Day 432: First Sukkah in Banks

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Ben

This morning we built a small sukkah at Jason and Carrie’s house. We found an 8’ x 8’ platform (or something) that we set on its side and attached with a pair of 2x3s to the wall of this concrete pad area:

The kids all helped to put the schach in place:

Not to shabby for 30 minutes of work:

To avoid having an accident on the way back to Portland for the last days of sukkos, I installed the new brake assemblies on the RV. First I removed the wheels and hubs:

Next I removed the brake assemblies from the axles:

Because of faulty (or incorrectly installed) grease seals, the brake assemblies became filled with grease, making them useless:

I eventually cleaned the grease out the hubs so they could be reinstalled:

New hub assemblies installed:

Finally I reinstalled the hubs and wheels. Tomorrow I’ll replace the one brake assembly on the other side that needs replacing.

Meanwhile, Trish worked with the three girls making wire jewelry:

The kids enjoyed the company of the kitten:

And of course, M rode his new motorcycle today quite a bit as well:

Day 431: M’s new motorcycle

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Ben

Today we left Portland after the first three days of Sukkos and headed back to Jason and Carrie’s house in Banks. The big news was the arrival of M’s motorcycle. Some assembly was required:

I decided it would be best if I tested it first, just in case…. I’m not sure what:

M had a great time breaking in his new machine:

Another beautiful day in Banks:

Day 427: Sukkos is Coming

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Ben

Trish worked with Carrie and her daughter to finish painting the barn:

We said goodbye to Jason and Carrie’s kids before we left:

Once in Portland, we picked up our four species, which included a citron for me and for M:

Trish made a vase with Mod Podged leaves as well as plenty of dishes for the upcoming holiday:

B made some decorations. This is her cluster of grapes and a pomegranate:

We will be celebrating the first two days of Sukkos on Thursday and Friday, followed by Shabbos, so our next post will be on Sunday. Happy Sukkos from Portland, Oregon!

Day 426: Fields of Dreams

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Ben

Trish helped Carrie and her daughter repaint their garage this morning:

We later drove down to a local pond to do a belated tashlich:

Trish was inspired by Jason and Carrie’s homestead, so for an afternoon activity we looked at nearby land for sale. This 7 acre hilltop parcel had views that went on forever:

We also stopped at a local farmer’s market:

Tomorrow we will head back into Portland for the Sukkos holiday.

Day 425: Schooling and RV Work

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Ben

Today was out first day of homeschool for the 2014-15 year:

I worked on diagnosing RV brake issues:

As I suspected, it turned out that the factory-installed grease seals had failed, allowing grease from the axle into the brake assembly, which of course reduced our braking power. Also, two of the three hub assemblies have faulty brake arms that don’t return to neutral position when the brakes are turned off. I’m replacing all three factory hub assemblies which the same more basic but reliable hub assembly that I installed when a wheel fell off in Alaska. For now, I cleaned out the grease, installed new grease seals, and put everything back together: