Business in New Orleans

This week I was on a business trip with several other people from our company to a Specialty Graphics (SGIA) show. It’s held once a year and this year Its in New Orleans. We will spend only two days there, but because its had to get convenient flights in and out of New Orleans we will have to fly in the day before and leave the day after.

Arriving in New Orleans and stepping out of the airport was a bit of a weather shock. New Orleans was experiencing a record heat wave and It was 93 degrees as we stood in line at the cab stand.

The heat wasn’t as bad as the humidity.The humidity must have been close to 100% .It was oppressive. The slightest movement of your body caused you to break out in a sweat.

I checked in at the Embassy Suites. My room was on the tenth floor and had a view of the Mississippi river Bridge and the convention center a couple of blocks away.

The next morning the air was so thick with moisture that you could almost drink it as I walked to the convention center.

Inside the convention center was comfortably cool and you could see sheets of condensing water running down the glass windows that contacted the humid air.

We saw quite a few interesting things at the show. A new type of printing device now prints images directly on fabric and will enable all sorts of new products to be sold.

Late in the afternoon I started back towards the hotel room. It was just starting to sprinkle rain drops as I walked along the route back to the hotel. About halfway back the skies opened up and it poured down rain. Now at the time I was standing under one of the many porches on the street in New Orleans so I wasn’t wet yet.

I waited for 15 or 20 minutes for the rain to let up , but it didn’t seen like it was going to quit any time soon so I decided that I would make a break for the hotel it was only 2 blocks away. If I run, I rationalized I can get there without getting too wet.

As it turns out it really doesn't matter how fast you run in a down pour. When I arrived at the hotel about 10 seconds later I might as well have gone swimming in my clothing.

I dripped my way through the lobby and up to my room where I changed clothing and snapped this picture from the dry safety of my balcony.

As it always does other than one notable exception with Noah and the whole Ark thing it stopped raining and the sun started to come out.

Standing on my room balcony I snapped a series of photos and stitched them together in the partial panorama of the historic warehouse district of New Orleans after the rain.

I had a business dinner that evening at 7:00 and walked from my hotel down towards Canal street to the restaurant where we were meeting. It was a nice walk with a few interesting scenes along the way.

I guess this is ART!

Typical New Orleans architecture

A Pano of a park along the way

The following night we had another business dinner but this time my walk to the restaurant took me along the River walk.

Part of the Riverwalk from my balcony

The other end of the Riverwalk

Here is pano stitched together from several photos of the Mississippi river as it flows into the Gulf of Mexico under the River bridge.

The riverwalk.

We had dinner at the corner of Fulton street on the Gordon Bierch patio.

I arrived at the New Orleans airport for my flight home at 10:00AM the next morning for a 11:00 flight.

At about 10:30 a sign went up that we would be weather delayed until 11:30. 10 minutes later the delay moved to 1:30PM. OH OH. I’m never going to make my connecting flight in Memphis. A line about 2 1/2 miles long immediately formed at the counter. (We are in trouble now!)

I grabbed my cell phone and immediately call the travel agent I use. She checked out all the flights and for the most part they were booked or wanted a thousand dollars. She was able to reserve a seat on the 6:00PM flight that evening in case the worst happened.

I then got in the 2 1/2 mile long line at the counter and slowly shuffled my way towards the counter with the rest of the prisoners. When I got to the counter the agent informed me that I was not going to make my connection in Memphis and that all other flights were sold out.

I politely asked him to check for my reservation on the 6:00 flight. Indeed I was booked on the 6:00PM flight. I was going to get out of here yet today!

It was 30 miles and a $60 cab ride back to town so I was stuck the rest of the day. I hung out in the airport had lunch and vegged out until 6:00PM. At 5:30 I boarded the plane. It looks like I was going to get out of New Orleans until the pilot came on the intercom and stated that thunderstorms were moving into the airport and he was shutting the engines down and was waiting until they passed, duration unknown! ( OH CRAP!). I got on the phone and called Margaret to inform here that I was on hold again and potentially sentenced to life in Louisiana. I would call again or send an email when I had further news.

