Category Archives: Fulltime RVing

RV-Dreamers get together and an Upcoming Rally

March 29, 2015 exploRVistas 11 Comments

Today was a marvelous day! Last September, we met Fred and Bonnie Lee at the RV-Dreams Fall Rally. Fred has followed our blog ever since we published our first post, and we got in touch this week after he noticed we were headed their way in Florida. They stopped by our place today, and we went to a place in The Villages for lunch.

Man, it was great to see them! Bonnie recently retired, and Fred has been retired for a number of years now. They just purchased a beautiful motorhome, sold their home and are doing what we are doing. They are yet another couple that went to one of Howard and Linda’s rallys and ended up hitting the road! And they are loving every minute of it. :). Be sure to check out their blog HappiLEE RVing.

Speaking of RV-Dreams, Howard and Linda are holding their fall rally this year in Lake Leelanau, Michigan. The Leelanau Penninsula is near and dear to our hearts, and we highly recommend both the rally and the location it is being held in. If you are thinking about possibly pursuing this lifestyle, this rally is for you. Leelanau County is home to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and was voted as the most beautiful place in America on Good Morning America a few years back. It really is a special place, and the rally is being held in peak color season. Go to RV-Dreams and click on the 2015 Fall Rally on the sidebar. Our work camping job will be very close to the rally location, so we will be sure to stop in at some point and say ‘hi’. 🙂

I was invited by Rob at Rockiesoutdoors to take part in a five day black and white photo challenge. This is Day 3 of the challenge.

Today, I chose a photo I took in 2005 in Yosemite National Park in California. We tease (tongue in cheek) about Ansel Adam’s photos, as how could anyone not get an amazing photo of this natural magnificence!

The rules of the challenge are simple:

Post a different black and white photo you have taken for five consecutive days.

Invite a new blogger each day into the challenge.

So today, I challenge Fred and Bonnie to join in the fun on HappiLEE RVing. 🙂

Fulltime RVing

Al Kaline Delivered and Day With Family

March 28, 2015 exploRVistas 7 Comments

This morning, we drove to Diana’s brothers house and delivered the Al Kaline photo.

That was many years coming, and we are glad it is back where it belongs. 🙂

Later in the day, we had the family over to our place for a cookout, some horseshoes, shuffleboard and time at the pool.

Here is Diana’s brother Dan enjoying the offerings.

Our niece taking a selfie with her daughter.

A true Detroit Tigers fan is never without his Olde English D.

Chillin’ with Great-aunt Diana. 🙂

Our great-nephews taking over the pool!

We all had a great day!

Recently, I was invited by Rob at Rockiesoutdoors to take part in a five day black and white photo challenge.

For my Day 2 photo, I chose a photo that I took in 2012 in the Tetons in Wyoming. There is something that draws us to that magical mountain range.

As part of the challenge I am to nominate a fellow blogger each of the five days to join in and take part. So today I nominate Gin from Darwin On The Rocks And Around The World.

The only rules of the challenge are:

1. On five consecutive days, create a post using a recent or past photograph in black and white.

2. Invite another blogging friend each day to join in the challenge.

I hope you enjoy my photos, and hopefully Gin will accept the challenge!

Fulltime RVing

Made it to Florida, and a Challenge Accepted

March 27, 2015 exploRVistas 9 Comments

“My parents didn’t want to move to Florida, but they turned sixty and that’s the law.”

Jerry Seinfeld

We rolled into Florida 10 minutes after we left our campsite in Alabama. Six hours later, we pulled into Recreation Plantation in Lady Lake. That’s one of the strange things about entering the state on the western end of the panhandle: it is hundreds of miles of driving east before even getting to I-75 to begin the southern descent down the Florida penninsula. We will be here for three days visiting with family and friends. More on that tomorrow.

About the challenge:

I was invited by Rob at Rockiesoutdoors to take part in a five day black and white photo challenge.

So for day 1 of the challenge I’ve chosen a photo I took a few summers ago of Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City, Michigan. What makes this lighthouse special to me is that my great-grandfather, John Peter Schmitt, built it in 1892. I was on a State of Michigan fundraising committee a decade ago to get it reopened to the public. We succeeded!

As part of the challenge I am to nominate a fellow blogger each of the five days to join in and take part. So today I nominate Debbie from Down The Road. Debbie and Steve visit amazing places in their travels as fulltime RVers, and they know how to find the best each location has to offer.

