Category: Uncategorized

Paintings and a Park

Before we left for our trip, I managed to complete two assignments for my negative painting class with Rick Surowitz.

Although I don’t hate either one, I’d like to give them another try once I get back home.

Maumee Bay State Park

Yesterday was a weird day. One of my medications, either the Propranolol or the Viibryd (or I guess it could have been the lack of caffeine in the morning), made me extremely tired. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 3:00 p.m., but even then I felt like a zombie.

In a desire to not completely waste the day, Greg and I headed off to Maumee Bay State Park to see if we could do a little hiking.

The marina

This is a cute little park right on Lake Erie. It has a fancy lodge, a marina, a golf course, a small inland lake, two beaches, a campground, and a couple of hiking trails.

Greg and I managed to get our steps in, but I felt like my body was still asleep the entire walk. I was glad when we finally headed back to our campsite.

The trail along the lake
Some lucky home owner has his own personal lighthouse!
A prettier view of the marina looking toward the lodge

On to Indiana!

Child #4’s little camping invention

When we first purchased the travel trailer, I watched every YouTube video and camping-related article I could find on how to outfit an RV, and I bought ALL THE STUFF.

One of the items I invested in was a set of tension rods to use in our pantry to hold everything on the shelves when we were on the move.

Well, after a couple of camping trips, I decided that constantly tightening and loosening the tension rods before and after each trip was annoying.

I began to look for a solution. What I really wanted was some kind of hook that I could rest them on, something that would make putting up the tension rods as easy as setting them in place, no tightening required.

Greg decided that my wish would make a perfect project for our budding little inventor, Child #4. He commissioned him to invent and manufacture something that we could apply to the sides of the pantry closet that would hold the tension rods and keep them in place while bumping down the road.

Here is what Child #4 invented for us (with a little help from his dad and some additional help from Child #3 and his 3D printer):

We attached the white plastic holders to the sides of the pantry closet using Command strips. They work beautifully, and I love them.

I tried to encourage Child #4 to see if he could sell them, but he wasn’t interested. So I guess they will remain a one-of-a-kind feature just for our RV.

Here is what they look like in the RV’s pantry.

And with the pantry full…