Chilling Out

We left the RV air conditioning unit on the whole time we were away so that it would be nice and cool for sleeping. Instead, we returned something more akin to a sauna with AC unit blinking "E5, E5, E5..." Normally, I'm not much for air conditioning and you'd think we could just suck it up and do without it, but the RV was easily 10° hotter than the outside air and the outside temperature had only cooled down to the mid 80s. I called the Cruise America Roadside Assistance line and were told that someone would call us at 8 AM. In meantime, they told us that they would reimburse us for the purchase of some fans. That wasn't going to be much of a consolation at midnight.  It was tough sleeping that night.

Guess who called at 8 AM? Nobody. At 9 AM I phoned and was told that a service assistant would call back as soon as they could. It became apparent that this was going to be a "day off" by the pool. We told the campground that we'd be staying another night, I took the girls to the pool and set up a little nest for all of us in the very cozy poolside gazebo, and Rachelle set off on a quest to switch our campsite to one that had some shade.

It turns out that the 5th of July is busiest day of the year for RV repair stations—and this year it was even worse because the 4th of July fell on a Monday. We ended up scheduling a repair appointment for the morning of July 7th and decided that we would spend the 6th touring the city. We endured a couple more hot nights inside the RV, but we did end up buying two Vornado fans at Home Depot which made the heat more tolerable. The kids ended up having an entire day to play in the pool, which was a good break from all of the activities of the last few days. While waiting around for the (stupid) service assistant, I had some time to write a few blog entries and email our friends and announcement about the blog. It was really fun to receive lots and lots of emails from people that day—especially from old friends whom we haven't seen in a long time. Lots of people told me that they hoped to make a trip like this someday—or recounted fond memories from childhood camping trips with their families. Good times. It's fun to think that some of you might be reading this and that Keiko and Amaya will be able to read a copy when they're grown. I love those little monkeys.

With the exception of the day at the pool, I've mostly been writing these blog posts late at night after everyone has gone to sleep (which is getting later and later). It's very peaceful to sit at the "kitchen" table and type away into the night. At first, I worried that I was wasting my vacation time, but I've found that writing about something completely unrelated to work and having a virtual scrapbook to show for my efforts has been very relaxing and enjoyable. I didn't finish my "Poop Nazi" post until 3 AM. That may have been a little extreme, but but once I started writing I simply couldn't stop until it was finished. It's just a different way to chill out.

Dinner at "The Jerk Pit." Jamaican Food is just a bit harder to find in Williamstown.

Purple Stuff: Grape soda with a "Relaxation Formula"