Ice! A Christmas Story

Mid-December we took advantage of a CyberMonday sale to visit Opryland Hotel. We had heard Dad talk about the hotel for years and how much he enjoyed it. He even took us through the lobby on the way back from somewhere else. The hotel did not disappoint, but that's a blog for another day.

There was so much to see and do at the resort itself, let alone out and about the Nashville area. One of those seasonal activities was Ice! It's an indoor ice sculpture exhibit featuring a winter or Christmas theme. The themes vary from location to location. For example, the Ice! Gaylord National Harbor hotel featured Dr. Seuss this year. The Ice! theme at Opryland this year was A Christmas Story, much to Harold's delight. I'm surprised he didn't shoot his eye out.

The scenes are hand-carved from over two million pounds of ice. You can search for videos on the process. I was afraid if I shared a link that the link would change. The exhibit is kept at 9°F. They provide a big blue parka for you to wear, but you might want to bring gloves and hats.

At the end, Ice! had a separate nativity scene in clear ice. As parts of the Bible were read, the scene would light up that section of the ice. We didn't get a good picture of it, but the angel wings were amazing.

Seeing an Ice! exhibit is well worth it, with or without the discounts typically offered.

Ready to begin the adventure in our blue parkas

Higbees!

Stuck...stuck...

A major award

Lifebouy!

You'll shoot your eye out

Santa pushed

Wait! I want a "official Red Ryder carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time."

The department store slide

Told you 

Duck!

Nativity Scene

$46 Engine Oil Change

Did I say $46 oil change? I meant to say $46 oil filter.  That’s right, I just ordered the oil filter for The Beast, and it set me back $46. That is more than what it usually costs to buy the oil and filter to maintain one of our cars, and that is using a premium filter and full synthetic oil...  I won’t be putting synthetic oil in The Beast as the oil will be changed on an annual basis. We will never put the 25,000 miles on her in a year, which is the mileage service interval for dinosaur oil according to Cummins.

The Cummins Fleetguard LF14000NN oil filter has 2-in-1 media technology, meaning it has a layer of media that removes the larger particles. Then the oil goes through a second media that removes smaller, fine particles to prevent long-term engine wear.  It is like having a normal full-flow filter and a bypass filter built into one filter housing.  The LF1400NN has all synthetic fibers in the media, so it catches more dirt and doesn’t clog as easy as traditional filter media.

LF1400NN next to the oil filter that fits both our Honda Odyssey and Accord

 

Here is the business end of the two filters

The Honda filter holds about one pint of oil, while the LF1400NN holds a full gallon of oil.

Luckily for me a previous owner installed a Femco oil drain valve on The Beast’s engine oil pan. It makes the task a little easier, note I did not say easy, just easier.  I like the Femco design over the Fumoto design as it is a dual seal system. The valve seals and then the dust cap seals.

Femco oil drain valve

The Femco oil drain valve replaces the normal drain plug and has the handy hose that screws on to the valve to both open it and direct the flow into the container of my choice for easy recycling of the used oil.

Did I mention that The Beast’s engine takes eleven and a half gallons (forty-six quarts) of oil when we change it?  The normal passenger car takes only four to five quarts.  I have to go shopping for oil before I can change it in The Beast. I never imagined that I would go to Tractor Supply to buy a shopping cart full of engine oil.  I have to get the oil changed as part of winterizing her for the last time as we go full time RVing next spring!!!!! WOOO HOOO!