Category Archives: Spyder

Our New Hometown

In my post last Thursday, I said I was looking forward to some relaxation. I mostly got my wish, but there were a few things that needed to be done. A change of address isn’t as simple as it sounds. There were several notifications that had to be made – financial institutions, insurance companies, pharmacy, vehicle registration and driver’s license, voter registration – I’m still coming up with things.

I also had a couple of small projects to tackle. Just before we arrived here in Siuox Falls, I was driving up I-29 with the cruise control set. As we neared the city and traffic volume increased, I tapped the brake pedal to cancel the cruise control – this usually works best as I can then press the resume button if I want to go back to cruise control without having to reset it. This time the brake pedal didn’t cancel the cruise control and I had to turn it off with the button on the steering wheel. I made a mental note to check it out after we settled in.

When I was dropping the trailer in our site, I set the engine speed to high idle. I did this by simultaneously pressing the cruise control “on” button and the “set” button. This increases the idle speed to about 1,000 rpm and keeps heat in the combustion chambers. Idling a big diesel slowly for extended periods can allow the cylinders to cool too much and unburned fuel can collect on the cylinder walls – eventually it’ll make its way past the piston rings and dilute the oil in the crankcase. Stepping on the brake pedal drops the engine speed back to the normal idle speed – around 650 rpm. Except this time it didn’t. I dropped the idle speed with idle control rocker switch and parked the coach. I had Donna check the brake lights – as I suspected, the brake lights weren’t working.

The control module for the cruise control receives a signal from the brake light switch. When you press the brake pedal, the brake light switch closes and activates the brake lights. I thought the brake light switch on our coach was probably a pressure switch hydraulically actuated by the master cylinder. I was surprised when I crawled under the coach on Thursday to find it wasn’t so, it was a simple, spring-loaded mechanical switch on the brake lever arm. The brake pedal is attached to a lever arm that’s shaped somewhat like a boomerang. The center of the arm is mounted to a pivot point and the other end of the arm is attached to the master cylinder pushrod. A switch is mounted against the lower portion of the arm – with the brake pedal in the normal (not on) position, the arm presses against the switch and opens it. When you step on the brake pedal, the arm moves away from the spring-loaded switch and it closes, completing the electrical circuit to the brake lights and sending a signal to the cruise control module.

Brake light switch

I had Donna step on the brake while I observed the switch, It was stuck in the open position. I pulled it closed and it started working again. I sprayed some WD40 on the switch rod and had her work the pedal a few times. All was good, job done.

Friday Donna rode her bike on the bike path. The paved path is only about half a mile from Tower Campground and runs along the Big Sioux River. It was hot out – the thermometer hit 86 degrees with high humidity. I mostly puttered around and relaxed with a book. In the afternoon we rode the Spyder to another local brewery – Granite City Food and Brewery. The place has a good reputation, but I found the beers to be average at best. I think they’re known more for the food they serve.

Speaking of food, later Donna fixed shrimp fennel and feta which she served over rotini. Yum!

Shrimp with fennel and feta over rotini

My friend David Hobden bought a new motorcycle and I’ve been following a road trip he’s on with his motorcycling buddy. Dave got a 2017 Indian – I think it’s the Chieftain model. They rode from Colorado Springs, Colorado down to Louisiana. The other day I saw a guy here in the park with an Indian Roadmaster. I talked to him for a bit and found out that the rights to the Indian name were obtained by Polaris and they have been building Indian Motorcycles since 2014. The Indian name was used by a few different manufacturers in the ’90s and early 2000s – some of them weren’t very well-engineered motorcycles.

Polaris made Victory motorcycles and their engineering is proven. The new Indians look like a great motorcycle, worthy of the name. The original Indian Motorcycle company made great bikes from 1901 to 1953. Interestingly, another guy here at the RV park has an antique Indian that he rides almost every day. One evening Donna and I walked down to his site and checked it out. It was a 1946 model. I’ve ridden motorcycles since I was a kid, but I don’t know if I could handle this one. The throttle is on the left grip, not the right. That’s because you need your right hand to grab the shift lever next to the fuel tank to shift gears while working the throttle with your left hand and the clutch with your left foot!

1946 Indian

Shift lever and knob next to the fuel tank

Saturday I set up the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker grill and prepared a rack of baby back ribs. That was my big project for the day! The temperature reached the upper 80s and I mostly stayed cool and read a book. Donna has been braving the heat and either walking the river trail or biking every day. I read two books over the weekend and watched the Moto GP race from Austria on Sunday. I got ambitious in the early afternoon and cleaned the Traeger and the Weber Q and relined them with aluminum foil.

Saturday evening Donna and rode I the Spyder to the fairgrounds and went to the PRCA rodeo. We enjoy rodeos – it’s an All-American experience although several Brazilian cowboys are on the professional circuit nowadays.

Monday I started packing and organizing the trailer. I had one more project – it was time to service the Spyder. Nothing is easy on the Spyder. You have to remove body panels – the tupperware – to get to anything. Then the engineers have packaged everything so tightly that the simplest tasks are a struggle. For example, the oil filter element is housed under a metal cap on the left side of the crankcase. The cap is held in place by two cap screws. Fine, except they routed the shift linkage and an oil line right in front of the cap. The lower screw cannot even be seen. I removed and installed it by feel only and had to wiggle the filter element out past the obstructions. Oh well, it’s a once-a-year task and I got it done.

Today we’ll be pulling out of here. I think we’ll dry camp overnight at Ditty’s Diner in Kimball as we head west. We already checked and they allow overnight parking in the large lot by the diner. Rain is forecast to move in from the east early this afternoon. Hopefully we’ll outrun it as we move west.

 

Mister, Can You Help Me?

Sunday was our last night at Griff’s Valley View RV Park. We really liked this place – it’s right on the bike trail, clean and well-maintained and did I mention quiet?  Donna seared a flank steak in a cast iron pan on our induction cooktop. She sauteed fresh green beans and cherry tomatoes that we bought at the farmers’ market the day before. She served the flank steak with pan gravy over mashed sweet potato and it was a winner!

Seared flank steak

After dinner, I put away our chairs – I had already packed the Weber Q grill and Donna’s bike in the trailer. I checked the lug nuts on the trailer wheels with a torque wrench – they were fine. For the first few thousand miles, the trailer lug nuts needed to be tightened periodically. Now they seem to have settled in.

