March 2nd - Hail Storm - March 3rd - Exercising Marge's Generator and Battery Maintenance

March 2nd:

At 7:30 p.m. we had a hail storm at the house. It was nickel size hail which really came down hard. We thought it was going to break some windows but luckily didn't. Here are a couple of pictures of the hail on the deck after it stopped.

March 3rd:

Today we checked the truck for hail damage but luckily didn't find any. I hate that my most expensive vehicle has to sit out at times like this but our garage just wasn't designed for a crew cab dually truck.

I then headed over to the storage shed to exercise the generator in Marge and charge the batteries. I do this once a month to keep both in top shape. When I first start her up she blows a little black soot as the choke gets the idle where it needs to be. Once she warms up the smoke stops. Here is a picture.

I have adjusted the carburetor so that at idle, without a load, the generator puts out about 130 volts. I have a plug-in voltmeter nearby that helps me monitor the voltage output. Here is a picture of the meter showing the generator running with no load.

The plug next to the voltmeter is for powering the charger/converter nearby. The converter/converter converts the 120 volt AC to 12 volt DC for all the house lights and charges the batteries. Nearby there is a battery cutoff switch which kills the batteries when the RV is not being used. Without this switch installed phantom loads will drain down the batteries in just a few short weeks. Here is a picture of the set up.  The red box is a voltmeter I installed that shows me the condition of the house batteries and the generator battery when being charged and when resting. The cutoff switch is the red lever below the red box. On the left of the picture is a silver box which is the charger/converter.

Upon the generator getting up to speed and generating electric the charger/converter kicks in and starts putting a bulk charge on the batteries. Here is a picture of the voltmeter with just the charger/converter drawing power from the generator. It pulls down several volts.

Once the generator motor is warmed up I put a half load on the generator by running a 1500 watt space heater. When exercising the generator you want to not only run the motor but also put a half electric load on the generator so that the electrical windings all stay in good shape. Here is a picture of the heater I sit outside on full power to put a load on the generator. 

The generator is a 4000 watt model. The 1500 watt heater and charger/converter provide a half load. Here is a picture of the voltmeter with both the heater and converter/charger running.  122 volts is perfect.

When we installed the generator some years ago we installed its own battery. The thought being that if the house batteries went dead and the generator was connected to them we then couldn't start the generator to charge the batteries.  I could have gotten by with a lawn mower battery but opted to spend the extra money to get a car battery with plenty of reserve power. Here is a picture of the generator battery box which is located above the generator fuel tank near the generator. I checked the water level in it today while I was exercising the generator. It is good to go.

While the generator continued to be exercised I checked the condition of the house batteries. Some years back I opted to install two 6 volt golf car batteries in lieu of one 12 volt deep cycle battery. Golf car batteries have a lot more plates which converts to a lot more electric storage capacity. I had room in the battery compartment for two batteries. Here is a picture of the current batteries. This set is about two years old.

While the batteries fit in the compartment, there is not a lot of room on top to check the water levels periodically. I use a little mirror that I shine a flashlight on to see how much water is in each cell. If water needs to be added I have a little bottle I can get up in there.  Here is a picture of me checking the water level today with a flashlight. All cells were good.

RV generators require maintenance and regular attention. We don't use the generator that often but when we do it is invaluable. We used it the most ever on our trip to Newfoundland last summer. On one part of the trip we were in an RV park with no hookups for five days. We ran the generator several hours each day to charge the batteries and charge our cell phones. Even with that usage we only put 59 hours on the generator all year. We also use it when we pull into rest areas or truck stops to microwave a meal while traveling or when staying at a Cracker Barrel or Walmart overnight.

Having a generator in a fifth wheel trailer is a luxury so we don't mind the extra maintenance.

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March 2, 2020 - Last Chemo Treatment - Let's Go RVing!

Today I had my last chemotherapy treatment. It has been a long eighteen weeks, particularly since it dashed our wintering in Florida this year. I received a certificate from the Siteman Cancer Center. Here is a picture of me outside with the certificate as we head home.

Here is a close-up of the wording of the certificate for those interested.

They also gave me a very nice metal "Survivor" key chain. Here is a picture of it. It is the size of a silver dollar.

