Memorial Day Weekend 1999 Bethel Island, CA Page 2 Saturday, May 29, 1999 We slept late today. I didn't roll out of bed until shortly after 9 o’clock. After getting up and around, we had a small continental breakfast and were ready to take on the day around 11 o’clock. I went to the dock to find Tom working away on the boat again. He was putting oil on the wood rails forward of the windshield. I asked if he had another brush that I could use to put oil on the other rail. Tom reminded me of the light inside needing repair. So I got my multimeter and went to work. Tom working on a teakwood boat rail I removed the mounting screws and lowered the light fixture down where I could get to all of the components. After doing a few tests, I determined that the problem with the light fixture was a defective lamp socket. So I removed the socket and disassembled it. The contacts inside the socket were very heavily corroded. So I scraped the crud off the contacts, with my pocketknife, until the metal of both contacts was shiny. Convinced the light would now work properly, I reassembled the light fixture. I turned the light on and it shined brightly. We now had all the lights working. I now know what needs to be done, if and when a light fixture was to become defective in the future. I figured I would do some fishing for awhile. I caught a small catfish to go with the one I caught yesterday. I had been fishing for only a short time when it was time to eat lunch. During lunch we heard that Kevin and Tina had arrived and they had brought Fred and Linda with them. Tom helping Kevin backup into his "Campsite" That’s me photographing Tom helping Kevin Tom and Nora went down to help Kevin backup into his parking space. Kevin had to make a fairly tight turn, from the road, as he backed into the driveway. Tom helped Kevin by giving directions through the rearview mirror. Nora watched for proper clearance on the side opposite from where Tom was standing. As I took photographs of the operation, it was unknown to me that Kay was taking pictures of me while I was taking pictures. When the motorhome was finally in position, Kevin activated the leveling system bringing on the familiar sound of the levelers raising the heavy load. Because the driveway sloped down from the back to the front of the motorhome, for the motorhome to be level inside, the front wheels raised several inches off the ground. It looked funny, almost as if Kevin’s motorhome was popping a wheelie. Front wheels are several inches off the ground Mickey We all exchanged greetings. It was good to see everybody again. Mickey (Tina’s Papillion dog) was very excited as usual. I still say that Mickey is so active because he is a six-volt dog and Tina has put a twelve-volt battery in him. For those old enough to remember toys without batteries, I could say that Mickey’s spring was wound too tight. Tom had a dog biscuit waiting for Mickey, but he was too excited to take the treat right away. It didn’t take long for us all to head for the dock. When Fred saw the dock, it was obvious that he had a lot of memories that involved past visits to the dock. It is affectionately referred to as "The Fat Dock." This name has to do with the big meals served up here in the past. Talking about the trip to the Delta After finishing lunch and talking for a while, I decided to go fishing again. I caught another catfish, this time a nice sized one. I put it in the basket and cast out again. Several of us were talking when Linda came running to the dock to tell us the bathroom in Tina and Kevin’s motorhome was flooded. Water, water everywhere ... its not wanted We all quickly went down to the driveway to see if there was anything we could do to help. I could see water was running down the driveway in front of Kevin’s motorhome. Kevin found that the toilet valve stuck partially open which caused the holding tank to fill completely. The toilet overflowed into the bathroom. From there water appeared to come out from beneath the motorhome in several places. Looking for water damage Kevin emptied the outside storage compartments to find a small amount of water there. It appeared as if most of the water damage was limited to the bathroom. The carpet there was soaked and Linda worked to get the water out, what a mess. This was NOT a fun way to begin the holiday weekend. The water was successfully drained from the motorhome or so we thought. It was then discovered that there was water in the heating duct under the floor. Somebody came up with a wet-and-dry shop vacuum cleaner to be used to remove the water. Fred operated the vacuum while Kevin lowered the front of the motorhome to get the water in the heating duct to flow toward the front vent. Fred vacuumed all the water out of the duct. About this time Linda said that most of the water had been removed from the bathroom carpet. Removing water from the ducting There wasn’t anymore that we could do, so we went back to the dock. I resumed my fishing and I caught another catfish. Fred took up a position on the end of the dock, across the open boat slip from me, and we fished for most of the afternoon. Fred fishing for another catfish I enjoyed the time we spent across from each other as we talked, became better acquainted, and fished. I kept catching catfish. It seemed at times that my hook hardly had time to hit the water and I had another catfish to retrieve. I haven’t had such good luck in a long, long time. I ended up catching a total of 11 catfish. Another pan-sized finned critter After a while, a card game broke out that took up most of the afternoon. The game took place on the picnic table on the dock. I watched for a short time, but I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. I felt a nap coming on, so I went down to our motorhome to take a short, late afternoon snooze. It felt good to power down and close my eyes. I slept for about an hour and a half. I was awakened by Kay coming in to our motorhome to prepare for the evening meal. A great evening meal with friends And a sumptuous meal we had, with Tom grilling some delicious marinated tri-tips. The dock really smelled good with the barbecue smoke swirling around. As was common this weekend, the wind was blowing. We had a nice pot luck dinner with Roger joining us for the evening. He is a friend of Tom and Nora’s and a neighbor here at the Delta. He was staying on a boat at the dock next door to Tom and Nora’s dock. I also found out that Roger’s vehicle was one of those contributing to the driveway traffic jam. The driveway is beginning to fill Earlier in the day, I extended the offer that anybody who wanted to clean the catfish could have them. Fred took me up on my offer and spent a lot of time cleaning the finned critters. I found it interesting to learn that he doesn’t eat fish. Fred cleaning catfish for Linda Fred said he was cleaning the catfish for Linda because she likes to eat fish. Fred was cleaning fish when I came back to the dock after my nap in the late afternoon. He was busy right up to time for our evening meal at which time he took a break. He then finished the job after dinner. Fred cleaned a total of 14 catfish, packing them away in plastic sandwich bags. Hot card game on a cool evening Another card game broke out this evening, which is not unusual for this bunch. As the evening chill crept into the dock, the card game was moved aboard the boat. Because all the lights were working, Tom said it was the first time, in a long time, he could see his cards so well. I must admit, it was very bright in the salon area. All the players seemed to be having a good time. Kevin planning his next move We had a beautiful full moon again, very much like the night before. As it came up, its shimmering reflection could be seen rippling on the water. If you have comments or suggestions, please contact the . ©1999, RVFunTrips.com. All rights reserved.