Month: November 2020

First and foremost, I want to wish everyone who reads this (and even those who dispense with our posts directly to the trash) a MOST EXCELLENT THANKSGIVING. It has always been our favorite Holiday – purest of motivation, with no one needing to sell you anything (except for the Turkey Farmers, and somehow Black Friday has become part of the deal, but that is a whole ‘nother thing that I don’t consider to be part of Thanksgiving at all…). So, in the context of those purest motivations, we hope your next year is THE BEST YET (to balance last year, which may have been the worst).

Anyway, I know this year is “weird.” Either you are:

• NOT seeing people for Thanksgiving, and are melancholy about that, or
• You ARE seeing some people (close friends? Family?) and hoping for the best, pandemic-wise.

There’s a third group, unaware or unacknowledging of the awful statistics and potential for Thanksgiving disaster – I have nothing to say to that group. For the rest of us, it’s a WEIRD Thanksgiving.

I’d like to suggest an attitude adjustment for all of us. Let’s make it Thanksgiving EVERY DAY. That is a decision we can all make, and it comes from setting proper expectations, going with the flow without stressing about said flow, and generally being optimistic. That all has been hard to do in the past several, divisive years, but the rest of this post is ONE EXAMPLE of the Harris’ efforts to do so; sometimes successful efforts, and sometimes not.

We have disclosed on these pages that one of our FAVORITE simple pleasures that WE are Thankful about is a once-a-week breakfast visit to Waffle House. Cheap, good, unpretentious; we have been enjoying this since we first started on the road…and, of course since we first spent time in the South. The problem is, we are NOT feeling like dining-in is the right thing to do at the moment (and for the foreseeable future). MANY restaurants have been opening, and we have been patronizing them IF they have an outside option, dining al fresco only!

But NOT WAFFLE HOUSE. No Outside seating EVER at Waffle House. And we don’t do inside dining. SO, the BIG YELLOW SCRABBLE BOARD SIGNS have been like a beacon, reminding us of how things WERE but aren’t anymore. Things to be NOT THANKFUL about.

Why no outside dining is something I wondered about. Waffle Houses are mostly southern, and they COULD have almost 4-season outside dining. But NONE DO. NOT ONE. This is obviously a CHOICE they are making. Why? It seems to me (I ran a service business for 30 years), if you can expand your customer base by making SOME feel more comfortable for a reasonable cost, why wouldn’t you do that? I actually wrote to Waffle House (no answer as of yet) to ask that question; I suspect this could go in a political direction – Waffle Houses are mainly found in the COVID-IS-A-HOAX zone; but that is anti-Thanksgiving, so let’s go in a different direction.

We decided to MAKE Waffle House conform to our public health and (apparently though incomprehensibly) political requirements; yet NOT by being divisive and “in their face.” Instead, ALL POSITIVE: Going to Waffle House (we love it) but NOT Eating INSIDE and NOT PUSHING OUR AGENDA. We bring our own chairs and table for a setup in the parking lot! Then, I mask up and go inside to order. I’ll not get into the politics of what I find in there…that would be anti-Thanksgiving….suffice to say I spend the minimum time possible inside.

Once we have arrived, our experience usually goes something like this:

Liz sets up our portable table and chairs in the parking lot while I go inside to place our order. The Lady at the counter will ask if we are dining in or carrying out. Not TRYING to be obtuse, I say, “Not Sure. We are gonna eat in the parking lot (pointing to Liz sitting at our now-ready spot). Is that dining “in” or Carryout?”

The lady behind the counter will then almost universally act like I had three eyes… so I often repeat – “ I am carrying out…just out(side).”

She will inevitably say, “Huh?”

Then, it will register, and she will say, “That is definitely TO GO”
I assume because they cannot have their valuable dishes and coffee cups in the parking lot.

She will ask next, “What size coffees do you want.

I want…I say, “small — because I can come in for a refill.”

She’ll say “Huh?”
Then, “I don’t think we can do that…”

I say, “Well, if I was sitting in that booth …” (way too close to the next booth, which is something I do NOT say), “you’d give me a refill, right?”

She can’t disagree, but looks unconvinced; I leave it alone. Eventually, I know,  they will invariably and gladly give me a refill.

