Again, I awoke early and when I looked at my watch, it said it was not even 7:00 am. I tried to go back to sleep as it was a very overcast day with the promise of rain in the forecast but to no avail. In the end, I got up and harnessed the dogs to go out walking. 

When we got outside, I discovered that it was raining in the wind, but we kept walking anyway. By the time we got back to the RV, my clothes were damp with moisture. It was not cold outside and not uncomfortable.  

We only covered a third of a mile before returning to The Caboose and obviously, it was not far enough as one of the dogs had an “accident” indoors almost as soon as we got back, I cleaned up the mess all the while muttering things under my breath like, “Darn dogs” or “You better not let me find out which of you did this” and other similar things. While I was muttering out loud, the dogs hid in the bedroom until I was through both cleaning and complaining. I don’t know why they are afraid as I would never physically punish them and never have. The most I ever do is yell at them, and they scurry off to find their hidey holes. 

I fixed us all breakfast with the usual result of me being the only one to eat it. It’s OK if Mikey saves his for later but Sandy has her medicine mixed in with hers and it is important that she eats it as she is supposed to take her medication twice a day. What is the old saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”. The same thing applies to my dogs and their food. 

I heated a breakfast Burrito for myself with that all important coffee. I say that every morning but in truth, coffee is a habit developed over the years of living here in America. I don’t particularly like the taste of the stuff. Sometimes, I drink tea for a change which is an English habit. 

After breakfast, I sat down in front of the computer to catch up on the blog. With that done and it usually takes an hour or so, I sat back and considered our options for the rest of the day. It was already 1:00 pm and the rain had moved on although it was still a bit cloudy. 

Daniel and Malinda stopped by to look at my Jeep. I had asked them to give me a hand in adding a tow hitch to it and they both willingly agreed. The new hitch unit had been delivered and Terri had brought it to my RV. This Jeep has never been set up to tow anything. 

I drove the Jeep over to Daniels shop where he and Malinda went to work. I handed them tools as they needed them or held something in place as they attached it but really, my contribution was not very much. 

They both spent a great deal of their time lying on their backs under the back of the Jeep as they worked on detaching the existing part from the bumper system which was difficult to remove. Daniel cut a piece out of it so that the new tow bar would fit.  Then they worked on re-attaching the new hitch to the rear of the unit and finally, putting everything back together again. It must have taken at least an hour to do the work and for much of the time both Malinda and Daniel were laying on their backs on the hard concrete floor and working on the unit above their heads, 

Greg stopped by and joined in and helped by handing tools and holding parts to be fixed. I did the same but spent most of the time helplessly standing by and just watching on. I felt bloody useless to be truthful. 

Finally, the work was complete, and the Jeep sat there only now it had a brand-new tow hitch. We tried it out by hooking up the carrier that it was installed for, and it worked perfectly. Now, my new to me Jeep looks just like the old one except for the color. 

I thanked Malinda, Daniel and Greg for all the work they just did, and they went back to their own RV’s and, in Malinda and Daniel’s case, to take a shower and clean up. I am so lucky to have such friends. I drove the Jeep from the shop and back to its regular parking space in front of The Caboose ready to be used for the next trip to the grocery store. 

The rest of the day was spent going out for one more short walk around the park and then it was back to the RV for the rest of the evening. I even went to bed early. I must have got tired from watching everyone else do all the work. 

Written June 6, 2024, read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com