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New Motorhome
April we traded our 2009 Gulfstream Tourmaster Constellation 45g for a 2022 Entegra Accolade XL 37M. We are very pleased with the Purchase from LazyDays in Tampa. They were very helpful and we got all the paperwork and finances taken care of in a timely manner. Thank you Lazydays. This Super C motorhome has been a change from a 45 footer to a 40 footer. We do miss our walkin closet and 1/2 bath. Like all new things and changes you learn to deal with what you have and make the best.
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Another Foreign Adventure - Italy in a campervan
It is Saturday afternoon, May 21, 2022. We are in Chioggia, Italy. It is a beach town south of Venice. How we got here is a long story. I'll begin with our flight from the US.
Our flight from McAllen was an early one, we left Sandpipiers Resort at 5:30 a.m. for a 30 minute drive to the airport. Check in was a mess. There was a line until things got stopped up, only two agents and both had customers with problems. Skipping details, they held the plane for Louise and I and one other customer. We got to Houston in time to get to our gate for our next flight to Newark, NJ. The airport at Newark is bizarre. We hadn't had breakfast or much more than a snack and were looking forward to food. Apparently they have an airport wide system for food service. Every restaurant or bar had an electronic menu. You scanned a square code for the menu but it wouldn't work well with our phones. They advised us to switch to Google for our browser. We didn't and managed finally to get help so we could get a couple slices of pizza. We boarded our plane, a Boeing 767-400 wide body at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Once in the air, sunset progressed very quickly and after an inflight "meal" everyone settled down for the night.
They woke us at about 2:00 a.m., fed us breakfast and landed in Venice at 9:00 a.m. Venice time (all of Italy is the same time). We were processed through Italian customs in a mass of several hundred passengers from our flight and another tour group. They hustled us through as fast as they could. The Venice airport is a really small airport, one runway and one taxiway. There were two planes at gates. We had reserved a room at the Antony Palace Hotel just west of the airport. A short taxi ride and we were at our hotel about10:00 a.m. The room wasn't ready so we waited in the lobby until about 11. Once in our room, we showered and hit the sack. After about 6 hours of sleep, we got up, went to the lobby bar and had a light meal, a plate of assorted prescutto meats with mozzarella cheese balls and a glass of wine (or two). Now it was about 9:00 p.m. Venice time. We went back to the room and back to sleep. Up the next morning about 9:00, showered again and checked out of the hotel.
From the hotel we took a taxi to the Indie Camper rental agency, a completely industrial facility. There was no waiting room, they stacked our gear and took us to nearby mall. We explored the mall, got food and drink and found a large well stocked grocery store. We filled a basket with food and supplies and exited the mall just in time to be picked up, our camper was ready. They helped us get our gear into the camper, a quick orientation and they were closed.
We spent about a half hour getting things organized before we hit the road. I had the Italy chip for our Garmin GPS we use in the car so the GPS is familiar. We had identified a campground south of Venice but not too far away as our first stop. The camper had a 1/4 tank of diesel and 1/4 tank of DEF which is the added to the exhaust of diesel engines to clean up the exhaust. First stop was a gas station to fill up. Surprise number one, their gas pumps, completely self service, take credit cards but require a four digit PIN. I haven't seen a PIN needed for a credit card in I don't know how many years and had to look up the PIN in my computer. It was three digits and was not accepted. I figured we would find another station and try again. As we pulled out of the station, the engine which had been running normally now was speed restricted to 35 kilometers per hour. Pretty slow for a major thoroughfare. I was driving on the shoulder with flashers and finally when I couldn't get better performance from the engine decided to call for road service. There was a call box and I pulled up and stopped. Talking to someone on the other end who is struggling with his English as I am with Italian, we finally decided to call for a tow truck. It arrived shortly and the camper was loaded onto the back of a slant bed tow truck.
It turns out that the 1/4 tank of DEF and Diesel were much less than that. We had gone about 10 kilometers when the tow truck picked us up. He added DEF at their service center, it didn't help. It wasn't until we left and found another fuel station that the problem was solved. So the Fiat diesel engine derates itself for DEF and/or diesel. We stayed on the slower roads and pulled aside for following traffic when possible. Using cash, I put in enough diesel to get it to 3/4 full. Now things were running fine.
It was getting late, the sun was setting so we set out for the campground. An hour and a half later we were there. I missed two or three turns which the GPS corrected each time. I'm not sure how much that added to our travels. In at least one case it simply turned us around and put us back on the same road and I got the correct exit that time. We arrived in Chioggia about 10:00 p.m. The town is on the coast, marinas and beaches everywhere. The bars and restaurants were going full swing. There were people walking everywhere. We also had to contend with 100's of bicycles and heavy traffic on narrow roads. Louise was not happy. No matter how many times we tried we could not find the campground. Tom was not happy. We finally drove by a campground, not the intended one, and pulled in, it was now after 11:00 p.m. They had one space. We took it and are staying 2 nights.
