Family reunion and camping at Pinchot State Park

(posted from home)
(This post covers 28 – 31 July, 2010)


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Saturday, 31 July-

We awoke early-- around 0600 – to the sounds of the kids (and Labashi's brother) around the morning campfire. The kids had gone to bed earlier than the adults and were ready to go. Two of the boys wanted to go for a 'polar-bear swim' this morning. (One had gone to summer camp where they had morning swims and called them polar-bear swims).
While Labashi's brother took the kids to the beach, we hung around the campfire with the seven-year old while another kid slept late.
We hung around the campfire all morning. The kids had been fascinated by the fire all evening and it was the same today, endlessly messing about.
The other adults showed up between 1100 and noon and made their plans for the day-- the last day of the reunion.
By midafternoon we were home and spent the rest of the day putting things away and cleaning up from the big camping adventure.

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Friday, 30 July-

Today was our second of two days at Gifford Pinchot State Park with our family reunion group.
We weren't supposed to gather until noon or so but I knew some of the fishermen had gone over early. I rode the motorcycle over to check on them around 0900 and found they were happily pulling in the sunnies and a few small bass.
Labashi picked up pizza for the group on her way over and we spent a perfect afternoon in the picnic area while the kids fished and then swam the day away.
Around 1530 we left to get ready for our family supper out at the Hillside Grill. The 15 of us had our own little area to enjoy and had a great time together.
We then returned to Pinchot park, this time to the campground. One of Labashi's brothers had decided to tent-camp with his kids and two of the other boys and invited everyone over for s'mores. He also invited us to camp with them so I dropped off Labashi and the picnic gear, then went home and traded Labashi's car for Mocha Joe for the night.
We spent the evening around the campfire in absolutely perfect weather and were very happy to have Mocha Joe nearby as it neared midnight around the campfire.

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Thursday, 29 July-

Today was the first of two days at Pinchot park for the family reunion. After the late night last night the group arose late this morning so didn't gather at the park until late morning. The kids all wanted to fish and I was surprised how well they stuck to it, even in the heat of the day. We adults hung out in the shade and got the grill going for hot dogs and burgers. The kids swam later in the afternoon and we all hung out through the beautiful evening. I had taken my boat to the park for one group to use so I launched it for them and returned to the picnic area. After an hour or so I thought I'd check on them and didn't see them where I expected so went looking. I found them at another launch ramp on the other side of the lake with a dead battery. My deep-cycle battery had shown fully charged when I left the house this morning but only lasted for a half-hour of propulsion.
The fishermen were completely unfazed by the problem; they used the dying battery to get ashore near the other launch ramp, tied up the boat and went fishing again, figuring I'd eventually find them. As it happens, the fish started biting in that cove and they had their best fishing of the day.
By the time I arrived the battery had recovered enough for us to get the boat to the ramp and loaded on the trailer. All's well that ends well!
By the time we got back to the picnic area it was nearly dark so we hurriedly packed up but we were still the last to leave the park for the day.

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Wednesday, 28 July-

Our visitors are all at Hershey Park for the day, both our house-guests and the other three families staying in motels. I welcomed the opportunity to work on some regular around-the-house stuff. I cleaned off my desk and filed and looked into what we thought was a missing debit card but turned out to have not been ordered due to a mixup on our part. I also researched what appeared to be an incorrect account number on a financial record but that eventually turned out to be a format problem and everything is actually okay. I also had Mocha Joe fixed. The van had developed a chirping sound from the fan belt area and that turned out to be an idler pulley. I know I had it replaced relatively recently and see from my blog that I had it replaced in June of 2008 just prior to our trip to Alaska. I know we've put a lot of dirt-road miles on since then but that's WAY too short a life-span.
That evening Labashi and I stayed up late waiting for our house-guests to come home but gave up around 2300 only to lay there wondering if they had been in an accident or something. They finally showed at midnight, having stayed in the park until 2200, then going out for a treat. I had no idea you could stay out that late at HersheyPark.

