... and the adventure comes to an end
July 5, day 37: A drive day from Las Cruses, N.M., to Tucson, Ariz. Nothing exciting along the way.
July 6, day 38: A drive day from Tucson to our home in Cathedral City, Calif., 380 miles on I-10.
So ends a great 38-day adventure. We drove 6,822 miles and traveled through 14 states. We had set a trip "on the road" budget of $7,600, or $200 per day, for food, fuel and park fees. However, we actually spent $6,900. The savings was in fuel ... we had budgeted $3800 (6 miles per gallon), but we ran at 8 to 9 miles per gallon; hence the savings.
For RV park fees, we had budgeted $1,900 and spent $1,672, and for eating out the budget was $1,900 and we spent $1,959.
The trip was a eye-opening experience for us. We did learn that we could live together in a RV for at least 5 weeks and still be talking to each other at the end of the trip. Even Dale the dog is OK, his tail is still wagging
The RV itself did not have any major problems. On the last day of the trip the front air-conditioner unit's squirrel cage did lock up, but that is an easy fix. Other than the AC issue, the RV worked as it should.
When we first walked back into our home, we had "bigness shock" -- the house is only 1,350 square feet, but compared to the RV, which is about 300 square feet, the house is a mansion Once back, we had the chore of unloading (ugh ) the motorhome, which will continue tomorrow.
So long for now. We are deciding where to go next ....
Dale, Trudy and Doug
... and the adventure contineus... as mentioned before, Sunday June 28 was a driving day from New Orleans to Austin TX. We arrived at the Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park about 8 pm... we set up the RV and then turned in for the night,
Monday, June 29, day 31, We got ready to go into the downtown entertainment area of Austin... however the temperature and humidity were very high... so we knew that walking around outside in the downtown area would be difficult... so we drove around a number of popular tourist areas (Georgetown, Hill Country) and then went back to the RV for a few hours. Later in the day, we did some online searching for places to eat and entertainment... and decided on a place called "County Line BBQ" about 10 miles out of town and located on the edge of a river. The meal was fabulous.... Trudy had Memphis BBQ Pork Ribs and I had Texas style beef ribs... ending with peach cobbler and fresh made ice cream By the way, when we got back to the RV Dale (the pooch) was given a beef rib bone, which he thoroughly enjoyed and gnawed on for several hours
Tuesday, June 30, day 32, Today we traveled from Austin TX to San Antonio TX, about 80 miles. We are staying at the Travelers World RV Resort. We get in about noon, set up the RV and then pondered what to do next. We took a trip down to the Riverwalk area and we took one of the boat rides that tours the canals and passes the many stores, hotels, and restaurants that line the canals. After a couple of hours we were melting from the temperature and humidity, so we got back in the car and drove around the Riverwalk area... later in the day we had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant that was very good. Later in the evening we made a trip to the local Super Walmart for a few supplies.
Wednesday, July 1, day 33, Planning our day, we made sure we had plenty of water and Gatorade with us. We got down to the Alamo historic area about noon and toured the Alamo. We then wandered into the Riverwalk Mall to cool down... next we ended up at Pat O Brians Restaurant for a cold beer and finger foods. Then to beat the heat for a couple of hours we went to the movies (the opening day of Ice Age), afterwords, we again walked along the Riverwalk area. We wanted seafood for dinner, so we settled on "Landries Restaurant" were we shared stuffed mushrooms with crab meat, and Trudy had oysters on the half shell, we then shared the seafood feast of crab, shrimp, crab cakes, and a stuffed crab, and of course a couple of cold draft beers.
Thursday, July 2, day 34, Thursday is a drive day. From San Antonio TX to Fort Stockton TX.
... stay turned as we continue our adventure,
Dale, Trudy, and Doug
... the adventure continues and we are having a lot of fun
On June 22, day 24, we had a large fried lunch before leaving Charleston and drove to Savannah, about 2 hours away. We got in late and after setting up, we crashed for the night...
June 23, day 25, we planned to spend a full day in Savannah and did just that. The Savannah Oaks RV Resort, is located about 15 or so miles from downtown Savannah. I've come to love the Garmin we have... I just plug in an address and "Jill" (the Garmin's voice) tells how to get to the location. Editorial comment: Between mobile access to the Internet and Garmin technology, both have changed driving habits for many of us.
We got down to the Old Market/Slave Market area and starting walking around (it was very hot and humid)... Georgia Pralines was at the top of Trudy's sweet tooth list... and boy, we found them! We then found the horse and buggy staging area, and we hired a horse and carriage for the two of us... and took the buggy tour through the historic area of Savannah... the tour guide did a good job.... and we had a good time.
For lunch, we wanted to do something different or go someplace unique. We walked the Ole Market place for awhile and passed the Wild Wings Restaurant, Mama and Sons (Paula Dean's place)(they were all booked up), and looked at Bubba Gumps. As I usually do, I asked total strangers or shop folks where to eat... and we knew we wanted seafood...
