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tbutler

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  1. tbutler
    Our last day in Canada, Thursday, August 27, was spent in the area of Leamington, Ontario. Among the features of the southern tip of Canada are Point Pelee National Park, the Heinz ketchup factory, beautiful farms with fields of corn, potatoes, and tomatoes, a huge greenhouse and floral industry, the shores of Lake Erie, and some of the most beautifully landscaped homes in all of Canada. We are traveling with Bill and Laura Fejfar and today Bill is doing the driving duties.
    Our day started with rain so we had raincoats and umbrellas while exploring Point Pelee NP. This tip of land which extends into Lake Erie is a major bird migration route, a kind of natural funnel that birds use as a jumping off place to cross the lake. Since the migration wasn't under way yet, the bird activity was quite subdued. We did see a group of marsh wrens hunting for food among the water lilies along the marsh boardwalk. One found a nice morsel and the others followed it everywhere, just like gulls! They disappeared into the cattails so we didn't find out how that one turned out. As we left the boardwalk area we saw a small group of turkey hens crossing the road and moving off into the woods. Later in the day we would enjoy a large flock of goldfinches high in the trees.
    At the visitors center we picked up the free shuttle to the tip of the point. Exhibits at the trail head detailed the nature of the bird migration. As many as 250 species of birds in a single year and about 350 species documented over time at this location. An avid birder may see as many as 100 species in a single day during the peak of the migration. Walking out to the tip we strayed from the large easy trail to get to the eastern coast where the waves were breaking large on the shore. With an incoming tide interesting things were washing up on shore. We saw several large very dead fish and watched a large driftwood log drift up onto the sand at the point. Louise managed to get her shoes wet in the wash from a large wave. We watched a group of small shore birds racing to and fro in the surf searching for food. This is my third visit to Point Pelee and as the park advertises, the tip is constantly changing. This visit we could walk out on the sand spit to where the waters from the eastern side lapped over the sand to the water on the western side of the tip. Our last visit we were only able to stand on the rocks and watch the waves, there was no sand spit at the surface to walk on.
    By this time it was lunch time. We looked for a restaurant in Leamington but ended up at Wendy's when we didn't find any more interesting. Wendy's was located across the street from the Heinz plant and we enjoyed watching the truck loads of tomatoes arriving at the plant. After lunch we drove east along the coast road to see some of the beautiful homes. Then we returned to our campground at Lakeside RV and Motel in Wheatley, ON. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing Rummy Cube before having dinner.
    Friday morning we were able to pack in the utilities and hook up the car in dry weather. As we arrived in Windsor the rain began. We crossed into the US on the Ambassador Bridge, driving from south to north into the US from Canada. A few questions at customs with rain dripping in the window. Then the agents came on board briefly to "check the refrigerator" before releasing us to continue on. We paid our toll and followed the signs directing us to I-75 South. As we drove on, the rain became more intense until we could hardly see more than a few hundred feet ahead. The Fejfars were trailing behind us some distance and we didn't see them until we reached the turn-off for a fuel stop. After Bill got his fuel we ate lunch at the IHOP then said our good byes. We had linked up with them July 26 for a month long caravan. After hugs and kisses, we reluctantly parted, heading for our RV's. We'd continue to talk as we traveled the last few miles south. Bill and Laura turned west on US 20, we continued south to US 24 which took us southwest to Fort Wayne and then I-69 on to Indianapolis. That entire drive was punctuated with periods of heavy rain and near continuous light to moderate rain. The roads were generally good and the driving wasn't stressful, the only stress is in my mind as I think about the wash job that I will have to do on the motor home and toad.
    We fueled at the Flying J in Indianapolis, getting just enough of the $2.759 diesel to get us to Missouri where the prices are $2.479. This was my first fuel since we filled our tank at Champlain, NY and then entered Quebec to continue the Canada trip. We spent the night at Terre Haute before finishing our drive to Foristell, MO. The really interesting thing for me was that we had driven just over 600 miles in the last two days. So here, in the center of the country, near St. Louis, MO we were just six hundred miles from Canada.
  2. tbutler

    O Canada!

    By tbutler,

    It has been just two weeks since we crossed the border with Bill and Laura Fejfar into Canada at St. Stephen, New Brunswick. We've seen whales, incredible scenery, the great St. Lawrence Bay and River, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. We've enjoyed the long and narrow fields of rural Quebec and explored Quebec City. There were small towns with delightful homes and buildings. We wished there had been parking places for large motorhomes but had to settle for a drive-by.
    When we did stop we were an object of spectacle. We were photographed and videotaped. Even RV park personnel remarked on our 40-foot Class A diesel motorhomes. Don't hesitate to come to Canada with your large motorhome; just be ready for the reaction. You may not think of yourself as a millionaire, but clearly others do.
    At la Pommerie, our friends Raymond and Francine shared their world with us. We enjoyed playing tennis with Francine for the first time in almost two years. Their park was relaxing after days of touring. Louise and Laura enjoyed several afternoons of cards while Bill and I had time to tend some tasks around the motorhomes.
    We loved the natural beauty of Quebec and found the people to be welcoming and friendly. We were escorted by friends Diane and Pierre through Montreal and to the ski resort, Mont Tremblant. Pierre is a former policeman from Montreal, so I gave him the keys to our car and he showed us the town. Diane made us feel as welcome as anyone could be. We visited many other friends while in Canada and enjoyed seeing all of them.
    We buzzed through Toronto last night on TC 401, one of the best traffic patterns we have seen. Get on the express lanes and just ride on! No sharp turns, no sudden left exits, just a great traffic flow. Tonight we are camped on the shore of Lake Erie at Lakeside RV and Motel in Wheatley, Ontario. We'll explore the southern tip of Canada tomorrow and then bid good-bye to Canada for another year.
    We enjoy traveling in Canada but are always glad to be back in the USA. Our cell service for phone and Internet are once again unlimited and I can get local weather conditions from the Weather Bug! And oh, yes, there will be Wal-Mart Supercenters, eh!
  3. tbutler
    In one week we have traveled from New York through Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick and we are now just outside the city of Quebec. We have visited Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. The weather was cloudy and threatening rain but we never got more than a light sprinkle. The view from Cadillac Mountain always amazes me. From Ellsworth to Calais we took a different route than in past trips and this rewarded us with new and interesting scenery.
    In New Brunswick we stayed on Grand Manan, visiting friends and went on several whale watching trips. With very calm seas, we were able to see quite a few North Atlantic Right Whales. The folks at Whales-n-Sails on Grand Manan really know their whales and were able to get us quite close to them without disturbing the whales.
    We traveled north from the ferry landing at Black's Harbor to St. John and then on to Fredericton and Edmundston in New Brunswick. Like the roads in Maine, this was new territory for us. The whole trip is along the St. John River and the scenery is quite spectacular. It is always a pleasant surprise to find wonderful scenery when traveling from one place to another on schedule. It makes the trip so much more interesting.
    From Edmundston we continued north into Quebec Province. Every mile brought more signs of the French culture. When we crossed the border into Quebec, the English language disappeared. Given a little time, I can usually figure out what the French signs say but at highway speeds sometimes that isn't good enough. We managed to stay on the correct route but it took some mental work. Louise helps a lot, she is much stronger with languages than me.
