Out Here in Nature

I warned you that my posts would be sporadic (instead of erratic although it might seem that way to some of you). I've been busy at mom's working on projects around her place. Dad passed away 26 years ago so things haven't had the attention in recent years that they should have had so I'm trying to get things caught up to hold up for mom for a while. As I mentioned in the last post, I painted all of her porches and railings. I've also painted her garage and sealed the crack in the roof that was rotting out a corner of the front wall. My brother and I re-sided one of her sheds and I painted it. The other shed also needs new walls so Jim needs to get some more 4' x 12' sheets of OSB so we can do that one too.

In the most recent AARP magazine there was a recipe for a "natural" weed killer. Linda also looked on-line and found variations of the same recipe so I weed whacked the front bank, that runs the width of her property and applied this mixture:

1 gallon white vinegar + 1 c. salt + 2 TB Dawn detergent...mix and apply with garden sprayer.

I've applied almost 7 gallons of this around her sheds, on the bank, etc. Within about two hours the vegetation is dead. My brother applied this mixture in his bee yards and Round-up on some other areas(hiss boo....I hate that company for what it's doing to agriculture) so it will be interesting to see how long each lasts. The vinegar is supposed to make the soil inhospitable to any future plant life but I find that hard to believe (unless you REALLY soaked the ground with it). It certainly is a cheap mixture per gallon with a gallon of vinegar only costing me $2.38 and I would rather see the use of this as opposed to Round Up or some other herbicide.

Been working in the bee yard with Jim a few times to get me used to what I might experience when I'm at White Violet Center. Here is Jim pointing out the Queen bee on a frame from a hive. I thought I'd be nervous working with the bees but I really enjoy it. As Jim told me, they pick up on your movements and the fact that you are there to care for them. Move slowly and be careful not to squish them when putting the frames back in and they usually get out of your way. You also can tell a lot about the state of a hive by listening to the bees in each one. If they are agitated, the hive will be really noisy and louder than one that is more content. During the week when the temps were really hot here (in the 90's for a week), there were times when the the hives had "beards" on them. The bees hang out, outside the hive, to stay cooler. It's interesting to learn about the different things they do and why they do them.

 

 

 

Bee Beards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me Giving Sugar Water to the Bees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Been working with mom on making candy and jams/jellies. We've made currant jelly (with berries from her bushes), strawberry jam and jalapeño spread. Friday was mom's 88th birthday so she got the day off. She went with my sister to the casino for the day. Tomorrow we need to make another batch of jalapeño spread. She is gearing up for show season, which starts at the end of August. My brother gave her the show schedule so now we're trying to get enough jams and jellies ready for him to take there to sell. I've learned how to make the labels for her on the computer. There is an ingredient label that has to go on the back of each jar and then the identification label on the front. It's been a lot of fun working with my mom on these things. She says this is her last year for making them so trying to learn all I can from her while she's still doing it.

Linda B is with her sister and her family this weekend, at Raystown Lake. She's been running non-stop ever since we got home. Last week she was at her son's and then those grand kids came up to camp with us at Bucktail Campground, just about 10 miles from mom's place. We moved the rig from my brother's on Tuesday afternoon and brought it back to my brother's Friday morning. The kids had a ball on all the rides that they have at Bucktail. For about $62/night, everything is included. They have a carousel, train, miniature golf, zip line, 2 story tower with slide, huge playground, pool, etc. It's a great value for families that want to have things to do for the kids. Linda will come back from Raystown next Wednesday and go to her son's place in Wmspt to watch the kids, then bring them up to camp again next weekend. Busy...Busy...

She had a scary thing happen, last weekend, on her way back from her daughter's in Norfolk. She had called me in the morning, when she started driving up, to tell me there was a thumping sound under the car. I told her some things to look at. The next time she called me, around 11:30, she was hysterical and said the driver side rear wheel on the car had fallen off while she was driving through a construction zone. Luckily, there was minimal damage and the tow company fixed it but only after she sat for 6 hours at the garage. They had to replace the rim, lug nuts and bolts and bleed the brakes. Thank goodness she was going slow, through a construction zone, as she wasn't hurt either. Just scared pretty badly ! It still baffles me how the lug nuts would have loosened so badly on that one tire. I always check them with my torque wrench, after having the tires rotated, because I find that they tend to loosen up within a few hundred miles of being changed. I had just checked them not that long ago so it's pretty surprising to me that this happened.

