Living Our Dream

Off to Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA - Events of Thursday, July 12 to Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Back in 2014 when our granddaughter Lydia was born, we were full-timing so we were able to spend most of that summer in Ohio's Amish Country about 2 hours away from where our daughter and son-in-law live in the Pittsburgh area. We drove to Pittsburgh to meet Lydia when she was only one day old. Ever since then, we have spent all summer in Ohio, and we drove to Pittsburgh from there fairly often to visit...up until this year, that is.

Now that we're no longer full-timing, we aren't spending the summer two hours from Pittsburgh anymore. However, we still want to visit so we decided to do it this year in time for Lydia's birthday. We packed up the car and headed north on Thursday, July 12.

On our overnight stop in Rock Hill, North Carolina, we met our RVing friends, Dick and Barbara, who live nearby, for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. We had a good time catching up with what's new with them.

On Friday, we continued northward and pulled into Lora and J. Michael's driveway around 4:30. Lydia has gotten a lot bigger since we saw her last Christmas. We also learned she has gotten quite good at playing "pretend" - things like going camping, going to an amusement park, kayaking, living in a castle, and playing traffic cop. Grammy's imagination got quite a workout while we were there trying to keep up with Lydia. 

On Saturday afternoon, we headed over to J. Michael's brother's house to swim. Like most kids, it was hard to get Lydia out of the water when it was time to go home.

Grammy and Lydia in the pool

We had pizza and Italian subs from Hunner's Pizza for dinner after we got back from swimming. They were yummy!

Lydia's birthday party was on Sunday so there were decorating and other preparations to be done in the morning and early afternoon. Friends and family began arriving around 3:00, and we all enjoyed snacks that included delicious meatballs that J. Michael smoked. After a yummy dinner of burgers and dogs, it was time for Lydia to open gifts.

Aunt Barb demonstrating an otter hand puppet for Lydia

Lydia got lots of new toys, but we got her something a little different. We went together with J. Michael's mom, sister, and brother-in-law to get Lydia swim lessons at a local swim club. She wasn't too excited at the time, but we know she will appreciate the lessons once she finds out what she can do with the new skills she will be learning.

Lora and J. Michael got Lydia a piñata so after the gifts were opened, J. Michael and his brother brought it out. We've all seen on "America's Funniest Home Videos" the disasters that can occur with piñatas so they got one that is opened by pulling on ribbons instead of smacking it with a stick.

Lydia pulling ribbons to open the piñata

When the right ribbon was pulled, out poured a ton of candy.

Out came the candy

It was time for ice cream and cake after the piñata. Lydia wanted Mom and Dad to help blow out the candles.

Mom and Dad helping Lydia blow out the candles

Monday was mostly a relaxing day. Grammy's imagination got another big workout playing pretend with Lydia much of the day. They went on all sorts of adventures.

We were off to a couple of appointments in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh on Tuesday morning. Lora and Lydia picked up Paul's step mom around 1 pm, and we met them for a late lunch at Bella Frutteto. Paul's step mom is in her upper 80s, and although she has a few health problems, she is still very sharp and pretty spry. She still drives, and she gets out just about every day.

On Wednesday, the girls went grocery shopping while Paul went to have lunch with some of his former co-workers. Paul and his buddies had a good time swapping stories and jokes, and it was good to see all of them again; but he is very happy to be retired.

We went to out to dinner with Lora, J. Michael, and Lydia on Wednesday evening to Casa Amigos. Casa Amigos is a Mexican restaurant located in an office building near Pittsburgh International Airport, which is not too far from Lora and J. Michael's house.

Casa Amigos

We started off with the traditional corn chips and salsa. The chips were thin, warm, and crispy and the salsa was also quite good. The 5 of us went through 4 baskets of chips.

Margery had a "pick 3" combo with a ground beef taco, a ground beef burrito and a chicken chimichanga, and Paul had a "pick 2" combo with a ground beef burrito and a chicken chimichanga. Everything was delish! This Mexican restaurant is right up there with our favorite, Pancho's Villa, in San Antonio, Florida.

Margery, Lydia, and Paul at Casa Amigos

We had several more adventures during our stay in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you about them in our next post. 