I then wait outside until our orders are up. When I come in to get them, I’ll ask the lady for some Tabasco. She will inevitably say, “We don’t have THAT in small carryout packets…”

I will then say, “It’s OK…i am just sitting right out there (Waving to Liz)…I will bring it right back.”

She will then say, “huh?”

And on it goes. But, in the end, we get our breakfast hot off the grill, complete with hot sauce and coffee refills. And smiles from the Waffle House Staff. If we ever returned to that particular Waffle House, I am guessing it would go a lot more smoothly.

And USUALLY, at least three or 4 arriving customers will say “WHAT A GREAT IDEA…it just isn’t as good if you take it home…”

SO, what’s THAT all about, Dan? Its an allegory. YOU can find a way to make it work and be happy about it. YOU can choose to be positive in your current or in any situation. YOU can choose to be inclusive. YOU can solve problems that keep people apart.

YOU can make every day Thanksgiving.

But, I do wonder: Will Waffle House will ever figure this out?

As I mentioned (teased?) in the last post, we stopped at our favorite mechanic in Daphne, Alabama, to help with his boat payment (cuz that’s the kind of giving people we are…). Our visit to Daphne for a 6-month RV WHERE YET Checkup STARTED OUT well. Bus went up in the air. No “obvious” problems. Oil Changed.  Yank on this,  pull on that,  squirt grease, etc. 

During the oil change, we undertook a small project I needed help with: Changing the Oil Pressure Gauge. I had been seeing erratic readings, and the Bluebird Collective suggested first changing out the 40 year old mechanical gauge. I had a new one one on the bus, complete with a new sending unit.

GOOD THING, too. As we were removing the old sender, the old style oil hose connecting it to the gauge in the cockpit basically dissolved in our hands. This could EASILY have failed on the road, where 4 gallons of oil would have been pumped out in our trail. IF I pulled over and shut down quickly enuf, we could avoid severe engine damage. Instead, we just changed the gauge!  The new style gauge does not have an actual oil hose to the cockpit, carrying oil under pressure – it is a little electric sender – no chance of a leak, ever. No fuss, no muss!!!

It was starting to look like “our day!”  This was not to be.

The LAST STEP in the PM was to change the Fuel Filter – the bracket for which broke off in my hand. MY hand because the fuel filter is changed through the engine compartment between the driver and passenger seats,  and during COVID,  I have been doing any tasks requiring to be done INSIDE our “House,” such as changing fuel filters and breaking brackets.

It was late in the day; the bracket needed to be removed and welded, then reinstalled. This could not happen same day, so we spent the nite in Lazzari’s yard. Next morning I removed the bracket while having my first coffee; Lazzari welded it when they got in, and I reinstalled it by 10:00.

On balance, The PM went VERY well. I was even feeling LUCKY, because we had short-circuited an impending serious issue by replacing the Oil Pressure Gauge BEFORE the hoses on the old one burst (which would have been soon, for sure). We left Daphne and headed west, intending to reach Galveston in a few days of lazy driving. We’ve picked a winter spot there because we don’t see much sense in moving around, burning lots of diesel to get to places that are (or should be) closed while the pandemic continues to rage.

Our first stop was the Silver Slipper Casino on the Gulf Coast, about midway between Mobile and New Orleans. They have a FANTASTIC RV Parking area right on the shoreline for CHEAP. In fact, you even get your first night free if you sign up for a Player’s Club card (which we did – though “Players” is a bit of a stretch for us, because that was the only time we actually went into the casino).  It was while in the Casino lot that we began to realize that our PM visit was NOT over yet – we had some issues of unknown severity.

I discovered these issues when the Casino asked us to change parking spots – they needed to do some septic-field construction, necessitated by recent Hurricane Sandy, near our first spot.  Septic Field Issues are something no one would want to be anywhere near ?. I started the bus, and performed my normal walk-around while it built air pressure. IMMEDIATELY I knew there was an issue – a VERY WEIRD noise coming from the front of the engine area. Over the years, I have learned what all the ”normal” noises are, and also that an abnormal noise MIGHT be something that will be a new normal, but MUST first be investigated.

