The Carpe Diem Visits Ohio University and Narrowly Averts Catastrophe!

Both my beautiful wife and I attended The Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.  It is in fact, the place we met and fell in love.  It was quite fitting then that the last 'leg' of our first trip in the Carpe Diem go through there.   

The Carpe Diem at the College Gate in Athens, Ohio.

Before we get there, we need to catch up a little on the trip since the last update.  We loaded up and headed to Granville, OH where our good friends Mike and Christina were in town to visit their family.  We met them for a nice brunch at a place called Day y Noche.

Mike and I with the Carpe Diem.

After a great visit with them, we dropped them off at Mike's parent's home.  We were able to see his Mom and Dad too.  I was very close to them too.  

Erica and I turned towards Athens and things were looking well.  Then, near disaster struck.  We were on one of the many small roads that lead towards Athens.  We heard a loud plunk and then the sound of metal scraping across concrete/gravel.  I was able to quickly check to be sure that it was safe to pull over.  I did so and we carefully got out to take stock of what happened.  The tongue of the trailer popped off the tow ball.  Thankfully the safety chains held, the tongue of the trailer actually rode up onto the basket on the front of the trailer.  If we had been on a larger road, or going faster, things might not have turned out as well.  

The basket took a little bit of a hit; nothing a sledge hammer can't fix.

I learned to pull up on the tongue to make sure it has properly latched! 

The road rubbed the tongue a bit, but nothing a little Rustoleum can't fix.  

We took a huge breath, hugged each other and counted our blessings.  We started back towards Athens.  The rain had held off all morning, but it started again along the way.  Almost everything had changed.  Even the freeways were different; the small towns of Lancaster and Nelsonville had bypasses which were terrific for travel, but I'm not sure they will be good for the small businesses in those towns.  We made it to Athens and went to The Strouds Run State Park.  Neither of us had camped there before and mid July, during the week, is apparently the least visited time in the park.  In fact, we were the only people in the park.  It rained almost all evening and into the night.  Something was going on with our battery and it did not fully charge while we were in Powell.  So, the hot and humid weather, and the relentless rain made for a less than perfect night of sleep.  Well, that and the fact that we were the only people in the entire park, in the middle of Appalachia, without any cell service... Nonetheless, we made it and here is the view we had when we woke up this morning.

Here was our campsite.

I love the panoramic feature on the iPhone!

We hitched up and headed back to Athens.  We thought that early morning would be a good time to try to take the photo of the Carpe Diem at the top of this post.  Then, we headed north to pick up the kids.

My parents and my nephew with my kiddos!

The skies looked ominous as we started toward home.  About half way home the skies opened up.  We stopped for gas and I checked on the teardrop.  I was not happy to see a white, milky-type substance dripping from the front of the teardrop.  The caulk was clearly not dry and it was obviously not reacting well to the pounding rain.  I decided to not think about it and deal with it when we finally got home.  

The arch at the border of Ohio and Indiana; a brief respite from the rain.

About five hours later, we pulled into our driveway.  The kids were great; they jumped out and started clearing out the car and the teardrop like a pit crew at the Indianapolis 500!  A little while later, we had the teardrop on the concrete patio, the luggage and laundry emptied and were ready to assess the damage from the rain.

The aluminum 'drip guard' that we had glued in place came off again.  Thankfully, it fell into the basket again and we were able to retrieve it.  One corner started peeling away a bit.  We'll need to re-glue that corner once everything has dried out.

All our gear washed and ready to dry.

The sheet of linoleum on the back of the teardrop drying after being washed of the liquified caulk.  We put the EZ Up overt the teardrop so that we could let everything dry.  Once it does, we'll start all over with the caulking process.  Hopefully we'll get a stretch of dry weather.  We were all very happy to shower and head to a much needed night of rest.  It was a terrific trip, but we are all glad to be back!

Change of Plans...

Well, the best laid plans of mice and men...we ended up with some problems this morning.  We went out to check on the teardrop's cabin.  It had rained seriously hard overnight and was down pouring  as we ate breakfast.  Unfortunately, the caulk had reacted with the intense humidity and heat.  The caulk, which is pretty thick, began to liquify and was not solidifying like we had hoped it would.  We knew we would not be able to put the mattress in as it was.  We tried backing up the CRV and putting the teardrop in the garage, but it was just way too tough to maneuver with the basket on the front of the teardrop; it impacted the turning radius in a big way.  We gave up after a few minutes of trying and being completely soaked by the rain while we tried.

We decided to go ahead and take the kids to my parents to visit and we would stop at Harbor Freight on the way back and get some of the things we would need.  The first thing we bought was a 12" extension to the trailer tongue.  After buying a coupler lock, a new pin and a few other supplies we headed back to Powell.

Putting the extension on the tongue made a HUGE difference!  I was able, with some support from Erica, to back the teardrop into the garage quite easily.  I can't believe I didn't buy that thing before!  After getting the teardrop in the garage, we plugged in two fans and started airing the interior out and charging the batteries.

Installing the extension was simple; just insert a new coupler pin.  

Drying out in Powell.

Two fans drying the caulk.

We've decided that we would stay the night here while the cabin dries out and the caulk cures.  We hopefully will be able to load up in the morning and head to Athens.

Just an aside, I noticed some water in the galley area too.  I'm not sure what the cause of that is, but it has to be partly due to the poor seal and fit of the hatch.  That's not nearly as important to me as the cabin is, but it will have to be addressed when we get home.  For now, we wait and pray for no rain.

