May 27, 2023 - Chihuly Exhibit in the Missouri Botanical Gardens

Kelly's sister, Joan, bought us tickets to see the Chihuly Exhibit in the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Dale Chihuly is a world-famous glass blower and hailed as one of the most important artists of the 21st century. He has transformed glass into a multidimensional artform. Here are a number of his works displayed in the botanical gardens, some dating back to 2003. This is the first one you see as you enter. It is well over thirty feet tall with leaves of various green and yellow hues. 

These are "herons" in a pond. Not only are the shapes fascinating but also the stripes in the glass.

This piece is well over twenty feet tall and hangs from the top of the Climatron. It is made up of hundreds of individually blown glass pieces in multiple colors of white and blue. Amazing,

This picture gives a better prospective of just how massive this piece is. I can't image how they got it up there. My assumption is piece by piece.

These are reeds in the water. All were matched in color.

These are floating onion-shaped striped globes in the reflecting pool near the entrance.

This work is well over ten feet tall with some of the yellow pieces being over four feet long. Inside each red flower there is a bulb, which has to be blown separately and attached to the flower before it cools. I can't imagine how they assemble and disassemble these pieces and move them across country for various exhibitions. Where do you start?

As you walked the paths throughout the gardens installations would appear looking natural in the environment.

This work was called reeds growing out of logs. With the individual pieces being so close together this has to be a nightmare to install and keep them all straight up. The colors were all perfectly blended as well. 

This was probably my favorite piece. It is a tree around twenty feet tall and at least that wide. It is made up of hundreds of blown tubes in various shapes and shades of orange, yellow, and red. Again, I can't imagine how they transport this and assemble and disassemble it.

Walking through the gardens and taking in the glass installations was quite a treat on a beautiful evening in St. Louis. I can certainly see why Dale Chihuly is rated as one of the most important artists of the 21st century. No one else does this. Absolutely amazing.

May 22, 2023 - May 24, 2023 ----- We Had to Get a New WaterFurnace; Painting Church Hall Handicapped Lines; Getting Rid of the Last Tube TV

Two weeks ago we noticed that the air-conditioning was not working in the house. The blower and compressor would come on but no cool air. The thermostat flashed indicating a problem. I called Schumer Bros. and they sent Jeremy out the same day to look at it. Jeremy has worked on this unit several times over the years. The last two years the freon would be low. Once a year Jeremy would put enough in to make it work. Each time he did he told me we needed a new unit. This time when he checked there was absolutely no freon in the system at all. We now had a major leak. The system is 29 years old. The furnace has had the motherboard replaced, the motherboard "hotwired" for another fix, and freon added on a yearly basis for about four years. The unit is not worth repairing. While bracing myself for the cost of a new unit, I was shocked to learn that a new system installed would be $19,313.00. They indicated two weeks to get a new unit and a day or two to install it. There was only one unit in the warehouse, so I put money down to immediately get it ordered before some other company picked it up. The wait time for more units to be made and/or delivered to the warehouse was unknown. They said commercial units are running sixteen weeks out. Crazy!

Luckily the first week that we were without air-conditioning we were at the campout I described in the previous blog. We got home from the campout on Friday and they called and advising that they had the new unit at the shop and could install it on Monday if that worked. It worked just fine! It took them two days to tear out the old system and to put in a new one. They assured me that there have been many improvements over the last 29 years in the WaterFurnace and that our electric bill should go down about 25%. Also, upon installing this unit, we will receive a $5,000 federal tax credit on our 2023 taxes.  As of yesterday evening the new unit is up and running. Here is a picture. You can see all the pipes on the floor that connect to the underground pipes outside that heat and cool the house with a huge heat pump and heat the domestic hot water.

We had a new a/c-furnace unit installed in the house in Florida before we left and now this one at home. I shouldn't have to buy another a/c-furnace unit in my lifetime!

