Today, some 47 years ago, I married my best friend and love of my life. We were just dumb kids back then (maybe dumb adults now) who've managed to remain in love for all these years. What a trip! From our first year of marriage spent on a little Japanese island in the middle of the South China Sea to our current RV travels, we've kept life interesting and moving along. Not without a challenge or two we've managed to raise two fantastic children who have in turn given us three beautiful grandchildren. This really is ... livin' the dream.
Speaking of challenges ... we've had a thing or two break around here. Recently I managed to drop one of my cameras leaving it with parts rattling around inside. Normally not a good sign but as it turned out, fixable.
We then experienced a water leak. Not just any leak but one in an area that is tough to get to and went undetected for sometime. The result is our tile floor is shot and possibly the underlayment and insulation as well. Since it happened behind our almost inaccessible refrigerator, I did mange to finally shut off the water source but still don't know the cause of the leak. I suspect a mouse but will find that out later when we get the coach into the shop. Of course this does put my vodka tonics in jeopardy as our ice make is now out of order.
We also lost our 12 volt system in the coach. I really didn't lose it but really it just quit working. With help from Bill and Charlie, we finally got it back in service. You might ask why losing a few lights in the coach was such a big thing considering we're normally hooked to reliable 120 volt shore power. Well let me tell you the about that ... without 12 volt power we could not flush to toilet. That little porcelain gadget has electrical components that control water and emptying so this wasn't a project that anyone would want to put off for very long. As it turned out it was the 12 volt master control solenoid that pooped out and a $30 bill and a little elbow grease took care of that. Thank heavens for friends.
The other day I got my very first ride in a Ford Model T. My friend Jerry, here in the park, brought his 1920 something Ford to South Haven ... a 75 mile drive on the back roads of Michigan. Several of our wives headed out for lunch so Jerry suggested we do the same ... so off we went with Bill, Hal, Jerry and myself to the Curve Inn Bar and Grill about 5 miles down the road. With the top down, the' ah hooga' horn blaring, no license plates, and four thirsty guys, we headed out. Waving at everybody who made eye contact, we were having a ball and enjoying the outing. After lunch we headed for downtown South Haven for a little sightseeing. I could readily see that this old Ford was really a great chick magnet. Though most of the 'chicks' were a little long in tooth, it was still a hoot to honk the horn and wave. As they say ... there's no fool like and old fool!
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| Looking over my shoulder waiting to get pulled over by the police and casting our fate to the wind. |
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| Here's what over 90 years of automotive development will get you. If old Henry Ford only had some of that pretty yellow paint we could like that Porsche Boxster |
About a week ago I was down near South Beach (South Haven) and the sky was bright blue without a cloud in the sky. Lake Michigan was as smooth as the top of my head and as I looked south along the beach towards the Palisades nuclear power facility, I saw this release of smoke from the reactor site about 4 miles down the beach. Thinking that this was Three Mile Island all over again, I thought I'd at least take a picture before I started to glow from the fallout.
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| As it turns out they probably were just releasing a little non-radioactive steam ... I hope. |
Still livin' the dream.
Phil
