Jackhal49

The Red Cross has some excellent first aid kits at very reasonable prices. If you are in an area with poisonous snakes I would recommend a snake bit extraction kit. Good Luck and Stay Safe!

I'm so sorry for your loss. It is so hard to loose a four foot member of the family. Six years ago we lost our first and favorite golden retriever. My son rescued her from an abusive situation when she was 3 months old and we had her for 11 years and lost her to cancer. She had the most amazing personality and we still miss her dearly every day. However, we rescued another dog, mixed collie/golden, and lost him before Snoops. When we lost Snoops I was heart broken, however, I felt the best way to honor her life was to save another life so we adopted another golden a week after she passed. Adopting our next golden, Oliver, was such a wonderful thing. Yes, we missed our beloved Snoops, however, Oliver needed our love and he gave us back more than we could ever have imagined. We still have Oliver and we have since adopted another golden, Annie. They both full-time with us and help make our lives so much fuller. Remember the good times and Nickolas will live in your hearts forever.

Hi Tom & Louise, Sorry about the refrig! We have never had the door come off, but have learned to be very careful of the refrig when opening it after a day of travel. On several occasions we have forgot and just opened the door and had a bombing run of eggs come out of the refrig. Yuck! What a mess! Ah the adventures of motor homing! LOL! We found something interesting in our stove once we got here to Goliad. We had been fighting mice invasions when we were storing the MH in the front yard of our Maine home. However, we could never find a nest until the other day. Would you believe one built a nest in the stove! Yup! Where you lift up the burner cover, the mouse had build a nest there. Lucky we never had a fire when we were using the stove. Hope you are all have a great time in your further travels! Jack

Finally we have made it to Goliad State Park, Goliad, Texas! We had quite the adventure coming down here and spent some pretty long days driving. Unfortunately, we had to leave Maine late, so there wasn’t a lot of time to travel down here, and it was 6 days of some pretty hard driving. We just found convenient RV parks to stay at overnight and some weren’t the greatest, to say the least, but we are finally here! It really helps when both of us can share the driving and we usually took 2-hour shifts behind the wheel. That helped to break up the long days on the road. What a beautiful place Goliad State Park is! Texas really takes pride in their state parks and it surely shows here at Goliad! The place is beautiful and the staff is wicked friendly. We certainly could not have asked for a better place for our first volunteer position. The mission Espiritu Santo and its grounds are very beautiful. Peg and I host four days at the mission museum and one ay at the birth home of General Ignacio Zaragoza, who was the general who beat the French at Puebla, Mexico. The battle is now celebrated as Cinco de Mayo. The Goliad area is bathed in so much history, which has really kept us amazed and busy learning it all. The campgrounds at the state park are really nice. One section has 20 pull-through FHU sites that are well spacedand kept immaculate. The sites are situated around a very large common with lots of well-groomed grass and trees and very quiet. There are several other camping areas, some just for tents that are situated along the San Antonio River and one other area that has back-in sites with water and electric. It is a beautiful place to camp and if you are ever in this area it is well worth your while to come and stay here. The town of Goliad is very quaint and very western. The storefronts look like something out of a western movie and one could expect to see a couple of cowboys getting ready to shoot it out at noon. It is much too peaceful for that, however. The very center of town is the historic courthouse, even with a hanging tree outside the main entrance. Yes, the tree was really used for hangings in the old days. The weather has been fantastic so far with mostly clear days with temperatures in the 80s and nighttime lows in the mid-50s. I’m sure we will get some rain at some point in time, but for now it is just plain awesome. We are so happy here and our two golden retrievers are as happy as can be, too. We haven’t seen a lot of wildlife yet, but we did see our first armadillo the other night. What amazing and interesting creatures they are! We have also seen a few rabbits, and vultures are everywhere. I will post a few pictures later on if I can figure out how to post/paste them here. I hope all is well with everyone and, as they say here, Ya All Come Down, Ya Hear! Jack, Peg, and the two fuzzies

