Catch Up

Looking over some of the last blog posts I realized there were several issues that have been "resolved" but not communicated about so here goes:

Damage Control
 The refrigerator vent cover on the roof of the Tank took a severe hit from a tree in Terre Haute, IN (scene of the infamous 3 hour I-70 detour) and had to be replaced.  No big deal until you recall that my camper's manufacturer went belly up in 2009 making replacement parts a tad hard to come by.  So I went into a small RV store in Midland, MI prepared to be disappointed when the saleslady asked me what make of camper the vent was for?  When I replied Sun-Lite she smiled and said "That's the first camper line we ever sold!" Then she promptly showed me an exact duplicate of my wrecked vent and sold it to me for $20.  SCORE!

Surprising My Dad
My travel to Michigan was originally timed to allow me to arrive in time to surprise my 86 year old Dad on Father's Day.  Having arrived a few days in advance I "stealth camped" on my brother Jim's driveway.  My brother was scheduled to visit our Dad on Father's Day so we drove there together but I hung back around the corner out of sight of the doorway.  After being greeted at the door Jim told my Dad that he had run into "a homeless guy" and would it be OK if the homeless guy joined the Father's Day meetup?  You can probably imagine the look on my Dad's face as he contemplated some guy pushing a shopping cart full of cans up to his front door, so he was pretty relieved (and surprised) when the homeless guy was me.

My Dad and Stepmother Dorothy

Transporting the new Kayak
The last blog entry discussed my perceived need of a water transport option and the subsequent purchase of a kayak.  At that point I aimed at transporting the kayak on the roof of the Tank but had no notion of how it's bulky and unwieldy 40 pounds could be lifted there by one person (me).  My brother Jim and I came up with a solution after some comical misfires.

Step 1:  Cover the hood of the truck with a towel to avoid abrasion from the kayak.  Tie a length of rope to the rear of the kayak and lean it in a standing position against the hood of the truck.  Throw the rope up to the roof of the Tank then scramble up the ladder up to the roof.

Step 1

 

 

 

Step 2:  Pull the kayak up over the towel-covered hood of the truck and then up over the rounded "airfoil" of the Tank, being careful not to fall off the 9 ft roof!

Step 2

Step 3:  Position the kayak between the airconditioner vent and the side rail.  Install eye-bolts to allow 3 bungee cords to secure the kayak to the roof (then tie a "just in case" 4th rope to the front of the kayak) and secure it.

Step 3

Following highway speed trials the kayak didn't move an inch!  Challenge solved.

Thanks for reading!