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Working on the rental house and Labashi's family reunion; 'Goodbye Solo'

(posted from home)

(This post covers 10 – 27 July, 2010)


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Tuesday, 27 July-

This morning I had a to-do list for the reunion to get done while the rest of the family went to Hershey Park. I'm getting the canoe and fishing boat ready for our picnic and Pinchot later this week.
I also ran into a problem with my ATM card today. I stopped at the bank for some cash and the card wouldn't work-- the mag stripe has worn through from contact with other cards in my wallet. But when I went into the bank, they couldn't find my account at first. It turns out my card has an incorrect number embossed on it. The magnetic stripe had the right numbers but when the clerk keyed in the account number embossed on the card, it didn't work. That turns out to be an error on the card so it will have to be replaced. That little problem has been waiting to bite me for 12 years (when I first got the card) and today was the day! It was actually a very minor issue, though--- just a few minutes of confusion at the teller window.
Late in the day I rode over to Cycle Tech to discuss repair of the Concours' exhaust-crossover pipe. I think I'll probably go with these guys but not for another two months or so when their work has slowed down and they switch to off-season rates. I'm very happy to ride the GS for now but will want the Concours for late-Fall and Winter riding. The Conc's fairing just can't be beat for cold-weather riding but the bike is also uncomfortable in very hot weather because of all the heat coming off the engine and exhaust headers.
Labashi's brother from Albuquerque arrived today with his two sons and will be staying with us for a week during and after the reunion. It's nice to have visitors in the house.

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Monday, 26 July-

Today I took our visiting seven-year-old boy and his dad on a tour of local fishing spots. By late morning another reunion contingent arrived and we all went to Pinchot Park to reconnoiter for our picnics there with the rest of the family later this week and to let the kids get some fishing time.
That evening we visited Mom and Dad and we all then went out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Mechanicsburg.
Upon our return home we had a Skype video call with one of Labashi's sister's family who can't make the reunion. Very cool!

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Sunday, 25 July-

More reunion-prep and other thrashing about today. We decided we'd better install Air Conditioner Number 2. We have two large window-mounted air conditioners but normally only install one and that one only for the hottest days. Last year we didn't install any at all and the year before only used one for a week. That's generally because we try to get out of town on one of our trips during July and August.
We watched 'Top Shot' as our entertainment tonight and just as it ended Labashi's brother and family arrived from Ohio-- our first reunion customer! We stayed up past midnight while they decompressed from their trip and enjoyed our talk.

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Saturday, 24 July-

Today was another reunion-prep day. We had lots of little tasks to open up space and organize for company.
But the big task for today was transferring Dad's Buick to the new owner. We drove to the tag-and-title shop in our car and the Buick but ran into a problem when the woman who wanted to buy Dad's car proffered an insurance bill as proof of insurance. Her hubby and I had to make a mad dash back home to get the insurance card in their car (which had been left at our house). Once that was squared away we bid the Buick and its new owners a fond goodbye.
That evening we watched 'Goodbye Solo', a nice little movie about a taxi driver who is contracted to take a fare to a remote area and realizes it's because the fare want's to commit suicide at the destination. That plot line sounds awfully depressing but it was a good movie.

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Friday, 23 July-

Today we prepared for the family reunion. We had a massive shopping task and then cut the lawn in 100-degree heat (with lots of breaks!)
That evening we watched a 'Closer' episode.

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Thursday, 22 July-

Today we did the second coats on the living room and dining room then I fixed holes in the kitchen walls and basement-stairway walls and finished up the repair around the bathroom ceiling fan.
We returned home late again and watche a 'House' episode.

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Wednesday, 21 July-

Today it was back to Chambersburg for more painting. We spent the entire day getting the living and dining room prepped and the first coat painted on walls and ceiling.
That evening we helped Maypo paint the kitchen and laundry room in his new house. I had enough painting for today!!!
We overnighted in the driveway of the rental house.

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Tuesday, 20 July-

This morning I had my appointment to get the results of my kidney CT scan. Everything is good and we'll now extend the next scan to a year.
I spent the afternoon handling a silly mixup with my pharmacy. I had a prescription cancelled back in February and the pharmacy somehow thought it was still alive and contacted my doctor about it. So the doctor wanted to know what's going on. A series of mixups and assumptions had to be cleared up.
That evening we watched a 'House' episode from Season One.

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Monday, 19 July-

It was back to Chambersburg again to resume painting the interior. We did the second coat on the back bedrooms and then headed home for my medical appointment tomorrow.
That evening we watched two 'Closer' episodes.