... we got directed to Charlie's Crab Shack on Tybee Island, about a 15 mile drive... it was an interesting drive to and on Tybee Island. We were totally impressed as we drove up on the Crab Shack... it's sitting right on the water, it reminds us of a location in Tahiti, very tropical, with an alligator farm in the front of the restaurant. We sat outside under large trees with misting fans blowing all around us and other diners. There are lots of ferns and bamboo. The tables are wood with a hole cut into the center of the table where there is a trash can under the table, over the table top hole is a wood shelf for the food. With all of that we knew we were in for a good time.
... we ordered a couple of beers and took a few moments to look at the menu... and settled on the Sampler Platter, which consists of six types of seafood, corn, and potatoes, everything is boiled together. We did start with a cup of crab soup. The seafood included shrimp, mussels, crayfish, and three types of crab! Within minutes we had crab and shrimp shells flying into the air and eventually going down the hole in the center of the table. A very enjoyable lunch in an excellent location and atmosphere. We topped off lunch with a piece of key lime pie. We also took some some soup and their BBQ pork with us back to the RV... and nothing was fried! After lunch we were back in the car and enjoying the scenic drive back to the RV park where we settled back into the motor home.
June 24, day 26, is a drive day. we are headed to New Orleans, about 650 miles west, to keep the drive manageable we stopped for an overnight stay at Sunset King Lake Resort in Defuniak Springs Fl., about a 400 mile drive.
... stay tuned,
Dale, Trudy and Doug
We are now at the American Heritage RV Park in Williamsburg VA... a nice big park just a few miles from historic Williamsburg VA... and the humidity is high!
June 19, Friday, day 21, We arrived at the American Heritage RV Park in Williamsburg VA.... got in about 1 PM... got set-up, took Dale for a walk, and then headed off to a local place for lunch. Had a an excellent lunch at the "Hog Wild Smokehouse Restaurant", all of the fried or BBQ food you could want... of course, we had to start with a couple of cold draft beers, we shared a h'ordevoures (sp) called "Crawfish Boudin Balls" (hush puppies with crawfish and spices, Yummy!), Trudy ordered "Flounder Fish and Chips", I had the "Catfish Po Boy Special", and finally we had Chocolate Pecan Pie with vanilla ice cream. After that lunch it was time for a short nap
After our nap, we had to do that pesty laundry stuff, about 3 hours later, Trudy was back at the RV after doing the laundry... while Trudy was washing stuff, I was searching for RV parks for the next part of our journey. During the upcoming week we'll be staying at Laniers CG in Surf City NC, and the next day we'll be at Savannah Oaks RV Resort in Savannah GA.
June 20, Saturday, day 22,, Today we got to the Historic Williamsburg area about 10:30 am and the weather was already hot and humid. By noon, we were dripping sweat... after an hour of walking through a historic building or two, we were ready for lunch at a place with air-conditioning... which we found...
.... after about 5 hours of site seeing and walking through buildings we were ready to call it quits (we were dragging out feet)... we got back to the RV about 5 pm, immediately had a cold drink, and then a nap... later we got cleaned up and fixed something to eat in the RV... the end of a long hot day
Tomorrow the adventure continues... on to Surf City North Carolina...
Dale, Trudy, and Doug
Friday, June 12, Day 14 of 32,
Today we took the Metro into Washington DC. We have a 1 PM appointment to tour the Capital. We were able to get connected to our congressional representative's office and we only had 6 folks in our group, and then an Intern led the tour. What can we say about the tour of the Capital... it was great! A two hour tour only touches on the various things to see and hear about our country's history... it is an amazing place.
Saturday, June 13, Day 15 of 32,
Whack! We acted as tourist all day. We met up with Lexi and Dan, and then drove to Baltimore MD, to the Port of Baltimore.
OK, for those folks unfamiliar with the term "Whack", here is the definition: to strike with a smart, resounding blow or blows. I'll explain later, but first when we got to the Port of Baltimore and parked the car, we then walked to the Aquarium Pier and bought tickets to tour the USCGC Taney (last remaining large Coast Guard Cutter) and the USS Torsk (the last submarine produced for WWII.) We then got tickets for using the Water Taxi Service. After a bit of waiting and several water taxi transfers, we ended up at Captain James Landing...
...Whack, Whack, Whack! at Captain James Landing, a seafood restaurant with a outdoor eating area right next to the water, we ordered fried Calamari, and a dozen LARGE crabs... Whack, Whack, Whack!!! That's the sound of mallets cracking the legs and claws of the crabs... Ops, I should also mention that we had sufficient beer to wash down the fresh crab, Calamari, and French Fries... Whack-Whack-Whack!!!! ... and one more thing... we had milkshakes and ice cream at Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Parlor.
