Hi Sweetie,
A restful night, the usual chores, then I got busy getting the new motor into the awning. I managed to do it on my own, wasn’t sure I’d be able to, but didn’t really have a problem. I did pop a screw that connects the awning to the RV, and the other one was evidently missing, so I’ll need to get a couple bigger and/or longer ones to replace them. Debated whether to do that today or tomorrow, but I was in a lazy mood and the day slipped by. I did manage to update my website for book orders, now that I have new books, and that took awhile. After that, I just ended up watching a couple of movies, having a chicken burrito and relaxing the whole day. Didn’t even feel much like riding today, it was pretty hot and humid, so just a day off! I’ll get busy the rest of the weekend, a lot of folks coming out again, apparently, some that want to ride with me, so I’ll have company. Anyway, enough said, heading for shower and bed. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Slept late this morning, after not getting to sleep until very late last night, so my internal clock is getting a little screwed up. Happy to report that my air mattress stayed up, yay! I’ve been waking up on the bottom of the floor, but it seems to be fixed for now. I killed some time until 1:00, then went into town to pick up some things, stopping at the post office because I had an Amazon package being delivered there, General Delivery, like I’ve done many times before at many post office, but for some reason, the clerk there gave me a hard time. She claimed they NEVER accept packages for delivery services, despite it being addressed to General Delivery. I explained that I’ve done it many times before, and couldn’t see the problem. She said they hadn’t received any packages for me anyway, so I left. I finished my errands, then went over to my friend’s Chris and Mervin, who looked after Apollo while I was gone all summer. When I got there, I checked with Amazon and found that my package had since been delivered, so Merv and I went into town to go retrieve it, and something at the pharmacy for Chris. When I walked in and asked about my package, the clerk told me that yes, they had received it, but the Postmaster had instructed her to mark the package Return to Sender! WHAT??? She said that they don’t accept deliveries because, according to the postmaster, they can’t track whether the recipient has actually received the package, because they don’t have a USPS tracking number. What BS!! If someone sent me a first class letter to General Delivery, they wouldn’t be able to guarantee that either, so what’s the difference?? I couldn’t believe my ears!! I told her I’ve done this many times all across the country, and no post office has every questioned me about it, and she might want to straighten her Postmaster out. I mean, I’d already stopped by there, they knew I was expecting a package, and they STILL think they have to be able to guarantee delivery? How ridiculous! I finally just put my hand out and said, “Just give me the package,” and she finally went and got it. Thank goodness I didn’t wait until tomorrow to go back and pick it up (I was considering it!), or it would probably be gone already. I’ve had problems with this post office before, but I never imagined they would be this stupid about this. Anyway, it was my awning motor, so that will be my job in the morning. We went back to their house and had a nice dinner (breakfast for dinner!), I picked up my order of books, which I had wisely had sent to their house, so now I’m flush with books again, and got back to camp before 7:00, fed the horses and settled down for the evening. Very warm today, not cooling off too fast, so I ran the AC for a bit, taking a cool shower tonight! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Started slow this morning, and after chores and breakfast I tackled what turned out to be the only job I ended up doing today, finding the leak in the air mattress. It was right next to where the last leak was, along the seam, so I glued it all up with my old reliable Air Stop, two thick layers throughout the day. Once I got that done (you know what a pain it is to get down to the mattress with all the layers on top!), I realized I was in just a plain lazy mood. It was cloudy, and supposed to rain a couple of times during the day (it didn’t), so I just decided to make it a movie day. Watched a couple of movies, had some popcorn, and generally just took a day off. After dinner, I finally put the bed back together again, a hot and tiring exercise, but managed to get it done. Unfortunately, it looks like some of the baffling is going on my side of the bed at the feet end (it’s already done that on your side of the bed), so this mattress is truly on it’s way out. I did some research on it, and absolutely no one makes an air mattress that will fit in the space as it is now, and I’m not really interested in a memory foam mattress, too many bad reviews and not enough flexibility. I’m thinking I can get a twin air mattress, which I can fit in if I move the existing foam side frames around a bit. That may be my only alternative, unless things change by the time I need it. Anyway, that was the extent of my day! Good