A thunderstorm passed through in the wee hours of the morning. By the time we were up and had breakfast, it was drying outside. Donna went out for a morning run and we showered before hitting the road at a leisurely 10:45am.  We had a couple of possibilities in mind for an overnight stay on our way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Our route took us up I-35 about 20 miles before we turned west on US30 through Ames.

We decided we would head to Spencer and dry camp at the Walmart there. We stayed in Spencer last year when Donna rode across Iowa in the RAGBRAI event. Our route took us northwest toward Spencer in a stair-step fashion along divided US highways and two-lane county roads. It was all farmland. It’s amazing to me to see nothing but corn or soy beans for mile after mile. The terrain in Iowa isn’t as flat as you might think. There are gently rolling hills.

At the junction of IA3 and US71, traffic came to a stop. When I say traffic I mean all eight cars on the highway – there isn’t a lot of traffic through central Iowa farmland. The hold up was due to an oversize load on three trucks trying to negotiate the 90-degree turn. Once the trucks and escort vehicles got through the turn, they pulled off to the shoulder to allow the cars and trucks they held up to pass.

Once we were in Spencer, we made a right turn and headed east on 11th Street – which is still US71 – and found Walmart. We parked in the northwest corner at a level spot. Once I had us set up, I saw a commotion down the road where we made the turn. It was the oversize truck convoy coming through. Once again, after they made the 90 degree turn, they pulled into the center turning lanes and waited for traffic to clear before moving on.

The three trucks were hauling wind turbine blades. These long composite blades were probably for a GE 2-2.5 Mega-Watt wind turbine – it’s the most common in the US. The turbine utilizes three blades to power the generator as the blades are spun by the wind. The blades for a GE 2 – 2.5 MW turbine are 116 feet long. I don’t know how they got the trucks and trailers through 90-degree turns! I shot a couple of pictures as they drove past.

Wind turbine blade

Wind turbines use three blades because it’s the best compromise when you factor in efficiency, balance and tip speed. I never thought about how they get the blades to the site before.

We had a quiet night although once again, a thunderstorm passed through in the night. It was dry in the morning and we took our time getting ready for the road. Donna took a walk to a nearby park for exercise before we left.

As we drove through old downtown Spencer, Donna recalled riding through it last year. We stayed on US71 to the junction with US18 which took us west. I recognized a lot of this road – this was the route – in the opposite direction – we took to get to Spencer last year.

US18 took us through Canton, South Dakota. When I was a kid, I visited Canton in the summer of 1965 to stay with my great-uncle Ed. Ed and his wife Sadie lived in Canton where he was the county sheriff. I stayed with them for a week after spending a week at a cousin’s farm near Lennox.

We pulled into the Tower Campground around 12:30pm and were assigned site 207. The back-in site is paved and has a pad for a vehicle. We dropped the trailer without too much difficulty although we had to maneuver within inches of a tree. We were all settled in and relaxing by 2pm.

Strange reflections on our coach in site 207

The back-in sites here align with the site directly behind putting the back of our coach a few feet from the back of the coach behind us. We have a nice grassy area with a picnic table. We’re booked here for a week.

Donna prepared something new to us for dinner. She made blackened catfish and served it with green lemon rice.

Blackened catfish with lemon rice

We’re re-watching the HBO series Deadwood and sat through a couple of episodes before heading to bed. Lying in bed, we could hear voices from our neighbor. A group of people were sitting outside talking over each and telling tales. Some of them must have been funny, because the group would roar with laughter. By 11:30pm, I’d heard enough. The campground rule is quiet time after 10pm.

I went outside and found six or seven women sitting around a campfire in the site behind us. They must have thought they were alone in the woods or something. I asked them if they knew what time it was. One of them actually looked at her watch. I reminded them that quiet time was 10pm to 7am. One woman said, “We’re just sitting at the fire next to my coach.” I told her they were sitting at a fire 20 feet from my bedroom and needed to quiet down. Things like this happen sometimes in RV parks – people forget about neighbors and think they’re camped out when in reality they’re in a high-density area. Hopefully it won’t happen again.

Wednesday morning I was up early to shower and have a cup of coffee before I headed out to the Avera Healthcenter for my annual check-up. We have health insurance through Avera and it covers an annual physical here in South Dakota. That was the main reason for our stop here. Donna had three appointments for the day – the first one at a hair salon, followed by a mammogram and a visit to her doctor.

We worked out a plan where she walked 2 1/2 miles to the hair salon, then I rode the Spyder there to pick her up at 1pm to take her to the doctor about six miles away. I got to the hair salon a little early and was standing by the Spyder when an Asian women from the nail salon next door called out to me and asked if I would help her. She waved at me to follow her – I shrugged my shoulders and followed her into the nail salon.

She told me in broken English that she needed help putting up nail polish display racks and handed me a cordless drill and a handful of screws. I installed four racks for her and she offered me a pedicure. I declined as Donna would be ready to go any minute. It all seemed a little bizarre, but it made the wait interesting.

Donna had two appointments at facilities about a mile apart from each other. I dropped her off at the first place, then she walked to the second appointment and I planned to pick her up there around 3:45pm. Again, I arrived a little early, but I brought a book with me to fill the time. It’s a good thing I did – the doctor was running late and Donna hadn’t even got in for her 3 o’clock appointment when I arrived!

We were on our way 45 minutes later and stopped at Hydra Beer Company – a local brewery and tasting room – for a cold one. They have some good ales made onsite in their 10-barrel system. It was a good way to cap off a busy day.

We grilled green chile turkey burgers for dinner before watching a couple more episodes of Deadwood and then hit the sack. Thankfully it was quiet last night and I slept well – I needed it. Donna had to go out for one more appointment this morning for a fasting blood draw, then we can relax. The forecasts calls for sunny skies and upper 80s for the next week. I have a couple of projects in mind and we’ll go to the rodeo on Saturday. Other than that, I’m looking forward to some relaxed days.

 

Iowa Cheese and Beer

Friday morning Donna marinated a pork tenderloin with her mojo marinade sauce. I grilled it on the Weber Q for dinner and Donna prepared acorn squash and asparagus for side dishes. I cooked the pork to an internal temperature of 135 degrees – perfect.