    Reaching the St. Lawrence Bay, we took the smaller highway 132 southwest for a better look at the bay, the wonderful small communities, and rich variety of beautiful and unique homes. Unfortunately, there are very few places to stop with a motor home along this route and if you are looking for space to park two motor homes it is even more difficult. At one stop, we pretty much blocked off the entrance to an ice cream shop. A motorist stopped and walked back to take a picture of our two motor homes at that location. There aren't many motor homes even in the RV parks here. All of Quebec seems to be on vacation, just as the French do in Europe, August is vacation time. We saw numerous garage sales and flea markets. The RV parks were full and there was no indication anyone was going home on Sunday afternoon!
    We've passed up many interesting places on this trip. Our pace doesn't let us delay for long. We'll return to see more of the area in the future. For now, we're just glad to be able to keep the wheels turning!
  4. tbutler
    Our travels this year have been delayed by family illness, a trip with grandchildren, a broken awning, a Monaco International rally and the FMCA International Convention. So it was almost the end of July when we began our summer travels. We will have to return to Missouri to take care of painting the awning we had replaced. We'll head west to California by the end of September and be in our winter resort by the first of November. So we get about six weeks of travel this summer.
    Like all people, we fall into habits. We're used to traveling at a leisurely pace, doing sightseeing for a day or two and then just spending some time around the campground to do laundry or fix a problem item on the motor home. We've learned to rest once in a while just to catch up on sleep. A good rainy-day do nothing day never upset our schedule in the past. There was always something to do indoors. We never had a definite schedule, just a general agenda for the summer. In a good summer we would even tack on an additional stop or two between family visits.
    We hardly ever play golf in the summer but we've played once a week for the last month. Tennis is a winter sport for me but I've managed several matches in the last month. Louise has had several days of card playing. It has been fun but not our normal pattern. In past summers we visited a few friends for a short while then resumed traveling. This summer we are visiting at least 10 of our friends and relatives. When we travel we seldom visit cities. This summer we'll stop in a string of large cities, we are outside New York City right now. Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa are all on our itinerary.
    So this summer we'll experience travel in a different way. I think of it as vacation mode, travel for those whose time is limited. I know real vacationers would love to have six weeks but we've modified our travel plans several times to fit in as much as we can while keeping the quality of our travel. When we read the blogs of others on this site, we feel extremely lucky to be able to travel at all. We are, after all, among the most fortunate people on earth to be able to live this lifestyle. Carpe Diem
  5. tbutler
    Friday brought the end of the FMCA International Convention in Bowling Green, Ohio. Everyone was up and moving early. Neighbors said good-bye, caravans formed up, a few wise individuals sat in lawn chairs and watched the parade of motor homes. The electric was shut off as I was winding up my cord. We were away a few minutes after that. The parade out of the campus was orderly and didn't take long at all. The police were manning the signal light to ease our way onto the highway.
    Louise and I set out for Fremont, Ohio and the Hayes Presidential Museum and Library. We were the second motor home to arrive at the museum. The RV and bus parking was back in only so we circled through the parking lot and found a spot to park along the road. I checked in the office and they said that would be fine. A little while later motor homes 3 and 4 pulled onto the grounds. Apparently there were four people who wanted to sign up for the tour during the convention but the tour was canceled due to lack of interest. We had a lovely tour of the home. The Hayes home is quite stately. The museum was interesting as are all Presidential Museums. There was a special display of the gowns of the First Ladies which Louise thoroughly enjoyed.
    Leaving there we were headed for an RV park near Bellevue but found the park to be less than expected. We cancelled out of our reservation costing us the fee for a one night stay. It was a misunderstanding. We asked for full hookups with the expectation that included water, electric and sewer. At this campground, full hookups meant water and electric. Somehow that was never conveyed in the conversation. We called ahead to the campground we planned to stay at near Salem, Ohio and they had a site for us so we traveled on. Two and a half hours later we were welcomed into Chaparral Family Campground. It is Christmas in July here. Everyone is wearing Santa hats and decorations are up all over camp. Santa arrived this morning in a fire truck!
    We have just been joined by friends who will be traveling with us for the next few weeks. We will visit a number of our winter Texan friends as we work our way to the northeast. We'll work out our plans as the trip continues. Tonight we're doing dinner out with one of our friends from Berlin Center, Ohio. RVing makes great lasting friends!
  6. tbutler
    Today is the final day of the FMCA 2009 International Convention in Bowling Green, Ohio. We woke this morning to dripping rain. Not heavy but definitely wet. I left the bicycle at home today as our first meeting was at the stadium - or so we thought. Since it was raining they moved the general meeting of FMCA to an indoor location. Makes sense but no one told us. Worse, we didn't find a notice posted anywhere near the stadium so after exploring a bit around the stadium to ensure that the meeting wasn't there, we headed for the big tent. The big tent is where the morning coffee and donuts are doled out every morning. I figured there would be notice of the change in venue there. Before we got there we finally found an official who knew where the meeting was. He offered us a ride in his golf cart. A few hundred feet down the sidewalk we encountered another couple who asked our question and got a ride also. We arrived in time to get in on the drawing for the door prizes, cash money! We didn't win, oh well. But I did hear the name of Roger Marble called but Roger wasn't there!
    After the general meeting we hoofed it over to the vendors. I talked to Martin Perlot of Silver Leaf Electronics to let him know that he had solved my problem with the install on my new system. Then we renewed our Coach Net Membership for a sizable discount. We saw many people in the vendor area and noted many carrying goods out of the venue. I think the vendors had a pretty good convention. The official numbers on the convention were 2725 coaches, of which 299 were commercial coaches. Not a bad turn-out but slightly less than hoped for. I didn't see an official number but heard that there were more than 1000 volunteers who made this convention work for the rest of us. From an attendees viewpoint, this has been a wonderful convention.
    After visiting the vendors, we went to the session on Full Timing. Presented by the Full Timers Chapter of FMCA, this workshop addressed many aspects of living full time in an RV. There were four presenters and a moderator. Unfortunately, there was no time left for questions. The level of attendance suggested that there could be more done here. I suspect that this chapter could face substantial growth with the wave of baby boomers retiring in the next ten years. While retirement factors currently look discouraging, time may change the equation and I suspect there are many who would love to move to full time life in a motor home.
    We returned to the motor home and began preparations for breaking camp Friday morning. The electric goes off about 9:00 a.m. Friday and we hope to be ready to roll by that time. I made a quick trip to town for a few groceries. These trips are always easier when you know where you are going. We had been around Bowling Green long enough to find the basic stores. Karen Rambow called before I returned to check with me for departure time. Finishing our headlights required dry weather and while it had been dry for a while, there were still large cumulus clouds about. I asked Karen to go ahead with the job and we'd take a chance on the weather. She arrived within a few minutes of my return. The job was finished and the skies kindly cleared. I'll have clear headlights again. One more problem solved at this convention.
    Louise took a walk to the recycling and trash and busied herself with preparing the indoors for travel. I got the toad and motor home ready to go. We are essentially boondocking with electric right now. Tomorrow we'll get breakfast, hook up and be on our way. Many of our neighbors left during the day today. Maybe 20% of the attendees are gone by this evening. The grounds will be clear tomorrow. Those who want to stay in Bowling Green can stay at the fairgrounds. We will be on our way to Fremont, Ohio to visit the Hayes Presidential Center. There was a scheduled tour to the center but not enough interest so I told Louise we'd make that our first stop. We plan to park the RV somewhere near the center and spend some time touring before going on to the Lazy J Family Campground near Norwalk, Ohio.