People were up and milling about the airplane 15 minutes later when the pilot came on the intercom and urgently requested everyone be seated there was a small clearing and he was taxiing out to the runway. There was a chance we could get out!

We moved down the taxiway in the dark rain approaching the runway. I could see the lights stretching out along the runway as he made the turn. At this point planes usually stop, but he didn't even slow down as the plane straightened out onto the runway he powered up the jets and we were blasting down the runway in the rain on our way finally to Minneapolis!

The Weekend and Lyndale Park

With our Lake lot mostly closed up for the year, Margaret and I are forced to wander the streets like homeless vagrants looking for entertainment on the weekends now. This weekend looks to be a beautiful weekend so Saturday we headed over to our old stand by lake “Lake Harriet” where we joined the people already walking around the lake for an hour long trip in the sunshine.

We noticed as we rounded the east side of the lake that the Rose Gardens in Lyndale park were still in full bloom and we thought that the garden may be a good destinations for Sundays outing.

The rest of the day we did some chores got some groceries and made a trip to the library.

Late Sunday morning we packed a picnic lunch and headed out towards Lyndale park. The weather was not quit as nice as Saturdays sunshine, but it was warm and the rain was holding off as we wandered around the park looking for a good place for our picnic lunch.

We found a nice spot and set up our chairs and had a nice lunch.

After lunch the weather was looking a little better while we wandered around the park enjoying the fountains and flowers

Part of Lyndale park is the Rose garden.

This is a fenced in area about a block square filled with rows and rows of Roses. Red ones, White ones, orange and every color imaginable.

We strolled up and down the roses enjoying the colors and the smells.

Stop and smell the roses.

A bouquet for anyone?

The honey bees certainly think this is a great area to hang out in.

Across the street from the Rose garden is the Peace gardens.

We crossed the street to the Peace Garden where I tried to feel the peace, but no luck.

Margaret did find a nice spot to relax though.

Is she at peace yet? I hope so.

All in all it was a fun day in a beautiful park just a couple miles from our apartment.

Closing up the Lake

The last days at the lake are always a sad time. Of course you can still go to the lake after it gets cold, but it’s not the same, so year after year the last days are always the days that you shut the water off so it doesn't freeze.
That time varies every year, but after Sept 15th you need to watch carefully that the nightly temperatures this far north don’t fall below freezing. So this weekend the water gets shutoff and we close everything up. We will be back one more time in October to move the coach to its winter storage facility, and maybe once or twice over the winter to check on everything, but for all practical purposes lake season in Minnesota is over for the year for us.
The weekend cooperated fantastically and the temperatures during the day were in the 70-80 degree range and the trees were starting to change color.
Saturday started out with a trip to Walker Marine Max to get oil, and an oil filter for the boat motor. It was time to change the oil in the boat's outboard motor and store it for the winter. We also stopped at the local coffee shop in Walker for a cup of coffee and a scone.
After the coffee we walked over to the new hotel “Chase on the Lake” and wandered around inside with our coffee making our own personal tour. Its a real nice place and would be worth staying in at some time. http://www.chaseonthelake.com
Back at the lake lot later in the morning I changed the oil in the boat motor and disconnected the battery finalizing the storage of the boat for the winter.
After lunch I pulled the Jeep up behind the coach and finished wiring the lights for towing the jeep.

The wiring for the lights went fast and the rest of the day was a lay about day and ended with a grilled salmon dinner and the final hot tub for the year.

Margaret was up early the next morning and managed to capture a beautiful image of the sunrise and the neighbor fishing in the early morning light.

Sunday was all about draining the water out of all the systems for the winter. Early that morning we started with the hot tub, connecting a hose and draining the water out into the hillside.

