So many nice additions to our travel trailer

Here is my promised blog update about the modifications on our new travel trailer that we thought were important to us. Of course everyone has a different view of what makes your travels great. Driving to a nice area with lots to see and explore is on top of our list as well as warm or nice weather conditions, but we also like our creature comforts and that is what we, or mostly Benno, were working on in the past weeks. For a link to the products just click the highlighted words.

To start off, a new mattress was required. The trailer came with a new FIRM mattress, I mean extreme firm like 2x4 wooden studs, the mattress was made in the USA with 2 rounded corners at the foot end, nice looking but boy we slept one night on it to try it out and were almost looking for a chiropractor next morning. Benno and I are side sleepers and we found something more suitable and softer for our needs. I advertised the mattress on the local Marketplace and it quickly found a new owner.

 

Meanwhile Benno crawled around in the basement storage compartment where he installed two additional group 31 AGM batteries side by side additionally to the outside tongue group 27 AGM battery and he wired up an extra disconnect battery switch that he had purchased for those batteries. This gives us a bigger battery bank with more stored amp power for our convenience and for the times we are boon docking. To be able to monitor our state of charge of this battery bank he fitted a digital voltmeter onto the panel next to the entrance door and while he was at it, he also mounted a 120 V AC meter above the existing 12 V DC meter. This way we can view the hooked up electrical power coming in from a power post, which can be inconsistent at some RV Resorts.

 

For our water hook up we supplement the system with an extra filter housing with a water filter stand to house a carbon filter to improve the water quality wherever we are. I don’t like the taste of chlorinated water and it is terrible for making good coffee or tea.

A funny thing happened though. We were testing our water system and water heater plumbing, bleeding the lines of air, testing bathroom shower and vanity etc. of the new camper and there the water was coming out fine, but somehow we could not get any water, hot or cold coming out of the kitchen faucet. We pulled out all drawers to view and follow the water piping, looking for a missed shut off cock or so. Benno went even underneath the trailer with a flashlight to see if somehow there could be a problem. I took a mirror and looked behind the gas furnace where the blue and red PEX water tubing from the kitchen faucet disappeared “Nada – Nada” no luck, no water hot or cold. Benno went to his shop to get more tools; we had a serious problem here, no water at the kitchen sink. I was just looking at the faucet and my eyes were resting on the faucet lever and I noticed that the lever body was curved on the bottom, a hot flash shot through my brain like don’t tell me we have to pull that damned thing and then turn it!! I did it and “voila” we had water. Shit, Benno and I smirked and he said: “Don’t mention this in your blog, or everybody thinks we are too stupid to operate a kitchen faucet!”

 

There was nothing wrong with the company installed roof vents, but we decided to cover them with vent hoods so they can stay open in the rain and upgrade the electrical Heng vent fan in the bathroom with the Heng Vortex II Fan unit, which runs on three different speeds and will also reverse airflow if wanted. The install went fairly easy, however I overheard several not so nice expletives from Benno, when some tiny factory supplied screw kept slipping off his screwdriver and repeatedly fell to the floor until Benno finally got fed up and used a different screw from his own supply.

 

Free Wifi is offered in most RV parks and if there are repeater towers throughout the park you can get it inside your RV. However, if you are surrounded by tall RVs, or if you don’t have a line of sight, the reception might not be good. A Wifi extender mounted onto the roof of your RV will amplify the incoming signal and you’d be amazed at the bars on your device. It has its own router and you need to set it up which is outlined in the easy to follow instructions. In the inside of your RV you need to find a suitable spot where to mount the router and connect the wires with the outside antenna. We’ve had good experience with all of the Wifi extenders on our previous RVs and got one for our new travel trailer. This one is the newest model from (here is the Canadian link to Wifi-Camp-Pro2) version 2. (USA link: Wifi-Camp-Pro2) the TSM-B1&TSM1 stainless mount: Accessories & Blue Sea Cable Clam Of course it works also wherever free wifi is offered and you get a good signal even when sitting in a parking lot. The antenna folds down when you travel.