Sunday, June 14, Day 16 of 32,
Today is a rest and washing clothes day. We had to breakfast out, spent several hours with clothes, walked Dale several times, and then dinner out. Tomorrow, Monday, we are planning to tour a number of sites in DC.
... Stay tuned,
Dale, Trudy, and Doug
Howdy All,
This former blog entry is now updated... As mentioned in the last update we are parked at the Cherry Hill RV Park in College Park MD. Because we did not have a toad we requested a space close to the front of the park and the park folks did provide a good location for us.
Monday, June 8, Day 10 of 32, we arrived late in the afternoon.
Tuesday June 9, Day 11 of 32,
We stayed in the park during the day to get familiar with it and to further recover from the food poisoning we had last Wednesday. In the late afternoon, we ventured out for our first use of the Metro bus/train system and went downtown to the Mt Vernon exit, and met our daughter and her finance' for dinner. We found a good Japanese restaurant within a short distance from the Metro Station. After dinner, we walked 2-3 blocks to their new apartment and picked up a Honda Accord we are planning to bring back to California. Our daughter and finance' both decided they didn't need a car in DC. Both of them have great jobs and can walk to work and the car was just another expense for them. So we'll probably make it a toad.
Wednesday, June 10, Day 12 of 32
We took a 2 hour Segway Tour of the Mall... our first time using a Segway and I think they are great. The Segway toured lasted 2hours, some of the sites we went by is the White House, Washington Monument, National Mall, Smithsonian, Capital Building, and a number of other sites. Our feet got a little sore standing for the two hours, but the we covered a lot of distance. Afterwords we had a nice lunch at Ole Ebbitt Grill located on 15th and I streets (just across from the Treasury Department), The Old Ebbitt Grill, Washingtonï¾’s oldest and most historic saloon in Washington and was founded in 1856. It is a large place and was packed. It has a large old wood double sided bar, and supposedly, the Who's Who of Washington continue to come and go.
... and boy, did it rain this afternoon, just when I was going to the grocery store... lots of rain... we are used to Palm Springs CA weather where it is dry 10 months a year. While at the grocery store we located an Italian restaurant called Mama Lucia (sounds Italian doesn't it ) and the food was very good.
Thursday, June 11, Day 13 of 32,
A relaxed day today as we prepared to spend the evening with our daughter Alexi and her finance' Dan. We met them at their apartment which is close to the Capital. We drove around some with Lexi and Dan acting as our tour guides. We ended at an Ethiopian Restaurant where we had a great dinner and then we strolled through a large Whole Foods Grocery Store where we bought some exotic beer. We then dropped off Lexi and Dan at a birthday party planned for Lexi and came back to the RV. It was a very nice evening... because of Lexi's travels over the past few years, this was the first time in many years Trudy could be with Lexi on her birthday.
... that's it for now... we have tourist stuffed planned for the next several days.
Later,
Dale, Trudy, and Doug
Yippee!
We have arrived at Cherry Hill RV Park, in College Park, MD, just next door to Washington D.C. We are set up and already had a pizza for dinner.
Total miles driven from Palm Springs CA to College Park MD, 2,863 miles, driven in 7 days or an average 400 miles per day. FYI, to have a more relaxed trip we concluded that we should have planned at least 9-10 driving days (300 miles per day average), with a rest day about every 4 days. That will be our planning technique when we head down the East Coast and then back to California later this month. But, we have had a good time getting here...
We got better than anticipated miles per gallon with the RV. I planned 6 miles per gallon and it appears we averaged 8-8.5 miles per gallon. We did follow a number of suggestions from one of the forums discussions regarding improving diesel fuel mileage. According to the Garmin we have, our overall average speed was 54-55 mph. In reality, I did attempt to cruise on the Interstate at 65 mph and did use the economy mode on the Allison transmission. Tires are at 120 psi front and 110 psi rear. And I worked at talking advantage of rolling hills (and there was a lot of them.) But I think keeping the highway speed at 65 mph had the most impact.
Anyway, that is more technical stuff then most folks want to know about.
... we'll close for the night... we are taking a Segway Tour of the Mall on Wednesday... and planning to do other stuff...
Later,
Dale, Trudy and Doug
.... I wanted to finish day 7's blog,
As I wrote before, day 7, Saturday, we were feeling perky and scheduled a number of tourist activities.
- We took a Grey Line Tour of Nashville, the highlight was visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame and we got done with that about 1 pm.
- We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for lunch... our first full meal in 3 days.
- We purchased Grand Ole Opry tickets online the night before and attended the 7 pm show... which was great!
... at the end of the day, we were feeling about 90%...
