There are two swimming areas inside the campgrounds and several more in the day use area on the other side of the lake. Judging by the huge parking areas there will probably be several hundred visitors here each weekend until school starts again in the fall.
 THURSDAY |
TRAVEL DAY |
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"The Pine Tree State"
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 FRIDAY |
RELAXATION DAY |
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It sounded like a good idea, so we drove to the trailhead, hiked down about a quarter mile to within just a few feet of the hiding spot. That's when the mosquitoes sent out word that we were in the area, like they were guarding the cache or something. They came from everywhere at once, they closed ranks behind us to prevent our retreat, they seemed to be circling us and sending in a few dozen at a time for the attack. We took another 30 seconds worth of punishment trying to put our eyes on the cache but we just couldn't locate it. Giving up our search we hightailed it back to the relative safety of ROVER and drove back to the campsite.
Once back in THE POD Tricia went to the bedroom and started playing games on her phone and I decided to watch a couple DVD movies on my laptop while sitting at the dinette table just 25 feet away. It's amazing that we can both be in relatively close quarters and yet still feel total privacy and get some alone time. I don't believe that any two people, no matter how close their relationship is, can spend months on end joined at the hip (so to speak) and survive unscathed.
I should mention last week when we were at the library in Brentwood they were having a fundraiser by selling donated books and DVDs. They handed you a plastic shopping bag like you'd get at Walmart or the grocery store and for $5 you got to fill it up with movies and books. Well I'm never one to pass up a bargain so I looked through several hundred movies and came up with 8 that I hadn't seen yet and that sounded interesting enough to watch.
Since we started on this journey we have visited many libraries and have in the past donated a few dollars cash to some of them for providing us a place where we could get our work done. Usually in a quiet, comfortable setting with clean restrooms, A/C or heat. They are always grateful for any kind of contribution to help fund new projects.
It's not only cash we donate. Once last week we got all set up in the library and I found out the battery in my cordless mouse was dead. I asked at the desk if they had a AAA battery I could purchase and was told that they just that morning realized they too needed AAA batteries for one of their cordless keyboards in the office. They informed me there was a Dollar General store just a block down the road that sold batteries, so off I went on foot.
I purchased an 8 pack of batteries for $8, took 1 out to immediately put in my mouse and 1 to leave in my laptop case for backup. I then put the remaining 6 batteries on the front desk of the library as I passed by when no one was looking. About ten minutes later the librarian came by our office to ask if I was the one that left batteries on her desk. Replying yes, she asked for our names and address so the library could send us a thank you card, as they do with all their benefactors. I assured her that wasn't necessary but she insisted, how could I say no.
It's funny how such a small gesture of support created such a large feeling of gratitude and appreciation for both of us!
 SATURDAY |
ERRANDS DAY |
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First up is Home Depot. I need to purchase some small screws to mount a pair of battery operated, motion sensor activated, lights in the bathroom. I definitely get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, occasionally Tricia does too, and the light in there is too bright to use while someone is sleeping just a few feet away. Our bathroom is so tight you can't really shut the door all the way and still be inside, so I thought some dimmer lights would solve the problem. We use the bright regular lights, or no lights at all, in the daytime and at night we use the new dimmer lights I installed. The motion sensor only works in the dark and they automatically go off after 15 seconds if you don't continue to move around. Problem solved!
Next up is the gas station. For nearly two years now I have been aware of an app called Upside. It offers a cash rebate on gasoline at participating stations that range from 1-25¢ per gallon. There were a limited number of South Florida gas stations participating when we started our journey back in the summer of 2018 but I revisited the list this week and found several Mobil Stations in our nearby area here in New Hampshire, so I decided to give it a try.
UPDATE: I did a little research and found out that Upside now offers deals in 35 states.
The way it works is first you have to find a nearby participating station who is offering a deal through the app. Then you claim the deal and they give you four hours to purchase the gas at that station using a credit or debit card, cash and gift cards are not allowed. This particular Mobil station I selected was offering 12¢ a gallon rebate. You then send a photo of the receipt showing the amount purchased, the time and the address (or name) of the station. That's all there is to it!