While the WaterFurnace was being installed on Monday I helped John paint new lines for the handicapped space at the Friedenberg Lutheran Church Hall. This small, historical church facility in Perry County no longer has regular services but it has a nice hall which is rented out to the public for various activities. John is on the Board of Directors and works hard to keep the facilities in top shape. The handicapped lines had all worn off, so they needed to be repainted. Here is a picture of the newly painted lines. Using a wooden guide John made it only took about an hour to paint everything.

I can't paint anything without getting paint on me. For this job I was using a roller on a pole. So while I didn't get any paint on me, I did manage to step in the wet paint and get paint on both shoes.

After the painting project we made a trip to the recycling center. We had a pickup bed full of recyclables plus I wanted to recycle our last "tube" TV, which has been in the basement for a number of years. It had about a 32-inch screen so it was big and heavy. John helped me get it in the back of the HHR. The recycling center will accept these TVs for a charge of $10.00 to get rid of the gas in the tube. I hate to get rid of things that work fine but no one would watch the old, pre-HD TV, including me. The impetus for getting rid of it now was that a week or two ago my daughter Alexa's friend, Aaron, gave me a 42-inch Samsung flat screen. It works fine but has a black line or two across the screen. Even with a couple of black horizontal lines it is a great improvement over the old "tube". Now I can watch something different while Kelly watches the cooking and baking shows in the evenings. 

We had purchased two recliners for the fifth wheel a couple of years ago and took out the loveseat-recliners that came with it. The loveseat-recliners have been in the basement ever since. I have now put them to good use. Here is a picture of the setup. Now if I could just watch TV without falling asleep!

My next focus is on finding a replacement truck. I only need a 1/2 ton truck for pulling the trailer with the lawnmower on it, or the golf cart, out to the lake and back. All the used trucks I have seen online have very high mileage. I hate shopping for vehicles that's why I keep my vehicles for a long time.

May 15, 2023 - May 19, 2023 - Carry-Yals May Campout

Background Information:

Carri-Yals is the name of the Illinois-Missouri chapter of the RV Travel Club, which originally was the Carriage RV Travel Club. The Carriage RV Travel Club was established in the 1960s for those who liked to travel together in their Carriage RVs. Local chapters were established for local campouts. The national club would have a yearly national rally which was only open to those who owned Carriage RVs. These rallies would be held at different places throughout the U.S. and consisted of several days filled with seminars, vendors, activities, and entertainment. When Carriage went out of business about ten years ago the club expanded to include other brands of RVs but the national rallies ended. The local chapters throughout the country continue to have local campouts and rallies. Through attrition over the years the Carri-Yals chapter is now down to ten rigs. 

Campout:

Rain was predicted for most of the week of our campout. (Campers are used to this.) Everyone arrived in Perryville on Monday and were welcomed by sunshine and cool temperatures. Kelly made chicken salad sandwiches, salad, and banana cream pie for supper. All were delicious. We had a nice campfire Monday evening with a prediction of heavy rain during the night, and we got it. I had left my empty cup on the table and when I got up the next morning it had an inch and a half of water in it. We had quite a downpour.

As it worked out Monday night was the only rain we received all week even though it had earlier been predicted that we would get rain every day.

Tuesday we had a guided tour of the Vietnam Memorial here in Perryville. This memorial is an exact duplicate of the one in Washington, D.C.

 

Everyone was impressed with the wall and the entire facility.  There are 58,281 names on the wall which is made up of 140 granite panels. There were 67 panels of names just in the year 1968. The youngest person on the wall was fifteen years of age and the oldest sixty-two. There are 160 Medal of Honor recipients on the wall. Interestingly three of the soldiers on the wall were killed by tigers.  Don pointed to a friend's name on the wall which brought back a lot of memories for him.

We then went for lunch at Stonie's Sausage Shop. In addition to making lots of sausages and brats they make many different, delicious meat sandwiches. We all had a very filling lunch and then headed back to the campground for cards and visiting. For supper we had a potato bake over the open campfire. There were lots of fixings to stuff your potato with so that you didn't go hungry. We had another great night for a campfire.