Just for curiosity how many hours did you have on your generator and how old is it? I didn't know my Onan generator had a belt either. I have an Onan 7.5 KW. Jack

Well, due to circumstances beyond our control, we are still sitting in our yard in Maine waiting to migrate south with all the other birds. Finally, we have all of our roadblocks completed and are now free to travel. In the next few days we will start our travels south to Texas and are really excited. We are more than anxious to start our adventure! However, the time we have spent in our motorhome in our yard has had its pluses, as well. I finally was able to track down our mystery water leak under our kitchen sink, which was driving us crazy. The leak would happen only once in a great while. What I found was that the leak occurred only when the hot water heater was first turned on. As the water heated, pressure built up in the system just enough for the water to leak at the fitting where the hot water hose joined with the hot water faucet. I just applied some plumber's gook to the fitting and ... problem solved! Waiting around to leave has been a bit frustrating, but we have accomplished a lot. We did have to change our travel plans quite a bit and were not able to drive out to Sioux Falls, S.D., or to visit our daughter and family in Colorado. We did fly out to Sioux Falls to obtain our driver’s licenses and become residents. In the spring we will leave Texas and head west to make our visit to Colorado, etc. But now, we will head south directly to our first volunteer position at Goliad State Park & Historic site in Texas and are looking so forward to it. The weather here in Maine has really turned very fallish and the birds are gathering in flocks heading south. Some of the trees are starting to turn color and, with the cool crisp air, it's a reminder that it's time for us to migrate as well. This summer we had a pair of Canada goose raise a family of five goslings and we were able to watch them grow and finally learn to fly and leave. We thought we would never see them again; however, just this morning they have returned as they, too, prepare to fly south for the winter. So our “Adventure†will finally begin! I will add to our blog as we experience our journey.

Hi Karen & Collins, Well as you will see in our new blog entry we are just about to leave. We had a few minor medical issues to take care of before we could leave. The MH is all set with the toad attached and we will pull out early tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, we will have to head straight to our first volunteer position in Goliad, TX without doing any real sight seeing. However, we are very excited about our volunteer positions and are really looking forward to seeing and learning all about the local area history and its customs. I think our two goldens are wondering what is really going on, but I think they are really going to enjoy the adventure of it all. Sounds like you two are having a great time! We hope to visit the Charleston area on our return trip next spring. Have an awesome time you two. Hopefully, our paths will cross sometime! Jack, Peg, and the fuzzies Oliver & Annie

Hi Karen & Collins, Looks like you are all having a great time! How Awesome! We still haven't left as yet due to some unforeseen medical issues, nothing really big but needs to be taken care of. We had to change our travel plans so now we will not be driving to South Dakota and then to Colorado on our way to Texas. We flew to Sioux Falls to get our SD driver's licenses and now will leave sometime next week going straight to Texas for our volunteer positions. To say we are anxious to get going is an understatement! Yesterday we tested out our towing equipment and towed the car and all worked out fine. However, we were also going to dump our tanks at the local campgrounds and our tanks were full and the coach filled with a nasty smell. At first we thought the black water tank could have over flowed into the coach, but thank goodness it was just smells. Lesson learn, don't drive will full tanks! Yucko! I have found Freightliner service centers seem to do a really good job. We have had the MH serviced by the local Freightliner center and the prices were quite reasonable. My advice for servicing the MH go to the larger centers, Freightliner, Allison Transmission, Cummins, etc. Hope you are still having a great time traveling. Take care and have Fun! Jack, Peg, and Oliver & Annie the goldens

Hi TBUTLER, Maine is a beautiful place in the summer, however, its the 8 months of winter that are killers! The north coast is awesome like Acadia and northward. It would be a great place to just have a pad with a full hookup for the summer. Just because you don't have a pad here there's lots of nice camping areas along the coast. Some of the state parks are really great and inexpensive compared to RV parks, etc. Have fun in Denver area, we will be in the southwestern area of Colorado in a month. Maybe we will see you all sometime out there. Have Fun!!