I opened the front of the bus (which is a lot more complicated than opening the hood of your car), so I could listen careful to pinpoint the noise. Which quickly became the LEAST of our problems. The engine fan was wobbling, which COULD BE a bearing. Could have been the source of the noise, too, but was NOT where the noise was emanating from. So instead of identifying “the” problem, there were for sure TWO problems. The Wobble was VERY concerning. If the bearing failed, the fan could fly off, taking out the radiator and who knows what else. And still, there was that noise…

WE WERE NOT MOVING until both problems were understood, if not addressed.

First step with any Bluebird problem: Post a question on the “WOG.” (WOG == “Wanderlodge Owners Group”). That’s an internet forum where all sorts of technical information lives. And, more important to our situation, where all the folks I’ll affectionally call the “old farts” lurk. These guys have been turning wrenches on old Bluebirds since, well, forever.

I posted a question, and a short video depicting both the noise AND the wobble, to the section called “CAT 3208 Problems.” Yep, a whole section devoted to issues unique to our 40-year-old engine!!! Within 15 minutes, I had an active discussion going with a half-dozen experts. These folks offered scenarios ranging from best case to Worst-day-of-your-life…and complete details on how to discern which we were experiencing.

The WOG community is really the ONLY WAY we can keep our old buses on the road. A 40 year old bus simply cannot have a problem that hasn’t been had (and solved) by someone before. People are SOOO helpful….advice, pictures, detailed instructions. Hell, one WOGGER even offered to throw his tools in his truck and drive over to give me a hand if I needed it!!!

The worst-case scenario for the wobble, the experts posited,  was a failed “Harmonic Balancer.” This is a part that has a rubber component, and is designed to dampen slight crankshaft irregularities AND keep vibrations from accessories (water pump, oil pump, power-steering pump, fan, etc.) from feeding back into the crankshaft. It’s a “worst-case” because any out-of-balance irregularities would quickly cause MAJOR damage to the main engine bearings. Because of its rubber component, it is immediately suspect on a 40 year old vehicle. And if it had failed, it means getting TOWED somewhere and hoping no damage had already been done.

Fortunately, the HB discussion included pictures so I could see ours, and I identified it was intact and NOT the problem. Still had the Noise to figure out. Which turned out to be “merely” loose belts (even though it really didn’t SOUND like, loose belts). I got those tightened and the noise went away.

So now, we were safe to BACKTRACK to Daphne and our friends at Lazzari for diagnosis of “The Wobble.” Once there, we swung the radiator again, and after removing the Fan and Pulley, they helped determine that the problem DEFINITELY was the Fan Clutch. .” It would be easy to replace, IF it could be obtained. This part, on our old ‘Bird, is made of what we call “unobtanium.” The WOG folks referred me to a fella (Larry at Fanclutch.com) who has been making retrofit kits for old Bluebird Drivers to be able to use a fan clutch that CAN be purchased.

TO BE CLEAR, I am talking about OLD BLUEBIRDS, not OLD DRIVERS, but in our case, BOTH!!.

I called Larry-the-fan-clutch-guy, and got some more bad news…there were COVID-related shipping issues getting the key component of his kit, so the “normal” retrofit kit was not a good option. But he was designing a new kit and asked if he could send it to me to test for him.

Yep. Could do!!

SO now we needed a place to stay until the parts came in; a place we could limp to with no fan. In a remarkable example of cosmic symmetry, I called Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama to see if they had availability. This was the park we were staying at 5 years ago when we needed a mechanic, having broken a suspension part. Back then, Google disclosed that the closest one was Lazzari, where we were 5 years later, parked andlooking for a place to stay! I booked for a week, with options for more.

We had to move around a couple times, to accommodate people coming in, but we stayed at Gulf State for the duration. Stranded means “Involuntarily stuck,” which we were, but has negative connotations of suffering, which we definitely were NOT. If you have to be stranded, this is a great place: Sun, Beach, Bike Trails, DQ and Waffle Houses in 2 directions within Bike Range…

THINGS WERE LOOKING Up! Thinking at this point that all our clean-living was paying off in a good-luck-turn.

We got to Gulf Shores, checked in, and I called Larry to get an update on schedule. He asked for a couple of measurements – the most important of which was the distance from the front of the engine to the back of the radiator. A CRITICAL dimension, since it all has to fit!

