Repair and Replace has been the theme of our month in Boise as Randy and the problematic things on our fifth-wheel have been “fixed.”

Randy’s recheck and maintenance treatments went as well as we could have hoped. Physical results, chemical results and three maintenance treatments all went very well. We feel blessed and appreciate the prayers and support. He feels fine (as he always has) and we are “excused” until December 7th when the cycle starts again.   So Randy is “repaired” but will not be replaced!

Even if Randy wasn’t worth keeping for other reasons, he surely has upped his game in the handy Randy role during the last few weeks. He repaired both bikes and the bike rack and replaced the ladder damaged in our backward collision with the tree in Missouri.

The new ladder cost $144. Shipping was $238!  It wasn’t heavy – just bulky!

Actually using the ladder you just installed….

When he was on top he noticed a damaged vent cover and screws that needed to be counter-sunk and covered.   And then he fixed the water heater and on and on.   It seemed the repair jobs would never end!

Randy also buffed out oxidation and waxed our entire fifth wheel. It was a HUGE job but looks so much better!

Elko frequently supervised Randy’s work but one day decided to walk to the river on his own and go swimming.  Elko has never done anything like that before and the adventure was an unwelcome surprise to his people.  Randy found him pretty quickly but after that Elko had to be attached to our trailer.  Elko thinks the penalty is far greater than his transgression.

The damaged shower pan we told you about in the last blog was replaced by Nelson’s RV in Boise under our extended warranty. The warranty company had a $1000 bill and we had one for $260.  We had a $50 deductible and $200+ for shipping.  Again with the shipping!  We were displaced for the day to our friends Darrell and Cindy’s home. That was the morning after they had a water line problem so Randy helped Darrell dig a 4 x 4 x 4 foot hole for the plumber.

Randy  was glad to help and felt badly he didn’t go back to help fill in the pit.

It wasn’t all work though. We had a great time taking our grandson to a movie and dinner once a week.    We did some normal Boise summer things like going to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival courtesy of friends Deb and John.  We also enjoyed seeing many of our Boise friends as always.

Also very normal was having a great time over Labor Day weekend at Lake Cascade State Park with Darrell and Cindy.  We have spent many fine holiday weekends together in our favorite sites.

We broke out the inflatable paddle board!

We had started thinking about Lake Cascade as a place to volunteer next summer and made contact with the park manager. We used to wonder why anyone would volunteer so close to home and now we have applied to do that very thing!  The park has a variety of campgrounds and is just a couple hours from Boise.  The location would be convenient for day trips to Boise and Randy’s medical follow-up which continues into next summer.

All the western fires made it smokey at Lake Cascade.

Sun spots!

We went north to McCall and enjoyed a Nine and Dine with friends Rodger and Donna. The course was beautiful, the meal was delicious and the skies were still smokey.

I just love this picture.  It is so Idaho!

Our friend Karen treated me to something new! We had a wonderful evening at Fuel for the Soul! It is part cooking class, part delicious dinner and part great conversation.

Boise foodies, check it out! I look forward to going again when we return to Boise next spring.

We are headed to the Boise State football game this evening and then begin a road trip toward Albuquerque and the Balloon Festival tomorrow.   Hopefully we won’t have anymore repair and replace drama!   Randy needs a break – where his big task is to just drive.