No Heart Attacks . . .

Well, after hearing back from the Rainbow Plantation Escapees Park in Summerdale,AL we’re all set for our October Florida trip.




Spent most of today at my client’s getting a new AC installed in the Shipping Dept. The old unit was in a through-the-wall mount about 8 feet above the floor, and over a workbench that couldn’t be moved.

But it was simple. We just removed the mounting screws and pushed it out and onto the ground, Easy Peezy!

But the new one was another story. At 12,000 Btu, it was bigger and at 88# it was heavier than the old one. So what you had was two old guys trying to get this unit up over our heads and into the wall opening. But we finally did it, and no heart attacks, either.

Then when we tried to plug it in, we discovered that the original unit was so old that it used the 6-15P 230VAC receptacle and plug.

AC 6-15P Receptacle

But the new unit had the newer plug, a 230VAC 5-20P one.

AC 5-20P Plug

RUT ROH!

By now it was getting to be my time to head home so I stopped off at Home Depot to pick up the parts to build up an adapter since no one seemed to carry one locally. And this is what I came up with. Should work with no problems.

TES AC Power Adapter

Since that was about it for today, I thought I’d repost our visit to New Hampshire in August 2009 on our way to Canada and Newfoundland.



Climbing Mt. Washington and here a moose, there a moose…

We left Moose River Campground about 11 am and headed up US 2  toward Gorham, NH.

The road wasn’t too bad, a bit curvy, but OK,  and we pulled into the Walmart about 12:30 pm and set up house.

Gorham Walmart

adfad

Actually, when we Wally-dock,  there’s nothing to set up.  We don’t lower the jacks, or put out the slide.  The only thing we do is just unhook the truck so we can drive around.

The only reason we were parking here was that I was not able to find a single opening at any RV park in the area. And I started looking over a week beforehand. And the only reason I didn’t start early was that our schedule was a little iffy and we didn’t know when or where we would be.

After checking in with the WM manager, we decided to try a place called Crabby Jack’s Mexican Cafe for lunch,  since we were hungry for Mexican.

Big Mistake!   The service was bad and food wasn’t any better. NewHamp-Mex just doesn’t make it, and we figured that the reason Jack is Crabby is that he has to eat his own food.

After our so-called lunch,  we headed down to Gorham’s Visitor’s Information booth to check out the sign that got Jan all giddy.

It said “Moose Tours”

After signing up for the 6:30 pm tour that evening,  I noticed a brochure on Mt. WashingtonI knew it was in New Hampshire,  but I didn’t know it was close by.

Turns out that it’s right down the road.  It’s about 8 miles to the base of the mountain,  and then about 8 miles to the summit,  all 6288 feet of it.

We decided we had plenty of time to do the mountain before our moose tour,  so we headed out.

And it is a heck of a climb.  During the 8 miles, you climb over 5000 ft.  And it seems like it’s straight up at times.

Mt Washington 1

adfad

But, although it was a little hazy,  the view was spectacular.

Mt Washington 2

adfad

The Mt. Washington Auto Road gave birth to the oldest man-made tourist attraction in the US.  When it was built in the 1861  (Yes, 1861),  it was called the Mt. Washington Carriage Road.  And stagecoaches took visitors to the top.

It’s still the same road, and not much improved, it seems.

And then in 1869 they built the Cog Train.  It runs on a train track with a cog track in the center that lets the train climb the steep grades like a roller coaster does…clack, clack, clack.

Cog Train 1

fgsdfg
That little yellow dot is the train coming up the mountain.  It takes about an hour to come up and an hour to go back down.

It only takes about 20 min in your car.

Cog Train 2

adfad

“I think I can, I think I can…”

Cog Train 3

adfad

This gift shop building dates from 1878.  Note that it is chained down!

Mt Washington Gift Shop

adfad

And here’s why!

Mt Washington Sign

adfad

231 MPH !!!

I think they need more chains.

The new buildings are built to withstand 300 MPH winds.

And, of course, we got our official bumper sticker for our trip up.

bumperstickerWEB

I’ve seen these on cars before, and now I know how they got them.

About 6:30 pm we board the tour bus for our “moose tour”.

And we actually saw moose,  4 of them, to be exact.  2 sets of cows and calves.  No bulls, unfortunately.

These pictures were taken about 9:30 pm at night, lighted by spotlight.

Moose 1

adfad

Moose 2

adfad

Moose 3

adfad

Moose 4

adfad

Moose 5

adfad

These moose were about 30 yards away at the time.

We also saw an osprey, 2 foxes,  a deer,  and 2 loons.

And some pretty scenery earlier in the evening.

Dam

adfad

Tomorrow morning we head out to Bangor, ME for a few days before we trek further north to Canada.





Thought for the Day:
  

The De’il ye ken is better than the one ye dinna. 

adfad