Mojo marinated pork loin with acorn squash and asparagus

Saturday morning we headed out on the Spyder around 9am. We went to downtown Des Moines for the Saturday farmers’ market. The market is huge – it covers nine city blocks in the historic courthouse district.

Des Moines farmer’s market – Polk County Courthouse in the background

We spent an hour and a half wandering and shopping the vendor stalls. Donna bought lots of fresh veggies. We also bought some cheeses – I bought a quarter pound of Maytag blue cheese that came from the Maytag farm near Newton, Iowa. This delicious cheese differs from most blue cheeses in that it’s made from cow’s milk instead of the traditional sheep milk or goat milk. Maytag blue cheese was developed in 1938 by Iowa State University and was first produced at the Maytag farm in Newton, Iowa in 1941. Frederick L. Maytag II and Robert Maytag, grandsons of the founder of the Maytag appliance company, Frederick L Maytag, first made it commercially available. It is delicious – a little bit goes a long way!

We left the farmers’ market around 11am as the crowd grew heavier and the temperature started to rise. The temperature hit 90 degrees in the afternoon. We mostly hung out in the air-conditioned coach and read in the afternoon. Griff’s Valley View RV Park is very quiet. The grounds are well-maintained and the clubhouse right behind our site (one of two on the property) is immaculate. The bathrooms look more like something you would see in a fancy restaurant or hotel – nice tile floors and backsplashes with granite counters. The shower stalls are also nicely finished, clean and private with individual exhaust fans in each of the showers. Saturday someone reserved the clubhouse for a party and it was still quiet!

Saturday evening Donna manned the grill and made chicken breasts that she spiced simply and served them with a kale salad – made with fresh kale from the farmer’s market, green apple, chopped dates and almonds and crumbled Maytag blue cheese. A nutritious, delicious meal!

Chicken breast and kale salad

I paired the meal with an IPA from Kolona Brewing Company in Kolona, Iowa. The ale was called Sucha Much and it was made with only two hop varieties – Nugget for bittering and CItra for finishing. But they use five different malts in the wort. It’s unfiltered and the cloudy brew has yeast dregs – it was interesting, flavorful and I liked it. I read that their brewery has four 15-barrel fermenters and two 30-barrel fermenters but only two 15-barrel bright tanks – no wonder some of their beers aren’t clarified.

Sucha Much Today

A thunderstorm passed through around 4am this morning. With it came high winds, but it didn’t last long. After breakfast, Donna went out for a 25-mile bike ride (her fourth ride this past week) before it got too hot. I watched a very entertaining Moto GP race from the Czech Republic.

I don’t think I mentioned the ponds here at Griff’s Valley View RV Park – they have two of them and they have fish in them. I fished for a bit on Thursday and caught half a dozen fish in about 45 minutes. I braved the 96-degree temperature and fished again this afternoon. I caught 12 bluegills in about an hour! The fish weren’t very large, but fishing is always fun when you’re catching fish and I was releasing them anyway.

A couple of bluegills from the pond

When it cools down a bit this evening, I’ll pack the grill and Donna’s bike in the trailer. Tomorrow we’ll head out of here. I’m not sure where we’ll stop tomorrow – somewhere between here and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We’ve booked a week at Tower Campground there beginning on Tuesday. We plan to make doctor visits and check out our new mail service location while we’re there.

It looks like we could be in for another wet driving day. Hopefully we won’t be caught in any severe thunderstorms.

 

Satellites and Trains

We’ve been enjoying our stay at Griff’s Valley View RV Park in Altoona – near Des Moines, Iowa. The park is super clean and well-maintained and it’s also very quiet – both day and night. Now that we’re west of the Mississippi, it was time to reset our DISH Network satellite antenna to the western arc.

DISH Network broadcasts from clusters of satellites in different locations. They have multiple satellites in each location – some are for redundancy and others are used for various channels, pay-per-view and High Definition. I don’t know for sure how many satellites they use. The main television broadcast satellites are located at a longitude of 110 degrees west and 119 degrees west. Additional satellites are at 129 degrees west and 61.5 degrees west. The 61.5 degree satellites are for the eastern arc. The western and eastern arc overlap in the midwest.

When we’re in the northeast, we cannot receive a signal from 129. We have to locate satellites at 61.5 degrees. Our Winegard Road Trip satellite antenna has to be reconfigured to locate 61.5. This is done with DIP (dual-inline package) switches on the unit. There are eight DIP switches. By opening or closing various switches, the motherboard for the antenna is reconfigured. Anyway, while we were in the northeast, I set up the satellite antenna for 61.5 degrees – DISH eastern arc. Now I had to reset it to the western arc – 110, 119 and 129 degrees. It entailed climbing on the roof, removed the antenna dome cover and configuring the switch. Not a big deal.

Satellite antenna controller

Tuesday afternoon Donna and I rode the Spyder to Bondurant – a small town a few miles away from here. We went to the Reclaimed Rails Brewery. They have some good beer brewed onsite in their 15-barrel system and the finish work of the interior of the pub is unique.

The have reclaimed and repurposed wood and corrugated tin for the finish work. The bar top surface was cut out of an old trailer they found in Branson, Missouri. The bar was trimmed with a cove taken from an old train depot. The ceiling was lined with corrugated tin they found on an old barn in Minnesota. The table tops on the deck were made from the lids of old oak bourbon barrels. It was all nicely done – I wish I’d taken some photos.

After we came home, Donna whipped up seared scallops with a jalapeno vinaigrette and sweet potato spinach hash for dinner.

Seared scallops and sweet potato hash

Thursday morning Donna was getting ready to head out on the Chichaqua Valley Trail on her bike when she found a problem with our door. Our door had a check lever that stops it from opening more than 90 degrees. The check lever has a pawl that locks the lever in place, holding the door in the open position. To close the door, you have to release the pawl with either the inside or the outside door handle. The door wasn’t locking in place – it was swinging about in the breeze.

I was afraid the pawl was broken. This can happen if someone unfamiliar with the door mechanism tries to force the door closed without releasing the pawl with the door handle. We haven’t had any visitors lately, but it could have been damaged at an earlier time. I got the ladder out of the trailer and inspected it. The pawl wasn’t broken – it was sticking in the open position.

Door check lever pawl

The pawl is spring-loaded and is operated by a cable attached to the door lock mechanism in the door. I pushed the pawl into the locked position and it seemed fine. I released the pawl with the handle, then closed and opened the door. The pawl didn’t catch on the door check lever. I inspected everything and didn’t find anything broken, so I cleaned and lubed the cable and the pawl rod. It’s working nicely now. Job done.

