I’m learning that there are problems with being old. It seems like I have forgotten that I have this webpage! I’m chalking that totally up to the birthday I had recently. Without divulging my current age I will tell you that I now qualify for the national parks pass. Something my son bought me for my birthday. Now I have to get out and use it. My time since Thanksgiving has been really totally taken up with “end of the year and beginning of the year” projects at my work. My company seems to think that they have to meet all their targets and goals in the last month of the year. And they want to have all of the next year’s goals and targets and all the plans to achieve those targets developed by January 31st. I also decided that I really should do some of the work on the house that I could not get contractors to do when I first moved in.  So I replaced 3 windows in the basement that had rotted out at the bottom because they were below ground level. It was a huge job since I have no idea how windows are installed. I also had the bathroom in my master bath rebuilt with tile and sliding glass doors. Actually the glass doors are still not installed yet. I ordered them through Home Depot and they came in smashed. According to the Home Depot receiving clerk they were at the bottom of a pallet full of bags of fertilizer. So I’m gonna try again to get these glass doors delivered to Home Depot. Next, if that doesn’t work,  I’ll have to have a pro-glass company do it!

While I did the windows all by myself in my spare time here and there, the bathroom I had a contractor come in and do, especially since I wanted tile and there was some significant framing work. The big change was that I had a wall torn down and reframed over the stairway into the basement, which I wasn’t qualified to do. But the bathroom contractor said it would take him 2 to 3 weeks if I tore out the old shower, toilet, and vanity so that he could just throw in the plumbing, shower pan, and tile. Unfortunately it actually took him a month and a half. And as I stated above, the glass doors still are not in so I can’t actually use the shower. And while the bathroom is all painted, I still have to paint the trim and molding on the basement windows on the inside. And I’d really like to do some minor touch-ups on all the white paint that Akela has scraped off the wood work around the house jumping on doors and things when I come home. So house repairs and work continues probably through February.

Because of Akela, we still have to go hiking and visit interesting places or he gets extremely obnoxious. He whines and cries and barks to go out, then 10 minutes later he barks and cries and whines to come back in holding his disgustingly muddy ball in his mouth,  because what he really wants is for me to play ball with him. We have played quite a bit together but his stop and go technique puts a very large mudslide through the yard. So right now as every other day seems to be in the 60s, I have spread out a lot of grass seed and am hoping that I get a decent yard of grass before April. He has missed out on quite a bit of protection training this season also because it’s been very rainy and/or very cold on Saturday mornings. Also I’ve had to work a couple. So his training isn’t going too great. We always train on hikes and walks with basic obedience(sit, stay, come, heel, find the stick (his favorite), but he is also training in protection and bite work, and he seems to be losing his interest in that. He went through a “fright stage” back in November where a lot of different things would have him run into his crate and hide there. I think he’s got over most of those. But right now a loud slap or clap sends him backing off and looking like he’s ready to run. He will be 22 months at the end of February, and lots of dogs go through something like this until they’re about 2. And hopefully he will get through it, though I plan on helping him get through it with some training techniques I know. But all in all as a companion pet he is the most outstanding dog. We connect extremely well and he understands what I want from him almost every time. And he obeys really well. It makes me think I should just get him a playmate, but I don’t know if I could stand another 2 years of puppy hood. Its an incredible amount of work.

Just to catch up on the YouTube channel, from Thanksgiving through Christmas I couldn’t really do any Aliner travels so I did some cooking videos of some of my favorite recipes to take on the road when we travel. I’m very appreciative of all the comments I got from everyone,  but according to YouTube analytics I lost 12 subscribers while doing those videos. I don’t think I’ll be doing any more cooking videos. I did a “tongue in cheek” video about why you shouldn’t want to own on Aliner and I gained 30 subscribers for that video. So that was a good improvement and I’ll have to figure out if I need to do a lot more about Aliner’s or just silly humor. We got invited to go to the Tampa RV show and did a little video on that. It’s pretty cool now that I have over 5000 subscribers on my channel (it only took 5 years) places like  the RV shows and some festivals are allowing me to participate as a “social media VIP”. That means they let me in free and I get special privileges. It also allows me to make much better videos for you guys. And now that I’ve got the national parks passport I will be able to go and do more video of the National Parks and Historic places for you guys. (What you think about that Randy)  This year I will be going to the Aliner rally in Tennessee April 24-26 and would love to see any subscribers there. My Aliner is showing a lot of wear and tear and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to fix it. I still have a minor leak on the roof after some really heavy rains. I think I can live with it, I hope the Aliner can.  I may have to upgrade to a new Aliner  $$$$.

We’re also looking forward to going to the Davidson River Campground in Pigah National Forest just south of Asheville, NC sometime this summer. That is if they are opened. They were closed for tree removal and repairs after a number of big storms. I also plan on getting up into Kentucky this year, probably during the heat of the summer, into the Daniel Boone National Forest and the other nearby national forest areas. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube Overland videos on overland routes through the area and they’re quite beautiful as most of them are old railroad beds or coal mine roads. And my son is still up in Blacksburg Virginia at Virginia Tech so I need to get up there and do some camping around the Washington and Jefferson national forests in Virginia and West Virginia. So that’s the past and the future. I hope if you see me on the road honk, or if you see me in a campground or on a trail please stop and say hi. I think I can keep this up for another few years. So I’m hoping there will be opportunity to see everybody. Though thanks for stopping by to read this. Have a great upcoming camping season and hope you get out on the trails.  I’ll try to check back here a little more often !