM has started to try to understand if he needs to modify his activities to match with his actual abilities as a traveling single 77.5 year old man with a do not hold back attitude. The OFM has a hope of turning 87 still out rving in some fashion. But the RV world is changing fast with all the Baby Boomers retiring and filling up camping places.

Well that is a lot of writing and tomorrow morning is a cabinet squirming day so we are going to hit the bed in hopes of having toooo much fun after the sink plumbing is repaired.

Bad Luck Came By To Try To Stop Us Again

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 22, 2024

Just like the last five months as soon as the OFM got some plans going for rolling, trouble showed up. About 0830 this morning the shut down plans call came in. The Teams credit card showed it was involved in a bunch of stuff in something in Australia and needed to be stopped until the situation was resolved. Yep here we go again something to slow down or prevent us from rolling.

At lunch with Jerry, The OFM went to order our burger and our credit card was declined. A nice loooooong lunch time talking with Jerry let the OFM calm down a lot. It was about 1400 when we rolled back to the Castle and tackled the trouble again.

To make the story a lot shorter the situation was resolved in our favor as we did nothing wrong (beyond trying to get rolling) and they would unlock the credit card “ in bout three minutes.”

Since our confidence level was very high (yeah right) the OFM waited four minutes by walking to the campground store and found that they had actually done what they promised in the promised time. The credit card worked correctly and the candy bar we purchased to try out the credit card went into the prize bucket for the campground coloring competition. So for now we are back on schedule for leaving Feb.1

Then later tonight the OFM got an email that an Amazon package that was being delayed will now be received tomorrow. Maybe we used up all of our four months of bad luck during the miseries of this fall of getting the Castle, Sierra and the OFM repaired and ready to roll.

The good news is the afternoon weather will often be nice enough to get out and do some walking again to help the OFM with his attitude lately.

It is time for everyone to work on trying to have tooooo much fun again.

Here We Go Again

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 21, 2024

Another exciting bit of info is that historically tonight in Decatur Alabama will be the last night below freezing until next year in January according to historical information records. We certainly hope that is correct. It will still get cold like in the mid thirties but freezing temps after tomorrow are seldom part of the concerns.

Now we have to get busy and get things in order for trying to have tooooo much fun again.

Very Late Post

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 20, 2024

Here it is after 2200 hours on Saturday night and the OFM is just getting to write a blog entry. This evening we had a lot of evening spent helping folks getting water lines flowing again. When we got back from late lunch Sierra's outside temp reading was 23F with a predicted low tonight of 9F. High tomorrow is supposed to get up to 38F. One more freezing night and we are supposed to be safe for a couple of weeks.

The only other news is that the Team feels that we can start planning a get away date tomorrow for in early February.

Every one have a nice night and we will see you tomorrow. Good Night.

Still Freezing

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 19, 2024

Only three more days of bad cold. By 0800 this morning the OFM was checking our black and gray holding tanks to be certain the holding tanks were working properly with the low single digit temps for three days in a row. Having to run water continuously for three days had not been done before. We were thrilled to find the rig was handling the new need with not a hint of trouble. We were REAL GLAD about that.

Then we decided to hit up BK for lunch in hopes of running into Gerry there today for some more story swapping. He showed up right on time.

The main reason was to check out the roads for going shopping tomorrow. The roads inside the campground were still iced over for the most part and slush slop for the other part. Here is the campground mess.

And here was the public road for every where else we went today. So roadways should not be a trouble tomorrow.

Everyone still be very careful in case a sneaky icy patch is waiting to harm us.

Ice Driving

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 18, 2024

The big event today was driving on ice practice. It is treacherous for sure. At least after two good sessions of practice the OFM is confident he could slowly make his way to the local emergency room in Sierra by himself.

We found out this afternoon a lady fell in the campground and broke her ankle. An ambulance came and picked her up.

The day warmed up to a little higher than 40F. Consequentially ruptured water lines, both in rigs and the campground, showed up and were quickly handled. We have three more freezing nights and then we should be finished with all the low single digit night time lows until next year. We will like that a lot.