Wednesday we went to the Perryville Tractor Museum. This is a special museum because it is dedicated to very unique, limited production tractors. I don't know how much the ladies enjoyed it, but the men were fascinated with all the unique tractor designs and engineering.  Here is a picture of the only known threshing machine built in Cape Girardeau that is known to exist.

This is a picture of a "one only" Avery steam tractor.

There were many brands of tractors of various designs and colors to view. All of the tractors displayed are in running condition.

After the tractor museum we headed to Mary Jane's on the square for lunch. Everyone enjoyed a filling meal at this bar and grill. 

We then headed back to the campground for an afternoon of card games and visiting. For supper we had "Mike's Famous Three-Bean Chili", salad, and dessert. I made two batches of chili: one with onions and one without. It must have been good because almost all was eaten. Supper was followed by another nice campfire and comradery.

Thursday we drove to Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Park, North of Chester, which has a fantastic overlook of the Mississippi River from the bluff, the old fort site, and a campground. Chester, Illinois is the home of E. C. Segar, who created the "Popeye" character as well as all of his friends. We stopped by the Popeye Statue for a group picture.

We then headed to lunch at the Landmark Restaurant in Chester, which is an historic restaurant overlooking the Mississippi River. We had a great lunch and headed back to the campground for a relaxing afternoon. For supper we made pie iron sandwiches on the hot coals. Many had never had pie iron sandwiches before so they particularly found it to be a treat. The ladies provided lots of fillings to choose from to make your sandwich. The final evening ended with another great campfire and goodbyes.

Friday morning everyone departed for home on their own schedule. Our next outing will be in Marshall, Illinois, in August.

May 08, 2023 - May 15, 2023 - More Stuff in Homer, Selling the Truck, Repairing the Gas Grill, and Campout

Loading Homer:

The last two days I have been putting into Homer items we took out of Marge when we sold her. As I do this, I am taking similar items out of Homer to give to the thrift store. Homer's stock of drinking cups, electric frying pan, and campfire forks have all been updated. Electrical dog bone connectors have been added as well as a 50-amp surge protector to compliment the 30-amp protector already on board. If I run across someone needing a 50-amp surge protector, I will sell it reasonably. I really don't need two. 

I added the two heavy duty chocks I used for Marge. I had some cheap plastic chocks in Homer which I have never used. When parked Homer's transmission is in Park with the Parking Brake is engaged so I never worried about him moving. I think I may start using these heavier duty chocks as an added safety precaution. I added lots of disposable gloves for use when dumping the tanks and added another water hose and some connectors. Homer is well stocked for campground hookups. 

Sold the truck:

Last week I got a call from a Wisconsin car dealer wanting to buy our dually truck. He saw it on Facebook. We struck a deal and he forwarded all the paperwork by email. I completed my part and emailed it back. He immediately did a wire transfer to my bank account. He will send a transport company to pickup it up. I will mail the title once the truck is picked up. A slick transaction.

The sale of the truck is at a good time because Thursday, after a service call, we learned that our house furnace/AC is kaput. It is 29 years old and has been patched up several times over the years. We need a completely new unit. These are very expensive because we have a geothermal system. The basement unit is a giant heat pump for heating and cooling both. I signed the purchase order and made a deposit the next day so they could get a new unit ordered. There was only one in stock at the warehouse and it will be two weeks before the unit will arrive for installation. It is warm and very humid here now and will not get any better. If it gets too warm we can sleep in Homer in the driveway until the new unit is installed. (Mooch Docking in my own driveway.)

Fixing Our Gas Grill:

After grilling supper the other night, I noticed that two of the brackets which hold one end of the burners to the grill had rusted away. Upon examination it was clear there was no reusing the old burners so I ordered new ones. They arrived so I got busy putting them in. Since the inside lining of the grill where the brackets were spot welded is rusting out, I had to scrounge through my junk brackets to find something that would hold each burner in place. Here is a picture with the arrows pointing to the newly fashioned brackets I screwed into the rusty metal box. 

