A visit with Mom

Last week on Thursday, we had the opportunity to visit with Carl's Mom...

Carl and his Mom... We arrived to visit while she was at lunch, but we got to chat with her while she enjoyed her meal and then enjoyed her coffee after the meal.

She is now 98 years old, and has lived at Windsor Park for 31 years! 

So grateful that Carl can debug and fix things!

One day last week, we were cooking several items -- using the air fryer, microwave, induction cooktop, and InstantPot all at the same time. While the microwave is built in to the rig, the air fryer, induction cooktop, and InstantPot are all add-ons to the original items that the rig builders were planning to be used. We had a couple of odd things happen while we were cooking (the light under the microwave went out, everything flashed, we heard a couple of beeps, the refrigerator cycled) -- just weird behavior. We stopped the microwave until the air fryer was done, and everything eventually seemed to get done okay.

Maybe two days later, Carl noticed that the batteries were down to about 39% charge -- the charge button on the remote controller for the inverter/charger would not turn on. Since, when we're plugged in to shore power, the only thing that runs off the batteries are the 12V items (lights, fans, water pump), we usually don't use the charger on the inverter/charger to charge the batteries but rather depend on our solar panels to keep the batteries topped off. Unfortunately, we'd had some very cloudy, smoky, and rainy days, so our batteries had gotten discharged. With the Lithium batteries, we are supposed to be able to run them down to 5-10% without damaging them (unlike lead acid batteries), but we didn't want to test that out.

Carl looked into various things, thinking that there must be an issue with the inverter/charger. 

We found the manual and found that, indeed, there is a in-circuit circuit breaker on the inverter/charger that may have tripped...

The inverter/charger is mounted under the rig on the "roof" of a bay -- of course, not easily accessible. 

So, we cleared out the items in the bay, and Carl got in there...

Sure enough, he found that the in-circuit breaker pin was tripped out. He pushed it back in, and the inverter/charger was charging again!

I'm so grateful that Carl noticed that the battery charger wasn't working and figured out what we needed to do it to get it working again!

It is so nice to get to camp with friends!

Friends Jim and Melanie came out to Paul Wolff to camp with us for a few days...

We finally remembered to get a picture the last morning... Teddy was photo-bombing...

So we included him too!

We often see other folks camping with friends as we travel around the country, and we rarely have the opportunity to experience it -- it is such a blessing to share times with Christian friends and to be able to share stories from our lives and appreciate God's provision as we share together. It was unfortunately very hot and humid while they were here, so we were not able to spend a lot of time outside, but we got to fellowship inside our rigs instead!

Visit to Klein's Farmer's Market

We enjoy visiting Klein's Farmer's Market...

They have some pickles and jams in the store -- including "Traffic Jam".

I never knew that was what traffic jams were made up of...

 

There were these interesting flowers that looked like someone had taken a black marker and put the black center in the middle of each bloom. It turned out that the black was actually a hole in the middle of each bloom (like a vase). We looked them up with Google Lens and it identified them as Black-Eyed Susan Vine (https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/vine/black-eyed-susan-vine/), unrelated to Black-Eyed Susan.

Inside the farmer's market, we saw these fruits that looked a bit like apples, but were softer like plums...

They were identified as Plumcot.

I looked up information, and found the following (https://blog.misfitsmarket.com/pluot-vs-plumcot-vs-aprium/):

Pluot vs. Plumcot

Plumcots were the original hybrid—created by crossing 50% plum and 50% apricot. Think of them as the grandparents of the family. Plumcots taste sweet, slightly tangy, and balanced. The name “plumcot” is often used interchangeably with pluot, but technically, plumcots are the first-generation cross.

Pluots, on the other hand, are more plum than apricot. They’re the result of further hybridization—usually around 75% plum and 25% apricot. That means you get more of that juicy, rich plum flavor, often with a smoother skin and firmer texture. Pluots taste sweet and aromatic. They are perfect for eating out of hand or slicing into a salad.

Pluot vs. Aprium

While pluots lean plum, apriums go in the other direction. Apriums are about 75% apricot and 25% plum. That gives them a denser texture, fuzzier skin, and a flavor that’s sweeter and more tropical—almost like a super-charged apricot.

Because of their lower water content, apriums hold up beautifully in baking and roasting. If you’re after an apricot-forward taste with a little plum complexity, apriums are your best bet.

We didn't buy any, so no personal recommendations from us at this point!

Some views with the drone of Paul Wolff

Carl got his drone out to show it to Jim and took some pictures around where we are camping...

Gracie and the Jee-rage in our spot at Paul Wolff (you can see a number of empty spots around us)

Melanie and Jim's camper in their site

Another view of Melanie and Jim's camper in their site

We *so* enjoy having friends camping with us!

Friend trying out e-bikes

We had friends who came out to camp with us at Paul Wolff, and our friend, Jim, wanted to try out our Lectric e-bikes...

Jim starting out on the e-bike (Melanie in the background watching!)...

Carl and Jim heading out around the campground

They were able to bike around the campground, and then also on the trails in the forest preserve.

Beautiful Skies

After a rainstorm moved through, the clouds and sun made such a beautiful sight...

The sun shining from behind the clouds made it look like the clouds were on fire!