  7. tbutler
    It is hard to describe the wonder of watching close to 3000 motor homes assemble in one place in a matter of two days or so. Think of the dynamics of it, a city of 6000+ people (official estimate) and 1000+ dogs (my estimate) and who knows how many cats, suddenly assemble in one place. For the most part we are self sufficient. Sure, some of us have an electric supply but we could do without it. It really is quite an amazing event simply to watch the parking lots fill with motor homes and find yourself in the middle of this mass of humanity, all living in a few hundred square foot living space.
    We were up early this morning to attend a workshop on the Canadian Maritime and Atlantic Provinces. Timely information since that is our goal this summer. We have been there before but want to go to the extreme, Newfoundland and Labrador. The workshop was presented by representatives of Adventure Caravans but gave a fair account of the travels without mentioning the caravans until the final few minutes. The information was quite helpful to those of us who are more likely to travel on our own schedule and with our own interests in mind. We were uncertain about the additional expense of taking the motor home to Newfoundland but have decided it is definitely the thing to do.
    After that workshop I took a break to take a trip to town to get an inner tube for my bicycle. I had three tubes for the rear tire but none for the front tire which was now flat. The cause of the flat was a leak in the valve stem, not the valve but the side of the stem! I found the bike shop on the internet and picked up a tube and installed it on the bicycle. Shuttle problems solved. The shuttles seem to still be rather random. They are functioning but not by any system that I can discern. Now I have my bicycle and I am free!!!
    This afternoon we enjoyed a performance by the Bowling Green State University Brass Ensemble. The initial minutes of the performance was interrupted by the random activity of the lawn sprinklers! But after resolving that problem, the performance was wonderful. A wide variety of music was performed for a standing room only audience. In the end, the entire audience stood for a round of applause.
    The motor home exhibits were opened at 1:00 p.m. promptly and were well attended. The exhibits were a little more austere than in past years. Smaller, much less carpeting, and apparently the vendors were prohibited from offering the motor homes for sale by Ohio law. Ironic, we came here to celebrate the motor home lifestyle and the sale of the motor homes which is horribly depressed today is prohibited by Ohio. I guess Ohio doesn't need the income from this city of 6000+ motor home enthusiasts. We looked at a number of motor homes and as Louise said when we got home, our motor home looks even better now.
    We returned to our motor home late in the afternoon. I have a project in progress and spent most of the afternoon and evening working on trying to run the video cable from the dish on the roof to the rear bedroom. I am over half way with only a few obstacles yet to conquer. I passed the cable through the floor under the cockpit with great difficulty and spent much of the rest of the afternoon working under the motor home threading the cable over and through compartments. The neighbors were much amused at my obsession with completing the job. By the time Louise called me for dinner, I needed a shower badly before coming to the table.
    Tuesday brings the opening of the vendor exhibits and the regular operations of the motor home exhibits and the service center. We have scheduled a routine generator service with Cummins/Onan and it will be performed in the next few days. That will save us a stop somewhere on the road in the next month or so. If you haven't been to an FMCA Convention, the service center is one attraction. If you have a problem with certain systems, the vendor will schedule maintenance to repair you system if possible and it is done on site. That difficult problem that no one else seems to be able to repair is tackled by the people who built the system.
    Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in full swing and then it all ends and in a day the whole village of motor homes disperses to the four corners of the North American Continent. Poof, we'll all be gone! But that is yet to come there is so much more to do and see!
    I'm looking forward to talking to Xantrex at their booth. Our inverter is very important to our lifestyle and we are having some problems. One more problem to be solved. There are many interesting workshops to attend tomorrow and many new friends to meet.
  8. tbutler
    The flags and gizmos are flying high today. The parking area takes on a festive look with numerous coaches flying flags or wind toys of various kinds. There is a stiff breeze right now and they are in their glory. We just heard a clap of thunder from a storm that has been building over Toledo. We might have some rain tonight. Meanwhile, I am relaxing in my easy chair, dinner is a few minutes away. I have the Trailer Life Campground Guide on the floor next to me. I have been appointed to find a campground for several friends that are meeting us on Sunday. We will tour eastern Ohio visiting fellow Sandpipers (our winter resort) then set out for New York to pick up more Sandpeeps (another name for those of us who stay and play at Sandpipers)! Three or four of us will go on to Maritime Canada. Louise and I are resolved to continue on to Atlantic Canada. Atlantic Canada, that is the term the residents of Newfoundland prefer. I learned that at the seminar I attended yesterday.
    While all this planning and writing is going on, I have a Cummins technician busy changing the oil and filters in our generator. If the rain holds off I'll get a professional polishing of our headlamps which have clouded over so badly that I hate to drive at night. One of the benefits of the convention is the accessibility of service personnel for taking care of problems. Another is the vendors with all the stuff you must absolutely have for your motor home. I'm doing my very best to keep them in business. I was there when the doors opened this morning. I bought a set of plug dogs to help me separate my power cord from the extension cord or adapter I use. One yank and they are apart. Great invention! Motor Coach Designs had just the window shade I needed to fill the gap between the power sunshades on our windshield. How many times have we been driving with those shades down in early morning or late afternoon when the sun is right between the two shades? Now I'll have that solved.
    I found the waterless cleaning solution (Wipeout) that I use for keeping the coach looking good when we can't wash it and purchased a supply that will last me for a while. Much cheaper than ordering it and paying postage. And then there was Camping World. Some water filters with a special sale price and a spare hose. I stopped at a Pressure Pro dealer and picked up a couple sets of mounting brackets. The sticky Velcro tape gave out a few weeks ago. I'll see how permanent the suction cups are before I take them off and screw the clips to the wall! After this I had to make a run back to the coach. Any more and I wouldn't be able to carry it all back on the bicycle.
    This morning Louise and I got a run down on the National Highway System. Kent Lande is a civil engineer and a motor home owner. He gave us a fact filled presentation spiced up with photos of outrageous overloads from around the world and the ever popular road kill recipes. Louise packed a picnic lunch for us so we relaxed between sessions and had lunch. Then she was off to the vendors to purchase some sheets while I attended a workshop on the Silverleaf engine monitoring system. After that workshop I had to have that system. I purchased the computer version and will install it this evening. I also picked up a replacement cable for the break away system of our Roadmaster tow bar and braking system. I wasn't kidding when I said I was doing my best to keep the vendors in business!
    I enjoyed music while eating a doughnut and drinking some hot chocolate (never did develop a taste for coffee) for breakfast this morning. On our bike ride to the morning seminar, Louise and I enjoyed the sight of the children's activities. The youngest ones were busy rolling down a hillside, one after another. The older children looked to be on a field trip of some kind. Everyone seems to be having a great time. The buses seem to be keeping up with the moving crowd so I would have to say that transportation looks better but then I'm riding my bicycle!
  9. tbutler
    The Monaco International Pre-Rally for the FMCA Bowling Green Convention got underway on Monday, July 13. We had about 165 coaches on the grounds and one dealer, Paul Evert's RV Country from Fresno, CA, who had about 12 coaches for sale. Some sales were made but mostly people were looking. Louise picked out one she likes, I would go for another but not until we win the lottery! Mike looked up the blue book value of our motor home and it was an eye opener. We knew the value would get there eventually but were surprised to see it there already. The new Monaco, Navistar-Monaco LLC was at the rally and got a warm reception. Monaco remains alive and the company is rebuilding slowly. New coaches will come at a rate supported by sales. The new company has about 12% of the employees that were working a year ago. Without Navistar we would all have orphan coaches. To know that the parts and technical staff is coming back is very reassuring for all Monaco owners.
