Tired, yet feeling EMPOWERED.

We've had a great first day in the Raleigh-Durham area. (It's pronounced "Dur-uhm", not "Dur-HAM" by the way.) The girls and I made it up to visit with Lisa and the boys around 11am - the trailer is parked quite a bit further away from their place than I thought. After visiting for a short while, I left to get the oil changed in the truck. Lisa had selflessly volunteered to watch the giggle of girls for me while I took some time off. That was REALLY nice! I actually enjoyed my time at the dealer, chatting with another customer, and one of the managers. The manager, "MJ", grew up in Ventura County - Thousand Oaks to be precise, and his daughter graduated last year from the same high school Scott and I went to. Small world, isn't it?

The girls and I were able to visit with Lisa, and eventually Mike, for a short while longer before we returned to the trailer for dinner, and a minor repair. Ever since the Grand Canyon, I have noticed that the water heater just hasn't been heating up as quickly as I remembered from past trips. In fact, the burner flame was quite yellow, not the nice blue a gas flame should be. So, I called the trailer manufacturer this morning on my drive to the Hassengers and received some tips to try before we set up a maintenance call. I had previously fiddled with the air gap slider - the doo-hicky meant to change the amount of air the burner receives while burning the flame, and had seen no change in the flame. So, I dug under the girls bed for the air compressor Scott purchased while we were in Yuma, AZ for a flyball event. I had buried it way in the back, never thinking it would be so valuable. With the hot water heater turned off, I blew air into the burner tube, expecting some debris to come out. I did not expect a super fine black ash to come flying out! In short order, I was covered with tiny black specks that only smeared when I swatted at them. I really must have been a sight.

I re-lit the burner, no change in the flame color. Hmmm. OK, more compressed air, re-light the flame, fiddle with the air-gap doo-hicky. Voila! Blue Flame. How cool. :)

Feeling pretty darn proud of my ash-covered self, I started the rice cooking for dinner and thought I would try out my new trailer gadget. A small hand-held vacuum that runs on 12-volt power - the same as you get from a cigarette lighter in your car. Well, that was a mistake. Our 12-Volt outlet in the trailer is real tight, and the end of the vacuum power cord came off inside of the outlet. Hhrrrrruummphhhh. I proceeded to unhook both batteries and the electrical power, and fish around inside the outlet with tweezers and pliers. Nothing. I finally studied the "broken" end of the vacuum power cord, and realized a piece of it was threaded. I was eventually able to rescrew the power cord onto the piece stuck in the outlet and correct the situation.

The girls and I sat down to a dinner of turkey and rice outside on the picnic table after 8pm. What a funny schedule we keep these days. We have all enjoyed the time together on the road. I've been able to remind Katelynn lately that one reason I wanted to take this trip was so that I would get to know her better. She really lit up when I said that tonight. Each of these precious girls has been hand crafted, and hand picked by my Master to be in my family. I'm having fun getting to know their many quirks.



Lesson learned for the day: Don't randomly throw two Jelly Bellys into your mouth at the same time. Peanut Butter and Cherry together are OK - Peanut Butter and Pina Colada - not so good.