Happy Birthday, Al

July 27, 2007
Grand Bay-Westfield, NB

It seems like just yesterday, but it was a year ago that we were in CT for Al’s (son-in-law) 50th birthday. Boy, how time flies! And Pat (Geri’s older daughter) will be 50 next summer. At least that’s it for the semi-century birthdays for a while!

Today was pretty warm again, with temperatures around 90°F (32°C). I went to the office around noon to replicate files and update the blog, and it was 30°C in there with a couple of new fans present. I complained about the power problems we’ve been having and got a little sympathy but little else. Apparently, the park is at the end of the power run on the peninsula, the cluster of sites we’re in is at the end of the run in the park, and the site we’re at is at the end of the run in our circle of sites. No wonder we’re short on juice!

After catching up on email from the week, we did a little packing in anticipation of tomorrow’s departure. We packed up the chairs and the screen room, but left the grill/stove for cooking. In fact, we did better than we should have, as Geri had all the cooking gear stowed before we made dinner! I grilled the chicken breasts I’d bought for yesterday (we were too hot to eat yesterday), and made fries from the remaining two new potatoes we had from earlier in the week. Geri made a nice salad, and we actually ate early for a change. We finished the rest of the Hungarian red wine we didn’t have last night, and had a nice Red Knot Shiraz from Australia with dinner.

We called Al to wish him a “happy birthday”, so we at least know we can make outbound calls. It’s been a fun week to be somewhat limited in the use of technology. Sometimes we wonder how we got along without gadgets. Weeks like this remind us.

By the time we were finished with dinner, the pups wanted to walk. Imagine our surprise as we went outside and realized that the temperature had dropped at least 10°F and it was actually comfortable outside. I opened the windows and shut down the A/C and generator and we’re sitting outside watching the sun set as I compose this. After about ½ hour, I realized that I’d left the pedestal power “off”, so I flipped the switch to keep the inverter/charger “on”. I’m really happy with how it’s performed this week, as we’ve had no interruptions inside the coach even though the EMS has dropped power due to low voltage numerous times.

As I type, the sun is once again setting over the St John River and the breeze is keeping the bugs at bay for a little bit anyway. I’m going to go chat with some of the “new neighbors”, as a couple of sites are now occupied. I made us two Al-tinis, so we’re in a pretty good frame of mind!