Saturday, March 16, 2024

Site Maintenance - SKP

Wednesday - After morning coffee, I cleaned up our site from all of the old leaves and flower remnants from the tree. The leaf blower is still getting plenty of use even though Fall is long gone. Most of the leaves on our lot were from trees on other lots behind us. Not from our evil tree. It was pretty warm today with a high of almost 90°F.

Thursday - Another warm day but not as sunny. The project for the day was finishing up the propane hose from the bulk tank to the RV. There is a two stage regulator on the bulk tank and a buried line to a valve next to the concrete pad. I spliced two hoses together using a 3/8” flare union. 

The hose then runs to the low pressure side of the RV regulator. A brass 3/8” NPT tee is used to allow the bulk tank to feed into the RV propane line. I will add a shutoff valve replacing the 90° 3/8” flare fitting. 

Friday - The morning was spent helping to make meatballs for the spaghetti dinner tomorrow. We made around 160 meatballs. My job was to mix the ingredients and add seasonings. It was a fun task.

I went up on the roof to see if the solar panel mounts were still secure and I ran into a problem. When the panels are in the “folded” position, I couldn’t get my hand under the panel to bolt it in place. I ordered a rivnut tool and will be explaining the process in a later post after the tool arrives. 

Saturday
 - A few days ago while heading back from Uvalde, I stopped the Sabina Country Store and they had a Cajun boudin kolache. I’ve heard of boudin recently and wanted to try it and this seemed like a good way. Boudin is a sausage made from cooked pork, rice, some veggies, and spices. This one was pretty mild and I think just some onions. It made for a delicious breakfast. 

Rain today gave an opportunity to wash the Jeep. There was a lot of road grime from the Florida trip. At least road salt was not part of it. I got about ¾ done before the rain started again. I was told that due to water restrictions, cars can only be washed on weekends and only by members. Seems like a strange “rule”.  

Yesterday’s dinner was corned beef w/cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. One of my favorites. It does seem like I have a lot of favorites…

The propane shutoff valve came from Amazon today. If compared to the other picture, you can see that I replaced the 90° flare fitting with a ball valve. The lower hose is from the bulk tank. When the hose is disconnected, the valve would be turned off and the flare fitting capped off to keep it clean. BTW, the yellow is propane-rated thread sealing tape and used on all NPT fittings. None used on flare fittings. 


Tuesday, March 12, 2024

SKP Park Maintenance - SKP

Monday - This morning, I volunteered to help stain the benches and corner posts within the park. We met at 8am which was just shortly after sunrise. RMarx and I started on the southeast corner and worked our way west. We met up with another group around the clubhouse. After a short coffee break, I continued on until my back was too sore from bending over. I'm now recuperating while downloading software updates and waiting for the afternoon test session.

Tuesday - I took the Ural to a propane shop near Castroville to get a line from the bulk tank in our yard to the motorhome tank. It was around a forty-mile round trip so a decent ride. I still need a tee and possibly some other adapters. I'll post when I actually get this installed.

I also stopped in downtown Hondo at the tax office to drop off our property tax payment for the leased RV lot. Just a bit over $30 for the year. Can't complain about that. It was a challenge to find the office as it's combined with the vehicle registrations. This was the first time I'd ventured into the downtown area which is north of the train tracks.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Uvalde and Bandera, TX

Thursday - I’m back in Ulvalde again to get another vaccination. I should have asked about it before as I could’ve saved a trip. Since it was drizzling today, I didn’t take the Ural. Not that the wet roads are a problem but the seat was pretty wet. 

Friday - Lots of wind and rain early this morning. I had to go out and get the awning pulled in around 6am before the wind really picked up. It is still breezy right now but not the 35mph gusts we were seeing earlier. And this was after no wind for days...

Saturday - This morning there was a meeting of the Medina County Amateur Radio Club. It seems unusual to meet in the morning. But they have said that they've always met in the morning. I rode in with three others from the park and, as far as I know, there are at least three other operators. 

Sunday - Morning coffee came early. I’m not a fan of daylight savings time at all. No reason for it. 

I spent some time on the park WiFi to update the Windows machine and program my Anytone radio for the local repeaters in Hondo and Castroville. I am planning to volunteer for the Tour de Castroville, a local bicycle event next month, with the radio club. They use their local repeaters. 

We went into Bandera for lunch meeting up with other RVers at a small restaurant called Brick’s River Cafe. The food was good and the service was exceptional. 

This picture is a small park in Bandera that seemed to be a good parking location for wandering around town.


Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Still Winding Down - SKP

Sunday - It has been a while since I had last started the RV so today was the day. It started right up with not even a trace of smoke. I ran the engine for about 15 minutes at a high idle (1200rpm). 

Monday - The chore of the day was defrosting the refrigerator. Quite a bit of frost had built up near the top of the freezer. A combination of high humidity and making ice cubes (in trays). Getting rid of the ice made a big difference in the freezer temperature. From 0°F to -9°F. 

Tuesday - It's going to be a warm one today! At 10:45am it's already in the upper 70s. I'm sitting outside for the first test session and there is a slight breeze which is pretty nice. 

Not much going on today. I also led a test during the afternoon session. Though it was a bit too warm to sit outside. I think today was supposed to be the warmest one for the week. 

Wednesday
 - It’s a nice day so I rode the Ural into Uvalde, a town around 35 miles west. It’s much larger than Hondo and is the closest Walgreens pharmacy. The Walgreens recommendation is for anyone over 60 to get another Covid vaccine. 

The picture is from the rest area a few miles west of D’Hanis. The thermometer on the bike said 80°F and it felt warm. And the rest area had an air conditioned space which felt good.