SV Orion - Annapolis, MD
dieters@sv-orion.com
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Late November - Thanksgiving

11/30/2022

1 Comment

 
PictureThanksgiving Dinner
After a week of clean-up at the park, we left Pocahontas for Jarratt to visit our daughter’s family for Thanksgiving week. By month’s end, we were pulling into Faith UMC in Jacksonville, our home for the next few months.  ​

PictureNew storage shelves in Well House
Cabin Work Week Clean-up​

After 2 incredibly warm weeks of the project, winter came early to the park. Our clean-up week was a chilly one, so we were motivated to keep moving or seek out some heat. With some new shelves built in the Well House storage building, we were able to organize our supplies much better and with many hands, the work to collect the supplies from 3 different sites went quickly. We cleaned the cabins, blew off roofs, and took trash to the dumpsters. We even did some more scraping and painting of the Well House, the rear of which is the last of the building needing attention.  

PictureNurse's Cabin with new ceiling and walls after painting
While the team had scrambled to install ceiling panels in the Nurse’s cabin late in the project, we had several days of painting ahead of us that transformed the interior of the building when completed. By Friday, we felt good about locking up, knowing we were in good shape for the next year. And, speaking of next year, we had barely completed the work for CWW 2022 before Dave was busy working on estimates and proposals for next year’s project. ​

The work does continue.

PictureSoaking the kitchen faucet
RV Stuff

We had a couple of issues with the RV that had been lingering for a while, but finally needed more serious attention.

With the plummeting temperatures, we were using about 20% of a tank of propane every day to keep the RV warm. Knowing the current level of the tank became very important, so when it was clear that one of our sensors wasn’t reporting, we wanted to fix it quickly. Thinking it was just a battery, we were disappointed that replacing it made no difference. After a call to tech support, it was clear that the sensor needed to be replaced. Luckily one was available nearby, and it started reporting in reliably once installed. Gotta have some heat.
​
We have also been puzzled by a bad taste in our water. After sanitizing the tank a couple of times in the same number of months, we were disappointed that the problem kept returning. We made a discovery that it was not the tanks that were the problem, but our galley faucet. It has a pull down hose sprayer, and we suspected it wasn’t getting clean with our sanitizing efforts. So, we disassembled the faucet and soaked it in vinegar. While this worked somewhat, we still suspect the hose is part of the problem and we haven’t found a way to get at it yet.  In the meantime, Dave has upgraded his water bottle to one that produces UV-C light to sanitize the water he drinks. So far, he pretty happy with it.   

PicturePlaying the game of Life
Celebrations​

We celebrated Droz’ 21st birthday together on a rainy evening that was brightened with balloons and cake. He appeared to enjoy it, even if it was spending time with the old folks.



PictureDave, Troy and Troy work on installing the fence panels
On Monday of Thanksgiving week, we moved to Bonnie and Troy’s. Part of our time there was spent helping finish the fence installation we had started last year. We also picked up a paint brush to paint the chicken coop. But most of our time was spent enjoying time together. Playing games, watching Christmas movies and, of course, eating. It is Thanksgiving after all.  

Picture
Traveling South
On the Monday after Thanksgiving, we headed out for Jacksonville. It was a relatively quick trip south, spending only 1 night on the road.  For the first time, we made use of a convenient free dump station at the Kenly 95 Truck stop at exit 106 on I-95 in NC.  It was easy in and easy out.  We also stopped at the new Buc-ee's near Florence and found a great price on diesel, easily 40 cents less than what we had been finding.  (Although we could only brag so much, since Pat and Fred got a price almost 60 cents less the next day!)   Spending the night at a Wal-mart in Manning, SC, we were boondocking for the first time in a long time. Given the chilly temperatures overnight, we ran the generator to provide heat in the evening.  

The next day we arrived in Jacksonville, the temperatures were much improved from the chill we left in Virginia. And we are happy to be back at Faith.
​

Wonder what we will be up to next?

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Early November - Cabin Work Week 2022

11/13/2022

1 Comment

 
PictureNew screens installed at 3rd Branch
The project came out of the preparation week with a tremendous head start. The screening and shutter repair work moved quickly from our primary site, 3rd Branch, to last year’s secondary site, Paspahegh. The work on the upper vents was so far ahead that, after completing 3rd Branch and Paspahegh, they returned to our 2019 site, Appamattuck, to finish the cabins there. (The vent work was something not in our work plan back then.) There were even shutter and screen repairs made to a squirrel-damaged cabin in last year’s Weyanock site. 

PictureBill installs the last composite ridge cap on 3rd Branch Cabin 4.
The roofing team was able to install composite roofing on 2 cabins in 3rd Branch and finally was able to put a new composite roof on the historic shower house next to the Powhatan dining hall. This has been on our list for 3 project years. They were also able to repair holes in asphalt roofs in a 3rd Branch cabin, replace the outdoor kitchen roof on the 3rd Branch lodge and repair the damage caused by a fallen tree in a 2nd Branch Group cabin. 

PictureNew closet and paneling in the Nurse's Cabin
Long-deferred work to finish the interior of the Algonquian Nurse’s Cabin was nearly completed, moving it closer to being able to be used by park visitors renting the dining hall. By the end of the 2nd week, we had completed the stabilization of 3rd Branch and Paspahegh, and had made repairs to cabins in all but one of the 6 group cabin sites. ​
 ​

PictureOur Halloween decorations won an honorable mention
We also had some fun with new after work activities. Since Halloween fell on our first day of work, we had a Halloween decorating contest that brought out the creativity in our camping volunteers. We revisited the scavenger hunt that generated a lot more participation and some fun exchanges throughout the park. ​
​

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Cathy’s sister Carolyn joined us for several days this year, helping with lunches (including providing one), painting and doing some screening. Bonnie, Troy and the kids joined us one evening while she was here, and Droz came by the next day for a long-overdue reunion with their aunt.


While the project preparation and execution is exhausting, the rewards of the work done, and the camaraderie of the volunteers reminds us each year why we keep coming back to do another one.


You can get a glimpse of the work and the fun in this year’s video, by clicking on the picture below:
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