Well I guess that catches you up to present. More jelly making this week for me and more time with the grand kids for Linda. Only a couple of weeks till I leave for White Violet Center. Hope you're enjoying your summer !

Decked Out....

I've been at Mom's for a little over a week and the weather did not cooperate with my first project. I told Mom that I was going to paint her three porches and the railings, when I came home. Mom and Dad moved into this house 27 years ago and the deck surfaces have never been painted so you can imagine how weathered the boards were. Some were in really bad shape. She has a front porch, side porch and a large back deck that was 8' x 20'...a total of 272 sq ft of surface area (not counting the steps). I used the Olympic "Rescue It" product and she picked out a blue color from the 100+ color choices.The railings are painted white. After several days of start and stop, due to rain showers or anticipated showers, I finally finished up on Thursday. Here is the the "after" shot of the big deck. In this picture, I hadn't removed the painter's tape yet from the bottom of the posts but the deck turned out really nice. Mom loves it. Her wood is protected and it will give longevity to it before the boards will need to be replaced. There is also a non-skid finish to the paint so it won't be slippery when it gets wet. I have a little area to do some day on the end of the deck. We had to get a trellis to support her clematis bush so I could get it away from the side of the deck so I can get in there and paint it. Won't take only but a few minutes to take care of.

Porches and railings painted....check.

Time With Mom

Linda and I covered the 2100 miles from Jackson, Wyoming back to Pennsylvania in four short days. We tried to get on the road around 7:00 each morning and pretty much drove until almost dark every day. Long days but it really helped that Linda and I took turns driving every couple of hours. When we got to Lamar, on I-80, we unhooked the car and Linda headed out for her family's July 4th function in New Jersey. I continued on to my brother's place, outside of Mansfield and got the rig set up. Such a great view, overlooking the valley below. He has a 50 amp hook-up in the sugar shack so we're in great shape. I dumped our tanks at the Flying J, in Lamar, and our water tank was already full. We should be fine for the whole 5 weeks I'm here, if the rig stays here that whole time. I take my showers down at my mom's and I'm only at the rig late afternoons till the next morning. Not sure what all of Linda's plans are. She's trying to get time in with the grandkids before they go back to school next month.

I've been busy, helping my mom with stuff around her house. She has a huge yard that she mows and lots of flower beds. It's a lot for anyone to maintain but she's going to be 88 yrs old in a couple weeks and it's especially hard for her to get it all done. I've been trying to paint her three porches and railings but I get chased off by almost daily rain showers. I hope to finish the railings tomorrow and start painting the deck surface on Friday. I bought some of the new Rescue It product that has been advertised on TV. Actually what you've seen is called "Restore" but I learned that PA and NY don't like the formulation of the Restore product (something about the oil based nature of it or some such thing)so it had to be reformulated for here. It's a product that fills large cracks in weathered deck boards and also creates a non-skid surface. Mom picked out a really pretty color so I'm anxious to see it all come together....if it would only stop raining.   :(  I'll post some pictures once it's done. That reminds me that I should take some "before" and "after" pictures so we can see the difference that this paint might make.

Weather has been quite warm but after experiencing 112 degree temps in Utah, it really doesn't feel that warm. It is more humid than out west but my sinuses and skin love it. Tonight it's calling for a chance of severe thunderstorms up until 10 p.m. I hope that is the last batch of rain for a while.

Linda is spending this week with her oldest son in Williamsport, shuttling the grandkids to vacation bible school and activities. Next week she's heading to Virginia Beach to see the other grandkids. Mom has been letting me drive her car, while Linda uses our car to see family. It's worked out great since Mom only lives about three miles from where our rig is...at my brother's place.

Five and a half weeks till I leave for my internship....lots to do until then. No internet here and really sketchy cell service. I had to take my laptop and go over town this morning to get caught up on e-mails. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer weather with family and friends. Make the most of it...before you know it, fall will be here.

Zion and the rest of the story....