    We all had a good time. Some of the vendors were busy, others saw hardly any business. Service and repair were popular. We picked up a used satellite dish system to replace the one that came with our motor home. The old one was tied to an outmoded receiver due to the need for a slow speed data port. The new dish has all the software built into the dish unit. It does not need the receiver to identify the correct satellite. The vendor installed it for us. Now we are working on getting the new receivers installed. We added an incoming feed from the dish so we can have different stations in the living room and the bedroom. I moved the receiver in the front to a cabinet with a mesh front so it will work with the non-radio remote. I have run the new incoming cable to the floor and am ready to run it under the floor to the bedroom.
    The weather was excellent. We arrived in Springfield just behind some heavy thunderstorms. Those were followed by sunshine and moderate temperatures. The golf tournament had excellent weather as well. Our closing event was Friday evening. Three motor homes were sold during the rally. Saturday morning we left in a caravan to Bowling Green. We were number 24 in a caravan of 45 motor homes. Quite a sight to see that many motor homes all traveling together. An early start at 6:20 helped to get us down the road with minimal disruption of traffic. We arrived in Bowling green about 9:10 a.m.
    Attendance looks strong here at Bowling Green. I have no idea how many coaches are here and more will arrive today. The parking crew really has their act together. We arrived, unhooked toads and were in our parking spots in 15 minutes! It is a pleasure to see a great team effort, everyone knowing their job and getting it done! The electric was even turned on early and there are portable showers near the Bowling Green State University Stadium, just a short walk from our coach. The cool weather continues with early morning temperatures in the 50's (10's for the Celsius crowd). If you are in Bowling Green, look for our coach on lot 6-4, 1st Street, 14th coach on the south side of the street! F294521.
  10. tbutler

    Off the Grid

    By tbutler,

    Our destination park for the visit with my brother was Levi Jackson State Park just south of London, Ky. The signage is excellent. The trees on the road into the park need trimming badly. We will leave the park via an alternate route. Kentucky Highway 229 is much more motorhome friendly than the entrance off US 25 that is given in the directions in the campground directory.
    We arrived without reservations. We could have made them several days in advance, but when the awning repair was finished we were inside the reservation period. There was one site left with full hookups. They invited us to take a look at it to determine it's suitability.
    The site has a level concrete pad 10' x 50' with a 20' x 40' gravel patio complete with a fire ring and a sturdy picnic table. In front and behind the concrete pad is asphalt, so the total length of the pad area is about 80'. There are plenty of trees around but none will interfere with our satellite TV. With 50-amp service for $25 a night, this can't be beat. In the typical private RV park, we would have another RV between our neighbors and us, but here the sites are 60 feet wide so there is no feeling of crowding. The park is loaded with families in trailers.
    There is a nice swimming pool and many other recreation facilities in the park, so it is a great place to bring the family. We have one of about 12 pull-through sites. My brother lives about 3 miles from our campsite. Very convenient! The one downside is that there is absolutely no Internet service here. No Wi-Fi, our cell modems don't pick up any digital signal service. Most of the people here don't care, but we sure would be happier with service.
    We can get e-mail and a few other things done on the Internet while visiting my brother. He moved from Minneapolis last year about four months before FMCA was there. A year and a half after losing his job in a merger, he landed an excellent job in retail grocery. His success with the new company translated into a new position he accepted about three weeks ago. He is now the Chief Operating Officer of the parent company of the subsidiary that brought him here to London, Ky. We had a good visit and learned much about his new position. Our father, a lifelong grocer, would have popped his buttons!
    On Thursday we had an 8:15 tee time at a nearby golf course. The course wasn't the fanciest, but we got some practice for the golf tournament at the Monaco International Pre-Rally in Springfield, Ohio, next week. This was important, as neither of us had played golf in three months. It certainly showed. I won't disclose scores except to say that I managed to get one par late in the round, and that was an amazing improvement from the first few holes!
    After golf we drove into Corbin, Kentucky, just a few miles south of the golf course to eat lunch at the Colonel Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum. The museum is combined with a KFC restaurant in a re-creation of the first restaurant Sanders had in Corbin. It was here he developed his reputation for his fried chicken. The simple displays at the museum chronicle his starting days. Not a major museum, just samples of the good old days where Kentucky Fried Chicken really was fried in Kentucky.
    We left Saturday morning to drive to the vicinity of Springfield and the Monaco International Pre-Rally. Parking starts Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and the electric hookups are first come, first served.
  11. tbutler

    Kentucky Roads

    By tbutler,

    Out of Foristell, Missouri, headed to London, Kentucky, we had fine weather, plenty warm, and lots of clouds. Traffic moved well, lots of road repair. Looking for Wayne77590 but no connection. He left Kentucky heading up I-64 for Missouri. We had corresponded via messages on FMCA Community but just couldn't make a meeting work for us. Our departure was delayed by an awning repair. We got away from the repair shop about 2:00 p.m. It turns out Wayne was pulling into an RV park in Villa Ridge, Missouri, about the same time.
    We were through the St. Louis metropolitan area by 3:00 p.m., so the rush hour was not a factor. The Illinois speed limit for motorhomes and vehicles towing trailers is 55 miles per hour, which is a very relaxing pace. We ride the slow lane and let the four-wheel zippers roll by. As the day gets later, we debate about a stopping place for the night. Our trip to London, KY, is a distance of 450 miles, so the late start and slower speed limit make an overnight stop a necessity.
    We stopped at a rest area along I-64 in Indiana, but it is posted no overnight parking. We decide to stop before we go through Louisville, Kentucky, and the only possibility is the ever popular Wal-Mart. There is one in Corydon, about 30 miles west of Louisville, so that is our chosen stop. We arrive and find a parking place next to a trailer that has been dropped by a truck driver. This will be a quiet neighbor. I go into the store for a few items. A check at customer service confirms that we are welcome to spend the night on the outer lot where the trucks are parked.
    The next morning I am up early and cleaning off the windshield and nose of the motorhome. I want fresh bugs! Besides, they are easier to remove if they haven't been sun dried! It is a rare day when we don't start out with a clean windshield.
    Louise is up somewhat later. We set out for Louisville well after the morning rush. Out of Louisville we pick up I-75 south, which will take us to London. We were going to stop at a rest area for lunch but somehow missed it completely. There was a sign for tourist information at one exit; perhaps that was supposed to be the rest area. Louise served up lunch on the road. Some finger food to keep me from gnawing on the steering wheel. We arrive at Levi Jackson State Park in London, Kentucky, about 2:00 p.m.
  12. tbutler
    We are still in Missouri which is unheard of since we began living full time in our motor home. The weather has made us wonder if we need our heads examined. We keep telling ourselves this is why we haven't done this before. We were going to be here later than usual this year and we have two grandchildren with June birthdays we haven't celebrated with them for a while so, why not make the best of it?
