Days 123 & 124: Still in Oviedo

One thing that I have repeatedly failed to mention is that one result of our travels is that Alea has lost about 20 pounds over the past four months (not that she was overweight to begin with).  Considering that she has probably also gained a lot of new muscle mass (and muscle is heavier than fat), she's probably shed 25 or more pounds of fat.  And the great thing about that is we've both been eating anything we want (I've lost 7 or 8 pounds, since I was already fairly lean from all my years of bicycle hill climbing).  So that is a very big benefit of the lifestyle that we've chosen.

The Sando Sisters: Alea Sando, Ann Carlson and Jean Sando.

One purpose of maintaining a blog is to increase the chances that we might reconnect with old friends and acquaintances, which happened last night.  Alea's friend Marty (Leach) Malone called her to say hello.  It turns out she still lives in Palm Harbor, FL, not all that far from where we'll be staying for the next two months.  So we are certain to reconnect with her while we are waiting out the winter.

To my knowledge, Marty's ex-husband is no relation to me (though there are Malone descendants of my 3rd and 4th great grandfathers in Florida, so it is a possibility).  The irony is that we share the same name: Steve Malone (they had divorced before I met Marty in the mid-80s).

I shifted gears yesterday afternoon and started working on a little project for my sister-in-law, Jean Sando.  Before we arrived, she had a leak in her laundry hot water line and the plumber removed  a section of sheetrock to make the repair.  So I offered to repair the hole that was left after he was done.  I got it patched and retextured, but she'll need to do the painting, since she no longer has any paint of the correct color.

The patch, after the first coat of mud.

I've been wrapping up our changes to the van.  That included having to relocate my fork mounts after having our leather seats installed, as I hadn't left enough space to allow for any minor adjustments to the seat position.  We also received our new Dremel tool today (the battery on the old one finally gave out and no replacement batteries are being made for it), so I finished grinding off the fork nubs on Alea's bike (so that it goes on and off her fork mount much more quickly and easily).  We also received her tiered laundry basket, which she is using to store her cycling clothes.  It makes it very easy to organize her clothes in a manner that it is easy for her to quickly find and access what she is seeking (our cycling clothes are stored in the van with the bikes, everything else except our coats are stored in the camper).

Partially ground fork nubs. 

Our packed van after all of our recent modifications.

A close up of Alea's tiered storage for her cycling clothes.

When we arrived in Oviedo we also discovered that water had somehow been getting into the cabin of the camper through the doors.  It turns out that this issue is related to our Ford Transit Connect van.  While it is about the same width as our former Mazda CX-5, the wheelbase is wider.  Wider than our camper, and wide enough that in when we drive in rainy weather road spray is forced up into two slots at the base of the cabin door windows, where it makes its way inside and onto the floor of the camper.  The irony here is that in our epic Corwin Ford of Nampa debacle our special order van was to have had splash guards, which possibly would have prevented this problem (it certainly would have lessened it).  So there's yet another negative consequence of their inept handling of our order (it has been a gift that just won't stop giving)

I've ordered some vinyl splash guards that are being shipped to Palmetto, which will provide a permanent fix to the problem.  A temporary fix is to simply put tape over the slots if we are driving in the rain (making sure to remove the tape when not driving, as they are condensation drains, allowing any moisture that accumulates inside the cabin a path to exit to the outside).

So we are once again ready to hit the road, though our travels for this year will very soon be over...