 

Our new travel trailer came with a flat screen TV as most RVs do. What good is it if you hardly get any channels? The Jayco trailers were equipped with the crank up Winegard antennas and we were very happy with them. When we turned on our TV at this new travel trailer we only got a handful, if at all, stations after running a scan. How disappointing. The on the rooftop mounted Winegard Air360 sat next to the air-conditioning unit and it is very low. The decision was made to order a Winegard Wingman type antenna and to remove the one that came with the camper. Easy said but more problematic to do. The roof mounted Winegard Air 360 had to go as it was plugging up the roof Real Estate and we needed room for the new Winegard Sensar IV wingman antenna, because when cranked down it needs a 4-foot space lengthwise. Removing the Air 360 was a bitch, it was screwed and glued down with tons of Dicor. To remove Dicor it is advised to do it above 80F and to use a heat gun. Right, coming Sunday is the 1st November and we are up in Canada. Benno made the decision to use the Dremel Multi Max oscillating tool to slice the Air 360 off right above the mounting ring. With some shims and the heat gun he managed to lift a small section of the still left mounting ring from the roof membrane without damaging the membrane. The Dremel Multi Max tool then cut that section of the mounting ring out, which gave enough space to install the new Winegard wingman antenna. If and when it warms up again Benno will remove the rest of that mounting ring. My poor hubby was all frozen from being up there on the rooftop in the wind and cold temps. But the best news of all is, that after completing a new scan we had 50, (that is FIFTY!) HDTV channels broadcasting at that time and most of them with an excellent picture quality. I think this new antenna was a truly good investment!

 

And finally I would like to ask my fellow RVers if you have made any changes to your RV entrance door locks. We had added a deadbolt on our Jayco travel trailer, but those will not fit our present travel trailer door. As you know almost every RV can be opened with the so-called master key, (if there is an "M" punched next to your door's key hole) carried by all RV dealers and their salesmen and who knows who else. Any suggestions?

 

 There might be a few more personal additions to our RV, like the mirror I wanted next to the entrance and I'll post them once a while.

Thanks for dropping by again.

Comfort Food For A Rainy October Day

We knew of the change in weather for days thanks to the forecasts in the media, so Benno made the best of the terrific weather we have had since bringing our new camper home to accomplish outdoor chores such as installing the vent covers on the roof.  He is right in his element, as he loves adding and installing things to make life more comfortable and easier in and on our new home on wheels. The more technical the challenge is for an installation, the more enthusiastic he is to get to work. There are always add-ons on a new travel trailer and the dealers make extra money by pointing out various things of must haves that don’t come with the original package. I’ll be making an extra post with those items.

 

Today it is raining quite a lot here in our area and the temperature has been marching steadily downward since this morning with a threat of frost tonight. The drumming rain on the windows made me want soup for lunch. A quick look into our fridge to see what I could drum up and I had the idea to cook us a potato, ham and vegetable soup, refined with a healthy shot of whipping cream and a heaping spoon of sour cream for good measure.  No calories were counted and we both enjoyed this steaming bowl of soup accompanied with a slice of toasted Sourdough bread.

 

Lunch was a success but I was not done yet in the kitchen. After doing the dishes I got to work for our afternoon dessert that we have with our coffees. It is a German thing or practice to have an afternoon sweet snack of cake, cookies or some other baked goody around 03.00PM and Benno and I are fans of this tradition. My thought was that I should try to make some apple fritters. Yesterday I had made us each a German type apple pancake for lunch and there were four Granny Smith apples leftover that I wanted to use up. The recipe I found on the Internet sounded good to me so I followed the instructions.

 

Benno had been complaining that his long time favorite apple fritters from Tim Horton were now a disappointment since they didn’t contain any apples in them anymore. Let me tell you the fritters I produced sure made up for the absence of apples from Tim’s. So I guess when I make them again I will either increase the amount of batter or use one less apple :-). However, they were delicious! And, the accompanying freshly ground coffee was a hit also from our new Braun Coffeemaker we just purchased. We had a Melitta coffeemaker before that always annoyed me when it dripped coffee from the filter onto the hot plate when the carafe was removed. Both coffeemakers produce excellent coffee for either just one cup or a whole pot full.