So ends day 7,
Day 8,
Today we left Nashville to drive to Lake Ridge RV Resort in Hillsville VA, a 410 mile drive... which we did and I'm tired... it's been a long day. Trudy is a really good driving companion, she stays awake 98% of the time, which helps me passing the time. Tonight we both have saddle sores from sitting all day Dale on the other hand is still wondering what we are doing... he is more relaxed now... he is being pampered a lot so he is OK with the trip.
Today's driving covered some nice scenery as we passed through East Tennessee and into Virginia.
We did stop for Krystal mini-burgers (we hope to also find a White Castle during the trip.)
Tomorrow, day 9, is our final drive to get to Washington D.C., where we will stay for about two weeks.
That's it for tonight... as I said earlier it has been a long day...
Dale, Trudy, and Doug
... on Day 6, Thursday, June 4, in the early morning, We were both very sick... I was in no condition to get behind the wheel and drive to Branson MO. So we decided to go to Plan B, don't go to Branson MO, but stay in the current KOA campground to recover, then leave tomorrow morning to go to Nashville TN, which is about 700 miles away. That's the best we could come up at the time.
By the way, anybody else get food poisoning while on the road? Any remedy suggestions?
Still on Thursday, June 4, about 9 am, we made arrangements with the campground management to stay another day. Then I stumbled back to the RV to continue recovering from the food poisoning.
Remember that our goal is to be in Washington DC by next Monday, June 8 for our daughter's birthday (the whole point of the trip). Driving 700 miles from Little Rock AR to Nashville TN in one day we concluded was not going to happen in our conditions. So we came up with a new plan, Plan B-Part 2, which is to break the Nashville trip of 700 miles into two parts of 350 smiles each.
So continuing with Thursday, June 4, about 10 am, we decided to sleep another 3-4 hours, drink a lot of Gatorade to rehydrate ourselves, and eat a mixture of yogurt with probiotics mixed with bran (ymmmm About 2 pm we got on the road, I was sucking on a bottles of Gatorade and munching on pretzels.
While we wanted to drive about 350 miles, there was a KOA in Merrilton AR at about 275 miles, and since it was about 6 pm, we stopped for the night to continue our recovery. More liquids and simple food, and early to bed to rest.
.... Day 7, Friday June 5, , we are alive and better, as we had about 400 miles to drive today to Nashville TN, we were up early. No coffee this morning, more Gatorade and yogurt with bran... but we were feeling much better, not 100% yet, maybe 80%.
So we got on the road about 8:30 am, and drove the 400 miles to Nashville, easy driving on I-40, we stopped about every two hours, a little stretching, more Gatorade... no solid food yet. We arrived at the Two Rivers Campground, located on Music Valley Drive, just down the street from the Grand Ole Opry. We are both feeling better, but still drinking liquids, and no solid food yet (we wanted to have our stomachs return to normal before eating any regular food.)
So the good news is we got tickets for a Grey Line Tour of Nashville and to go to the 7 PM Grand Ole Opry Show.
... so ends days 5, 6, and 7, not the best for us... but life goes on, and RVing goes on...
This morning, June 6, Saturday, we are actually "perky" and getting ready to play tourist... and even maybe try some southern cooking.
.... stay tuned...
Dale, Trudy, and Doug
... Day 5, Wednesday, of the adventure was rather dull,
We left the Oasis RV Resort, 2715 Arnot Road, Amarillo TX, and headed East on I-40 to spend the night at the Oklahoma City East KOA CG, 6200 S Choctaw Rd, Choctaw, OK. Along the way we stopped for lunch in Clinton, OK.
In late afternoon we arrived at the KOA CG, set the RV up, and all seemed good. We took Dale to the pet area and had some dinner. The campground was well laid out, lots of trees, and the weather was very nice.
At about 9 pm the evening began to unravel... Trudy said she wasn't feeling well, that she had an upset stomach. By 10 pm was was very sick... bloating, gas, and so forth. When she began hugging the Porcelain God (kamode) she was really sick... We weren't sure what was going on, but we did suspect food poisioning... but we both ate the same food and I was OK... or so I thought. About midnight, I also started hugging the Porcelain God. For several hours we were taking turns... what we ate wanted out of our bodies in the worst way... so, for the next several hours it sounded like two people were dying a painful death... about 4 am there was nothing left to give the Porcelain God... and we both were beat, sore, and very tired.
On the lighter side... envision that the closet the kamode is in is about 24'' wide and about 42" deep... I'm 6'2", 220 lbs, and Trudy is 5'10". So as we are fighting for our place at the kamode things got a bit cramped.
We were in bad shape... I was in no condition to drive to Branson MO. So we went to Plan B, don't go to Branson MO, but stay at the KOA campground to recover, then leave the next morning to go to Nashville TN, which is about 700 miles away.
... stay turned to our wild adventures,
Dale, Trudy, Doug
... and the Adventure continues on Day 3...