These people are blaming Walmart for their own stupidity. One to open the door to someone they observed acting strangely. Two taking out a shotgun and letting the strange person get hold of it. If you are going to pull a gun on someone you had better be prepared to use it. None of this is Walmarts fault. This could have happened anyplace, at a rest area, a campground, etc. You can not blame someone or some business for your own lack of good judgment. People like this sue others to cover their own lack of handling a situation properly. My goodness! It can't possibly be their fault, could it? The minute they took out the gun they changed the whole situation. A gun should only be used as a last resort and when you do you had best be prepared to use it. Pulling out a gun is a last resort move. I am not against someone carry a firearm for protection, but one must know how and when to use it. I support Walmart all the way on this one. I do feel sorry for what the people went through, however, a lot of it was their own making. I hope they do not ruin Walmart's kindness of letting motorhomers and other travelers from using their parking lots for over night stops.

Finally! We are done with dealing with our "stuff." We sold, donated or just plain dumped everything we had in the house -- except for a few items we couldn’t part with, or items we have stored in the house that our son and family are going to rent. Whew! What a relief! It really is surprising how much stuff you really do not need to live happily ever after. Mostly what we stored are pictures taken over a lifetime that I just haven’t had the time to digitize. We have found out that living in our motorhome for a month in our front yard has been very important. It enabled us to give all the systems in the rig a complete workout. If anything is going to break it will and you can fix it much easier. We found a leak over the passenger’s side windshield, which we hopefully have fixed. The very heavy rain showers and thunderstorms we had a couple of weeks ago drove water in and around the top windshield gasket. Had we not found the leak until later, it could have caused some real problems. I was advised to use Proflex RV and caulk in and along the entire windshield gasket. Hopefully, it has taken care of the problem. I’ll let you all know how it works out in a later blog entry; need a few heavy rain showers to give it a good test. So far we really love living in the motorhome. It suits our lifestyle quite nicely. We haven’t really realized that we are retired. Peg still feels she is on a long summer vacation and I keep seeing ads for back to school, which makes me think I only have three weeks left of summer vacation. I think by the time we really pull out for the West, we will finally come to the conclusion we are really retired. It's exciting, but still a little scary, but I really feel I can get used to this lifestyle pretty darn quick. We made a weekend trip down East to visit my middle-aged brother and his wife in Milbridge, Maine, which is an hour north of Acadia National Park on the coast. Very pretty area and if you haven’t traveled to the northern coast of Maine it is a must-see, totally beautiful. It was nice to be there when the annual Milbridge Days were taking place. They have a parade and other neat events, including a codfish relay race. If you are not familiar with that event, it is a relay race in which the runners have to dress in fisherman’s yellow rain gear and run with a big dead codfish. The funniest event is when the little kids do the race. We had a great visit and an awesome feed of fresh Maine lobster right from the local docks. Yummy! Sure will miss lobsters! Have to have one more feed before we head out West. Well, we are just about ready to go west ... just a few more items to get done. We need to have the transmission fluid and filters changed and test out the towing gear and we’ll be all set. Time is really starting to fly by and we are itching to get on the road. My foot is getting better slow but sure. I started physical therapy last week and have just started walking on the foot without crutches and even drove for the first time since the 16th of May. Hopefully, my foot will be fine for driving the motorhome in two weeks when we plan to leave. I’m still messing around with the exact route we plan to take and that is half the fun for me. Until the next entry, I hope you all are having an awesome summer!

