Author Archives: ellen
Shelter Over The Spa
Our exposed skin was too cold in the water since the spa was fixed this fall. We have used it in the winter before but noticed the little ones got cold fast and could not stay in long. I was … Continue reading
Another Spa Fix
The spa has not been working for over a year. In April of 2020 I wrote about installing a new spa pack and controller. In June of 2022 while starting up the spa we burned through the spa heater! So … Continue reading
Home 30 Amp RV Outlet
We had friends arriving in September who would “Moochdock” in our driveway. They needed 30 amp power because they had to run the air conditioner and other power at the same time. I had always wanted to install a 30 … Continue reading
Mr Cool Mini-Split Troubles
It sure seemed like there were several repairs that had to be made this summer. I had issues with the RV water supply, with the pool, with the spa, and also with the air conditioner. I installed the Mr. Cool … Continue reading
Summer Spa Repairs
Last summer we had big problems with the spa equipment and it was replaced. We had discovered a leak at one of the jets in our exercise spa. I tried all kinds of patches for the leak, caulk, pool goop, … Continue reading
A Little More Camping
Making our way back home we drove another couple of hours and stopped by the Yampa River State Park. This one is right on highway 40 and was a pleasant camping area. The first evening walked down to the river … Continue reading
Dinosaur National Monument
Dave had proposed visiting this out of the way Colorado/Utah park with the grandkids some time ago. We didn’t think we could handle all three but at seven, Wolfgang is old enough to appreciate ancient history or so we thought. … Continue reading
End of Summer Camping Trip
Our half Korean grandkids spent most of the summer visiting their aunt with their mom on Jeju Island in Korea. The children are very bilingual and knowledgeable about their mom’s culture. My son went to join them for the last … Continue reading
Pool Disaster
Last time we set up the pool the various leaks in the aging liner were getting more and more difficult to repair. I had a choice between buying a new pool altogether or ordering a new liner from Intex. The … Continue reading
German Grandkids Visit
We had our 12 year old granddaughter and 15 year old grandson visit us this July. That kept us busy with fun kid stuff. We took them camping in the mountains to reacquaint them with their home state. We stayed … Continue reading
New RV Toilet
When the plumbing leaked in the RV the toilet also overflowed with water. I had read that the valve often breaks in newer Thetford toilets so I ordered the kit, watched a couple of YouTube videos and took the pedal … Continue reading
RV Water Woes
I installed a pressure tank next to the water pump in the wiring and plumbing bay under the bed. I had winterized the system before I did the installation when we returned from Arizona in March. When I was getting … Continue reading
DIY Motorized Outdoor Rollup Shades
After observing the cool outdoor shades John Avenson installed on the exterior of his passive solar wall, I wanted to add solar shades to the Trombe wall to prevent it from heating up in the summer. I priced automatic shades … Continue reading
May
Of course May is crazy for everyone with it being the last month of the school year here. I also have a tradition of spending a weekend camping near my birthday. This year we did it the weekend before and … Continue reading
Springtime Activities
April is a busy month. Both our grandson Leonidas and his mom Haewon have birthdays and we prepped for an early 5th birthday party for Clementine and our 50th anniversary cruise to Alaska. Plus there were a couple of new … Continue reading
Germany at Easter
We always have a wonderful time visiting our daughter’s family in Germany. This year they met us at the Frankfurt train station to tour a few German cities. We walked to our hotel in Frankfort and the next day we … Continue reading
Sewing a Dress
I wanted to sew a “designer dress” for my 12 year old granddaughter’s birthday. Spoonflower sells specially designed material in hundreds of patterns that are printed on a variety of materials. I successfully bought Spoonflower organic cotton material and sewed … Continue reading
RV Storage
RV trips seem to require a lot of accessories. Or at least most RVers love accessories. We recently went on one such trip where I’ve noticed the use of the RV cubbies and shelves had become a matter of interest … Continue reading
Broken RV Water Pump
We like to visit our son in Arizona at least once a year. Last year was exciting because he and his fiancée got married at a beautiful outdoor wedding in late February. This year we are visiting again in February. … Continue reading
New Condensate Medium
When I realized the boiler’s condensate filter was gunked up it was reasonable to clean it out and replace the filter medium. I was mistaken to believe the filter used plain limestone. When it came as a powder I had … Continue reading