The DisFort's Chit Chat Cafe

[bama_ed]

Not crazy about the crab legs, but I'll be right over for those strip steaks.

Happy Anniversary (again)

j

Wrap the steaks and crab legs in bacon and everything will be okay, @team bradfield

Spencer, you have a good looking set-up.

Sorry about the awning.

Ed

 

[Sjm9911]

Wrap the steaks and crab legs in bacon and everything will be okay, @team bradfield

Spencer, you have a good looking set-up.

Sorry about the awning.

Ed

Tiki god was your idea. Lol.

 

[bama_ed]

Tiki god was your idea. Lol.

I did notice it.

Yours is painted which of course makes it more attractive.

 

[bama_ed]

Well, @garneska and myself have cried in the past sometimes about the runDisney IT problems when trying to register for races at WDW.

Yesterday was the general public sign-up for the Disneyland Half Marathon at the end of January 2025. After never getting the registration process launched, they threw in the towel.


I am SO glad I got registered for both the 5k and 10k Wine & Dine races this year for just before our November DISMeet. That's the last runDisney races I'LL ever sign up for. If my kids or (future) grandkids want 'Pops' in a race with them, THEY'LL have to handle my registration. Because after all the problems they've had over the years with this stuff, to have it still continuing is simply incompetence. Everyone in the IT department should be fired.

But I feel sorry for all the racers who tried to sign up or waited over 3 hrs for the system to come on-line before cancelling for the day. They'll have to go through the stress again when the new registration date is announced.

 

[garneska]

@bama_ed i could not believe they still screwed it up again. This time they just said it will be another day. Am glad I was not signing up.

 

[garneska]

We left today for Harrison Bay State Park. The plan was to leave the condo by 9:30 and leave storage by noon. Figure we will have drama since we have not been in the rig since Nov.

We were almost close left the condo at 11 and left storage at 12:10. Honestly pretty good. The drama at that point is a stem on the tire and whisky being terrified of the moving house.

Got her in the crate and while she looks happy, she hates being locked in. I had to though for fear of her trying to get in Bert’s lap.



We did good and got to the park just after 2. We checked in and went to unhook and then this.



There is the drama. The filter on the transmission was loose or gasket but leaking transmission fluid everywhere. Thankfully we got to the campground and in our site.



@Teamubr will be to our rescue since he is coming in tomorrow. Hope it is just a filter and add back the fluid we lost.

 

[Teamubr]

See you tomorrow afternoon. And I have tools!

Stopped tonight just outside of Paducah. Fort Massac State Park, Metropolis, IL. Home of Superman.





And Harrah's



We'll be heading out in the morning and should be seeing @garneska and Whisky by early afternoon.

j

 

[bama_ed]

GO RIDE THE STEAM TRAIN AT THE TENNESSEE VALLEY RAILROAD MUSEUM! It's only 20 minutes away from Harrison Bay SP.

The local 'Missionary Ridge' runs behind a steam locomotive on Saturdays and Sundays. Five times each day 90 minutes apart. It's a short ride each way, through a tunnel, change the loco direction on a turntable, and get the repair/restoration shop talk. TVRR is my 'home' railroad. We've been going for decades.

www.tvrail.com

They have two operational steam engines. #630 is the smaller, 2-8-0 Consolidation wheel type and #4501 is the bigger, 2-8-2 Mikado wheel type.

Pro tip from me: stand outside the front of the 1st passenger car immediately behind the tender while going through the tunnel (it's at the far end just b4 the turntable and shop area). Smell the smoke and cinders of a real steam loco up close.

They have a live webcam too at the main depot (Grand Junction).

https://www.tvrail.com/webcam/

Enjoy your camping trip and good luck on the repairs, Bert.

ED

 

[bama_ed]

@Teamubr, your Cardinals are going to play right up the road tonight at Rickwood Field in Birmingham. This is a big deal/coup for Rickwood and I'm happy that it will receive its recognition. Minor league professional baseball was played there regularly for decades.