I purchased just over 20 gallons of gas using my Discover Card, which this quarter happens to be offering their own 5% rebate on gasoline, and sent Upside a photo of the receipt. Within 8 hours I received an email saying that I had $2.50 in my account ready for immediate withdrawal. There are transfer fees involved if you take out less than $15 at a time, but over $15 it's free to transfer it to your PayPal account or request a check be mailed. With the 5% from Discover Card and 12¢ a gallon from Upside I saved just over $5.00 on this one visit, not to shabby!
If you decide that you'd like to try the Upside App for yourself, please use my referral code HG8XW when signing up or use THIS LINK and you'll receive an extra 20¢ a gallon the first time you use it. I will also get an additional 20¢ a gallon on my next purchase using the app and will receive 2¢ a gallon on all your future purchases using the app, just for referring you. It's a profitable way for you to save money on gasoline and to support our efforts here for bringing you the blog to read.
Last on the list for today is the grocery store, you see I'm making my favorite Key West Chili tonight and I'm missing a few of the key ingredients.
 SUNDAY |
RELAXATION DAY |
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So today I am once again headed for Home Depot. My thoughts are to hang the sink on the four clips again and then support the weight with some 1x2 lumber wedged underneath to hopefully help keep it from bouncing. It's nearly two feet from the counter down to the first solid shelf so I'll need nearly 8 feet of lumber to create 4 legs, one on each corner, to maximize my chances for success.
When I got back from Home Depot there was this guy out exploring the campground and when I climbed out of ROVER he was in front of our campsite admiring THE POD. We got to talking about things and before you knew it 30-40 minutes had passed by. Turns out he too works in the printing industry, like I recently did for 40 years, so we had a lot in common, along with us both recently purchasing our first RV.
Then his wife called to see if he was OK or whether or not he was lost. I explained I needed to get busy on my sink repair and asked if he and his wife would like to come down to our site for a campfire the next night. We had three bags full of firewood we wanted to burn so we didn't have to keep hauling them from campsite to campsite. He said it sounds like a good idea and that he would mention it to his wife. I gave him one of our business cards with our email address so he could keep in touch.
So I got out my chop saw that I carry in the back of ROVER and after some rough measuring cut the legs to support the sink. The 1x2 lumber is plenty strong enough to carry the weight of the sink but I couldn't get them to stay wedged tight enough to stay in place. I decided that 2x4 lumber would be way overkill for the strength needed but with four times the footprint the legs would probably stay in place a lot better. I don't want to screw them into place and create holes in the sides of the cabinets so friction is the only thing holding them in place. You know what this means, another trip to Home Depot tomorrow.
 MONDAY |
WORK DAY FROM THE POD |
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On the way out of the campground heading to Home Depot we rode past Fred and Coleen's campsite, the guy I met yesterday, to see if they were going to make it over for a campfire tonight. As I got out of ROVER I saw Fred sitting in his screen room and he told me he just hit the send button on his email and that he and his wife would be happy to join us at a campfire tonight. I told them I would be starting the fire at 7:00PM and they didn't need to bring anything but chairs and their favorite beverage of choice.
We picked up our needed supplies and made a quick stop at the grocery store for some cheese and crackers for tonight. We also picked up some Jalepeno Crab Dip that Tricia's aunt introduced us to and hurried home to get busy fixing the sink.
I was able to prop up the sink with the 2x4 lumber and also shimmed it to make it as tight as I dared without pushing to hard on the countertop from underneath. I'm afraid with any more pressure I'll crack the expensive Corian countertop!
With the sink repair done there is just enough time for some quick showers before our quests arrive for our Maine campfire.
 TUESDAY |
WORK DAY FROM THE POD |
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JUST A COUPLE OF PICTURES
FROM AROUND THE CAMPGROUND
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Who will be the first to correctly guess our next location?
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