Another extra long weekend, and another trip to a favourite, Rollins Pond. Headed out Wed after work, and our first stop was the Ogdensburg Walmart. It makes so much sense in so many ways. Gives us a head start on the travel, loading up on supplies there, and at the grocery store across the street. There is generally a trip to the UPS store as well, to pick up some online ordered goodies.
The parking lot was busy with a couple of semi's, a class B, and a big DuPont transport with some sort of chemical hauling trailer. We had a quick chat with the guy driving the rig, and he inquired whether it was a safe spot to stop. We told him our experiences, and he thanked us for the info. Soon afterwards he was joined by two other identical haulers, and it was the three of them and little ole us, all side by side.
By the time we rose in the morning, they were gone. We must have been deep into la la land, as we did not hear those three big Peterbilts start up and pull away. Coffee was made and then we headed out as well. Groceries were gotten, parcels picked up, and we were off. Very overcast Thursday, but no rain. After our usual stops in the town of Tupper Lake, one an 'old school' hardware store, we got to our site around 1:00pm.
Our site sucks...but we knew that going in. Once again last fall we got totally discombobulated by the longer NY State reservation window, and this site was all we could grab. It is one of those run off sites, where all the rain water flows through to get to the lake. We ended up closer to the road, trading off some partial sun which would have benefited our solar panels, for the only bit of level ground on the site.
It was pretty cold, with a low overcast sky, and a serious wind coming off the lake. After set up, the temps were reading 54F, with a nasty windchill. We got ensconced inside and sheltered out of the wind. Sure is great to have the little furnace, as it make the camper nice and toasty pretty quick. No services at Rollins, and given the conditions, I think the battery is going to be doing all the heavy lifting this weekend!
One of the goodies we picked up from UPS was a small pencil drawer for under the front table. A number of fellow owners have installed this handy drawer under the ends of their dining table, and we have had this mod on the list for a while now. Dale noticed that they closely match the same model of pencil drawers that she has seen and used in office buildings. This model is made by Herman Miller, a top line office furniture manufacturer, and from the dimensions, we figured it would fit perfectly. We placed an order on their online store, and picked it up in Ogdensburg.
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| fits like a glove |
What better way to pass a chilly evening than with a little mod. It did fit perfectly, without any modifications. We also like that it is thinner at the front, which helps with leg clearance when sitting. It was quickly loaded up with all sorts of little items.
Got down to 38F overnight, but we were warm under our duvet and woollen blanket. Barley was restless, as he usually is on the first night, and this means I have a restless night as well. I spent a fair amount of time trying to get him snuggled in against me, and getting his little wool blanket over him was damn near impossible. Such a silly boy...
Clear skies Friday morning, but still windy and cold. We decided to head into Lake Placid in the afternoon, as we knew we would be holed up inside otherwise. It's only a 40 minute drive, and it makes for a nice little excursion.
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| nice little Main St. to wander |
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| Mirror Lake |
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| a lovely home, with a classic Adirondack lawn art |
The wind died down later in the afternoon when we got back, so we were able to enjoy a G & T by the water, Barley reluctantly joined us as well, safely in his new enclosure. Burgers on the Q, once again using the new Q sheet to cook on. With a couple of sides, it was a satisfying meal.
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| it truly was a little chilly |
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| New Belgium Pilsner...very nice. |
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| never enough reflection pics |
Cold again overnight, but the forecast promised a sunny day. Heavy fog, but it soon burned off, revealing a pan flat lake. Thankfully the wind had died down, a welcome change from the past couple of days.
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| sometimes it's easy to miss just how large a tree is |
Saturday morning brought more clear skies, and a much calmer wind. It also brought a battery that the Trimetric told us was at 64%. Not surprising, as it has been real chilly, necessitating the furnace, and this site has provided ZERO solar charging. We have been conserving as best we can, but we were always in a negative amp/hr position. Considering even our careful use of the furnace, this, along with the other incremental draws, has slowly eaten away at the battery charge.
As we had a couple more chilly nights ahead, and the battery was at a level I really don't like, I decided to experiment a bit and try charging it from the Santa Fe. I figured going directly from battery to battery using my booster cables, would be the most energy efficient. The charging started at 64%, and I let the car idle away. The Trimetric said it was pushing 13.5 volts at 10.2 amps into the battery.
Sure enough, the percentage charged readout slowly started to climb. The Santa Fe seemed quite happy idling away, so I let it run for a bit over an hour, then shut the process down. At the end of this, the battery was up to 73%. Not bad. A successful experiment. We have never had to resort to this sort of thing, but as they say, desperate times, desperate measures.
It turned into a nice day, not overly warm, but lots of sun, and no wind. We went for a nice walk, hung around the site, then in the late afternoon, Barley and I watched Dale 'the Brave' head into the water for a swim. Brave indeed, as the water had definitely cooled, but she toughed it out. Later in the afternoon, I charged the battery again, and was able to bring the level up to 80%, a number that will allow the furnace to keep the chill off again overnight, while not pushing the battery into a seriously depleted zone.
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| Barley now comfortable in his new outdoor shelter |
Salmon filets and arugula feta quinoa salad on the Q made for a tasty bite to eat. Once again the BBQ sheet came into play, and it did a fine job. Looks like it may well get more use than I first imagined.
The forecast is calling for rain all day tomorrow, we heard that it is the remnants of Hurricane Harvey coming our way, so we made the call to pack up and head home in the morning. No point to sitting in the Alto all day, and another chilly damp evening, only to get up and go home as planned. We packed away all the outdoor gear after dinner, and called it a day.
Sure enough, the rain started overnight, and continued on steady throughout the day. We were on the road by 10:30, and after an uneventful, albeit wet drive, we were soon back in the driveway.
At least we had one reasonable day at Rollins this trip, but that's just how the marbles roll sometimes. There's alway next year to look forward too.
We love the pictures of Barley!!
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