Goodbye Irene and Good Riddance

Sunday, 28 August

The speed with which news gets on the internet never fails to amaze.  Hurricane Irene — now Tropical Storm Irene — has not finished wreaking damage.  Yet there is already a Wikipedia article on it!

As anticipated, we were lashed with rains and tropical storm strength winds here in northern Virginia.  The outer bands arrived mid-morning on Saturday.  By noon it was raining non-stop.  The storm did not really hit the area until around 6:00p, however, and was evidenced by strong winds, with gusts that caused trees to quiver, shake, and sway.  The rain kept falling.  It was an otherwise normal-like day for us at home.

It wasn’t until 2:00a or so that we lost power.  We were fast asleep by then and wouldn’t have known that we no longer had electricity if not for the irritating beeps issued by the UPS (uninterrupted power source) that keeps our computers running for a few additional minutes when the power goes out to allow us to shut down normally.  The beeps were easily silenced; not so the drunken fools somewhere outside at the height of the storm, laughing like banshees.  What can I say — no cure for stupid is there?

Anyway, we were up around 6:00a this morning.  Still no power.  Nor internet.  Nor phones (we have VOIP).  No problem.  Using our Millenicom aircard and the TruPhone app on Mui’s laptop, we were able to touch base with family to allay any concerns they might have about our safety.  Then, Mui fixed us a pancake breakfast (oops, no photos) and we settled down to read for a while.  Just before 9:00a, I made an off-hand comment that the power could come on now.  Like magic, a few minutes later there was light.  It’s nice to have divine powers :-)))).

We’re in the clear!
[image courtesy of the National Weather Service website]

Another hour saw the rain end and the winds diminish.  With the sun peeking through the thinning overcast and patches of blue appearing in the sky, we walked over to a nearby store to pick up a newspaper and see what damage there might be in the area.  None!  Just some leaves and thin branches littered the streets.  We got off easy, I know.  We are grateful.

And so, life returns to normal for us.  No offense to my friend Irene, but we’re glad to see her namesake gone!  For those who experienced the heavier impact of Irene, we wish them good luck as they begin the process of cleaning up after the storm.  For those still in the path of the storm … hang in there. 

Call Us Chicken!

Friday, August 26

Yes, we know we’re not in the bull’s eye of Hurricane Irene. Yes, we know we’re at the far edge of the area designated for a tropical storm warning in northern Virginia. Yes, our location means that the effects of the storm would be greatly diminished. But what’s to say Irene won’t wobble again and shift a tiny bit further east in the next day as she continues her path north.

Call us crazy, or call us chicken, but somehow going to a heavily forested area where the ground can become saturated from rain and increase the threat of trees toppling over from sustained strong winds didn’t seem like a good idea to us. We don’t need dents — or worse — on the roof of our condo on wheels.

Even the campground manager at Bull Run said it was probably smart that we were cancelling this weekend’s camping reservations. Well, not really cancelling, since we’re now booked to go back the first weekend in October.

the yellow flag shows the approximate location of bull run regional park.
[collage of images from ABC7 WJLA weather website]

This is what Irene looked like from space as she harassed the Caribbean on 22 August.

Even though this weekend’s plans have now been postponed to October, we won’t have to wait that long to go out in the Phaeton. We have reservations to camp at Bull Run over Labor Day weekend. (Marti and Paul: here’s hoping we have occasion to meet up at another time.)

Shaken, Not Stirred

Tuesday, 23 August

At just before 2:00p today, the Washington DC area experienced something quite unusual. An EARTHQUAKE! Not just a little temblor, mind you; but a rather strong Magnitude 5.8 earthquake. I won’t use the word panic, but to say that fear ran rampant for a while would not be much of an exaggeration.

I was in a meeting at work when I sensed a slight movement. I didn’t give it much thought at first. Such movements are not unusual in our building, which seems to shudder a bit anytime a big rig goes by. In the next second, the movement seemed to gather a bit more momentum. Then, I heard it. The slow, deep rumbling that grows ever-louder as it travels from the underground in parallel with a quake. That’s when I knew for sure that we were in the midst of being shaken by an earthquake.

One of the worst aspects of being in an earthquake is the confusion. If you’ve not been in one before, you’re not sure what’s happening. It’s difficult to comprehend the movement and sound as being a force of nature. Having grown up in an earthquake-prone area, I had an advantage over others in the office. I knew what was happening. As the shaking grew steadier and stronger, I grabbed my co-worker and pulled her to stand under the door jamb with me. As others came out of neighboring offices — some more calmly than others — I told them to either stand under door jambs or crawl under desks.

