
This October like many before has been spent making final preparations for the next Cabin Work Week. However, we started the month helping our grandson make his final preparations before heading out for his road trip.

Cabin Work
With Joe’s arrival just after the month began, carpentry repairs began in earnest. He put his efforts into a shed that has become the “garage” for the park shuttle golf cart that we use often during our stay at the park. The doors were sagging, and the front siding was in need of repair. Before the first day was over, the doors worked much better. However, over the course of a week, the front was transformed and the shed is now a sturdy (and clean) place to store the shuttle.
With Joe’s arrival just after the month began, carpentry repairs began in earnest. He put his efforts into a shed that has become the “garage” for the park shuttle golf cart that we use often during our stay at the park. The doors were sagging, and the front siding was in need of repair. Before the first day was over, the doors worked much better. However, over the course of a week, the front was transformed and the shed is now a sturdy (and clean) place to store the shuttle.

Back at 2nd Branch, we held a rescheduled cleaning day, which was badly needed to remove a year’s worth of dirt and animal activity. The enthusiastic team made a huge difference in getting the cabins ready for the project. We continued to paint boards and re-position wood and supplies from their storage in the Well House to the work site. This was a luxury we didn't have in prior years, because we have access to the 2nd Branch Cabin site in the weeks before the project. By the time our pre-week team arrived, the supplies were distributed among the site's now much-cleaner cabins, and this year's smaller team could focus on starting the work.
Joe moved over to the cabin site to start replacing some damaged siding, along with Fred, a local volunteer. They made a big improvement on the first cabin, but their efforts uncovered more significant damage from termites that had been hidden. This caused us to look more closely at other cabins, only to find there were more that needed more repairs due to the insect’s boring.
Joe moved over to the cabin site to start replacing some damaged siding, along with Fred, a local volunteer. They made a big improvement on the first cabin, but their efforts uncovered more significant damage from termites that had been hidden. This caused us to look more closely at other cabins, only to find there were more that needed more repairs due to the insect’s boring.

Our afternoons often find us on the computer with emails, lists, project plans. Or we might be out shopping for supplies. We meet weekly with the park’s Chief Ranger for volunteerism to coordinate with the park on our efforts. One week that meeting resulted in a change of vehicle. We were given access to a GEM, which is an electric vehicle that has a bed for supplies and even a ladder rack. But there are 2 features that make it especially nice. It will travel at the park’s 25mph speed limit and the cab is fully enclosed. That will make our morning trips to the work site faster and much less chilly.

Powering up
As the time for Droz to move on approached, we were trying to assemble the parts he needed to create an electric system in the van that would support some basic functions from running lights and charging phones to running a heater. The parts were ordered, but we weren’t sure they would arrive in time to build the board before he left. A couple of days before he was scheduled to leave, Droz sat down with Grandpa to build what
he could with the parts that had come in. They made a lot of progress, and surprisingly most of the remaining parts arrived the next day in time for them to install them. While a couple of components were still needed to have everything complete, Droz felt good that he could assemble the final pieces.
The next afternoon, we bid goodbye and he headed out for his long-planned road trip, and we wished him well.
As the time for Droz to move on approached, we were trying to assemble the parts he needed to create an electric system in the van that would support some basic functions from running lights and charging phones to running a heater. The parts were ordered, but we weren’t sure they would arrive in time to build the board before he left. A couple of days before he was scheduled to leave, Droz sat down with Grandpa to build what
he could with the parts that had come in. They made a lot of progress, and surprisingly most of the remaining parts arrived the next day in time for them to install them. While a couple of components were still needed to have everything complete, Droz felt good that he could assemble the final pieces.
The next afternoon, we bid goodbye and he headed out for his long-planned road trip, and we wished him well.

Covering Up
Our new truck needed one more upgrade to finish making it functional for us. That was to put a new tonneau cover over the truck bed. We had used a Truxedo, low-profile fabric cover on our Ram. However, this time we went with a Gator SRX that functioned almost identically, except that it was made of a vinyl material. The installation was as easy as the videos showed it to be, and we had it on in about 30 minutes.
And, of course, we still had a little bit more paperwork to complete on the truck. We needed a Florida title, which also meant paying Florida sales tax. Once again, we needed to get original documents to the Florida tax collector’s office. While our first set of documents actually arrived on time in overnight mail, the dealership had mistakenly had Dave sign the wrong box on the title application. So, we sent a 2nd envelope by certified mail to Florida. That didn’t go so well. After 5 days, we started calling the post office. This caused something to happen. Three times within 8 hours, we were notified that it had “left” the Richmond Distribution center. Finally, 9 days later and 1 day before our temporary tags expired, we received confirmation that all had been processed, and we could install our tags on the new truck. Way too much drama for a simple transaction.
Wonder how long it will take for the actual title to arrive?
Our new truck needed one more upgrade to finish making it functional for us. That was to put a new tonneau cover over the truck bed. We had used a Truxedo, low-profile fabric cover on our Ram. However, this time we went with a Gator SRX that functioned almost identically, except that it was made of a vinyl material. The installation was as easy as the videos showed it to be, and we had it on in about 30 minutes.
And, of course, we still had a little bit more paperwork to complete on the truck. We needed a Florida title, which also meant paying Florida sales tax. Once again, we needed to get original documents to the Florida tax collector’s office. While our first set of documents actually arrived on time in overnight mail, the dealership had mistakenly had Dave sign the wrong box on the title application. So, we sent a 2nd envelope by certified mail to Florida. That didn’t go so well. After 5 days, we started calling the post office. This caused something to happen. Three times within 8 hours, we were notified that it had “left” the Richmond Distribution center. Finally, 9 days later and 1 day before our temporary tags expired, we received confirmation that all had been processed, and we could install our tags on the new truck. Way too much drama for a simple transaction.
Wonder how long it will take for the actual title to arrive?

RV Stuff
We had time for a few small projects over the past couple of weeks. Over time, the veneer on the side of our bed support had come loose, and our attempts to fix it with the tools we had didn’t work too well. While at the park, we had access to the right tools, and the veneer went back on within a few minutes.
It was also time to have the roof checked out. We had a mobile RV service come to inspect the roof and re-seal the fixtures on it.
And we finally found the fix to our backup camera, that had stopped working back in NY. It turned out to be the simplest fix of all. We simply had to re-pair the camera with the monitor, but the key was to turn the camera off and back on during the pairing process. Simple. And it helps to read the instructions sometimes.
We had time for a few small projects over the past couple of weeks. Over time, the veneer on the side of our bed support had come loose, and our attempts to fix it with the tools we had didn’t work too well. While at the park, we had access to the right tools, and the veneer went back on within a few minutes.
It was also time to have the roof checked out. We had a mobile RV service come to inspect the roof and re-seal the fixtures on it.
And we finally found the fix to our backup camera, that had stopped working back in NY. It turned out to be the simplest fix of all. We simply had to re-pair the camera with the monitor, but the key was to turn the camera off and back on during the pairing process. Simple. And it helps to read the instructions sometimes.

Parting Shot
Fall has come in all its glory to the park. It makes the long days go by faster to be in the midst of the beautiful fall colors
Fall has come in all its glory to the park. It makes the long days go by faster to be in the midst of the beautiful fall colors