Good morning, my friends. It was a slow day at the Three Cats Ranch yesterday. Almost nothing was accomplished, although I redeemed myself late in the afternoon by finishing up the Joyful Journey block.
Finishing this block was my goal for
so I'll link up there when the party starts after Thanksgiving.
Even though the day had gone smoothly, I still found myself wiped out by the time I got home. I took a nap after lunch. When I woke up, the kitties had barely moved.
There was time for sewing, but honestly, I just didn't feel like it. I'd missed my slow-stitching in the morning, and so I worked on that for a bit. At some point, I realized that if I just sat and stitched, I could finish it off. That seemed like the best use of my time, and so that's what I did, neglecting both the green art quilt and the Ties & Tails quilt. Oh well. They'll get some of my time today.
With the Joyful Journey block finished, I readied the next Kitten block...this one:
Still here? Okay. You might recall the last time we tried to take the fifth wheel on a camping trip. We arrived to find we had a major electrical problem. It was too cold to be without electricity on that trip, and so we drove to the Oregon coast and back all in a single day. There was no camping involved whatsoever. Mike spent several months last summer locating and repairing the problem. It was a huge job, and it involved removing the entire underbelly from our 36-foot fifth wheel. When he had it finished and everything was working properly, he moved it approximately 30 feet to its usual parking spot.
Fast forward about six months, and we had another camping trip planned. It was something like a shake-down cruise. With a three-month trip planned next spring, we want to be sure everything is working properly. Camping in Oregon in November is highly undesirable, but it seemed like a good opportunity to check that the electricity was working. Forced relaxation would be an added bonus.
So, he brought the fifth wheel up close to the house and plugged it in. Instantly, a circuit-breaker was tripped. No matter what he tried, it tripped instantly every time he restored the power. And WTF? It hasn't been moved since the beginning of August. It was working properly when he parked it. So what possibly could have happened between then and now? Well. I can tell you that we expect mice have been up to their dirty work of chewing through a wire somewhere...mice or squirrels. And, honestly, this is the bane of every RVer's existence. Mike has worked very hard at plugging all the holes to keep rodents out, but they continue to find ways to get in and do significant damage.
Okay, so that totally bummed me out. It isn't even my problem, and I'm not sorry we aren't going camping. I'm just feel badly that poor Mike put in so much work this summer, and now, it's as if he didn't do any of that. This is a different problem from before, but it's still going to take some time to find the break in the wiring. And he won't even know the extent of needed repair until he can find where the short is occurring. Heavy sigh.
Here's the thing about RVing. We both love RVing. There is much to love about RV travel. Mainly, I love that I can travel without ever actually leaving home. All of our stuff is in our home on wheels. We sleep in the same bed every night. I can cook our meals, and so we're not eating in restaurants for every single meal. Our home on wheels contains nobody's dirt but our own. Still, when people consider purchasing an RV and ask us for advice, we tell them honestly...if you're not good at fixing things, RVing is not for you. It seems as though something is always broken. Mike is particularly gifted in that way, and, fortunately, he understands electricity. I'm just so sorry he has to go through this again...in crappy weather this time. It has to get fixed before March 1st, and so he'll have to diagnose and repair the problem come rain, snow, or high water.
Okay, so if you read that tale of woe, thank you. It'll get fixed. This is a first world problem, and it's terribly self-indulgent to feel sorry for ourselves when folks are getting bombed into oblivion in other parts of the world. This too shall pass. And we'll plan another camping trip when this newest problem is fixed.
As for the rest of the day, I'm going to try to get my chin up. Now that I have the proper fabric, I can get a start on my art quilt. And, I'll get back to my quilting. I'm hoping to finish up the final three cats today.
12 comments:
The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair. ~ Douglas Adams
I'm so sorry you are having problems with your fifth wheel. We sold ours during the pandemic. It had problems with leaks, hubby hated the maintenance and cleaning the roof, etc. It was a pain in the back side. I do miss camping though. We didn't really go far, mostly TN state parks and private resorts near the Smokies. But the maintenance just about did hubby in. We've talked about getting a smaller Airstream, because he hopes the exterior maintenance won't be so bad. And hopefully it wouldn't develop cracks like the fifth wheel did in the front cap from freezing and hot temps. Who knows what we will do. I hope Mike finds the problem quickly and doesn't have to spend all winter working on it. Take care and have a great weekend!
I'm with you for the long haul, so read it all. Poor Mike! I hope he finds the problem quickly. Too bad somebody hasn't invented wiring insulation and hose material that tastes yucky to rodents. My husband and I never had an RV, but used to put hardware cloth on the underside of our car when we parked it at the trailhead for long backpacking trips. The main worry then was marmots. Dot
Your Joyful Journey blocks are glorious... I adore them! And sometimes the journey is not so glorious... is there a block for that!?!? LOL
Poor Mike after all that hard work.
it is a pain, it is always one problem after another - it has gotten to the point that although I miss the campgrounds and finding one beautiful river after another I now as we get older prefer finding airbnb's to stay at - pricier but really when you think of all the expenses with the camper -the gas, insurance, fixing things - it is not that bad as I no longer want to be gone weeks on end as I get older.
Oh how well I feel Mike's pain! Living rural, those scoundrels think they own everything! I sold my 30' hitch pull a few years ago and miss it terrible. I found that certain sprays applied to the underside greatly reduced varmint damage. I am now searching for the perfect 21 or smaller trailer. There are some great styles available now for rugged camping, which is my favorite type.
Love your latest KS stitchery. I taught my daughter cursive and her elementary teachers gave her extra credit for her efforts. She is almost 40.
Heading out to Albany's Veteran parade. We have an 100 QOV ceremony after the parade.
Sorry for the snafu that canceled the camping trip and hope that Mike can isolate the problem quickly. On a happier note, I made your Baked apple and blueberry oatmeal to take to my quilt group's sew day and it was a big hit. The only complaint was that it needed a dollop of whipped cream.
Pat
Sorry to read about your 5th wheeler woes, and having to cancel your next planned trip. Maintenance is certainly a big thing when you holiday on the road. We recently had our caravan window leak fixed, this had caused the indoor wall covering to bubble so we knew there was a big problem.
*shakes fist at squirrels* Something chewed through the windshield washer line on my car this summer - those little jerks are so cute, but so naughty! My parents drove 5 hours south with their little camper this fall only to find out that what they thought was a bad tire was actually a nearly busted axel! An axel that was the wrong one that had been installed by a previous owner. They had to leave it behind, packing all they could into the car, cancel the trip, and wait for it to be fixed because no way can my dad (quite handy, as your hubby is) can fix THAT along the side of the road! Good thing we're quilters and can pour our frustrations into stabbing things many, many times! I hope you get the camper situation figured out quickly. Something easy. (Because it is almost never that!)
How frustrating! Hope Mike can locate problem and fix it quickly. Joyful Journey is looking good, those are such fun blocks. Hopefully there are no more non-fun surprise for a while.
How disappointing and frustrating not to mention expensive. Lovely stitcheries.
Pretty group of blocks. I'm not sure how I missed seeing these the first time through. Anyway, thanks for linking up.
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