Visions of land cruising around New England danced in our silly heads when we first mused about how we’d spend October and November before zooming south soon after Thanksgiving. Time for these Road Warriors to hit the black top, six rubber tires pointed south! Snowbirds is quite the lovely term, but I bet Road Warrior is more apropos.
Our need to be stationary became clear early and we have nestled in quite nicely at Riverdale Farm Campground with just enough trips out to ensure Annie doesn’t become one with Mother Earth. The lists of stuff to do, buy and research filled our tiny (compared to the boat our dinette table is tiny) table and when we weren’t out shopping, one or both tackled online shopping with a vengeance. Amazon has replaced Defender as our all-time best friend, and yes we signed up for a month of free Amazon Prime. 🙂

On the flip side, for the many things we no longer needed eBay is our most-used go-to solution.

The tile terror project almost ruined our chances to clean and wax Anne before the temps dropped too low, but we still got the extendable poles and brushes just in case. Hours of research on how to clean the roof and keep the fiberglass from sending white runoff down the sides resulted in what we hope is an effective solution.

When we had a few ideal consecutive days, washing time arrived. The rooftop would have scared Santa it was so grungy and littered with twigs.

So up on the rooftop Russ did climb with a bag full of goodies meant to remove the dirt and grime.

Our home has two ceiling fans with covers that tilt up by using a knob. Most RVs have special covers installed over the original fan that allows use of vent and fan when it’s raining. Ours needed an upgrade, so they got tossed.

 

First, the clean roof received a coat of RejeX, a non-abrasive compound used in the aircraft world. This was used to seal the fiberglass and eliminate white streaks. The Buff Magic was applied to the top few inches of the sides, front and back near the roof line and RejeX used over that. We cleaned the ginormous windshield inside and out and lamented that it was streaked with acid rain spots. RejeX took care of that (mostly). The rest of the motorhome got the IMAR Yacht Polish which we had left from not using it on Ortolan this past year and the results were superb on our land yacht.

A final couple of hours on Wednesday to clean all the windows and apply RejeX and Annie beamed, just loving that spa treatment.  Bonny cried. But she’s next, poor neglected girl.

But mostly, except for the tile, projects were small; some only lasting 6 hours! Yes, the “replace batteries” item was estimated at 2 hours but surprise, it took six, not counting figuring out the ones we needed and ordering them from the local NAPA in Old Saybrook. Bonny almost got a new one too but we decided she was fine.

Last Wednesday was a warmish day; the last one for the coming week and so “replace batteries” got on the list. So how do we accomplish this you may wonder? One of two ways; either drive the m/h there then remove and replace on the spot, or use workhorse Bonny to transport the old ones to Napa and bring the new ones back. Ummm. Bonny got my vote. All went well actually, but as often happens, the project grows tentacles that grab you and drag you in ‘til you have no choice but to “do it while you can!!”

Once “we” pulled them out, yuck the trays were dirty and rusty and the long carriage bolts a bit rusted too. Do we clean the trays? oh sure why not. sigh.

We soaked the bolts and connecting battery cables in a bucket of warm water and baking soda. Used the solution to rinse off the trays.

Once the trays were clean (er) and dry, Russ sanded lightly and gave them a couple of coats of black spray paint. Fortunately we had the paint in stock. Unfortunately the spray nozzle was gone when Russ removed the cap to spray (after I stood there shaking the darn thing), so off we went for a new can and to look for replacement carriage bolts.

 

A previous nice day let Russ get up on the roof again to remove the satellite dish and the over-air antenna. Felt bad though, they look like friends of R2D2.

Exterior porch lights got replaced with LEDs,  pieces got re-installed from an earlier water fitting replacement ordeal, removed the canine decal off the stern, attempted to fill the windshield washer fluid container but discovered it had separated from inside the front bumper (5200 sealant will fix that), installed a Dirt Devil central vac, broke a plastic piece from the door awning, and on and on.

Proper leisure RV items that we didn’t need on the boat had to be obtained and I got to hunt them down. Once we are somewhere warm and using them, I’ll post photos.
A very early item we snagged locally was a Weber portable grill; however certain meats we promise never to prepare or serve. Finding a 5lb propane tank wasn’t easy so we resorted to Amazon.

Both Anne and Bonny had screws loose and rusted… on their license plates, so we replaced those with new ones. Did you know that more than a few types of screws are used to fasten license plates? No one-size-fits-all to make life easier.
The m/h dinette seats sit in contrast to the firm fiberglass, special foam cushioned ones on our cat. One side was especially soft and springy so why not stick a piece of plywood between the cushion and the heavy-duty squiggle wire. Lowes loves to see us coming. Russ cut a two-by-four to fit, rounded and sanded the edges and we huffed and puffed ‘til it slid in (which was the point to have it not move around).

Snapped the fabric back on the metal frame, attached the seat to the metal hinges and voila! Instant improvement. A much firmer seat cushion with an unexpected ½” lift. Hey I want one too! I have to sit on a pillow so that I don’t feel like I’m sitting in a hole with the table top under my armpits! Don’t need a crystal ball to know another trip to Lowes is coming up.

Good thing we’re leaving soon after Thanksgiving so the projects will come to a screeching halt.