The only rules of the challenge are:

1. On five consecutive days, create a post using a recent or past photograph in black and white.

2. Invite another blogging friend each day to join in the challenge.

I hope you enjoy my photos, and hopefully Debbie will accept the challenge!

Fulltime RVing

Keep it in the Middle of the Road, Honey

March 26, 2015 exploRVistas 14 Comments

“…there’s a wreeeck on 75 near Cumberland, and a wreeeck over on 675 in Ellenwood….”

An amusing Atlanta traffic copter report we heard one time on a trip through town. In Michigan we are used to them being called accidents 🙂

If only we could have gotten a picture. We were headed south on I-65 in southern Tennessee, when I spotted something that didn’t look quite right on the service drive to the right of the freeway. As we approached, we could see the back of a semi trailer sticking out of the trees at an angle. When we got to the scene, there was the trucker outside of the truck on his cellphone, and the rig was jacknifed into the trees. The scary part was, he had been on the freeway and not the service drive. His skid marks went completely across our traffic lanes, down the embankment, through the fence, across the service drive and into the trees. It had just happened, by the looks of things. Thank goodness no one else was involved, the truck stayed upright, and the driver appeared to be ok.

The further south we went, the more the leaves appeared on the trees. Once we turned onto US Route 231 south out of Montgomery, AL, we noticed the wisteria was in bloom along the roadside.

Oh my…it smelled wonderful! We also noticed the Rhododendron bushes in bloom. Springtime in southern Alabama is a special time.

One thing RVers should always have is a check list. On that list should be items like ‘Make sure your antenna is down’ and ‘make sure the step is up’. We are pretty good at doing walk arounds before leaving, but we’ve yet to put a list together. We came upon a situation today that needs to be on an ‘arrival’ checklist. We pulled in, set the jacks, put in the wheel chocks and went to open the slide rooms.

Oops. The power pole was interfering with one of the slides. We got it as close as we could and called it good. It is only for one night. It is one inch from being fully open. Next time, I will check that over more carefully. 🙂

The park we are at, Cherry Blossom RV Park, is right on Alabama Route 1, just south of Dothan.

And I do mean right on Alabama Route 1. We will be serenaded by a flurry of trucks throughout the night.

Let’s hope the drivers keep them on the road. 🙂

Fulltime RVing

Forsythia and Other Observations

March 25, 2015 exploRVistas 14 Comments

“Forsythia is pure joy. There is not an ounce, not a glimmer of sadness or even knowledge in forsythia. Pure, undiluted, untouched joy.”

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Rolling south into Tennessee, we noticed the forsythia is in bloom. That was always my sign to put down crabgrass preventitave on our lawn. Those days are over, as we don’t have a lawn anymore! It is odd little observations that remind us that life as fulltime RVers is an entirely different life. My first such observation was driving down the road on a Thursday and seeing trash cans by the road. First thing in my head was ‘I need to take out the trash!’ Nope. No house, no curb to haul the trash to. 🙂

We have been RVing for years, taking two week vacations and long weekends when we could. We’ve known about ‘same house, different view out the windows’ aspect of RVing, but the point was really driven home today. We were planted in Michigan for 6 months with the same view, and we weren’t able to open the windows, as it was too cold. Today, we are in Nashville, TN with the windows open and a completely different vista to explore! It is a liberating feeling, for sure.

Saw this beauty in a rest area in Kentucky. This is a mid 1970’s GMC motorhome. There are a lot of folks out there who buy these and restore them, as they are unique. We love seeing them out on the road again.

We are at the Yogi Bear campground in Nashville, not far from the Grand Ole Opry. They need to do a little spring cleaning, but the air is fresh and the trees are starting to bloom! It is 75 degrees outside right now and we are loving it. We used our Passport America and saved 50% on our camping. 🙂

Part of this trip is a baseball memorabilia delivery mission. This is a doozey. Back in the 1970’s when Diana’s brother, Dan, was a 5th grader he won a letter writing contest, making him the World’s Greatest Al Kaline Fan. For those of you unfamiliar, Al Kaline was a teenage baseball phenomenon out of Baltimore who started with the Detroit Tigers right out of high school. He played his entire career in Detroit, and stayed on with the team after he retired as a player. At 80 years old, he still is with the team. That , my friends, is loyalty at its finest.