We explored the campground, found the restrooms and showers. Facilities at this campground were unisex, everything except sinks were in enclosed spaces. Showers are pay showers and require Euro coins. We had none. No showers. The toilets didn't have toilet paper so it was back to the camper. Fortunately we had purchased toilet paper at the above mentioned mall stop. All was good. It took us a while to get the bed made and enough of our gear stowed that we could get to sleep. We opened all the vents, covered the windshield and climbed into bed. After a good night's sleep, the day looked better. We got more groceries, stopped for a snack and drinks on the way back from the Aldi food store and are now relaxing for the afternoon. The beaches are all controlled entry and have huge full parking lots. We haven't been to the beach yet but may try that a little later as some of the beach goers head off to the restaurants and bars mentioned above. Louise is sleeping soundly as I write this. It takes some time to adjust to the overnight flight and a seven hour change in time. We are adjusting. I am pleased that the driving isn't as bad as I had feared. Despite difficulties we were able to get around without accident or incident. We went through some pretty hairy stuff dealing with crowds, narrow roads and oh yes, did I mention that I'm relearning the standard shift of my childhood. There have been a few missed gears but, hey, it's a rental!
So that is installment number one of the great Italian adventure. Four days and counting...- Read more...
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3 August 2021. Red Desert RV Park
We stayed one day here and they have a loaner vehicle for their campers if you do not have your own. YOU must have a water pressure reducer as the water pressure is 90 psi they also sell them there.
there is a Super Walmart in town.
That night saw some wild Deer in the park and next morning while walking came across a herd with about 6 deer. And later another herd.
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New Tires
I am currently researching replacement tires for our bus that has the original (7year old) Michelins. Safety and ride comfort are my main point of concern while looking at the different brands and models. Michelins are great tires, at a price. My local commercial tire dealer is recommending Firestone FS561at a cost savings of about $150 per tire. Hopping to have the new skins put on next week once i have decided which tires to go with.
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Places, People, Partnership
We have started our journey last year and were overwhelmed by all the beautiful sites we visited, the wonderful people we have met, and we were blessed with the strengthening of our partnership as a traveling couple. Being back at our winter volunteer park in Florida we would like to share our story and invite you to follow the Wake of Loon . Enjoy!
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Hey, who moved my Cheese!
Our Blog Post on our Experience with our new Mobile Suites 5th wheel
https://ramblingrvrat.blogspot.com/2019/11/who-moved-my-cheese-rambling-rv-rats.html
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Capitol Reef
After a short visit to SLC to get a bit of city life. We left civilization and found a “new kind of pretty” as my kids are saying...
words to describe the unique and beauty of the landscape that starts as we head further down into Utah and encounter the red mountains of Capital Reef National Park...
"Remember is not just the Destination, but the Joy of the Journey"www.tlpathway.com- Read more...
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Yellowstone Adventures
Yellowstone Adventures: Geysers!!!
Today we ventured forth in our Yellowstone explorations... since we are blessed to be able to stay in the area for a few weeks, we'll be able to explore the park at our own pace. So today we explore the beautiful geothermal features the Park is so well known for.. did you know that about HALF of all the worlds geothermal features are found right here at Yellowstone??? Which are fueled by the massive super volcanic caldera...(about 500 of them🤓) and let me tell you be glad these are not scratch and sniff pictures (rotten eggs anyone???), But they sure are beautiful, the range of color and uniqueness leaves you in awe of all the wonders of God's creations...
"Remember is just not the Destination, but the Joy of the Journey"
Follow us at: www.tlpathway.com
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The Loss
For anyone here who has suffered the loss of a furry friend. I know how you feel, all too well.
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Riding in the Wilderness -Sonoita Arizona – ATV tour visiting the Empire Ranch
Martha and I decided to do an ATV Tour out of Sonoita, Arizona. We opted to take a cross country 4 hour tour which took us through the vast Empire Ranch. It was a lot a lot of fun. Our tour guides were Apache ATV Tours and their website can be found here: http://www.apacheatvtours.com/
The Empire Ranch is located on East Empire Ranch Road, three miles east of the intersection with State Highway 83 (between mile markers 39 and 40). It is 36 miles southeast of Tucson and 31 miles north of the Mexican border. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, the nomination included only the main building of original ranch headquarters which was 160 acres in Pima County Arizona.
The Empire Ranch House and facilities circa 1900 (Source Wikipedia)
The Empire Ranch represents one of the most successful, long-lived, cattle ranching enterprises in the Southwest and has been in operation for over 140 years. The ranch is located in the ecologically rich Cienega Valley in Southeast Arizona, Ranch owners made full use of and, husbanded well, all of its natural resources – grass, water and soils – in support of their livestock business.
The landscape retains a remarkable degree of integrity both of its natural resources and its built structures and features. Those ecological and historic values were recently recognized by Congress when the landscape was designated as the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area in 2000. Now administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the Empire Ranch landscape still functions as a working cattle ranch and its headquarters are being stabilized and preserved. (source Wikipedia)
Vaquero’s mounted and ready work on the Empire Ranch (source Wikipedia)
The Empire Ranch was originally established in the 1860’s as a homestead ranch of 160 acres with a flat topped four-room adobe ranch house and adjoining adobe-walled corral. In 1876 the ranch was owned by Edward Nye Fish, a Tucson businessman, when it was acquired for $2,000 by Walter L. Vail, a native of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and Plainfield, New Jersey, and Herbert Hislop, an Englishman. John Harvey, an Englishman from Bermuda, joined the partnership a few months later.
Circa 1890’s
The economic and financial success of the Empire Ranch was dependent upon the ingenuity and determination of two ranching families – Walter L Vail and relatives and, later, Frank Boice and his descendants. Walter Vail expanded the original homestead through a series of strategic acquisitions of land parcels and water rights and effectively secured control of several hundred thousand acres to support over 40,000 head of cattle. Possession and control of these valuable lands and water sources allowed the Vail family to protect the ecological integrity of their most important natural resources – soil and grass – when other ranchers regularly overused and ultimately damaged theirs. Like other entrepreneurs of the time, they invested in other resources and land uses. The discovery of silver at the Total Wreck Mine provided additional financial support for the Vails’ cattle empire.
This lead to the growth of the ranch to an eventually the ranch grew to 115,200 acres, or 180 Sections which made the ranch 180 sq. miles. Today it still remains large by any standard at 46,000 acres owned and operated by the BLM. It is open to recreational activities of all kinds.
Ready to depart on the tour
Scenery that just won’t dissapoint 
Ranch resides amidst rolling grasslands at the transition between the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. The Valley is surrounded by the Santa Rita, Huachuca, Whetstone, Mustang and Empire Mountains. The Santa Rita’s are in the background.
That ain’t a cow! 
Lunch break under giant, old cottonwoods 
More, “not cows” 
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Going Underground in Bisbee Arizona
Going Underground in Bisbee Arizona
Bisbee – Circa 1916
Bisbee was founded as a copper, gold, and silver mining town in 1880, and named in honor of Judge DeWitt Bisbee, one of the financial backers of the adjacent Copper Queen Mine. In 1929, the county seat was moved from Tombstone to Bisbee, where it remains.
Greed was major motivator in town. As a result the Bisbee Deportation took place. The workers lived and worked in deplorable conditions and also small wages. Therefore the workers went on strike and as a result the deportation took place to prevent profit losses.
The deportation was the the illegal kidnapping and deportation of about 1,300 striking mine workers, their supporters, and citizen bystanders by 2,000 members of a deputized posse, who arrested these people beginning on July 12, 1917. The action was orchestrated by Phelps Dodge, the major mining company in the area, which provided lists of workers and others who were to be arrested in Bisbee, Arizona, to the Cochise County sheriff, Harry C. Wheeler.
These workers were arrested and held at a local baseball park before being loaded onto cattle cars and deported 200 miles (320 km) to Tres Hermanas in New Mexico. The 16-hour journey was through desert without food and with little water. Once unloaded, the deportees, most without money or transportation, were warned sternly against returning to Bisbee.
Workers awaiting their cattle car deportation Source -Wikipedia
Workers being held at the local ball park. Note the armed guards. Source – Wikipedia
Copper Queen Mine
Martha and I visited Bisbee and took a tour of the Copper Queen Mine, a hard rock mine in Bisbee that is played out and is now a tourist attraction.
Outfitted in hard hat, miner’s headlamp, thousands of Bisbee visitors ride into the Queen Mine Tour each year—heading underground and back in time. Tour guides, retired Phelps Dodge employees, lead the groups 1,500 feet into the mine and recount mining days, techniques, dangers and drama. Adding a personal touch, the miner-turned-tour guides help visitors experience what it was like to work underground. Tours depart each day, seven days a week, from the Queen Mine Tour Building, located immediately south of Old Bisbee’s business district, off the U.S. 80 interchange.