Door panel removed to expose lock mechanism

Donna rode up the bike trail past Valeria and back – about 26 miles – and got home before it was too hot out. After lunch, we took the Spyder north on US65 and rode through the little village of Valeria and continued east for a few miles until we found Trainland USA. Trainland USA is a museum/display featuring Lionel “O” gauge model trains and accessories.

It was conceived and built by Red Atwood and many friends. He began collecting Lionel trains in 1961. He eventually built a 2600-square-foot building to display trains and accessories – including model trains dating back to 1916.

It has 4,000 feet of track, 35,000 hand-cut ties and 120 automatic switches. The display is set up to depict train activity across the country. You take a walking tour that begins with a diorama of Grand Central in New York, then follow along as the dioramas take you through the southern states to the west coast, up the coast and back to Omaha. I shot a few pictures, but the lighting was challenging and I was shooting through glass, so the pictures aren’t the sharpest.

 

On the way back, we made another stop at Reclaimed Rails Brewery for a cold one. I really enjoyed their red lager. Last night, Donna prepared tortilla-crusted tilapia for a dinner – always a favorite.

Tortilla-crusted tilapia with a dollop of salsa and green beans

The weather had been warm – in the low to mid 80s and breezy. Today will be the start of a heat wave. The forecast calls for a high of 97 degrees and the weekend will continue to have highs of 90 or greater. Tomorrow we plan to go to the farmers’ market in downtown Des Moines – rated one of the best in the country.

 

Corn Country

As I mentioned in my last post, rain was falling Sunday morning. The horse show at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, IL ended Saturday night and everyone was leaving. Most of the sites there don’t have sewer hook ups, so there was a long line at the dump station. Donna and I were in no hurry to leave. I watched the Formula One race from Hungary until heavy rainfall blocked the satellite reception. Oh well, it was time to get to work.

I donned a jacket and my palm straw hat and went out in the rain to pack up the trailer. Then I dumped and flushed the tanks and put the rest of the gear away while Donna made the interior ready for travel. We were ready to go at noon.

Our plan was to drive to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa where we could dry camp overnight at the Walmart there. When I programmed the destination into Nally, our Rand-McNally RV specific GPS, she wanted to route us up the interstate to Peoria, then west into Iowa on I-74 to US34. I wanted to take a rural route and stay off the Interstate. So, I changed the route by setting a waypoint in Rushville, Illinois. The thing is, sometimes Nally knows best. The GPS will take weight limits and clearances into consideration when advising the best route.

We had an easy drive, rain notwithstanding, through western Illinois on IL125 to US67. Traffic was light and soon we broke out of the storm clouds as we headed west. But, there was a snag. Nally diverted us outside of Macomb and we were on county roads driving through farm fields. The roads were narrow with no shoulder. Luckily there wasn’t any traffic either. After a few turns and about 10 minutes or so, she had us back on US67. I’m guessing there was some obstruction or weight limit in the town of Macomb that we had to work around.

Narrow county road through corn fields

We crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa. While we’re now west of the Mississippi, I think most people would agree we’re still in the Midwest, not the West yet. When we cross the Missouri River, I’ll feel like we’re back in the western states.

This is corn country. All day we were driving with corn fields on both sides of the highway, broken up here and there with soy beans. We found the Walmart in Mt. Pleasant and parked in a level corner of the lot. Donna made a shopping run and stocked up the pantry. When we stop at a Walmart, Donna can take her time and really shop the aisles. She can buy whatever she wants without having to think about how much space she has for stuff in the Spyder – she just walks a full shopping cart out to our rig.

Even in town there are corn fields

After a quiet night in the Walmart lot, we hit the road Monday morning a little after 9am. Our destination was about 140 miles away – Griff’s Valley View RV Park in Des Moines. It was an easy route as we got on US34 from the Walmart parking lot and followed it west all the way to US65 into the east side of Des Moines. We stopped and fueled up at the Pilot/Flying J Travel Center a few miles from the RV park. It was only 11:30am, so we were early to arrive at the park.

There was a Blue Beacon truck wash next to the travel center, but it had a long line. We decided to join the queue since we were in no hurry. We were badly in need of a wash job. We’ve been traveling through wet weather for weeks on end without a wash and the coach was grimy. An hour later, were shiny and on our way.

After working around a couple of road closures, we found the RV Park. The park is owned and operated by the Griffieon family who also own a farm nearby. They run the park from an office at their farm. We were instructed to phone when we arrived at the park. Donna phoned and talked to Carol – she directed us into our site. It’s a paved 70-foot long back-in site. Plenty big enough for our size without dropping the trailer. But, I saw a problem. The 50-amp electrical service pedestal was located at the rear end of the site. With our trailer behind the coach, our power cord wouldn’t reach it.

Carol suggested dropping the trailer in a nearby area next to a garage. We found that parking area was already full of trailers. A guy working in the garage told us there was another parking area past our site. To get there, I needed to get us turned around. This wasn’t so easy. The park is laid out to allow entry and exit of big rigs, but the angle of the intersections make it impossible to get turned around when you’re heading out of the park. I drove out onto the county road in front of the park, went north about a mile where a dirt road intersected the county road. I was able to make a three-point turn there and re-enter the park. Whew!

We looked at the second parking area and found it full of trailers as well. Donna called Carol again and she told us to sit tight, Dave would come over to help us find a solution. By the time he arrived, I decided to unload the Spyder, back into the site and go buy a 50-amp extension cord.

Dave was really helpful and he told us to back in as far as possible and not worry about the trailer overhanging the lawn in back. As it turns out, we actually got in far enough for our cord to reach and got set up. Although we haven’t had the need for an extension cord much in the last five years, this was the second time in a month we had an issue with placement of the power pedestal. Once we were set up, I took the Spyder to Imperial RV Center about seven or eight miles away and bought a 15-foot 50-amp extension for $87. We’re okay without it right now, but if we have this issue again, I’ll be prepared.