Here is a picture from the do every thing table taken at 1700 today. Down on the right you can see part of the coloring the OFM has been working on for a few days while waiting for warmer weather. Every one try to have tooooo much fun.

A Bigger Drip

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 17, 2024

A day to be especially careful we found out. All the white stuff in the photos is not snow, it is 2 inch thick ice and incredibly slippery. The OFM did not fall but he did get lessons he did not want in ICE DANCING. He even tried out Sierra for driving. Several working folks were seen leaving for work. Here is some of the small tracks their vehicles left in the ice.

Sierra behaved very well as we slipped around the campground very carefully trying out this new driving on ice thing. We slowly went back to our campsite and carefully got Sierra parked with no new damage.

This stuff on the window is a thin layer of ice on the morning window opening. It slowly melted as we did our morning computer mess around.

How about some dripping history about the OFM? All his life he has had an important habit of letting water drip at an inside faucet in bad cold weather. Well yesterday morning we went somewhere and he left the bathroom lavatory dripping the usual amount so the pipes will not freeze. We got back from the excursion to we have no recollection of where and the dripping had stopped. Hmmm A bit of checking and we found the water line into the Castle frozen solid. That is not good. We had some water in the on board drinking water tank but we did not know how much. So we went to work on thawing the hose. It turned out even the campground water service and valve were frozen. YIKES.

Today we went to work fixing our error. Our water hose was removed and brought into the Castle and hung in the bathtub area with an electric heater blowing on it. In about twenty minutes the hose dropped a load of partially melted ice rods in the tub. Now it was ready to use and was reinstalled outside.

Now the hose was ready but the outside supply line and faucet were frozen. We wrapped a rag around the faucet assembly and poured some boiling water on it while we did some more thinking. Finally The OFM remembered we have an incandescent drop light with a 40 watt bulb. So we grabbed a plastic storage box and the light . The light was hung on the frozen valve and the box put over it all.

The black stripes are tree shadows on the ice. After about two hours the water came back on with a wonderful splash.

It was a very wonderful song it was playing.

Now we know that in low single digit temperatures, the dripping stream needs to be a stream closer to a pencil in size.

Having that knowledge is wonderful for peaceful times in miserable cold weather.

Central Heat

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 16, 2024

Wow the .75 inch thick foam insulation we added years ago to all the windows and vents in the Castle had again proved extremely worthwhile. The window next to the table was doing a good job we found out when we removed a section of the foam to see what is happening outside. The inside of the window glass had a big patch of thin ice in the center of the glass.

That is the morning sun starting to get to us in the campground and it is welcome.

Later in the day when it got up to 14F we went out and started Sierra and let run to melt some of the ice off the windshield area. We even backed it up a few feet and drove it forward a couple of times. So far every thing is working OK.

It was a bit cool for a bit this morning so we put the stove burner to running on low flame. Since it is in the center of the trailer we termed it our central heat. That burner got us interested in fixing a batch of stoup. So now we have five meals of chicken and Mexican rice in the freezer.

From mid afternoon on we had bright sunshine and a heat wave came through and got us up to about 16f until the sun went down.

That is all the big excitement for us today. Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to about 34F tomorrow and we will get excited if it does.

Supposedly we have nearly a week more of this garbage weather to put up with before we can get busy trying to have tooooo much fun again.

A Little Bit Cool

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 15, 2024

It was cold enough that we did not even consider going out for a walk the whole day. The high for the day was 22f with sleet and snow falling out of the sky often during the day. Tonight it is supposed to get down to 13F. Then tomorrow is a high of 23f and a low tomorrow night of 5f and then only a week more of this mess.

Last year we found out that the black tank valve might freeze in position at these temps so we dumped the tank this afternoon so we now have about two weeks before we need to dump it again. Since we are on sewer, the gray tank stays open full time. For those who do not know the black tank needs to have a good volume of water in it when flushed to carry the solids and paper residue out to the sewer so it is not good to leave the black tank valve open all the time.

Here is a picture of the campground to the south of us from the window of the Castle at the do everything table.

Every one have a great night and stay warm.