Park Model Project: Cover for Propane Tanks

Wauchula, FL - Events of Friday, July 6 to Tuesday, July 10, 2018

When we ordered the park model, we specified a gas stove rather than the standard electric one because we had an electric range in our last sticks-and-bricks house in Pittsburgh before we became full-time RVers and we didn't like it as much as the gas ranges we had always had before that. One of the first things Paul did as soon as the workmen were done with the setup of the park model was to install two 30-pound propane tanks so we could get the stove up and running.

Propane tanks

We wanted the tanks to look more finished so we planned to install a cover over the tanks. The cover would also protect the tanks and regulator from rain and sun. There are plastic covers that are typically used on the tanks of travel trailers that most people also use for park models, but Paul decided he wanted something different so he started working on his own design.

The propane tank cover started out pretty far down the to-do list; but with a lot of other projects now complete, it had finally gotten to the top. We have seen from structures around the Co-op how hard the hot sun, rain, and humidity here in Florida are on wood, even treated lumber. Therefore, Paul decided to make the tank cover entirely from PVC so it wouldn't rot, crack, split, or need painting. Margery had an appointment for a haircut in Sebring on Friday, July 6. Paul went along and we stopped at Lowe's and Home Depot to pick up the materials for the cover. We also stopped at Dee's Place for a late lunch of half-pound burgers. Yum!

On Saturday, Paul erected his new pop-up canopy behind the park model and set up his outdoor workshop underneath it. Summers are hot and humid here in Florida, but it also got hot and humid in the summer in Pittsburgh where we used to live. In Florida, however, it's the sun that's the problem. It is brutal because it is almost directly overhead during June and July. Therefore, we decided a canopy was needed to provide a shaded work space. It took the two of us a long time to set the canopy up the first time, but with a little practice Paul can now do it by himself in just a few minutes.

Paul working on the propane tank cover under his new shade canopy

Paul used PVC boards for the frame of the tank cover. Since there are no knots or grain to deal with, PVC boards actually cut more easily than wood so Paul got all the pieces for the frame cut on Saturday. Paul, the saw, and the ground under the saw looked like we had had a snow squall by the time he was done.

White sawdust looked like snow.

On Monday, Paul assembled the pieces for the frame of the propane cover. PVC boards can be drilled, screwed and nailed much like wood. You can use clear PVC pipe adhesive as glue to make even stronger joints.

Paul assembling a part of the frame for the propane cover

After assembling sections of the frame, Paul cut pieces of mobile home skirting to cover the sides. Paul chose mobile home skirting because not only does the skirting have vents (a necessity for propane enclosures to prevent gas buildup in the event of a leak), but it will match the skirting on the park model.

Here is a hint for anyone working with thin PVC material such as mobile home skirting, siding, or soffit. The blades of circular saws, table saws, and cutoff saws will grab the thin PVC material and cause it to chip and crack. To prevent chipping and cracking install the blade on the saw backwards. The blade will still cut the thin material easily; but because the teeth are facing the opposite direction, they will not be as aggressive and won't cause chipping and cracking.

After assembling the skirting to the panels that make up the main body of the cover, Paul called it a day. He set up his outdoor workshop again on Tuesday and fastened the panels together.

Sides and front assembled

Paul then went on to fasten the door to the front. Using anchors set into the concrete, he bolted down the cover assembly.

Paul used vinyl siding for the top of the tank cover. Home Depot had siding in stock that matches the color of our park model siding. The next two photos show the completed propane tank cover with the access door closed and with the access door open.

Completed tank cover with door closed

Tank cover with access door open

With the propane tank cover project complete, it was time to move on to other things. 

More Miscellaneous Activities

Wauchula, FL - Events of Tuesday, June 26 to Sunday, July 1, 2018

After a relatively quiet weekend and our trip to Clermont last Monday to see Citrus Tower and have lupper at OakWood Grill, Paul was ready for another project. The addition of gutters and downspouts to the park model was so successful at stopping the waterfall by the door when it rained, Paul decided he also wanted to install a gutter and downspout on the door side of our shed. Since we get thundershowers almost every afternoon, and since some of them pop up rather unexpectedly, Paul was tired of running through the shed waterfall as he scrambled to put away tools and materials when a storm popped up while he was working on a project outdoors.