And surprisingly hard to measure!  AT the quantum level, Heisenberg described this as the Uncertainty Principle.   The act of seeing a Quark changes it,  so was it as you saw it,  or not?   If the Front is closed, you cannot get a tape in to directly measure. If the front is open, you can measure easily, but the radiator is not in its operating position.  SO the measurement is really an abstraction-inside-an-extrapolation. I sent Larry-the-fan-clutch-guy my best guess. Somewhere between 9.25” and 10”.

Armed with that dimension, and after a couple of days of tinkering, he called me to say the clutch he was building would not fit!!!! But he had another idea. Which was going to take a bit more time. Which was a problem, because the park was filling up as people were going Camping for Thanksgiving… I tried to extend our stay at the park, and was able to cobble together a spot for a few more days, but then, though the rangers were sympathetic, they were probably going to have to turn us out.

Luck is a fickle beyatch…turning again on us!

I expressed this to Larry, who said he would do his best to get us what we needed before we lost our spot; and called Lazzari, to make sure we could get in as late as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, assuming the part arrived.

While we were waiting, Liz knitted, we rode bikes (a lot), went to Waffle House (see next post), and I joined a volunteer crew to help the park Rangers in their continuing effort to clean up after Hurricane Sally. The major trees in the park had been mostly toppled…and cleaned up so the park could reopen. What remained were things like restoring a viewing platform near the Bald Eagle observation post, and resetting some fence posts that were taken out by the aforementioned big trees’ demise.

On that crew, I discovered a new use for something that looked very much (at least consistency-wise) like the grits people eat south of the Mason Dixon line. Those fence posts will definitely survive the next hurricane!

To end this story, not coincidentally the day BEFORE Thanksgiving, LARRY-THE-FAN-CLUTCH-GUY CAME THRU. As did LAZZARI. We DID manage to pass the time,  but even so, NOT without aggravation. Larry shipped in time, but UPS lost it! Well, not exactly. It seems their tracking system really does NOT track packages though they would have you believe that it does. Larry called on the morning the package was supposed to be delivered to tell me the package, instead of showing “out for delivery” was showing “in transit.” Not only that, it was ”in transit” in Albany, GA…quite a ways away.

I was getting ready to drive to Albany – 4.5 hours each way, because WE NEEDED THE FAN! But, the UPS Supervisor I eventually got to said, “But it is not really ‘there.’ It is maybe, possibly on a truck ‘near there’ and we have to wait to see where it is next ACTUALLY SCANNED. “

While I was discussing the level of aggravation this was causing, and while the supervisor was explaining that, “Because of COVID UPS is not responsible for delays”…the package MAGICALLY changed to “in transit” in Pensacola (a LOT closer to us) – at the exact same moment (7:04 AM) that it had been “in transit” in Albany, GA. Apparently, UPS has a MAGIC TRUCK TRANSPORTER MACHINE!!!

Truth is, UPS has no idea where ANY package is at any time from when it leaves your hand to when it arrives at the destination.

And, can I say this, also…I GET REALLY IMPATIENT with companies that use COVID as an excuse for poor customer service. UPS received the product, lost the product, found the product, told me to start a claim THRU THE SHIPPER (what good would THAT do…not like he could reship a new custom part to get to me the same day?) and all the while could not tell me where the product was so that I could intercept it in time to get it installed, and then finally delivering it at the original, promised time. Blaming all of this on COVID and saying they were not responsible. I call Bullsh*t on that!!

Eventually, the part DID arrive, ON TIME, despite all the errant “scans” and agita on the part of the recipient.   Even after all the alerts and angst that UPS’s systems and poor customer, if not delivery, service caused. And, it fit perfectly. And while everything was open, we proactively replaced the 40-year-old water pump, and flushed and replaced coolant.

The water pump,  BTW,  looked brand new,  but like Shrödinger’s cat, this could not be known until it was removed.  We replaced it with a new one, anyway (it’s gotta be good to slowly reduce the number of 40-year-old-critical-parts).  We bid Adieu to our friends at Lazzari, returned to Gulf State Park to enjoy one more (last) night and our Thanksgiving feast/fete.

