It's a Retro

 I said there might be another post... I didn't lie.

We did add another trailer to our collection of assets.

ON THE WAY TO NEW HOME

FINALLY HOME

How about a quick tour...

...O.K., you've seen it all, it is only 24 feet long from hitch to back. Now that we have teased, I'll show some more.

This is a small travel trailer, so there is limited storage which can be found under the bed, in the dinette seats, various cabinets, a shelf as one enters the trailer, and an outside side-to-side storage bay.

Unlike some of the older small trailers, this trailer has what is called a dry bath, vice a wet bath. The big difference is that the floor in a wet bath serves at the shower floor, meaning the toilet is sitting in the shower. Our toilet is separate from the shower...

All the appliances are made by GE, with the refrigerator operating on 12 DC electricity.

This refrigerator is the same size as the one in our Arctic Fox, 10 cubic feet. The difference is the depth of this fridge, it doesn't have the chemical catalyst hardware requiring part of the compartment space.

The bed is a queen that we can walk around... no climbing over each other at night. At the head of the bed is a little cubby on each side, and a nightstand, That nightstand is actually part of the outside storage bay. This is an inexpensive trailer, and the mattress proves it, so Carol and I will be changing it out to a better mattress.

The stove/oven isn't too spectacular...

... except for the lighting around the burner knobs. The sink is a farm style stainless steel sink.

The one item Carol and I noticed was the lack of drawers.

Looking under the sink was a bit of a surprise. The bottom left panel hides the water pump for the trailer, and the other side is currently wasted space, but that will change. I'm going to break the tour for a minute. 

I took care of the no drawer for silverware. Went on Wayfair and found this sliding drawer set up. By the way, the space below this slide out will become more storage after I put the divider in.

O.K., back on tour.

This counter and cabinet will probably be home for our air Fryer oven. The cabinet will be used for bathroom items and the trash can. At the bottom right side of this cabinet is the water heater. This area is suppose to be for the TV too, but we my not even worry about a TV.

The big windows on the trailer have black-out blinds...

It might be hard to see, but the item I like on this control panel is the option for running the water heater on gas, or electric.

The last part of the tour is the two batteries I asked to be installed, instead of just one, as originally designed.

The spot you see the batteries in now is not their current location. When I returned to the dealership to have them install the distribution/anti-sway hitch, we came across an issue... the hitch component needed to be mounted where the front battery box support was located. A discussion with the dealership rendered a solution that moved the battery box support backets further back (into the area of the photo that contains gravel). 

The tour is over, the trailer is now resting peacefully in a storage space at the park, where we can visit it anytime we want to. There are still a few things we want to do.

So.... what else has been happening here.

Carol and I continue to work our committees, not much venturing... and earthquakes. The last few days we have had a few earthquakes close to home. The first one was about 2:50 am, and sounded like an explosion to me. It was short, then there was an after shock about 3:06 am, not quite as bad. The next morning Carol and I learned that the park was only about a thousand yards from the epicenter; the first time either of us have been this close to an epicenter. Remember, I grew up in California, and made it through the Sylmar disaster in the 70's.

You are now up to date with all our fun.

Over Half Way Through our Stay

Let's expand a bit on what Carol has been doing as part of the Ranch House Committee. There is a list that looks for volunteers to coordinate events, Carol and one of our friends coordinated the events for January and February.

Carol and I found a website that lists days that different items are celebrated on (i.e. national pie day, national soup day, etc.). What Carol is doing is putting certain days on a dry mark board that the Ranch is going to entertain.

This is February's schedule of events.

In January we had celebrated chili day, pie day, chocolate cake day, and a couple others too.

CHILI DAY

POPCORN DAY

PIE DAY

REMNANTS OF ROOT BEER FLOAT NIGHT

There are a few of us newcomers that are trying to bring the Ranch alive again, and so far we are making some progress.

In between the events Carol has coordinated, she took time to do a couple of puzzles she found during ranch house clean up.

These puzzles are made of wood, and have unique pieces, but she had fun doing them. I myself was out somewhere on the park getting dirty. 

Last post I spoke about a leak that a couple of us repaired, and that was going to add a sign for it...

10 YR R.O. WASTE WATER LEAK MONUMENT

I also failed to mention a minor replacement project we needed to do...

Our original microwave was taking a journey down to replacementville, and we helped it along. The fan sounded like someone was warming up their NASCAR race car, and it refused to heat up above 300 degrees.

LEST WE FORGET...

BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS.

Its not on the event board, but we celebrated soup day.

The next event will be pizza day, it should be interesting.

Pizza day arrived, some of the cooking participants actually used their own, or Ranch House ovens to cook their homemade pizzas, while others used the skills of local artisans.

The skilled artisan pizzas ranged from Dominos, Little Caesars, to a frozen, throw in the oven style. On the other hand, the "several cooks" put their imagination to work.

The top pizza was an upside down pizza that started with the ingredients in the pan first, then the crust, and it was very good because the crust was not soggy. Carol on the other other (yes, intentional) hand chose to use slices of sourdough bread. She topped hers with pepperoni, cheese, and drained crushed pineapple. This recipe is a "no sauce" pizza, which made it easy to eat without fear of sauce drippage.

The pizza party was on a Friday. Around here a couple of days can make a total difference in the weather. Friday was a warm sort of day, colder after sunset.

Here we are on Super Bowl Sunday before kick-off. The snow didn't say long, but while it was here, it brought 30 to 40 mph winds from the north. That north wind flash froze any standing puddles. 