Anyway, the family got box seats to the game on Al Kaline Day, and Dan was able to go to the clubhouse and meet Al. Part of the prize was a 4 foot by 6 foot framed photo of Al that was to hang in Dan’s elementary school….which it did for years. Finally, the principal contacted Dan to have him take it home, as he was concerned it would get damaged in the hall of the school. Dan moved to Florida out of high school, and the photo remained in Michigan with his mom and dad. Dad passed away in 2008, and Mom has been storing the photo.

We wrapped up the photo of Al in a shipping blanket and are hauling him in the fifth wheel! I hope he likes camping!

Well, that’s it for today! The forsythia is calling to us!

Fulltime RVing

Hitch Itch

March 24, 2015 exploRVistas 20 Comments

“Happiness is having a scratch for every itch.”

Ogden Nash

It all started on Friday morning with my statement to Diana: “I have a bad case of hitch itch.” For those of you outside the RV circles, that is when an RVer has had enough of the location they are in. The urge comes over you to hitch up and head out. After a little discussion, I was going all out at removing the skirting. We had decided to make a run to Florida for a couple of weeks to get a change of scenery!

Kayaks on the truck, fresh tires on the trailer and we set a target of Tuesday morning for launch. With a half hour to spare, we made it! It was a good thing, as the temperatures had begun to dip back down. Tuesday morning, the thermometer read 22 degrees. We really noticed the difference in the rig without the skirting, both in floor comfort and in propane usage.

As you can see in the photo above, the snow piles in Grand Rapids had dwindled to hardly anything. As we drove south, we encountered the remnants of the storm that dumped 6 inches of snow on Chicago the other day. While the roads were dry, we didn’t escape the white landscape until Indianapolis.

Tonight, we are at Woods and Waters campground in Columbus, Indiana. This campground is open year round. It’s somewhat cloudy, and it is supposed to warm up and rain overnight. Rain: what a concept. I believe we saw something they called rain back in October. We will take it! 🙂

So, exploRVistas is on the road…even if it is just for a short getaway. Stay tuned for updates as we move along.

Itch is officially scratched! 🙂

Fulltime RVing

A Cracked Shower, a Cute Doggie, and a Prized Pig!

February 28, 2015 exploRVistas 18 Comments

“You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things.”

Nate Berkus

UPDATE: April 23, 2025

We sold this RV in October, 2022. After fulltiming in it since this shower pan was completed, we are happy to say that we never had another issue with it. That’s almost 7 years of daily use, and it was as solid as the day I installed it!

UPDATE: February 20, 2018

We are happy to report that, after pulling the lower access panel and inspecting the underside of the shower floor, everything appears to be the same as when we performed this repair in 2015. That’s 3 years of daily use. Needless to say, we are pleased at how well this has held up!

UPDATE: July 20, 2018

Today we discovered that the restaurant featured in this post, The Prized Pig, has gone out of business. As my father used to say, “That’s a revoltin’ development, Jimmer.” 😦

February 28, 2015

Last week, we noticed that our shower floor was cracked. Back when we first bought the trailer (used), we noticed the shower floor was ‘soft’. I had made an attempt to beef it up as best I could through the access panel in the front, but it was really a temporary fix at best.

The photo above shows the OSB supports I slid in. There was still quite a large area unsupported.

As shown above, the floor cracked in two places. This left us with little option other than to replace the shower floor. After a short period of self pity, I sized up the situation. I briefly considered installing a residential shower, but felt that it would require too much customization, and I was concerned about the lack of access to the plumbing. When I pulled off the access panel from the shower base, I noticed the manufacturer label on the back that indicated the unit was made by Duo-Form. I did a little web search and found that they were located in Edwardsburg, Michigan, just north of South Bend, Indiana. I called them and found out that they still manufactured these showers. Road trip! This is where the cute doggie comes in….

We are watching my sister’s schnauzer Sophia for a few weeks. It has been really fun to have a puppy around for a little bit, and Sophia is just about as adorable as they come.

And she likes to ride in the truck! She wasn’t happy about the big snow piles in Edwardsburg, as it is hard to find a place to pee!

Duo-Form was easy to find, and the people there were very nice. We were in and out in a flash. Seeing it was around noon, we decided to find a place for lunch. My gluten allergy always makes it a challenge to find places to eat, and we usually check out the app ‘Find Me Gluten Free’. We prefer local over chains. Bingo! There was a bar-b-que joint listed about 8 miles from us.

On the outskirts of Niles, we found The Prized Pig.

This was a pleasant restaurant with a full parking lot…always a good sign!