A big issue with this repair was getting the bolts out of the brackets at the other end of each burner which hold the ignitors. They were rusted tight and never coming out. I ground them off with my Dremel tool. With new bolts I could then attach the ignitors to the new burners at the manifold end. Here is a picture of the completed project with arrows pointing to the bolts holding the ignitor brackets.

The ignitors work as they should, and the gas burners fire right up. I'm hoping the grill will last another couple of years. Friday, after this installation was complete, another set of burners arrived. In looking at my Amazon orders I found that I accidentally ordered two sets. I sent one set back. Even though we have Amazon Prime I had to pay $6.99 to send them back.

Homer's Generator Switch:

Another repair part arrived, a replacement start switch for the generator in Homer which quit working last fall. I ordered the switch listed in the manual. Upon opening up the generator electrical panel to install it, it was clear this switch would never work. The switch I received is about three quarters of an inch wide by an inch long with five connectors sticking out the back. The switch on the generator is maybe 3/8 inch by 3/8 inch is actually part of the motherboard. The switch I bought was $10.00. A new motherboard is $250.00. I put it back together. I think I will do without this switch, at least for now.

Truck:

The truck was picked up this morning by the transporter and the title mailed. I must admit this is a sad end of a traveling era for us. We have been hauling a trailer around the U.S. and Canada sightseeing for over forty years.

Campout:

We are hosting a week-long club campout starting today here in Perryville. The hosts are usually responsible for campfire wood. I loaded the back end of Bart, now my little pickup truck until I get another, with old firewood I had here at the house. The weather has changed several times since we first picked the dates. It now appears that we may have some rain every day. At least the firewood will stay dry in the back of Bart. Periodic rain throughout the week will be better than it being so hot people can't enjoy the outing. It was that hot last year causing us to leave early. Kelly has several activities planned for the eight units attending and we have a pavilion to use nearby. We will deal with rainy weather.

Carpe Diem!

April 19th - May 5th, 2023 - Homer Out of Storage; Work at the Lake Lot; House Batteries Installed in Homer; Chest Project

April 19th:

Upon getting home from the Outer Banks we both contracted killer head colds. We did nothing but sit around and take over-the-counter medicine for a week. I checked and I did not have Covid. I still have a little residual cough and Kelly still has a stuffed head and cannot hear or smell.

May 1st:

Monday morning I started back walking at 5:00 a.m. with friends at the Perry Park Center. My Silver Sneakers card (which gets me in free) worked fine on Monday. Tuesday I was told the card was expired. I came home and got in touch with United HealthCare and learned that the first of the year they changed over to the "Renew Active" program. The lady gave me a Renew Active ID number. I took the number in the next day to the Park Center personnel and they made me a card to use to check in. I'm good until the next program change. 

After an afternoon trip to the recycling center, John and I got Homer out of storage. I keep Homer's three batteries on trickle chargers all winter in the garage. I loaded up the chassis battery and a few tools for the battery installation. With the battery installed he fired right up. We are hosting a campout out for our RV club here in Perryville the week of May 15th, so I need to get him in shape. The old boy looks pretty good, even without a bath. One of the great advantages of having an enclosed storage shed is keeping him clean.

May 2nd:

Tuesday we went out to the lake to cut the grass and mulch the leaves. In addition to the riding mower, I took out the push mower, which had been in the shop almost a year waiting for a back-ordered needle valve and for us to return from Florida to pick it up. There were a lot of large and small branches down on the lot from high winds over the winter. They all had to be picked up before I could mow. After mowing the golf cart fired right up so we took it for a ride before heading home.

May 3rd:

Kelly tested positive for Covid. It explains why she wasn't feeling well and couldn't smell anything. She called her doctor who called in the prescription for the medicine for it. The doctor said it may have been too late for the medicine to do its job. Anyway, Kelly is quarantined for five days. She is busy inside painting her current "paint by number" project.