 

Sadly, I think yesterday the last flock of migrating birds left our area for warmer climates down south. Lets hope we will do the same next year.

 

Thanks for stopping by and please stay tuned for the travel trailer add-ons and installations. 

 

Are we being optimistic, or what?

If you are wondering what we have been up to in the last few weeks, well actually a lot happened.

We sold our tractor for almost the same money we paid for it. In case you are speculating why we sold it so soon, the reason is the job was done, we accomplished what we had planned on doing at our own pace without being rushed, which would not have happened had we rented a tractor for grading and the movement of all that topsoil (30 ton). When we finalized the deal last week Tuesday in McGregor, which is not far from Windsor and while in the area, we dropped into Leisure Trailer Sales in Tecumseh on our way home to just have a look for fun at their inventory of new travel trailers. We should not have done this, because you know where this is going, aren’t you. It’s like looking at a new car or truck although you are not shopping for one and once you fall in love with a new model, you just got to have it.  So, of course as you have guessed it, we now are owners of a new travel trailer.

Leisure Trailer Sales had a “Grand Design Imagine 2600 RB” travel trailer that caught our eyes. Once we told the salesman that we had a very nice Jayco travel trailer at home that had received lots of TLC from us, they wanted to see it. The next day, Wednesday, we towed our 24ft Jayco White Hawk RKS to Leisure Trailer’s parking lot for an evaluation and it not only passed with flying colors, but I think the sales manager has already a potential customer for it lined up as he said he liked our trailer. (Here is a link to a YouTube clip of an Imagine 2600RB with a different interior layout) (YouTube)

 

I know we won’t be traveling south this winter, but my hope is that we will be able to take a leisure trip with this new travel trailer here in Canada next summer. In the meantime we can personalize it as we always do. However, this time there is less to do than what we had been changing or adding to our previous trailers. I guess the fun part is of figuring out where to store everything in this new configuration.

 

Benno will be busy and mess with installing vent hoods; water purification filters, adding a couple of new AGM batteries, a voltmeter, hooks, towel bars and some minor things etc.

 

And on Saturday as I was driving into Leamington, I saw those awesome balloons and kites. It was called: Kites and Lights with a special night light show to be viewed from your own car. I didn't have my cameras with zoom with me so these photos will have to do as they were taken with my iPhone.

Thank you for dropping in and everyone have a great day!

Garden Art

As much as I admire colorful flowers and beautifully landscaped yards, interesting garden statues and ornaments placed among them I find enhance the looks. 

 

In my August 1^stpost I showed pictures of some garden art that I had made. Those were pressure treated 4x4 cut off posts that we had left over from previous jobs around the yard. I painted them with paint from the dollar store and used different motives for each one and then added diverse types of tops to make them all unique. They got a final coat of clear lacquer to keep the paint from peeling and fading in the elements.

 

Last week I created another piece of garden sculpture from driftwood and pebbles that I collected at our little beach across the street. Northeasterly winds push the waves of lake Erie onto the shore and occasionally shove wood and debris onto the beach. Even whole trees have ended up there in past years and some of them are still lodged among the boulders and stones. So when I spot a piece of driftwood that I find interesting, I pick it up for perhaps a later use. 

 

When I discovered this long piece of driftwood that must have been a post in its previous life, I had the idea to hollow out a long slit in the center and to fill it with stones. The idea is simple, but the execution turned out to be a bit more problematic. Benno, my loving hubby, came to the rescue with his router and a specific router bit that was just the perfect size. So the credit for carving the perfect groove goes to Benno. I then painstakingly collected pebbles of various colors and textures that were all very close of the same size and thickness to fill the gap. To hold them in place I mixed two parts Casting Epoxy and poured it over, it flows like water, into the grove and onto the pebbles.  The finished project, complete with a wooden dowel as a support, now adorns one of our flowerbeds. 

 

Smaller pieces of driftwood I collected ended up in a vase that sits on a little table in our guestroom. 

