PTParaD TRs and Shenanigans

[Part-Time Paradise]

Went to the Kansas Speedway truck race last night. Weather was decent and race was entertaining.

Wanted to get to the cup race today, but the limited tickets were sold out super early and wasn't ready to she'll out $1100 on StubHub for $60 tickets.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

This weekend we went for a quick trip in a new spot, Pomona State Park. It's a state park wrapped around a Corps of Engineers lake in central Kansas. The park has a surprising amount of sites, 342. We stayed in the Cedar Winds loop, with water and 50A.

We arrived late Friday afternoon. We set up camp fairly quickly and got a dinner of pork chops with rice and vegetables on the table. Right after we were finishing our dessert of s'mores, the sky opened up. It rained all night with severe storms passing all around the campground. Thankfully we didn't have anything other than a lot of rain, lighting and thunder.

Out for a quick walk before the rain ruined our fun


The storms blowing in

In the morning we planned to ride on the Flint Hills Trail. An old railroad bed converted into a bike trail. Unfortunately the rain didn't let up. So instead of biking into nearby Osage City and catching lunch, we just drove there instead. We went to a local spot, Marilynn's Place. Oh my. It was great. I had a chicken fried steak sandwich and strawberry cake. Just wonderful. The whole family ate just as well for under $50. Such a treat.

The rain finally let up and we went for a walk. Though our plans were ruined, it was the lazy Saturday we've been missing for months. We made hamburger steaks and fried potatoes for dinner and we played bocce ball and frisbee until it got dark.


Skipping rocks on the lake shore


Dinner is almost served


S'mores with DD

We got smacked with more thunderstorms through the night, but again just a lot rain, lightning, and thunder. We all slept in late. I woke up around 945. Once everyone got moving, we packed up and headed home. We were in the driveway and unhooked by 1230.

A quick weekend, but a nice lazy weekend that we needed.

 

[friendofeeyore]

Thank you for sharing. I'm sorry the storms happen, but sounds like y'all had a great time.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Thank you for sharing. I'm sorry the storms happen, but sounds like y'all had a great time.

The storms helped us slow down. Since they didn't bring hail or tornadoes down on us, it was just fine.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

I installed a Microair 364 tonight on my 15000 BTU rear AC. I was hustling against the rain, so I didn't get any pictures . There are many YouTubers and bloggers that have the install details. It was all of splicing 3 wires and making some connections. The hardest part for me was routing the Microair wire and mounting the box inside the AC cover.

If I would've looked at the instructions before I got on the roof and had to go up and down the ladder 4 times to get tools and supplies, the total install time was around 30 minutes...since I DIDN'T do that, it took about 1.5 hours. Then another 30 minutes "teaching" it and buttoning up the AC again.

It is really nice. The compressor is barely audible above the fan noise when it comes on and the starting wattage is about 1700 and the running wattage is around 1300. The AC is currently running on a 15A extension cord and my 3000W inverter. That leaves plenty of power to run just about anything while I'm prepping to load or moochdocking at someone's house. After I install a DC-DC charger from my truck to the rig batteries, I'll be able to run the AC when we're stopped for a bite on the side of the road or cooling the rig off an hour or so before arrival to a CG. I'm quite pleased.

Before I got to work, Mom Nature gave me a surprise. An ant colony was forming inside (yes inside) my screen door and under the shroud of my fold out steps inside the rig. I had to run and grab the spray and vacuum and get busy. The ants kept pouring out of one of the cross bars in the door. Come on Ma! You've already rained out my Memorial Day, least you can do is NOT invade my rig with pests.

All is quiet on the Western Front now. The trailer is cooling to a nice 76 and the screen door and entry way are very clean after I vacuumed and wiped everything down.

 

[Teamubr]

Ants should be able to enjoy camping too. They certainly enjoy picnics.

j

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Ants should be able to enjoy camping too.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Jim jinxed me. I went out to the rig to close it up before the toad strangler that's blowing in tonight and the ants were going bonkers again. I just took the screen door off and put it in the shed to deal with another day. I think I'm going to have to take the door apart to get them out of the nooks and crannies. Frustrating.

