I slept great and was surprised to find it was 8:00 when I got up this morning.
As expected, our "amp hours used" was at -40, an easy chore for the solar panels today.
After writing a Journal entry and returning some emails, the morning had gotten away from me. I had just enough time to go for a run, cool down, get a shower, and head out to make my afternoon tee time in Elmira.
So, I ran the Onondaga loop here at Sugar Hill Recreation Area twice. Well I ran a mile of it twice. The last quarter mile of the loop is a steep uphill climb no matter which direction you go, and I'm not in good enough shape to run up steep inclines.
I finished my run and was sweating profusely with the warmer temps and slightly higher humidity today. Time to get cleaned up. So, I stepped in the shower, turned the water on and ...... nothing. Uh oh.
Our water pump showed signs of leaking, but it had been working fine until the last couple of days. Today was the day it decided it was done. We carry a back-up water pump for just this scenario, but I didn't have time to mess with it. Should have started my day a little sooner.
I couldn't just throw on clean clothes and go, so I improvised a clean-up - sort of like what we might do while backpacking.
I usually like to arrive at the golf course about a half an hour before my tee time. Today, I would be lucky if I made it ten minutes ahead of time.
I didn't take the time to go over my route to the Mark Twain Golf Course in Elmira, but just plugged it into my phone navigation. After making my way through the back roads and getting close to Elmira, I saw a sign pointing to "Mark Twain State Park - Golf Course". Hmm. I ignored the GPS (since I have a general distrust) and followed the signs - bad decision. There is a Mark Twain State Park and they do have a golf course, but the course is called Soaring Eagle. I realized this a little too late and it took me ten minutes to get back on track.
Then I followed the GPS. It took me into a neighborhood and told me I had arrived at my destination. I could see the golf course across a tall fence behind a bunch of houses, but it was not the entrance. So, I returned to the main road and went in the direction I thought I should go. I turned into the course knowing that I was supposed to be on the tee. I didn't know if I had been paired up with anyone, and I hate to be late for anything and it's even worse when it might inconvenience others.
I finally walked into the clubhouse and apologized. Fortunately, I wasn't holding up anyone and there was no one playing behind me. I could relax, hit a few putts, and tee off when I was ready. Whew.
So, the Mark Twain Golf Course is a municipal course, and it's one of the nicest "muni" courses I've played. It's a pretty traditional, straight forward layout. There are no hidden shots, no tricky hazards, and there is lots of room for off-target shots. The rough isn't so thick that you would lose golf balls. It's built to encourage fast play for all skill levels. The tees, fairways, and greens are in great shape.
Ah, the greens. The greens are large, hard to read, and very fast on anything downhill. The greens make the course tough for even the most skilled players. Positioning is key, and my pitiful scoring showed the results of being in the wrong place on and around the greens. Still, it was a great afternoon, and a friendly local, Mark, joined me on the back nine. He helped me navigate and I played a little better toward the end. I may have to give it another shot. In fact, the day I pick up Linda at the airport would be a terrific opportunity.
I made my way back to the rig and discovered, as expected, that our nice, peaceful camping spot had been "invaded". A scouting group of little girls had set up right in the middle of the field making sure their screaming and squealing was heard by everyone camped here.
The group right outside our door had also expanded with little girls of their own and a penchant for listening to loud music.
Fortunately, they played good music most of the afternoon.
But we expected the worst on the weekend, and it wasn't all that bad. I'm glad to see people out in nature doing something other than obsessing over their smart phones.
Kenny Chesney's song "Noise" has this verse:
Twenty-four hour television, gets so loud that no one listens
Sex and money and politicians talk, talk, talk
But there really ain't no conversation
Ain't nothing left to the imagination
Trapped in our phones and we can't make it stop, stop
After taking note of the increase in the population of our little community, I went to work on the water pump.
Our pump is located behind a pop-out access panel in our big storage compartment (aka "basement").
Our original water pump went out two years into our adventure, and I installed this Shurflo Whisper King pump back in 2007. It had a five-year warranty and lasted nine years, so I can't complain.
We went with the Whisper King because it was said to be the quietest pump at the time, and it was much quieter than the original that came from the factory. It only has a flow rate of 2 gallons per minute (GPM), but we thought that would be good since we would only be using it when we didn't have water or sewer hook-ups and the low flow rate would help keep our tanks from filling too fast.
At the time, 2007, we bought two Whisper Kings so we had one as a back-up. It's the only back-up part we carry, but we carry it just in case we are way out in the wilderness or desert boondocking where there is no Walmart or Camping World or Amazon delivery. Boondocking with no water to the shower, sinks, and toilet is more roughing it than we want to do.
I took a close-up pic of the pump just to make sure I got the wiring right.
Good thing, because I forgot which wires went together. Red wire from pump goes with the green/white wire and the black wire from the pump goes with the white wire.
Connecting the wiring and the plumbing is the easy part. Even I could do that in a few minutes. The hard part was getting to the mounting screws to get the old pump off the wall and the new pump re-mounted.
The first time I connected the wiring using the old plastic connectors, I got nothing. But I carry some better wire nuts, and when I connected the wires using those - success! The whole process took me almost an hour and a half with at least an hour dealing with access to the mounting screws.
Because I had the same exact pump, nothing had to be modified. But the Whisper King (2093-204-413) isn't made anymore, so we'll have to get a new back-up that is different. According to the Shurflo conversion chart, the newer Revolution 4028 2.3 GPM (4028-100-E54) is the replacement and, hopefully, it will fit just as easily.
Once the pump issue was solved, and I was once again soaked in sweat, I couldn't wait to get a shower. Ah, that felt great.
I got out our grill, and grilled me a burger for dinner while I listened to the neighbors' music. They had a brief period of heavy metal which wasn't exactly conducive to a relaxed camping atmosphere. Fortunately, our rig blocked out most of the noise from the girl scouts.
After dinner, I grabbed the JetPack and my laptop and took them outside to check emails and upload photos. I called Linda to catch her up on the day, and then put the technology away.
The fire tower had its max of six people, so I didn't catch the sunset tonight. I just started a fire and read my Kindle just like last night. I didn't turn the inverter on at all today.
Quiet hours were supposed to start at 10:00, and it did get quieter, but it certainly wasn't quiet by this former campground host's standards. Since I knew this was the last night here for most people, I just went with the flow. By 11:00 everyone had pretty much called it a night, and I went in myself.
Though I was a little crowded and the recreation area was noisy, all that was overcome by another beautiful day, a great afternoon of golf, the satisfaction of fixing the water pump issue, and a lovely night reading by the fire with a canvas of twinkling stars overhead.
Tomorrow should be more like last Thursday when we arrived, and I haven't yet decided what I'm going to do. I'm sure my day will end much the same as the last two days, but I'm not sure about the daytime activities. Guess we'll all find out together. :)
Roger would like to know on the good side, were you able to purchase any Girl Scout cookies from your new neighbors? LOL
Have fun...nice blog!
Roger & Dawn Brown
Posted by: Dawn Brown | Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 10:47 AM
Glad they played decent music:) But a group of scream little girls is the worst. You had the right attitude since you couldn't do much about it:)
Posted by: Pam Wright | Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 12:42 PM