Counting the Days

Well, it has been about three weeks since I last made a post, and it might be another 2-3 before we finally get on the road again, so I thought it would be about time to provide a bit of an update.

The repairs to the roof where the lightning hit have been completed.  It was pretty minor, luckily, but it did toast the lead-in from one of my antennas, my desktop computer died at the same time, as well as one circuit of lighting, and my alarm system is not working.  I managed to get the roof work done before the weather turned cold and the snow arrived.  I presume we will get some more warm weather before winter arrives to stay, but at the same time the temps have not surged to the freezing point even in the daytime, so that may or may not happen.

The day before the first snow came, I arrived home in the late afternoon and the lighting was so good that I could not resist having a short flight and taking some photos of mostly neighbours houses.

 

Helicopter’s view – from the ground.

Helicopter’s view – from the air!

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Hailey has been busy ‘re-training’ the local mouse population, and is considering taking on some birds!

She discovered that she could make it from the deck railing to the roof of the truck camper, from there on to the roof of the garage, and from there on to the roof of the 5th wheel.  At least none of the local coyotes would have a chance at her there.

The fifth wheel has now been moved from it’s summer storage parking spot around in front of the house to it’s pre-departure loading zone.  The satellite internet system has been moved into it, so all my wi-fi now is coming from the rig not the house.

Almost needed another mortgage, but dug deep and treated the big GMC to a brand new set of top of the line Michelin tires.  That should keep it happy for a few more years.

Batteries have been removed from the truck camper, the riding mower; charged up and stored inside for the winter.

Not looking forward to updating Hailey’s shots at the vet prior to departure – she created quite a scene there a year ago, but so far they have not banned her – and her very short temper, sharp claws and teeth, very loud voice, and super-cat strength.

Had a slight slip and knocked my 4-5 y.o. Bushnell binoculars out of alignment back in July, so they only worked if you were cross-eyed.  Before throwing them out, I researched a bit to see if there was anyone that could repair them.  I found a Bushnell repair facility in Ontario that said they would look at them and give an estimate if they were repairable.  I sent them in prior to my departure for the east coast.  After a couple months of hearing nothing (they did sent a postcard to my home address), I e-mailed to ask how much it would cost if they were not too badly damaged.  Much to my surprise and delight, Bushnell sent me a brand new pair that were awaiting me on my return.  Nice surprise.  Buy Bushnell!!

Even though I have not posted in a few weeks, I could see from my Live Traffic feed that I was still getting quite a few visits.  Along with all the ‘regular’ locations where most RV’ers hail from, I see that I have had visitors from Warsaw, Poland, Sarajevo, Belgium, and Mexico.  Also a regular visitor from Sointula, which I happen to know is on Malcolm Island, which is off the north coast of Vancouver Island.  I know that because we visited there a few Novembers ago.

Doing my civic duty and reporting to the county authorities on a busted cattleguard on my ‘commuting’ route!

I’m getting really anxious to hit the road soon, and most things are ready, but I still have one more likely flying job to do before we git gone. 

It makes it worse waiting when many of my fellow snowbirds are already on the move.  The Bayfield Bunch was last heard from in NY state, John & Brenda were hauling horses headed for Phoenix, Jean and Skip have made it to the Sedona area where I was last spring, and even Wandering Willy is about ready to hook up, even though he seems to have given up blogging, much to the chagrin of his readers!  He does keep up a presence on FB during the winter season at least.

So hang in there, we’ll be back on the road headed for some warm weather before you know it!