All of their meats are gluten free, as are their cole slaw and beans (and possibly other sides…I didn’t check).

Diana and I both had chicken and beans, she had potato salad and I had slaw. She got both hers and my cornbread. 🙂 The meal was amazing, to say the least! After looking at the map, we determined that The Prized Pig is ‘on the way’ to my Aunt Marge’s place in Indiana, and we will be coming back to try the ribs! They are located at 33331 US 12 just southeast of Niles. Hours are 11 until they run out, Wednesday through Sunday.

Of special note to history buffs: Niles, Vandalia, Cassopolis and the surrounding area are all Underground Railroad historical sites. We definitely want to come back and check out the remaining ‘stations’ and learn about this part of American history.

Back home, time to dig into this project! Following is a sequential journey through this five hour long project.

The first step was to remove the glass door and frame, which came out as an assembly. It was held in by three screws on each side.

Next, I removed the three screws on each of the side glass panels, thus allowing their removal.

After that, I removed the three screws holding each of the C channels that the side panels were anchored to.

I had also debated whether or not to remove the aluminum channel from the base at this time, but decided to wait until I was ready to reassemble the new base, so as to not damage the corners on the channel. There isn’t a lot of room to set things in an RV in the winter.

Hmmm…how is this shower head bracket attached? There are no visible screws. There is a tiny notch near the wall, though.

Putting a screwdriver in there revealed that the cover slides off.

And there are the screws! It was mounted with three…I got ahead of myself before shooting this image. 🙂

Once the shower head bracket was removed, I started working the plastic wall away from the back wall. The manufacturer had used a low-grade two-sided tape for this, and half of it wasn’t even stuck. That actually worked to my advantage.

Once I knew the wall had come off without damage, I shut off the water and disconnected the plumbing. I then set the surround out of the way.

Wow…look at that access hole. It does serve it’s intended purpose, though.

I removed the drain connection and the four screws that attached the flange to the wall. The arrows point to the cracks.

It is easy to see the indentations in the foam from the platform. That entire front area was unsupported.

The platform itself was only made of 1/2″ thick MDF board.

Looking at the old platform, it is easy to see why it wouldn’t support much weight. Off to the trash it goes. 🙂

This is the area I had left to work with. The floor insulation can be seen below the subfloor. I trimmed off the loose linoleum to provide a flat surface.

Here is my new and improved platform.. I used 3/4″ thick OSB and 2×4’s. It is solid as a rock. It did add a little weight to the rig, but that it perfectly OK.

Once in place, I secured it to the floor with screws toenailed in from the sides. Note that, instead of the U-shaped cutout that was in the old platform, I simply cut a hole for the drain. By doing so, I left the structural integrity of the platform intact. There was still plenty of access below the platform to reattach the drain line.

On the bottom of the new shower base, Duo-Form had the same area unsupported. Knowing that this would pose the same issue down the road, I filled it in with foam pieces from the old platform.

I then secured it with duct tape. It isn’t going anywhere, especially since it will be sandwiched between the base and the platform. Duo-Form, please take note of this, as this is a simple solution to a pretty big issue.

I reinstalled the new base by screwing the flange to the wall. I then reattached the drain.

Using 3M two-sided tape from Home Depot, I placed strips on the back of the surround walls next to where the old foam tape was. This allowed better adhesion. I had removed as much of the old tape as I could with a scraper.

The walls went right back into place! Note that Duo-Form no longer makes the marbled color base. We felt the tone of the parchment colored base matched the old walls and were just fine.

I then attached the aluminum flange on the shower base, followed by the wall flanges and the shower head mount and plumbing.

Next, I reattached the side glass panels.

After that, I reinstalled the door assembly. Of all the work on this project, this piece of the puzzle was probably the trickiest. It required a bit of finagling and patience, but it finally went in. I then reinstalled the access panel and recaulked and was finished.

This project was a challenge to say the least, especially given the lack of space to do it in..and it being below freezing outside. Nate was right… it feels really good to have tackled this project and have it completed, and the repair should last as long as the rig.

Fulltime RVing

Doing Laundry in Style!

February 12, 2015 exploRVistas 9 Comments

“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.”

E.B. White

‘Joy’ and ‘laundry’ don’t usually get mentioned in the same sentence. Well, take a look at this smile!

