"if you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room"

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Hot and Dry

We are in the same boat here that a lot of the country is in. No rain and hot, hot hot temperatures have dried the landscape into oblivion. everyday there have been reports of grass fires along the interstate causing traffic problems due to the smoke they cause. Luckily the fires get extinguished fairly quickly and we have not had the problems they have experienced in Colorado and Utah with the fires consuming thousands of acres and peoples homes.

Saturday we attended a birthday party at our daughters house for our youngest grand daughter Olivia. When we returned home we had an extra passenger! Our grand daughter Avalynn came back to the KOA with us to spend some one on one time with her Grandma and Papaw.
We had to work the cafe both Sunday and Monday mornings and she hung out with us there until we finished for the day. Monday is our scheduled day off but we agreed to trade with another work camping couple who had a doctors appointment. They will work for us next Sunday giving us a long weekend next week :-).
We spent most of our time with Avalynn in the pool. That girl loves the water and is becoming a pretty good swimmer. We really enjoyed spending time with her but all good things come to an end and Tuesday evening we took her back to her parents, brother and sister.

Friends Rob and Jany will be camping with us this week end in their Raptor toy hauler 5th wheel. They have been wanting to add a 2nd air conditioner to help keep the 5er cool in the summer heat and ended up purchasing a unit Monday at one of the RV surplus places in Northern Indiana. Instead of waiting until this week end to install it I offered to help him Tuesday after he got off work. Rudee dropped me off at their house on the way to take Avalynn home and Jany jumped into the truck with her while Rob and I headed to the storage lot where they park their 5er.
The hardest part of the job is lifting the heavy a/c unit onto the roof of the 5th wheel. Rob backed the truck under the front overhang and we put an extension ladder from the bed of the truck up onto the roof of their RV and then tied a rope to the box containing the a/c unit. I climbed onto the roof and Rob lifted the box while I pulled (using the rope) from above. Once we had the box up there I unpacked it and centered it over the hole where the bedroom vent had been (Rob already had this removed the night before).
With Rob in the bedroom and me on the roof we worked together to get the unit in the right position and once that was done I joined him inside the 5er to help with bolting it down and wiring the power up. His 5th wheel already had the necessary wires and breaker done at the factory so wiring was pretty simple and I did that while Rob tightened the long screws that bolt the a/c to the roof.
Once the shroud was in place it was time to test it out. Rob fired up the generator and the moment of truth arrived and he turned the a/c knob to "on". Whoo Hoo, cold air and no smoke! :-)
The girls arrived back just in time to admire our handy work. I think they were a little impressed. Now, as long as the a/c is still on the roof when they arrive at the KOA this week end ....... :-)

Once we were done patting ourselves on the back and strutting around like Banty Roosters it was time for dinner. :-) We headed for Buffalo Wild Wings and took advantage of their 50 cent wings special. Rob and Jany even bought our dinner as a thank you for helping with the a/c. Thanks guys that wasn't necessary but sure was appreciated. :-)

We start our work week at 4pm and the weather man says the temps will be triple digits again with a little relief coming this week end. We are looking forward to that as well as spending some quality time with our good friends! I'll keep you posted.

2 comments:

  1. Nice that you were able to help hoist the A/C up and get it installed. We are so happy to have 2 units in our Montana. It's gets mighty cold with both of them running :)

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  2. Your a good friend. We have two in our fifth wheel and love it.

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