Willie Mays played on the Birmingham Black Barons for a couple seasons and Reggie Jackson spent a year on the Oakland A's AA team in 1967 in Birmingham. Visiting teams had big names come through including Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Honus Wagner, Jackie Robinson, Christy Mathewson, and more.

For those that don't know, MLB's annual "Field of Dreams" game in Iowa is not being held this year due to expansion/construction at that location so MLB's signature event was moved to Rickwood this year (the oldest ballpark in the US) and repurposed to honor the Negro League teams that played at Rickwood and around the US in the last century. Rickwood Field opened in 1910.

When I worked in Birmingham the late 90s-early 00s, the local AA team (which now has a downtown field) who are still the Birmingham Barons would play 1 or 2 games a year in the spring at Rickwood and our office would take the afternoon off and go to the game. It definitely has that old time feel. Small, too.

Anyway, hope your Cards beat the Giants tonight. Game is on Fox at 6pm Central (7pm Chattanooga time).

ED

 

[Teamubr]

Thanks Ed. The railroad was on my radar and I knew about the Cards game, but didn't know the history. Hopefully the Cards play a little better than they just did against the lowly Marlins.

j

 

[Teamubr]

Ian picked up another 3D printer and in honor of 626 day, printed a few appropriate items.



This one takes a minute and is better viewed on a bigger screen. See if you can figure out what it is.



j

 

[Sjm9911]

Replaced my awning fabric. This is at least a 2 to 3 person job. So, yea I did it myself.....I like taking an easy hour long job and making it a 6 hour ordeal. I am not happy how it rolles up, I may need more ajusting or to be re rolled on the roller. But it works, and is new. Pictures! They key is you need many ladders and strapping to hold everyrhing in place. This necessitates 100 trips up and down said ladders just to set up the whole thing. It took me 2 hours of pre-planning to figure out how to do it.

 

[Teamubr]

Definitely a 2 person/2-3 ladder job. I did mine a couple of campers ago.

They look good when done.

j

 

[bama_ed]

They look good when done.

I will say an awning is one thing I miss with my Aliner.

Our first popup, a Jayco 12' box highwall with a slideout dinette, had a nice big awning that tore initially (my fault) and got replaced with a nice big aftermarket awning and I used telescoping (extendable) painter poles pivoting off the bottom of the frame to hold that big thing out there and I could individually control the angle of 'dip' on either corner. It was a masterpiece.

Aliners don't come with an awning (the company doesn't even offer one) and after market offerings are lame. They would cover you if it was raining when you stood on the steps to open the door but not cast a big enough shadow to feel the openness sitting underneath it.

So Spencer, you demonstrated with your planning and thought process why you made it into the leadership ranks in your Fire Department.

It looks good and it makes me a little 'home'sick. Good job.

Ed

PS - pic from our Fort stay April 2013 in site 100 loop (#127)

 

[Sjm9911]

That and I own a crap ton of ladders. Lol.

 

[bama_ed]

More pics to the one I added in my post above.







Leaving for the parks we dropped the awning each time.




My OE awning got tore up because I was a newbie and was camping in 900 loop at the Fort and set that puppy straight out parallel to the ground for max shade and left it there while we went to the parks. It rained while we were gone and the rain puddled on the horizontal awning and got so big the weight of the water tore the canvas in a straight line so we found a wet mess when we returned.

Most of my camping knowledge was acquired in this way through the school of hard knocks.

 

[Sjm9911]

I learned from everyone else to secure and take in the awning. Lots of people have stories ed. Do you take an ez up or clam type shelter with you? I have the gazelle , a clam knock off . It's nice but the screens restrict air flow so it's hot. I think they make them with removable sides now.

 

[bama_ed]

That and I own a crap ton of ladders. Lol.

Well you're still a fireman at heart. I would expect nothing less.

 

[Stratman50th]

That and I own a crap ton of ladders. Lol.

Who would have thought. Fire Chief owns a crap ton of ladders.

 

[4077]

Oldest son is now officially a US government licensed pilot.. passed his checkride (flight and oral exam given by a designated pilot examiner) today!!!