    Kaitlyn is six years old this year. For her birthday she chose to go to the Magic House (www.magichouse.org) in Webster Groves, Missouri. As a teacher I had been there many times before, even taken groups of students numerous times. The Magic House has grown since I was last there! They have a large parking lot and on a weekday it was packed. Inside the place was swarming with children. It was noisy with kids everywhere. Kaitlyn and her brother Ryan fell in with the crowd quickly. There were dress up costumes in story land and a beanstalk for the kids to get from floor to floor. They could navigate that faster than adults on the stairs. There were mysteries to be solved complete with revolving bookcases and hidden rooms. The kids could crawl through the duct work to find clues and then go through the fireplace into the next room. There were slides, puzzles, a shadow wall with a strobe light to record your movements on the wall. The kids and adults played with one thing after another. Both of them enjoyed the rooftop garden. With plastic vegetables in a mock garden, they could harvest their crop and then cook and eat in the kid size house. Kaitlyn did a thorough job of sweeping out and cleaning the house while Ryan re-planted the vegetable garden before we could leave this exhibit. This attraction rivals any I have seen for activities you can touch and do. Louise and I have a tradition of being swept out of places by the cleaning crew at closing time and this was no exception. The children were going to be sure they got their money's worth. Dinner at a local favorite Italian restaurant finished Kaitlyn's birthday celebration.
    Just over a week later, Ryan had his 9th birthday. Given his choice, Ryan will ask to go to the St. Louis Zoo. Perhaps it was the hot weather and some encouragement from Mom that led him to choose the City Museum (www.citymuseum.org). Located in downtown St. Louis, the City Museum is a unique collection of urban discards from factory machinery, stores, banks, buildings and other items. You can't possibly see everything there is to see here. The ceilings, walls and floor are covered in items from the city. There is an extensive climbing area outside the museum that goes up three stories to several airplane fuselages then on to other items like a crane, tree house, and much more. You can enter this corridor made mostly of tubes constructed of rebar from several points in the museum. Within the museum, every surface is covered with things to see and do. A two story slide is covered with conveyor rollers so as kids slide down they can hold their hands up and spin the rollers as they slide down to the first floor. Ryan immediately headed for the aquarium and we spent over an hour looking at all the animals. There were sharks and rays to touch. Docents brought around snakes and turtles for children to touch. Both Ryan and Kaitlyn were turtle rustlers for the turtle race. Even in the aquarium there were tunnels everywhere for the kids to crawl through. They would disappear in one place and we never knew where they would reappear. Another area had skateboard type surfaces for the kids to run and slide on. Another extended time here. You just can't wear out the kids. Once again, we were among the last to leave the museum. After leaving the City Museum, we stopped at Lambert International Airport to pick up Louise who had been in Kansas City trying out for Jeopardy! This is her second try to get on the program. She qualified last time but they select from the pool of qualified applicants by a random process and she wasn't chosen within the year of her qualification so she had to try out again. Our final stop for the evening was Canoli's Restaurant in Florissant, Missouri. This restaurant has been a favorite of Louise and I for many years. We enjoyed sharing it with our daughter and her family.
    About a week before all the above started, we spent a Sunday afternoon with my daughter and her family. The four of them, Louise and I all rode about a seven mile stretch of the Katy Trail State Park (www.mostateparks.com/katytrail). The Katy Trail is a rails to trails park that starts in St. Charles, Missouri and follows the Missouri River westward almost 3/4 of the way across the state. Ryan has his own bicycle and did the complete 14 mile round trip on his own. Kaitlyn has a half bicycle that attaches to dad's bike. She can pedal or coast as she pleases. We rode, drank water, ate strawberries and apples we carried with us and picked mulberries off the trees along the trail. As we packed up our bicycles, we decided that pizza was the perfect end to the day so it was off to CJ's Pizza in Foristell, Missouri.
    One of the treats of living in St. Louis is the excellent theater we have at the Muny Opera (www.muny.org). In an outdoor setting in Forest Park, site of the 1904 Worlds Fair, is a theater which seats nearly 13,000 people. We took the children to the Muny Opera for a production of Annie on Tuesday, the 27th. We were prepared for hot weather with cool drinks and wet cloths. It turned out to be quite a comfortable evening. Both children enjoyed their first theater production.
    This afternoon the kids came to the door of the motor home and asked me to go for a hike in the woods with them. Ryan had the Rocks and Minerals book that he got for his birthday and he wanted to go find some rocks. We hiked down to the creek and searched for rocks along the creek. We found several but Ryan was most interested in just exploring the woods and stream. Kaitlyn was always out in front, often somewhat off course. I had to keep guiding her back toward the house on our return home. Being with the children keeps us young.
    We'll be leaving here soon but staying here in Missouri with our children and grandchildren has been a wonderful experience we hope to repeat often in the future.
  13. tbutler
    The thermometer was within striking distance of 100 degrees for the last week here in Missouri. During the day the air conditioners ran almost continuously even with our sun screens on all our windows. Since we are full timers we had sun screens custom made for all our windows. Motor Coach Designs took the measurements over the phone and we had them installed at the Monaco International Rally before the FMCA Convention in Redmond, Oregon in 2004. We don't use them all the time but if the weather is really hot or if we are parked in warm weather for a longer time, I'll put them on the motor home. They make a real difference. At our winter retreat in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, we have them on all winter long.
    Where we are now in my daughter's driveway, we have nice shade in the morning but the afternoon sun shines directly on our front window followed by late afternoon sun on the passenger side of the coach. Awnings provide a little relief as well and we use them on the windows that have them. Last year I installed one over the living room window on the passenger side. Normally this window would be covered by the large awning but that awning is a Carefree of Colorado Mirage Awning. It is a very convenient power awning but can't stand the wind. Our winter residence in Texas regularly has winds greater than the 12 MPH limit for the awning. As a result there are many days when the awning can't be out. I finally broke down and installed the smaller window awning under the large awning. It has been worth the expense.
    Now I have a confession to make. I recently had the large Mirage awning out late one evening to keep the afternoon sun off the side of the coach and out of my eyes as it peeked under the side of the window awning. After the sun set, I thought about it several times but was never up and moving around when the thought crossed my mind. So that night we went to bed with the awning out. I awoke at 3:00 a.m. to a loud crash. During the night a rain shower had come through. Water doesn't drain off the Mirage Awning, it pools on the awning. Carefree has a wind sensor for this awning but it doesn't have a rain sensor. I had several incidents before where small showers pooled water on the awning and I was always amazed that the arms supporting the awning held the weight of the water. This time, there was too much rain and the awning collapsed. One arm was bent almost to the ground. Another was bent slightly and the one by the front door was sticking out straight, right through the canvas that had ripped almost all the way to the door. I was able to bring the awning in to secure it out of the wind which was now blowing strong enough to make it flap. Where was the wind before the storm? It could have saved my dignity.
    I called our insurance company, GMAC, and confessed that I had failed to close the awning. They took the information and asked for an estimate on the repairs. They would cut the check as soon as they had the estimate. We have never had an argument from GMAC about paying a claim. So I'm off to Freedom RV in Wentzville for some repair work. I downloaded the service manual for the awning from the Carefree web site and set out to disassemble the arms and canvas so I could drive to the shop. I took the motor home in for an estimate on Thursday the 18th, parts were ordered on Friday and shipped from Carefree the following Friday. As soon as they arrive, we'll get in to have the work done and then we'll set out for Monaco International and FMCA in Ohio. The week ahead looks a little cooler so that is a break and the awning repair won't necessitate any painting. All the painted parts of the awning survived without damage as did the side of the coach. It should be a one day job. Lucky me!
