More Work; Even More Fun

Sunday, April 1

I mentioned at the end of yesterday’s post that the electric heating element for the water tank was on the fritz.  The good news: easily replaceable without making a noticeable dent to the wallet — $16 for both the element and the wrench (after Mui’s military discount was applied).  The bad news: we had to drain the tank and waste more water before Mui could replace it.  You might ask why we didn’t do the job when we replaced the anode rod on Friday (post here).  Well, we didn’t know we had a problem, and since you can’t fire the element unless the tank is full, we had no way of testing it ahead of time.

After breakfast, we armed ourselves with all that we needed for the task at hand.  For me, that was the camera; for Mui, it was a whole bunch of tools as well as the new 1500 watt/short/110 volt element and the wrench he bought from Lowe’s last night.  At 49F (9C), it was warmer than yesterday at about the same time, but a light breeze added a chill factor to contend with today.  That’s OK; it’s still early spring and we’re not complaining.  The heat and humidity will be here soon enough.

With the water in the tank allowed to cool off, switches and water heater fuse in the off position, and the water heater bypass valve closed, it took just moments to drain the tank.

Make sure you stand off to the side if you don’t want to take an unexpected shower.

The tank empty, it was a matter of taking off the protective cover from the electric element; removing the old element with the new wrench; securing the replacement in place; filling the tank to check for leaks; reconnecting the wires to the element; and placing the protective cover over it.  The fuse back in the on position, Mui flipped the switches and we waited to see if we’d get hot water.  And we did.  There was a noticeable difference in how quickly the water heated up; didn’t have to use the propane heater to speed the process along.

It really is easy to replace the electric heating element.

Instead of turning the blog into a tutorial for this quick and easy task, I put together a photo-log of the steps Mui followed — both for this project as well as Friday’s anode rod replacement.  Those interested can click here to view the details and the full size photos I used in the collages.

Replacing the electric heater element was the last chore for this weekend.  With that taken care of, we ate a light lunch and headed off to have fun on the Bluebell Trail.  I’d walked just a small portion of the trail yesterday.  This time, we walked the entire length of the 1½-mile (~2½ km) u-loop ending at the Occoquan-Bull Run trailhead.  Unlike yesterday morning, there were quite a few people on the trail this afternoon, but everyone was dispersed and it didn’t feel crowded at all.

I focused on the 'big picture’ this time.
It's no use; one just can't capture the real beauty of the 'scape in a still shot.

The carpet of bluebells was more extensive on this end of the trail.  Even though there were obvious signs that the peak bloom period is quickly coming to an end, the scene was a delight to the visual senses.  The decline of the flowers will be quick I’m told.

Bluebells range as far as the eye can see.

the colorful blooms always delight me.

A quiet late afternoon and evening at home wrapped up our day.  One more day here before we have to go back to the stix & brix … sigh!