Is it already September?

The dog days of summer are almost over and hopefully we can breathe cooler air soon. We thought this past August was extremely hot, but that is probably due to the fact that we spent most of it outdoors with projects in the garden.  Even the birds seemed to be sluggish as they were hiding in shady spots and although there were plentiful flowers in the garden I observed Hummingbirds, Orioles and even a Monarch butterfly drinking from the feeder in our backyard. Must have been more convenient.

We had two sets of visitors to break up the month to take us away from our daily chores. Patsy and Bill with their adorable dog Clemson came to visit first. We knew of each other through our blogs. Patsy writes Chillin' with Patsy and Bill writes On Our Way They were in the London, Ontario area for several days with their 5^thwheel, which is about an hour and a half drive from us, and took this opportunity to drive down to meet us.  This lovely couple told us of places to visit down in Arizona and plans have been made to meet up down there. We think that would be fun and we are looking forward to that. Bill suggested that we take off the white plastic wheel covers which I had installed to keep the sun off the tires. Instead of doing a worthy thing I had unknowingly done more harm than good because the air cannot circulate behind the covers and the sun bakes the tires behind the covers. Benno tested it and he thought he could roast a chicken there in that heat when he put his hand behind the cover. Thanks Bill.

Next our friends Sofia and Leszek came for a visit. We met so many years ago through the Ontario Boat Builder Cooperative where we were all members. Les and Sofy sailed their first boat all the way to Australia from Lake Ontario and we saw each other again in St. Thomas, US Virgin Island, one of the Caribbean Islands. Now they have another sailboat and the plan is to duplicate the trip Benno and I did in our “Diesel Duck” around South America. In more specific terms, they like to visit Patagonia and to round Cape Horn in their own boat.

Patagonia is a vast, exotic, wild and infinitely beautiful area in the southernmost extreme of the American continent. We traveled through its fjords and channels in an unbelievable gorgeous and unspoiled wilderness while marveling at the views of the mountains with cascading waterfalls. We even inched our vessel close to many of the hundreds of glaciers. Of course it was not all sun and calm weather as storm fronts are frequent in that part of the world. So there was lots to talk about and Benno gifted Les a set of sea charts for that area to navigate by. What nice memories the visit from our friends brought on. Here are a few pics of Patagonia.

Several of our blogger friends have made plans already and set dates for a fall departure with their rigs. Benno thought it would be prudent to take advantage of the nice weather to get down and grease the wheel hubs of the camper in the shade under the pulled out awning of our 24 White Hawk trailer. Here are some pictures of the undertaking.

Benno has done this before, about 3 years ago on our previous 19ft Jayco trailer.

Working on the wheel hubs not all working positions are comfortable.

To lift the trailer Benno used a 10 ton hydraulic jack and after lifting, 

secured the axle with axle stands.

The Dexter Axle Operation and Service Manual that came with the Jayco White Hawk trailer explains the wheel bearing lubrication process. One page is dedicated to the approved grease sources. In our case Benno used "Valvoline Multi-Purpose GM" grease that he purchased at the

TSC store in Leamington. The grease nipple is hidden behind a rubber plug which has to be carefully removed first.

Notice above in the picture Benno is rotating the hub with his right hand while pumping the grease gun with his left hand. Rotating the hub prevents the grease gun pressure to bust the rear seal. The rear seal contains the grease to the wheel bearings and prevents the grease to get onto the electric brake system.

Don't loose the rubber plug and don't forget to put it back to the metal end cap. 

It keeps the road dirt out of the wheel bearing.

Picture below wheel hub with the rubber plug back on.

Benno used the opportunity while the wheels were off to give them a good wash. After installation he torqued the wheel nuts. In our case it is 14" wheels and the wheel nuts are torqued to 115 - 120 FT-LBS. The tire pressure will be checked just before we are hitting the road south and during the drive frequently during pit stops.

I might now spend more time indoors and on my computer so updates and comments will be more frequent. (I hope so)