Our site at Griff’s Valley View RV Park

On the way back from the RV store, I stopped at a roadside stand where a woman was selling fresh sweet corn in front of her farmhouse. The sign said “Sweet Corn $5.” I asked how much corn for five bucks and she said, “A dozen ears.” I said, “Oh no, too much.” She thought I meant five bucks was too much money for a dozen ears. I explained that there were only two of us and we couldn’t eat a dozen ears of corn in a reasonable amount of time. She gave me four ears of corn picked that morning for a dollar!

Griff’s Valley View RV Park is right on a bike trail. Donna was raring to go so I got her bike set up. While I was pumping up the tires, the presta valve on the rear tire broke. I removed the rear wheel and pulled the tire off. I had tubes and a pair of new tires on hand, so I put a new rear tire on while I was at it. Man, those Continental Gatorskin tires have stiff beads. It was a workout to seat the bead on the rim.

Donna rode out of the park and headed northeast on the Chichaqua Valley Trail. This is a paved multi-use trail from Baxter to Berwick – about 26 miles. It intersects with other trails into Des Moines, so biking from the RV park is convenient.

Later, I got the Weber Q grill out of the trailer while Donna prepped a steelhead trout filet with a mayonnaise based topping. I grilled the trout and Donna sauteed fresh mushrooms with bacon pieces to top a baked potato. She also cooked the corn on the cob. It was a delicious meal and the corn was the best we’ve had in a long time.

Steelhead trout, baked potato with mushrooms and bacon and sweet corn on the cob

After dinner, we sat outside and enjoyed the evening. It’s very quiet here at night. We saw a lightning show in a thunderhead off in the distance but it stayed calm and dry here. The forecast for the coming week looks good with mostly sunny skies and temps reaching the low 80s.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

 

Maintenance and Mail

We’ve had a good time here in Springfield, Illinois. We played pickleball Thursday morning at Iles Park and had some great matches. Thursday afternoon I had a maintenance chore to take care of.

When we bought our coach four and a half years ago, the generator had about 400 hours on it. I change the oil and oil filter on it every 150 hours of operation and change the air and fuel filters at 500-hour intervals. On May 31st, just eight weeks ago, it had 1,364 hours on it when I last changed the oil and filter. Since then we’ve done a lot of boondocking, plus we had the battery bank problem which had me running the generator more often than usual. We now have 1,505 hours on it and it was time to change the oil and filter again plus change the fuel and air filters.

1,505.8 hours on our Onan generator

They don’t have any rule against performing maintenance here at the Springfield Fairgrounds, so that was my chore for Thursday afternoon. While I was at it, I changed the fuel filter for our Cummins ISL diesel engine – an annual maintenance item.

Friday morning we started with pickleball until noon then I took it easy for the remainder of the day. While I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw a post in an RV group that said MyDakotaAddress.com was closing. What? Terri at MyDakotaAddress.com has been receiving and forwarding our mail since 2013. She also assisted us with vehicle registrations and our first South Dakota driver’s license applications. I phoned Terri and was shocked to find out it was true. I don’t know what the circumstances are, but something suddenly went bad as she told me she was closing on the 31st – next Tuesday!

I needed to act fast so we don’t have our mail service interrupted. After some research, I decided to sign up with YourBestAddress.com in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I worked with Tanyel in their billing department and she e-mailed the forms I need to get on board.

Meanwhile, Donna prepared pork kababs which I grilled along with peppers and onions while she made potato salad and corn on the cob that she picked up at the farmers’ market here at the fairgrounds.

Grilled pork kababs with peppers, potato salad and corn

One of the forms I needed to submit for our new mailing address was Postal Form 1583 which needed to be notarized. The nearest notary I could find on Saturday morning was at a shipper called Box and Go about 10 miles away. Donna and I both had to have our signatures notarized.

On the way there, just blocks away from Box and Go, Donna spied a Chase Bank branch that was open. The one nearest to the fairgrounds was closed on Saturday. We went to Chase since we bank there and have free notary service. The notary there stared at the form for a couple of minutes, then said, “I can’t notarize two signatures – there’s only a space for one signature on this form.” I told her we had submitted one of these forms before and I was sure we had both names and signatures on one form. She looked at the form again and said, “It says right here a separate form is needed for each applicant.” I had only printed one form. I asked if I could send the form from my phone to her e-mail and then she could print one for us. She said no, we would have get new forms and come back. I couldn’t believe it.

We rode the 10 miles back to the fairgrounds and I printed new forms. I looked at the instruction where it said a separate form was needed for each applicant. The next line stated “except for spouses, spouses may use one form.” I knew we used one form before! We went back and this time we were helped by a different notary and she had no problem with both of us signing one form. Grrr…20 unnecessary miles and wasted time.

We went to the Lincoln Museum downtown in the afternoon. Although Springfield is the state capital, there are only about 120,000 residents and the downtown area isn’t too large. It has a lot of nice historic buildings though and the museum was nice.

Pedestrian only section of Adams Street with Abraham and Mary Lincoln statue

After touring the museum, Donna and I walked a few blocks away to Buzz Bomb Brewery and Taproom to sample a couple of local beers. The museum and brew was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

After dinner, Donna went for a walk while I enjoyed a cigar. On her way back, she discovered that barrel racing was about to begin at the arena here at the fairgrounds. So we went down and watched about 15 girls compete and then receive their awards.

This morning we woke up to rain – the first we’ve had since we decided to bug out of Ohio. We’ll be packing up and making the rig road worthy this morning. We’re in no hurry. Our plan is to go to Mount Pleasant, Iowa for the night and then move on to Des Moines. We only have about 160 miles to cover today. It will be another rainy driving day.

Happenings in Lincoln Land

After three straight travel days, it felt good to get up on Sunday with no real plans. I watched the German Formula One Grand Prix and relaxed with a book most of the day. Donna went for a walk and explored Lincoln Park. Springfield, Illinois was the home of Abraham Lincoln for 24 years – the only house he ever owned was here.

Several rigs pulled into the fairgrounds on Sunday – most of the were specialized trailers that held horses in the rear compartment and had living quarters in the front half – kind of like a toy hauler for horses instead of motorcycles or ATVs. We wondered why so many of these units showed up. We thought maybe they were early arrivals for the Illinois State Fair which opens on August 10st.

Horse trailers with living quarters

I set up the Weber Q and grilled herbed chicken thighs Sunday evening. Again, it felt good to be back on what is a more normal routine for us. Donna baked a sweet potato and served seasoned chili beans plus sauteed baby kale and spinach for the side dishes.