The shed is a lot smaller than the park model, and since Paul didn't see the need to install a gutter on the back side of the shed, the work went rather quickly. He got an early start on Tuesday morning to beat the heat and had the gutter and downspout completed around noon.

New gutter above the door of the shed

Margery had an appointment for a pedicure in Avon Park on Tuesday afternoon. Paul got cleaned up and went along. After dropping Margery off, he drove to Lowe's in Sebring to return some unneeded components from the gutter project. After the returns and the pedicure, we headed to Maxwell Groves in Avon Park. Maxwell's has delicious orange-flavored soft serve during orange season (fall, winter, and spring). In summer, they switch to key lime soft serve, which we have been dying to try.

We arrived at Maxwell's around 3:50. Although they're supposed to be open until 4:00 in summer, their door was locked. Fortunately, there was still a girl inside. When she opened the door she appologized for closing early, but she explained there had been no customers for the last 3 hours. She let us in to get our key lime soft serve.

Key limes have a somewhat subtle flavor so the lime soft serve was good, but not nearly good as we were expecting. The orange has a much more intense flavor, and it's very refreshing; but at least we got to try the lime and satisfy our curiosity.  It's a good thing because the girl said business has been so slow the owner had decided to close for the rest of the summer starting at the end of the week. If we hadn't gotten the lime soft serve that day, we would have had to wait almost another year for another opportunity.

Margery with her key lime cone

Instead of late afternoon, our daily thundershower didn't occur until early evening on Tuesday. The sky was just starting to clear as the sun went down resulting in some very dramatic lighting in the clouds.

Dramatic clouds at sunset on Tuesday

On Wednesday morning when Paul took Freeway outside, he was greeted with more unusual clouds. It was shortly before sunrise, and there was a brightly lit cloud circle. Paul found out later the circle was from a rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center that had occurred about 20 minutes earlier.

Brightly lit circle of clouds

We previously had someone from Chariot, the company that manufactured our park model, come to address a number of things on our punch list like patching a few small cracks in the drywall, replacing a cracked piece of wood on the hall closet, replacing a couple of soft-close drawer slides that weren't working properly, and repairing the grout between the tiles on the kitchen back splash and bathroom shower. There was one thing they couldn't do at the time, however, and that was repair the bathroom floor. Many of the tiles were loose, and the grout between almost all the joints was cracked. The worker who came to do the other repairs determined the whole floor needed to be replaced because of all the loose tiles.

In addition to having to replace the entire floor, the job was further complicated by the fact the tile manufacturer had discontinued the tile used on our unit shortly after our unit was built. The factory didn't have any of the original tile left so we stopped a few weeks ago in Lake Wales at the RV dealer who sold us the park model to look at their samples of the new tile. We actually liked it much better than the original. It took them a week or so to get the tile from the factory, then they scheduled a flooring company from Lake Wales to replace the bathroom floor last Thursday.

When the workman took out the old tile, he said the reason so many of the tiles had come loose is the factory didn't use enough thin-set cement when installing it. The cement is spread using a notched trowel, and the amount of cement is determined by the size of the notches in the trowel. Apparently, whoever installed our bathroom floor must have been new because they used a trowel for wall tile with small notches instead of a trowel with larger notches.

Another thing the tile installer did while he was waiting for the cement for the tiles to set so he could proceed with the grout was to install our shutters. We were supposed to have shutters on the front and south side windows, but they were on back order when our unit was built so it was shipped without shutters. They finally got the shutters in and sent them with the tile installer. It's hard to believe how much more finished the outside looks with the addition of a couple of fake, plastic shutters.

Without shutters

With shutters

The tile guy got the bathroom floor done all in one day. We were able to use the bathroom right away, but we were instructed to walk softly because, although the cement and grout had set, it would take about 24 hours to develop enough strength for normal use.

We decided to have lupper on Friday afternoon at Wauchula Family Restaurant. It's nothing fancy, but the food is good and reasonably priced. We split a grouper dinner (lightly breaded and grilled) and a half-pound blue cheese burger. They were both delish!

We mostly puttered around over the weekend. We didn't have any definite plans for the immediate future, but we'll have another update when something develops.