The town is an interesting place though we didn’t see as much of it as we wanted. Instead we did the mine tour and then went to a local micro-brewery.
After donning our safety equipment we were ushered onto the mine train. This is the original train that ferried workers underground and back to the surface. It’s very narrow and you sit facing forward while straddling a seat somewhat like sitting on a horse saddle.
Tour Guide and previous Phelps Dodge mine worker making sure everyone is ok with going underground. At this point we are about 1000″ into the mine tunnel.
Getting ready to dis-embarked the train for a visit to a former work area
The group making its way to a stop in the mine for a little orientation to the mining lifestyle
Quartz deposits in the mine wall
Typical work area within the mine. The bracing and scaffold in the background is typical of the type of reinforcement used inside the mine to shore up the weight above after blasting and clearing the tailing’s from the tunnel or openings
Mine supervisors peddle cart. Supervisors used these to get around within the mine. This saved time. Miners would hide these to frustrate the supervisors.
Examples of hard rock drills used in the mine to drill blasting holes. The holes were then loaded with dynamite.
After the holes were drilled they were loaded with dynamite with a blasting cap inserted and then a fuse which ran outside the drill hole. The fuses were cut to length depending on which holes had to be blown first. The center most holes were blown first to clear space for the rock debris to fall into and then the blasting continued (all in rapid succession from center to the outermost drilled holes). This allowed the debris to be cleared by mine workers without rock getting jammed up inside the diameter of the blast.
Mine shaft elevator. This was formed using the same shoring/scaffolding shown above, The elevators were used to ferry men and equipment to and from the surface. They also provided room for fresh air to come into the mine.
Mining in Bisbee wasn’t limited to hard rock mining. It also included strip mining and where possible hydraulic mining.
This gigantic hole is the “Lavender Pit” The pit is an open pit mine that was mined by blasting through the rock and then using machinery to remove the tailing’s and bring them to the top for processing.
After the mining tours we made our way to the “Old Bisbee Brewery” This spot is a local’s favorite and turned out to have great beer.
I can recommend the mine tour and the Brewery. It was very interesting to learn the techniques used to extract the ores. The Copper Queen produced some the most pure copper ore ever found it averaged 25% in purity.
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Mayport Naval Station, Mayport, TX
We had a big time camping at the Navy Station at Mayport, Fl. Plenty of ships pass by our campsite, most often a dredge operating in the channel and car carriers. A tour of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter and a navy ship were highlights of our stay. A foggy start to an offshore fishing trip went well as we caught quite a number of fish. If you qualify, a stay at this military campground should be considered. The campground is well run, clean and close to the beach and St. John’s river entrance to Jacksonville, Fl. We hope to get a chance to return soon.
Our next adventure will be from our home in South Carolina to San Antonio, Texas to watch our granddaughter show her pigs at the Livestock show and Rodeo in February.
Stay tuned,
Patrick
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Hold The Door
We went camping at El Mirage Dry Lake, it was windy.
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Annual Review as We Begin Our 6th Year
As we enter our sixth year of retirement and RV'ing it was time for a review of life.
It is always good to look backwards in time to review how plans, goals and reality match up. We continue to evolve in our RV lifestyle. My advise to anyone just entering or planning on RV'ing is to be flexible and open to change. Our original plans when we first began in 2013 have grown, evolved and today our lives look much different than our first plan.
We began with a 13 year old motorhome because we had no idea if the vagabond life style would suit us. We knew that Mexico would be part of our plan, but we were not sure we would love being in a third world country. We had no plans to travel internationally, but we have now visited 19 countries. The financial advantage of RV living for us was that it opened up possibilities we had never considered. We can park the RV and suspend almost all our costs while we try different things in life.
Life in Mexico is working great for us. The financial savings each year finance our travels the rest of the year. For us it is impossible to spend an American retirement while living in Mazatlan. Each month we have "left over" money.
After seeing how our first five years have gone it was time to up our commitment to RV'ing. So we purchased a new-to-us diesel motorhome and a four wheel drive Honda CRV. These vehicles should take us through the next many years until we hang up our traveling shoes.
I went back to what I had written 12 months ago to see how our plans have worked out. We seem to be on track.
Here's what I was thinking last year:
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Why Did We Change Motorhomes?
So the question to answer today is, "Why did we buy another motorhome?" Was it "RV envy"? Did we need a bigger motorhome? Was the LaPalma giving us problems? Was it just time for a change after owning the gasser for 6 years? Was I tired of owning a sea foam green RV? Was it because my brother-in-law bought a 40' diesel pusher? Was it because I had done all the improvements that I could do to the LaPalma?
