The weekend only had a few main objectives - enjoy it, make sure the car camper is ready for next weekend in Acadia, and fix the mower. Two out of three isn't bad I guess.
Saturday I started off by picking up some (I assume) old railroad ties. Unfortunately the pile was pretty well picked through by the time I got there, and a lot of them were rotten in the middle, or broken. I still grabbed a bunch though. Dad could use a few, and I might try to use whatever is left for the base of a retaining wall or something, like maybe the bridge across the creek I wanted to build. They are 6x8, so beefy enough to drive a car on.
I grabbed pretty much anything with more than three usable feet in it.
The logs were located in the same vicinity as the exotic meat store in Concord, so I stopped in after loading up the truck with wood. They had some weird stuff. I stayed away from the bugs.
I did pick up some elk and other meat while I was there though.
I noticed on the drive home that, while only a few, the early changers are starting to turn. Fall is on its way.
After getting home, I started to look up some metal carports, since my carport is waaay overloaded, and I didn't really have any place to put the wood I just picked up. After a while on that and trying to deduce what 35psf means for snow load (I came to the conclusion it means about a foot of heavier wet snow, or 18-24 inches of dryer more powdery snow), I decided to go play on the tractor. I got the two big washout trenches filled back in, so it is nice and smooth driving up the driveway again.
I still had some time left in the afternoon, so I decided to head down to Otter Brook. Even though we actually did get rain a few days earlier, it was still borderline not running.
I actually went all the way down to the pond this time. I think last time it was lower than it looked. The sad view of an abandoned beach. Otter Brook Park is closed this year because of poor money management from Keene, so it is walk-in only, and the beach has been closed for a couple of years because of bacteria levels (which I assume is because there are literally thousands of geese pooping in it all winter). The only good thing about it being closed is that it is usually vacated now, so I don't have to deal with people.
Normally the water is up around here.
It is so dry that the rocks in the middle, which are normally underwater at least mostly, have plants growing in them.
The dam is kind of sad. The eroded part in the center is only an inch or two deep at this point.
The reason I went down there though was to play some disc golf. As expected, I had the course all to myself. I used to toss a frisbee all the time at work, so I figured I would give this a shot. I only did 3 holes, mostly to get a feel for the discs (they are different than a frisbee) and it was getting later in the afternoon at this point. I bought this set almost 6 months ago, and finally got to use it. I bought it because someone at work was thinking of setting up a tournament, but it never happened.
The first hole went about as poorly as expected. Par 3, I took six shots, and even gave myself a free mulligan on the first throw since I haven't thrown a frisbee since last time I was playing with Autumn with one.
The second one is easy. It should not have been the same par as the first hole in my opinion. I got a birdie on a par 3.
The third wasn't difficult (or it wouldn't have been if I could throw straight), and I got a 4 on a par 3. I should have been able to do it in 2, but no matter how I tried, the disc golf discs always seemed to hook left.
Sunday was camper day. The first thing I did was get the bike rack holder mounted to the CR-V. I don't like it, but it seems to work.
The top hooks don't look like they are grabbing well, and have wandered a little towards the center, but haven't let go.
The only way I could get the bottom hook in was by splitting the plastic and metal parts of the tailgate. I don't like that either, but I didn't have any other choice.
My e-bike is technically over the weight limit (it is supposed to hold 2 35lb bikes, the e-bike is around 50-60lbs. The fat frame on it also only barely fit, but I did get it on there. It is actually surprisingly easy to mount. 
The picture sucks, but it doesn't really impact visibility out of the back too much either. I can't open the tailgate, but only because the weight is awkward to lift, not because of the straps or anything.
I also got a lip put on the conversion to hopefully prevent the stove from falling out.
I took a quick trip around the block, and went into town to do my weekly shopping in the afternoon (I didn't want to go to the stores on the holiday), and it has held surprisingly well. It doesn't block the back wiper, doesn't rest on the glass, held up to rough roads just fine, and the rack is designed to hold the bike far enough away from the car so there is no danger of the bike hitting the car.