May 4th:

We have several patches of dead grass in the lawn. It has been that way for two years and I was promised by a guy three times that he would reseed, etc. but he never did it. I decided to work on it myself. I scraped up the areas removing the dead grass, seeded with newly purchased seed, covered the areas with peat moss, and watered. I put down fescue seed so it will be three weeks before we see any grass. Seeding at this time of year means I will have to regularly water all spring and summer.

My "good" sprinkler worked fine Thursday night for an hour of watering. There was a lot of pressure in the hose so I had steady it with a rock to keep it in place.

May 5th:

Friday I turned the water on to the sprinkler and NOTHING. Water just barely drizzled out. I took the hose connection lose and found a little dark decayed matter at the fitting but not much. I looked inside, didn't see anything, so I thought I had the problem fixed. Upon turning the water back on - nothing. I checked the hose and it wasn't blocked. The problem had to be inside the sprinkler. I took it apart and found that it was totally blocked with decayed matter in the tube leading from the hose connection to the sprinkler head. After about twenty minutes fishing around with a piece of wire, I got it all cleaned out. I reinstalled the sprinkler and it worked like new. How could it work for an hour one day and not the next? 

After fixing the sprinkler I got Homer's house batteries are out of the garage to install. For much more battery capacity for our trip to Alaska years ago I purchased two six-volt golf cart batteries. Unfortunately, golf cart batteries are taller than a normal deep cycle 12-volt battery. Homer wasn't made for these large batteries. These batteries are a real pain to install because there is only a quarter inch of clearance at the top of the battery box and about a half inch of clearance on the side to slide them in. They each weigh about 75 lbs. I keep them cabled together to install because I cannot get to the back terminals to make connections once I start to slide them into the battery box. 

I have to use the two-wheeler to move them to the battery box. I put them on a milk crate with two layers of 2 x 4s under them to get them close to the correct height to slide them into the box. It is a very tight fit in width and height. Here is a picture of the width issue. There is a piece of angle iron welded on the bottom to keep the batteries from moving toward the electrical components. There is less than a half inch of clearance as you can see by the arrow.

The top is an even tighter fit. There is no way to tie them down so that they don't bounce going down the road. This was a concern since the terminals are so close to the metal top of the battery box. A couple of years ago I fabricated insulators out of plastic cut from a milk jug to go over each terminal to keep them from touching the metal top of the battery box. These "insulators" did not do the job. I noticed when taking the batteries out last fall that at some point one insulator burned through and the terminal did in fact touch the metal battery cabinet and spark, leaving a burnt mark. I fabricated heavier insulators out of clear rubber hose and installed them on all four terminals. They all worked fine but the front positive post is extremely tight. You can see in the picture the lack of space and the thicker rubber insulators I made. Hopefully they will do the job.

I still need to de-winterize Homer's plumbing before we start loading him up for the season. We have lots of stuff to put in Homer which we took out of the fifth wheel upon selling it. Most of the items are an upgrade of what is already in Homer. We will send lots of stuff to the thrift store I'm sure. This is all the stuff out of the fifth wheel laid out in the garage. The brown table and tubs will not go in for sure. Toolboxes, hoses, etc. will all find a home.

One known issue with Homer is that at the end of last season the generator would not start from the outside switch. I'm assuming the switch went bad because it did start from inside. The exact replacement switch from Onan is $39.95. Another Onan switch for newer models is available for $12.00. I ordered it to give it a try first. I don't see why it won't work because it has the same number of terminals. I'll get John to help me with that in a week or so. He's my "go to" guy for everything electronic.

Much of my time since coming home has been taken up remodeling a chest project for two-year-old grandson, Free, in California. I built a toy (possession) box for his older brother, Kellen, when he was about two. This box is a remodel of a cedar chest Kelly bought from a friend last year. It has been more time consuming to remodel this box than to make a new one. Once it is completed, I will post a picture. We will then need to make a road trip to California to deliver it. It will give us a chance to see the kids and grandkids out there. LOL