I go back on April 13th for a CT Scan, blood work, doctor visit, and to get my next hormone therapy shot. My doctor said the CT Scan will give him a baseline for the future. My PSA is once again negligible, like it was after my operation four years ago.

With the CT scan and hormone therapy dates lined out I can now buy a ticket to fly out to California to see my new granddaughter who is due to arrive on April 12th. Kelly is flying out on April 4th so that she is there for the big event, as she was last time. I will stay four or five days and then we will both fly home AND MAKE PLANS TO USE THE RVs!!!!!!!

We have a Carri-Yals rally in Illinois at Rend Lake in May and another in Shelbyville, Illinois in June. We have made reservations for both but may miss the June rally if that is the time that Kellen can come to Missouri and go on an RV trip with us.

This year we want to spend about a month doing the "Michigan Circle". It is a road trip around Lake Michigan, half in Michigan and half in Wisconsin. We also want to spend some time visiting our Michigan friends (from the RV park in Florida) while we are up there. As soon as we establish Kellen's summer vacation time we can begin to make plans and reservations. We have friends we met at the Alburqueque Balloon Fiesta that may be able to make the trip with us. It will be great fun and a chance to see a part of the country we have never seen before.

Kellen said he didn't want to spend the entire summer with us as he has for the last several years. He wants to spend some of his summer vacation with his buddies in California. We understand that, although we don't like it. At thirteen grandma and grandpa clearly aren't the "draw" they used to be. He is a good traveler and I know he has enjoyed all the places we have taken him over the years. Hopefully many good memories for him as I know our memories with him are special.

I'll keep you posted as our plans materialize.

Tomorrow, or the next day, I will go to the storage unit and exercise Marge's generator. I'll take a few pics of the process. It is boring to just sit there while it runs under half load for at least forty-five minutes. I have been thrilled at how well it has been running since I adjusted the governor (which many suggested only a certified generator mechanic should do.) I obviously ignored their advice. You will recall we had some issues with it in Alburqueque at the high altitude as well as a gas line leak. When I get Marge home I will need to change the generator oil and oil filter. An easy job but messy (I always manage to get a lot of oil on me.) She will also need to be dewinterized and the batteries checked out thoroughly.

LET THE RV SEASON BEGIN!

February 28th - Lunch for the Stranded Snowbirds

Kelly and I are members of the Carri-Yals which is a chapter of the national RV Travel Club. The Carri-Yals chapter covers all of Illinois and the Eastern half of Missouri. We have members from Chicago, Illinois in the North to Perryville, Missouri in the South.

Most of our chapter members winter in Florida or Texas. Several members, like us, were unable to spend the winter in Florida this year for various reasons. We decided it would be nice to get together for lunch in St. Louis, which was a central location for those attending.

We had a nice lunch at Tuckers South and had the server take a picture of the group that we could share with the others.

 
Our first chapter campout will be in May and we hope to see each other there again and those lucky chapter members who are enjoying warmer weather in the South.

January 15th-18th - Last Days in the Gulf Shores Area

On January 16th John and I drove to Mobile, Alabama to take a tour of the Battleship Alabama and the WWII submarine they had on the property as well.  My dad served on the Battleship New Jersey in WWII so it is always interesting for me to tour battleships and get a sense of what he experienced as a young man of 19 years of age going to war.  Here is a picture as we walked on. One of those smaller guns on the side was my dad's battle station.

Here is a picture of the teak deck with lots of metal patches. It would not have looked like that during the war. I don't know but I image the reason for the teak decks is so that they would not be as slippery when wet.

Here is a picture of the front deck. I remember my dad telling me that in good weather sailors would lay out there to get a tan and often lay out there at night to look at the millions of stars that can only be imagined from most places on land.

Here is a picture of the sixteen inch guns battleships are known for.  It took three powder bags to propel the 54 inch shell. Dad said the blast was so powerful that if two guns were fired at the same time they would roll over the ship. Hard to imagine. Also hard to imagine who loud they had to be.

Above you can see the chains running up the deck for the anchors. Here is a picture of my foot by a link to give you an idea how big the anchor chains are.

Here are a couple of pictures of the inside showing what a massive operation feeding, providing medical and dental car, and provide sleeping quarters for 2000 sailors plus marines going across the ocean was.

