You haven’t seen a lot of deep-in-the-woods photos lately or heard anything about lazy afternoons at the summit. For the last 11 weeks, accounting for our move and the process of making our (temporary) Home on The Mountain, there hasn’t been much time for recreating — at least not like when we were “just visiting.”
Every day up here is a joy. But not every day is a picnic.
Beginning yesterday, we’ve enjoyed a respite from the summer heat. The long-range forecast promises a stretch of days in the 80s and nights in the 60s. Ozarkansans have earned the break, that’s for sure.
This morning, wind. (Yes, we minded the canopy.) Storms and rain, too, before noon.
Yesterday also was our first full day with the new generator. It continues to run quieter, longer and more efficiently than the smaller unit it replaced, somehow powering the RV’s AC to new depths of chill.
Exhibit A: We’d been setting the main air conditioner to direct its blast straight down, which we judged to be the best way to cool the living space. Yesterday afternoon, Deb suggested flipping the damper to divert air through the ductwork in the ceiling — and damned if it didn’t work. It cooled the whole coach, too, to the point that we didn’t need to run the upstairs AC before bedtime.
Exhibit B: By mid-afternoon, Deb was wearing a hoodie.
We originally chose the Predator 3500 for good reason and after considerable research. Lots of our friends are happy with their own 3500s (and other Predator models). We gave ours a fair trial — 550 hours by the time we turned it in, almost all of that in the last six weeks.
Unfortunately, ours had problems, notably overheating and a hair-trigger CO sensor. It’s also possible that the inverter was sketchy. Based on what I know, our experience was unusual. The 3500 is a great generator with a solid track record, and we don’t regret choosing it.
The jury’s still out on the Predator 5000’s durability, of course, but if it holds up, it’s head-and-shoulders better than the 3500 — a better choice for us, and a better choice for most folks. For a hundred bucks more, it offers more capacity and a slew of smart improvements, all wrapped in a package not much bigger than the 3500.
The break-in period, according to the manual, is about 30 hours. Our 5000 reached that mark this afternoon. I bought a quart of Pennzoil 10W30 (conventional) when I picked up the new generator, and I’ll probably change the oil tomorrow morning.
After that, I’ll change it every week or so for the next month and see how it looks. I hope to stretch the interval eventually and possibly move to a full synthetic.
I mean, if I want it to last, I’d better treat it right.
I didn’t post to Ubi Libertas Blog yesterday because I didn’t have a lot to say. I did a gas-and-mail run and I stopped by the weekly farmers’ market on the square in Yellville. (Three cukes and three jalapeños, fresh-picked, for a dollar-fifty.)
Later, we picked up pizzas at Breadeaux and had a beer at Crooked Creek Pub.
We ran the generator ’til 10pm, because we could. And we had our best night’s sleep since we got here.
Today was Laundry Day. Deb and I made the trip together, but we didn’t travel in anything resembling a straight line.
On our way down The Mountain, we checked in on our neighbor with the new truck — another neighbor and his grandson were helping install a brush guard and a winch. We stopped at the scenic overlook on the Marion County side of the White River. (They’d just mowed down the waist-high grass at the turnout, making it much more appealing.)
It was close enough to lunchtime that we could justify burgers’n’fries at Taylor’s Freez-King in Gassville, just up the road from the laundromat.
And then we did this week’s wash.
Heading toward Home, just east of the US 62 bridge over the White I detoured us through the town of Cotter. It was our first visit to this small town — “Trout Capital USA” — although in May of 2021 we camped across the river. Today we drove west over the mighty White on the iconic bridge we looked up at every day during our stay two years ago.
And that was our day.
Sure, we had a necessary chore to do on this summer Sunday, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t make a small adventure of it — chatting with neighbors, gazing out over a river valley, enjoying handmade food at a mom’n’pop, introducing ourselves to a humble American river town.
That, as you know by now, is how Deb and I roll. We take the time. We stop and we linger. We’re drawn to the small towns, the hole-in-the-wall restaurants, the good neighbors lending a hand.
We fall more deeply in love with Ozarkansas every day — and we’re just gettin’ started.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB