I got up and had just taken a shower when there was a knock on the door. Looking out, I could see it was Delores and that she was carrying a couple of things I recognized. I hastily pulled on a pair of shorts figuring that I did not want to shock her by appearing in my birthday suit and let her in. We chatted for a bit, and she mentioned that there was no water in the RV, her reason for stopping by. Telling her to give me a minute to get some clothes on, I harnessed up the dogs and followed her down the hill. 

Sure enough, there was water leaking everywhere as the unit that holds the filter was not properly secured. Neither was it set on the proper settings which I quickly took care of, after tightening up the connections. We chatted a bit more and then I left her to do the cleaning work. Glad it is her and not me as I would rather pay someone than do that sort of cleaning. I can do the day-to-day stuff but thorough deep cleaning, I leave it to the professionals. 

We walked back up the hill and I made breakfast and coffee for me. Sandy helped me eat my Burrito but Mikey, as usual, just guarded the piece that he got. From where I sit and write, I can see Quatro parked in his temporary spot. The funny thing is, I have no regrets about the decision to sell him as the travelling part of my life is over as we move into the next stage. Besides, The Caboose has much more room in it for everyday living. 

I have been working on the plans to build a permanent deck to The Caboose. Currently, both doors have 4 steps to get in and the door handle on both is just out of reach from the ground. I must scramble to reach them to get in.  

What I have been working on in several different variations is to have a 10 ft deck with steps on both ends to make an easy entrance when I either arrive by Jeep one way or am out walking and come in using the existing steps, the ones that we built the handrails to. I have not made up my mind whether to enclose the entire thing with doors on the front for more storage or to leave it open and buy a couple of premade storage units to put under it. I hate to waste space as storage is a premium in an RV.  

I do plan to enclose the entire top deck with a gate at both ends so that the dogs can run free in that outside area. 

I need to do more research on the stand-alone units to see if they will work. They will certainly make the building easier and less of it as the alternative is to enclose the entire unit and install shelves and doors on the front beside making the deck waterproof, which is much more work. The cost would be about the same, one for materials and the other for prebought storage units. 

I got a call from Delores asking me to come and check on the valves to release the water from the tanks. We harnessed up and walked down the hill to Quatro. She was nearly finished with the work and the RV was already looking exceptionally clean and sparkling. I pulled a couple of handles and the valves opened and released the contents into the sewer standpipe. She handed me some clothes she had found, and we walked back up the hill. 

I made a couple more trips back to Quatro as Dolores was doing her cleaning job and, in the end, she called me to come down for the final inspection. I harnessed up the dogs and we walked back down the hill, and I walked around with her. She had found a few things but unfortunately, the glasses were not among them. We settled our account, and I went about the business of unhooking the sewer, water, and electric lines. 

Prior to completing this job, Daniel and Malinda stopped by to admire Dolores’ handiwork and took a good look at the unit themselves. I walked the dogs back to the RV and was going to park the RV back in its spot when Daniel suggested leaving it there overnight. He also invited me over for a beer. I put the dogs back in The Caboose and walked back to Daniel’s RV where Dolores and later, jack showed up. We sat talking about the world and the conversation switched to how hard Dolores had worked and how nice the RV looked to Daniel making me an offer for the unit, much to my surprise. 

We chatted about it for a bit and in the end, I agreed to sell it to him. We talked about it a bit more and then both Dolores and I left to go to our respective RV’s. 

The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion with food all around, a glass of wine and watching another Premier League Football match. 

Written 04/10/2023 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com