Flying Scotsman Repair

 

Ok now that we have completed the fireplace for the kids we had to address an issue with the RV. The driver's side window was getting fogged up permanently and making it difficult to see through.

 

The Thermopane windows aren't really suited to RV life as the constant motion and severe temperatures break down the seals prematurely resulting in a really bad window as you can see from the driver's perspective below.

We got online and found a local shop that claimed to defog and clean the windows so we ripped out the window and took it over to RVfogpros.com in Colleyville about 15 miles from here. The unit is about 50 pounds, so coming out of the hole worked pretty well (gravity) and we threw it in the car and took it to the shop.

However, after the effort to get it out the oldsters decided that the shop could reinstall the thing when it got finished. For two nights, then, we duct taped and tarped up the hole to keep as much dirt, moisture, animals, and other stuff out of the bus.

Here's the pilot waving happily as we headed down the road on a 50 degree morning with our new convertible bus! We got a lot of waves as we went through town and even the guys at the repair shop were impressed that we drove it about a half hour over there like that.

I'll have to admit that the view was really great in spite of the noise, wind and cold air whipping through the bus.

It took about an hour for the pros to put our new window in and again, because we were so busy with admiring the new product that we didn't get a pic of the guys in their final effort ... they made it look easy.

The end product looks exactly like new for $425 which was about half what a new window unit would cost. Highly, highly recommend these people and their shop and they also do consignments as well as other RV repairs, so we will see them in the future.

Home Renovation

 

Here's the erstwhile redo expert with his normal confused expression. Not having a home of our own that isn't on wheels we decided to help the kids out with a bit of expertise. The mission was to cover the really ugly maroon and white marble (sorry TA&M Aggies) with something more neutral.

 

Once I got started the process was slow and methodical ... sung to "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" I began counting, "900 little pieces of stone on the floor, stick one on and 899 more ..."

It took five six hour days of cementing  to get to this point ... whew! The hearth pieces are of porcelain floor tile ... but the angles of the original design would give any mason bad dreams ... that's not camera distortion, the sides are about a 100 degree angle ... jeez?

By Saturday morning when Everett was home from school I had him write his name on a piece of paper, put it in a baggie, and then he used the mortar to permanently put his own cornerstone in place with his own hand.

The cheap little plastic black and yellow diamond saw has cut thousands of chunks of rock over the last 15 years and has certainly earned its keep.

And the less than clean home reno amateur in front of the new masterpiece.

Ta Da!

 

 

After about 35 hours of work and around $100 in materials the fireplace now looks more appropriate for the front room of the house ... time for the stone mason to rest.

Soggy Vineyards Campground

 

 

If you have followed our posts over the years you know that one of our favorite winter sites is the Vineyards Campground in Grapevine, Texas. This was a prime campground and we have used it as an example of what an RV park should be ... until the weather intervenes.

Above is what is left of the gate house and we have some great pics of it from times past without the water. Lake Grapevine is a Corps of Engineers lake and if it does its job it keeps massive floodwaters from devastating the land downstream ... the result is that at full pool the park has vanished. We were up there last week and the water was about five feet higher, right up onto the rock V of the gate house approach in the distance.

And below are all the cabins where friends and relatives have stayed (Rich and Kerry) on several occasions; fortunately on wheels and now stored at the baseball complex on higher ground next to the lake.

You used to walk to the marina bar/restaurant across a ten foot bridge ... now several hundred feet of Styrofoam supported planks due to the lake height.

This is the closest we could get to the park on the other side and if you really enlarge it you can see the place those cabins used to be parked across the now full lake.

To relieve the tension of the day seeing our favorite park submerged we hit our favorite wine and food joint on the main drag of Grapevine itself.

Farina's is always a quiet comfortable place with many neat food items and great wine selections. Here's a couple of Radio Boca Temperanillos that washed down a great pasta bake for Jo and a wonderful Greek salad for me.

Maybe the park will be dried out for next year ... we'll keep hoping for the best!