Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Power, Rain, and T-Storms :)
It has been fairly fun the last week.. as no surprise we have had rainy day after rainy day. Some rain was expected but for four weeks straight is a little excessive. But we only had to make some semi-moderate adjustments. We are not strangers to this.
We had a thunder storm come through the area a couple of times, but what amazes me is the comments from people out here camping that tells me "Oh, we are under trees so we are safe"... huh?! Then why do people that stand under trees that get hit with lighting die? Am I just missing something here?.... City folk need more education before attempting to camp, the saying may say ignorance is bliss but this is deadly!
Power, we now have power, enough to power a house and the noise level to go with it. Will have to look for a smaller generator that is quieter, there has to be one.
Ok, that is the short of my rant. Ya'll have fun :)
We had a thunder storm come through the area a couple of times, but what amazes me is the comments from people out here camping that tells me "Oh, we are under trees so we are safe"... huh?! Then why do people that stand under trees that get hit with lighting die? Am I just missing something here?.... City folk need more education before attempting to camp, the saying may say ignorance is bliss but this is deadly!
Power, we now have power, enough to power a house and the noise level to go with it. Will have to look for a smaller generator that is quieter, there has to be one.
Ok, that is the short of my rant. Ya'll have fun :)
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Power Struggle
This week has been all about a power struggle. The short of it all is this: My husband was gifted with a generator. We do need one since tents are largely relegated to sites without power & water. It is nearly impossible to function without power due to:
Billy has to sleep with a c-pap machine.
The dog and I are stuck at the campsite because I still don't have a driver's license. This makes it impossible to do anything Internet without power.
Sooo anyway the challenge is that the gift-generator is large enough to run a small home --5200 watts. It is loud enough to be heard all over the campground. It is a monster and Billy is in love with it.
Compromise: He gets to run it only between the tume he gets home from work and bed time. So far this has been 2 hrs and about enough battery charging to get his c-pap through the night.
More conversations, considerations, and compromises are in our future.
Oh and if any of our friends have power issues this winter, remember ... Billy has power!
Billy has to sleep with a c-pap machine.
The dog and I are stuck at the campsite because I still don't have a driver's license. This makes it impossible to do anything Internet without power.
Sooo anyway the challenge is that the gift-generator is large enough to run a small home --5200 watts. It is loud enough to be heard all over the campground. It is a monster and Billy is in love with it.
Compromise: He gets to run it only between the tume he gets home from work and bed time. So far this has been 2 hrs and about enough battery charging to get his c-pap through the night.
More conversations, considerations, and compromises are in our future.
Oh and if any of our friends have power issues this winter, remember ... Billy has power!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Not on Vacation
We are not on vacation.
First, this is true because Billy is still going to work every day.
Second, it is true because we are still keeping up with various church activities.
Third, it is true because -- even in a tent -- we have to keep house ... we still have a home and a home has to be tended.
It is very difficult for Billy to leave every morning. The area is beautiful. It is relaxing -- in spite of the rain and the noise. It makes going to the cubical farm very difficult.
We have not been at the campground on the weekends because of various obligations at church. There was one Saturday event we could have skipped -- except that the list of things we needed to accomplish to run a home was also long: Visit the storage unit, collect mail, buy Shelbie's Abady dog food from Utter Brothers Feed Store, visit the BaklaJava coffee shop.
I'm still doing laundry. I'm still attempting to organize our stuff and keep it in order. If it ever ever stops raining, I'll probably learn to use the little camp stove and at least make coffee. I'm still tending to the dog. (Even more so now since she cannot be left unattended.) And I'm still attempting to work on my various art projects.
I think I might be out doing more sight seeing if I had my driver's license. More than likely, I'd just be traveling to more places to find more Internet options. But this is certainly another conversation for another post.
First, this is true because Billy is still going to work every day.
Second, it is true because we are still keeping up with various church activities.
Third, it is true because -- even in a tent -- we have to keep house ... we still have a home and a home has to be tended.
It is very difficult for Billy to leave every morning. The area is beautiful. It is relaxing -- in spite of the rain and the noise. It makes going to the cubical farm very difficult.
We have not been at the campground on the weekends because of various obligations at church. There was one Saturday event we could have skipped -- except that the list of things we needed to accomplish to run a home was also long: Visit the storage unit, collect mail, buy Shelbie's Abady dog food from Utter Brothers Feed Store, visit the BaklaJava coffee shop.
I'm still doing laundry. I'm still attempting to organize our stuff and keep it in order. If it ever ever stops raining, I'll probably learn to use the little camp stove and at least make coffee. I'm still tending to the dog. (Even more so now since she cannot be left unattended.) And I'm still attempting to work on my various art projects.