Since we started full-time RVing, we have struggled to find a decent laundromat. While perusing the Sunday edition of the Grand Rapids Press, Diana read a feature on Sheldon Cleaners’ new state of the art Laundry Room and Louis Cafe in Kentwood, Michigan.

Sheldon Cleaners has added this facility to their headquarters. For us, it is a dream come true. Everything is brand new and very clean!

They have flat screen TV’s throughout the building. We really didn’t find time to watch them, as the machines were so fast.

There are plenty of south-facing windows to let in the warm February sunshine.

They also have very comfortable furniture!

There are several sizes of washers and dryers, the largest being MY size!

The folding tables are the classiest we have ever seen.

The coolest part of the facility is Cafe Louis. They serve fresh crepes and coffee!

There is even a cool little seating area, complete with fireplace. These ladies weren’t there doing laundry; they were out for coffee.

A topic frequently discussed on the full-time RV forums is whether or not to have an on-board washer and dryer in our RV’s. Our current rig doesn’t have room for either, although we have always entertained having them in a future RV. If we find more places like this in our travels, we may not need them! Truth be told, we probably won’t find many this nice….so we are appreciating what we have while we have it. So, if you happen to find yourself in the Grand Rapids area with a load of dirty laundry, Google Cafe Louis. It will definitely bring you joy!

Fulltime RVing

It’s Showtime!

January 18, 2015 exploRVistas 17 Comments

“There is no such thing as a free RV show”. 🙂
Diana Belisle, 2003

We found that out in 2003 when we went to a show that had free admission, only to come home with a 24 foot Sunline travel trailer. :). That didn’t happen this year at the Grand Rapids RV show, but a life-changing accelerated ‘realization’ did happen to us at last year’s event. Last January, we decided to check out the seminars; something we didn’t normally do. There were two separate presenters: Jim DuFresne (travel videos) and Howard and Linda Payne of RV-Dreams. Howard and Linda were giving seminars on fulltime RVing, something they had been doing for nearly 10 years, after dropping out of corporate America in their early forties.

Up to that point, I had pretty much decided I was going to retire sometime in 2014, but Diana was not sure if she would teach another year beyond June. We had been researching fulltime RVing for years, prior to the show. After listening to the Payne’s seminars, we came away focused that we were going to make a move sooner than later. This lifestyle was not only doable, but was something we felt we needed to do, so as to not miss our chance of being able to roam America in good health. We had seen enough people fall prey to illness, and I myself had survived prostate cancer (5 years…yea!!!) so, by the end of March, I had retired. I immediately began the process of finishing our basement, in order to sell our house.

Above is the basement bathroom in process.

Here is the basement bathroom complete.

Above is the main room of basement in process.

Here is the main room of basement complete.

This is the great room with a fresh coat of paint, staged and ready to put on the market.

As we pushed through the purging and renovating, Diana made the decision that she was ready to put an exclamation point on her teaching career. We made the trek to Lansing and filed the necessary paperwork.

Woo-hoo! That girl is indeed one happy camper!

After Diana’s retirement in July, it was an all out push to have the house listed before Labor Day weekend. We knew the housing market was red hot in Grand Rapids, and we also knew it would slow to a crawl, once school started. We contacted a realtor who got the ball rolling, and the open house was set for the Sunday, August 24. We had three offers the first day, and the buyers accepted our counter offer 44 hours after the agent opened the front door to lookers.

In mid September, we attended RV-Dreams’ Fall Rally in Goshen, Indiana. The weeklong event focused on educating attendees on everything involved in being a fulltime RVer.

We met a lot of great people at that rally. In the coming years, we will feature them as we go. Here is a photo of us at sign-up. The woman in the blue shirt is fellow blogger Debbie from Down the Road with Steve and Debbie and the woman in the pink sweater is Jo from This Moment in Time. Jo and her husband Craig hail from Texas, while Steve and Debbie are from California. Check out both of their blogs to see their recent rendezvous along the Gulf coast.

During the rally, we received news from our agent that our closing date on the house was set. When we announced it to our fellow rally attendees, a collective round of applause went up. 🙂

By early October, we were pulling out of the driveway. Our first adventure was a grueling 2-1/2 mile trip to our current campground. To paraphrase Neil Armstrong, it was a small step…but in reality, it was a giant leap for us. We are wintering in Michigan this year to be by Diana’s mom.

Over the fall and winter, we lost our dear Jenny to cancer. She loved going for rides, and luckily had plenty of adventures during her 10-1/2 years. Her death was very hard on the two of us. Man, do we miss her.

