A window, a nest, and a five-foot slinky

Walking by McLean Pond

You’re probably wondering what the 3 items in the title of this blog have to do with each other. Well let me explain. Last Sunday we set off on our first camping trip in two years. We intended to go last year but when Richard needed surgery we cancelled our reservations. We were determined to get out this year and the first window opened up last Sunday, June15. We want to avoid camping on the weekends if we can. We invited our friends Deb and Steve to come out and have a hotdog lunch with us on Monday.

We arrived around 7:00 pm, checked in and got settled in our campsite. We now need some sort of power to run the CPAP machines so we booked a campsite with a power hookup. That meant that dinner was really easy, leftovers in the microwave. We also use a small electric kettle to boil water for dishes. We turned in and Monday morning woke without the aid of an alarm. I took my lighter quilt thinking it would be fine and I found myself curled up into a ball most of the night unable to get warm. I was just cold enough to wake up and think that I should reach down and get the sweater from the end of the bed but not awake enough to actually do it. By the end of our excursion I was sleeping in two layers of tights, one of the fleece, two layers of merino wool, both with long sleeves, and a quilted vest. Note to self: bring the down quilt next time.

There was a fire ban so when Deb and Stever arrived for hotdogs we had to cook them in a pot rather than over the open fire. We took most of the kitchen stuff out of the van for the winter but there were a few things left on the second shelf. I went looking for something there and when I pulled out the first item I noticed some dark little objects about the size of grains of rice. MOUSE POOP! Oh yuck! I investigated further and saw that the little creature had made a lovely nest of insulation at the back of the second shelf. Well, no point in fussing about it then. It had clearly been there for a while; the inhabitant was no longer in attendance, and another few hours weren’t going to make any difference.

We enjoyed our hotdogs, coleslaw, and a wonderful blueberry pie that Deb provided, for dessert. We had a lovely visit as we always do, complete with required silliness and lots of laughing. When it was time for Deb and Steve to head home we turned our attention to the mouse problem. Richard donned gloves and threw out the nest and remaining bits of insulation. There were several fabric items in the affected area. We tossed a pair of oven mitts and some placemats along with anything else we could live without. Richard swept the area, then vacuumed it using the handheld vac we carry in the van. While I walked to the Campers Centre to get some vinegar, he took everything out of the cupboard and washed it within an inch of its life. I thought vinegar would work as a mild disinfectant.

 

All clean

As luck would have it, the Campers Centre had vinegar and Lysol wipes so I bought both and returned to the van. The cupboards got a good going over with the wipes and we let them thoroughly dry and air out before putting back all the items we had washed. Some we kept out to sterilize in the dishwasher when we got home. I think we’ll request that our pest control guy put a couple of bait boxes in the van before the winter. Maybe it was the fact that we went for two years without driving the van much, or maybe we’ve just been lucky in the past, but this is the first time we’ve had mice in the van. Although it wasn’t the way we intended to spend the day, we felt pretty good about what we accomplished and spent the rest of the day lounging around, doing puzzles, and reading.

Taking turns in the inflatable lounger

The weather was unsettled on Tuesday, it rained and the sun came out and then it rained again. At one point Richard tried to lock the van using his fob and nothing happened. Back to the Campers Centre to see if they had batteries that would fit. I guess he didn’t like the idea of me being able to lock him out, or in. If I locked the door from the outside with my fob and he tried to open it from the inside it would set the alarm off. Oh the power! We actually found batteries that would work.

When we were at McLean Creek in 2020 it was a bit of a game to see whether the Campers Centre had ice cream or not. This time they did so, of course, we had to have some. Richard took off his hoodie and laid it on the counter when paying for the batteries and neither of us noticed that we left without it. Later in the evening when it got chilly we turned the van upside down looking for it. By that point the store was closed but he did have other insulation clothing.

Wednesday when I was closing one of the awning windows in preparation for a walk, the arms that retracted the window came in all right but the glass didn’t. The glass had been stuck on with some sort of adhesive, much like the stuff they use to put mirrors on walls. I wanted a closer look so I lifted up the glass slightly and it came away in my hands. I stood there looking at the window in my hands and Richard hopped into problem solving mode. I really appreciate that! My thought was to find duct tape and tape over the window completely. Richard pointed out that duct tape might take the paint off the van and asked if I had any glue. I rummaged around and found a tube of ‘No More Nails.’ I didn’t think that would work but it was what we had so we decided to give it a try.

 

Attempting window repair

I got some sandpaper and roughed up the aluminum arms where they attached to the adhesive. I also tried to rough up the adhesive. You have to try, right? We got the glass nice and warm in the sun, applied the No More Nails, seated the aluminium arms into the goop and weighted them down with a couple of pieces for firewood. We waited for a couple of hours and then decided to try our luck. Richard managed to get the mechanism put back together and eventually we wrestled the window back onto the tracks. I gently turned the knob to close the window and we waited. The plan was to get it securely closed and then leave it alone until we got back home.

