Day 54, June 8, Lumbering in Lumberton

There was absolutely no reason to stay in Lunmberton for two days, except probably the most important reason -- rest. Both of us needed it. Patrise more so, due to the cold. She has gotten a bit stronger as the day has gone along, but she's still far from full health. She was feeling well enough to make pancakes for breakfast this morning. As usual, they were delicious!

Today was a very hot day, getting into the high 80's by the early afternoon. Patrise rested a lot after breakfast, while I worked on some personal projects. First, I used my new SD card-USB device to download all of my camera photos onto my laptop, actually to the cloud via my laptop. Between the Antarctica trip last December and this year's RV trip, I had amassed over 2,000 photos and videos, so I needed to clear out the camera memory. After the camera project, I resumed working on refining my syllabus for the class I will be teaching beginning late August.

We also had a small problem this morning that the water heater pilot light had gone out. After spending some time trying to figure out how to relight the pilot -- it is not in an obvious location -- I texted the RV's owner, Ken Smith. Ken responded with the solution. It was a very simple fix, and soon we had warm water going again.

We had a wonderful lunch of hummus toast, baby carrots (raw), cheese slices and cherries. After lunch, I was clearly struggling to remain awake, so with Patrise's encouragement, I took a nap. While I napped, a notable rainstorm came through the area, and Patrise had talked to Gary about putting an elasticool coat on the roof of the RV. The elasticool coat helps to make it easier to clean the roof, minimizing the growth of mildew and mold, and its reduces the heat load on the vehicle, thereby improving the function of the air conditioning. Gary could not work on it during the rainstorm; but once the storm cleared out and after my nap was completed, Gary returned to do that work as well. Here are before and after photos of the roof and a photo of Gary:

(Note the contrast between the finished and unfinished areas of the roof. It will look better and perform better when finished.)

(The finished elasticool roof)

(Gary, from Junior's RV Repair. I highly recommend his services, if you're ever in need and in the area.)

Patrise prepared a great vegetarian dinner of portabella mushrooms, gold bell peppers, roasted tomato with cheese and hot water cornbread. After dinner, we played two games of 500: I barely won the first, she wiped me out in the second. Then she settled in the bed to get some rest while reading. I cleaned up the dishes, made apple turnovers for dessert, and worked on updating the travel blog, while watching Game 3 of the NBA Championship series.

Tomorrow, we will head to Charlotte, NC to visit with our beloved aunt, Andrea Ice.