By the time for pre-game setup, the winds died down and the little amount of snow was vanishing. The snacks ranged from the usual chips and dip to gumbo soup. There were weiners wrapped in bacon, sausages wrapped in dough, and black eyed pea and ham soup. We weren't lacking for snacks. All I needed was for the 49er's to win... again... not this time.

I'm off to read water meters. I'm sure there will be one more post before we leave.

Where Are We Now

 Where are we now is a great question for me as I climb the trees to hang Christmas lights and garland. Part of the lights I hung when I first got here.

The day has come to begin setting up for Christmas, that meant hanging ornaments and popcorn garland. But before I started that, I took down an old bird nest.

After doing a little more trimming of small branches, it was time to hang stuff. Carol was my go-to person while hanging the ornaments and popcorn garland.

The popcorn garland was fun to make. Most of you out there may be able to see that the kernels are made from spray foam. They started out as lumps of foam, and when they hardened a little, I combined two lumps together to form a kernel. Night time will be our proving ground, determining if we need to move item around.

WE'RE BACK.

Besides preparing for the Christmas season, I did a little maintenance around the park while Carol was trying to organize the Ranch House. One of my projects was repairing an opening under one of the kitchen sinks. 

A fitting leaked for quite awhile causing damage to the shelf and drywall. After the leak was repaired, they left a hole in the wall. The mice enjoyed the free run of the area. The shelf was also repaired, by someone else. 

Before the repairs were completed we had traps under the sink... we caught one... the others learned from that lesson. One of the leaseholders had the doors open and was watching for mice, and what a spectacle he did see... the mice no longer ran along the cabinet floor, they jumped from bottle lid to bottle lid making their nightly runs.

Part of the reason that I have not been writing has to do with the committees we both have joined. I joined the Water Committee, Building and Safety Committee, and the Storage Committee. Carol on the other hand became part of the Audit Committee, Ranch House Committee, and the Lot Transfer Committee.

As part of the Water Committee I have the responsibility of metering park water usage, and conducting repairs and maintenance on the water system. My first action was to repair the door security to Well House #1, accomplished, and lookin' good. Talking with other committee members, I learned of a leak in the reverse osmosis (RO) water system, that has been leaking for ten years.

This was a fun project that no one wanted to take it on. The stand pipe was becoming a stalagmite with all the mineral build-up over the ten years. Getting to the point in the picture took some work. There was a thick layer of minerals that acted like concrete, which took a sledge hammer to break up.

A co-leaseholder and I made short work of the repair, and created a monument to the repaired leak. I have made a sign that reads "10 YEAR RO WASTE WATER LEAK MONUMENT", and plan to mount it next time I do meter readings.

Part of the water system at the park is a collection pond for waste water treatment. It appears to be a short stay resort for some of our feathered friends...

We are just a rest stop on the way to somewhere else.

Carol and some other leaseholders are having fun organizing the Ranch House and its associated storeroom. They have enjoyed throwing away items that have been around for eons, and not used. This is sometimes a point of contention with a few of the leaseholders that have been here a very long time.

When we first leased the lot, we were going to put it in the rental pool so that visitors could stay when they are in the area. After doing the improvements, we decided to remove it from the pool, and with that came making a temporary fence.

Look at the middle of the picture, you will notice some cinder blocks and fencing material. It will be moved to the front of the lot when we get to travelin' again. 

These are photos from one of my mornings during meter reading duties. Working around the ranch, pleasures can be found...

This owl is one of several that constantly visit the ranch, this is behind the Ranch House. Most nights we can hear them in the trees near our lot. We are waiting for spring to get closer, then we should see more varieties of birds coming around, and butterflies too.

Maintenance on the rig is a never ending joy to, but must be done cautiously with the wind around here. This next task isn't affected by the wind...

What you are looking at is the temperature and pressure relief valve for our water heater. The constant leaking made a mess on the outside of the trailer. It is my fault that the valve got this way. In checking our water heater anode, I failed to ensure there was an air gap in the water heater. When water heats, it expands, and ultimately forced out the valve. The fix is a simple one, just replace the valve. To ensure this doesn't happen again, I need to ensure there is the required air cap in the water heater. No, I haven't replaced the valve to date, but I do have the new valve.

We discovered this tequila while shopping at Albertson's. It is really smooth goin' down. 

We have visited the local winery about four miles down the road. The winery holds various events which we have attended, some better than others. One item I found that I like is an uncured bacon jam. I have used it on top of my steaks. Yes, they do have wines that Carol and I enjoy, so we bought a couple of bottles. As usual, I purchased their port wine, both varieties which were in limited stock. One of the ports was $75.00 for the bottle, they only had three left; I only bought one of each. The people here are nervous about spending $75.00 on a bottle of wine, especially if they can't taste it.

The last event we went to was a couple of comedians. At this event they were serving pulled pork in several forms, I ordered the pulled pork nachos, and a bottle of port (the expensive stuff). I was going to get Carol's favorite, but they were out of stock. I was kidding with bartender about my nachos being no-charge since I bought the expensive port wine... he said sure, so I had nachos-on-the-house. The comedians were so-so, too much foul language. The port I bought was part of the remaining two from the previous bottles in stock, now there is only one.

DO NOT GET TOO EXCITED ABOUT WHAT I AM ABOUT TO WRITE.

We, probably more me, have been discussing the option of a second trailer for short stay trips and traveling to regions where the roads, and park spaces are narrow, or small. A good example of small is California state parks, which can only fit rigs up to 32 feet. An example of narrow, the roads in New England.

We are looking into trailers in the range of 24 feet long. This is one of the trailers on the list, a Riverside, Retro Elite. This one has peeked our interest, and is in the range of what we want to spend. Should we get a new trailer, I will let you know, with pictures.

Later folks...