Canton Weather. . . . You Just Never Know

          

We had a surprise awaking this morning around 1am. The wind all of a sudden picked up, then lighting, thunder with a brief period of heavy rain. The winds really rocked the motorhome and our awing's sure did flap. This system I'm sure was the same weather system that brought the snow and colder weather to parts of Arizona this weekend. It rained for several hours and we are hanging in there with no further leaks in our roof.

This morning we still have the strong winds but not the rain. We're about 20 degrees cooler than yesterday. Sunny skies makes one to want to be outside doing something. Since I'm not a golfer, walker, or play tennis I decided it would be a good day to do the aluminum wheels on the motorhome. I gathered up all the cleaner, terrycloth rags and wax and started on the passenger side. Nope, this isn’t going to work, the winds just cut you in half. So, back inside out of the winds and this project will have to await another day.

None of our neighbors are here yet? What's going on that we don’t know about ? Usually most are here by Sunday evening. Maybe they knew about the weather and decided to wait till sometime today to show up. Sandy is off to Walmart to pick up groceries for our stay here this week. I stayed behind and rested my eyes.

Was glad to see Jeff Gordon climb back into the winners circle in yesterday’s NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix. Even though it would had been nice if Kyle Bush who came in second could have won. That would have given him a sweep of Phoenix this weekend by already winning the truck race Friday and the Nationwide Saturday. 

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Refrigerator Vent Base And Cover Replaced

Thursday morning Sandy and I were up early and off to Longview. We needed to pick up groceries for her mom before we leave for Canton and the expected thunderstorm that was to hit that afternoon. We also needed a few groceries for ourselves.

On the way back I asked Sandy to stop by Hayes RV as I wanted to talk to them about what was involved in replacing the refrigerator vent base and cover. They happened to have what I needed in stock and material cost for both the vent base and cover were around $45.  I asked to speak with one of the techs about the process of replacing this myself. After he explained the process  I asked how much would it cost me for him to replace it. He said $147 labor plus material. I asked when can you do it? He looked at his schedule and said how about Friday morning at 8:30am.  I said....Sold put me down.

This is  the system  that came through just before 3 pm Thursday afternoon. The winds were gusting around 30 mph with lots of thunder, lighting and heavy rain at times.
Are you ready for this….Our recent efforts in resealing and taping our roof has evidently paid off........NO LEAKS!! Yippeeee

The heavy rain fall lasted for about 45 minutes and then the skies just cleared. Let's hope that was a good enough test and you won't be bored to death with anymore posting about leaky roofs. I do have to admit it has provided writing material for my blog posting.

Today we were up and on our way to Hayes RV by 7:40am for our 8:30am appointment. They took us right away into one of their service bays. We went and had breakfast at the Whataburger nearby. We returned and waited in their waiting room eating homemade oatmeal cookies. About 9:45am we saw them pull the motorhome out of the bay. So that didn't quite take the hour and a half but it was close. Total bill was $225.  While I was paying Sandy drove the Jeep around to the motorhome had it hooked up and ready to roll. We departed for Canton a little after 10am.

Picked up a Zip-It at Lowe's which Howard with RV-Dreams recently talked about and was able to pull out a lot of yucky stuff from our shower drain. Sure does drain faster now. Thanks Howard for the tip.

A big welcome to Georgina. Thanks for becoming our 42nd Blog Supporter.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

What Happened Here And When Did It Happen?

Today I was up at 7am and outside applying The Solution to the upper one third and crown molding on the passenger side of the coach. I was using my BIL James 12ft ladder. Boy was it heavy but it sure made it easy on this old body. I started on the passenger side as the pad was much more level than the drivers side. I started in the back of the coach working my way around toward the front.

As I got about midship just where our Dometic refrigerator vent is located I saw a huge crack and opening right at the back corner of the vent shroud. Could this be the area where the rain has been entering and traveling back in the ceiling to the bathroom?

