Winter's over

I think I can safely say that winter is officially over at my house. I’ve already killed two mosquitoes Other than where mounds of snow were plowed up when clearing my driveways, the ground is clear and, for the most part, dry. The mounds are rapidly disappearing as well. I saw my first robin in the yard yesterday, as I write this.

Yes, I think the winter of 2023 – 2024 is finally over. And it’s about time!

With the clearing and drying of the ground, I went out the other day to my almost finished storage building to check on some vehicles that were parked there over the winter. Because of my goof in where I parked my snowblower before the heavy snows started, I hadn’t been out to the building since early November.

I wanted to see if my six-wheeler would start. I couldn’t remember if I had plugged in the battery trickle charger on the unit last fall – I hadn’t. I climbed in, inserted the key in the ignition and, much to my surprise, the engine turned over and started running almost immediately. I barely had enough room to drive it out past where the riverboat was parked. Once outside, I left it idling while I went back in to check on the Dodge pickup.

Same story with the truck – I hadn’t had it plugged in since November. And again, much to my surprise and pleasure, the engine immediately fired up and smoothed out into its idle in a matter of moments. I had left an inflatable raft in the back end of the truck and figured it would be flat – it wasn’t. The raft had as much air in it as when I left it last fall. So far, so good.

I left both vehicles running for about a half-hour while I did some minor moving around in the building. I need to pull the riverboat out of storage before I can drive the truck out to open up room in the building. I’m planning, for now, to park the truck beside the east side of the building to get it out of the way when I start moving a bunch of stuff back into the building.

The driver’s side mirror I had mounted on the door of the six-wheeler was broken. How, I don’t know. I drove the six-wheeler around in front of my garage at the house and removed the broken mirror. I went looking for a replacement at the local auto parts stores but was told that side mirrors like the broken one were no longer available. I went on Amazon and ordered a set of mirrors specifically designed for my UTV. They should be here by the end of the week.

The projects list expanded from replacing a broken antenna on the riverboat to include installing the new mirrors on the UTV. I should be able to do both with no problems (hopefully not famous last words). Then I got some more good news.

The repair shop where my motorhome had been sitting since last July called to say they had finished the rather extensive roof repairs, and that the unit was ready to be picked up. I asked if I owed anything and was told that insurance had covered all the repair costs. Finally, I got some use out all the insurance I had paid over the years!

I picked up the motorhome on Tuesday and drove it home. I brought the paperwork up to date (I keep trip and mileage journals) and checked on a few small items. My next job with this unit is to run all the appliances to make sure everything works properly. I also need to get it dewinterized and to get the engine and generator serviced, but that will happen over the next few days.

If all goes well, I hope to get down on the Kenai for some surf fishing before the end of May and then up to the Alaska Territorial matches near Talkeetna the third week in June. I can also use the motorhome to get my time in as a Range Safety Officer (RSO) at the Upper Susitna Shooters Association (USSA) this summer for several days in a row, saving a 95-mile round trip every day. I’ve missed having the motorhome available for these kinds of trips.

Speaking of the USSA, I overheard a couple of guys who would know say the range probably won’t be open until around mid-May because of snow.