RE: General coughing and rousing

[champ521]

 Guest
I m one of those chumps who spent a hundred bucks on a cover only to find out that it trapped more dust than it kept off the PU. Now I just leave it uncovered and hose it off every once in a while. Wanna buy a cover, cheap?

[Red neff Barchetta]

 champ521
Champ/Dave -
 If it makes you feel any better, I (ok, my business) spend $700.00 a MONTH on a PU cover!  The cover is fairly good sized though.  It covers 2 cargo vans, materials, and tools & equipment as well.  Some would call it a shop, but since the PU is the thing inside I care the most about, I call it my PU cover, lol.
 
 Larry/Sammy Slave has a similiar cover for his PU.

[OC Campers]

 champ521
Our dealer told us it was ok to cover the PU as long as there was plenty of air circulation.  So, we bought a large gray tarp and put 2 plastic milk crates on top of the PU roof and put the tarp over the crates then bungy it to the trailer.  Works like a charm.  The only thing it doesn t cover is part of the front storage trunk.  Need just a little larger tarp and it is totally covered.  
 
 Jacqui

 champ521
I m with champ21....spray it off a couple times a year and make sure it is store a little off level, and no problems.
 
 Campinggeek
 AKA Jon

[Ca-girl]

 champ521
Hi All...
 
 As I m sure everyone has noticed with some chagrin, Surfcal has been really busy lately.  Too busy to even visit the boards for some good old fashioned rabble rousing!  So, he has volunteered me to be the new distribution center for the NNC documentary.  (I guess that s what I get for bragging about having my summers off!) He s sent me a bagful of tapes, and forwarded to me any requests he s received for copies.
 
 I hope to get them in the mail by Wednesday or Thursday, so.........speak now or forever hold your peace!  If you haven t yet requested a copy, and you would like one, please send me an e-mail with your address, and I will be sure to include you in the mass mailing.

[Ab Diver]

 champ521
Hey, it s slow around here, everybody s camping but me, so I ll share today s high points...
 
 Been pressure washing my house last night and all of today in preparation for painting. Problem is, hornets had built a nest up under the peak of the second story. My 30  extension ladder would reach it (barely) but being that high while trying to kill hornets wasn t my cup of tea. [] So last night I set up the ladder, off to one side of the nest, and nailed them with the pressure washer. Blew their nest out from under the eves in about 2 seconds. Ha! Take that, you little buggers! []
 
 Guess what? Yup, they re back this morning, evidentially having decided to rebuild after Hurricane Morris blew through last night. And they were not in the mood for any visitors. Dang things made me put off washing one whole half of the upper story today... that ll set me back a day on painting. Grrrr... [:@]
 
 So tonight I slipped into Stealth Mode, becoming: (Da-ta-da-DA!!) : " Ninja Diver" !. That s right boys and girls-- a full wetsuit, boots, gloves, mask, and a towel taped over your mouth will let you do just about anything you want to a hornets nest. Add a can of Ortho Hornet spray and it s by-by time for unwanted stinging visitors.
 
 There I was, top of the ladder, shooting straight up into the new group of hornets, while dying hornets and Ortho foam are falling straight down on top of me. [: (]  After a couple minutes of this fun and games, I was finished making sure the nest and surrounding area was covered in foam. I crawled down the ladder and had the wife hose me down real good to wash off all the Ortho and dead hornets.  We ll see tomorrow if it worked for good. []
 
 So there you have it, a new use for a dive suit. Remember boys and girls, I m a trained diving professional... don t try this at home. []

[Ab Diver]

 Ca-girl
Hey, Tania... you got mail!
 
 []

[champ521]

 Ab Diver

So tonight I slipped into Stealth Mode, becoming: (Da-ta-da-DA!!) : " Ninja Diver" !. That s right boys and girls-- a full wetsuit, boots, gloves, mask, and a towel taped over your mouth will let you do just about anything you want to a hornets nest. Add a can of Ortho Hornet spray and it s by-by time for unwanted stinging visitors.