The more I process it I finally convinced myself that this could not have been the original entry point. When we applied the Eternabond tape about three weeks ago I would have certainly noticed this as I was rolling the tape with the steel roller all around the vent. I was down on my knees and would surely have seen this large of a crack.  So, my speculation is it might have happened in Canton the Tuesday night we had the bad storm with wind gusts to 60 mph. My BIL Mike said he didn't notice this side of the vent since he did not do any sealing there.

While there trying to figure out what I was going to do I noticed one of the four long screws that holds the vent cover down was loose and raised up about inch and a half. Enough that you could pick that corner up and it would rise up placing pressure on the rear of the cover where the shroud was cracked.  The vent shroud appears to be brittle. I imagine the exhaust heat of the refrigerator and UV has done a number on it.

  Now what to do? We head out to Canton this Friday and we have a 70% chance of a thunderstorm tonight thru tomorrow. The two RV repair centers here certainly would not be able to deal with replacing the shroud without an appointment.

Sooooo I said let's patch the crack with the Eternabond tape until we get a chance to address a more permanent fix. That my friends is exactly what we did.  I also dipped the long screw in sealant and reset it. Now we await the storm and the rain. Hope we have not bored you to much with this leaky roof thing we are currently going through.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Everything On The Roof Has Now Been Resealed

A big thank you to BIL Mike who spent most of Monday afternoon on the roof of the motorhome sealing everything that wasn't already  sealed. He even went back over a couple areas where the sealant had shrunken from Saturdays work.

We hope we’ve sealed that area where the water has been finding its way into our bathroom. Our big test will be Thursday as the weatherman is predicting a 70% chance of thunderstorms that afternoon. The only other area that has not been addressed are the seals on the two  Dometic A/C’s. If we do have water entry we will have them looked at by a professional. Right now we are thinking positive and feel we’ve resolved the leak problem.

We have three Fantastic vents on our roof, two in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. Well guess what we had to leave these opened last night  so the covers would not stick to the sealant.  Well we had a low of 38F this morning and talking about cold you could have hanged meat in here.

I spent most of the day cleaning the home with The Solution. Boy this stuff is just great! We had some soapy water streaks develop on the sides from when I washed the roof Friday prior to our sealing Saturday. I was able to remove them with ease.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

A Little Of This And A Little Of That

It's been a little busy for us this past week dealing with the motorhome roof, blood work, start of the NASCAR racing season and hosting Happy Hour for family members.

The re-sealing of certain areas on the roof is progressing thanks to the help of BIL Mike who is Sandy’s sister Pam’s husband.  We spent about two hours up there yesterday caulking around the Fantastic Vent covers and just any area that has not been either taped with the Eternabond tape or caulked previously. We ran out of the self leveling caulk and will get some more Monday with the hopes of re-sealing everything up there like the air horn mounts, radio/cb antennas, etc.

After been up on the roof we decided it was time for Happy Hour. We visited and discussed the times of our visit with Mike and Pam when he was in the Navy. We followed them on every tour of duty station they had with the exception of Japan, Norfolk, and Hawaii. Dinner time approached and the next thing we knew Mike treated us to some take out BQ from the Outlaws BQ place in Dangerfield.
What a great day we had and our thanks and gratitude goes out to Mike and Pam for everything you did for us.

Today is the start of NASCAR with the running of the Daytona 500. Both Sandy and I are big time NASCAR fans going back to the early 80's. This Daytona will be the 10th anniversary of losing our all time favorite driver Dale Earnhardt Sr  who was killed in a wreck at the Daytona 500 in February 2001. It took us a while to get over this tragedy and it was hard to watch future races without seeing the #3. Yes, Dale Sr is a legend and will not be forgotten.