Mid-Trip Reassessment

We headed south from Sugar Island, Michigan, and as we did, we were met with lots and lots of heavy rain.  The Carpe Diem pulled well; we ended up taking two lane freeways the last half.  Our destination was Columbus where we were staying the night with Erica's brother and family.  We woke up this morning and went out to grab some laundry to wash and found a very unwelcome development...

The marine fabric that was on top of the floor in the bed area of the teardrop.

The first thing I noticed was that the bedspread was wet.   Upon further inspection, I saw that not only was the bedspread wet, the mattress cover was completely soaked.  I pulled the bedspread out and soon saw that under the mattress the marine fabric was also completely soaked.  

The foam of our mattress.

After pulling out the mattress and the marine fabric, I found the problem.  We knew that there was a small problem with the floor under the doors.  There seems to be some kind of bowing of the plywood floor that pulls it away from the metal frame of the walls.  I had jacked the frame up earlier and then bolted through the bowed wood before I caulked and weatherproofed the side walls.  Over time, the bolts pulled out of the wood and the 'gap' opened again.  Unfortunately, the rains penetrated the gap and the marine fabric and the mattress pad simply absorbed and wicked the moisture up from the bottom of the floor.

After removing the marine fabric from the floor.

The gap, look at the space between the silver sheet metal screw and the black wood floor.

I went to Menard's and picked up several tubes of caulk, some backer rod and a remnant of linoleum and necessary adhesives.  I've decided that the marine fabric is not the best material to use for my flooring.  Of course, I kind of knew this, but I didn't see a 'need' to do so until now.  Thankfully, I was able to purchase a small remnant that will fit very well for our use.  

I removed the old caulk and backer rod.  Then, I added a layer of caulk in the gap and then inserted the backer rod into it.  After an hour or so, I added another layer of caulk and some more backer rod.  In all, I probably have an inch of 'caulk' in the gap with the backer rod.  I am planning to cut the linoleum a little wider than the flooring so that I can use it to bridge the gap in the frame/floor.  I am hopeful that the linoleum will protect the mattress from any moisture that might possibly get in.  I can't imagine that any moisture will make it through the incredible amount of material I put in there today, but you never know.

The aluminum flashing at the top of the neoprene rubber rock guard needed to be re-glued today.

Somehow, quite miraculously, the small piece of aluminum that is at the top of the neoprene came unglued and landed in the basket.  So, since I was caulking, I cleaned up the area and re-glued the piece of aluminum.  We are hopeful that this will prevent any water from seeping down under the neoprene layer.  

The linoleum remnant has a wood grain look.  I cut it a little wider than the mattress to allow for some overlap of the metal.

Looking at the linoleum in this view, it makes me think about the storage boxes on the floor; it would have been slick to have the linoleum down to create a water-tight layer.  

The linoleum cut very easily with a razor knife.

I used a straight edge to cut the 'lids' to the storage boxes.  For now, I'm just going to leave the marine fabric on the 'lids.'  I will switch them out when we get home.

I think it looks pretty nice!

My next step was to add yet another layer of caulk to the edges.  I pulled up the linoleum along the edges to let the caulk dry overnight.  Like I said, I'll replace the marine fabric on the lids when we get home.  I am thinking about not using the adhesive that is usually used in a household application.  I think the heavy duty contact cement should be just fine. 

While we were on the first couple of legs of our journey, we made a list of 'additions' or improvements we wanted to make to the Carpe Diem.  Some of them are practical, some of them are creature comforts, some of them are fun things to do.  Here is the list up to now:

1. Add hat hooks (possibly use velcro to hold the hooks).
2. Make a square 'key' for locking the locks inside the cabin.
3. Come up with some kind of system for pulling up the triangle brace.
4. Velcro corners on the curtains
5. File down bolts on the door locks.
6. Re-do the driver side door lock (not matching up properly).
7. Glue driver side cup holder back in place.
8. Side table or folding table to hold stove and a space to work and prepare meals.
9. Fresh scent for inside the cabin (lavender oil or air freshener?)
10. Remove and vacum the vent screen and window screens.
11. Cover the door hinges in the same rubber used on doors.
12. Trivet for putting hot pots while cooking.
13. Add tea and sugar to our supplies; both regular and decaf.
14. Spoon rest for cooking.
15. Salt.
16. Clorox wipes.
17. New Stove (propane; our Coleman is not optimum for cooking).
18. Propane (we saw someone who kept their propane tank in a milk crate for ease of moving it around and being able to lash it to the cargo basket).
19. 12" extension for the tow tongue (We learned that the cargo basket cuts down on our turning radius an awful lot!)
20. Crock Pot: if there is 120 volt power we could use it to cook a meal while we are away, or if needed we could use the inverter in the cabin.
21. Crossword puzzles/word finds.
22. Mancala Game.
23. Cribbage (we want to learn how to play.)
24. Cards
25. Electrical Tape
26. Duct Tape
27. Random electrical connectors.
28. Screwdrivers
29. WD-40
30. Carabiners (the two 'hooks' we used to hold the chains in place were bent and broken during travel.)
31. Fly Rod and associated gear.
32. Assorted Rubbermaid containers to store food in the cooler and prevent it from becoming contaminated from water, etc.  Also to put ice in to help ice last longer.

Just a 'few' things to add to the Carpe Diem!

We are planning to head south tomorrow morning to drop our children off with their other grandparents for a few days.  Erica and I are going to revisit our College Alma Mater, Ohio University.  We haven't been there together in over 15 years.  We look forward to spending some time in the place where we fell in love.