Only the Captain had spacious quarters. Here is a picture of his bedroom and adjoining stateroom for entertaining officers and guests.

This is a picture of his bedroom on the bridge. Believe me this is necessary. You climb a lot of stairs get from the quarters to the bridge.

Of course the ship had a barber shop with three barbers, a butcher shop, a bakery, a post office, etc.  It was a truly a floating city. If you ever get a chance to tour one of these ships be sure and do it.

While we were touring the battleship the ladies went shopping at the mall. Naturally they found some sales they couldn't pass up.

On our way back to the condo we bought some shrimp and they boiled them for us. Carlene made a nice salad and some yellow rice. Sue and John joined us and we had a nice relaxing supper at the condo.

On the 17th we just relaxed and made arrangements to have a late lunch at Fishers Restaurant on Orange Beach. Our daughter Annie had gotten Kelly a gift certificate there for her birthday. This time of year the place wasn't crowded and we had a nice relaxing afternoon of drinks and food.

Here is a picture of the restaurant which was a very nice place.  Upstairs is a higher end restaurant but it was not open at this time. We opted for the lower level anyway which was a much more relaxed atmosphere. (Who wants to dress up on vacation anyway.)

Kelly ordered a Margarita with salt and this is what it looked like. The salt was foam, which we had never seen before. Always fun to come upon something new.  I had a couple fancy Manhattans which was great.

This leisurely meal and drinks made for a great ending to our week. When we got back to the condo we bade John and Carlene goodbye. They were great tour guides since they have been coming down here for years. We then packed everything up and loaded the car for the trip home. We headed out at 5:00 a.m. The trip home was a little better than the trip down. It rained a lot of the way and it absolutely poured as we drove through Jackson, Mississippi. Upon hitting the Arkansas border though the sun came out and it was sunny the rest of the way home. We arrived home at 4:15 p.m., stopping only for fuel.

It is always fun visiting a new place.

January 14th - Foley, Alabama

In the morning we headed to Foley, Alabama to see the railroad museum, the medical museum, and the old time drug store there.

The railroad museum was in the old train depot. The depot was going to be torn down by the railroad in the 1970s when rail service to town stopped. Some people got together and moved the depot to another location where it sat for twenty-five years. It was then moved once again back to its original location in town and refurbished for a museum inside. The area is a beautiful park now. Pretty cool. Here is a picture. Where the vehicles are parked is where the tracks were.

Inside a building behind the depot is a model train layout which is quite impressive. It only runs on certain days and we were lucky to be there on the right day. We learned a lot about its operation and maintenance from a docent who comes down here every winter from New Mexico to help out.

From there we walked across the street to see the Holmes Medical Museum. It was the first hospital in Foley and established by Dr. Holmes in 1936. When the hospital was closed in the seventies they just locked it up with everything inside. Here are some pictures.

This is the operating room and sterilization equipment.

Here is a picture of the bed pan cleaning and storage area. Lots of different shapes and styles.

Here is a picture of the nursery and birthing room with an incubator which kept the baby warm with a 150 watt light bulb.

From there we walked down the street to an old time drug store that is still in operation with the soda fountain and all. It still had the screen doors on from the days before air-conditioning.

Here are a couple pictures from the inside. 

From there we drove ten miles down the road to check out the Escapees Rainbow Plantation RV Park which we heard about from our model train layout docent. The park had a clubhouse with a pool but we were not impressed with the park overall. All rigs had full hookups but they were just backed in on grass, no gravel or concrete patios. In the park were many homes with RV garages as well. A different vibe from most parks.

We then drove back to Foley to see the movie “1917”, which was different from what I expected but a great movie. I highly recommend it.

January 12th-13th - Exploring Gulf Shores

Sunday morning it was quite foggy. We went to church at “Our Lady of the Gulf” which was packed with all the northerners visiting. After church we went for breakfast in Orange Beach and then took a drive through “Gulf State Park”. It is a huge park with hundreds of full hookup campsites, cabins, a gigantic swimming pool, tennis courts, etc. We were surprised that the campground wasn’t full but many may be coming in soon. We were really impressed with the campground, the size of the campsites and the fact that other than the tents sites, all sites had full hookups. It is flat with miles of roads to walk and ride bikes on. Many of the sites are right on the canal and very scenic. After that we went back to the condo and watched the Packers win. Yippee! Go Packers!!!

