February is Dragging on.....

February is over 1/2 way gone and I for one am glad. I got a break from the Arctic Tundra and went to Tucson for some training last week. The high there was nearly 80F and not one cloud. It was really, really nice. The down side is that we were essentially stuck indoors the whole time but every chance to soak up a little sun was taken advantage of. 

Some things since my last post....as you guessed more snow in early in the month that resulted in an additional 6" of snow. In November I purchased a electric snow blower and it got a good workout and really does pretty damn good and if you choose to go down this path make sure that you get a good cold weather extension cord...it really makes it easy.

I spent half a day yesterday cleaning the garage yet again and got some more stuff off the ground. I still need to wire some additional outlets for charging the mower and also run a dedicated line to the garage sometime in the spring. More than likely I will run a 100 amp sub panel for the garage entirely. Welders, Grinders, RV A/C and so on will take a large load so its good to have a panel at the source that can handle this.

This project along with all the other stuff that needs to be done such as landscaping, Staining the Double Porch, Staining the Fence and pouring a Cement Pad for the Trash Cans all will take up a ton of time. When the Hell will we go camping?  I guess those are all good problems.

If you are ever in Tucson, Check out Li'll Abners. At one time they didn't even have a menu, you just ate what various meats they had on hand. The Ribs now are in my Top 5 without question. They have classed it up a bit and now provide you with a menu.

Valentines Day Flowers sourced locally in NT along with the Wine. 

Annual Valentines Day Dinner...I grill in any Temp.

Getting Closer.... Still lots of $hit to get rid of. 

No Snow in the Attic this time.....Still fighting with McBide on getting this handled. 

Nice Whiskey Drink to help me clear the snow. 

Another Winter Post

With yet another winter storm approaching the St. Louis area, a house that still has not been fixed to prevent the infiltration of windblown snow and a generally shitty start to the year at work I thought it would be appropriate to highlight our upcoming spring/summer trips.

This year is going to be heavily focused on RV travel rather than the typical vacation….buying a new house taps the pocketbook pretty well dry as you know if you read my ramblings with any regularity.

Starting to get very pissed at mcbride....still no resolution to our incorrectly installed soffit vents. Asshats. 

Big Trips:

Table Rock Lake- I am mostly excited about this one for the simple reason we have never been here. It seems ridiculous to live in Missouri and never take the pilgrimage to the land of tacky souvenirs, fudge and old men pretending to be blacksmiths. In any case, it will be fun for the kids as the Branson area offers a ton of things to do for the kids. I did go when I was little but don’t remember it. We are booked at COE Mill Creek Campground that is supposedly one of the best COE’s in the nation. Direct water front sites with clean everything. Here are some photos of this spot I dug up on line.

Our Booked Spot on the Right

Land between the Lakes KY- I never really thought about this spot until I started digging in to it a little. It is a huge federally protected swatch of land as the name would indicate separating  Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake. There are multiple campgrounds in this area most with full hookups and water frontage. The area is also home to herds of Bison and elk and many hiking trails. We are staying at Hillman Ferry federal campground that is the largest campground in the preserve. There is not much to do in this area for kids other than run around and get dirty and they like that just fine. This is one of those places where the you can see every star in the sky at night….my kind of spot. Its also a Dry county so you take the good with the bad I guess.  Again here are some photos:

Smaller Trips:

Mark Twain Lake-I talked my brother and bother-in law to head here in early June to do some fishing. We had tried to make this trip with the family on Labor Day last year and never made it due to the damn wheel nearly falling off. In any case, it’s been a long time since any of us were out on the water and I thought it would be a good chance to get back to it. The place we are heading is a Ray Behrens COE and as luck would have it Black Jack Marina is within walking distance. They rent fishing boats and I hope to be cooking up some crappie by days end with a cold beer. This one should be a good time.

Kansas City Speedway-The first annual night Race for the track….plenty of pictures and info on this blog so it’s not worth repeating. One hell of a Blowout typically and if you like auto racing this is a plus.

Carlyle Lake- So far this has been one of our favorites. Close to home yet it feels so far away. One of the nicest, cleanest campgrounds we have been to. There are three COE parks on the lake. We stayed at Coles Creek last year and we have a spot right on the water this year at Dam West…right next to the Marina and some cool stuff to check out on foot.

The Usual On a Whim Trips:

Lake Side 370- This is Home base for the opening and closing the camper. It allows for me to make sure that everything works after the long winter soak and is within 5 minutes of the house in case something goes wrong. It’s  good to have so close but on the same hand when you get ready for bed you might as well just go home!

Cuvier River State Park- Again Fairly close to home and a good opportunity to get outdoors.  This is a usual trip for us at least a few times. I need to make a mental note to not pick site number 1 again….while it is right next to the playground, it becomes a swamp if there is any amount of rain.

Come on Spring…..

People Suck.

Do you ever have one of those weeks that just seem to drag on forever? One of those shitty weeks that no matter what/how you approach any situation you feel like you can't  get traction?

I’m sick of the weather, tired of being cold and wet…and am ready for the month to be over. I’m sick of shitty 2-3 hour commutes what seems like a few times every week due to a dusting of snow. I have had snow in my garage and attic....can't even get away from it indoors. I am tired of incompetence on every level.

New Year....Long Winter.

For me the next few months are the hardest part of the year. For starters there is not much to look forward to in the next few months unless you like crappy cold weather. The last few days I cant seem to shift my focus off of camping in the spring. Its my OCD condition if you will. Due to the major hemorrhage of cash buying a new home and all the associated things that go along with a new home we are putting a big family vacation off this summer in favor of a more focused series of RV trips a little further from home than previous years. As you can imagine, I am very excited about this.

Since purchasing the camper a few years ago, most of the expendable items have been purchased. The dutch oven, Fire Starter, Grill and pretty much anything else you can think of has been bought, fabricated and/or received as a gift. This year has been very little in the way of anything spent on RV related items (unless you factor an emergency wheel repair) but the little items are never far from the mind. having already bought most of the things required for a streamlined trip is a good thing as we now have a system down for pretty much everything form the time you wake up to the time you go to bed. Also the set up of the trailer has gotten much more streamlined as well. I can do it pretty much by myself in less than 20 minutes. This includes setting up the outside tables, chairs and electrical supply for the coffee maker. Essentially I can have a beer in my hand in less than 30 minutes after arriving.

This year also means that the kids are now old enough to requires some thought about sleeping arrangements. The last season our youngest (Max) was still in a pack and play under the TV and radio.   While this is nice to essentially keep him "caged" he has now crossed the threshold of toddler and will graduate to the bottom bunk in the camper. This means that our oldest (Sam) will take the top bunk and that our storage shelf will be no more. At his request I am to fabricate some sort of rail to keep him from falling out of the top bunk....more details to come on this modification.

Speaking of modifications to the RV...not much needs to be done this year.  I do need to think a little harder about what to do with the lexan panels on the screen door. I trimmed two separate panels to cover the upper and lower portions of the screen door and secured them with Velcro... this method of attachment may not have been the best decision as the top panel has a tendency to fall off. Not only is this a safety issue, but it scratches the hell out of the lexan as well. I need to think of a better solution to the panels. It is really nice to have the door open even if the heat/AC is on because it lets in a huge amount of light.....more to come on this one as well.

In short, any body of water with in site is frozen solid and April can get here any time now. 

 Damn Racoon's.

Is it spring Yet?