Wild Horse Island pine trees

Here's a picture I took of pine trees on Wild Horse Island as I made my way back down to the shore.

Boat trip to Wild Horse Island

I made my first trip to Wild Horse Island recently. I beached the skiff at Rocky Beach and while I was there some people came in and hit a big rock under the surface with their ski boat. Man it made a loud bang. It's always so nice being on Wild Horse Island.

I came upon some bucks in the velvet. These deer are going to have some impressive racks this fall when their antlers fully develop. A storm moved in so I had to scamper back down the hill to get off of the island and back to the cabin.

The weather can change quickly on Flathead Lake, but my skiff is a very safe boat for its size.

Here's a picture looking back at Melita Island and the rain behind me as I raced home to out run the storm. Melita Island is just south of Wild Horse Island.

Replacing the roof vent on the Aristocrat travel trailer

I had to replace the roof vent on our vintage Aristocrat travel trailer. The old one did not have the proper lid which was just taped in place, so of course you couldn't open or close it. Thankfully it didn't leak. First I had to grind and cut away the goop that covered all of the screw heads so I could get a socket on them. That took forever and was a difficult task. I used my Dremel tool to grind around them and then an Xacto knife to cut the screw head free.

After I removed all of the screws, I pulled the old vent out and then cleaned the opening removing all of the old putty tape.

After I cleaned off the old goop and putty tape I scrubbed the area with steel wool and then cleaned the area with rubbing alcohol. Then I positioned the new vent in the opening and marked where it would be centered. I drew around the vent flashing with a marking pen. That mark also allowed me to position the new putty tape.
I positioned the new putty tape inside the lines I had drawn with the marking pen. I overlapped the tape in the corners and squished it together with my fingers.
I attached the new vent using #8 by 3/4 sheet metal screws. The wood was perfect in the framing and the screws went in well. Next I need to go around the edge of the flange with a sealant I got at the RV place. I'll do that tonight.
Here's what it looks like from the inside. I left the original metal interior trim in place and didn't use the plastic one provided with the new vent. I think it looks more retro with the metal interior flashing. Aristocrats seem to have this wire for lighting going along the walls and ceiling. My parents Aristocrat had this same sort of wiring also. Anyway, now I have the vent and rear window fixed. There's still more work to be done, but the only thing I really need to do now is fix one of the window screens and we will be able to use the trailer for our vacation in Glacier.

Brown black bear

Here's another picture of a black bear with a brown pelt, that I took in Canada last weekend. I just rolled down my window and snapped a few pics and then went on my way. They look slow and awkward but they can run really fast and can be on you in seconds. Plus I didn't want its filthy paws (and claws) on my nice clean lilly white car... This one looked pretty mean, but I've noticed that when you get close to bears they all look sort of artifitial. This bear and one other one were feading on dandilions. Who knew they ate dandilions? It wasn't growling, it just had a mouth full of dandilions.

Retro camping

We took the retro camper to Fairmont Hot Springs in BC last weekend. Here's a picture of it with the Columbia Valley in the background. I say "retro camper" because one time I was camping in it and some kid said "nice retro camper!" to me,.. and I was thinking it was just a camper but now I guess it's retro. And come to think of it, maybe I'm retro along with it?..

Queenie has been collecting Melmac to go along with the rest of our retro camping gear. So we got to have coffee for the first time in the lovely cups she found, and we made the coffee in the retro Revere Ware coffee pot that used to be part of the Gochenour collection. I appropriated it for our summer camping.