Monday we headed to Pennsicola and had lunch at McGuires Irish Pub. It is a huge place, a block long, with a lot of  atmosphere. Here are a couple of pictures of the outside.

They are known for their huge plates of food and the dollar bills hanging everywhere. You can write your name on a dollar and hang it up. The waitress told us the last estimate was 2.8 million dollars hanging everywhere. Here are a couple of pictures.

We were seated in a room with a view of the 5,000 bottle wine cellar. Here are a couple of pictures. A few bucks tied up in there.

The food portions were large and delicious. A burger is 3/4 of a pound plus fries. Here is a picture of one.

Kelly ordered the special “Shepherds Pie”. Here is a picture. She said it was delicious but had to bring half home.

From the pub we headed down the road to buy some fresh seafood at “Joe Patti” to take home.

It is a busy fish market and one of many in the area. They give you number as you walk in like the old butcher shops. We bought shrimp, tuna, and flounder. We will have some good meals back home.

From the fish house we drove to the Florida-Alabama line for a drink at “Flora-bama Bar” which is on the Florida and Alabama line. It is a gigantic bar and an absolute dump. One form of decoration is bras thrown over ropes and pipes. Here are a couple of pictures.

We had a couple of beers in the main bar and listened to a lady singer and guitar player who was quite good.

We then headed back to the condo. We passed the evening playing a game and watching the LSU-Clemson game. Great day even with the foggy weather.

January 11th - Travel Day

Saturday we left Perryville at 4:00 a.m. for the ten hour drive to Gulf Shores. It stormed all night and luckily I woke up at 1:00  a.m. to discover that the electric was off. I got my cell phone and set the alarm on it. When we left the house the electric had still not come on. Upon driving out of the subdivision we realized why. A tree near the entrance to the subdivision had fallen on an electric pole and broken it. There were at least four Citizens Electric trucks out there and I saw one lineman installing hardware on a new pole.

We met Carlene and John at Rhodes, got a cup of coffee, and headed down I-55 in the pouring rain. The further south we got, the harder it rained. It isn’t fun driving in the dark in the pouring rain, especially when you have to pass 18 wheelers throwing lots of spray. At one point we drove by a tractor trailer laid over on its side in the median with its lights on. It must have just been blown over because there were no skid marks, no median damage around, an no emergency personnel on the scene yet. Scary.

In Mississippi, South of Memphis, traffic stopped all of a sudden without warning. Just ahead crews were working at getting Pine trees off the highway. It had to be a tornado a couple of miles wide looking at the twisted off trees as we drove through. Here are a couple of pictures. The first picture is the driving lane. The passing lane was open but we had to drive over a lot of small branches.

If we had come by earlier we wouldn’t have been able to get through. 

About a hour from our condo we stopped for lunch at Felix’s Fish Camp. 

It didn’t look like a place you would want to stop and eat but Carlene and John had been there numerous times and said the food was great. They were right. Here is a picture of what we ordered.

We arrived at the condo at about 3:00 p.m. and unloaded our stuff. A nice place. Our condo is on the ninth (top) floor. Here are pictures of the view off our balcony. We have never stayed in a beach front place before. I’m looking forward to sitting out there and drinking my coffee as the sun comes up (even if totally cloudy as predicted).

The surf was really rolling. John said this was not normal. The  thunder storms were obviously  churning things up.

It was a long day and after a night cap we turned in early so we will be fresh to explore the area tomorrow.

January 9th, 2020 - Headed to Gulf Shores, Alabama

Since there is no Florida trip this winter we decided to rent a condo for a week in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We are staying in the same complex as some friends from Perryville.

Unfortunately it does not look like the weather will be cooperating to allow us to walk along the beach much if any. We are driving down on Saturday with rain and thunderstorms predicted all day. Then it is supposed to rain every day we are down there until the day we leave. Oh well, the chances you take when scheduling a vacation. Hopefully it will be warm enough that we can sit on our balcony and watch the ocean roll in while we sip a little coffee in the morning and cocktail in the evening.  I hope to blog some pictures.