As was mentioned in an earlier blog posting we planned and did stay in Taos NM an extra day... the intent was to explore both Santa Fe and Taos. However, Santa Fee was a good 1-1.5 hours south of Taos, and the road is winding and slow. So, we stayed in Taos to finish cleaning up the wet carpet in the RV and wash a load of towels.
So on Day 3, Monday, we did our chores, and then rented a car to explore Taos. We had a great time. We visited the Taos Pueblo Indian Center, very interesting. We had lunch in Taos in a restaurant locals used called "Stray Cats".
We asked a number of locals about sights to see in a short period of time. We settled on a driving tour called the "Enchantment Circle", and we highly recommend it to anyone visiting Taos. The driving tour covers very different landscapes. We first went to the Raging Gorge Bridge, where a large span bridge crosses a deep gorge where the Rio Grande River flows, an amazing site.
We then continued on the "Enchantment Circle" drive, going through the towns of Questa, Red River, Eagle Nest, and Angle Fire. When we drive into the Town of Red River we were ready to move there, it is one of the most quaint towns we've seen. We stopped at a store called "The Candy Crate" that had a large variety of old time candy and we bought a ton of sweet stuff... for starters we bought 5 types of fudge, Rocky Road, Raspberry/Chocolate, Chocolate/Chocolate, Maple Walnut, and Vanilla Walnut. Yummmmm! At the end of the day we were ready to relax in the RV.
.... Day 4, Tuesday,
We are back in the RV headed for Amarillo TX and planning to stay at the Oasis RV Park just west of Amarillo.
Driving down the high plateau using Route 518 from Taos NM was beautiful and slow... it took about 2 hours to go 74 miles.... once we were down into flat country we picked up I-40 to Amarillo. The drive was uneventful and we covered about 350 miles.
... Later,
Dale, Trudy, and Doug
The second day of the Adventure - The drive today from Flagstaff AZ to Taos NM was mostly easy driving using I-40 to I-25, then at Santa Fe NM, we turned onto state road 525 with the last 100 miles into Taos was a bit more difficult and slow.
There was one major problem encountered with the Rig and it was not a actual mechanical problem... I'll blame it on human error, I tried to lay the blame on the dog, but my conscious got the better of me.
Here is the problem that happened...
In Flagstaff AZ, we got the Rig ready for departure... part of the process was to empty the black tank first and then the gray tank to flush out the sewer line.. However, there was just a little water in the gray tank, so I opened the sink facets and the shower facet to run water into the gray tank. After a few minutes, there was enough water in the gray tank to flush out the sewer hose, so I then turned off the city water, then closed the kitchen and bathroom sink facets. Everything seemed good... no running water, no water pump noise. I concluded we were good to go.
And away we went..... traveling down I-40 for about 30 minutes, Trudy got up to get a bottle of water, and issued an urgent comment like "Doug, we have water flooding in the bathroom and kitchen area.... water everywhere!" HMMM,, I think Trudy had a shriek in her voice... which got my attention immediately....
My first thought was a broken water line, however the water was about the holding tanks... I next thought something is pumping water through a break in a house water line... I told Trudy to check the water pump and it should be turned off... when Trudy checked the water pump was ON. At the same time I looking to slow down and get off of the interstate. Once off the interstate and safely parked... I got up from the drivers seat and sloshed through a lot of clean water... my mind was racing trying to figure out the problem, where is the water coming from?
I eliminated the kitchen, bathroom facets, and also checked the wash-out hose in the head... and then, I opened the shower door... and shazaam! The shower pan was full of water!
What caused the flooding and why was the shower pan full... you may ask? Well, remember earlier I mentioned that I made sure the kitchen and bathroom sink facets were closed, but I overlooked the shower facet. The shower facet was open. Also, remember I said I checked to make the that the water pump was turned off before we left the last camp site... that was true. However, one of us, I'll take the blame, turned on the water pump after we got on the road... so with the shower facet open, the water pump pushed almost 80 gallons of water into the shower... but then the gray water tank is only 40 gallons... once the gray tank was filled, the shower pan filled, and then water flowed over the shower pan into the coach... hence about 20-25 gallons of fresh water flowed into the bathroom, and kitchen areas...
We were not close to a dumping location... so I then had to figure out how to move some of the shower pan water... which I did by taking a large bowl and dumping water into the kamode. In the meantime, Trudy had thrown down all of the towels we had on board, which slowed down the water from creeping to far into the coach. I started the generator so a small fan we had on board would blow air over the carpet, we also turned on both exhaust fans to keep moving air in the coach.
That's all we could do for the moment... at the next Flying J station we pulled in to dump the gray and black tanks... and reload the potable water supply.
Later in the day, when we got into Taos NM and the Taos RV Park, we could take the time to further dry out the Rig...
So, a problem that could be avoided by checking all facets with the water pump on, before leaving the campground.
So ends the 2nd day of the adventure...