 

There is not only driftwood at the beach, but beach glass can be found too. I gather mostly green glass and it seems to be in the majority of my finds. What to do with all that glass? Well, I fastened a dried up branch onto a piece of driftwood and glued little pieces of beach glass around the branch to look like leaves. It’s not a masterpiece, but it adorns the clematis flower that is climbing up at my shed.

 

Lake Erie can be quite fierce at times but when the wind is calm and the sun is out it sure is pretty and Benno and I have the yearning to be cruising again on one of our previous yachts.  Such nice memories!

 

This is the view onto lake Erie from just a few steps and across the street from our house.

 

Thanks for visiting and I wish everyone great days this September.

The dilemma of not enough or too much rain

In this post I am going to vent my frustration about the weather here in our area. It has been a very hot and dry summer. I love hot and sunny days, but when you have strenuous garden work to do then of course I would like some cooler temperatures. During the past weeks we have been working on grading the new property with topsoil. We got a second load of it and that was dispersed pretty fast with the help of the Kioti tractor. Then we raked the soil over and over to make it level as good as we could. That is a sweaty undertaking under burning and hot sunshine. 

 

Benno piled a heap of soil in the corner of the shed to use for a berm I was going to create at the end of the Northeast corner of the property, but we needed to level the ground there first because that is where the soil was dumped from the delivery truck. 

 

At the local hardware store I purchased edging stones that I had counted out from my other berm that I had made last year in the spring, so both of them would be the same in size. Then I worked on creating the shape and Benno brought over several buckets full of topsoil. It took more than we thought to fill it up, but that was ok because we had kept enough aside. Then we went out to a Nursery to purchase a large ornamental rock that we placed on top of the berm. We used our utility trailer to transport the rock and used the tractor to unload and to position the rock on top of the berm. The fun part for me was to browse a couple of local Nurseries in the intent to purchase a few flowers to plant onto the berm. I got another Purpleleaf Sand Cherry tree like the one on my other berm and dug out half of a Hosta plant from my garden that had grown very big to plant onto this berm. At the Nursery I splurged on a Pugster Amethyst, which is a purple dwarf butterfly bush and a dwarf hardy red Hibiscus as well as a multi colored Coneflower. Hopefully, by next year they all will look great after having been established. To finish off this berm I topped it with black mulch. 

 

This is the other berm I made a year ago

Next to the berm Benno dug out three large holes with a shovel that took him most of the day because the clay ground was so hard and dry. We had purchased three Emerald Cedars just like we have on the other side of our property and the rest of the soil we had left went into those holes as we planted these three trees.  

 

There was finally some rain in the forecast so I decided to start seeding all the freshly raked areas from the 50-pound of Turf Lawn Seed we had purchased. Of course not all of the bag’s contents was used but a large amount went onto the patches. Then guess what? Yes, we did get rain, but it was more like a torrential downpour that washed away or puddled all of my labor of the previous day.  It rained so hard and so much overnight that our wheelbarrow filled half with water. The newly planted flowers looked a little worse also but thankfully survived the onslaught. 

 

More reseeding was done with the promise of rain showers yesterday and overnight. IT DID NOT HAPPEN! Looking at the radar screen I saw rain clouds to the north and south of us but we got zero!! Now I have to figure out how long our water hose is and if I can at least water some of the patches and perhaps do the rest with the water can before all that topsoil becomes powdery dry and the seed flies off or gets gobbled up by the birds.  In the end we decided to add a full utility trailer full of brown cedar mulch to the shady area around and behind the new shed where grass is really not that useful. It looks good and smells even nicer.

Now if we get those grass seeds to germinate and grow I’ll be happy. 

 

Oh well and there was our sump pump, this is the sump from the seeping bed that keeps our house foundation dry. The float switch, which activates that pump, had a hiccup. It got stuck once awhile and needed some hits with a broom stick every other day to start the pump. Benno had enough of this, got a new switch from “Canadian Tire” our famous hardware store chain in Canada, pulled out the pump and changed the switch, but almost fell in to the sump head first doing this.  I heard him hollering me and by grabbing his belt I got him back onto the level of this earth. Throughout all of this excitement I forgot to take any pictures.

 

And this concludes my post about our recent activities and I’ll be moving on to other things.

 

Wishing everyone a great start to September.