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Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

Van_and_Terri said:
We are doing some projects around the house before our upcoming camping trip to Jetty Park at Port Canaveral, Florida. It’s a popular County Park which has a great view of any scheduled rocket launches. The cruise boats come and go by the park also. No trip there is complete there without a visit to Ron Jon’s Surf Shop.
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I poked around in your area, and there were still sites available --- that's pretty interesting. I know we're out of sprint break and snowbird season --- but in the past couple years, I've not been able to find anything except for months out.

I know here in Indiana, I booked my site that I have this weekend just tuesday. There were 2 sites at that time. I had a reservation at a local park too -- so I canceled it -- it was gone in a few hours.

I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Admitedly, we need to grow our camping friends, the campgrounds need customers. I know in my local tearjerker region, I'm probably one of the youngest. Of course why they still call themselves jerkers, I don't know. They all are in large bumper pulls now, or bigger. Once I saw the T@G, I knew classic teardrops were going to dwindle in popularity.

Back to population, the last 2 years its been nuts. When we started camping 2012 you could decide on a Wednesday to go, and there was a fairly good chance you'd find something. Maybe no ideal, but there were sites. I'd like to see a little more of that again, especially as our lives have gotten busier and I can't predict 2-3 months in the future. Plus, it sucks to have 1 weekend in 3 where its the only rainy weekend. Like tomorrow is shaping up to be.
 
I’m adding a mounted potty/shower/changing tent. Goal is quick deploy and put back.

My wife likes an easy potty situation at night and I’m tired of tying down and folding up the lightweight portable popup tent we have been using for a few years.

My real estate for mounting is limited with our Bunduawn awning and RTT. I’ll let you know how it goes.
 
Even though our old tires still looked almost new, our new ones arrived this morning. While I awaited the delivery truck, I made a batch of "baked" beans in the InstantPot for the Elk Burger feed at our airport at noon. The tires arrived shortly before I needed to head out to the airport to make the burger patties, so they had to wait until I got home this afternoon.

About a dozen fellow pilots and friends attended the pot luck get together to enjoy the big game burger one of the pilots flies in and shares with the locals several times a month each summer when he hangars his plane and enjoys his nearby lake cabin for the weekend. Good food, and great conversation was enjoyed by all, despite the steamy weather we stayed comfortable in the shade of the hangar door, assisted by a light breeze.

When I got home the tires were dismounted from the wheels I had removed from the TD yesterday afternoon, and the new ones mounted in their place. On a little cooler day I will remove the wheels on my 4x8 utility trailer and replace the weather checked 30+ yr old tires with the comparatively great looking old TD tires which are only 17 yrs old ;-). While I was at it, even though I'm sure the mileage probably hasn't reached quite 50,000 yet, I decided to resurrect an old rarely used auto mechanics school learned skill, and hand repack the wheel bearings, forcing grease in your palm from the wide side bearing opening, through the bearing rollers, and out the narrow top opening, slowly turning the bearing and repeating until all segments are exuding the new grease out the top.

I had ordered a wheel bearing kit a couple years after we bought the CI, to carry with us for emergencies, but fortunately hadn't needed to use it yet at this point. I popped out the grease seals on the back of the hub to remove the rear bearing, then cleaned both the bearings, and races with some mineral spirits , then inspected, and found no wear noted on either.

The seals were intact, but the rubber felt a bit brittle, and removal always has the potential to damage them, so I decided to replace them with the ones from the new kit. After cleaning and repacking the bearings, hub, and spindle, I went to put the hub on the spindle, but it wouldn't go on far enough to engage the castle nut on the spindle. It was then that I discovered that the seals I installed from the kit had the correct OD, so fit the hub just fine, but the ID was 1.25" instead of the 1.5" diameter of the shoulder the seal goes over on the inside end of the spindle. So now I am waiting for the new seals to arrive, but glad to have discovered this while the CI was at home, and not on the side of the road.

Next week is our annual BWCA fishing trip, with our maiden CI trip of the season the following week to the Highland Ridge Campground on Eau Galle Lake in WI, which will be a new campground for us, with several more planned for each month this summer. Nothing too far away, but fun to plan and look forward to none the less.
 
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dustinp said:
Even though our old tires still looked almost new, our new ones arrived this morning. While I awaited the delivery truck, I made a batch of "baked" beans in the InstantPot for the Elk Burger feed at our airport at noon. The tires arrived shortly before I needed to head out to the airport to make the burger patties, so they had to wait until I got home this afternoon.

About a dozen fellow pilots and friends attended the pot luck get together to enjoy the big game burger one of the pilots flies in and shares with the locals several times a month each summer when he hangars his plane and enjoys his nearby lake cabin for the weekend. Good food, and great conversation was enjoyed by all, despite the steamy weather we stayed comfortable in the shade of the hangar door, assisted by a light breeze.

