Got back on the road today, heading through Minneapolis for a day or so before heading back down to Texas. Weather has been what most people would call “terrible”, but I’ve been enjoying it. 55°F, cloudy, occasional rain. It’s been comfortable.
On this particular trip, the Great White Knight seemed much quieter than usual. Took me a while to figure out why. I have a rolled up carpet taking up most of the backseats, and I’m rather certain that it’s acting as a sound insulator. If it wasn’t so large, I’d consider keeping it in the truck to serve just that purpose.
I stopped at Lisu’s Thai this evening for dinner (or supper, depending on tradition), and it was excellent as it always has been. If you’re in the Minneapolis area, check it out. It’s a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, and it’s fantastic. The photo above is of the Spinach Peanut Curry.
I’ve spend the last week plus in Breckenridge visiting family, and it was really nice. I needed a respite, and I found it there. My thoughts of making the big trailer truly have house-like comfort continues to solidify in my plans. I’ll also likely be going to a lot more pre-planned types of destinations with it. We’ll see how that goes.
Speaking of the big trailer, I’m going to start ordering welding equipment and related accessories once I get back to Texas. Building things out of metal just seems like a much smarter idea when considering that anything structural I build will be subject to hot, cold, dry, wet, constant earthquakes, potentially every day.
I’ve also set myself up with an approximate $1,000 per month “RV Build” budget. I think I can swing that with my current income, retirement requirements, and debt payoff schedule. By giving myself some amount to play with every month, it keeps progress moving forwards on the RV and helps keep me from going crazy just waiting for “someday” when I’ll have the complete funds to build it. At the moment, I’m looking forward to learning to weld, and it’s always good to have something to look forwards to.
On a completely unrelated topic, one of the local radio stations here in Minneapolis has significantly changed their playlist (and perhaps ownership) and actually don’t suck anymore. (For those of you in the MN area, it’s 93.7 FM.) When I was in high school, it was “93.7 The Edge” and played contemporary/alternative music which was popular at the time. Then one day they switched over to basically classic rock, which was a radical shift, and they pretended like it was a good thing. It wasn’t. For about the next 20 years, they played just that kind of stuff. Now though, they’ve switched back to playing a modern rock mix with a blend of stuff that I liked back from some years ago. It’s actually a good blend. For the first time, I’m actually using the built-in radio in the truck camper.
The plan for tomorrow is to visit the Mall of America and IKEA to shop for a duvet. Saturday I’ll take off for Texas and likely arrive Sunday night, unless work goes crazy or something.
The picture below isn’t where I’m staying tonight, but it is a shot of the White Knight in MN, so it was appropriate.
Have you considered taking a welding class at a community college just to get some hands- on experience? May give you some insight as to various features of welding equipment. Nick also has comments about welding if you wish to phone him.
Love the dahlia in the front yard in Breck. Looks very pretty.
I’ve looked into taking a welding class from the local community college, but this semester’s class interferes with my travel schedule. If I’m struggling with it by the time the spring semester comes around, I’ll see if that scheduling works better.
You are most welcome to keep the carpet / sound insulator if you wish.