That Pool is Calling our Name

Why have we not gotten into the pool yet?

One of the appeals to this park was the presence of a heated pool and hot tub.  I thought sure we’d jump in shortly after arriving but no…. We’ve been here over a week now and we haven’t  had time to even take a dip.  What’s the matter with us? 🙂

Oh well….. one of these days.

Still Learning

We are still adjusting to the differences between this coach, our Serendipity and our old one,  Journey.   By adding two more slides, and larger slides at that we have really increased the internal cubic feet of living space — and altered the science of heating and cooling.

In Journey  two small electric space-heaters got us warmer than we needed to be — even in the coldest -20º days in Oregon.  But, by contrast the single back-of-chassis mounted heat pump could not keep up with our cooling needs once the temps hit 80.

In Serendipity the story seems sort of reversed.  The dual heat pumps seem to do a fine job on everything we’ve thrown at them.  But heating (without turning on the propane furnace) is proving a minor challenge.  We haven’t quite figured out how soon to turn on the space heaters and when the temps hit 55º as they did last night, and shall again tonight, we need a little heat in the lounge.  The bedroom stays pretty warm just with body heat and the heater doesn’t kick in very often if at all during the night there.   I think that we our air seal between the slide and the coach is not as positive as we had with Journey and there’s more cool air entering the coach than we are accustomed to — plus the fact that there’s just more inside space.

And so it is that another something disposed of during downsizing may make another appearance in our coach.  We’re looking at a lightweight queen size blanket — maybe today we’ll go out and buy one, if we can find one.  We looked the other day at Walmart and they didn’t have blankets!  Go Figure!  We have a lightweight but warm comforter that we have used for 3 years now with great satisfaction.  But this is the first time we’ve been consistently in +60º night territory and we would like a solution for those nights when the comforter is just too much.

In a house — you set the thermostat and forget about it.  For us, thus far, that hasn’t been the case with RV’ing — we seem to need to think about things a little more.  🙂  (Keeps us young and our brains more active I guess).

Jack Blocks

This area is supposed to have only 71 days of precipitation per year.  So, normally, water isn’t a huge thing here.  And yet, when there’s a lot of it the huge thing looms on the horizon like a creepy crawly monster.  And so it is that I’m re-thinking my approach to leveling jack blocks.

When we first bought Journey I had some 2″ X 8″‘s at home.  I cut them into pieces about 9″ or 10″ long and glued four sets of three of them together to make 4 – 6″ high jack blocks. (2″ lumber isn’t 2 inches, you know)

an example of a commercially bought Jack Block.  Mine aren’t that cute.

Serendipity has only THREE leveling jacks.  Not my favorite setup but it’s what she had when we bought her.  And with the tendency to softer terrain when it’s wet that we are experiencing here I’m considering using those old blocks for firewood and buying some 3/4″ plywood that I could cut into 12″ x 12″  squares and then glue and screw 4 of those together to give a broader foot upon which to exert all that weight.  Between the two of them, those rear jacks hold much of the 10,000+ lbs sitting on the rear axle.  I’ll have to see what I can get at Home Depot — or whether I should have them cut the pieces for me.  I think HD gets a quarter buck a cut — but I don’t want to go out and buy a power saw!  Pictures if we make a change.

So, today’s agenda is a little shopping and a little idea processing.  Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.