When I got home the tires were dismounted from the wheels I had removed from the TD yesterday afternoon, and the new ones mounted in their place. On a little cooler day I will remove the wheels on my 4x8 utility trailer and replace the weather checked 30+ yr old tires with the comparatively great looking old TD tires which are only 17 yrs old ;-). While I was at it, even though I'm sure the mileage probably hasn't reached quite 50,000 yet, I decided to resurrect an old rarely used auto mechanics school learned skill, and hand repack the wheel bearings, forcing grease in your palm from the wide side bearing opening, through the bearing rollers, and out the narrow top opening, slowly turning the bearing and repeating until all segments are exuding the new grease out the top.

I had ordered a wheel bearing kit a couple years after we bought the CI, to carry with us for emergencies, but fortunately hadn't needed to use it yet at this point. I popped out the grease seals on the back of the hub to remove the rear bearing, then cleaned both the bearings, and races with some mineral spirits , then inspected, and found no wear noted on either.

The seals were intact, but the rubber felt a bit brittle, and removal always has the potential to damage them, so I decided to replace them with the ones from the new kit. After cleaning and repacking the bearings, hub, and spindle, I went to put the hub on the spindle, but it wouldn't go on far enough to engage the castle nut on the spindle. It was then that I discovered that the seals I installed from the kit had the correct OD, so fit the hub just fine, but the ID was 1.25" instead of the 1.5" diameter of the shoulder the seal goes over on the inside end of the spindle. So now I am waiting for the new seals to arrive, but glad to have discovered this while the CI was at home, and not on the side of the road.

Next week is our annual BWCA fishing trip, with our maiden CI trip of the season the following week to the Highland Ridge Campground on Eau Galle Lake in WI, which will be a new campground for us, with several more planned for each month this summer. Nothing too far away, but fun to plan and look forward to none the less.
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Thats a great story Dustin!
I can taste the elk burgers all the way from here!
Ya'll squareheads and scandy's of Far North of Normal also have the well earned advantage of catching eating fresh the best tasting fish on earth- walleyes!

Now, if only the skeeters weren't big enuff to mate with turkey vultures...no pain no gain.
 
grasshopper said:
Thats a great story Dustin!
I can taste the elk burgers all the way from here!
Ya'll squareheads and scandy's of Far North of Normal also have the well earned advantage of catching eating fresh the best tasting fish on earth- walleyes!

Now, if only the skeeters weren't big enuff to mate with turkey vultures...no pain no gain.
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Yes, the skeeters in the summer are normally a nuisance to say the least, and oft referred to as the state bird in years like this when a wet spring tends to produce a bumper crop. We usually spray Bifenthrin 7.9% insecticide around our home and yard, which normally controls them quite well for about 6 weeks. A second spraying at that point will normally finish out the summer months relatively bug free. Nothing is perfectly safe, but this is approved for use in food handling areas, and we use it both inside and outside, but not as a condiment ;-). Follow the instructions and precautions, and it works well safely.

The wiley walleye is our state fish, and will be one of the main objects of our attention in the upcoming BWCA journey. Hard to beat a fresh caught fish fry at the lake, and taking home a few for the freezer as well on the last day is a nice benefit too. I made some homemade wild rice brats a few weeks ago, vacuum packed, and froze them. Made some homemade pumpernickel brat buns this morning to take along to the BWCA to tide us over till the walleyes start jumping in the boat.:D
 
dustinp said:
Yes, the skeeters in the summer are normally a nuisance to say the least, and oft referred to as the state bird in years like this when a wet spring tends to produce a bumper crop. We usually spray Bifenthrin 7.9% insecticide around our home and yard, which normally controls them quite well for about 6 weeks. A second spraying at that point will normally finish out the summer months relatively bug free. Nothing is perfectly safe, but this is approved for use in food handling areas, and we use it both inside and outside, but not as a condiment ;-). Follow the instructions and precautions, and it works well safely.

The wiley walleye is our state fish, and will be one of the main objects of our attention in the upcoming BWCA journey. Hard to beat a fresh caught fish fry at the lake, and taking home a few for the freezer as well on the last day is a nice benefit too. I made some homemade wild rice brats a few weeks ago, vacuum packed, and froze them. Made some homemade pumpernickel brat buns this morning to take along to the BWCA to tide us over till the walleyes start jumping in the boat.:D
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Mouth watering!
Harvest them walleyes!
 
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grasshopper said:
Tour...I feelz your pain.
But think of the upside- more bigger tractor toys is good!

Thinking outside the box:
Maybe put it into CRP?
Does WI give money to ya cheeseheads like it does for for skandy squarehead farmers like me in the plains states?
Lemme see: $35/acte times 6....ya, nah.

Actually...Dustins got me thinking:
how about a deer feeder?
Everyone needs a deer feeder, amiright?

Or think of your neighbors in Necedah- everyone needs their own backyard range!

Feed the Henrys and
Harvest some burgers?

Am I a bad man?
Mods feel free to censor this post and ban me as required.
My pronouns are Win70-270 and Sig356xl romeo.
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I wonder who bought trailer 1022?
 
dustinp said:
... I made a batch of "baked" beans in the InstantPot for the Elk Burger feed at our airport at noon. The tires arrived shortly before I needed to head out to the airport to make the burger patties, so they had to wait until I got home this afternoon.
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I love the taste of elk --- I just wish (and some people think this is a good thing, I don't) with they had more fat. Elk is like rabbit. Too lean.