I think I might be out doing more sight seeing if I had my driver's license. More than likely, I'd just be traveling to more places to find more Internet options. But this is certainly another conversation for another post.
The Routine
Saturday, June 13, 2009
On the road between Syracuse and West Point
(We went to a Southern Baptist Relief Team Training)
Well let me see if I can get you caught up on a few things.
That really loud siren was a test for the local nuclear plant warning system. Seems that if I hear that sound constantly, I'm suppose to get like 60 miles north or some such non-sense.
In one way or another, every day here is never calm nor serene. Let me tell you the routine of the last few weeks.
As we have already established, the day begins with a surprising and loud noise. You may pick one of the following as your starting sound:
** Nuclear Power Plant Alarm Siren (ear-piercing and heart-stopping),
** Distant Cannon fire (possibly 106mm Howitzer, mortars & probably simulators),
** Black Hawk helicopters overhead (transporting trainees),
** Fighter jets overhead from a nearby Air Force Base (possibly F22 Raptors),
** And/OR a ear splitting thunderstorm complete with blinding lightening (aka speed dressing event and running with old dog & computer and camera to a nearby pavilion).
This is followed by rain.
Then during any break in the rainfall you will listen to artillery fire and machine guns. I was given a whole plethora of possible weapons M14 & M16 M240 M249 and a few that I missed.
This is followed by rain.
As you adjust to this routine, you may pick one of following afternoon delights:
** Do laundry dressed in your best rain gear. My personal favorite is a rain jacket and rain pants.
** Pout about the rain by reading for 8 straight hours.
** Walk the dog in her very fine rain jacket -- Our dog gets only the best impromptu designs from Glad trash bags. The drawstring trash bag works very well. Cut open one side and about 1/2 of the bottom. After cutting, open the bag and drape the it over the dog. Work Quickly from this point forward. Pull the drawstring to fit the top of the bag around the dog's neck and tie it under the chin. Tug the bottom of the sack over the dog's back end. Tuck the tail into the corner. Leave room for the tail-end business to function. And finally gather, tape & tie the open side under the poor, sad-looking dog's belly. No. I don't have photos.
** Sit in your tent (while reading or writing or resting) and listen to various ages of children present in groups of 3 to 130. Teenage girls scream the best. Boys between 8 and 12 say the funniest things about being out in the woods and fishing.
If you didn't notice, most of the afternoon activities include interacting with &/or ignoring the rain.
Evening activities can include:
** Sitting in the truck with your husband while eating either gourmet bbq from the local cafe (which really is pretty decent) or the equally decent gourmet cream of celery soup from Mrs Green's.
** On a rare evening without rain, you may show your darling husband a hidden quiet pond with a well defined walkway ... which he will somehow manage to turn into a plunge into the woods for at least one mile ... at dusk. Yes, a dark, dusky walk in the woods on a "rustic" "trail". And just a moment before dark you emerge at lookout point with a near full moon rising. This redeems him and the walk through the woods (even though the same destination can also be reached my mostly following paved camp roads).
** You may spend the evenings chasing Internet connectivity. This will land you at the local BBQ shop or McDonald's.
This is followed by rain.
Early retirement to bed is advisable.
And hope it is only followed by rain.
The reason "early to bed" is exceedingly wise is because somewhere in the wee-early hours of the morning unplanned and unpredictable activities can occur.
** Sitting in the truck waiting for the lightening to end happens two to three times a week.
** Waking in the middle of the night -- desperate to go pee -- and rather certain you shouldn't have been reading a book that discusses bear attacks -- because now you're pretty sure there's something sniffing & snuffling outside the tent -- finally you wake your poor husband and plead for his company on the way to the bathhouse. Then insist on taking the truck because there's something going through the bushes. Amazingly, He doesn't argue. The following a.m. you will discover a dumpster has been pushed over and ransacked. Sigh.
** Around 4:30 a.m. (one hour before the alarm clock goes off) you can find yourself greeted by a large cacophony of birds and sunlight (if the rain & clouds have mostly subsided).
Usually even the wee early morning activities are followed by rain.
Seriously, this is pretty much how the last weeks have passed: Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
The running joke with my friends is that I have not yet drowned, all artillery has missed me, the bear has not eaten me, I've not been struck by lightning, and the nuclear plant is still functioning.
And yet ... I enjoy this place immensely. We've managed to get the length of our stay extended by one week ... Through this Saturday. Then we are going to go try a state park for a week. Then we will be back here for two weeks. Well that's the plan at the moment.
On the road between Syracuse and West Point
(We went to a Southern Baptist Relief Team Training)
Well let me see if I can get you caught up on a few things.