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Sunday, 18 July-

This morning I rode the GS down to the Shrewsbury Starbucks to meet the guy who wanted to buy the tank bag and saddlebags from the motorcycle I sold. The guy lives near the Baltimore/Washington airport and had asked whether I'd be willing to meet him at the Maryland line for the exchange. I didn't mind the half-hour run down there on this beautiful morning and it's only about ten minutes more than my regular Sunday ride to the Tollgate Starbucks. The exchange went well. The guy was very happy to get the bags and we seemed to have a lot in common and could talk easily.
I couldn't tarry long, though, since I had to get back to demo Dad's Buick to a prospective buyer. The demo went well and the couple gave me a deposit on the car and arranged to pick it up next Saturday. Here's to keeping fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong in the meantime!
That afternoon I took relax-and-enjoy-it ride to the York Starbucks and after my return home I cleaned and oiled the GS chain and washed the motorcycle.
That evening we watched 'Ice Road Truckers' and 'Top Shot' (six-gun episode)

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Saturday, 17 July-

We painted all day today, from 0800 to 1800. We put the second coat on the bedroom ceilings and I took another shot at repairing the bathroom walls. I had made some progress yesterday but the sand-texture paint I used to try to simulate the plaster topcoat had been too rough-- the paint was too thick. I removed it and mixed up a much better version by watering down the sand-texture paint with some latex wall paint. I also removed the fan/light to get to a bad patch-job the renter had apparently done when he installed the new fan/light. I also spent considerable time repairing the living and dining room walls. There were nailholes everywhere, it seemed.
We were exhausted by the end of the day and I had a bit of trouble staying awake during our long drive home.

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Friday, 16 July-

We turned to painting interior walls today. We prepped and painted the ceilings in the front and middle bedrooms. I also took my first shot at fixing the bathroom walls with plaster-patch and sand-texture paint.
That evening we parked Mocha Joe in the woods. We had a strange night. About 0200 we were awakened by a very odd sound just outside the van. Labashi thought it was a fox barking, I had the impression it was a bird sound--- sort of a pre-historic sound which reminded me of a great blue heron's squawk. I called it 'the Chupacabra'. Maybe it was a bittern....

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Thursday, 15 July-

This morning we drove to Chambersburg and spent the rest of the day painting the aluminum siding of the rental house. We were surprised how well the job went. The Duramax went on well and didn't need a lot of skill to avoid brush marks. If this paint continues to stick well to this house and doesn't chalk much, we have a solution for our house in, say, two years.
That afternoon we re-hung the rain gutter after Maypo and Orat finished up with the new vinyl soffitt and the new aluminum cover on the fascia board. Upon completion of that project Orat headed for home in western New York and Maypo needs to go back to his full-time job tomorrow.
We spent the evening at the Maypos and then came back to the rental house and parked Mocha Joe in the driveway for our overnight.

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Wednesday, 14 July -

We had an appointment in Mechanicsburg around noon so we only worked until 10 am washing walls. Good thing. I was still exhausted from yesterday's scrubbing and scrubbing.
Orat painted a sample on the siding to see how the Valspar Duramax paint worked in the high heat and humidity. So far, so good.
Labashi and I went to Mom and Dad's apartment to help Labashi's sister load up a large rug for transport home. She had come up from northern Virginia for the day and it was great to see her. We only spent an hour with her, though, and then headed home.
At home I made arrangements to sell the KLR bags and to demo Dad's Buick to a prospective buyer this weekend.

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Tuesday, 13 July-

We continued bondo duty and Orat finished up the soffitt removal. I painted the front door with a coat of primer and two of color and washed walls when I wasn't painting. The wall-washing is necessary because the renters used a kerosene heater which left an oily residue on all the walls. What a pain!
After a fun evening with Maypo and Ms. Maypo and Orat, we stayed the night in Maypo's driveway.

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Monday, 12 July-

I had my nine-month CT scan of my kidney today then we went to Chambersburg to work on the house. We continued working the repairs to the siding and I preppred the front door for re-painting while Orat pulled down the old plywood soffitt.
Labashi and I stayed the night in Mocha Joe in the nearby woods. For some reason, though, we got very little sleep. We think it was due to the fumes from the bondo. What a miserable night.

