Taco, Seders, Last Sunday - Day 677 (Yr 2, Day 312)

Asheville, NC

First, let me explain "Taco."  Taco is a whippet; a very ugly, skinny breed of dog, although he really is a sweetie (picture below).  My neighbor, Ed, dog sits him about once a week.  Unfortunately, there is a huge electric problem  here at the campground that started on Friday afternoon and has gotten progressively worse.  For a while, we didn't have 50 amp service but we were able to run off 30 amps.  Ed's trailer only has 30 amps.  Today, the 30 amp and 110v went out as well, affecting not only our rig, but everyone in the row to the right of us.  Ed needed to go to work (he works the night shift) and since it's about 80 degrees, he was worried that his trailer gets extremely hot and he was worried about leaving Taco alone in what he called the oven.  So we offered to take him in until Ed gets off of work at around midnight.  Taco enjoyed watching out the window (I don't think Ed has a screen door like ours).

Ok, now he got settled in and made himself at home:



So, about the seders.  Just like last year, we did the same thing: community seder the first night and family home the 2nd.  Difference like night and day, but each of them very special in their own ways and equally insightful and enjoyable.  At the Chabad seder, it was the first time we went to one where dinner was served first (which was a great idea since the seder didn't start until about 8:30; meal would have been around 9:30, but they used that time for dessert instead.  Wonder why everyone doesn't do it that way)?  They also didn't "follow the book" in the traditional Orthodox way, but he paraphrased a bit, allowed for questions and offered a bit of explanations.  It was very spiritual and educational. 

The 2nd night we joined our friend Stacy (who was here for Shabbat a few weeks ago).  She actually used the Hagaddah we wrote in 2012!!!  That was a blast from the past!  That was a very casual, laid back, child-oriented seder which we also enjoyed very much.  Now we just have to get through the next 6 days of eating matzah!!!

Now, onto the last topic.  One week from today we will be pulling out of this campground, en route to North Dakota.  There is still SO MUCH  preparation that needs to be done.  One of the many things on Mitch's list was to take everything out of our "basement" and rearrange things, as it's become rather helter skelter in there.  Since a lot of pipes run in that area, it's not real good to have things piled up and not arranged properly while in transit, as something can bump into a pipe and break it (yes, this already happened!)  We didn't get home from shul until about 2:00, so he already got a pretty late start. 

Also, our next door neighbors, Matt & Laurie, are leaving today.  They arrived around the same time as we did.  They found a property about 15 miles from here and will be parking long term there.  They needed to enlist Mitch's  help with a few things as well, so things are not progressing as productively as I'd like.  Having the electric out is also not helping much.  I really hope they can fix it tomorrow, but Ed feels it may be a long term project.  Not sure what we'll do if that's the case because the campground is filled to capacity right now so we don't even have the option to move to another site where it's still working (even though Matt is leaving, his electric is also out).  Fortunately, the generator is working so we're turning it on and off as needed for electric (like finishing the laundry or when I need to use the microwave to cook).

So what does this coming week - the last week in Asheville - look like?  Mitch's last day on this assignment is Wednesday.  Thursday he brings the truck to the mechanic for a full inspection and maintenance, then to the tire shop to replace a flat he had last week (he's been running on the spare).  Thurs and Fri will be spent with Mitch tying up all loose ends outside the rig, including climbing the ladder to look under the slide toppers to see if anything has made their homes there.  This is not the kind of maintenance we had to do when we were traveling more frequently, but after being static for almost 9 months, there's a lot that could have settled (thus the reason for needing at least 4 days to get road ready).

Here's a prime example of learning to adapt:  was going to make matzo pizza tonight (which requires the convection oven).  No electric, so changed it to something I can cook on the stove such as gefilte fish pancakes.  But I need to have the vent fan on (which works off the microwave) otherwise the smoke alarm rings, so no frying on the stove.  Decided to just boil some eggs and make an egg salad and frozen veggies for dinner.  6:30 now, Mitch almost done putting things away.  Gonna go make that dinner.....