Hi Karen & Collin, Wow! Sounds like you had quite the experience on your first day out! You two must have been beside yourselves by the days end. Hopefully, that will be the worst day you have for the remainder of you motor homing experiences. At least you did not damage the motor home like I did the first day we had ours when a clobbered the roof. Ouch! Glad you ran into another motorhomer that helped you out. One great thing about RVing is there is always more experienced people to help you out. For the most part we are a pretty tight and friendly community. One thing I really love about going to chapter rallies there is always someone more experienced to answer your questions and lend you a hand. Sounds like you had a great time at the Louisville Rally. We haven't been to one that large yet. The largest rally we have been to was the Norhteast Rally at Essex Junction, Vermont last year. We really enjoyed the seminars and learned a lot plus bought stuff for the motor home. We know what you mean about finding areas to stow everything. The 34H Journey maybe small compared to other rigs, however, it has lots of storage inside and out. Compacting everything and having all our gear organized is quite the chore. I'm sure we will leave here with things left to be done as there are so many things to remember and do. I have made check off lists to remember everything we have to do before we pullout so we don't forget to hook something up or something. Hope you get your maintenance issues taken care of. Some RV places aren't the greatest at getting work done on time or to the quality one would like or expect. I found Freightliner shops very good and the quality of their work excellent. We had our toad wired and faceplate done at Seacoast RV in Saco, Maine and they did excellent work and were very helpful and friendly. Finding good maintenance facilities can be a challenge but asking at forums is a big help. I'm a big fan of Velco myself and use it a lot for anchoring items down in the motor home. Great stuff! Again I hope all is going smoothly for you two now. I'm finally being able to walk around taking it slowly and I can drive now as well. I still have to be very careful though. I hope we can meet up some place along the way and I'm sure we will. Best to you! Jack, Peg, Oliver, & Annie (our 2 goldens)

Hi Again Karen & Collin, One quick note on driving motor homes. Lazy Days has an excellent driver's confidence course with videos posted on this website http://betterrving.com/Article/RV_Tips/RV_...or_High_Quality . My wife and I both found the tips very helpful. Good Luck, Relax, and Enjoy!

Hi Karen & Collin, Wow! Lots of parallel things between the two of us. We are also living in our motor home with the upstairs of our house guttered. All our furniture was removed when we were at the Cape Cod Canal rally. Our son and family are taking over the house and he is renovating the entire upstairs. Really feels weird going in the house and seeing everything gone and the rooms bare. We have lived in the house for 25 years as well. Maine is a great state to live when you are young, but now the winters are not fun anymore it is time to migrate south with the birds. We will head out to South Dakota, then go to Colorado to visit our daughter and family. After a nice long stay in Colorado we head to southeastern Texas where we will do volunteer work for several state parks for the winter. I can sympathize with Collin as I am going through things with my broken heel, I have to start physical therapy the end of this month. The doc said I could just attend several sessions just to get some good tips on getting back to normal with walking, etc. We also will be coming up the East Coast in the spring to visit my wife's sister in Tenn. and a friend of hers in VA. Don't worry about not knowing much about your motor home, we all start that way. Following the forums and blogs on the internet really help and ask lots of questions. Also you will find other motor homers at campgrounds are more than willing to help. It seems I learn something everyday like with the windshield wiper arms, I asked lots of questions on several forums and got diagrams and lots of good advice. iRV2.com is a great place for forums and you will find a forum just for people who own Monaco motor homes which is a great resource. Another good forum place is www.rv.net. The FMCA and Motor Home magazines have great articles and you can subscribe to them online so you can get the magazines downloaded and not have to worry about having them mailed to you. You can also access all their past articles which have a world of information. We have not towed our car yet as Peg is just learning to drive the rig and I can't drive with my broken right heel. I have all the towing equipment ready to go now I just have to wait for the doc to say it is ok to drive. I am lucky as my father-in-law has been motor homing for quite a few years and is going to assist me in hooking up our toad which will be a great help. Hopefully, our blog will be of help to you all. Maybe we will hookup along the way sometime which would be lots of fun. Good Luck and Enjoy the Experience!