It wasn’t long before we heard a small pop as the window again detached from the arms. Plan B: back to the Campers Centre to get some electrical tape, yellow as it turns out. No, I didn't bring any duct tape with me. Richard did a great job of taping around the edges of the window and the van now sports a lovely yellow accent. Oh, with respect to Richard’s hoodie, they had it behind the counter at the Campers Centre. Good news.

One of the really nice things about camping is how easy it is to walk. One of the days I clocked 10K without really trying. We visited Loop D where we stayed in 2020 and tried to find the site. We couldn’t decide so when we got back to the van I looked it up in the log. We also visited McLean Pond a couple of times and enjoyed watching red winged blackbirds, juncos, and robins. At dusk we were there and saw something very large swimming. We weren’t aware of any Ogopogo-like creatures in East Kananaskis. As it got closer we determined that it was a beaver towing a huge branch complete with foliage. We managed a couple of photos just before the beaver dove at the entrance to its lodge. One morning a couple of horses wandered through the campground. They may have been feral or they may have belonged to the same ranchers who have free range cattle in the area. I was surprised and a bit disconcerted that in the 5 days we were there I only saw one squirrel. We used to be able to count on a steady cacophony of squirrels, and we had to constantly be on guard when we had any food on the picnic table. I don’t know why there are so few squirrels around but I don’t think it can be good.

Lots of dogwood flowers



We saw a few butterflies



The roses were abundant





Horses paid us a visit



Geese and goslings on McLean Pond



Red winged blackbird



Beaver towing his dinner


No camping report from me would be complete without noting the interesting people we met. On Thursday we saw an SUV pulling what I can only describe as a gypsy vardo go by our site. Being naturally nosey, we gave it a few minutes and then walked in the direction we saw it go. We waved at the people who were just getting set up and told them we really liked their trailer. They invited us to have a closer look. Before he retired, the man worked in the oil fields and built it over the course of a summer when he was home on weekends. All of us agreed that the days of sleeping on the ground were over for us. His job had been to design pump systems for the oil industry and his wife noted that before he built the vardo he drew it out in great detail. She confessed she had no idea of how to read the drawings but made appropriately encouraging noises. On either side of the door was a bracket to hold a lantern and there was a little porch that folded down when not in transit. We thanked them for showing us around and planned to go back for another visit after they were completely set up. Unfortunately, we never did get back to see them and I didn’t get any photos of the trailer.

On Thursday evening it was looking like rain again and we decided to pack up the cook tent and stow the awning while it was dry rather than having to deal with soggy fabric in the morning when it was time to leave. Luckily the fire ban was lifted so we were able to have a couple of nice campfires, including one in which we roasted the last 2 hotdogs. We were sitting watching the fire when a young couple from the next site approached and said they had a couple of questions. They wanted to know where we got the van and how much we paid for it. We answered the questions and then had a good chat about the various methods of camping and the pros and cons. What we are learning is that with increasing comfort comes increasing complexity and therefore increasing maintenance. That was to come back to bite us on Friday morning.

Firebuilder



A microfibre towel attatched itself to my pants. That is not a flag so Richard can locate me.

I had a meeting to attend on Friday afternoon so we set an alarm for 8:00. I turned on the furnace to take the chill off, we leisurely made our way through our travelling checklist and headed off to the dump station. There was nobody else there and, although the clouds were threatening, it wasn’t raining. We got out the disposable gloves, flipped up the step to access the release valves for the grey and black water tanks, and took out the fitting that attaches to the end of the sewer hose and clipped it on.

The hose didn’t seem to be coming out as far as it should, so while Richard held the business end, I gave it a tug. It immediately split, turning what had been a hose into a five foot long slinky. I said a couple of bad words. Richard looked at the blue slinky and said, “Hmm.” My thought was to stuff it back in, close everything up, get home and call an RV repair place. After careful consideration Richard figured we could dump the tanks anyway because nobody could do anything to fix it until the tanks were empty. He proposed pulling the hose back so that the slinky part was in the pipe. Then, with the oil change pan that we carry to catch the drips under the point of connection, he would release the valves. It’s important to say here that we only use the toilet in the van for #1. ( No photos of these shenanigans!)

Neither of us could remember which lever was for the grey tank and which was for the black tank. He pulled one. Some of the effluent went through the hose but a lot of it spilled into the pan. He closed the valve and dumped the pan into the waste port which I was holding open. It became apparent by the toilet paper that we had found the black tank. When we finished with that one we emptied the grey tank following the same procedure. I considered it lucky that it wasn’t a scorching hot day and that there was no lineup. We used the dump station water pumps to rinse down things as much as we could, then as I tossed the gloves in the garbage a guy in a trailer pulled up to the spot beside us. I smiled to myself thinking what a show he had just missed.

It took us about 45 minutes to drive home. We unloaded the van just as the rain started. Richard took the van to a glass place on Saturday. They think they can fix the window or install a new one. We have an appointment with Hobo campers who have worked on Vinnie before to replace the sewer hose. I wouldn’t say it was one of our best camping trips ever, but it certainly is a memorable one. No more mouse’s nests, detachable windows, or broken sewer hoses. PLEASE!

One of the paths we took