Our new-to-us Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40 PDT - 3 Slides
330 HP Cummins Diesel with an Allison Transmission
There was no one answer to why I wanted to change. I thought that it was time to own a big boy coach. Here's how my thought process worked.
Six years ago we bought the Monaco LaPalma 34' SBD with two slides and a Ford V-10 gas engine. It had 48,000 miles on it. This year we passed 78,000 miles. That's 5,000 mile per year during the time we owned it. It was a great RV and we spent close to $16,000.00 repairing, improving and maintaining it during those 6 years. The depreciation on the motorhome during that time was another $16,000.00.
Our faithful old Monaco LaPalma 34 SBD
It sold a couple days after we traded it in on the Endeavor.
Our cost of ownership was $32,000.00. That comes down to $444.44 per month over those 6 years.
Now 32 grand sounds like a lot of money but compared to owning the home on Raft Island it's a bargain. My property taxes and insurance on that house were higher than my monthly cost of owning and maintaining an RV.
The LaPalma was a starter RV for us. We didn't know if our dreams of traveling and being vagabonds was really something we would like and want to do for many years. As we start our fifth Winter we are nearing the midway point of our 10 year plan. We still love our traveling lifestyle.
A question I asked myself was, "Is the LaPalma going to last another 5-6 years and would we still be happy with it after 100,000 miles? Was it time to start over with another low mileage motorhome?
The new-to-us Endeavor has 28,400 miles on it and it should be our last RV up until we are too old to travel this way. I didn't want to get down the road 2 or 3 years and be faced with the decision whether it was worth changing RV's for the last few years of our travels. I don't want the RV dictating that it is time to retire from our planned 10 year goal.
The most important feature is my 'old man recliner'. So for me it was a long range plan to get an RV that would get us through those coming years.
We loved owning the LaPalma. It was a part of our successful plan. Hopefully the Endeavor will take us into our 70's when it will be time to hang up our traveling shoes.
Life is goodRuss & Terri Ranger
Travel since July 2013
5 months - Winters in sunny Mazatlan, Mexico
6 months - Wandering the USA in our Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40' PDT Motorhome
1 month - International Travel -19 countries, so far
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Poor Truck Stop Performance
So this summer I got underway from my Tennessee home and headed to parts high and west. It gets pretty muggy and warm in Tennessee in the summer as you might know!! In preparation for this, I made sure my Good Sam card and towing service were up to date and checked the FMCA and good Sam, Pilot / Flyin J & Love’s cards were connected up to these accounts for fuel discounts. All armed, off I went on my 6200 mile sojourn.
I drive a 1995 38 ft Beaver Emerald Marquis. I tow a 2016 GMC Canyon. The Beaver has a 365 HP Cat and likes diesel!! Here is what I found; All of the Love’s, Pilot/Flying J’s as well as most TA centers located on the interstates were charging up to $0.40 / gallon more that the surrounding areas! Additionally, they would often advertise a cash price of say $3.25 and a CC or Debit card price of $3.45! or 6% more. (my Visa card charges the merchant 1.5%!) So not only are you gonna pay more than fueling stations located a bit off the freeway, but better carry large sums of greenbacks too!! So the fuel discounts are a come-on and gain you nothing.
Here is what I did. In my journey this summer, I purchased fuel only once from a Loves, not a red-cent to the others. When I’d get to about a half of a tank or so, I’d take the interstate alternate route into a city or town. As soon as you are out of site of the freeway – viola – diesel prices ranged from $2.94 to $3.19 / gal!! the highest I paid for fuel was the $3.25 once. So this is way better that the fuel “discounts” they purport. My savings for this trip were about $360.00!
Other than that, and having to replace my generator starter during the trip, I had a great time.
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Back to paradise...
It has been almost a year since we visited the Florida Keys. We stayed at Bluewater RV resort in Saddlebunch key – about 14 miles to the north of Key West. A truly epic vacation adventure. Six weeks after we left, hurricane Irma hit. We watched the updates from the park on Facebook as the hurricane moved in. Then silence… I would check daily to see if there were any updates on the staff and the park we grew to love. Finally, after what seemed forever, there were words and pictures. My heart sank… The damage to the park and the Florida Keys was devastating. No other way to describe it.
As we started planning our summer trip for ’18, the overwhelming destination vote was Bluewater Key… Checking on the park from time to time during the winter, I was amazed the staff had the facility up and running. What better way to help the Keys recover than go down and spend some dollars. On the trip down, the damage was still evident (especially on Big Pine Key), but we were all amazed at how far the recovery had come.