news, my next batch of books has been shipped and is arriving tomorrow, yay! Was worried they wouldn’t come in time, but they’ll be, unless Fedex screws up again, like they usually do. At least they’re being delivered to a house, so they better get it right! Also, my new motor for the awning should arrive at the post office tomorrow as well, so I’ll have my work cut out for me once I pick up my deliveries. Well, enough talk, I’m ready for my shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Got up early with the alarm, did chores quickly and went up to pavilion to help do a few preparations for the Poker Run. Once I finished that, I headed into the hardware store to get a screw on this awning motor tapped out, and Ernie did a great job in just a few minutes. He didn’t have a replacement screw, so I headed down to the Ace Hardware and managed to find some long threaded screws that fit. Got back and went to work. After numerous attempts throughout the afternoon to fix it, and after stripping out a few more screws, I decided the best thing was to just buy a new motor. Hate to do it, but hey, it’s 12 years old, so I can’t expect it to last forever, especially considering how often I use it! Anyway, at 2:00 I went back to the pavilion for the the final awards, seems they did pretty well this year! “Eagle Eyes” Sam from the Shore to Shore was here, nice to see her again! Spent some time down at Sheila’s fire, now I’m ready for bed and shower. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Baby,
Woke up to the sound of thunder around 7:30, rain came in quickly and stuck around for quite awhile. Good news, I took my truck down to Ken’s, who’s only about a mile down the road, and dropped it off, and by 2:00, it was done! New steering box, and he only charged me $100 in labor, and the parts were just over $300, so a far cry from what those ripoff artists at Quality wanted. Yay! I did more research on tires and finally decided on a brand called Falken, which is better known in motorsports circles, but is getting a good reputation with the average consumer now. They scored better than most other brands, and they’re a heckuva lot cheaper than the Michelins, which have aged out before they’ve worn out, so I didn’t figure I needed to spend that much again. I’m not really doing the miles that we used to do, basically just from Florida to up north and back once a year, not a lot in between, and these are supposed to be nice and quiet on the highway, but built tough enough for gravel roads as well. High marks for towing, too. We’ll see! Also did some research on the awning motor. I’ve decided to take it out and tear it apart to see if I can see what’s wrong with it, I’ve read it could be as simple as a stripped screw or gear, figured I’d check that first. I can get a whole motor assembly in just a couple of days, so it’s worth it to check it out. Hung out with Sheila and her growing gang at the campfire for a bit, but I have a busy day tomorrow so I came back early, having my Sleepytime tea, soon to take my shower and go to bed early! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Hon,
A good night sleep, a beautiful morning, then I got busy. Filled up the water tank in the truck, did some research on the internet, the went to work on the awning. I was using baling twine wrapped around the awning arm and a hook on the front of the truck to try to get the arm close enough together to put some zip ties on it, but wasn’t getting close enough. Then a guy drove by in a Jeep and stopped to asked if he could help. He was exactly what I needed at that moment! With his extra hands, it only took a minute to get the arms locked down, and then he ended up staying and helping through the whole process of rewiring the motor. My goal today was to verify that the problem is, in fact, the motor, and with the help of my new multi-meter, we determined that we had full voltage all the way to the motor connection, so now I at least know it’s not the switch or anything else in between, so I guess I’m getting a new motor for it. Found one on Amazon for just over $300. Between that, the truck repair, which I’m hoping will get done tomorrow, and new front tires, it’s going to be another expensive month! Oh, well, it’s an early birthday gift, I guess! My new friend’s name is Tim, and he’s the official sawyer/lumberjack for the trail club, he was out checking the trails today. We ended up chatting well into mid-afternoon after we finished our awning trials. Then, I saw my friend Sheila, whom I stayed with on my way out of Florida this past spring, walking down to the pay kiosk! She came over and we chatted for awhile longer. Tim finally left, I cleaned up, did some more research on the computer, then had dinner, fed the horses, and walked down to where Sheila and her two girlfriends were camped, and we chatted until dusk, finally came back to home. It was a beautiful day, but it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow, perfect for getting the truck done, then that’s all the rain in the forecast for the foreseeable future. Going to be a great weekend! Finishing off the evening with some Sleepytime tea, a Spanish lesson, shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!