Grilled chicken, baked beans, sweet potato and spinach

Monday morning we headed downtown to Iles Park where they have pickleball courts. We found eight courts and a number of people playing. As with most of our pickleball experiences, the people were friendly and welcomed us to join them. The outdoor courts had great playing surfaces and most of the players were experienced. We played for two hours and really enjoyed it.

Pickleball courts at Iles Park

We spent the afternoon recovering and watched more rigs pull into the fairgrounds. A travel trailer set up in the site next to us. They guy told us he was setting it up for his daughter – she was here to compete in the horse show. This was news to us -, we didn’t know there was a horse show scheduled at the fairgrounds this week. But that explained all the horse trailer/campers!

Monday night Donna manned the grill and grilled skewered shrimp which she served over pasta alfredo with green peas.

Grilled shrimp over pasta with green peas

Tuesday morning we were back at the pickleball courts.  The temperature hit 80 degrees on Sunday and each day after that was hotter than the last. Tuesday the high was 86 degrees and it was already warm and humid when we played in the morning. I quit after six games – I was feeling the heat and ran out of energy.

After relaxing and recovering, we rode the Spyder down by the Old Capitol District to Obed and Isaac’s Microbrewery. We had a couple of beers brewed onsite and dinner. I had a local favorite called The Horseshoe – it’s an open-face sandwich made with thick toast, choice of meat, a cheese sauce and fries. I had the house made corned beef. Donna ordered the Kitchen Sink Pie – basically a shepherd’s pie.

The Horseshoe

I brought about a third of my meal home for consumption later – it was too much to eat in one sitting.

From there we rode to Lincoln’s Tomb. On Tuesday evenings they have a ceremony there which includes soldiers dressed in Civil War era uniforms. They lower and retire the flag every week. Spectators can enter a drawing and the lucky winner is presented with the American flag.

Lincoln’s Tomb

Front view of Lincoln’s tomb

Before lowering the flag, the soldiers fired a salute from Civil War period rifles.

Salute

We were ready for the firing of the rifles, but once the flag was lowered we were surprised by the loud boom of a cannon being fired!

We skipped pickleball this morning. We needed a rest day – my right foot is sore along the fifth metacarpal. I fractured the metacarpal between my little toe and heel about 20 years ago and it seems to be flaring up.

At lunch time, we went up to the horse stables and arena area to see what was going on. The participants are mostly girls involved in 4H. They compete in several events separated by age group. The brick stable buildings date back to 1901 and are in great condition. We saw some of the participants practicing and exercising their steeds.

Exercise arena

We walked to another arena where they were competing in an event that simulates trail riding and demonstrating control while completing tasks like retrieving mail from a mailbox or backing the horse into a tight space and opening a gate then closing it from horseback after riding through. It was interesting to watch.

Backing the horse into a tight space

These two sisters competed in different age groups. Girl in the foreground was in the eight-to-nine-year-old group

This girl likes blue – right down to her cowboy boots

We had lunch at a concession stand, then I wanted to get a look at the grandstand area. This is where the Springfield Mile track is. The Springfield Mile is an oval dirt track one mile long. It hosts horse harness racing and also dirt track motorcycle racing.

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) held the first AMA National event here in 1937. Later, it became the crown jewel of the AMA Grand National Championship. In the 1960s, guys like Dick Mann, Cal Rayborn and Mert Lawwill chased the championship while driving across the country with their motorcycles and tools packed in panel vans. Back then, to be crowned Grand National Champion, you had to accumulate points at various national events across the country – both road racing and dirt track racing.

Front straight and turn 1 at the Springfield Mile

Final turn and beginning of the front straight

The dirt track events on a mile course like this were fast and took a lot of courage. They would accelerate to over 100 mph on the straights and pitch the bike sideways, counter-steering through the turns without brakes. I was happy I had to opportunity to go up in the grandstand and imagine the moments back in the day.

The City of Springfield quit allowing the AMA to hold their event here after hooligans created trouble in 1966. In 1981, the city agreed to hold an event and it went so well, they’ve been back racing here as a national event since then.

We’ve booked an additional day here at the fairgrounds and will stay until Sunday. The weather forecast calls for it to become slightly cooler with highs in the upper 70s and a chance of some showers over the weekend. Hopefully the showers hold off and we can attend a few more events.

 

 

Wooden Boats and the Fourth of July

Monday afternoon Donna and I rode the Spyder to Brooklin (not to be confused with Brooklyn), about 14 miles from Little Deer Isle. We went to have a look around and visit the WoodenBoat School. The school was established 38 years ago by the publisher of WoodenBoat magazine. It’s located on a 64-acre waterfront campus. They have a variety of courses for beginner, intermediate and advanced woodworkers and boat builders.

WoodenBoat School – Brooklin, Maine

At the WoodenBoat Store, we were told we were free to wander around the campus as long as we didn’t enter or disrupt any active classes. We saw a couple of finished boats and several works in progress.

Finished small boats

Beautiful workmanship

This little sailboat was offered for $900

Some of the courses are all about woodworking and the tools used. Other classes teach marine diesel mechanics and then there are seamanship courses.

Bending wood to make a rib

Putting it all together

Another finished hull

Brooklin is a small village with a general store, a couple of boutique-type shops, a public library and a small cafe. It was an interesting way to spend a nice, sunny afternoon. Of course, I couldn’t leave the WoodenBoat store without a T-shirt to go along with the Tarpon Crew T-shirt Roger gave me.

Finished row boat near the water

Fog was rolling into the reach and I thought we might be in for a cold ride home. As we rode west through Sedgewick though, all was clear and there wasn’t any fog on Little Deer Isle.

While we were out, Sandra and Roger picked up more lobster. We just can’t get enough.

Another pile of lobster

I learned a little more about Maine lobstah. We’ve been getting soft shell lobster. The adult male lobsters shed their shell annually – it’s called molting – and females molt every other year. A new, larger shell is formed and it takes time to fully harden. The soft shell lobsters are easily cracked – I’ve been shelling them with my fingers – and the meat is not as firm or full as a fully hardened shell lobster – a soft shell lobster contains a higher percentage of water. Hard shell lobsters need tools to crack the shell and the meat fills the shell.