Pulling in the park our hearts lifted – it was just how we remembered, even better. I have to admit, I worried that going to the same spot it would somehow not live up to the expectation. Thankfully, that was not the case. Once again, we had a great time – different experiences and adventures all their own - connecting with some really good folks during our stay.
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stabilizing open entry door
The entry door opens perpendicular to the body of the motorhome and can not bend back toward the motorhome. When the wind or breeze comes by, it moves the door back and forth. I am concerned the air will bend the hinges on the door. What can I use to keep any damage from the wind/breeze? The body of the motorhome is "smooth", nothing sticking out to attach a rod or bungee cord. How would I attach a rod to the body of the motorhome? Some kind of hook?
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So we live in
Southern Illinois, looking for that small out of the way camping spot, maybe just 4 to 5 hour trip get a way. June or July this summer. Quiet setting. Some where you have been that you would like to share? Thanks, Mel & Dayna
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FMCA Convention in Perry Georgia
We figured out that this year was our 26th time presenting seminars at the FMCA national conventions. Back in 2004 we were there presenting seminars for Coach Connect, a company who installed WiFi in RV parks. After they went out of business we were invited back to FMCA on our own and Geeks on Tour was born in 2006. See this blog post for more history.
This year, the convention was held at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry, Georgia. Here was our seminar line up this year:- Technology for Travelers
- Smartphones: What does this button do?
- Google Photos: What to do with all those photos?
- Smartphone Photography
- Create your online travelogue
- See descriptions of all our seminars on this web page.
We got off to a bad start waking up at 6am to a freezing 29 degrees. We had always needed to be at our table by 7am on the first day to take registrations. We were there by 6:45 only to find the building wouldn't open till 8 ... grrrr, I mean brrrrr.We survived that and gave our first seminar to nearly 400 people. We had to squeeze our normal 90 minutes of material into a new 60 minute format ... I talked fast! But we got some great feedback.FMCA has always been limited to motorhomes, but they just recently opened up membership to trailers as well. I had a brilliant idea to convince my friend Alex, to join FMCA with her Casita trailer and come with us to the rally and help out at our table.
To my surprise, she said yes! And, she was great help. We stayed at her place near Gainesville the night before and then followed each other up the road to Perry the next day.
Alex with her Casita and our Roadtrek on the way to Perry. 
Alex helping out at our table It was a very busy week, and lots of fun seeing old friends and making new ones. Sometimes it's both old and new! One woman attended several of our classes and she came up to me more than once saying, "How do I know you?" "You look SO familiar." We couldn't come up with anything, but on the last day, she gave it another try and asked, did you go to high school at Nova?
OMG - Yes, I sure did. And so did she. Nancy was the captain of our drill team, the Titanaires, and I was co-captain - way back in 1970. Will wonders never cease? She now lives in Georgia and enjoys traveling by RV - and learning more about using her smartphone!FMCA makes it a small world!
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And Off We Go...
So now it's spring 2017 and we're set to go on our 1st real trip in our new coach.
Our first tour, we set sights on heading north from our domicile in Southwest Louisiana, beginning in May 2017 to some key waypoints we've always wanted to see & visit. These include travels northward up through Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts before turning back southward through Pennsylvania, Maryland, DC, the Virginias and Carolinas, through Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi before returning home to Louisiana. What starts out as a 4-month trip spanning close to 8,000 miles.
And we're off.
Fully loaded and stocked up for our trip with both the Garia and our Jeep Grand Cherokee in tow we head out by traveling slightly west to Houston, TX where we overnight for a couple of days (May 27-28) to visit and dine out with some family members and friends who live there, then we're off to Lewisville, TX, (on May 29th, and home of our Newmar Dealer, NIRVC to get a few minor warranty items done for 2 days) before setting our sights (Nav System) through Arkansas onward to Tennessee. Shortly thereafter we arrive on June 4th in Nashville where via the KOA we've docked at, we get out about visiting various Music City venues, take in the Grand Ole Opry (which for us was somewhat a disappointment) and of course, try some of Nashville's fine dining establishments. Departing on the 9th, we then moved onto Anchor Down, a beautiful terraced RV resort located on Douglas Lake not far from the local attractions of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg as well as the Smokie Moutain National Park where we spent the next 7-nights taking in the sights, exploring the Park and simply relaxing. We also met some new neighboring RV friends from N. Carolina and spent a day out on the Lake with them in a rented pontoon boat (there are marinas close by Anchor Down that rent boats, jet skis, and the likes for enjoying beautiful Douglas Lake and its Dam).
