Nearing Completion

It has been quite a week, with busy, full days working on the solar & inverter system for our friend Lynn’s van. We finally received the last part yesterday, but had most of them since the beginning of the week. Each day has given us new issues with which to deal, and it has been stressful in getting everything to fit in a tiny space, scraping arms and hands to get at screws and connections, and trying to get it all done before we leave here on Sunday. We are finding that working in a camper van is much different than our monster motorhome: space is much tighter, you can’t walk past each other, and options of where to put components are limited. It’s making us become contortionists to reach some of the odd spaces we need to access. We are hindered in that most of the work has to be done in an area that is about one cubic foot amongst seat belts, the water pump, and a propane line, while kneeling between the sofa and sink, blocking the entire hallway access, so we are on top of each other all the time or have to take turns working on different things in that small space.

Thankfully, the parts for our slide repair came today. We have been sweating it out all week since we found out the first shipment that was supposed to be here last Monday had problems. Our first contact with them the other day made us doubt we would get the parts in time, but we give them kudos for stepping up with overnight shipping to correct an error on their end.

My regular exercises have been going well. I continue to do stretches, balance stands, leg lifts, and pushups as part of a regular routine. I did them everyday this past week, but I’ll have to find a way to shake it up and do something different once in awhile. I’ve had a knot on my right middle back since yesterday. I don’t remember straining it on anything, and maybe just slept on it wrong, but it does slow me down. It was better today, but still sore. The change in my measurements from last month are negligible, so I won’t bore you with the details.

I did take a couple bike rides this week, although they were only trips to the hardware store to pick up various screws, bolts, and nuts. It was about 5 miles round trip each time, and it felt good to work those leg muscles again.

We will be traveling this Sunday as our repair appointment is 7:00am the next morning. One good thing we do not have to worry about is Daylight Savings Time. While the rest of you will be losing an hour, here in Arizona they stay in Standard Time year-round. We may luck out for now, but we’ll hit a few time zone changes while traveling again soon.

We are feeling good about how the work has gone this week. There have been slow downs for the leaks in the plumbing changes we had to make to fit everything in, but they are under control now. There was unmistakable exhilaration this afternoon when everything worked when it was tested. Lynn found some tiny wildflowers while she was waiting to help Tom with parts of the install, so I thought I would share her finds. The white flowers are about the size of your pinky fingernail, and right on the ground.

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