Friday, Nov 18: It was nice in that I started the day with the guys at Bible study and seeing my loving daughter, Cari. Since I had delayed the trip to try and get away from the cold weather I was leaving four days later and am only going to be gone 4 days as well because Thanksgiving is coming.... and won't miss that time with the family for anything. Still though, I left on the coldest day and was thinking on the way that I might have delayed another day.... but here I am. The trip here was all right, but fighting strong headwinds was fun????? and the winds caused the temp window I had taped in to rattle. Since I didn't want it to come off I stopped and tried to add more tape, but that didn't do any good because it soon started rattling again. I did did finally arrive and got set up.... actually just electrical plugged in so I could get the electric heat going. I probably should have stopped and filled up propane, but the wind chills were really cold and I didn't want the guy to have to come out in that to do it, so decided I would just leave that in God's hands too and pressed on. The temps never got above 28 F and with the wind, it is cold. Internet is spotty.... even with my extender (wondering if it was worth the cost still). However, I did get satellite to work. Fixed some left over pizza for supper and just watched a movie.
Saturday: Slept really good... especially for the first night. Keeping the pipes from freezing meant I ran both the heater and furnace through the night with the temp getting down to 18. I also kept a drip going in the bathroom and when I got up it took a little while before the water ran well which meant the pipes were still beginning to freeze..... but God is good to me and they did not freeze solid.
Thermal underwear has sure been a blessing because wind chills have been in the single digits... That is when I was thinking about my minimum temp for camping which is/was 25. While I have a site on the lake, it is low so there is a sandbar. As you can see from the picture part of the lake is freezing over.
Took a ride on my trike this afternoon for about 2 miles around the campground. There are plenty of sites that have a view of the lake through the trees because it is winter. Temp is about 36 (heat wave) but the wind brings it back to the 20's. Still dressing for it makes the difference.
Took a second ride later and everything is working well with it.
Haven't started a fire yet but it is suppose to warm up and winds to calm down for the last two days so I am hopeful..... seems weird that I am wanting the temps to warm up to lite a fire?????
Sunday: Temps really got cold.... down to 14 F with a wind chill down to 8 F. Needless to say I am staying inside the RV. The only real challenge I am facing is the pipes freezing.... so far, so good...??
Temps warmed up to 37 so had my first fire and fixed hamburgers and corn on cob for lunch . It was so very good but probably ate too much. The host, Tom, stopped by to put the next renter on the post and we ended up talking for about 30 min. He told me that the lake is low because they lower it at Bangell dam to work on it through the winter and then to wait for the Spring rains to fill it up again. I mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of people camping and he said that it was about normal since so many people bought campers during the pandemic. He also indicated that people like to camp over the holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.... one renter told him to keeps his house clean and the whole family just camps with them. I like camping but...... not for me.
Internet is still in and out. I don't think that booster was worth it as I don't seem to be getting anything with it. Might need to check the connections....
I was able to watch Dallas annihilate the Vikings 40 to 3. Wish that team would have shown up when they played the Packers.
Monday: Got up this morning with very little water left because I have been dripping it at night to keep pipes from freezing. No sure that was a good idea because not only did I run out of water but filled the tanks. I went to dump them this morning but it turned out they were frozen so I couldn't open the value. Couldn't empty them but the temp is suppose to get up to 55F (heat wave) so might try again later. They did have some potable water near the dump so I was able to put some in the water tank. Guess if I am going to camp in the winter I need to do more to prevent pipes from freezing or stay with my previous limit of not going out if the temps are going to be below 25F. But..... I sure wanted to go and even with the challenges I am glad I came.
Took a couple more bike rides... one was on a trail that was in good shape but was only a couple miles long. The temps got up to 58F this afternoon so the values finally thawed out and I was able to dump the tanks.... everything went well. I took a second bike ride this evening and a guy in a motorhome that I really liked was out so I was pulling up and said HI when his dog came at me. I went into a defensive position and it turned out that he only hit my arm as the owner (Chuck) was yelling at him. He finally got the dog corralled and we ended up talking for about half an hour. I asked him if the dog was friendly and so we made friends and he let me pet him (the dog that is...) Chuck and his wife, Fay, are from Wisconsin on the way to Arizona. Retired farmer. Thinking about retiring somewhere in the lower Midwest.
Tuesday: Leaving today and even with the challenges of the cold it has been a wonderful trip. Learned a little more about dealing with the cold temps and will make some changes for my December trip.... God willing. Had another great evening although I think with the cold I am getting up more frequently to go to the bathroom. So looking forward to Thanksgiving and being with the family again... sure missed them Sunday.