[collage compiled from images from the USGS website]

I don’t know how long the quake lasted, but it seemed like an eternity. I’m not embarrassed to admit that by the time it was over, my hands and legs were shaking in a mini-quake of their own. Just because I’ve been in earthquakes before doesn’t mean that I’m used to them. Or that I wait them out calmly. Just ask my mother how I railed at Mother Nature, shouting “Enough already,” when a particularly strong quake we experienced when I was in high school was followed by what seemed like un-ending aftershocks.

Following today’s quake, we were evacuated briefly while the engineers checked to make sure the building was structurally sound. By 2:30p, the all clear was given. I returned to my 5th floor office to finish the last half-hour of my workday before heading home.

As I unlocked the door to the condo, I wasn’t sure what I would find. Would all the breakables be on the floor, shattered to bits? I had not used earthquake putty to secure them to the shelves on which they were displayed. Why would I? We weren’t living in an earthquake-prone area. A few minutes later, I had my answer. The damage was minimal. Yes there were items strewn about. Yes, some things had fallen off shelves and out of cabinets. But only one thing was broken — a pottery cookie jar that was a gift from my mother.

No; I'm not in the habit of leaving drawers and cabinets open!

Left: Good thing the soil was dry; easily cleaned up with the vacuum.
Right: Ouch! That knife could have done some damage.

the skewed and the fallen
one of the oddest sights to greet my eyes was the “evil eye” on the wall; somehow
it managed to flip itself over during the quake without falling to the floor.
(the inset shows the way the evil eye should have been hanging.)
and what about my Elephant candlestick leaning drunkenly on the mantel!

shattered to pieces, the cookie jar was with the other items on top of the cabinets,
some toppled over, while others remained upright.

In a not so pleasant coincidence, 26 years ago today, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit China, killing over 70 people, injuring 162, leaving 150,000 homeless, and destroying 85% of the buildings in the Wuqia-Shufu area.

Considering the destructive power of this force of nature, our earthquake experience today was just a little shake, rattle, and roll. Something for which to be grateful.

Phae is So Modest

Sunday, 21 August

We’re home from Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP), but not for long. We’ve made reservations to go back the next two weekends. The first one will be another short visit; but the weekend after that includes Labor Day. It will be nice not to have to pack up and go home after just two nights.

Anyway, as anticipated we had a quiet morning. Actually slept in until 7:00a. So unusual for us, but with the chores completed, well-deserved. The temp was climbing quickly, and the usual summer stickiness was back. Since the campground was far from being at capacity, I walked over to the camp store to see about doing a late check-out. As luck would have it, our site was booked, so we had no choice but to leave by the 11:00a deadline. Still, we had time to enjoy an al fresco breakfast under the canopy and relax for a bit before we had to pull up stakes.

As I noted in yesterday’s post, Mui completed one more project yesterday — installing modesty panels for Phae. She’s so shy, she doesn’t want to show her legs in public :-). She also wanted some protection from the harmful UV rays that the sun sends her way day in day out as she sits in storage.

Yes, you know what I’m really talking about is wheel covers. After doing his research, Mui ordered a set from MCD, which conveniently arrived just before we left for our weekend outing.

Installation of the “Glide-Trac” rails was a piece of cake: clean the inner lip of the fender wall; put adhesive on the back of the track; eyeball the center of the fender lip; gently arc the flexible track and apply to the rim, pressing firmly as you gradually move from center to bottom; using the guide handle, align and install the track for the other half of the fender; repeat for the other wheels; let cure for 24 hours. If kinking occurs while installing the tracks (inevitable in the highest fender curves), MCD suggests using a couple of screws, which Mui did. I think the entire installation took 30 minutes; maybe less.

Another easy-peasy project!

Hindsight being 20-20, I realized too late that I should have taped Mui installing the glide tracks. Well, no one can say I don’t learn from my mistakes; here’s a short clip showing the installation of the vinyl panels after we returned the coach to storage. Though it may seem like the video has been sped up; I assure you it’s in real time – 30 seconds from start to finish.

[click the arrow to start the clip]

Forgive the wrinkles!

Doesn’t she look pretty!

And on that note, we turned off the lights and headed home, leaving Phae to rest a few days before she goes out again.

BRRP: A Bit of Work; a Bit of R&R

Saturday, 20 August

We — or rather, mostly Mui — did chores today, but we did manage to carve time out for some well-earned R&R. Now, before you chastise me for not helping Mui, you should know that I not only did my own share of work around the Phaeton, but I also offered to help Mui. His response: “These aren’t chores; I’m having fun.” Far be it from me to get in the way of his idea of fun! Methinks that in the absence of the maintenance work that comes with a stix & bricks home, he’s enjoying the maintenance that comes with owning a home on wheels.