Later,
Dale, Trudy, and Doug
Here we are relaxing in the Rig at the J & H RV Park in Flagstaff, AZ. We rolled into the RV park about 5:30 PM this evening after driving 407 miles today.
Highlights of the Day:
- Another on-the-job driving training day for Trudy as she drove on Interstate-10. Trudy drove for an hour or so, and did very well. As a Newbie to RV driving, Trudy had the most stress when the tractor-trailers zoomed passed us (don't we all!) We held our speed to 55-60 mph for best control... and I didn't even let out one scream, however I think Dale may have whimpered a little
- Do you ever watch the TV Food Channel Show (or maybe the Travel Show) called "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives"? Well, we stopped at a BBQ place for lunch called "Thee Pitt's Again", located in Glendale, AZ. Trudy had the pulled turkey sandwich and I had the classic pulled pork.... it was great. One of our trip's goals is eating at Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.
- An interesting part of today's trip was the change of landscape, from the low desert where we live in Cathedral City, CA, with a temperature today of 106 F, to raising up to 7000 ft elevation and pine trees, where the temperature is about 50 F. Pretty amazing we think.
We made OK time today, all things considered, averaging about 45 MPH...
Tomorrow, we have a 451 mile drive that should take about 8 hours.
So ends the adventure's first day.... it was a good shakedown for us and Dale, and for the Rig.
... until next time,
Dale, Trudy and Doug
T minus 0. we have engine ignition and now leaving the launch pad.... we are leaving from Cathedral City (next to Palm Springs) and headed for Washington DC.
Stay tuned for the adventures of Dale the Dog, Trudy, and Doug...
Woof!
A quick update... the "Trip" command center has officially moved from the house to the motor home... computer, printer, and wireless card are working well...
Hmmm, other critical last minute items, 30 See's Candy Butterscotch Suckers (for The Boss), and Dale's "Frosty Paws Ice Cream Treats" I did manage to get my own personal stash of beer... Oh, we put on Clamato Juice, Vodka, and hot sauce-all for Bloody Marys; there is a reserve of white and red wine, along with a variety of diet sodas. Oops, I forgot to mention there is also stuffed olives and several flavors of sparkling water for sissy drinks, in case we have company along the way
Moved some other frozen stuff to the RV freezer (I was warned to make sure Dale's Frosty Paws Ice Cream Treats" got on board the RV first!)... he can become a bit unruly if he doesn't get a treat once in a while.
Well, Dale (otherwise known as the "Little Boss") had his beauty appointment today... and "The Boss" (Trudy) had her beauty appointments. I'm allowed to take a shower and change my tee shirt.
About 6 PM (PST) we moved a few more clothes and several bags of girl stuff to the RV.
Tonight we are doing a final check to make sure we are not forgetting anything. HeHeHe it appears the sofa, a couple of tables, and some other large furniture is still in the house.... and, our pool is still in the ground - however the pool weights (does that sound right?) are on the RV, just in case they may be needed
So, the minutes are ticking by, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...
Later,
Dale the Dog, Trudy and Doug
Howdy.
First, as a Newbie to FMCA I wanted to mention that FMCA and the web site have been great! The site is full of good stuff, more than I can get to in one life time -- information on CAT engines, Allison transmissions, tires, and a variety of other information.
As we begin our West to East then North to South then East to West trip this coming Saturday we are looking for suggestions to see, do, or eat ... and for input from folks who have previously traveled the byways and highways of America. We have received some great suggestions!!!
Our trip route in general is East on I10, North on I17 Taos NM, East on I40 to Amarillo TX, East on I40 to Oklahoma OK, then North-East on I44 Branson MO, US-60/I24 to Nashville TN, I24/I40/I81/I77 to Hillsville VA, I77/I81/I66 to College Park MD.
Campground reservations are in Flagstaff AZ, Taos NM, Amarillo TX, Oklahoma OK, Branson MO, Nashville TN, Hillsville VA, ending in College Park MD.
By the way, I did a goggle search on the definition of "T minus" (which we use in our blog entry title... whew! my brain has OD'd on the responses.... suffice to say we'll continue with the "T minus" way of measuring time.
Today is Friday, one day before we leave. Dale the Dog has a beauty appointment at 8 AM, then the Boss has a beauty appointment or two starting at 9 AM. Hmmmmm, apparently I don't get a beauty appointment. I did ask Dale, he just gave a lick... the Boss suggested I put on a clean tee shirt before getting in the RV with Dale and her in the morning
Also today the computer will be loaded along with the printer. We will be using a wireless card for communications.
Did I mentioned I've been learning to play the bagpipes during the past 12 months.... however, to keep spouse & dog harmony in the RV during the adventure, I'm just practice on the practice chanter... I'll pick up the pipes when we get back. Also, while on the trip I will be using a small beach ball to improve the strength in my bag squeezing left arm.
We are now researching the Guy's Diners, Drive-ins & Dives (the TV show)... there is a web site that shows about 150 locations....