Hi Laura, I hope our blog helps you out that is my intention. We learned so much from others and I hope to pass on the favor. There is so much to learn about motor homes it is incredible. We started thinking about it almost 5 years ago. I has been a long journey so far and lots of fun. We researched motor homes for over 3 years before we bought one and we bought a used DP as we couldn't afford a brand new one and were lucky enough to find a great coach at a great price. Taking lots of weekend and longer trips is the real way to learn. Reading lots of forums and blogs help and you learn a great deal from others. One awesome thing about motor homing is you will find most everyone is very helpful and a great bunch of people. Good Luck and Have a Great Time! Jack

We had some preventive maintenance completed on our motorhome by Freightliner in Westbrook, Maine, and they did an outstanding job. Maintenance included replacing all the Cat engine belts, replacing the upper fuel filter, and changing the oil and all filters on the generator. We also had the ABS system checked out as the light came on and found out it was a loose sensor on the rear right. Just one more major PM to complete -- the Allison transmission needs to have its fluid and filters changed -- and then we’ll be set to go. We took a shakedown cruise to a three-chapter FMCA rally at Scussett Beach in Sagamore, Mass. What a great place right on the eastern end to the Cape Cod Canal. The rally was put on by the Cape Codders, Northeastern, and the Yankee Travelers. What a great time and a great bunch of people. The rally took place at the Scussett Beach group area, which is a fairly large field adjacent to the Cape Cod Canal. You have the entire beach there plus the canal, which is a great fishing spot for Striped Bass. On the Fourth of July the chapters put on a great cookout with chicken, salads and, of course, corn on the cob. Yummy! This bunch always puts on a great rally and they all love to eat! All and all, there were about 60 coaches there and fun was had by all. You can check out their Web sites for pictures of the rally from past years and probably soon to have pictures from this year's rally. The state park at Scussett Beach has a great campground as well, with water and electric hookups and a nice dump station that is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. There is a paved bike/walking path that runs the entire length of the canal, which is lots of fun and always interesting with the boat traffic passing through to canal. The campground does have some sites for large rigs. Some of them are shaded and some are more open field type, but most are well spaced apart. The beach there is awesome as well, and there are good facilities at both the beach and campgrounds. If you travel through southern Massachusetts, Scussett Beach is a great spot to stop. If you like a nice, quiet and relaxing camping area this is the place for you. This was Peg’s first solo trip, which was 4½ hours long down Route 95, Route 128 and Route 3, and there was plenty of traffic south of Boston headed for the Cape. She did a superb job and handled the traffic like a pro. For me it was the first time I could be the copilot and sit there and enjoy the view. I think I could get used to copiloting, because you get to enjoy the scenery instead of watching all the traffic. Peg was a bit leery of driving the motorhome in rain showers, and of course, we ran into them the minute we hit the Maine Turnpike. So she made it over that hurdle with flying colors. However, the passenger-side windshield wiper arm started acting up. We stopped and I had to extend the wiper arm straight out as I couldn’t find the problem and it was pouring rain. Just found out that the problem was the acorn nut that holds the main arm on is stripped, so it isn’t holding the arm on the shaft tight enough. Not sure how it got stripped as I have never touched it. I have ordered a new acorn nut, so we should be all set when I get the part. It’s the old fifty-cent part thing. LOL! We are still dealing with a bit more “stuff,†but the major stuff is all done. I still have bunches of pictures to scan and a few odds and ends. We have about four weeks to go before we head out on our great adventure and I have to admit I’m getting anxious to get on the road. Hopefully, this foot of mine will be good enough so I can drive and walk on it. Two more weeks and the doc will give me the go-ahead and have a week or so of physical therapy. I can’t wait to be able to be fully mobile again!

Glad you have gotten behind the wheel and as you have said it is not as intimidating as one first thinks which is natural. Backing is an issue and we never back the rig without one of us being outside directing. Our son bought us walkie talkies that really help so we have good communication which is really important. I clobbered out roof the first time I backed the motor home the very first day we had it. Ouch! A hard lesson to learn is not only watch the trees but their limbs as well. Peg's driving instructor calls it GOAL which stands for "get out and look" when ever in doubt. He also said avoid backing into a campsite on the passenger side as it is quite blind and even experienced truckers avoid that. Backing just takes practice and taking your time. As the driving instructor said it does not cost anything to get out and look. Using your convex mirrors is really important as it tells you where your back wheels are and how you are traveling within your lane. Lazy Days has some great videos from the driver's confidence course here is the URL for the site http://www.betterrving.com/Article/RV_Tips...into_a_campsite . Good Luck & Happy RVing! Jack, Peg, & Little Annie Girl