In fact it was ten years to the day after Michael Waltrip's victory in the Daytona 500 was marred by the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt Sr that Michael Waltrip  returned to Victory Lane, winning Friday's nights NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway. He edged out Elliott  Sadler on the last lap of the race and in turn four where Dale Sr had crashed into the wall ten years previously.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Valentine Poem From Deep East Texas

It Don't Git No Better Than This-author unknown

Collards is green,
My dog's name is Blue,
And I'm so lucky
To have a sweet thang like you.

Yore hair is like cornsilk
A-flappin in the breeze,
Softer than Blue's
And without all them fleas.

You move like the bass,
Which excite me in May.
You ain't got no scales
But I luv you anyway.

Yore as satisfy'n as okry
Jist a fry'n in the pan.
Yore as fragrant as snuff
Right out of the can.
You have som'a yore teeth,
For which I am proud;
I hold my head high
When we're in a crowd.

On special occasions,
When you shave under yore arms,
Well, I'm in hawg  heaven,
And awed by yore charms.
Still them fellers at work,
They all want to know,
What I did to deserve
Such a purdy young doe.

Like a good roll of duct tape
Yore there fer yore man,
To patch up life's troubles,
And fix what you can.
Yore cute as a junebug
A-buzzin' overhead.

You ain't mean like those far ants
I found in my bed.
Cut from the best cloth
Like a plaid flannel shirt.
You spark up my life
More than  a fresh load of dirt.
When you hold me real tight
Like a padded gun rack,
My life is complete,Ain't nuttin' I lack.

Yore complexion, it's perfection,
Like the best vinyl sidin'.
Despite all the years,
Yore age it keeps hidin'.
Me'n you's like a Moon Pie
With a RC cold drank,
We go together
Like a skunk goes with stank.

Some men, they buy chocolates
For Valentine's Day;
They git it at Wal-Mart,
It's romantic that way.
Some men git roses
On that special day
From the cooler at Kroger's.
That's impressive, I say
Some men buy fine diamonds
From a flea market booth.
"Diamonds are forever,"
They explain, suave and couth.

But for this man, honey,
These won't do.
Cause yore too special,
You sweet thang you.
I got you a gift,
Without taste or odor.
More useful than diamonds,
IT'S A NEW TROLLIN' MOTOR!!!!!!!!!!

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Puzzled

We returned to base this past Monday after one of the most dismal First Monday weekends we have ever experienced. Since we were anticipating some rain this week (which by the way never materialized) Sandy  and I pulled the tarp over the area where we had that leak last  week.

While on the subject of rain what is it about melting snow verses rain? It appears with all the water created from the recent 5-6” snow fall melt, we did not experienced a leak in the usual spot in the bathroom. Where with the heavy rain fall we had recently we experienced a leak?

Is it perhaps the rain fall we had was blowing rain (we did have 60 mph wind come through that Tuesday) that found its  way in where the soft snow fall just collected on the roof? If any of you out there in Blog Land have any ideas I would appreciate hearing from you.

We have someone coming over next week to get up on the roof with me to see if we can figure out where this stuff is coming from. It has to be around the Fantastic Fan vent area.

We wish to thank Allan & Jeanne Webster for becoming one of our Blog Followers. Welcome aboard!

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

First Monday A Ghost Town

We awoke Saturday morning to clear blue skies. Our temperature was hovering around 16F. Just maybe they say it might warm up to 39F by this evening. We were hoping this would be a sign that just might bring out the customers. It never happened. Yes, we had a few walk by our booth but you could tell they had some other place in particular in mind.


For the most part vendors decided to just write off this month and some started packing up to go home. We hadn't had breakfast yet so we all packed into a neighbors truck and drove to the near by McDonalds for our morning coffee and meal.  You could tell from the traffic and with all the eighteen wheelers parked at a near by truck stop things on I20 were still at a snails pace.

After our breakfast we drove back to the grounds and it looked like a ghost town. The parking lot was virtually empty with only a few vehicles mostly belonging to vendors. We went to the office to pay March booth rent and they told us we could go home if we wanted to.

