…to the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Yes friends we are back online and going strong. Needed a break yesterday to rest my mind and body but we are rejuvenated and ready to blog again.
We have wheels now, a silver BMW 325i courtesy of the Commander. It is a stick shift and runs sweet. We even went by the car wash today and gave her a bath.
Now just what have we been doing? Well, we went to IKEA on a project. A fellow boater had written a blog about how to convert his 12V interior lighting to LED’s cheaply. Usually the fixtures cost around $65 each at a marine supply and replacing a couple of dozen could break the bank. This fellow found a deal on 4 for $44 at IKEA that could be converted. That is a bargain and LED’s produce less heat, more light and are not as big a drain on the house battery.
So we bought a dozen and tried them out. I have installed them in selective locations where more light was needed and we will see how they do. The LED’s work off of 12V power but as they come in the package they are 110V with a step down transformer. So you just toss all that 110V stuff and cut the light itself off at cord length of around 12 inches and splice it in where the original fixture was. Seems to be an easy solution. If these work out then I may convert the whole boat. Jan is talking about installing some underwater lights beneath the swim platform to attract fish at night. Now that will be a job! Just drilling those holes under water can be dangerous. 🙂
We have caught up on all our provisioning and today we visited the National Museum of the Marine Corps. What an appropriate weekend to make this pilgrimage. The place was a must see for any American and judging by the busloads of foreign tourists it must be pretty popular with folks from the far east.
Lots more museum pictures tomorrow.
In those hallowed halls we saw the history of the Marines from Revolutionary War days to the present. Such devotion to duty and bravery as are on display makes you proud. We finished our day with a brief visit to the Chapel and gave thanks for our freedom and those who sacrificed all for it. I encourage all of my readers to do the same not just tomorrow but every day of the year.
Another Looper boat “Why Knot” came in today when we were gone. We will see them soon. We were contacted by Margi, of Rick and Margi, on “Journey” a 44 Endeavour Powercat that we have seen many times in our travels. They live here on Aquia Creek and have recently completed their Loop. They are having a cookout on Memorial Day and “Cbay” is invited.
Tonight is a good night to eat Mexican and go to the Walmart don’t you think?
You will perhaps find this funny or perhaps a depressing sign of advancing years. We were dining at El Gran Charro and enjoying the first Mexican in a while. I had just finished a large frozen margarita with no salt when it occurred to me that I had neglected to pick up my billfold on the way off the boat. Actually this is not the first time this has happened. So poor Jan had to sit there after the meal while I skulked out the door and jumped in the car to run and get it. She was the hostage so to speak.
Because Jan cannot bear to be involved in any type of deception she immediately confessed to the manager after I left. He actually apologized to her and said he would have let us come back tomorrow to pay. But it was too late as I was out of the parking lot and headed to the boat.
All is well that ends well so I was back in 30 minutes and left a huge tip. We all had a laugh, but hopefully I will remember next time though it has not proven too effective so far.