Once drained it all had to be scrubbed and every drop of water siphoned out of all the jets so it doesn't freeze and burst a pipe.
After that the water had to be drained from the coach plumbing, underground water pipes, and well housing and be replaced with antifreeze. It was closing in on 3:00PM when all the water was out of all the systems. With all the water systems shutdown, we moved the coach out on the drive way so it would be easy to drive it out in a couple of weeks on it final trip to the winter storage area in Little Falls.

With everything locked up, closed up, and winterized Margaret celebrated with a glass of wine on the lonely deck before we headed back to the city.

“One year closes out, but another waits in the wings for it’s chance to start”

Labor Day 2009

I have been bad lately about getting posts out on time.

Some of it is that its the end of the summer and I’m enjoying every last minute of the beautiful weather, and I can’t seem to find time to sit down and get a blog entry written.

We took the Friday before Labor Day weekend off and that gave us a 4 day weekend at the lake to get some jobs done, as well as get a head start on the end of year tasks. It takes about 4 full days to close up the lake for the year so it usually has to be done over a couple of weekends.

Traffic wasn’t too bad on the way to the lake, mostly because it was Thursday night and the holiday weekend doesn't really start until Friday night. The weather man has forecast one of the most beautiful weekends of the summer.

Friday morning was breakfast out. Usually once a year we go have breakfast at a restaurant in the little village of Dorset. Dorset is an interesting city. It’s only a couple of blocks long and has mostly restaurants and bars. The mayor of Dorset is elected every year by drawing names in a raffle. The restaurant we have breakfast at is not much to look at, but it has great food especially breakfast.

After breakfast it was off to Park Rapids to pick up some food and a few parts for the chores this weekend.

The first half of this weekend is all about things that need to be done on the coach. The first thing on the list was to change the oil in the massive Cat 350 engine that powers the coach. After checking what it cost to have a service place change the oil (roughly $300) I decided to do it myself. ( no brainer there) Oil, filter and grease cost $125

The engine takes five gallons of oil and and a very large oil filter. Other than the volume of oil it is much like changing the oil in a normal car.

After the oil was changed it was time to wash the beast! You really can’t understand how big a 38ft coach is until you have to wash it!

It took almost 2 hours just to pressure wash the fiberglass roof. While I was cleaning the outside Margaret worked on cleaning the inside.

Once the roof was cleaned I moved onto the sidewalls with a long handled washing brush.

It took all afternoon, but the coach sure looked nice ,shiny and clean when it was done.

The Mystery of Trashed Deck

When we woke up Saturday morning the deck was littered with tree branched and broken acorn shells form the oak tree that overhangs our deck. From time to time we have seen this and attributed it to a squirrel in the tree, but we have never seen so much before.

To be continued:

Saturday was the day that I was going to install the tow bar in the jeep.

Tow Bar for the coach

I had checked a couple of places and gotten quotes to install a tow bar and base plate on the coach and jeep and both places I checked said about $1,700-$2,000 without a brake system. It looks like I can buy the parts on the internet for about $1,200 so I planned on doing it myself and pocketing the extra money.

After doing the research on tow bars, it appears that most people think that Blue OX is one of the best products out there, so we purchased a Blue OX Acclaim 10,000lb tow bar and a base plate for our 2008 Jeep Liberty. We purchased them on the internet and paid a fair price for the tow bar and base plate. They arrived promptly and had good installation instructions. The instruction indicated that an experienced installer could do it in 4 hours. I have read blogs of people that have done it themselves and they indicated that it is a full day job, so I set aside the whole day for the job.

The job is really 2 parts. First putting on the base plate, then wiring the taillights. First thing in the morning I pulled the jeep into the garage at the lake and started removing the bumper shroud according to the instructions. It was a bit of a task but nothing terrible and soon the bumper shroud was out on the lawn and we were ready to install the new Blue Ox base plate.

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Here is the base plate ready to go onto the frame.

Bolted down tight with “Loctite Red” to hold the bolts in place, the base plate is now installed.

Now the bumper shroud just need to go back on for a completed base plate job.

After two tries ( The first time I forgot an important part.) the jeep is whole again, and true to the advertising from Blue Ox you can not even tell it is on unless you look really close.