Cleaning Out Unneeded Stuff

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 14, 2024

It was cold enough and windy enough that we did not even consider going out for a walk the whole day. When lunch time came along it was finally up to 37F and we hit up the Burger King as usual. So we had a rearrange the Castle and art efforts kind of cold day. You can be certain we will not be doing much unnecessary driving around with snow and ice predicted for the next two days along with some one digit temperatures. Here is what the COLD evening sky looked like at 1700 from the Castle door.

We did some productive effort today by cleaning out un-needed art items from the storage box. It was not a big mess but a few things we have not used in a few years went away. We sorted brushes down to a few that fits how we do play now.

We also got rid of several things that newer techniques has made obsolete. We held on to these burnishing tools in case we need them again. They are being replaced with solvent washing instead of burnishing but we are still too new at solvent use to get rid of the tried and true tools yet.

And this coloring Desert Evening was finally finished this afternoon and is ready for viewing.

We have a week of nasty cold and sloppy weather ahead of us. It looks worse than any weather we have seen since we have been coming here for about fifty years. So everyone be careful and try to have tooooo much fun.

New Gate

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 13, 2024

Cold and a bit windy today with snow and ice in our near future to keep things interesting. Maybe the OFM will be healthy enough to leave right after Christmas next year and head down to south Texas where 45F is a bad cold spell and the camping is free. But now we have to survive this weather that has us sheltering in place.

At least we have plenty of good food in the area like tonight's supper of chicken and mixed salad with BBQ sauce and cheap root beer, Wow we like that.

Meanwhile we suited up in warm clothing and hit the road for a walk this afternoon in the bright sunshine. Going out the back entry at the soccer field let the OFM team admire the new lockable gate on the path. This picture is from inside the soccer field looking back into the campground.

We went on from there on the walking trail to where the main drainage from the campground heads out to Flint Creek. We were surprised to see about a foot of new water in the drainage.

The local egret had set up for food hunting already and posed for us to get a picture.

The rest of the evening we spent time trying to get a traveling plan figured out or reading our favorite travel blogs for inspiration on places to go. Have a nice evening every one.

Keeping Warm

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 12, 2024

Late this afternoon the OFM decided to attempt a decent walk in spite of the outside conditions. When we opened the door here is what we found. Lots of rain puddles left from all the rain during the day. But the temp was acceptable so off we went.

To see what was happening with the new fencing was the goal. It now looks like there will be a gated opening in the fence line to come from the campground to the soccer field area. We will eventually see if it is locked or not.

Today we walked through the opening and kept on walking. When we turned the far corner and got out from behind the tree line the cold wind hit us and it was not welcome. The cloud cover looked like the cold front was just arriving.

Sure enough in just a few minutes the temperature dropped a good bit. We got a bit farther down the path and decided to head back to the warm of the Castle. It was a great choice we quickly realized. This is the start of about ten days of nasty cold rainy weather to keep us entertained with occasional freezing conditions, 26F tonight. The good news is that the traditional last day of getting colder in this area and warming starting to happen is in about 8 days. We definitely like that idea.

We finished on a coloring today. It did not work out just right but once again the OFM received some more good education on being a colorist type of artist.

That is it for tonight so every one sleep well and warm and we will write to you tomorrow after trying to have to much fun in the cold rain.

Cold Coming

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 11, 2024

One more day and the cold weather hits here for a week or so. We spent some time today plotting on the planning calendar the days it will be pretty cold. As it works out we only have two days it does not get nicely above freezing during the day according to the latest forecast for this area. That will be a good day for extra napping.

The nice walk today went out the back of the campground to the soccer field and the new fencing project that we have not found out what is going on.

So far it does not get in our way and we had a nice warm 2 plus miles of walking today in bright sunshine. That was very nice.

And we had some fun doing coloring and finishing this piece of fun art. We tried out binder clipping it to the blinds in the Castle to take the blog pic and it worked out decent. Taking pics outside with the winds we are getting has been an impossible task.

Sierra seems to be fixed this time and has been performing very well. Tomorrow we plan to start planning some rolling and hope every body and all the equipment is all finished breaking down so we can get on the road trying to have tooooo much fun again.