And, I took a BUNCH of PICS of the new fan kit, so I could post back on WOG. I was informed by all the WOG folks that helped me that nothing happened if there aren’t pics, and Pics are the ONLY cost to be paid for all the advice – to benefit the next guy.

All of this while the Turkey Breast we had acquired was thawing.

So, we should be good to continue onwards to Galveston and beyond; having first contemplated the weirdest Thanksgiving any of us has ever experienced. The next post has some thoughts on that.

We were considering if we wanted to extend in DC; to be part of historic celebrations that might take place on Wed. Nov. 4. We decided it was unlikely that there would be ANY certainty by then (or, as it turns out, by a month from then!), so we decided to press onwards. We had a couple of spots in mind for some serious decompression, after an emotionally difficult time in DC: Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head. The former we had never been to (we were scheduled to go to a rally there in April 2020, but of course we did not). The latter we had stayed at before, and enjoyed very much. So, Off we went!

AT Myrtle beach, I was able to scam a spot DIRECTLY on the beach in the HUGE RV Park (1000 sites at least) where the aforementioned rally had been scheduled. I am SURE we would not enjoy this park during a high season in normal times (there was a WATER and SPLASH PARK, mercifully closed,  for the kids near our RV spot); but for us this was a SUPER ENJOYABLE time; culminating in an election-night Zoom-soiree.

We set up shop on our newly lighted patio for the evening, and invited friends from all over the World to pop in and out during the course of the evening. Norman Same from near Brisbane, Australia gets the distance price; though is distance really worthy of a prize if by Zoom? Well, catching up with Norman WAS a prize and we were glad so many folks made time to ”Drop by.”

Before Myrtle, we stopped for a couple days at a State Park on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. There, we rode bikes; ate seafood and just generally chilled.

One day, two ladies pulled in to the spot next to us. Ladies of a certain age (certainly in their 70s). Sisters, one was from Maryland and one from Florida, and they were going to South Carolina to visit their brother. In positioning their tiny trailer, they had occasion to hook the front bumper cover of their car on the fire pit in in the gathering dusk, and rip it loose.

I noticed this as the two of them were under the vehicle — legs only visible. Having assumed that position MANY times, I walked over and asked if they were having a party under there, and could anyone join? That’s when I heard the story about the firepit.

Anyway, they were a bit fklumpt. They had a roll of duct tape out, but seemingly had given up on that approach and were getting ready to call roadside assistance. I asked if I could take a look – I did not want to hurt their travelling-sisterhood feelings with chauvinist attention, but it seemed to me it should be possible to fix this well, if not permanently with a zip-tie.

They said “you have zip ties?” I said, “I have a LOT MORE THAN ZIP TIES,” pointing to RV WHERE YET, “as one has to if one drives a 1981-vintage vehicle!!!”

What is it about Ladies and broken Campers? This has happened to us before…

It turned out the repair could be effectuated with nothing more than a few washers, which I also had onboard to their amazement. They were effusive in their gratitude, which I deflected as best I could. I said that we are on the road continuously, enabled by the kindness of many strangers over the years – it’s what people do to help other people, even though these days most interactions seem to be far less friendly.

And, Why is that?

Are people ACTUALLY less willing to help these days? Do people ACTUALLY HATE other people (if they are “socialist,” or “Racist” or whatever other “ist” is around to hate?) as they state in interviews and memes and posts online? Or are they incited by politicians and their “news” media of choice?

In my experience, people hate caricatures of people, created by their particular political orientation’s “leaders.” I noticed the “Biden” buttons the ladies were wearing, but I hadn’t noticed that before I helped with the bumper. Would I have helped them if I HAD noticed they were wearing a Trump Button? I’d like to think so – no, I KNOW I would have — Many of the people who have helped me over our years on the road would be wearing a Trump Button and know very well that I am one of those Damn Yankees…from CHICAGO, no less! Yet help has always been forthcoming…

PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE is what is important; let’s all remember that!!!

So, after Myrtle Beach we headed to Hilton Head for a few days – friends Fran and Mike McDowell have a Pad there, which they rent out when they are not ensconced therein. They offered it to us in exchange for Chardonnay futures. VERY ENJOYABLE – Hilton Head is a great place for Biking and Relaxing, and we did lots of both! 