Hi Judy & Jerry, Your are basically following the same path we did. Start out slow and learn lots from others. I hope our blog will help you out, I leaned tons from others on blogs and forums. The wonderful part of motor homing is all the motor homers are awesome and always will to help out. You may want to join a local FMCA chapter as you will met lots of experienced people that will help out also. Leveling can be a challenge as you found out. We have a round bubble level that really helps out. Keeping your jacks clean and lubed helps out when they retract. We will tow our Subaru Forester in the next month or so for the first time so that will be an experience. About a month to go before we depart for the wild west and we are getting anxious to get going. We just have to wait for my broken heel to mend enough to start driving and walking around. Take care and ask any questions we'll be more that glad to answer. Jack, Peg, and Little Annie Girl (little golden retriever)

Getting all our worldly stuff sorted out -- what to take, to leave, to give away, to sell, or to just trash -- is not an easy task. But that is only part of the battle. Where to store everything is the second part of the stuff battle, but we found that was easier than the first part and we are just about finished. Hooray! Now there are only tons of other things to get accomplished before the big day to shove off to see this Great Country of ours! Getting all of our bills and banking fixed so it will be easy to do on the road is easier than first thought, so that was pretty easy. On to the next item of getting the motorhome in tip-top shape to go on our Great Adventure. We have to make sure all the routine maintenance is taken care of, because we don't want any unpleasant surprises on the road; or, we at least want to minimize the chance. This calls for making a nice checklist with all the required maintenance and the proper scheduling. I love lists to make sure all is done and nothing is left to chance. Along with the mechanical maintenance, the inside and outside of the motorhome must be clean and protected. DW does the inside and I concentrate on the exterior. Get the roof washed and waxed (NuFinish) so the roof looks bright white. Next, wax and buff the sides, front and rear. This is time consuming but helps to protect the fiberglass and gelcoat. Oops! Gravity works! I fell off the ladder while waxing it and broke my right heel bone! It has been a month after the operation, during which a plate and some screws were inserted. So far, all is going well, but it will be at least another eight weeks before I can drive the motorhome. With any luck, we will be able to head out full-timing by the middle of August. DW now has to learn to drive the motorhome a little quicker than she thought, but I know she will be great at it once she gets over the initial nervousness of first driving it. We hired a professional driver/instructor, which made things a lot nicer for DW and she did an excellent job. It really helped bring up her confidence level and I gained a few good pointers as well. As they say, “Half the fun is getting there!†I also had to retire from teaching a month early as I had to stay off my broken heel, which is not quite the way I wanted to finish my teaching career. Not being mobile is driving me crazy and not doing much for DW, who is doing all the moving of stuff into the motorhome. But all and all we are getting there. We did have the ABS light come on during the driving lessons, so our next step is to have the motorhome serviced a Freightliner this week. Hopefully, the ABS system will be fixed in time for our three-chapter rally over the 4th of July. Have a great and safe holiday weekend, all!

We, hopefully, will be keeping our blog updated. As I mention in the blog we have been planning this escape for years now and it is almost here! Getting rid of junk (trash or treasures) is not an easy task, but it is really amazing the junk we put away and never ever use. Good Luck to you both on the road and hope to see you out there sometime! Jack & Peg

