The Camping Season Closes

This past weekend, we made our final visit to Roseland Resort for this camping season.

It's been a good year: we made a number of small repairs to the trailer, replaced the window blinds with much nicer blinds, discarded some unused items to free up storage space, and did some additional landscaping around the trailer itself. The campground itself changed ownership, alleviating the cloud of uncertainty which had hovered around since the early part of 2010. The new owners made a series of very smart changes and more are in the pipeline: we're very happy with the state of things.

While the campground now is running 12 months of the year rather than shutting down entirely at the end of October, we've opted to stick to our original camping schedule. Being able to visit in December or January is nice on paper, but the water system would still be drained because of the risk of freezing and it would cost a fortune in propane to keep the trailer interior comfortably warm. Instead, the trailer has been cleaned up, emptied of all perishables, winterized and wrapped until spring. We might yet return to Roseland but we'll rent a cabin or guestroom instead.

Weather permitting, we hope to re-open the trailer in mid-March and winterize it again in early November of 2011.

Want to see what it all looks like in October? ( Click here! )

The Camping Season Closes

This past weekend, we made our final visit to Roseland Resort for this camping season.

It's been a good year: we made a number of small repairs to the trailer, replaced the window blinds with much nicer blinds, discarded some unused items to free up storage space, and did some additional landscaping around the trailer itself. The campground itself changed ownership, alleviating the cloud of uncertainty which had hovered around since the early part of 2010. The new owners made a series of very smart changes and more are in the pipeline: we're very happy with the state of things.

While the campground now is running 12 months of the year rather than shutting down entirely at the end of October, we've opted to stick to our original camping schedule. Being able to visit in December or January is nice on paper, but the water system would still be drained because of the risk of freezing and it would cost a fortune in propane to keep the trailer interior comfortably warm. Instead, the trailer has been cleaned up, emptied of all perishables, winterized and wrapped until spring. We might yet return to Roseland but we'll rent a cabin or guestroom instead.

Weather permitting, we hope to re-open the trailer in mid-March and winterize it again in early November of 2011.

Want to see what it all looks like in October? ( Click here! )

Our Furnace is Replaced

As mentioned last week, we have recently discovered we needed to replace our furnace. The new furnace arrived around noon today; it was all over by 5:30pm.

	Old Furnace This is the old beast. It lasted 24 years nearly to the day and was dismissed from service 10/20/2010.
	Midway through Replacement The old furnace has been removed and the AC exchanger is exposed. The exhaust systems have yet to be retooled as well.
	New Furnace The new furnace has a similar footprint but is shorter so extra ductwork was required. The exhaust for the water heater was replaced with a larger diameter for code compliance. A new humidifier has been attached to the intake ductwork. All was installed & functional 10/25/2010.

Overall, it was a relatively painless process --except for the hit to our household wallet. Then again, if we can keep this unit for another 24 years like the prior model, that would amortize to about $192/year. I can deal with that.

Our Furnace is Replaced

As mentioned last week, we have recently discovered we needed to replace our furnace. The new furnace arrived around noon today; it was all over by 5:30pm.

	Old Furnace This is the old beast. It lasted 24 years nearly to the day and was dismissed from service 10/20/2010.
	Midway through Replacement The old furnace has been removed and the AC exchanger is exposed. The exhaust systems have yet to be retooled as well.
	New Furnace The new furnace has a similar footprint but is shorter so extra ductwork was required. The exhaust for the water heater was replaced with a larger diameter for code compliance. A new humidifier has been attached to the intake ductwork. All was installed & functional 10/25/2010.

Overall, it was a relatively painless process --except for the hit to our household wallet. Then again, if we can keep this unit for another 24 years like the prior model, that would amortize to about $192/year. I can deal with that.