A little bit of this and that

Pizza & Pina Coladas I woke a couple of times before dawn to the pitter-patter of rain drops beating against the tent roof. Great, I thought. My boat’s broken down, and now the weather falling apart. Can’t win! I got up around 8:00am despite the clouds. I expected everything to be wet, but once out of the tent I was surprised to see nothing but dry ground. Must have been nothing but a few sprinkles. It sure sounded much worse smacking against the tent. Just like the morning before, I readied the day’s first pot of coffee and then readied for my run. After I drank a fast cup of coffee I left for the run since I wanted to get cracking on fixing the boat. As I ran, I could see that the sky was brightening and a few breaks of blue were visible. That helped me to feel better. Once I was back, Mindy insisted that I eat before shoving off to Paul’s. I was determined to go, however. I took her advice and woofed down some eggs before leaving. I left by myself since everyone else was relaxing with their food. I was eager for some alone time anyhow. I found Paul’s right about Rt. 23 and Orange Rd. At the parts counter I requested both v-belts and decided to ask about a starter too. I described the symptoms and the fact that the starter had already been replaced once before. The gentleman at the counter told me it sounded like the slave solenoid. In the end, I bought the two v-belts, a starter, and a slave solenoid. All totaled, it was $313. He told me I could return the starter if the solenoid fixes the issue as long as I didn’t mount it. I took that to heart and decided on my return that I would simply replace the belts to get us back in the water for the day and do the solenoid and starter over the weekend at home where I could be more patient. The slave solenoid was only $23 where the starter was $200. I replaced both belts rather readily. I felt pretty good about the status. Mindy prepped and loaded the boat cooler and then everyone began tearing down camp. Tommy and Heather informed us that they would not be boating since they needed to be at work by 4pm. It was already after 12 noon. We finished tearing down camp and loading our vehicles by 1pm – the stated deadline – and then headed over to the camp dock. We bidded Tommy and Heather adieu. After launching, the boat started right off. I was somewhat relieved, although I knew there remained and issue since each time I tried to start the engine it required two or more tries to engage the starter. We headed out for another day of water fun. The sky was a little grayer than I would’ve preferred yet it was still a vacation day and still plenty warm, so we had a good time playing leisurely in the water once again. After about two hours floating about the lake the sky darkened and then it began pour heavily. At the same time, we were prepping to depart the cove for the open lake so that Glenn & Mindy could ski. It rained really hard for a bout fifteen minutes – enough to soak us and all of our gear. But by the time that Glenn had put on the skis and was ready to go, the sky brightened. And to make skiing conditions even better, most of the light boat traffic cleared. Glenn skied very well. He took completed two long runs. Next it was Mindy’s turn. She didn’t fair quite as well, but then again, she doesn’t possess the experience that we have either. I’ll say t his much, she’s a trooper. She tried until she finally got up, albeit for just a brief moment – barely long enough to say, “I’m up!” After Mindy’s skiing we headed toward the dock and called it a day. It was almost 5:30pm. After trailering the boat and securing it for travel, we headed for home. We were home by 6:15pm. For the next 45 minutes we unloaded all of our gear and put most of it away. At 7:00-7:15pm we called it a night and chilled out with a couple of Minnelli’s pizzas and some homemade pina coladas. We stayed up until after 10pm and eventually got in the hot tub. After about thirty minutes in the hot tub we called it a night and everyone went to bed.