The Journey "To finish the moment, to find the Journey's end in every stop of the road, to give the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson Jack and Peg's Great Adventure," Part I First, allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Jack, a retired Navy chief and just now a retired high school chemistry/physics teacher. Peg is retiring from a 30-year career in federal service as a safety specialist for NAVOSH, which is the Department of the Navy's answer to OSHA. We are currently residing in mid-coastal Maine with our son and family and our dogs. We soon will depart on our "Great Adventure" full-timing across the country, mostly the Southwest during the winter months. The thought of buying a motorhome and going full-time started more than four years ago. It is one of those thoughts that just came to us out of the blue; at least it felt that way. We had seen around 7,500 coaches at an FMCA rally at Brunswick Naval Air Station about 10 years ago but really did not think about buying one. We were amazed, however, at what we saw. My father-in-law has had a motorhome for a while and had been wintering over in Florida and then Texas through the years. So when we began thinking of at least wintering in a motor home we started researching them online, visiting the few dealers in our area, and visiting motor home owners who were camped near us at the local campgrounds. We loved the friendliness of all the motor home owners we met and they were always happy to show us their rigs and answer our questions. We went to a few chapter rallies with my father-in-law and had a great time and, of course, looked at more motor homes and asked lots of questions. We also took the advice to buy our last motor home first. Our search for a motor home ended surprisingly enough when I found it on the Internet and it was within a fairly short distance from our home. A private party was selling this 2005 Winnebago Journey 34H, which was in primo condition and had been babied. It was love at first sight. We loved the floor plan and the size was just what we wanted. After having the rig inspected by a Winnebago dealer, we bought it and have been wickedly happy ever since. The hardest part has been getting rid of years of just plain stuff! When you start looking at all the stuff you have accumulated over the years it is just mind boggling! We are going to sell the house eventually, but for now we are renting it to our son and his family. With that said, all of our furniture is going, as well as our art work and everything else you can imagine under the sun! We have lots and lots of just plain junk to sort through and a lifetime full of pictures/slides to sort through. I intend to scan all the pictures/slides and store them on flash drives so we still can have them but they will take up very little space. Space is the valuable resource when you are going from a house with over 2,000 square feet to a 350-square-foot motor home with a weight limit to worry about as well. All and all, we have just about completed our downsizing and are moving our few possessions into the motorhome.

Hi All, I'm with you all I can't wait to leave the stress of teaching behind me especially in these times. To get up in the morning with just thoughts of that day and the wonderful adventures awaiting. Looking forward to see just what is over that hill or around the corner and to meeting new people who share the same life style. One of the most enjoyable things to MHing is meeting all the nice people at rallies and campgrounds. Also look forward to doing new and interesting things volunteering and helping out. Have a great day all and a great year ahead!

Hi TButler and all. Well we made it through the winter here in Maine and it was a mild one for once. We decided to rent of house to our son and his family at least for a year or more. We will wait for the housing market to recover a bit here before we sell. This August we will head out on our great adventure going to Winnebago Industries to have a few issues looked at on the Journey then head to Sioux Falls, SD to establish our residency and get our drivers licenses. Then it down to southwestern Colorado to see our daughter and family. Oct & Nov we will be in Goliad, Texas where we will be workamping at the state park. Dec thru Apr we will be at Buescher State Park workamping. We are really excited and can't wait to get started! We are still going through our stuff and the closer the time comes to retirement the easier it is to get rid of stuff. It is amazing how much stuff one can accumulate and most of it is just stuff that you just for some unknown reason hang on too. I really feel it is liberating to get rid of most of it and only keep the things you will really need and use. Some hobby stuff like fishing gear, tools, my wife's hobby things, etc. So we are lighting our load and plan to travel as light a possible. Hope to see you all on the road! Jack, Peg, and Annie our golden girl.

I have a 05 Journey with a 350 Cat. To start mine you turn the key to accessory a light on the dash will light saying "wait to start engine" when that goes out you can turn the key to start the engine. Mine also says not to idle the engine in low idle for more than 10 minutes, however, you can set the cruise control to 1000 rpms to idle longer. I have not had any problems with putting the trans in D and driving off, however, I have never driven it in very cold weather either. May want to check your Allison transmission manual, I do not remember seeing anything about cold weather operation. This is my first diesel as well and have had the Journey just over a year. I think you will love it! Quiet driving, the engine brake is awesome going down steep grades, and the ride is awesome. Congrats on your new DP! Good Luck and Happy RVing!!!

Egads! Jarheads, Bubbleheads, Black Shoes and Doggies! Whats a Brown Shoe to do!!! Happy Holidays All! Thank You All for Your Service to this great Country of ours! Chief Halpin!