Author: The Buchanans Rolling Down The Road

What can be said, about a crusty old curmudgeon, with no fixed address … not much I guess.

Day 2347

Thursday March 7th 2024

Dear Journal:

Does 6:20 qualify as sleeping in? I’m thinking no. But I can tell you that dawn was breaking when I opened the shades to appease one kitty cat that wanted to see out the bedroom window. Miss Laurie just got up after an hour of urging by Mister Sam, he can be a persuasive kitty, with constant nose licks, kneading of the body areas that really don’t need kneading, or just walking on pillows as we try to ignore the kitty. But I heard the propane burner ignite so the smell of perked coffee is just moments away, and this is our last day before eight hours of volunteering tomorrow. Mister Sam is now perched on the counter by the window looking for birds, bunnies, chipmunks, and his favorite geckos.

Sun rise this morning had a little colour, but not photo worthy, and as I write this, I’m thinking it would be photo worthy if we weren’t lucky enough to watch so many beautiful sunrises every year. It is strange how some spots are sunset spots while others are sunrise spots but very few offer the best of both. Miss Laurie is preparing pancakes for breakfast this morning, as a kid we had pancakes on special occasions but we also always had maple syrup (we actually used to tap our maple trees and then boil the sap down into syrup) but now because refrigerator space is so valuable I have compromised to just a breakfast syrup that requires no refrigeration. A second cup of coffee with a splash of Irish cream is in order, as we plan our day.

We are meeting John & Brenda at the “‘Silver King Smokehouse” in Superior for lunch, Miss Laurie is doing laundry today, I’m going to check some more items off of my todo list. I would also like to get into the Arboretum for a walk before being in the admission booth for the weekend, it helps in directing visitors to areas with things to see.

For lunch I had the smoked brisket sandwich with a wedge salad, we have not dinned out much in Superior this year, but the brisket was just as good as I remembered it. We sat on the patio at the Silver King Smokehouse and as we enjoyed our lunch we observed a storm making its way toward us. It has been a wetter and cooler winter in Arizona than usual, but it is still the sunshine that makes it worth the journey.

Tomorrow we are back to work, and with the rain rolling through our area we said our “see you down the roads” and headed back to the coach for a quiet afternoon of reading before some evening of television, after lunch dinner will consist of just a few snacks tonight.

Day 2346

Wednesday March 6th 2024

Dear Journal:

I woke this morning to Mister Sam licking my nose! A quick check showed that I was in bed by myself, my first thought was what the heck? Followed closely by wow! Did I actually sleep in this morning? Well not really a check of the clock showed it was a few moments to six. Apparently Mister Sam just wanted me up and the window blind open so he could sit on the counter and look out the window. Well I’m awake now so I might as well get up, I can smell coffee perking, an aroma almost as alluring as bacon frying in the pan. So I turn on our tv streaming service to check on the latest shooting count in the Phoenix valley, you may laugh but it is an everyday thing in the metro area, and it was a good day only one shot but nobody dead (yet). to give you an idea of how “wild west” Arizona is the Republican state congress is trying to pass a law to make it easier for Arizona ranchers to shoot illegals on their property! You just can’t make this sh*t up!

Breakfast this morning a couple of easy over eggs and a couple of slices of sour dough toast, along with another cup of perked coffee with a splash of Irish cream liquor. Miss Laurie is heading out to Mesa for our weekly supply run, she is leaving early to be back in time for the “Meet & Greet” with the new director this afternoon and I’m going to check on my repair yesterday.

Ok first task today clear out the coach basement and check how much has leaked from the fresh water tank and as I pulled out the Rubbermaid container that I had positioned under the drip and was excited to see that my estimate of a drip every 10 minutes was pretty accurate. Here is how much water accumulated in 18 hours.

Decision made, the freshwater tank will stay full until we use the water on our journey back to Ontario next month. I know I have not completely fixed the leak, but I have slowed it down to be manageable amount until I take my second attempt, I have placed a ½ gallon container under the area and will check it in a week or so judge the leak further. No time like the present to start packing, and I have everything out of the basement so I will pack as if we were pulling out in a week or so. I owe a huge THANK YOU to Mister Ray for loaning me his plastic welding kit, because to honest I most likely would not got this repair done it it hadn’t been for your confidence and moral push. ☺♥☺

Here is the welding kit that Ray loaned me, it has an 80 watt wand to heat the plastic to the melting stage, it worked well and after using this unit I’m glad I did not try this repair with a soldering iron that would be a much higher wattage. The biggest task is to determine what kind of plastic you are trying to weld, the welding rods that I used were 1/8″ and melted quickly, this repair took a rod and a half.

At 3:00 we headed to the Smith building in the Arboretum to meet the new Director of the Arboretum. The previous director never took the time to even acknowledged us let alone speak to us, so a very pleasant change, she actually answered questions and spoke of the Arboretum with passion and affection. Time will tell but she said all the right things today, this will be a uphill battle and will not be accomplished quickly but the ship may be aimed in the correct direction, for the first time since we have been volunteers.

Time will tell, there are many issues that will difficult to get a hold of, as with any operation with a board of directors appears to be kind of like herding cats, and we wish Kim the best of luck.