 

[Stratman50th]

Jim jinxed me. I went out to the rig to close it up before the toad strangler that's blowing in tonight and the ants were going bonkers again. I just took the screen door off and put it in the shed to deal with another day. I think I'm going to have to take the door apart to get them out of the nooks and crannies. Frustrating.

You need to bait them. I have a do-it-yourself that works well. I also carry a gallon jug of barrier spray that I put down around the tires, stinky slinky, water hose and power cable.

 

[Stratman50th]

Ant Bait
2 tablespoons Borax
1/2 cup sugar
One and 1/2 cup warm water.
Put cotton balls in a lid and saturate with the bait. Takes a couple day but it takes out the queen and they all die out.

 

[2goofycampers]

Terro ant bait. They will come to it and bring it back to the colony.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Thank you. We use Terro in the house and probably would if we got bombarded while camping. The problem is the colony is in the door. Once I kill them, all that will be rotting inside the panels.thankfully they didn't spread beyond there.

 

[tiggerdad]

Vaseline.

Ants won't cross it. Little bit around axle between wheel and spring and small amount around anything that touches ground.

Won't wash away with rain.

Now, that keeps them out. If they are already in...

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Osha? Never heard of him. In my defense, I offered DW a harness and she declined.

We had a bag worm invasion last year. Had a few other trees with other junk too, so we came prepared this year. The sprayer did quite well. Have more juice to go back over the trees before we take off for FW in less than a month.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Yesterday was dedicated to the yard, today was dedicated to the rig.

I have a punch list of stuff before our FW trip. It's coming quick and I have a work trip between now and departure. So I've been cramming before leaving for work.

First project was reconnecting the handles on the sides of the shower door. They were originally mounted with some weird set screw and a piece of plastic. The door didn't get latched on one travel day and both became super loose and one finally fell off last trip out. Thankfully a little bending and rivets made quick work to reattach them.


Before and after. Why they wouldn't use a fastener worth a darn, I don't know.

Then I went to make sure our new mini spin washer/dryer fit in the bathroom while washing and then had a place to ride. Everything worked well. It fits good for the ride in our closet and the wiring and plumbing all matched up.


Then I went to rearrange my breaker panel. With my inverter set up I have to shut off line 2 momentarily when I'm jumping between 50A and any other service. So the fridge and the microwave among other things would get an on/off/on cycle. So I moved some loads over to line 1 and moved an AC and the microwave in the outdoor kitchen to line 2. My biggest joy from this 30 min of work is that I'll only set the microwave clock when we're setting up and I won't have to reprogram it until the next trip.

I started working on my screen door. If you recall, it was covered in ants a few days ago. I pulled it apart and couldn't find any ant colony remnants nor anymore ants. I went to go install it, but the clouds opened up and I didn't really feel like getting soaked.

Since I had the trailer all opened up and plugged in, I decided to fiddle around more with my electric set up. I had the rear 15000 BTU and front 13500 BTU ACs both running on just a 15A extension cord (with the inverter making up the difference). I'm still wrestling with the programming on the battery monitor, but other than that I'm quite happy with my install.

Long post, but got a lot done that was nagging me. Still have a few more things to tick off and before I know it, I'll be in FW.

 

[tigger92662]

Osha? Never heard of him.

I believe Osha is a town in Wisconsin

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

I assume it's because I ordered these last year before my trip was cancelled, but these showed up in the mail today.


Either way, things are looking up!

 

[friendofeeyore]

"YEA" so excited for y'all!

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

"YEA" so excited for y'all!

Thanks. We're ready!

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

As we're prepping to get out the door, I'm working on some final prep on the rig and DW is busy in the garden. I'm installing a DC-DC charger to charge the batteries while we're underway. I've also got to install TPMS, fill propane, check and seal the roof, and some small things.

The garden is exploding. I don't have much of a hand in it other than unskilled labor. The craziest thing is the cherries right now. She's picked over 50 lbs of cherries. I am the tractor driver to get her up in the bucket in the trees, the chef, and the eater. She's doing all the other work. We also need to set up a soaker hose and such so the garden isn't a wasteland when we get back from FL.

Trip starts soon. Can't wait.