The Art of Organization and Peddler's Mall

The rain came down until nearly dawn....at least that was the last time I heard it.....we both slept in until 8am.  When I opened the curtains it was sunny outside, but oh so cold.....just under 40 degrees.  I turned on the front and rear electric heaters, and the gas heater that heats the bathroom, and then jumped back in bed for a few minutes to snuggle with The Lovely Elaine until the chill was mostly gone from the coach.  Saturday is College football day, and it was also a day we were going to ride our bikes into town to visit the "Peddler Mall" just off the Campbellsville Bypass Road.  

My new "work" area

We had a nice leisurely breakfast, and while TLE did some reorganizing of her many paperbacks, and other various sundry items I got the bikes ready for our ride.  Next I moved my laptop off the dinette table, where it has resided since we started our trip, and set up one of our folding tables in front of the driver's seat, which is now turned around facing the living area.   Since we are going to be sitting still for over 2 months we wanted to both be able to eat meals at the table.  I spent some time getting my new "work" area set up, while TLE continued to reorganize the cupboards, and other storage areas to best serve our stationary status.  She also set up the small crock pot we bought some time ago in Rock Springs, WY, I believe, and started a beef stew before we left on our bike ride.

Formal dining is back!

Around Noon the temperature was still only 55 degrees so we bundled up and headed into town on our Cannondale bikes to visit Peddler's Mall.  It's only 1.8 miles to the Mall, so we arrived there within 10 minutes, cabled our bikes to a nearby tree and went into the Mall to explore.  This is like visiting 100 thrift/antique/discount stores in one place, at one time.  TLE found some wonderful Egyptian 800 count cotton Queen sized sheets for $19.....the MSRP was $129, and they are so comfortable!  I found a vintage 18" RIGID pipe wrench for $15.  I love vintage tools.....they have that wonderful used patina.  Additionally, I found a small "new" hand saw for $6, which I have needed on more than one occasion.  And, of course, there were 4 more paperbacks that found their way into TLE's shopping bag....:-)  All in all we spent about 2 hours browsing through isle after isle of mostly cool stuff.  No doubt we will return several times over the next 2 months.

My two vintage RIGID pipe wrenches

When we returned home TLE continued her reorganizing......no doubt Sunday will involve a re-orientation for me as to where many things are now stored.  While she organized I got to work on my RIGID pipe wrench cleaning it up just enough to be used for it's original purpose, but leaving enough of the 30 years of patina build up keeping it interesting.  I think it came out pretty good.  This is the second vintage RIGID pipe wrench I have found....the first was a 10" which I found in an antique shop along the Oregon coast, so now I am properly equipped to handle future plumbing repairs on the coach.  You will recall when we were in Jewell, OR I had to borrow an 18" pipe wrench from a neighbor to replace the macerator pump for the grey water tank.

I spent the rest of the day watching several college football games, and napping.  Around 6pm TLE set the dinner table for the first time on our journey and we sat down to a wonderful beef stew and some Coppola Pinot Noir.  It was nice to use the dinette for its intended purpose.

After our candle light dinner I watched the West Virginia v. Texas game, and then called it a night around 11:30.

Thanks for stopping by!