The Kentucky Horse Farms
It's now day 20 of our tour and we're off from Dandridge to Lexington, KY and we arrive at the Kentucky Horse Park (RV park). A somewhat "simple" RV park which principally serves to cater to the needs of folks participating in events there, we found it to be mostly grassy sites and a bit challenging to back our big rig into but we made it successfully and spent the next 2 days visiting both the Horse Park itself as well as many of the surrounding farms. A nice and simple stop for us.
The Indy 500
Next up on our schedule of stops was Indianapolis where we had set plans to visit the Indy 500 Race Park but due to what had become inclement weather conditions, we aborted (as we experienced severe heavy rain storms and high winds while traversing the roads to Indy and during the 2 days our our travel through Kentucky. We both agreeing that "getting out" in the weather that was forecasted for the present and oncoming days would not be the experience we wanted - agreeing the we'll be back in that part of the Country another day, another time and can return to Indy to see the park and possibly even take in a race or at least, some trials.
Nappanee IN - Home of Newmar Corp.
Having taken dealer delivery of our new Coach, we added Nappanee into our tour schedule in order to participate in their "factory tour" and arrived there on June 19th, now Day 24. We docked at Newmar's factory overfill lot as Camp Newmar was packed. The next day we signed up and took the tour which was interesting to say the least and somewhat amazing at how their production line works. As well, it might not have been foresight but we had developed a few issues that manifested themselves during the early phase of our trip and took being in Nappanee as an opportunity to have them addressed. (we actually had made a service appointment earlier on ahead of the start of our trip to include having our 1st house and chassis service performed). We ended up being in Nappanee for close to 3-days longer than we had planned but used the time (while Newmar was servicing our coach) to drive about and sight see the area known as the "Heritage Trail" which included visits to Elkhart, and the surrounding towns of Goshen, Shipshewana, Middlebury, Wakarusa and Bristol all the while driving through the Amish farming communities. This included a Jazz Concert event we attended on the streets of Elkhart which made for a wonderful Saturday afternoon outing.
Rock & Roll
Next up on our travel plans was a visit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Having previously made site reservations at a KOA nearby, our delay in Nappanee once again brought cause to abort the visit owning to other locations ahead where we could not alter other pre-existing reservations (no space available). This, Cleveland, became another one to be visited at a later date.
Why Jackson, Ohio of all places?
During the early onset of our tour we had (by chance, i.e. Facebook) learned that a dear old friend of both Lydia whom we'd not seen in close to 25 years had recently relocated to Jackson (for a new job) and so having our schedule kind of messed up at those moments, altered our trip by turning SE through Columbus to Jackson where we ended up spending 4 enjoyable days visiting with him and docked in a very small yet cozy state park. The visit was worth it as we had a great time just sitting outside the coach entertaining ourselves and our friend. Its' now day 37, July 1 and our plans have changed considerably. Niagara Falls has too fallen from our list and become another "future" venue for a later date but we're back on track with our earlier plans/reservations and heading to DC for the 4th of July.
Cherry Hill Park
July 2nd, after "boon-docking overnight in a WalMart in Morgantown WV on the way, we arrive in College Park MD (close to DC) at Cherry Hill Park RV Resort. From here, we can easily get into DC to visit. We also get online and manage to scorer up some front row concert tickets for the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Canned Tuna and the Wood Brother at Wolf Park and outdoor amphitheater in Vienna VA which turned out to be a great show. The next few days we primarily spent visiting DC and included being on the National Mall during the 4th of July fireworks event as well as taking in the monuments by means of a pedicab night tour which was very memorable. We highly recommend the night tours as seeing them under their special lighting is quite amazing in comparison to daytime visits.
Lydia has to Go!
After spending 10 nights at Cherry Hill and having already had a previously scheduled Dr.'s appointment in Houston to which she had to maintain, Lydia boarded a flight to Houston from Baltimore and left us (me and our miniature Schnauzer "Nike") to our own devices for a few days.
Next Stop; Williamsburg VA.
With Lydia gone, Nike and I load up and drive out, onward to Williamsburg VA. Plans being to visit the Colonial Villages (towns) of Williamsburg and Jamestown. Arriving, Nike and I find ourselves destined to fit into a very small, simple RV part that we were likely too large to fit into but managed after the staff moved a few vehicles to assist with my backing into the spot they had for us. The next two days I spent time exploring the area (some places with Nike and others while leaving him in the coach) and found it to be a charming place but somewhat less than expected likely due to the absence of Lydia. She would have drug me through countless small shops and likely the huge outlet malls they have there. Overall, it was fun but not what i personally had expected. In any case, Nike and I made the best of it without here for a few days, then once again, pulled up 'stakes" and headed southward.