 Got any pics of this? I m sure I m not the only one who d get a kick out of seeing them. You could probably make a " How To"  video and sell it over the internet. Better yet you could make an infomercial and sell your technique.[8D]

[SCCS]

 champ521
I always wanted to take hornet diving lessons. Now I know who to turn to.

[champ521]

 Red neff Barchetta

If it makes you feel any better, I (ok, my business) spend $700.00 a MONTH on a PU cover!

 Neff-That s about what my mortgage is!

[abbear]

 champ521
Well, just got back from 10 days and 2500 miles of popup fun.  Hit Crater Lake, Portland, Mt St Helens, Vancouver and Victoria, BC.  Boy, did we just about do it all!  Ferry boats, volcanoes, international border crossings, tearing down in the rain. My Mom came along so there were the four of us plus her and of course the dog.  The van worked great hauling all of us and the trailer all over.  I was concerned about all the mountain driving (we crossed the Cascades 5 times) but a little common sense (locking the transmission in low and keeping the speed down while climbing the long grades) and all was well.  
 
 Just before we left we changed the oil and trans fluid in the van, got the cruise control repaired, replaced the front brake pads, repaired the brakes on the trailer and repacked the wheel bearings, and installed a prodigy brake controller.  This actually became very important when a big rig cut us off at speed on the freeway and we needed all the braking power we had to - well I had accepted we were going to hit him.  We missed by t---------h-----------i-------------s  much.  Literally.[]  Lucky we only had a few miles to go to stop for the night because I was shaking.
 
 Saw something interesting the first night out as well. Stopped for gas in Weed and heard a loud BANG on the road then sscraape.  Some poor guy lost his utility trailer.  Fortunately he had safety chains, but I wondered if he had any hitch left from all the sparks he was throwing.
 
 Spent today - the first day back - installing a Fantastic Fan  roof vent and repositioning the yakima rack from a canoe configuration (how it was when we got it and we don t have a canoe) to where we can use our bike racks on it, as well as some other minor deschnitzifying.
 
 Leave next week for Montana for a week.  I could get used to this[8D][8D][8D]

 abbear
Sounds like a great trip.  Looking forward to doing the same in a year or two.
 
 Campinggeek
 AKA jon

[gsm x2]

 champ521
Abbear--You just took the trip G-Whiz and I were planning on.  Now it will have to wait a year because we haven t been back to Michigan to visit the family for some time.  So instead of the Pacific Northwest, we re leaving the " Get Lucky at the Lake Rally"  and heading for Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, and entering Michigan through the Upper Penisula.
 
 We could get used to this too.
 
 gsm x2

[Calstate361]

 champ521
Abbear, what part of Montana.  I have family there.  My Uncle lived in Missoula, a cousin lives in Bozeman and the majority of the rest of the cousins live on the farm about an hour drive outside Billings near Joliet.   We were there just last year for a family reunion on the farm.  We continued our trip and did the tourist thing in South Dakota.  We stayed at the Horse Theif Camp Ground in Hill City, SD.  It was a nice home base for day trips to Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse (only a few minutes away) and to Rapid City.  We stayed at this camp ground several years ago and the same people are still running it.  It is a very nice, clean and friendly place.
 
 Have fun.
 
 Joan

[Cottonwooder]

 Calstate361
I m baaaaaaaack, and may I make this grand announcement:
 
 As of 4pm, on 8/12/03, the room extension is FINISHED.  The contractor has left for the final time, and this construction zone here in mid-Ventura will now become a home again.  Amen!
 
 Hope everyone is doing well.  This past weekend we went on our first camping trip since Gold Rush, believe it or not.  Summer has flown by extra quickly, and Rebec returns to school next week.  Karen returns to preschool after Labor Day, when I ll be able to actually work in the daytime at my client s office.  They ve only seen me once since June!  Had a blast at our local annual fair, where we met Tracy Byrd [], dined on fair food, and my scrapbook entries raked in some blue ribbons.
 
 Now that construction is over and school is starting back up, am looking forward to getting back into my regular routine.  []