That really loud siren was a test for the local nuclear plant warning system. Seems that if I hear that sound constantly, I'm suppose to get like 60 miles north or some such non-sense.
In one way or another, every day here is never calm nor serene. Let me tell you the routine of the last few weeks.
As we have already established, the day begins with a surprising and loud noise. You may pick one of the following as your starting sound:
** Nuclear Power Plant Alarm Siren (ear-piercing and heart-stopping),
** Distant Cannon fire (possibly 106mm Howitzer, mortars & probably simulators),
** Black Hawk helicopters overhead (transporting trainees),
** Fighter jets overhead from a nearby Air Force Base (possibly F22 Raptors),
** And/OR a ear splitting thunderstorm complete with blinding lightening (aka speed dressing event and running with old dog & computer and camera to a nearby pavilion).
This is followed by rain.
Then during any break in the rainfall you will listen to artillery fire and machine guns. I was given a whole plethora of possible weapons M14 & M16 M240 M249 and a few that I missed.
This is followed by rain.
As you adjust to this routine, you may pick one of following afternoon delights:
** Do laundry dressed in your best rain gear. My personal favorite is a rain jacket and rain pants.
** Pout about the rain by reading for 8 straight hours.
** Walk the dog in her very fine rain jacket -- Our dog gets only the best impromptu designs from Glad trash bags. The drawstring trash bag works very well. Cut open one side and about 1/2 of the bottom. After cutting, open the bag and drape the it over the dog. Work Quickly from this point forward. Pull the drawstring to fit the top of the bag around the dog's neck and tie it under the chin. Tug the bottom of the sack over the dog's back end. Tuck the tail into the corner. Leave room for the tail-end business to function. And finally gather, tape & tie the open side under the poor, sad-looking dog's belly. No. I don't have photos.
** Sit in your tent (while reading or writing or resting) and listen to various ages of children present in groups of 3 to 130. Teenage girls scream the best. Boys between 8 and 12 say the funniest things about being out in the woods and fishing.
If you didn't notice, most of the afternoon activities include interacting with &/or ignoring the rain.
Evening activities can include:
** Sitting in the truck with your husband while eating either gourmet bbq from the local cafe (which really is pretty decent) or the equally decent gourmet cream of celery soup from Mrs Green's.
** On a rare evening without rain, you may show your darling husband a hidden quiet pond with a well defined walkway ... which he will somehow manage to turn into a plunge into the woods for at least one mile ... at dusk. Yes, a dark, dusky walk in the woods on a "rustic" "trail". And just a moment before dark you emerge at lookout point with a near full moon rising. This redeems him and the walk through the woods (even though the same destination can also be reached my mostly following paved camp roads).
** You may spend the evenings chasing Internet connectivity. This will land you at the local BBQ shop or McDonald's.
This is followed by rain.
Early retirement to bed is advisable.
And hope it is only followed by rain.
The reason "early to bed" is exceedingly wise is because somewhere in the wee-early hours of the morning unplanned and unpredictable activities can occur.
** Sitting in the truck waiting for the lightening to end happens two to three times a week.
** Waking in the middle of the night -- desperate to go pee -- and rather certain you shouldn't have been reading a book that discusses bear attacks -- because now you're pretty sure there's something sniffing & snuffling outside the tent -- finally you wake your poor husband and plead for his company on the way to the bathhouse. Then insist on taking the truck because there's something going through the bushes. Amazingly, He doesn't argue. The following a.m. you will discover a dumpster has been pushed over and ransacked. Sigh.
** Around 4:30 a.m. (one hour before the alarm clock goes off) you can find yourself greeted by a large cacophony of birds and sunlight (if the rain & clouds have mostly subsided).
Usually even the wee early morning activities are followed by rain.
Seriously, this is pretty much how the last weeks have passed: Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
The running joke with my friends is that I have not yet drowned, all artillery has missed me, the bear has not eaten me, I've not been struck by lightning, and the nuclear plant is still functioning.
And yet ... I enjoy this place immensely. We've managed to get the length of our stay extended by one week ... Through this Saturday. Then we are going to go try a state park for a week. Then we will be back here for two weeks. Well that's the plan at the moment.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Shelbie (the dog) has a new Passion
C H I P M U N K S !!!
On Monday, I was sitting on my bed in the tent. Shelbie was asleep in the screen room (attached and floorless). I just happened to be looking at her when a chipmunk ran in to the screen room and slammed on it's breaks just inches from smacking into Shelbie's nose.
Ummm to be continued. There's a major loud siren going off ... and I have no idea why.
