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Hello, and welcome to the December Newsletter. Happy to see 2020 coming to an end. What a year.
Thanks, everyone for subscribing to and reading my monthly newsletters. If you're new or missed any editions, you can always catch up by visiting the Archive Page.
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What's New With Us
Happy Solstice! Winter is officially here now, but thankfully we haven't had any overly frigid weather. It's been a milder than normal December in Campbell River, which generally means lots of cloudy days and rain. Quite gloomy, but I'll take it over freezing weather in an RV any day.
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December is always a big celebration month for us, with our anniversary on the 14th, Anne's birthday on the 15th, and Christmas and New Year. We've made the best of it and had a lot of fun just the two of us, but we sure do miss all our friends down south. Strange, for the first time in 9 years, we are north for the holidays but can't get together with our families. Sad for that.
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To pass the stormy days, I've continued with my 2011/12 Throwback videos. It has been enjoyable for us to relive that first big RV trip in the brand new Cougar. Makes us hungry to go back and tour the east coast again someday.
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Whenever there is a little break in the weather, I've taken advantage of it with more mods and upgrades to the rig. This month I replaced worn suspension components with much better stuff, added new awning and porch lighting, and installed a third Drain Master electric valve. This time on the galley waste tank, install video coming soon.
One silver lining to this very extended stay in one place is the ol'Cougar is getting a ton of attention and looking/working better than ever.
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Anne takes advantage of nicer days to photograph the plentiful birdlife that calls the estuary home during the winter. Tons of ducks, geese, and marine birds. I earned big brownie points when I surprised her with a heated vest for her birthday. She loves it!
During the crappy weather days, she is on the computer processing them into beautiful art. Check out her blog at https://annemckinnell.com/blog/
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For folks wondering about how my winter prep is performing, the answer so far is thumbs up. I may have gone overboard for the weather so far, but better to be over-prepared than underprepared. Warm wife, happy life. :)
The EZ Snap skirting has worked out great and handled many gusty winds storms in the 80kph (50 mph) range without peeling away or damage. I love having the little shed under the fifth wheel overhang.
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The number one best addition, though for our wet winter weather here, has been the dehumidifier. With it, we have had zero condensation issues, and the interior of the RV feels comfortably dry and warm.
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My Ambient Weather Station display from today. Note the low indoor humidity. If you want to see the weather we are having in real-time, here is a link to my weather station's online page.
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So far, with a mild season, we haven't had to run the main RV gas furnace much at all and have gotten by with a pair of low wattage electric heaters and the warm air from the dehumidfier. One 30 lb LP tank lasted a month and a half. However, since we haven't used the RV furnace, we found that the floors were getting a little cold on our feet. Solved that problem with several different sized throw rugs.
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Things will change, of course, if or when colder weather shows up in the coming months, but overall I think we'll be fine. I plan to have a complete update video on everything after the worse of the winter has passed.
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2021 LYRV Calendar
Over the years, people have suggested that I put out a calendar featuring many of the beautiful places we have camped. With lots of spare time on my hands this winter, I've created one I call " Boondocking Beauty of the South West."
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I used a website called Create Photo Calendars as they took care of the payment and shipping for me. But if you would like to create one somewhere else here is a link to download my photos. I know that shipping to Canada can be expensive plus the exchange rate.
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