Get Ready Time For The Freezing Weather

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 10, 2024

Get ready time is here and we got busy getting ready today. What are we getting ready for OFM? The ten days of freezing nights we are about to endure way up here in north Alabama. The weather folks say starting night after next we will have ten days of below freezing temperatures every night including one where we stay below freezing that day also. It certainly makes the Team glad we are in an Arctic Fox RV that is set up for freezing weather and boondocking.

We checked the food supply again this morning and headed to the grocery store. We left $65 dollars there and walked out with enough to feed us for two weeks. There is not likely much trouble will happen beyond a short power outage or icy streets for a day or two. Since we do our normal camping heating with electric or stove top, our loud LPG guzzling central heat was removed several years ago. So this afternoon the OFM checked our LPG tanks to make sure we had plenty of fuel for ten days of heating. But if the electric is down they cannot refill LPG tanks. It seems we have covered everything on our safe camping list of things to be certain we will be safe and comfortable during the cold weather.

Supper tonight was a big experiment that came out very well. We built a stir fry omelet of sorts.

Th dregs of a bell pepper, onion and a chopped carrot were stir fried in olive oil until nearly done. Then the three ” large” eggs were slopped into the mess of vegetables and stirred together for supper. At the last minute the drizzle of BBQ sauce was unceremoniously splattered all over everything.

Naturally cheap Root Beer was the beverage.

YUMMMMITY YUM YUM. That was a bit better than the OFM's usual output.

Now we need to get well rested for a big day of trying to have tooooo much fun tomorrow.

Food Locker Clean Out

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 9, 2024

This morning was another cool one. So we spent some time staying in the warm and piddling around. Nothing special was happening but the next 10 days or so were supposed to be bad cold and nasty so much that outdoors excursions was out. The day just meandered along with the OFM doing a bit of coloring, checking the electric heaters for dust collection and BK lunch.

Back at the Castle the OFM decided we needed to check our food supply and found we were getting short on a few things so we started a food shopping list. But as we checked things closely it was apparent we had just the right amount of left in stock food to make some stoup in a smaller than normal quantity for about two nights of eating. So we did that.

Boiled what was left of some chicken breasts, added some onion, bell pepper, rice and carrot slices. Then mixed in a plop of granola cereal to see what it works out like.

A little bit of some left over seasoning was added for the heck of it.

Then we noticed the three eggs in a carton waiting to be eaten. So it looks like the final menu will have three small scrambled eggs on the side with BBQ sauce on them. The beverage will be our usual cheap root beer but later we plan to have a nice mug of decaffeinated green tea to top off the night. And that is how the OFM plans to welcome a week of miserable freezing weather to his location.

We do plan on a major restocking of the food supply tomorrow . That might even turn out to be a great adventure all by itself.

Good luck everyone on trying to have tooooo much fun tomorrow.

Nasty Weather Arrives

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 8, 2024

This morning was another cool one. So we spent some time staying in the warm and cleaning our home. It took a few minutes to find the vacuum cleaner under all the debris everywhere. But we found it and got busy. Then we did some more coloring on the new bit of art effort. It is coming along nicely. A check on the big bad cold front coming tonight showed a new development in that it was now dipping a bit more south towards us. In fact the rains started about ten minutes ago. It promises to be a nasty mess around the area by morning.

Hit Burger King for lunch and lunch buddy Jerry got away from his new girl friend long enough to have a good long visit with him. Back at the Castle we did a bit more cleaning and then did a serious plotting of the bad storm due tonight and sure enough we will be in the middle of the mess with some pretty nasty cold coming through for the next week or so. We would hate to be on the road during the next four or five days. The rain is supposed to slack off to nearly nothing by late tomorrow but then the sub freezing cold moves in to make things slippery around here for about five days. We are not looking forward to that. All this cold and wet will really get in the way of proper exercise for the OFM.

When we checked the camera for pictures of today's activities it was picture less. So there was not any thing worthy of spending a few picture efforts upon.

OK readers let us work on having some extra fun in spite of the yukky weather.

HAPPY NEW YEAR I hope.

Beautiful Weather Again

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 7, 2024

This morning was another cool one. So we spent some time reading the instructions on the kit for polishing our head light covers on Sierra. The instructions make it sound simple enough that even the OFM can do the job. The covers are getting a brownish fuzz to them and may be part of the OFM's night vision troubles when driving.

We will get to that chore soon we think.

After lunch we checked the outside temps and found it warm enough to get in a nice long walk. To our surprise, because yesterday was such a nasty day, today was absolutely gorgeous. We went out the back way and found the day to look like this over the soccer field.

Then we meandered over to the start of the hike and bike trail near Flint Creek where things looked even nicer.

And it just got nicer as we made our way along the trail. What do you think?

And that was the big highlight of the day.

Back at the Castle we did some coloring and some research on the internet about future travels when the OFM is healed enough to travel safely.

WOW there is some really nasty weather going to be moving through just a couple of hundred miles north of us. The Tennessee Valley mountains are supposed to keep most of the snow and other nasty winter weather mostly away from us. We sure hope it does.

We are hoping to get some headlight covers polished tomorrow while all our readers are trying to have tooooooo much fun.

Healing News

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 6, 2024

Check out this fabulous supper we had tonight. The larder was getting empty in the Castle so the OFM went to looking at what was hidden in the nooks and crannies of the cabinets to have for supper. We hit the treasure trove. In the fridge was a package of iceberg veggie mix and some shredded carrots. Then in another cabinet was a can of tuna just inviting us to supper. Oh boy here is a great supper in the making.

A little BBQ sauce for salad dressing and some cheap root beer and it was time to get some serious eating done.

It was new coloring contest time in the campground so the OFM did his volunteer job of coloring a contest sheet to put up for display to keep the kids interested in the event. Here is the display to get contestants to enjoy putting their efforts on display.

Our walk was later in the day today so the weather would be less cold. It was a very gray cold day as these pictures will show.

Here is the building being demolished near the campground. They got through with all the tearing down part of the effort and now it is just ground level demolishing and cleanup to go.

From there we headed out onto the longer trail to catch up on the miles we had missed in the last week of short walks. This is a pic of the bench early in the walk that normally has a nice view. Kinda has the blahs today.

We made it down to the turn around point and headed on back. We were feeling all the missed exercise when this mile marker came into sight and it was a welcome sight.

And then about a half mile later we were back home. YIPPEEE.

Now for the important and less spectacular news. While working on the Castle and Sierra to verify all systems were go, the OFM had a sudden realization that his healing from the fall on the trail on Dec 14 is still significant yet and he needs more healing time. From info on recovery time for young to middle age men he could be ready. However the part he missed last time is that folks over 70 can reasonably expect twice as long to heal completely. The OFM is 77 so he could be another four weeks of shoulder healing required before he is physically ready to roll by himself on down the road due to his ancientness. This was a disappointing surprise but it should have been expected. The OFM has noticed normal scratches etc take a lot longer heal than even a couple of years ago. Oh Well at least he is still alive to heal.

With all this in mind we will be trying really hard to have tooooo much fun tomorrow.

OFM Camping Explanation

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 5, 2024

Several different ideas went through the OFM head today about our lack of exact plans right at this moment. We definitely want to roll but where and why is the real challenge.

First we need to explain something about this team. Camping is not a goal for us and never has been a goal. The OFM Teams travels to see new things, do new things and meet new folks. Camping is just the best way for us to accomplish that goal. We would be just as happy moteling if it provided the same opportunities as camping. But moteling does not provide that ability and freedom. From the first time out in our first RV in 1972, the OFM knew he had found his route to freedom on the road.

Another item of our style is going to the same old place again and again. Once we have the new worn off of a place we prefer a different location for our camping/traveling next time.

When we get the brake connection to the Castle verified tomorrow our equipment will all be verified and ready for rolling. But the weather is not cooperating yet.

Now we have to pick our locations to head for and when we will have decent weather for the location and activity. That also means our plan to be in Rockport soon is out the window. We will let everyone know what to expect right after we do.

And finally tonight here is a coloring we completed and are ready to show the world.