I also learned about the lobster pound on Conary Cove I wrote about in my last post. They aren’t actually raising lobsters there. Lobsters are held in the pound for a couple of reasons. For one thing, there’s been a glut of lobster on the market. At this time of year, supply exceeds demand. Also, a large percentage of the catch at this time of year is soft shell which has a lower market price. To counter this, lobsters are held in the pound and grow into their new shells which are hard by the fall. The market price for lobster generally goes up later in the year. The lobster pound is a way to hold lobsters to keep prices stable and generate income year-round.

While Donna and I are getting our fill of lobster, Roger and Russ wanted me to smoke more babyback ribs. Tuesday I rode to Blue Hill to buy ribs, but the store there only had one small rack and it was frozen hard as a rock. So I headed on to Ellsworth – about a 30-mile ride from Little Deer Isle. I found a couple of large racks of ribs at the Walmart store there.

We had a large dinner party – Roger and Georgia, their son Jeff and his two young daughters, Roger’s sister Sandra, neighbor Russ, his dad George and his son Zach plus Donna and I. Georgia put out sloppy joes for the kids and I cut up the ribs into portions of two bones – they were meaty and it worked out fine – most of us got two servings.  Russ also brought – wait for it – lobsters! We had quite a feast.

George has a 1919 Ford Model T – we’ll it’s really Russ’ car now as George gifted it to him. George bought it the same year Russ was born from the original owner! Donna went for ride in the old car Tuesday afternoon.

1919 Model T

George planned to drive the car in the Fourth of July Independence Day Parade in the village of Deer Isle. This morning, Donna and I rode the Spyder over to the village to watch the parade. By chance, we ran into Kate, the person we met Sunday at Conary Cove. She was there with her partner Tom. We stood with them in the shade of a tree and watched the parade. They have a different theme every year for the parade and this year’s theme was children’s books.

Start of the parade

Grand marshalls

The grand marshalls were Sally and Jane McCloskey – daughters of Robert McCloskey, a famous author and illustrator of children’s books. Robert was a resident of Deer Isle until he passed in 2003.

After I shot the picture above, the cars in the background caught my eye. I crossed the street during a break in the parade and shot a photo of them.

French vehicles

On the right is a Citroen 2CV (deux chevaux-vapeur) . These were popular for decades due to their low cost. They were built in France from 1948 to 1988. On the left is a Citroen H van. These were front wheel-drive commercial vehicles built from 1947 to 1981 in France and Belgium. The body panels are corrugated steel. The owner of the vehicles is in the photo with the wide brim hat. He told me, “The French copied no one and no one copies the French!”

The parade was definitely old-time small-town America. They had the community band set up on the grass to play music as the parade came by.

Community band

We enjoyed the parade for about half an hour and also enjoyed talking with Tom and Kate. We saw Russ’ Vespa parked near the village, but didn’t run into him. Roger and Sandra drove to Portland to pick up Sandra’s grandsons and will be back later this afternoon. Georgia took advantage of an empty house for a little quiet time.

It’s already over 80 degrees out at noon and the temperature will probably reach 90 degrees this afternoon. Donna’s hoping to take a boat ride on Russ’ 21-foot Whaler. I might go along too – but I also have to start packing and organizing the trailer. We plan to leave Little Deer Isle tomorrow and head down to Scarborough where we’ll spend the night before going back to Bennington, Vermont.

 

 

Sailing the Reach

We had a busy weekend in Maine and lots of fun. After spending most of Thursday indoors, while half an inch of rain fell in numerous squalls, we went to the Stonington Farmers’ Market Friday morning with Georgia. Later, Donna and I rode the Spyder to Blue Hill and bought some groceries at Tradewinds Market. While we were out, Roger made it back from his business trip to Albuquerque.

On Saturday morning, Roger rowed Donna and I out in his dingy to Tarpon, his 30-foot sloop. We rigged the jib and also tried to assemble the lazy jack but ran into a few problems – no big thing. We fired up the harbor motor and I putted toward the bridge over the Eggemoggin Reach. Heading into the wind toward Billings Cove, we put up the jib. I came about and we hoisted the mainsail. Roger had to undo the lazy jacks. The way we rigged it interfered with the mainsail. We’ll have to redo it another time. By the time we unfurled the mainsail, the wind died.

As we drifted back toward the bridge, the wind suddenly picked up. We were sailing!

Sailing under the bridge (Roger Eaton photo)

Heading northeast through the reach (Roger Eaton photo)

I had the helm and had us on a heading of 328 degrees as we sailed through the reach toward Condon Point. When we were near the Pumpkin Island lighthouse, Donna took the helm.

Sailing is such fun (Roger Eaton photo)

Donna takes over (Roger Eaton photo)

Donna made the turnaround  at the bell buoy southwest of Buck’s Harbor. The wind was coming from the south-southwest. Heading back down the reach we had more speed. The thing about Eggemoggin Reach is the prevailing wind lets you sail in either direction without having to tack.

We furled the jib and lowered the mainsail as we got close to Roger’s place. We ran the harbor motor while Donna steered us to Roger’s anchor buoy. I adjusted our speed by taking us out of gear as we approached the buoy. We hit it perfectly with the boat nearly stopped and the buoy stick on the starboard bow. Roger was able to reach down and pick it up on the first try! We had been out for few hours and it was great.

Later in the evening, we went to an old house called Edge Hill. It was once a restaurant and inn and now is owned by Roger’s relatives. They had a party for one of Roger’s second cousins, Morgan. Roger has so many relatives and history in the area that it can be a little confusing at times. Morgan and her husband were celebrating their wedding anniversary and they had friends from as far away as Austin, Texas there. We stayed for a little over an hour and had cocktails and appetizers.

They were grilling chicken dinner for 55 people and had dining tables set up in the barn. But, we had other plans for dinner back on Little Deer Isle.

Porch and barn at Edge Hill

Roger’s neighbors Russ and Katie invited us to join them along with some extended family and other neighbors for dinner. Russ boiled lobster while Katie grilled flank steak. So it was surf and turf for dinner at Roger’s boat house. He has two houses on his property – one is more of a party house down by the water and they call it the boathouse.

Russ’ boathouse

Russ’ pier in front of the boathouse

We had good food and great fun. After dinner, a couple of people played guitars on the porch and sang.

Sunset at Russ’ place

On Sunday morning, I downloaded the Assen Moto GP race and it was a real thriller. Later we drove with Roger and Georgia out to Conary Cove on Stimson Neck east of Deer Isle. The property there once belonged to Roger’s family and his childhood home was there. It was built around 1905.

