Like last Shabbos, yesterday we had the chance to catch up with friends we haven’t seen since leaving Monsey in 2013.  In the afternoon, we had nonstop RV tours going on.

Today we took M over to the staging area for his backpacking trip.  He is one of eleven boys backpacking the Presidential Range in New Hampshire from today through Friday.  The boys had to pack their personal gear as well as a portion of the communal gear into their packs:

Ready to go:

Group photo:

There they go:

I can’t help but think of the last time M headed off for a personal first with a backpack, here heading off to his first day of school in 2006:

Emboldened by my successful oil change last week, today I drained and refilled the front and rear differentials, which is part of the 30,000 mile service:

Cleaning the differential seal:

M’s group has a Spot device along, so we can watch their progress from here.  Here’s today’s track:

Today we ran a number of errands.  We dropped off Trish and B at the Laundromat in Nanuet, then drove to Campmor to purchase hiking pants for M, who is going on a week-long backpacking trip in New Hampshire with his friends.  We also filled one of our propane cylinders and stopped at Lowe’s for supplies needed for repairs on the house.

This is what a well-biked laundry cycle looks like:

M has outgrown his boots, so we purchased this pair at the local sporting goods store:

Trish made these star cakes for Shabbos:

Good Shabbos from Monsey, NY!

Today in science class, M tested various compounds to see what color they emitted when burned.  I think this is his faux “Amazing!” face:

B pinned up the medals she and Trish received on the Tour de Simcha ride:

I did the oil change today:

Getting the filter out was tricky, as it had to be rotated and withdrawn horizontally, which made a bit of a mess:

Trish worked on making art using special sticks of material that are used in a conventional glue gun:

This afternoon I went for a ride with Moshe.  We ran into Simcha and his son, and rode together for most of the ride. The weather held for most of the ride, but a thunderstorm drenched us for the last 30 minutes:

The kids are having a great time hanging out with their old friends:

Tomorrow I’ll be changing the truck’s oil.  It’s the first time I’ve done this, but when the dealership charges $150 to do it, that’s motivation enough to learn how:

Shabbos was a lot of fun!  We had the chance to see many of our friends, and to share several meals with our friends Moshe and Jenny and their kids.

This morning we moved the RV into our driveway.  Surprisingly, we were able to back up the driveway without bottoming out.  We did have to remove one dead branch in order to squeeze the RV in:

Driveway sweet driveway:

Over the next week or two we will be doing work on the truck, the RV, and the house before heading back out on the road.  Stay tuned!