We were up early and Mui was raring to go. At check-in yesterday, he’d gotten permission to bucket wash the coach and do a hose rinse-off. He was anxious to get started, but at 6:00a, it was still too dark to do anything. Finally, at 7:12a, he was out the door with his little red bucket in hand, and a promise to keep it quiet so as not to disturb the neighbors.

Since he didn’t want me underfoot, I took care of the breakfast dishes and a few chores inside before heading out for a walk around the campground. It was just getting on towards 8:00a, and there were only a few other souls out and about. The only sounds were those of the birds chirping in the trees. The sunlight was streaming through the canopy in a golden shower that just begged to be photographed … click, click went my little Canon G-12.

Finishing one lap around the campground, I headed towards the camp store. Before I could get far, however, a rusty piece of equipment near the entrance to the maintenance facility caught my eye. With the morning sun bathing the scene in a golden hue, I couldn’t resist … click, click went my trusty G-12. Later, I asked one of the park volunteers if he knew what the equipment was. “I don’t really know, but I think it might be an old mower of some kind; it just appeared there one day,” was the answer. If you know what it is, please chime in with a comment.

The perfect lawn ornament for a maintenance facility!

I may not have gotten an answer to my question, but I didn’t leave the camp store empty handed either. The colorful flowers at the entrance stopped me for a while … and yes, you guessed it … click, click went the G-12 once again.

Continuing down towards the Bull Run-Occoquan trail, I was charmed by the little red bridge that marks the trailhead — a little worn perhaps from all the feet that have tread upon it, and needing perhaps a fresh coat of paint; but eye catching nonetheless. The entire trail is 17 miles (27 km) in length; a bit more than we’d want to bite off, but maybe we’ll hike a short portion of it next time we find ourselves at Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP). In the meantime … click, click went the G-12 one more time.

This scene begged for selective-color processing; so I obliged.

By the time I returned to the coach, Mui was nearly done with washing the Phaeton. The Gel-Gloss RV wash and wax had done a great job of removing the streaks of dirt, but now we had another problem — spots from the campground’s hard water. No problem; his goal this time was to get rid of the grime so that he could do a dry wash using the highly-touted The Solution. The sections he tested the product on are looking shiny-clean, so we’ll have a brand-spanking-new looking Phaeton after he finishes the rest of the coach. But that will have to wait until the tall ladder he ordered online gets delivered.

Next up for Mui was a project he’d been thinking of for a while — installing mesh screens over the furnace vents. Easy-peasy as the commercial says. The screens went up in minutes and Mui put a check mark next to another one of his to-do items. We don’t think this was the entry point for the mice, but if it was — lo siento, you little buggers. Nope; not really sorry about plugging the holes, but it seemed like the thing to say :-) ….

Check off one more project from the list.

Although it was now late morning, the temperature was still surprisingly comfortable. There was little humidity, so the usual summer stickiness was non-existent. A perfect opportunity to try out a handy little addition to our motorhome accoutrement — a canopy! More specifically, a Coleman 10x10 instant screened canopy. Mui had picked it up for a bargain price on one of those occasions when he had to kill time at Walmart. Although we had tested the quick set-up claim, we’d not had occasion to use it before. We can vouch that it does indeed go up in a jiffy — under 3 minutes as the brochure says. (I’ll try to remember to take a video of the process next time we put it up.) I like that it provides a fairly bug-free environment, but more so, I like the UV protection it offers for those times when we won’t have a tree canopy to filter the sun’s rays.

A nifty spot to enjoy our outside time at a campsite.

Of course, with the canopy set up, an al fresco lunch was a no brainer. The campsite picnic table was still wet from the overnight rains, otherwise, we would have placed the canopy over it. No problem; our portable picnic table came to the rescue.

When not in use, the table and its attached benches collapse into a box.

Mui took care of one more project after lunch, but I’m going to write about that tomorrow since the last part of documenting it won’t happen until we return the coach to storage. Besides, it will give me something to write about tomorrow. We have to vacate the site by 11:00a and won’t have time to do much more than chill before we return to the rat race.

Although we snuck inside for a couple of hours when the mid-afternoon heat got to be a bit much, we spent most of the rest of our day relaxing inside the canopy shelter. Thanks to our Millenicom aircard, we took turns checking email and browsing the web. I drafted a few blog posts for our Arctic adventure; now I just need to process photos so I can get the uploads completed. Reading was the other activity that kept us occupied thru the afternoon hours.

(We picked up Cold Recall from the Fram Museum in Oslo. It’s an excellent, quick read that tells the story of the race to the South Pole in Amundsen’s own words. The pictures are all from the slides he used during the lecture circuit that followed his return after achieving the Pole.)

Dinner, of course, was al fresco. By the time we were done with our lasagna and Caesar salad meal, the light was failing and it was time to move inside. Looks like some kind of a camp light may have to be added to our shopping list.

Enough with the pictures; the food’s getting cold!

Aaah! this is the life! Simple. Satisfying.

Uninvited Visitors

Friday, 19 August

While we were on our Arctic Voyage in Svalbard, a family — or two — decided to make themselves at home in our condo on wheels! How dare they!!! Especially since they were visitors of the MICE variety!!! Don’t they know that they belong outside and not inside?

When we first learned of our uninvited guests, we looked high and low and found no sign of any nests. Just droppings everywhere — both in the basement and upstairs. Mui tried a variety of traps, making the 34-mile round-trip drive to the storage facility every other day to check on them. Finally, a week later, the tried and true peanut butter and snap-trap caught an adult. Then, following his nose, Mui found the rest of the family nesting inside our sewer hose. He evicted the family without further ado, relocating them to a distant garbage bin.

Then the monitoring started to make sure we were rid of the little critters. With the basement and upstairs vacuumed, Mui made twice-weekly forays to the Phaeton. One more adult caught in a trap; and no more droppings. More monitoring. Finally, three weeks after the first hint of the invasion, there were no more signs of mice in the coach. It was time to declare a tentative victory in the mice war and proceed to the clean up phase.

We had plans to go to a campground last weekend, but they were forestalled by a work project that required my attention both Saturday and Sunday. While I was working, Mui went out to the coach, emptied the basement, and shampooed and disinfected everything. Then, he went to work upstairs, shampooing and disinfecting the carpet and the sofa. Finally, he plugged whatever obvious entry points he could find with copper wool. Thanks to his efforts that weekend, our post-mice clean-up this weekend at Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP) has the makings of being more than just “all-work and no-play.”

It’s pretty much a straight shot from our house to BRRP.

We took off around noon today, picked up the coach, and headed to the campground. Normally, we prefer the electric-only outer loop as it affords a lot of privacy. This time, we knew we were going to need plenty of water, so we opted for a 50-amp, full hook-up site on an inner loop — #113. At a jurisdiction rate of $41.50 (+ tax), BRRP is not inexpensive, but in our neck of the woods, we don’t have many choices for just a weekend outing. Besides, we like it here, and don’t mind coming back. In fact, if the commute from here to work wasn’t such a headache, we’d stay here for a week or two and pretend like we’re already full-timing.

The parallel-to-the-road sites offer a degree of privacy.

By 1:30p, we were hooked up, leveled with the slides deployed, and ready to get going with our cleaning project. With the slides closed, we’d been unable to have a good look-see inside the closet, so that’s where we started. A few droppings; less than we could count on two hands. No less work, though. Everything on the shelves and hangers went into a bag to be washed at home, and I went to work on shampooing the carpet inside the closet.

Next, flashlight in hand, we peered into the mostly-empty overhead cabinets and the tightly-shut drawers. Good; no mice signs there. Using the freshly laundered linens we’d brought from home, we made the bed and put a check mark on getting the bedroom ready for human habitation. From there, I moved on to the bathroom and Mui tackled the tile floor in the living room.

By 5:00p, we were dead tired, but everything was once again shiny clean. With no evidence of mice in any of the overhead cabinets in the kitchen/living area, we decided not to wash everything that was stored in them. But the decision to wash the dishes and silverware anyway led to an unpleasant discovery. Not because we found out the dishwasher wasn’t working, but because there were dead mice — looked to be newborns — behind the single-drawer dishwasher. They were long dead and easy to clean-up — or so says I who wouldn’t touch them with a 10-foot pole. Thanks for being the undertaker, Mui!

An hour later, with the chores finally completed, we went for a walk around the campground. It was hot and humid, and we were tired, so we didn’t stay out long. I did manage to take a photo or two while we were out, though.

The Red-Spotted Purple butterfly is a species of the North American brush-footed family.

Dinner is over; the dishes are washed, dried, and put away. Mui’s surfing the TV channels, but the only one that is not pixelated is Al Jazeera English. Call me crazy, but somehow listening to Qaddafi’s crazy rants, which is all they seem to be reporting on, is not my idea of good entertainment.

For a while it looked like the forecasted rainstorm would be passing above and below us, but the heavens just opened up. It’s really coming down now, but there’s no wind and no dangerous cells nearby, so I’m actually enjoying the rat-a-tat-tat that’s pounding on the roof. A good-weather day is predicted for tomorrow. We still have some chores to do, but we should be able to carve out some time to relax and enjoy ourselves as well.