We even reprised the Paella evening spent with the McDowells,  last time in Hilton Head.

After Hilton Head, Our path and plan was intended to get a Preventive Maintenance visit in for RV WHERE YET at our Mechanic Friends in Daphne, Alabama. That’s WAY MORE than a one-day drive for us (limited as we choose to be to 4 hours a day). We decided to visit Bluebird Friends Karen and Jim Gulrich in Milledgeville, Georgia, and then Liz’s Brother in Decatur (near Atlanta).

The Gulriches live on Lake Sinclair, which is a Georgia Power Reservoir. What a great spot, on a spit of land with an expansive view of the lake and the sunset. We had a DELIGHTFUL visit, complete with Beer (me) and Cabernet Sauvignon (Liz and the Gulriches) and Lasagna on their magnificent screen porch.

I even got my “dog fix” (we can’t have one, really, but I sure miss having one) addressed by petting their super-friendly rescue-pups. The Pit Bull was a little hesitant at first about me (showing GREAT perception and judgement), but that quickly vanished as I demonstrated my acumen at belly-rubs.

Before dinner, I had to do some RV WHERE YET electrical Troubleshooting – a circuit breaker was continuously tripping and resetting. Jim had parked us by his shop and offered tools and assistance, but as usual with these things, its more about noodling than tools.

I discovered which circuit was involved by feeling distinctly hot wires (YIKES!) in the overhead load center compartment. Then it was a matter of figuring out what was on that circuit. I removed the wires from the breaker and walked around seeing what no longer worked! I knew ONE item on the circuit was our new fridge – which beeped as the breaker tripped and reset each time. What I discovered was a door switch (the one that turns on the step light when you open the door) that was corroded and shorting to ground. It had probably been leaking to ground for a long while, affecting battery life. I eliminated the switch (we HATED IT anyway – if you leave the door open, the light is on).

Problem solved, TIME FOR DINNER!!!

AT David and Stephanie’s in Decatur, we parked on the street and had a carryout BBQ dinner on their covered carport (it was a bit rainy). David is in the mushroom business selling all sorts of gourmet fungus to groceries and restaurants. Sometimes there are some “extras” and the fridge(s) are chock-full of Portabellas, or Chanterelles, much to Stephanie’s chagrin. For our visit, it was the former, and we left with a bag-full that made for AWESOME sandwiches on the road next day!!

We made it to Daphne for our Maintenance Visit. Every 6 months or so, we visit Lazzari Truck Services – they put RV WHERE YET up in the air, knowing that boat payments will be no problem in future months! Seriously, they have treated us fairly since the first time we visited them under duress (broken suspension part) almost 5 years ago.

Most truck shops don’t like to work on RVs (or WON’T, or at least charge double), but because they know us AND RV WHERE YET, I no longer need to spend anyone’s valuable time making the case that our RV is NOT AN RV, but just a truck with awnings. They even let me work with them and/or be under the bus working on my own projects.

For once, we expected NO issues and had NO projects to speak of. That expectation ALONE was surely enuf to assure cosmic retribution! Suffice to say, because of what we found, we were effectively stranded and almost immobile (near Mobile, ironically).

Before anyone worries, the word “Stranded” does mean “cannot leave” (which we cannot), but it implies some level of hardship, which we have not. We expect to be there for up to 2 weeks, but in a beautiful state park, right by the ocean with bike trails and Dairy Queens and Waffle Houses nearby. Interrupting our Thanksgiving Plans; but, it’s not like those plans included family and homecoming – they were always gonna be a smoked turkey breast for the two of us, safely ensconced in a socially-distant RV Spot.

For the rest of the story of how we got “unstranded,” which involves MANY acts of kindness by complete strangers, you’ll have to wait for the NEXT post!

As we disclosed in our previous Newsletter, we planned to spend nearly a month in Washington DC, helping to sort through and address a lifetime Legacy left behind by my Aunt Marilee, who passed from COVID in September. This was a two-fold challenge:

• A FULL Lifetime of possessions
  and
• a Lifetime of Art.