Best way I've found to cook it is over a grill, on foil --- splash of Worcester sauce, on a low heat --- adding your dry seasoning of choice --- tony chachere perhaps? Though I find it a little salty. Lowry's is a good choice too. We used to have an elk farm north of us, but they've gone out of business unfortunately so our supply of elk is a bit limited.

Few problems really scare me --- for some reason, bearings are one that makes me nervous to DIY. I've never done them. I need to check the manual I'm not sure when they are "due" --- I know I check for endplay before every trip....not seeing any problems but the last thing you need is to be sitting on the side of the road with that problem.

This week I need to track down a problem -- my right signal is acting flakey --- I'm not 100% sure its the trailer, I more suspect it is the socket and the plug on the trailer not meshing properly. My "test light" shows the tow vehicle is fine...I THINK the trailer works fine on my other car....THAT, along with a small campfire in the backyard, is on the agenda tonight.

Our area is covered in smoke --- apparently from fires in Canada. Last night driving late in the afternoon, visibility was quite low. You couldn't see details in the tree line at 1/2 mile....just a merky line.
 
Kevin said:
Sweeney your reference to hydrogen as fuel a few days ago is validated here, from Teh Grauniad no less...

I love electric vehicles – and was an early adopter. But increasingly I feel duped | Rowan Atkinson
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I scanned the article, I'll be sure to give it the attention it deserves later. But he hits my bullet points pretty much out of the gate. Government is hellbent on using a stick to get things done. They do far better with carrots. I HATE bureaucrats and politicians. Just because battery cars were around first doesn't make them the best idea. In fact, historically, the first to market tends not to fare very well. Look up Commodore, Tandy, Blackberry, Compuserve, and AOL. They all were unbeatable at one point....
 
Sweeney said:
Few problems really scare me --- for some reason, bearings are one that makes me nervous to DIY. I've never done them.

I need to check the manual I'm not sure when they are "due" --- I know I check for endplay before every trip....not seeing any problems but the last thing you need is to be sitting on the side of the road with that problem.

This week I need to track down a problem -- my right signal is acting flakey --- I'm not 100% sure its the trailer, I more suspect it is the socket and the plug on the trailer not meshing properly. My "test light" shows the tow vehicle is fine...I THINK the trailer works fine on my other car....THAT, along with a small campfire in the backyard, is on the agenda tonight.

Our area is covered in smoke --- apparently from fires in Canada. Last night driving late in the afternoon, visibility was quite low. You couldn't see details in the tree line at 1/2 mile....
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Sweeney I was frankly nervous too but after watching a few youtubes and RTFM, I convinced myself to DIY, after doing my homework. Like Craig says- these roller bearings are badically 1920's tech...

It was pretty straightfoward, using basic tools anyone can use, and thanks to the info here on threads and a fast call back on nervous questions from me to Cary/Craig, as usual - invaluable.

Sweeney- brother, If you can diagnose electrical and repair your Dometic, and your tow harness circuits, believe me this is childsplay.

Actually its do-able by ANYONE willing to learn a new basic skill.

Its Just a step up from changing out a flat tire, really...and sooner or later you are gonna need that skill, too.

Edit: i kinda blathered on here so I moved details to the more relevant wheel bearing thread...
 
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Back to basics wheel bearing grease. Bear Grease. Yes, bear grease for bearings.
What they used on the Oregon Trail on the Conestoga wagons. Or beef tallow.
I guess those wagon wheels were going WAY slower than 55 mph.
Not sure where to get the stuff. In a pinch, I guess you could use Mobil, Shell, or some other modern grease...
 
Kevin said:
Sweeney I was frankly nervous too but after watching a few youtubes and RTFM, I convinced myself to DIY, after doing my homework. Like Craig says- these roller bearings are badically 1920's tech...
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Youtube videos are definitely a ...questionable source. I don't truly trust any of them. Typically those are more to simply see what the internals before I start, and I never trust one -- too many people saying "I'mnot an expert..." then demonstrating the wrong way---like pressing a bearing in without the 2x4 or press...

Thanks for the encouragement :) --- My problem in life is that I over analyze EVERYTHING. "Tighten that screw" becomes "To what torque spec?"

I think the "worrisome" aspect to me is the "once you start, you're committed..." and the camper is now disabled and in the driveway until the job is complete. Inevitably (just my dumb luck) I'll have a stuck, rusted, cross-thread nut/bolt, or a missing part that leaves me 'broken down' the day before I need to be somewhere.

Cary Winch said:
Don't forget hand cleaner and paper towels/rags.
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Definately! Grey goo --- it just gets everywhere.

EDIT: OK, you convinced me. I just ordered a set of bearings and seals...I know it's inspect and lubricate, not necessarily replace. So at least I'll have parts on hard if I need them. As usual I bought extras :)
 
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