The weather for Sunday now has a chance for more snow and sleet.
Oh what to do?? We are already in our home which still has about 5" of snow and ice on the roof and slide outs. Our neighbor next door uses a local man to help them pack out. He had a ladder and large snow shovel and was getting the snow off their slide out. I asked him if he would do my two slides and he graciously said he would do it for me. Within ten minutes he had all the snow and ice off both slides. Now if we do decide later this evening to head out to Lone Star we won't have that to worry about.

We helped our neighbors pack out and then turned our attention of tearing down our booth for the move across the way. Then a light bulb came on and we can't move over there as the water was still turned off. No way to dump our holding tanks without water.

Here are some designer snow boots Sandy picked up at Wal-Mart. She seemed to have started a fashion as all the ladies were wearing them today.

While standing out behind the motorhome a honey bucket truck stopped and asked if we wanted him to pump our tanks. He has a fresh water system that he can use to follow up after pumping us. I asked how much He replied $10 so we let him dump our tanks. The wash out wasn't all that great but what the heck at least I won't have to mess with that chore before leaving. I can give them a good washing when we get back to base provided it ever warms up.

Well our neighbors have left and headed home. Here Sandy and I set pondering our next move. Even though there are no customers here the parking area behind us still has a lot of vendor vehicles parked where we can not get out now. So, what the heck let's just stay here and have our own Super Bowl party.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

A Snow Event For Canton First Monday

In the 26 years we've been coming to Canton First Monday I don't recall where we never failed to open up due to bad weather. Well it looks as if February 2011 might be our first.

The weather is just beyond not being able to deal with anymore. This has the making of being our first ever goose egg for sales. We've always been able to at least cover our expenses but doesn’t look to good this month.

We went to bed last night thinking we just might be able to open up at least by noon today. Not going to happen as when we awoke this morning we had about 6" of snow on the ground and it was still coming down.

What a weather event! We have not been above freezing since Tuesday. We are not expected to see warmer weather before Saturday then our highs will only be in the low 40's.

Only then do we have a chance of all this white stuff melting. Another concern is our propane is getting low and it will be Monday before we can fill up again.

I just can’t imagine the impact this has and will have not only our country but the little town of Canton. The restaurants, hotels, Walmart, convenience stores and of course us vendors. We pay our rent regardless if we are open or not. The only winner is the person who rents out the spots in the Pavilion. He loses some though as he does not collect that $5 per car parking fee if the crowds don’t show. What about Jerry Jones this has to have an effect on Super Bowl XVL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what does a guy do in weather like this besides nap....he plays card games on his IPhone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow is another day just maybe we might see some break in this weather.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers. (click on pictures to enlarge)

And What A Change It Was!!!

No, I'm not going to bore you about our weather.  I'm not going to tell you the coldest weather we've been in a long while came through Canton this morning at 2:40am with a vengeance. Winds 60 mph, thunder, lighting and heavy rain.

No, I 'm not going to tell you that Sandy woke me up a 4 am saying  "Weldon… it's leaking again". What!!! You must be kidding me or dreaming. #%###%%%¥\ No she wasn't .....sure enough there was a drip drip  coming from the same area as before. This can't be happening as I know we sealed around that area.

Outside of being completely disappointed there is not a darn thing we can do about it now as our weather has completely grown worse. Not as much the wet stuff but just outright cold. We've had sleet and snow flurries the rest of the day. Our high today was 24F our low tonight 17F with a wind chill of 0F.

To top this off we went out in the Pavilion to see how things faired and we had another shocker. Our display tables were all laying down, our neighbors wall on one side was down and the neighbor across from us walls were down as well. What happened was they did not get around to installing the backdrops on the other side of us and the wind played havoc with everything. They finally got the backdrops up and hopefully we won't have that problem again.

Our weather doesn't look good for this weekend as our weather doesn't start a warm up till Sunday. Sunday being Super Bowl XVL who wants to get out of the house. We’re here so we will stay the course.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.