  14. tbutler
    After taking our grandsons on a 10-day tour of three states, their younger sisters deserved a trip of their own. We took the recommendation of my sister and took them to the Toy and Miniature Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. The girls are 6 and 4, so the trip was a short one. This was for their sake and ours!
    Since we were traveling to Kansas City, I offered my mother, 85 years old, a ride to KC to visit my sister who lives in Liberty, Missouri. Mom said yes, then no, and finally yes, so she traveled with us. We put her in the copilot seat for the ride so she could ride in comfort. The girls were buckled up on the couch with a supply of toys and games between them. This kept them happy during the trip.
    We hooked up and left my daughter's home about 10 on Friday morning. We picked up my mother about 20 minutes later. The trip to Kansas City from Foristell, Missouri, is about 200 miles. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop near Boonville, about halfway across the state. After eating, we didn't hear much from the girls. I had a nice conversation with my mother during the trip. My wife, Louise, was napping in the back after the girls went to sleep.
    My sister met us at an interchange on the highway, where we transferred Mom from the motorhome to her car. Mom would stay with her for the weekend and then return home with us.
    We continued on to Smith's Fork Campground below the Smithville Lake Dam to our campsite. There were numerous sites to choose from. The first request of the girls was to make the bed for the night! Apparently the boys had been impressed by this chore we assigned them and the girls wanted to get with it right away. While I hooked up, Louise took the girls to the playground. The girls did finally get their chance to turn the couch into a bed. After trying about four different arrangements, they finally settled down and went to sleep. We had some rain during the night, but we woke to sunny skies on Saturday morning.
    The Toy and Miniature Museum was interesting. They had an extensive display of doll houses, which the girls explored from one end to another. They really enjoyed the room of marbles. They liked the story time and drawing their own pictures and coloring them. Much of the museum was more adult oriented and we passed through those areas quickly.
    By the time we got to the gift shop, the girls were more interested in finding something to eat than shopping. So it was off to KFC for lunch. We discussed an after-lunch activity at the Kansas City Zoo, but the rain showers were back, so we abandoned that idea.
    We returned to the motorhome, where we had an abundance of indoor activities for the girls. An evening barbecue with my sister and her family went on as planned. The rain stopped late in the afternoon, so we got to visit outdoors. A niece adopted the girls for the evening and they had plenty of playtime.
    Overnight, another good rain shower ended before I had to disconnect utilities. The trip home on Sunday was uneventful and the girls were happy to be home with their parents again.
  15. tbutler
    Our adventure with our grandsons is almost at an end. Tomorrow we have a day in camp to enjoy some of the relaxation that RV'ing can offer. Since my last entry a week ago, we have taken the two boys, cousins, to several interesting sites and watched their reactions at each location.
    From our base in Corydon, Indiana, we drove into Jeffersonville, Ind., to visit the Schimpff's Confectionery. This family-owned store has been operated by family members for over 100 years (started in this location in 1893). They are still using the original equipment. We were treated to their making red/white/blue peppermint lollipops for the Fourth of July. The tour was absolutely fascinating to us as adults, and the boys had their noses glued to the windows watching the candy making process. The history of the family was mixed with an explanation of the equipment in use and the chemistry/cooking of the candy. They have a great museum as well. The boys even enjoyed the old candy machine and the candy containers. Cool stuff! We got to taste some of the peppermint candy as it was cut off the roll, still warm! UMMM! The boys each bought a sucker and one for their younger sisters. We went for the chocolate! If you are in the Jeffersonville, Ind., area, stop by to visit; it's well worth the trip. We found them on a History Channel program last winter. That program triggered my planning for this trip. http://www.schimpffs.com/ (812) 283-8367
    After visiting the confectionery and having lunch there, we were off to Louisville to visit the Louisville Slugger Factory. There they make baseball bats, the wooden kind. In the past, such greats as Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron among others have used Louisville Slugger bats. They give factory tours and the boys really enjoyed that though they were more interested in the gift shop than the museum. They did enjoy the batting cage and endured the movie. Grandpa felt he had to buy them a baseball bat with their name on it. Someday they will appreciate it!
    We spent the evening on Friday riding around downtown Corydon on our bicycles. This was our first chance to be out and about with the bicycles since the accident. All four of us made several rounds around the downtown area. Saturday morning we were off on another adventure, this time in the motor home. We drove the most direct route to Thorntown, IN, on little roads through scenic territory in southern Indiana. The trip turned out to be on very small roads before we got to our destination. Even so, we saw some beautiful and remote territory.
    Our site at the Old Mill Run Campground was not close to level but the owners actually brought several tractor scoops of gravel to elevate our front wheels so that we were eventually able to level the coach. This campground has been converted to about 90% seasonal sites and the transient sites are the least desirable. Good people, just making the best of their market. The campground had everything the boys wanted. We had a playground near our site, a heated swimming pool and good weather.
    OMR Campground was our base camp for the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. The museum is being expanded and I can't wait to see the completion of the current work. There are dinosaurs bursting out of the side of a building and another sticking its head into a building. An Egyptian scene with pyramids is being constructed on the roof and who knows what other exhibits will be inside when they are done. The boys loved the trains and really grooved on the dinosaurs. We ate lunch and they went back for more dinosaurs. They had a dinosaur dig with bones buried in a coarse sand/tire shreds/weak glue mixture that made the digging sort of realistic. The boys spent at least 30 minutes working away, and much of the time the museum docent was talking with them and digging right along side them. I don't think they will ever forget the experience. Then they had a chance to talk with a real paleontologist. The young docent connected much better with them! They spent another half hour in the dinosaur art area, reconstructing a dino head on a scale model skull. We adults were growing impatient but... kids rule! They found the games and enjoyed another half hour or so before they announced the closing of the museum. The gift shop was of course open for a half hour after the museum closed so they still had time to shop. http://www.childrensmuseum.org/
    Back at the campground, I BBQ'ed for the second night in a row. The boys played at the playground while Grandpa and Grandma prepared dinner. By the way, the boys are sleeping later and later in the morning. Grandma is now getting up before the boys are out of bed! Are we winning or just too proud to admit defeat?
    Monday was a travel day again. This trip was mostly on Interstate highways from Thorntown to Chatham, Ill., just south of Springfield. Again a very nice park, Double J has a nice playground, swimming pool, putt-putt golf, tennis court and basketball area. The park is beautifully kept and the pull through sites are about 80 feet long. There are lots of trees but we still managed to find a spot for our satellite dish to work. This keeps grandpa and grandma sane! Their internet connection isn't working for us but our T-Mobile signal is plenty strong.
    Today (Tuesday) we visited the Lincoln Home and downtown Springfield. The boys liked the home but when we got to the museum they were more interested in playing some putt putt golf and swimming. So... being of sound mind, we gave up on the Presidential Museum and headed back to camp. The tour guide for the Lincoln Home had mentioned that there was a flag ceremony at 7:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Tomb on Tuesday nights. We took the boys despite their general lack of interest. The civil war uniforms, soldiers firing their rifles in a salute followed by the cannon as the US flag was lowered really got their blood flowing. We were able to walk the parade grounds and pick up some of the paper wads with gun powder residue in them after the ceremony. The boys really like that. Then when we got them lined up with several soldiers for a picture and one of them put his hat on my oldest grandson, they were really captured! Another night they won't forget.