Hilton Head Island
Next up on our tour list was HHI where Nike I and I arrived on July 15th we were reunited with Lydia who flew into nearby Savannah, GA. Docked at the Hilton Head Harbor Marina and RV report (vs. the HHI Motor-Coach Resort further into town), we used it as a platform for visiting both HH and Savannah over the course of the next 12 days. I will state here though beautiful, the daily traffic into and off the Island was horrendous and we spent a lot of time just sitting on the roads, waiting for traffic to move on way or the other.
We're about to start heading home. Day 61, we depart HHI for Lawrenceville, GA which was just a stopover on our way to Foley, AL at NIRVC's newest location north of Atlanta to get the coach washed & detailed. We spent 2 nights there and departed on July 28th to Foley.
Bella Terra RV Resort
Foley, Al is approx. 6 miles north of Orange Beach, Al and the beachfront of the Gulf of Mexico. Pulling into Bella Terra, we quickly knew it was going to be a relaxing stay and once checked in and dock at our site, we were met with a spacious lot facing it's man made lake and fountain. Here we stayed for another 12 nights to include enjoying the company of another pair of great friends (one of which being my former work colleague) who reside in Mobile. Too much food and fun, the margaritas were great as too the omelets at brunch.
The Big Easy
Next up and the final stop ahead of our return home was to be the New Orleans French Quarter and Warehouse district but once again, leave it to "mother nature" to forego such plans. As it so happened, we soon learned (while still in Foley) that NOLA was once again experiencing flooding due to some dense and heavy rains that had been ongoing for a few days. So, needless to say, we cancelled our planned stay there and returned home, 8,400 miles later on day 76 of our first tour.
All In.
We had a meaningful and memorable experience on our first tour in our new motor coach and such that we were convinced of "finding the roads that await us" will continue to bring forth new adventures, fun and excitement.
Next Up.
Newmar's International Rally - Sedalia MO to be followed by the Albuquerque Intl. Balloon Fiesta.
Nashville KOA
During a stopover in Mocksville, NC for factory installation of Magne Shades
The Kentucky Horse Park - RV Park, Lexington.
Local Art in Elkhart as well as the surrounding towns on the Heritage Trail
Elkhart
A fine little boutique style diner.
Cherry Hill Park - College Park, Maryland
On the National Mall, Washington, DC July 4th 2017
Hot Tuna, belting it out at Wolf Park in Vienna, VA
Night Touring the Monuments via Non-Partisan Pedicab.
Gettysburg
Hilton Head Marina and RV Resort.
Bella Terra Motorcoach Resort, Foley, AL
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Good Business Sydney Nebraska
As our RV aged and so did we, it got harder to hear each other as we traveled down the road. On this day’s end when we pulled in the engine was very loud. Roger decided it was the manifold. It was 4 o’clock on a Friday and we need a mechanic to access the problem.
We found Sauder’s here in Sydney, Nebraska. Chris Sauder, the owner’s son, came out and told us it was a blow gasket on the passenger side. He could not get us in until Tuesday and then parts would need to be ordered.
Roger needed to get to Reno (1,100 miles) as his brother was dying. Therefore, Roger went to Reno in the car and I stayed with the dog and cat to get the RV fixed.
On Monday Chris called for the vin. number and ordered parts, on Tuesday I was across the street at 8:30. RV was tore down and ready to put back together by 1:30. I spent the night behind the business plunged into their electric.
On Wednesday they ran into trouble do to a bolt being broken off. The job was not completed until 4:30. Both the shop and the machine donated time for part of the working on this bolt.
During these 2 days Chris came often to the waiting room to bring me up to date on the job, offered me use of a car, and watch my dog while I walked next door for a sandwich.
I can’t say enough good things about these people. And if that wasn’t enough the place I stayed was Cabela’s campground at their corporate office. They were so nice and ended up giving us 2 free nights.
So if you are in the area these two business while treat you right.
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Engine repair
Has anyone had any experience with Mid Florida Diesel in Bartow Florida?
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Smart Wheel Problems
I own a 2013 Monaco Knight. Sometimes the smart wheel works and sometimes it doesn't. This is with all controls. I will attempt to turn on the cruise control with no luck. Same with the engine brake. I will drive numerous miles and it will start working. I have replaced the clock spring and smart wheel controller. Anyone have the same problem.
Thank you
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Mr. Sam
With the possibility of the vote allowing other units into the Association along with the health insurance state lines being erased how would the members feel about looking at health care being included in the benefit options for all members? The average age of our members will drop significantly allowing the possibility of a very large group with a younger age average. So many younger RVer's are self insured and work self employed, as I have, or for small companies that may not offer insurance. Just a thought.
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