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Sunday, 11 July-

This morning I finished up removing the storm doors and then spent most of the day on bondo-ing the many dents to the aluminum siding. This isn't going well-- it's just too slow. We've considered replacing the siding but that has its own problems--- expense and a complex installation.
That evening we returned home so I can prep for my medical appointment tomorrow.

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Saturday, 10 July-

Today we started working on the house in Chambersburg. I worked for a few hours sanding and chipping away paint on one of the windows only to decide this wasn't going to work. The underlying wood isn't in very good shape and the results after repainting and re-puttying the windows won't be very good. Worse, the storms are unfinished aluminum and look their age (almost 50 years!). Instead of continuing this losing battle I spent the rest of the day removing all the storm windows and then worked on repairs to the dented aluminum siding using car-body repair epoxy (Bondo).
We spent the evening with Maypo and stayed the night in Mocha Joe in the driveway.

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House re-hab project, 'Henri Cartier-Bresson', 'The Name of the Rose', 'The Gleaners and I', craigslist ads for motorcycle and car

(posted from home)
(This post covers 28 June to 9 July, 2010)

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Friday, 9 July-

This morning I had a beautiful ride up to Harrisburg to pick up the new glasses I had ordered a month ago. I don't know what's going on at this shop, though. In years past they were always very busy but I've been there three times in the last two months and every time it has been deserted. Something's up. I like getting attention right away but I'm concerned the shop will close. I've not been able to find anyone else who can handle the specific vintage frames I like.
In the afternoon I sold the KLR to a guy from southern York County. We took a demo ride to seal the deal and then I drove the KLR in to a tags-and-title service in York for the transfer. Since Labashi's name was on the title she had to go along. But that was a good thing. After the paperwork was settled and we said goodbye to the buyer and his wife, Labashi and I celebrated with fajitas and margaritas at Chili's.
On the way home Labashi dropped me off at the garage to pick up Dad's Buick. The air conditioner problem turned out to be the compressor, condenser, and dryer. What bad luck for a car we're just trying to sell.
That evening we watched back-to-back episodes of Whale Wars.

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Thursday, 8 July-

I had a routine dermatology appointment this morning in Harrisburg and then went looking for sanding disks and pads at Lowe's, Sears, and Home Depot. We have a nice battery-powered sander but the only sandpaper stocked for it comes in a variety of grits and we don't have enough of the larger grit in a package. A sanding disk for a drill allows me to get 15 disks of the right grit for a very reasonable price.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the KLR in preparation for selling it.

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Wednesday, 7 July-

We worked on the house today. The afternoon temperature got up to 101 (!!!!) but we were fairly comfortable on the shady carport.
After our mostly-sleepless night and with the high humidity we knocked off at 1430 and headed home, quite exhausted. I have a medical appointment tomorrow.

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Tuesday, 6 July-

This morning I had a blood test for my upcoming routine (and periodic) kidney scan. We then returned to Chambersburg to work on the house for the afternoon.
That evening we camped in the nearby woods along the Conococheague. We had a great, quiet campsite but couldn't sleep! We were both awake until at least 0200 when I finally dozed off and Labashi says she didn't sleep at all. It must have been the chemicals we were working with all day. Perhaps it was the lacquer thinner.

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Monday, 5 July-

Labashi and I drove Mocha Joe to Chambersburg to begin working on the house rehab. I spent the day removing storm windows, repairing two holes in the plaster walls, and scraping window brickmold in preparation for painting.
We returned home that evening since I have an appointment tomorrow. Long day.

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Sunday, 4 July-

Today's the big holiday but it was pretty much just another day for us. Labashi and I drove in to Lowe's for supplies – sandpapers, paints, plaster patch, etc---- for working on the house later this week.
That evening we could see fireworks in the distance from our living room window. We even had a session of 'dueling fireworks' from neighbors trying to out-do each other. The shows were very impressive for amateur fireworks.

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Saturday, 3 July-

I rode the F650GS to Chambersburg to join Maypo for a detailed review of the work we need to do (or contract out) on a house. We spent an hour or so going through the house. I then returned home and wrote up a long email to document what we had seen and said for us and for Orat, who will be joining us for this project.
I also dealt with some prospective buyers for Dad's car and for the KLR in my craigslist ads.

