It’s Hot. Always. This is not photo shopped. Trust me. The heat is so intense you can literally feel it burning your skin.There is a constant hum in the background- and when it’s missing, you notice it, look at the thermometer and realize that the temperature has, indeed, dropped below 90*, and both air conditioners have shut off (this is a rare occurrence).
Usually when this happens, you are asleep, because the temperature usually only drops that low at about 2 am.
For anyone working outside, the work day starts at 5 am. That includes the crew working across the lane from us, unfortunately. By 2 pm, you do NOT want to be outside working. In fact, with a UV index of 11, you don’t even want to be outside swimming in the (very warm) pool in the afternoon.
There are creatures that are around in the summer time that aren’t really noticeable in the winter. I have not seen a scorpion yet, nor a rattlesnake, but Paul saw a rattlesnake that had had an unfortunate accident with the automatic gate to the RV park.
Many of Paul’s projects lately have been related to summer heat.
To help our air conditioners keep up with the heat, he built sun shades to keep the sun from directly hitting the side of the trailer- this also helps the refrigerator.
On the other side of the trailer, in addition to sunshade, we also have misters that we run- although- since it by 10 pm it has usually only cooled off to 100*, the only time we sat outside was the day it rained and the temperature went down to 82!
The roof of the Jeep used to be black. When Paul tested to see how hot it was, it was about 160*. Painting it white dropped the temperature about 40 degrees. He also added insulation on the interior of the roof.
We keep our shades drawn (think “cave”) and fans circulating the air. We bought “pillows” to put in the ceiling vents to keep the heat out. At this point, the air conditioners have managed to mostly keep up, so as long as neither of them break down, we should be OK.
Whenever I talk about how hot it is with someone, they are happy, it seems, to inform me that I “ain’t seen nothin yet”. They always say “just wait till August- when the heat is still unbearable, and the humidity spikes.” Oh Joy. Something to look forward to!
Summer is Monsoon, or “rainy” season. I made Paul back up so I could get this priceless picture.
All kidding aside, there ARE some serious storms that blow through this area. Just 3 days ago there was a storm that took out a bridge on Rte 10, a major interstate. Luckily no one was hurt, but the bridge is still out.
Whenever it looks like rain, we get the cameras ready and try to figure out where the best show will be, here at the RV park, or up at the house. (Yes, I cheated to get these pictures. I took a movie, and then took stills from it )
Our new neighbors assure us that we will have the best seats in town to watch the storms rolling in
(we didn’t bother to tell them we won’t be here in the summer).
Of course, we try to escape here as often as we can, in the camper, and will continue to do that. Unfortunately, the heat is such that we don’t dare leave any thing that could be susceptible to heat in the camper, so all that stuff “lives” in a bin on the couch. Can’t leave cat food, toothpaste, cooking oil, or even cleaners, since we don’t know how they’d react in extreme temperatures.
Leaving a bin full of stuff on the couch is a small price to pay though, since it gets us that much closer to escaping to reasonable temperatures whenever we have the opportunity.
House Update
Wow, once the start gun went off, the crew has been going like gangbusters!
The frames for the exterior walls were built, but not put up for a few days because a storm was in the forecast. Once the weather cleared, they seemed to go up in the blink of an eye.
This one gives you an idea of how big the RV garage will be- 65’ long, 18’ wide.
Next came the interior walls. This is the walk-in pantry in the kitchen.
When they had just finished the cement, Paul and I thought the house looked way too small, but now that the walls are going up, it seems to be growing. This is the rear of the house.
Today was the day for the trusses. The crane showed up before 6 AM to start lifting those massive pieces up to the roof.
These guys are like a well oiled machine, and the trusses went up in no time!
Of course, the neighbors have all been curious, and many of them have come over to introduce themselves and see what’s going on. We’ve met quite a few of our neighbors already, and hope they keep coming over to say hi!
