May 26 - 31, 2014

Little Manatee River State Park

Wimauma, FL

Monday-

We had purchased new chairs in Sam’s Club. After using mine for a couple of days I decided it was going back to the store. The main reason I didn’t like the chair was the arm rests. They are covered with mesh cloth that causes an irritating burn.

Monte spent the morning working on the tractor. He installed zerk fittings to be able to grease the ball joints on the steering. 

He had to use our chuck key to open the drill chuck to install a drill bit to drill the holes for the zerk fitting because the shop did not have the proper size chuck key. 

In the late afternoon Monte adjusted the seat and handlebars on my new bike. I rode around the park but have to admit I was happy when I saw the road leading to our compound on my return because it was so hot. 

Tuesday-

When Monte took down our ladder so he could sweep of the rainwater from our slide toppers he discovered this guy. 

Armed with a park trail map, a gallon of water and his IPod, Monte spent a few hours cutting very overgrown trails. 

Later in the day we took a ride to Sam’s Club to return the chairs we had purchased. 

 Upon our return to the park we encountered a couple of deer.

This is only the third time in the two months we have been at the park that we have spotted deer.
Even though we approached very slowly we still spooked them. We did manage to get another photo before they disappeared into the brush.

Wednesday- My shift in the Ranger Station went by surprising fast as there were spurts of activity that had me answering the phone, as I was collecting entry fees and fielding questions from visitors in the station. 

Monte continued cutting trails. We have had quite a bit of rain lately so I think by the time he cuts his last trail the grass will have grown enough for him to have to start all over again.
Thursday-I spend a very boring 5 hours in the Ranger Station that seemed like 10 hours. This is the slow time in the park so an entire hour can go by without the phone ringing or a car pulling up to the booth. I finished 25 crossword puzzles!
Monte worked in the morning cutting grass.
A few minutes after I arrived home Monte suggested we take off our awning screen because heavy wind and rain was predicted. We had just pulled the screen out of the track on the awning when the rain began. I hurried inside and hit the switch for the awning just as the heavy winds began—perfect timing.

Friday-
The one washer and dryer at our disposal is located across the compound from our rig. I made several trips back and forth to get four loads of wash done.

Knowing I would probably be stuck inside most of the afternoon with rain in the forecast I took a long bike ride enjoying the beauty of the cloud formations.

Monte worked on a project in the morning. 

 

  He has wanted to embellish our satellite dish for some time but wasn’t sure what design he wanted to use.

   Deciding on a happy face he got to work first taping the outline.

Then he papered the area he didn’t want painted.

Finally he painted the taped area with the only color we had available, hot pink.

After a clear sealing coat was sprayed on, Monte was ready to reassemble the satellite.

I had washed the sheets and in preparation to make the bed we slid the mattress down. When I glanced in the corner I discovered that something has been lurking under our bed, MILDEW!

When we pulled the mattress off completely for better access our mounting fear was realized when we saw the amount of mildew.

I cleared out the contents of the closest next to the bed and sure enough there was mildew on the carpet.

Monte began stripping off the carpet a little at a time to expose the still wet wood underneath.

It took several hours to remove all the carpet fibers. 

 

 

While Monte was working on the carpet the rain came and we could see where the water was coming in.

As soon as the rain stopped, Monte went outside and removed the screws holding the liner in from under the bedroom slide. As we watched water draining from the screw holes we discovered how the water was getting in.

First order of business tomorrow is going to be getting a tarp.

Sunday-
We pulled the mattress away from the wall and set up fans-one in the closest and one under the bed to aid in drying out the wet wood.

 

Monte went outside and pulled down the protective shield on the bedroom slide and placed discs in to allow air to circulate.

 

The blue in the picture is a rag we stuck in to cover a hole that leads directly into the bedroom.

 

 We are estimating that the wood is going to take a few weeks to dry out so we taped up plastic sheeting to the slide to protect the opening from rain getting in.

 Monte scraped off all the silicone then used a pressure washer to clean off the bedroom slide molding pieces.

After doing some research on line for wood repair products we took a ride to Home Depot and purchased Minwax Wood Hardener and Minwax Wood Filler. After the affected wood has dried out, Monte will apply the Wood Hardener that is designed to strengthen and reinforce decayed or rotting wood. According to the can the hardener penetrates deep into the wood and its special resin binds and reinforces the decayed wood fibers. The wood is sealed against further moisture penetration and hardens to a rock-solid base for filling.

The next step will involve using the Wood Filler that permanently repairs damaged and rotted wood. The wood filler works as a wood adhesive for anchoring screws.