It took about 3 hours to put the base plate on, so right after lunch it was on to getting the tail lights hooked up. At first this seems like it should be a fairly simple task, but as it turns out finding a safe path to run the wiring harness from the front of the jeep to that back was a big job on our 2008 Liberty. It ended up taking several hours just to pull the wire through the convoluted path and wire wrap it tightly to the frame.

Finally as the afternoon was about over the job was complete, with only a few swear words and a couple of scraped knuckles.

A celebration ensued with wine and a barbequed steak dinner on the deck of the Garden House.

After dinner the party adjourned to the hot tub for a much deserved relaxing soak after a hard days work crawling under the vehicles.

The Mystery of Trashed Deck ……Continued

Somewhere around midnight I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep.

Since it was such a nice weekend it was still quit warm out. The moon was shining brightly and I decided to step outside to see if I could get any moonlight pictures. Margaret’s solar lights were shinning brightly and looked beautiful, but I couldn't get the pictures to come out. On the way back to the coach I heard acorns being dropped on the deck! The mysterious squirrel bandit was at work! I though to myself maybe if I shined a light up in the tree I could see him. Sure enough! I shined a small flashlight up into the tree and I could see a pair of beady yellow squirrel eyes reflected in the light looking back at me! So holding the light in one hand and Margaret’s little camera in the other I was able to document the existence of the vicious little criminal!

Hold on! A moment latter another set of beady yellow eyes appeared!

There is two of them up there throwing acorn refuse down on our deck!

Wait a minute! a few seconds later another set of eyes appears. There is at least three of them!

The mystery is solved! Now we know how we get so much junk on our deck! There is an entire “herd of squirrels” living and feeding in our oak tree discarding their leftovers on our deck and yard!

Sunday morning

With the coach cleaned, the rest of the weekend was for starting to close up the lake for the winter. This is always a sad time. However with the warm sunshine and 80 degree temperatures it made for a pleasant task down on the lakeshore cleaning the boat and getting the boatlift ready to remove from the water.

Getting the lift out by myself requires taking the canvas and the aluminum ribs off the top before floating it to shore with a couple of large plastic jugs tied to the feet for floatation. Once it’s up to the shoreline a couple of strategically places ramps allows me to pull it up onto the bank for the winter.

With the boatlift now out of the water the poor boat has to sit tied to the dock overnight.

That is exactly where we had happy hour Sunday night. We plunked down into the boat lounging in the front seats of the boat in the sunshine tied to the dock, while Margaret tryed to avoid having here picture taken!

After supper we took the boat for a last cruise around the lake. There is a campground on the lake we live on and of course the campground is always interesting to cruise past on the holidays.

A couple of campers were on the raft at the beach doing back flips into the still wonderfully warm lake waters.

as I said there is always something interesting going on at the campground. This contraption is a homemade jury rigged hot tub! They have a child’s pool that they have pumped water into out of the lake and they are heating the water in a 55 gallon drum with a propane burner. (It looks like it may be a turkey cooker) Campers are endlessly inventive!

With the wonderfully warm weather it seemed like we should take a swim while we were out in the lake.

After the boat ride the with the sun setting in the west the moon was shinning right over top of the campgrounds.

This is why we hang out at the lake in the summer!

We ended our last summer evening at the lake with a “Margaret built fire” made out of white birch! (Fire tended by the Stumpman!)

Monday morning while I was taking the dock out and putting it away in for the winter an Eagle landed in the tall pine trees along our lakeshore. He sat there a while and I watched him for a minute or two. When I went back to moving the dock he took off leaving behind a tail feather floating down from the treetops in the breeze. I went over to the base of the tree and sure enough I found the eagle feather in the brush. I saved the feather and it now has a place of honor in the Garden House.

The rest of the morning we wrapped up a few of the other chores that had to get done for the winter closing of the lake.

The afternoon we spent lounging around in the sunshine.

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. ~Sam Keen