I'm still searching for the world's biggest ball of twine... I know it's in the country someplace
Trudy (the Boss) spent about 32 years working in casinos, her final job was Director of Table Games. I suspect we may visit one or two of casinos during the adventure.
Not much else to check on the RV.... today will be the final loading of small stuff... then in the morning, we load the pillows and toothbrushes.
Later,
Doug, Trudy, and Dale the Dog
Howdy All,
this is the first entry for our cross country trip blog....
the idea for the trip started about a month ago.... and now has growned into an actual "go do" thing..
One of the things to deal with trip planning is just too much information available... there is AAA auto club, Good Sam Club, FMCA, and others.... whew!
We've sorta settled on using the Good Sam trip planner as it will identify rest areas, dump sites, fueling stations, state road conditions. We use that along with a AAA TripTik. And then Google maps gets used.
The other effort has been getting the RV ready for a long trip.... the Newmar Kountry Star only has 32,000 miles on it... but I still check tires (I plan to replace the steering tires), engine tune-up, diesel generator tuneup, the 2 slides, and the list goes on.
We gave up on satellite TV, it got way to complicated... and you have to sign up for two years... so we'll make do with CG cable and the RV tv antenna, along with movies.
It seems that a true test of a couple's happiness and bliss is surviving the planning of a four- to five-week motorhome trip. I mean, we are having a really good time planning and preparing. However, it's the issue of stuffing a rather full house of things into a 9' x 38' box that is driven over hill and dale ... on smooth and bumpy byways and highways. You have to have the right stuff on board to get by for 30-plus days, and sometimes there may be a difference of opinion as to what should be loaded on the rig. Nevertheless, the whole process is going very well ... even Dale the Dog has his stuff on board now.
We now have what is called a black box to take on the trip, a black box that includes vehicle information, insurance policies, and personal information. The personal information includes passports, medical information on each of us (includes recent lab test results and electrocardiogram charts).
We are in the almost-final phases (I know the final phase of loading will take place 10 minutes before we pull away from the house) of loading the RV with clothes and shoes. Things like washing detergent and bleach made it onboard tonight ... and some food items are onboard.
I got the FMCA plastic emblems attached, one in front and the other on the ladder connected with tie-wraps.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, I'll top off the fuel. I will also go to the post office to both forward our mail for several weeks, and then hold the mail for the remaining time we are gone. We've notified the banks and credit card companies that we will be traveling.
The computer along with the printer, printer paper and extra ink cartridges will go onboard Friday morning. Also on Friday, Dale the Dog goes to the beauty parlor. I think the Boss also has a couple of girly appointments.
Loading more stuff will continue the next couple of days. Of course, each time you add a thing or a box of stuff, you first have to make space; hence, there is a lot a sorting and rearranging each time more stuff is added to the rig.
Later,
Doug, Trudy, and Dale the Dog
... and the count down continues towards lift off (OK, I'm a NASA fan ), I mean until we leave on the cross county trek (OK we are also Star Trek groupies ). By the way, we saw the new Star Trek movie this week, and it was GREAT!!!!
We continue to prep for the trip....
- The Boss is moving her stuff to a central location in the small bedroom that I call the warehouse.... hmmmm, 5 pieces of clothing for her and then I get one t-shirt, at this rate I may up end with at least a change of clothes for one day to put on the RV.... and oh my god, the Boss hasn't even started with the make-up, and hair stuff, or any other girl stuff. I think there is a 2,000 pound hauling limit on the RV, I get 250 pounds and guess who gets the rest!!!! LOL, life is great!
- we have added a few food items to the refer... critical items, such as a good assortment of beer, a white wine called "Little Black Dress" (for the Boss), and a variety of diet sodas, and diet Red Bull, I have at least one a day.
I did add a ladder hanger and a tall ladder... I also loaded a couple of wood folding chairs.
DRIVEN TRAINING TODAY!!!!!!!
Aside from me having a steel grip on my seat belt, and my pulse rate was about 200 BPM, and with my life flashing before my eyes... today was the first time the Boss got behind the wheel of the RV... a 30,000 pound vehicle that is almost 40 feet long (nose to tail)!!!! A few times I started to look for my seat ejector handle. So I pull the rig around to a wwwiiiiddddeeee neighborhood street.... then I move to the shotgun seat, and She sits in the command seat... then I point out the go pedal and the stop pedal.... Her comments of "cute things" kinda takes away from my macho view of the Rig...
... then I explained the vast array of lights and gages on the instrument panel was a beautiful thing to behold... I don't think it impressed Her... even the sound of the low air alarm, or the hissing sound of air when releasing the air brakes... I love that sound
OK, She then puts the Rig in "D" (I attempted to explain the intricacies of the 6-speed Allison transmission) and away we go, I held my screaming to a mild whimper... down the block, lift turns, right turns, quick stops... and then I thought my world ended as She turned into a short block with a cul-de-sac... OK... a few gardeners were around and they scattered as She put the Rig in "R", not for race, but for reverse...