    Rain is in the forecast and I hear the thunder rumbling as I write this. Tomorrow is a campground day. We'll enjoy what we can of the campground between rain showers. Thursday we'll head for home. The boys were given the option of another day here in camp but want to get back home to see moms, dads and sisters so once again, we'll let them have their way! YES!!!! We are winning, they cried UNCLE! Age and treachery does overcome youth! Really, the boys have adjusted to camping in the RV amazingly well. They have their routine chores, making and breaking down their bed, taking care of their clothes and toys. There has been little complaint and they are getting along after eight days together just like they were at the beginning of the trip. We might have to do this again!!! Oh no, I think they are winning after all!
  16. tbutler
    We are in day three of our 11-day trip with our two 8-year-old grandsons. We had a great day at the Evansville, Indiana Zoo on Wednesday. Both boys are really into animals and ran from one exhibit to the next. If there was something to climb on or slide down, so much the better! The Evansville Zoo is a small zoo but the animals are close to the viewer, unlike some larger zoos. They have one tiger, other zoos have more. We were less than six feet from the tiger as he paced his enclosure! The boys were always on the move, grandma kept up with them, grandpa was trying to take pictures and always lagging behind. We had too many good animal encounters to describe them all here.
    We bought a digital camera for the boys to use. Grandma had to carry it but they could ask for it at any time. The pictures will be only part of their record. They are both working on journals. They both have books of blank pages stapled together and they write their story for each day in their books. It is a delight to listen to them discussing the days activities as they write in the book. The books weren't our suggestion, grandson #2 made them up and brought them with him.
    We stayed at Burdette Park RV in Evansville. It is a very nice public park with bicycle trails, a BMX course, a huge swimming pool and water recreation area, lots of playgrounds, volleyball, tennis courts, you name it, they have it. The RV park is nice but not great for big rigs. The roads through town to get to the park are poorly trimmed and very narrow. This is true of the trees in the campground also. So many trees here we couldn't get the satellite TV to work. There is no wi-fi and our cell modem was roaming and would hardly work at all. Still, I would love to take the boys back there in the future and spend more time there. Rates are reasonable and staff is friendly.
    Today we drove to Corydon, the first state capital of Indiana. It is a short drive from Evansville and we arrived early enough in the day to walk around town. It is a charming small town with a country feel. We walked by the old state capital building. It was closed for the day but we can tour it another day if we want. We found a pharmacy with a soda fountain and went in for ice cream. Our youngest grandson has a milk allergy so finding something for him when we are having ice cream is a challenge. The girl at the counter suggested a cherry phosphate and so he ordered one. It disappeared in short order. Now he has a favorite drink. His mother, a pharmacist, called this evening and he told her about the cherry phosphate several times and then grandma took the phone and explained it further. She had never heard of a phosphate! Times have changed!
    I took the boys for a bicycle ride while grandma cooked dinner. We rode the bike trail, crossed a low water bridge through some water and grandson #1 slipped in the mud after crossing the creek and crashed! After much wailing, I got him calmed down and we talked about the fact that he had made it across the creek, just slipped in the mud. Then I saw a dead snake where he had crashed. I told him he had killed the snake. He laughed at that. After that everything was better. We got back to the RV and as I was claiming the muddy jacket to rinse in the hose, grandson #2 was inside telling grandma all about the accident. I had to laugh. No better story than someone getting injured in a crash. Luckily, nothing was seriously hurt, not even a single band aid required. The two boys were outside playing, swinging on tree limbs, collecting rocks and generally having a good time for an hour and half after dinner! Guess he'll survive. Not sure about grandpa!
  17. tbutler
    They sound like a couple of angels now, our two grandsons, ages 7 and 8, snoozing on the foldout bed. They have been raised as close as cousins could be and they prize their time together. So I thought it would be a good idea to take the pair on an RV adventure. This will test my mettle, putting them together is like putting a couple of Uranium atoms close together! Stuff happens. It's just good ol' boy stuff. This evening they hauled rocks from one place to another for a while. Then they found the two toads! I made sure those were released, only slightly traumatized, into the woods. They ride bikes like demons and play make-believe all the time. I had to wait my turn on my computer this evening while they played chess! Their game leaves a great deal to be desired, but they love it and someday in the not-too-distant future, they'll be beating Grandpa!
    We are about to set out on an 11- day tour to Evansville, Indiana, Jeffersonville, IN, Louisville, KY, Indianapolis, IN and then Springfield, IL. We have a zoo, a candy factory, a baseball bat factory, a children's museum and an historical site on the agenda. In between, we'll ride bicycles, play tennis, go hiking and learn to be good campers. So tonight we're almost ready to go. The boys, true to form, couldn't wait for the trip to begin. So despite the fact we are still parked in my daughter's driveway, they have moved in and are spending the night with Grandpa.
    Where is Grandma, you ask? Well, this is Bridge night for the Phila Bridge Club which she has been a member of for nearly 40 years. She misses their games when we are traveling so when we are back in Missouri, she makes that card game a priority. When we travel she writes a two-page letter to her ladies each month with some of the news of our activities. In years past she has occasionally flown from whereever we are back to Missouri for their weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks. Can you imagine eight women staying in two condos at the lake? Roommates, late-night card games, snacks and spirits ... it sounds like college days all over again. Last year she came back from the weekend having played 500 games of Bridge. This is serious fun. Yes, there is a traveling trophy. She will be home soon and tomorrow when the boys wake, ready to get this trip on the road, she'll pay for her late night!
    Tomorrow I have a few outdoor jobs before we roll, and she will have the inside of the house to contend with. We plan to be on the road as Grandma would say, "at the crack of 10." So think of this as a great mystery novel. Who will be the survivor? Who will walk away from this adventure and who will crawl? Who was it that thought this would be a good idea? Uh ...
  18. tbutler
    We are now in Warrenton, Missouri, parked in my mother's driveway. We had a nice visit with my sister and her family in Kansas City last weekend. My sister is recovering from knee replacement, a familial weakness that will likely catch up with me some time in the future. She is hobbling around on a crutch but is healing and will soon be out dancing again. While in the Kansas City area we enjoyed staying at the Smith's Fork Campground. It is located just below the dam at Smithville Lake, a Corps of Engineers flood control lake. The campground is run by the Smithville Parks Department. They have 30- and 50-amp electric with full hookups at very reasonable rates. With a senior discount the 50-amp electric cost just $23 a night! They have almost 80 spaces, some pull-through sites and the whole park is beautiful. A 14-day stay limit keeps turnover high. They don't take reservations but they take gate reservations. I don't know exactly what that means, but if you are interested, call ahead as this is a popular fishing and family campground.
    Leaving Smithville, we decided to drive smaller roads directly east rather than heading south on I-435 to I-70. The traffic on the smaller roads was light and local. We seldom were holding up traffic and if they couldn't get around us they usually turned off at the next town. We enjoyed seeing some towns we had only heard of before and a few we had never heard of before. We were surprised to find a very nice looking large resort in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. The Elm's Resort was designed by Kansas City architects, Jackson and McIlvain. The grounds are beautiful. The road through town is torturous for a motor home but we navigated it without a problem. It is very rugged terrain and the road turns every block or two as you go up and down hills. Not the place to zip through in a hurry but definitely worth a stop. I am really enjoying traveling the backroads rather than the interstate highways. The pace is much more relaxing and the scenery is so much more interesting. Even if we don't stop, we get to see so much more of America once we are off the interstates.
