Current Location: Gig Harbor RV Resort, Gig Harbor, Washington
This morning we were running a bit later than yesterday. While showers were taken and folks were getting ready, Malcolm was out putting the new rear bumper receiver on. This is a bolt-on affair that we will use to hold a receiver-mount bike carrier (as of yet unpurchased) for our bikes, instead of the aluminum deal we bought that hooks over the rear ladder.
Bolt-on receiver.
We loaded up our laundry in the truck and headed over to Elizabeth’s house to do laundry and visit with the grandbabies. Once there, we had a couple of donuts for a late breakfast. Around 10:00, the place where Malcolm had ordered the hitch indicated that it was in and ready to pick up. After that, it was off to run errands.
We took a bunch of items that had been collecting both in our trailer and at Elizabeth’s house and dropped them off at Goodwill. From there, we swung by K-Mart to return an item that was the wrong size. Then it was on to Trackside Pizza for lunch. This is Violet’s favorite place to eat because you can watch the trains go by right next to the building.
At the end of lunch, Violet was having the “crankies” (and it was close to nap time), so Elizabeth took the two girls home. We dropped by to pick up the new hitch (it was in boxes) and then went on to the grocery store with two lists (ours and Elizabeth’s). We got home, put groceries away and worked more on laundry.
Malcolm opened up the hitch boxes and assembled the new hitch. He was pleased to find out that it mounted onto the existing rails in the truck bed with no problem. He put the old one up for sale on Craigslist. Not sure if we’ll get a bite or not, but worth a try.
New Reese R16 hitch.
After naps were complete, Malcolm and Val took Violet to find a swimming pool for the back yard. We drove up to WalMart and searched around the store for the hard-sided type with a slide. They only had the inflatable type, so Violet conceded that was better than nothing. To make up for a lack of slide, we also purchased a few pool toys to complement the pool.
New pool
Once home, we inflated the pool while Elizabeth started dinner. Cole got home and helped with the cooking. Malcolm filled the pool partway with water. Malcolm and Cole checked to see if Cole had an appropriate hex wrench to tighten down the bolts on the new hitch. He didn’t. Violet splashed in the pool while all this was going on.
After dinner, it was out to the back yard for a little more pool action. Violet found out it was funny to hug someone’s legs while wet with ice cold water. Better yet, Malcolm was a sitting duck as he laid on the grass to relax.
Brrr…
After a while, we decided to head out for frozen yogurt. Malcolm happened to be outside when the UPS man drove up carrying three boxes, two of which had Malcolm’s name written on them. He collected up the boxes and headed inside to see what had arrived. One was a box of items that Val had ordered from Amazon. The other two were parts that Heartland RVs had sent to Malcolm based on the items that were not fixed at the rally.
Slide electrical raceway parts.
Roof cap repair items.
The corner piece in the roof repair items was incorrect. Malcolm will follow up with Heartland on that piece. In the meantime, he filled the hole in the existing piece with silicone sealant.
After frozen yogurt, we stopped by the house to load up the remainder of our stuff and headed back to the trailer. On the way, we stopped by a Harbor Freight Warehouse store to get some hex wrenches to tighten down the hitch. Once at the campground, we unloaded the laundry, groceries and various other items. Malcolm finished tightening down the hitch.
Tomorrow, everyone will start loading up to head out to Fox Island for the next few days. Malcolm found out officially that they want him to work in San Diego in a couple weeks, so we’ll be heading down the coast instead of cross-country to Texas. Since San Diego is half the distance, we’ll be staying here a few more days. Malcolm will be re-arranging the travel plans this evening and working out details with local campgrounds tomorrow.
Traveling Talleys 