Anyway, She (Trudy) did a GREAT Job... she backed up nicely... and had to make normal back and forth manuvers... we did driver training for about another hour and we called it a day... tomorrow we'll do some more driver training... Trudy is OK with driving it.... and that makes both of us feel better about the trip...
Trip preparation is going well...
Later,
Doug, Trudy, and Dale the Dog
Tonight I have a mild headache caused by walking into the RV ...
A bit of explanation.... right at this moment... if I look in the bathroom mirror, on the left side of my upper forehead is a half moon cut, maybe 3/4" long, attempting to heal. You may wonder how I came to acquire such an injury... here's the story, on our motor coach (like many motor coaches) there are cargo/battery/other areas that have doors that lift up... when the doors are opened they swing out and up, with the bottom edge of the door, ending at about a 30 degree angle tilted out from the RV... and in our case, at about 6 foot in the air. I'm about 6 ft 2 inches.... so when I changed directions while walking around the RV, BAMMMMMMM, I got a icky tattoo on my forehead Ouch !!!!!
Enough about the hazards while crawling on, over, and under, or walking around, the rig... however, a helmet could be useful
I was thinking of tools we'll need to have on board... for me, we'll have a small battery screwdriver, with the special square bit, a ratchet screwdriver with various bits, a multi-drawer tool box that fits nicely in an outside storage area... in the toolbox are a collection of fuses, string, wire nuts and in-line electrical connectors, a electric circuit tester with probes, several sizes of knives, wire crimper, hacksaw with extra blades, a socket set, a variety of self-tapping screws, variety of flat washers, the ever handy plastic wire ties.... and the one item you never lease home without, DUCT tape! One more tool I have found very useful is a battery operated screwdriver/drill-skill saw-sander combo set.
I think we've settled on a renting a uhaul car dolly instead of a car hauler, to pull the a Honda Accord back from Washington DC.
Today I manufactured a cover for the entry steps... when the entry door is closed, the two inside steps may be raised to form a flat platform for the person in the shotgun seat to have a floor to stand on. In the past the motor that lifts the steps into a flat floor has burned out and is very difficult to find... so I made a 24" x 32" 3/4 inch plywood cover that lays over the entry step area... since the Boss would not be happy if she fell through the floor I made, I then added a piece of angle iron to the underside of the platform to reinforce the plywood and also to keep the plywood from shifting. Not a bad job since I worked out of the back of the car.
Finally put on replacement Michelin front tires (275/70R22.5) today, cost $1,263.00. I did ask for long tire valve stems.... inflated tires to 120 lbs front and the rear duals to 110 lbs.
Return trip planning continues, from DC down the East Coast to Jacksonville, Florida, then West taking I10 to California. The goal is to drive 300 miles a day.
I'm going to take a couple of aspirins
Later,
Doug, Trudy, and Dale the Dog
Howdy All,
As mentioned previously, this weekend, May 15-16-17, is the motor coach testing weekend.... testing all functions and features...
The RV is fully hooked up to shore power, water, sewer, and cable TV. As the temperature here is now in the 100's the two AC units are getting a good workout.... it was 107 degrees today.... I've let the front TV and the bedroom TV stay on... I visited the rig several times a day... testing the water flow in the kitchen, bathroom area and shower, and also testing the Precision Water Heater unit I purchased several years ago... so far, all systems are working.
The front large sliding curtain to provide privacy had about a dozen grommets pulled from the curtain... so my task this morning was to figure out how to fix or reinstall the grommets... so I was off to the local True Value Hardware store, the store has been open for business for about 200 years.... yep, that's what I said, the store smells old, the floors and walls are old, and they have unmarked small closed metal bins,.. that only the cashier, who has worked there for about 150 of the 200 years the store has been open... anyway... I found a grommett repair kit, that included a small back blocking wood, and grommet set tools. My kind of hardware store
I also was thinking about a water pressure reduction gizmo, I was worried about the high city water pressure bursting the RV water pipes, but all I could find was a 25-30 psi reduceer made for lawn drip systems, so I passed on that. But, then I remembered the rig has a built in pressure regular set at 42 psi.
While at the hardware store I concluded that trying to repair the curtain grommets while the curtain was still hanging would be to much to do. As I wandered around the old store mumbling to myself, I came across rolls of thin insulation, like the dash protectors for cars. So the idea lightbulb went off in my head, why not buy a roll of insulation that was tall and customize it to place in across the dash of the RV... TADA!!!!!
So the old hardware cashier checked me out, and with a 4 ft x 10 ft roll of insulation in hand I head back to the RV to work my magic on the dashboard cover.
Later,
Doug, Trudy, Dale the Dog