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Friday, 2 July-

Today Labashi and I did a whirlwind cleaning of the house in preparation for Mom and Dad's visit in the afternoon. We picked them up at their apartment and took them to Pinchot Park for an idyllic hour or so of sitting in the shade and watching the world go by.
Back home we had a 'tasting party'. Labashi made four different dishes, each an easy-to-prepare entree we've recently learned to appreciate in our search for tasty, quickly-prepared, low-carb foods. They include tilapia filets, cordon bleu, and two variations of quiche.
That evening we watched the first part of 'The Gleaners and I', a documentary about a French woman trying to re-create Millet's 'The Gleaners' in the modern world. This one fell a bit flat for us.

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Thursday, 1 July -

This morning I washed Dad's car in preparation for showing it to a prospective buyer. The test ride seemed to go well but then the car managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory, so to speak. As we pulled into the driveway after the test drive, we heard a new noise. I tried popping the hood but even that wouldn't work. The prospective buyer could hear the latch cable working so pushed down on the hood and it finally popped. But there was a distinct noise coming from the fan belt area and, more specifically, the air conditioning compressor.
After the prospective buyer left, I took the car to my mechanic and he diagnosed it as the clutch on the air conditioner, possibly involving the compressor. If it's the former, it's a $200 fix, if the latter it's a $500 fix.
That afternoon I wrote up a Craigslist ad for the KLR and posted it.
In the evening we watched the 'Name of the Rose' extras, then 'The Thin Blue Line', a documentary about the killing of a Dallas police officer and the jailing of an innocent.

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Wednesday, 30 June-

This morning I went to our bank and set up a new account in order to do some Ebay business. Like many people, I want to keep this separate from our personal account.
I had intended to post an Ebay ad today for Dad's car but then thought better of it and instead posted on Craigslist to see what kind of local interest there is.
That afternoon I rode the GS to Rocky Ridge and did the end-to-end loop in 1:25 by jogging many of the downhill portions of the trail.
That evening we watched 'The Name of the Rose' with Sean Connery. It's a story about murders in a monastery in the 1300's. I was interested in it for the representation of that time. The storyline was okay but in the latter part got bogged down with an attempt to do something dramatic and it disappointed us.

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Tuesday, 29 June-

I had a dental appointment this morning to 'install' two crowns. I've been putting these off for some time because of the expense but am glad to now get this finished.
Because my dentist is near Labashi's parents' apartment, I then dropped by with supplies to clean a few dabs of paint off of their car's hood. This must have happened while they still lived in Michigan, perhaps while Dad was working on one of his art projects. In any case, it cleaned up quite a bit more easily than I thought it would. A bit of clear-coat scratch remover took it off quite well and I didn't have to treat the entire panel to have a good result as I had feared.
That afternoon I walked at Pinchot Park, 1:15 to the dam and back (from the East parking lot).

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Monday, 28 June-

I started planning our next trip today-- at least the general outline of it. There is some doubt about our being able to get away this summer but if we are able to go, it will be to Newfoundland and Labrador, then returning via Quebec. Today I was looking at the roads and ferries.
In the afternoon I rode in to Starbucks to pick up some of the Doubleshot-Lights I like to have around and to Wal-mart for a sunshade for Dad's car. I'm liking the GS more and more and look forward to riding it. I seem to be able to come up with plenty of excuses to ride!
On the way home I stopped at Rocky Ridge Park and walked my end-to-end loop in 1:44. That seems slow though I felt like I wasn't dawdling.
That evening we watched 'Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Impassioned Eye'. Cartier-Bresson's photography is world-renowned and we've actually seen little of it. The interviews with him were in French with an over-voice and that was a bit distracting (I'd rather just have sub-titles). It's a bit obscure but still worth a look.
Afterwards we watched the 'Top Gun' reality series episode using AR-15s.

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Sunday, 27 June-

Today I rode the F650GS to Chambersburg to visit Maypo. He's having a major re-hab done on his house. The framework is the only thing done so far and I wanted to see it before it gets closed in but also just wanted an excuse to ride. After a tour of the house we went to The Igloo, had some ice cream and spent a pleasant hour or so chatting.
Late in the afternoon I headed home but took a detour up through the Michaux State Forest to Mount Holly Springs. The parks along the way (Caledonia, Pine Grove Furnace, and Laurel Lake) were all busy with summer crowds. I love the cool, shady ride up through here.
Back home I mowed the lawn and then we watched the extras on the Firefly DVD.

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