I woke up at 5:30! The sun coming in the window and shining on my legs makes me hot and wakes me up. Then, of course, there are the Red-Shouldered Hawks making a ruckus bright and early. I had to get up at 7:00 anyway…what’s another ninety minutes, eh? I put away everything in the camper and got it ready to tow into town, then went in to make sure Mr. FixIt was up. Mr. FixIt Jr. was coming over to help his dad cut down trees while I took the camper into town.

When I scheduled the appointment at one of the local RV dealers, I asked for the bearings to be repacked. I was assured they could do that. When I got there, the guy came right out and got to work. He said I didn’t have to unhook the camper and I could just sit in the truck. I was looking at my phone and caught a glimpse of the fellow crouched down by the wheel on the camper. I looked closer and all he was doing was putting axle grease in the fitting. When he came around to tell me he was finished, I questioned that because repacking the bearings is much more involved than that. He said I had a different kind of fitting and you don’t have to repack the bearings till you get your brakes checked. 

He led me to the office to pay and when I saw the bill, I nearly swallowed my teeth! $107! To put 2-3 pumps of axle grease in the nipple? I don’t think so! I reminded the woman that I had asked for the bearings to be repacked and she had told me they would be. I told her if I would have known all he was going to do was pump grease into the hub, I could have done that myself. I was kind, yet firm. She listened and compromised and cut the bill in half. No need to burn bridges on either end. They were accommodating to get me in on short notice and I appreciated that.

As I was leaving, I asked if she could direct me to the place when I could fill up the propane tank. It turns out, they fill them at the service center so I got that job done at the same time. The next stop was the tire shop. Again, I didn’t have an appointment, but they weren’t that busy and were able to fit me in. Having only one axle simplifies things because there are only two tires to change. They also checked the spare…and cleaned out the big wasp nest that was under the tire cover.

Next up, the dump station. I found one closer than the one I usually use and that made things easier. But when I was getting out of the truck to get started, I reached for my camper keys and they weren’t where I normally keep them. I looked everywhere…no luck. I thought back and the only place I could have left them was at the camper dealership. Fortunately, I ordered some spare keys early this spring for just this reason. We got the camper with only one key, so if we lost that, we’d be out of luck. I stashed on in the truck, one on the camper key ring, and one on Mr. FixIt’s key ring. I got in the storage bay for my tools and cleaned the tanks…easy-peasy. When I was finished with the tanks, I circled back to the camper place and there were my keys! 

I hurried home, unhooked the camper, and got it set up. Mr. FixIt & Son were cutting down trees when I got there. They called me over to video them cutting the big one down. It fell exactly where it was supposed to go. It was so big, it took them another couple of hours to cut it up and haul it over to the already huge brush pile. I went inside to finish with the cleaning and laundry so I could work on the meal for our family gathering. Everyone came over between 5:00 and 6:00. No one brought a bathing suit, but we still had a big time. 

Mr. FixIt added extra chairs on the deck and we sat out there for supper. The smoked pork was wonderful! I only added wood chips twice so the smoky flavor was very subtle. I think the next time I’ll add a third load of chips to give it just a bit more smoke. Our daughter-in-law brought macaroni salad, baked beans, sliced cucumbers fresh from her dad’s garden, and a watermelon. Our granddaughter brought her homemade brownies. Mrs. FixIt 1.0 brought her yummy homemade coleslaw. We furnished the pork, chips, and four kinds of homemade ice cream. That Ninja Creami is a pretty cool gadget! I made chocolate, berry cheesecake, banana cheesecake, and pineapple sorbet. The banana cheesecake was my favorite but everyone had a little scoop of each to try them out. Served with a small brownie and topped with sugar free whipped cream in a can and it was really a nice meal. We sat out on the deck and talked for a couple of hours till it started getting a little chilly.

Mr. FixIt had a wonderful visit with the family for Father’s Day…a day early. Now he can just rest today. So, we have leftovers, a clean house, and warm memories. It doesn’t get much better than that, does it?

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““Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