On Monday, I was sitting on my bed in the tent. Shelbie was asleep in the screen room (attached and floorless). I just happened to be looking at her when a chipmunk ran in to the screen room and slammed on it's breaks just inches from smacking into Shelbie's nose.
Ummm to be continued. There's a major loud siren going off ... and I have no idea why.
Greetings from my home to yours!
Monday, June 1, 2009
We got out of the apartment one night later than we had wanted but ... such is life. Our first night in our tent was blissfully peaceful. No thunderstorms, no rain (as predicted for the area). Just a really great night's sleep. This is a very excellent thing. By the time we went to sleep last night, we had been awake for around 38 hours. Subtract a few short naps here and there. Let me assure you of this one thing: Packing procrastination continues to be a bad thing. That's all we're saying about this whole thing.
I will have to get a photo of the storage unit. I'm very pleased with it. Billy created the loading plan for it. It is 5'x10' and holds most of the items we would need to again establish an abode within walls.
The truck seemed to be so full of stuff. And, after fingering every item in my apartment at least once, and considering taking at least 60% with me, I was sure we had packed way too much to just go camping. Yet, now that the tent is up (and mostly empty) And most of the rest is raked out of the truck and sitting on the picnic table or the ground, it hasn't seemed like so much. I suspect we can do better. Even so, Billy just called me from Home Depot to see what else he should bring home -- maybe we'll leave with a trailer. I am going to see if there's a way I can take anything back to storage.
When we were checking in, we asked about a place where Billy could charge his batteries that he uses to run his sleep apnea machine. (His sleep apnea is not a mild condition.) So, one of the campground personnel had an idea: Take a spot near an RV site and use an extension cord to the electric outlet there to charge the batteries -- not to run an entire plethora of appliances! All the same, I believe our laptops and other gizmos will benefit. We are still researching generator options. If you have some ideas on that topic, say so.
The cell phone connection is weak and unstable at our campsite. If I walk down toward the office, there's a better signal. There is a pavilion near there. I will go down there to do things on the Internet. If I use my cell phone to send data that is stored or generated on the cell phone (without involving my laptop) then I have unlimited data transfer. BUT ... if I involve my laptop in the connection, I am limited to 5 gig of data transfer. So, I'm working on my strategies there.
Well, I'm going to see what I can do now about putting away all the items that are all over the picnic table.
We got out of the apartment one night later than we had wanted but ... such is life. Our first night in our tent was blissfully peaceful. No thunderstorms, no rain (as predicted for the area). Just a really great night's sleep. This is a very excellent thing. By the time we went to sleep last night, we had been awake for around 38 hours. Subtract a few short naps here and there. Let me assure you of this one thing: Packing procrastination continues to be a bad thing. That's all we're saying about this whole thing.
I will have to get a photo of the storage unit. I'm very pleased with it. Billy created the loading plan for it. It is 5'x10' and holds most of the items we would need to again establish an abode within walls.
The truck seemed to be so full of stuff. And, after fingering every item in my apartment at least once, and considering taking at least 60% with me, I was sure we had packed way too much to just go camping. Yet, now that the tent is up (and mostly empty) And most of the rest is raked out of the truck and sitting on the picnic table or the ground, it hasn't seemed like so much. I suspect we can do better. Even so, Billy just called me from Home Depot to see what else he should bring home -- maybe we'll leave with a trailer. I am going to see if there's a way I can take anything back to storage.
When we were checking in, we asked about a place where Billy could charge his batteries that he uses to run his sleep apnea machine. (His sleep apnea is not a mild condition.) So, one of the campground personnel had an idea: Take a spot near an RV site and use an extension cord to the electric outlet there to charge the batteries -- not to run an entire plethora of appliances! All the same, I believe our laptops and other gizmos will benefit. We are still researching generator options. If you have some ideas on that topic, say so.
The cell phone connection is weak and unstable at our campsite. If I walk down toward the office, there's a better signal. There is a pavilion near there. I will go down there to do things on the Internet. If I use my cell phone to send data that is stored or generated on the cell phone (without involving my laptop) then I have unlimited data transfer. BUT ... if I involve my laptop in the connection, I am limited to 5 gig of data transfer. So, I'm working on my strategies there.
Well, I'm going to see what I can do now about putting away all the items that are all over the picnic table.
Monday, June 1, 2009
In the tent at last..
Yes.. believe it or not this is the hubby finally makeing a post to the blog.
Ok, we finally made it out to the tent on Sunday (31 May, 2009). Phone signal is week at the camp site but will have to move around the area to find best signal so we can have internet :).
Tent is large enough for me which was a requirement, I had laying down to get dressed and at my size that is not an easy task.
Ok.. Wife will make a post at some point tonight or tomorrow.
Have fun.
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