Fortunately, we found some terrific vendors who helped us and Marilee’s daughter make spot decisions about possessions. Our time there included preparing for items to be shipped; delivering clothing to Marilee’s dear long-time Home Aide, who will send some to family in Guatemala but who will keep some things because, as she said with a tear in her eye, “Marilee and I were the same size…”; Shipping Marilee’s computers to waiting cousin Cecily, etc. etc. etc.

Several weeks of logistics like this, all made immensely more complex by COVID limitations at then assisted living community.  No one was actually allowed into Marilee’s apartment except her daughter,  and she only twice.  Come moving day, Marilee’s daughter tagged items, they were packed and put on a truck to be delivered locally (some) or shipped by UPS (many more) or disposed of/donated. The apartment needed to be empty by the end of the day; and It was a difficult day, but went off more or less without a hitch.

With regard to Marilee’s art, we delivered several sculptures to the collection at American University, to join several already in residence there. We arranged for a storage locker to maintain the art, with electricity for quality lighting and a table for display to interested parties. The lighting was a challenge: Who knew that Storage Lockers do not have or offer power outlets? Turns out this is because people would LIVE IN THEM if they did. I was able to convince one facility to put in an outlet for us; essential for displaying art as it is being placed.

We also interviewed several possibilities for agents to represent the Trust in disposition of the art, and the story of how one in particular came to the fore is worth telling… We had several referrals locally; none of whom seemed particularly interested or able to represent the body of work involved. Then, a friend of mine from Chicago said she knew someone in WASHDC and wrote to introduce us. This contact lead directly to a gentleman who, it turns out, used to own a gallery where Marilee had exhibited work in the past, and who owned several of her pieces and had sold many more. Such serendipity; Obviously, this was meant to be!!

I am not sure the actions documented in this post properly close the chapter of Marilee’s life and impact on me…but I left DC with a couple of very special mementos, the stories of which I will briefly tell.

In going through boxes I found not one but TWO special medallions presented by Mayors of Washington DC to residents in excess of 100yrs young. Yep – Marilee was a multiple-recipient. I took one for our souvenier wall – one she received at the age of 107. It will remind me of her every time I see it; remind me to live each day with eyes wide open to new wonders in front of me.

And, as we were wrapping up the loading of boxes, Marilee’s daughter asked me about what to do with Marilee’s Liquor Cabinet. I suggested that all the stuff be put in a box and brought down – we’d toss it in our car and see if there was anything salvageable at a later time.

And so we did! Opening the box, the first few bottles were what I pretty much expected (Marilee didn’t drink much): There was an opened bottle of Red Wine (opened possibly a decade or more ago). An unopened bottle of cheap Vodka that was also at least a decade old judging from its yellowing label. A couple bottles of unopened Grocery-store White Wines. Three Beers, no doubt acquired for me, in honor of one of our visits over the past years. We tossed the Red, obviously, and Liz and I can manage the others – for cooking if nothing else.

It was the three dusty and really old bottles of spirits that caught my attention!

It seems Marilee’s first husband, Bernie, had a client who gave him cases of Liquor every Christmas. Bernie died in the 70s, giving some idea how old these bottles were. Joan could not tell me if these were in Lieu of or in addition to fees owing (I have had clients in the past who bartered for fees, though not usually with high-end Scotch). These bottles, unopened in all these years, were all that remained. One “Dewars Ancestors,” One “Highland Inn” (both Scotches) and One bottle of Cointreau. The “Highland Inn” was the only one I could not track down on Google.

It seems these bottles were quite valuable if purchased at auction; so what to do with them?

It was an ethical dilemma of the first order: A valuable find SHOULD go into the estate; but they were ONLY valuable if they could find their way to a collector willing to pay for them. I posed the question to the trustees as follows: We can attempt to find someone who would buy them from the estate (of course the estate would net half of what Google thought they were worth). Or, I could keep them with us, and with each sipping, raise a toast to Marilee.

Without hesitation, the Trustees unanimously allocated them to RV WHERE YET for “safe keeping of the latter kind.”

And, slipping forward in time for a moment, to celebrate the Election results that seemed certain then but still uncertified now, we have already opened one Scotch, whose cork dissolved, but after straining served well in a Toast to Marilee. I’d like to think she was present in Michigan and Georgia and MOST DEFINITELY in Pennsylvania, overseeing the correct outcomes there.

