I have accomplished almost nothing in the last few weeks. Not feeling guilty about it at all, well maybe a little. I did get almost all the binding applied to the motorhome quilt, but I need about 12 more inches. Of course that means searching for the fabric remnants and getting around to cutting them. I have found the remnants, but there are just a few shorter pieces left which means a lot of joining. Oh well, today or tomorrow I will get that done and finish the first step of the binding. Then I have to rearrange the sewing area to lay the quilt flatter so it doesn’t distort the last stitching. Sigh.
Kevin, however, has been amazingly busy! He has mounted the Navajo rug. That required making a frame with internal supports, stapling 2” wide Velcro to the supports and frame, then getting it securely on the wall.
He also replaced the mount on the outside TV in the motorhome. We hardly ever use it because it was flat mounted too high to easily view. He installed a rotating/tipping mount that should be much more usable. We probably still won’t often, but it might come in handy for movie nights with others. He also spent time on the phone with the Vroom slide guy, diagnosing our slide out issues. It wasn’t just as simple as replacing cables, since it still didn’t work when he did that. A motor or two might be dead, so we just gave up and set up an appointment with the guy in Red Bay to get it worked on. I am still pretty pissed at Velocity Truck Center in North Las Vegas for being the root cause of all this. If they had been more careful with tying back the wiring they untied, the slide would still be working. I know they won’t do anything about it though, so I plan on just doing some complaining on social media.
Kevin is also getting his new 3D printer on Tuesday! He ordered it months ago, but it was a brand new 4 color model, and it took a while to make and ship to the US (from China of course). He already acquired a 4 spool filament dryer, and says it works so well on his single spool printer that he is going to buy a single spool dryer for the motorhome. It is easier since we will be having full hookups most of the winter. Yes, he does take his single spool printer with him in the motorhome!
He has replaced the CVT belt on the RZR and got it all greased up. Since new belts need some gentle driving to break them in, we went to Wisconsin to ride the Cheese Country Trail. We have done it before, and it is a nice ride on an old railroad bed. We tried to start at Mineral Point, the northern terminus, but there was so much construction we couldn’t find the trail! We then drove to Darlington, the next major entry point. From there we ride to Monroe, had lunch at the Suisse Haus (fabulous Wisconsin buttermilk blue cheese burger!), then road back. The only complication was there were three big detours due to bridges being out on the trail. They added about 12 miles to the trip, a not insignificant amount! But I did take some videos.
Here are two of what most of the trail was like. Lovely country. The second one shows where the trail was dug into a hill leading to a pretty solid tree covered route.
http://Cheese Country Trail, 19 June 2026 https://youtu.be/9wMl0nDlJA0
http://Cheese Country Trail canopy 19 June 2026 https://youtu.be/8EkzJmttOok
And here is what the detour looked like. Still nice rolling countryside, but I missed the trees.
http://Cheese Country Trail detour through farm country https://youtu.be/OEqLOBY6hns
I also had fun at a ukulele seminar by Ukester Brown. The Des Moines Ukulele Society sponsored it, and he went over some strumming techniques and even how he memorizes songs (a real issue for me!). I brought my Kala baritone that I wanted to sell, though I played my new Pono. I think I have a buyer for the Kala! I am holding it for her.
That’s about it. In a week from now we will head to Whitewater State Park where we will stay while Kevin gets his heart testing done. I have a bone density test (super easy) and a surgery consultation during the same time. This trip will determine if we blow the entire summer or just some of it! Of course health is more important, but the older I get the more I realize we just don’t have that much time left to really get out. So time becomes even more precious.