#229 March Farm 160 Munger Lane, Bethlehem, CT

Our next stop was a harvest host called March farm and these were quite friendly people. We stayed up on a hill up above the where they sold the vegetables at a very nice facility. They had a playground for kids and some orchards and other crops.

I always laughed at how Harvest host is free. We went down there and got just all kinds of produce and wonderful goodies and things and probably spent $60 for this quote-free place to stay. Even if we paid a little something it was a great experience.

I also asked one of the folks at the farm if maybe they had a shop where I could straighten out a couple of pieces of metal pertaining to the rear stabilizers. These are mounted on the back of the RV to stabilize us. They are like electric scissor jacks that electrically come down.

One of the fellows mentioned that his brother would be glad to help. I had taken apart the bent metal piece. The brother came by and we hopped in his truck to go across where he was kind of boondocking in the back of their barn in a Class C RV.

I had bent the rear stabilizers pretty bad overdoing it trying to get the RV level on many different occasions.

Sometimes a site will be so unlevel that I couldn't get it to go left and right enough.

I would lower the front of the rig all the way. Then raise the back left fully, then raise the front again. This would push us over to the right, but more than once I had overdone and it and twisted the metal out of its proper shape. It also bent the rotating screws that looked like worm gear. It’s the mechanism that would make the scissors go up and down. I had bent them up pretty badly.

To repair he used a large flat metal table and a method I have not seen before. They were extremely rigid C clamps and he was able to clamp them down and force these metal tubular steel three-sided things to become straight again.

I thought because it was a farm they used this method to fix equipment now and then.

He was able to straighten out these steel members pretty well and of course, I thanked him. I gave him twenty bucks and his brother 20 but everybody was taken care of.

I don't know what kind of baggage the older brother had with the younger. It seemed like a situation where they were letting him live there for free as a hired hand. Maybe he had lost his way or that he kind of owed they're more money he could ever repay. Maybe he came back home but didn’t want to be in the family home. I remember the son that was helping me was just happy to do it and he said just settle up with Dad.

When I talked to the older son he said you know if how about just give me the money. I just feel like it's time for me to make a couple of bucks because Dad doesn't need it and my brother doesn't deserve it. It seemed like a weird family thing going on but everybody got paid that was supposed to.

Part two of the fixing of this mechanical problem was me straighten out the rotating worm gear. I devised a machine shop press using the bulldog jacks that raise and lower the RV. Using that forces that he can lift 14,000 pounds I was able to straighten them out a little bit.

That was our rather enjoyable visit at March Farms

Located: 1mi NW of Bethlehem or ½ mi W of Hwy 61

Telephone: (203) 266-7721

Website: www.marchfarm.com

GPS Coordinates: 41.64871 -73.214158

Hours: Daily 9 am-6 pm.

More: Berries, peaches, apples, vegetables, eggs, jams, ice cream, bakery, corn maze, hayrides, petting zoo, play area.