When we left Bryce, it was only about 90 minutes to get to Coral Pink Sands State Park near Zion. This is a small, no hook-ups park but really neat cause it's surrounded by coral colored sand dunes. A family, from the Salt Lake City area, happened to wind up in the campsite right behind us. They had also been at Bryce and had wanted to come over and talk to us about our toyhauler cause they have a whole bunch of ATV's that they ride on BLM lands. Well, as luck would have it we showed up again in the same campground as us and we gave them a tour of our rig and chatted with them. Nice people !
The sand is so fine it felt like talcum powder and boy, did it make a mess of our socks and shoes. It got everywhere ! In the sand dunes there is a particular type of beetle that can only be found there but you have to get out when the temps are cool to track one down. On Thursday, when we arrived and Friday they were having really hot weather...temps of 112 degrees so no tracking down any of those beetles. They bury themselves in the sand when it gets hot (can you really blame them).
We got up early and headed to Zion so we could hike while the temps were bearable. We hiked emerald pools, weeping rock and the riverside walk for a ways. Zion is ok but Arches and Canyonlands are my favorite places so far. I actually like the entry area into Zion, with all of the slickrock, better than I do inside the park itself.


As we were driving through the winding road, into Zion, a large deer was trotting up the road. With sheer, rock walls on both sides of him, he had no where to go but up the road. When he got to an area where he could climb up, he scrambled up into the brush.




Emerald pools







Weeping Rock









Due to the high temps, and the fact that we didn't have any hook-ups, we decided to leave the state park Friday afternoon. We started making our way up to Jackson, WY. In Utah, we stopped at an RV park, in Nephi, UT for the night and then went to a really neat diner the next morning, just up the road. It's called The One Man Band Diner and is a local franchise. As the name implies, one person does it all. Once you decide what you want to eat, you pick up the phone and give your order to the cook/cashier/dishwasher. He cooks up a fabulous meal for you that are super cheap and calls you up to get it. He also rings you out at the cash register and clears your table and washes the dishes when you leave. He's a One Man Band ! If you get near one of these, while passing through Utah, check them out. There was also a huge parking lot that was perfect for our rig. Easy in - easy out.
We stayed Saturday night at Star Valley Resort in Thayne and we took Becky to see the fresh water geyser in nearby Afton. It was good to see the owner and staff there. This is one of the parks that we usually work but have given up so that we're able to get back east sooner. They are awesome people and they run a beautiful park.
Sunday morning I drove Becky up to Moran Junction (90 minutes from Thayne) so she could meet up with her friend Chris for a day of hiking in Yellowstone. Since we weren't able to check into our park, in Jackson, until noontime...we wanted her to get in a day of sightseeing while we got a day of rest in. Linda and I aren't used to getting up at 5 or 5:30 each morning and hiking several miles every day. Us old folks were tuckered out (and my feet were in the pre-blister mode). After dropping her off, I headed to Jackson and did laundry while I waited for Linda to arrive. She got in and got the rig settled just as the laundry finished up. Later in the afternoon, we went out for a ride on our favorite road through Teton Village into Grand Teton National Park.
Saw this fella hanging out, having a snack, near Teton Village. Saw a few other deer too. Monday was mud pot and geyser day. We drove up to Old Faithful and checked out all the stuff up there. I didn't get my way of getting everyone to get up to see the sun rise on the Tetons but we did get out before it got too hot and got back to Jackson by 4 so Becky and Chris could check out downtown. We had a great meal at Snake River Brewing and called it a day.
Our 12 days with Becky went by way too fast but we had such an amazing time ! The timeline that Linda had planned out was perfect. We had ample time to see everything we wanted to see and didn't feel rushed. We went to 6 national parks in those 12 days. About the only animal that we didn't see was a bear. I got up at 5 this morning to take Becky to the airport in Jackson for her flight back to Boston. As soon as I got back to the campground, Linda and I pulled out and were on the road by 7. Becky's flight was supposed to leave at 7 but she was still sitting there almost 3 hours later, due to a fuel gauge issue. As I write this she is still flying....since she left so late, her connection in Chicago was screwed up so she didn't leave there till 5:05. She will be a tired young lady when she gets home tonight !
Linda and I covered close to 500 miles today....making our way back to Pennsylvania. We are at the Wyoming/Nebraska border, on Interstate 80. We've got about another 1600 miles to go yet so lots of driving ahead for us. We had an amazing vacation with Becky. We had so much fun and saw so many things. It was the trip of a lifetime ! More later on our adventure heading home and our time with friends and family once we get there...