Spring Is Here!!!

 

Well, not by looking at the next few pictures, but today it is cloudy and 55 degrees and not a mention of below freezing temps for at least the next week or so as we plan to move to Barrie on the 1st.

 

On the 14th I took off to attend Mom's funeral in Bryan, Texas. That morning the temp was 28 and it was cloudy and windy. This is the view from the observation deck of the Flying Scotsman.

 



At the airport I boarded a flight for New York's JFK airport on the way to Austin. We sat on the ramp in Toronto as the rain began and the temp continued to fall. We taxied over to the deice ramp, spent a half hour getting squirted and then as the weather was really bad, taxied back to the gate to take on more fuel.

Another half hour later we again taxied back to the deice ramp and in an hour were ready to leave in wind, rain, snow, and ice that was piling up on the runway. Needless to say my next flight was toast and I had to wait at JFK until 5pm to get the next one to Austin. Got into Austin at just about 10pm and brother Bill picked me up and we motored the 2hrs over to Bryan and the motel ... long day!

But Jo-Anne's weekend was just beginning as well. When I got to JFK she called to say the gray water system was not emptying properly and she was unable to shower. Here's her view out of the front window during a blustery 17 degree onslaught. She had plenty of fresh water, propane for heat, and all of the other systems were functioning properly so she and Bandit wrapped up in the electric blanket in the bedroom to weather the storm til Monday and my return.

And I did return to Milton on Monday to a buscicle ... check out the nice icefall off of the roof.

 

Fortunately I taken the time to weather proof the RV prior to my departure as we knew what was coming and while we had been in short periods of cold in Texas, we knew this would be much worse and of longer duration.

I got some of the Pink Panther fiberglass insulation and stuffed it in all of the holes that lead to the basement area of the bus ... this has always been an irritant as the wind whistles through there just below your feet.

I also put large pieces of the stuff in the water service area on the driver's side and turned on all of the lower compartment lights for a tiny bit of additional heat.

I did the same thing on the passenger side as well to protect the water tank and pump. I also got two electric tape things, one 10 feet long and one 30 feet long, and ran them all around the water compartment, pumps, valves, and tanks.

Below you can see the main water tank with one of the orange/black electric heater tapes. The gray object at the upper left of the picture is a remote temperature sensor and the basement stayed above freezing the whole time; wouldn't want to but could weather much colder events.

Jo-Anne's problem slowly began to resolve itself during the day as the outdoor sewer hose got some sunshine but then froze up again at night. In one of the pics above you can see the bucket of hot water I used to pour over the sewer line to thaw it out totally when I got back. Ahhhh, plumbing 101.

After thawing everything out it was time to goof off a bit with the handle of the entry door awning. It had developed a really neat icicle so I became The Iceman of Milton defending the Flying Scotsman against the evil Ontario Lord of snow and wind!

And finally below just to highlight the Canadian sense that life goes on no matter what the time of year or weather may bring.

We snapped this picture of the local golf driving range on April 20th with more than a foot of snow still on the ground and the sign says: The Range. Spring Is Here. Opening. Friday April 6th. And believe it or not the place was open the weekend of the 6th ... golf must go on eh!