Conary Cove

We met the current tenant of the house and took a short tour.

Inside the cove, there’s a lobster pound where Maine lobsters are being farmed. I didn’t know Maine lobsters were farmed. I’ve heard of farmed raised spiny (rock) lobster. It seems like quite an endeavor. They have pumps to keep the sea water in the pound from stagnating. It takes five years or more for a lobster to reach a size of one pound. I don’t know if they trap lobsters and introduce them into the pound to put on size or if they are raised from larvae.

Lobster pound in the cove

On the way back, we made a stop at a place called Nervous Nellie’s Jams and Jellies.  It was an interesting stop with a bunch of old outbuildings on the property and a variety of sculptures by a local artist.

Donna and friends at Nervous Nellie’s

Last evening, Roger’s sister Sandra arrived. She had been vacationing in the Adirondacks in New York and will stay here for about a month or so. We met Sandy in Albuquerque at the Balloon Fiesta last year.

The forecast calls for cooler weather today, but it’s supposed to be near 90 degrees on Wednesday, the fourth of July. We plan to move on down the road on Thursday. We’ll make another stop in Bennington, Vermont for a visit with Donna’s parents before we start heading west.

The Real Maine Thing

We enjoyed our week at Donna’s parents’ place in Bennington, Vermont. I was able to complete a couple of projects while we were there and also enjoy time with family. We pulled out on Thursday around 10am. We went east across the state on route 9 through Brattleboro into New Hampshire. Route 9 took us through Keene and on to Concord where we picked up US202/4. The terrain was hilly with short, steep climbs and descents.

When we crossed the southern tier of New York, it was rural with small towns – some of them thriving on tourism, especially in the Finger Lakes wine country while other small towns showed economic struggle. In between was mostly farm land. Vermont and New Hampshire were more of the same but instead of farm land, the small towns are separated by heavily forested hills. It was mostly pleasant scenery to drive through. We paid one toll in New Hampshire – I think it was three dollars. On the toll roads, the rest areas are plazas with a food court, fuel stations and some shopping. We stopped for a late lunch at a plaza before we left New Hampshire – it also had a large discount liquor store.

We entered Maine at Kittery, east of Portsmouth and made our way up I-95 to Scarborough. This was another toll road and I paid $10.50 on this leg. We stopped at Cabela’s in Scarborough. I was dismayed to see signs warning that local ordinance prohibits overnight parking. We pulled to the end of the lot and parked near a Dutch Star motorhome that had the bedroom slide out.
Their door was open so I walked over to say hello and see what the deal was. The couple in the coach told me they were full-timers and had been on the road for five years – just like us. They were originally from Scarborough and returned every year. They said the city tries to make noise about overnight parking, but Cabela’s didn’t care and they had never been hassled in this parking lot.

We set up for the night. Donna had been in touch with our friend Kris Downey who was in the area visiting kids and they got together to walk a portion of the Eastern Trail. Then Donna and I walked over to Famous Dave’s for a cold one and then across the parking lot to a Thai restaurant where we got takeout. By the time we returned to the coach there were five other RVs in the lot.

We used the Cabela’s dump station before we hit the road Friday morning. There was a sign advising a $5 dump fee would be charged in the future, but for now it was free. We drove up I-295 and stopped for fuel in Gardiner. We paid another toll of $4, bringing our total toll-road fee to $17.50. Near Augusta, we left the Interstate and followed Route 3 to Belfast. The road was freshly paved and very smooth. Past Bucksport, we turned on route 175 and found the road surface to be terrible. It was bumpy and had potholes. It was slow going.

Our destination was Roger Eaton’s property on Little Deer Isle. We met Roger in Albuquerque – he owns a summer residence on the island right on the waterfront. Donna was texting back and forth with Roger while I drove. He mentioned something about crossing the bridge over Eggemoggin Reach to the island being a bit of a challenge.

Suspension bridge to Little Deer Isle

It was a steep climb up the narrow lane on the bridge, but it wasn’t too bad. The next challenge was entering the private road to Roger’s place. It had brick monuments at the sides of the entry, trees and low branches.

Narrow entry to Roger’s place

We made it in without scraping anything other than a few small tree branches. Getting the coach positioned on his property was much harder than I anticipated. I ended up
dropping the trailer in a temporary location, then struggled to get the coach in place between two stumps on the left and bushes and trees on the right. Once we had it in place, we found the 30-amp pedestal didn’t work. Roger called his cousin’s son and he came out with another guy and rewired the pedestal in a matter of minutes. We were in business! I repositioned the trailer with Roger’s pickup truck.

After settling in, we joined Roger and his wife Georgia along with their neighbor, Russ and his friend Darelynne for happy hour on the porch. We weren’t expecting dinner, but Georgia had prepared a chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, roasted carrots and cornbread!

View of bridge from Russ’ pier

Roger’s sailboat

Our windshield view of Eggemoggin Reach

Sunset over Penobscot Bay

On Saturday morning, we joined Roger and Georgia for a drive up to Blue Hill for the farmers’ market. Donna bought a few things while I enjoyed the bluegrass band. They did an excellent
rendition of the Byrds’ Mr. Spaceman.

Farmers’ market band

Later Donna and I rode the Spyder over the causeway to the next island – Deer Isle. Of course Deer Isle is larger area-wise than Little Deer Isle. We rode down to Stonington on the southern tip of the island. Stonington is the largest lobster port in Maine. The town only has about 1,100 residents, but more lobsters are landed there than anywhere else in Maine.

Lots of fishing boats and lobstermen in Stonington

On Saturday evening, we were in for a treat. Roger bought four lobsters that were about a pound and a half each. He boiled the lobsters over a wood fire in the yard while
Georgia prepared baby red potatoes and corn on the cob. It was a feast fit for a king!

Home cooked lobstah – the real Maine thing

I paired the lobstah with barrel-aged old ale I bought a few months ago in Tombstone

While we were in Blue Hill yesterday, I bought two racks of babyback ribs. I prepared them this morning and I plan to smoke them Memphis-style this afternoon on the Traeger wood pellet-fired grill.

Please excuse any formatting errors in this post. Our Internet connectivity is spotty and I’ve been working for a couple of hours to put this post up. I also had to reduce the photo quality to a smaller file size.