So, our return to this year’s show was somewhat of a homecoming. Howard and Linda were off working the Dayton, Ohio show this year, and Grand Rapids had Shari Galiardi and her husband David Hutchison from Tales from a Mid-Lifeventure. They are traveling in their 1957 Sportcraft ‘canned ham’ trailer. Theirs is a totally different lifestyle than ours is in our 31 foot 5th wheel, but they are painting their portrait as they see fit, and that is what it is all about. They were delightful.

As you can see, this past year was a life-changing experience for us. The adventure of 2015 has begun, and we are excited to explore the vistas of this next chapter. The wonderful thing is our ability to move and adapt, so we are hoping to roll with the punches, rejoice in the victories, and savor the sweetness that our adventure brings us.

Fulltime RVing, RV Maintenance and Upgrades, Winter RVing

The Mysterious RV Refrigerator

January 11, 2015 exploRVistas 10 Comments

Caller: Is your refrigerator running?
Homeowner: Yes.
Caller: You better catch it!

That is probably THE lamest prank call ever conceived! :). Had that call come to us over the past couple of days, the joke would have been spoiled…just like our ice cream! Our trusty Norcold slowly got warmer, and it seemed to coincide with the outside temperatures getting much colder. Our readings in Grand Rapids dropped to near zero, and the wind chill was 10 to 20 below.

A quick surf of the web revealed the problem. RV refrigerators remove the warmth within them by actually heating the refrigerant in the lines. The actual process is lost on me, but I did understand when it said the coolant actually turns to gel in extremely cold temperatures. This occurs in the compartment that is vented to the outside of the rig. So Job #1 was to get some heat in there to liquefy the coolant. I followed a few suggestions on the web, as shown below.

First thing I did was to make sure the vent on the roof wasn’t blocked with snow. While there was ice in the vicinity of it, the actual vent was clear.

Next was to tape over the top two slots on the outside vent. This will need to be removed in the spring when we get above freezing, but it is OK for now. This allows some of the heat to be held in, yet still allows some ventilation.

The last addition was a heat source; in this case, a clip on shop light. I used a 60 watt bulb in it, and was careful to not have the aluminum shroud rest against anything combustible. That was left on overnight to warm up the coolant, and will be used throughout the rest of this winter.

Fortunately for us, we were able to put the items we could salvage into coolers on our deck. The outside temps were such that no ice was required!

The next portion is a heads up to anyone who might encounter this same issue. When the unit initially stopped working, there was an error code presented on the control panel. We had the green light blinking 5 times in rapid succession.

This was definitely a case of “when all else fails, read the instructions”. Instead of getting the manual out, I turned off the fridge, then turned it back on. Still blinking. That simple act of turning it back on resulted in a LOT of extra work. If this happens to you, turn off the refrigerator and read the owners manual. Do NOT turn it back on. As the coolant had not yet liquefied, the problem still existed. Upon researching the issue, I found out that I not only needed to warm the refrigerant up, I now also needed to reset the circuit board, as two successive trouble codes result in a reset.

The black box with the warnings plastered all over it holds the board. To access it, wires need to be unplugged…in a certain order. Once the cover is off, the sequence needs to be reversed.

The instructions online then call for a jumper wire to be used between the “open pin to the right of the violet/white wire on the 16 pin plug and a ground, and hold for 15 seconds until you hear a clicking sound and the burner ignites.” Well, first off, there was a 10 pin plug and a 6 pin plug…not a 16 pin plug. The open pin was to the left of the violet/white wire…and that was not the only open pin. Is this starting to sound like an adventure movie? I took a chance and used the jumper from the open pin next to violet/white to a ground. “Click…whoosh!” Success! I then had to reverse the process of taking the cover off to put the cover back on. It was a lot easier to do, knowing that the fridge was working again!

Today’s temperatures are right around 30 degrees, which made the project a little easier.

We received a foot of snow since our last post, and the campground looks really pretty. So far, winter has been a lot easier than last year, even though we are 14″ above the snowfall average for this date.

Above is a photo of our house last February. Grand Rapids had 111″ of snow for the season last year, and Holland (25 miles southwest of us) had 152″…and since we never had a mid-winter thaw, most of it stuck around for the duration. So far, we are at 50.7″, most of which melted during the December thaw. There is a lot of winter left, though!

So, if your refrigerator is running, better catch it. If it isn’t…run south! 🙂