When I took the bike into town, I decided to go to Robin Hood park and when that failed (more on that in a minute), I went down the rail trail a bit. The pond (or whatever it is) at Robin Hood park was as expected quite low. So low the boat launch ramp didn't even reach the water.
I started to go down the trail around the pond, but quickly learned that my e-bike does not do off-road. It may have mountain bike tires on it, but they are not for mountain biking. The cranks are too long, and the pedals scraped roots and rocks far too easily (reminiscent of when I took the Continental off-road), and all the bumps started causing things like the light on the front to come loose and flop down. So I only went to the edge of the pond and then turned back. To my surprise, despite being the first significant bike ride of the year, I wasn't dependent on the electric assist, even despite the poor gearing of my ebike. The pond was low because the brooks that feed it are all dried up.
I have only been to this park a few times, but I don't think I have ever seen anyone in the gazebo.
After that failure I decided to stick to the rail trail, which is a smoother groomed trail. I rode through town and down to the other end of Otter Brook.
All told, I put over 10 miles on the e-bike, and the pedals that Norm's put on there seem to be holding up good. The bike is up to 33-ish miles. It is actually a bit more than that, when I was having problems with the motor cutting it out, none of those miles were registered. I think it was just overheating though, and it was cool out today. Plus I wasn't running it nearly as hard.
Monday was all about the lawn tractor. I got the PTO reinstalled after spending an hour trying to bend the metal out of the way.
Work was out of the red size spade connectors, so I tried one of the fork terminals. They don't stay in terribly well.
Turned out not to be an issue. The battery didn't hold up well so I needed to jump it. It fired right up, but as soon as I hit the PTO it stalled out.
The battery turned it over, but it didn't start, so I left the charger on it for a bit. After a bit, it fired right back up, and everything worked, well kinda. I presume I just didn't have enough RPM the first time, even though the deck should (theoretically) engage at low throttle.
But only once. As soon as I turned the PTO off from the test, it ripped the wires off again, and somehow the blue one got twisted in the belt. It is clear that I am missing something. I don't know what is supposed to prevent the top of the PTO from spinning, but whatever that part is I don't seem to have. At this point, I am not sure how to fix it. Perhaps if I get some down time at work this week I will look through the parts manual for the mower and see if I can find the part I am missing. The part I had to bend was nothing more than a belt guide, so it isn't that.
Slightly dismayed, I just had my cookout. I was tempted to grill up some of the elk burgers, but I am saving those for when Dad brings the excavator back up in a few weeks (they are kinda expensive...). I did bite the bullet and order the carport. I don't have anywhere to park the excavator, the tarping worked poorly. I still plan to move the carport that I built down the hill next year, but this gives me something now, and I can always park my car or truck in the garage next year if I actually have enough space.
After dinner I finally got the laptop arm I got from Matt installed. The intent is so that I can put the Anker power bank underneath it as a UPS. It didn't fit behind the laptop.
Something else that really annoyed me this weekend is that I apparently had a fly problem. Just regular house flies. I literally killed at least 2 maybe three dozen flies in the house this weekend, and I don't know where they are coming from. I took out the garbage and cleaned the floors stuff last weekend, and I did see maggots when I took out the last bag of trash (it took three weeks to fill that bag), but that was a week ago, and I cleaned out all the maggots. It is really annoying.
I am really enjoying the whole no projects thing. This is the first time this year I have gone out for a bike ride, and I finally got my disc golf set out. I might pick up a cheap portable target so I can work on being able to throw them straight. I am not sure why I struggled so much with that. Perhaps my wrist doesn't flex quick enough anymore or something, but I don't seem to have an issue with a real frisbee. But it is nice to enjoy hobbies instead of grinding out projects. Having a three day weekend helped too. I still need to figure out a mowing solution though. It is September, so my next mowing will likely be my last, but I typically go out in October and mulch up the leaves.
Currently my plan is to take the car camper out to Acadia next weekend, though I haven't made any campground reservations yet. I will probably look at those today and see if anything is still available. Labor Day weekend is typically the end of the tourist season though, so hopefully it won't be too booked up, though if I have to wait another week I guess that isn't a big deal. I still need to start making reservations for my big trip this year too. The itinerary is largely settled, but I haven't picked dates or anything yet.
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