There was a lot else we did in DC, so let me spend a little time moving off of the melancholy spot. We made a couple of trips into DC…one was in search of an RBG Tee-shirt for Liz’s sister. We though MAYBE there would be a vendor on the steps of the Supreme Court? NOT. Downtown DC was a ghost town, really, and certainly no vendors in residence. Liz decided she could go back to the RV and order a shirt online and without exaggeration tell Susie that the shirt “was purchased in DC” since that transaction was executed in the District!

I should talk a little about our “Domicile” while in DC. The Cherry Valley RV Park was an AWESOME place with Lots of amenities – a pool, laundry, near a bike path leading into College Park, MD, etc. — in normal times and/or with kids. In said “normal times” it even has a bus that would take us to the end of the METRO Line, upon which we could get to the Mall, Zoo, all the museums, etc. With COVID surging, we were NOT getting on a Subway OR spending time indoors, but Next Time…

So, what else did we do in DC? Well, we managed to have fun, that’s for sure. Wandered around a bit by car, prompted by needing to organize Art Storage, deliver pieces to museums and some estate papers to Steve Goldman, one of Marilee’s Trustees and the Executor of her estate.

Steve was inconsolable about being unable to provide us with a meal and conversation. I should explain this a bit: Steve agreed to the Executor and Trustee Roles when Marilee was 80 and Steve was 60. WHO KNEW she would live another 27 years? Steve, now 85 and therefore in the highest COVID risk category, was not engaging outside or for sure inside his house with anyone for any reason, which we COMPLETELY understand.

We PROMISED to come back post-COVID, but he found a very good contemporaneous substitute: He has a parking spot and no car and lives near crowded Dupont Circle. Big City People know the value of such a thing. Maybe not quite as valuable as breaking bread, but right up there!

We also took part in a Ballroom Dance with the “Town Club” group we belonged to in Chicago before we started this adventure. They have been, of necessity since gatherings of a proximate nature (and dancing by definition is that!) are decidedly dangerous, doing Zoom Dances; and we were invited as guests to one! The theme was “The Roaring 20’s.” Liz and I acquired appropriate attire at a Halloween Popup store, and we set up our “patio” as a dance floor. WHAT A BLAST!!!

It was a little dark, though! So I ordered and installed an LED Light Strip to brighten the Patio for evening events like this. We have since participated in many an after-dark Zoom events!

One day we took a long bike ride into College Park — in anticipation of Beer and Sushi… I found a Brewery that had such a combination advertised, so we thought that could be the target for a day of sightseeing-by-bike. When we got there, we found NO outdoor seating, so NO BEER or Sushi For us.  🙁 

While in DC, Liz even managed to get her Molé on! We are pretty fussy about our Mexican Restaurants. Liz likes Molé, and so we will ALWAYS go to one if they feature it on the menu…and we found a little family place that did!! Carryout back to the bus!

We also managed to visit our friends the Wilners, who live in nearby Potomac. With just a bit of recrimination from Paul, who was taking it VERY personally that our visits have ALWAYS been on or just before TAX DEADLINES (Paul Manages a CPA firm in nearby Bethesda).  If Paul is seen at all when we have visited, it is for 10 seconds late in the evening. To PROVE it was not personal, we actually saw the Wilners TWICE – once before and once after Oct15; the latter with Paul in FULL ATTENDANCE.

In keeping with barbeque etiquette, we called Laurie on the way out to Potomac to ask if we could bring something. In the middle of the COVID-APOCOLYPSE, here was our list: Marshmallows, Chocolate bars and Graham Crackers (obviously for S’mores) and TWO GALLONS OF CLOROX BLEACH.

And as testament to the new normalcy of our upside-down world, it never even occurred to us to be offended that Laurie needed the latter to sterilize her deck and surrounds after OUR PRESENCE….it just seemed normal!

As our help with the needs of Marilee’s estate wound to completion, we started to consider or next path. We planned to be in Galveston Texas for most of the winter so we decided to start heading that direction…along the way, a few planned and unplanned stops.

Next post, please!!