Try to have tooooo much fun tomorrow;

Big Bird Flock

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 4, 2024

It was another cold morning around 40F at 0900. The weather inside the Castle was very nice and comfortable so we stayed here a nice while.

Part of the reason was to try to figure out what to do with ourselves. The total lack of biting insects is wonderful whereas back at the Rockport Texas area biting bugs like mosquitoes is a constant fight even when using bug spray. We already stay in this area about 6 months of the year doing granpa duty. The area really fits the OFM's exercise needs very well. Today's answer we chose is just stay here at Point Mallard all year except when we take long vacation trips now and then. Keep It Simple Stupid works well.

While on the short cold walk this afternoon the OFM spotted a large flock of white birds out on Flint Creek. So we slithered carefully over to Flint Creek to see what they were. We got there as they were randomly flying all sorts of directions.

The super long zoom did its best as the OFM wobbled in the cold. They finally settled down and we identified them as White Pelicans.

As were coming up the creek bank this view of the dramatic sunset attacked us and we got this picture for evidence it was really beautiful.

It took a bit of time for the OFM to get warmed up when we got back to the Castle. We needed to have more warm cloths on for that adventure.

Here is a coloring from recent efforts named Boot Planter. It turned out to be fun to color and modify a bit. Most of the coloring was done with Prismacolor water color pencils. It was interesting using water color on that thin paper and trying to keep the paper from dramatic rumpling.

Choices have finally been made and lots of fun happened and we nearly had tooooo much fun. We need to work harder on that effort tomorrow.

Night Vision Update

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 3, 2024

It was another very cold morning when the OFM opened his eyes. Being inside a nice warm RV was wonderful instead of a tent.

The big news for us is the OFM has had an improvement in his night driving ability. We made a very careful test run through the neighborhood to see our safe ability. The good news is the OFM could see much better than two months ago when he took himself out of night driving completely. Tonight we easily navigated around the neighbor hood safely. We feel we could now get to the Emergency room at the hospital if we needed to or to the local Mexican food restaurant for a decent evening meal of chicken tacos. This does not mean we are ready for heavy traffic in strange locations but any progress is very welcome.

Driving around in the repaired Sierra was all good news. Everything ran just right and as it should so we have started our rolling planning again and that feels wonderful also.

We just checked the camera and there are no photos today so we must not have done much except color. That part of our day was very nice.

The grands started back to school today so the holidays must be over.

Tomorrow is time to start again trying to have tooooo much fun.

Starting The Happy New Year

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 2, 2024

We awakened to a cold morning again and soon went about getting the OFM ready to get Sierra on over to the dealer by 0900. We got there a bit early and the service writer got Sierra right on over to a service bay and then we wrote up the repair sheet information. When we went to the waiting room for the diagnosis and service required there was a pair of feet and a butt looking out from under the hood already.

About 20 minutes later the service writer had the diagnostics print out from the onboard computer showing where the failures were happening. AND the cost of repairs. $640.

A new thermostat, a dohickey and change the coolant to get a full fresh charge of protection additives for the all aluminum engine. The engine has 145000 miles on it and ten years of good service. We quickly agreed. The dealer ride back to the Castle to wait was a nice older fellow. About 1500 the call came in the repairs and testing were finished and our ride back to the dealership was on the way. The work done was quickly explained and the bill paid. Away we went. It was quickly evident that the thermostat had been failing as we watched the gauges behave like when Sierra was new.

And that is how the OFM Team started off the HAPPY NEW YEAR.

A Bookmark Evolved From Pencil Scratching

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: January 1, 2024

We awakened to a cold morning with too much breeze for the OFM to make a decent walk of the conditions. So we stayed inside in the warm Castle and worked on art things.

Lunch was at Burger King as usual but the weather was still too cold for us.

Back at the Castle we did more art thinking and piddling around and ended up with a bookmark left over after some experiments about different size and shapes of art efforts. Here is the bookmark resulting from lots of scissor time and wild ideas.

Tomorrow we get Sierra over to the car dealer by 0900 to let them fix Sierra if they can. We are still hoping to leave on the 15^th for Rockport Texas to visit OLD friends Patsy and Don.

Well that was our exciting day staying warm inside. Happy New Year.