    We found a nice roadside picnic area to stop at for lunch just before we reached U.S. 65 north of Marshall, Missouri. The whole area of this drive we saw beautifully cared for farms and homes. The area had a prosperous look even in this economy. South of Marshall we hit I-70 and zipped across the rest of Missouri to Warrenton, Missouri where my mother lives just a half mile from where my grandparents lived during my childhood. Crossing the Missouri River near Columbia, Missouri we did see that the river is bank full to slightly above. North of our crossing the flood plain was covered with water, evidence of the storms that passed through in the last few days coupled with snow melt from the northern Rockies.
    At Mom's house we have 50-amp electric that I installed several years ago. There is water and sewer available about 75 feet from our rig. The macerator I installed several years ago comes in handy here. We shower and wash dishes in moms house but if need be, we can empty the waste tanks without moving. Mom has a list for me, her to do's. This time the list is small; replace a porch light, trim some shrubs, glue this, fix that, all minor things that help her stay in her home a little longer. Along with her list, I have my own. A drawer railing rear support gave out when we got here. Too many bumps and cheap supports. I replaced those last night. I've replaced most of these cheap adjustable plastic supports for the rear of the drawer railings with a sturdier support I found at Lowe's. The replacements aren't adjustable and are a heavier plastic. I haven't had to replace one of them yet so they seem to be doing the job. Checking the roof when we got here, I see I have a big cleaning job to do. We were parked under a really nasty tree in Denver at The Prospect RV Park. Sappy buds rained down on us as the tree leafed out this spring. I haven't found a good way to remove the sap yet.
    While on the roof I also noticed that the anemometer that automatically retracts our awning has been broken once again. I put a protective frame over it to keep tree branches from getting it but this is the second time that hail has gotten it. I guess it needs an umbrella to protect it from the hail. I have a replacement ordered thanks to the help of Freedom RV in Wentzville. Unlike the other RV place in Wentzville, Freedom RV called me back! And they could get the part I needed. I can do the install on this, I watched the first time it was replaced and replaced it myself the next time. This will be the third replacement. I'd just remove it but it is so handy to have the awning automatically retract when the wind picks up.
    This morning we make a run to St. Louis to visit our doctors. We scheduled two doctor appointments for each of us, our GP for exams and renewing prescriptions and an annual check with our dermatologist. Next week we'll visit our optometrist with the dentist to follow. We are tied to our home physicians for routine care by the medical insurance from our school districts. It is how we manage most of our medical care as full time RV'ers.
  19. tbutler

    Into the Storm

    By tbutler,

    The Weather Channel is busy hunting severe storms. I am watching for their vehicles, when I spot them I'm headed in the opposite direction.
    Today we left Wichita, Kansas headed for Kansas City. Spring storm season is in full swing in the mid-west and the Weather Channel is making the best of it, pursuing storms across the very area we are traveling. The forecast for the whole trip was highlighted in red on the weather map. I told Louise that an early start was in order as the afternoon promised storms. So we were hooked up and on our way early. The trip was uneventful, I kept watching the skies and the clouds were small scattered cumulus. Driving on I-35, I could watch the cloud shadows zip across the highway and noticed that the leading edges were moving northward almost as fast as we were traveling. The warm air pipeline was really working hard today! We had a nice tailwind! We stopped in Emporia to pick up just enough diesel to make it to the Flying J on I-435 on the east side of KC. Why not fill up in Emporia? The price of diesel there was $2.19 per gallon and the price at the KC station was $1.99. Since it was on the way, I'll purchase most of my fuel there. It turned out the price had gone up by 2 cents by the time we got to the KC station but it was still a bargain. Pumping almost 100 gallons we saved $17.00 by making our major purchase at the KC station. Thank you internet!
    We arrived at the Flying J in Kansas City about 1:00 p.m. The pumps for car diesel are inaccessible for RV's so we went to the truck pumps. This made the fill-up faster because of those great big nozzles! Leaving the Flying J, we were driving into turbulent skies. Are those trucks from the Weather Channel? We made it about 7 miles north and just off the interstate highway before the rain started. When it started raining, it came in sheets. We went through hail and more heavy rain. We could hardly see the sign for the campground. It was only the last five or six miles that were stormy out of a trip of 225 miles. Still that experience dominates everything else for the day.
    When we finally found Smith's Fork Park Campground, the campground host came out to greet us in full rain gear! We invited him in because we weren't going out in this downpour. He gave us the layout of the campground and told us which sites were reserved and where we would find the 50 amp hookups. He also cautioned us about the drop off on the left turn corner ahead! Good information to have in a rainstorm.
    We found a campsite and pulled in, shut down the engine and relaxed back into the couch and recliner. I told Louise that I was glad we had a motor home, all our conveniences were right here for us. We didn't have to run outside to our home. We didn't even have to put out slides, there is plenty of room to move around. I started up my computer to check on the storm status. The Weather Bug gave me all the warning and watches, there were severe thunderstorm warnings, tornado watches, flood watches and flash flood warnings! The thunderstorms were lined up and heading our way our way like cars on a train. We just relaxed and enjoyed the show, lightening, thunder, flooded campground, a river flowing down an embankment from athletic fields to our north.
    By 4:00 p.m. the campground host was around to collect the rent! We had neighbors who had pulled in behind us and our toad was keeping them from moving forward. These sites are loops of the main drive, one loop after another. The exit for one is the entrance for the next. Their door was right by a mini-lake! We moved forward then put out our slides and hooked up the water. I would wait for the sewer connection until the weather was better. No rush there, our tanks last for days. Later our neighbors moved out to join friends in a different spot. Oh, well, we didn't have to move to let them off their site.
    The storms have passed off to the south and things are quiet now. The forecast for the next few days is sunny and cool. Ideal weather for relaxing in a nice campsite.
  20. tbutler
    After a one month stay in Denver, we finally said good-bye to family and packed away the loose items in the motor home and set out for Missouri and visits with my relatives. As soon as we unplugged the motor home from the shore power the alarm on the inverter went off, setting off a real learning experience. We had a new inverter installed, a Xantrex RS3000. We had left the electric water heater on when we unplugged the shore power and the inverter was telling us the batteries weren't up to running the water heater. Now I didn't understand that at the time and was concerned that something was wrong with the new inverter. I cleared the warning alarm and shut off the electric switch on the water heater. Now the inverter was switching on and off repeatedly. I was puzzled. We finished unhooking, then went to CW where the inverter had been installed. I needed some help figuring out what was going on. The clerks behind the service desk weren't as concerned as I was but we did finally get the shop foreman to take a look at the unit. He couldn't quickly identify the problem and suggested that I reset the unit. Now the genius who designed this unit put the reset button on the inverter itself, not on the control panel. The inverter is buried in the belly of the motor home in a compartment that is accessed from another compartment that is packed with all the necessary stuff the full time RV'ers need to survive. I unpacked the compartment, got to the unit and reset it. This helped! Now at least the menus were operating properly. I found the problem with the on-off-on-off behavior to be a load sense feature. It would test to see if there was a load and finding an insufficient load switch off again. I deactivated that feature and, viola, the problem was solved. I went through several other tests and everything seemed to be working fine.
    We were off down the road. Our next stop was the Flying J in Aurora, Colorado. We pulled into the lot and up to the propane tank. We had to maneuver around a truck and trailer parked just before the propane tank but got close enough to get a connection to our tank. We shut down everything including the generator. This made the inverter unhappy because I had shut it off with the manual switch. Apparently the inverter feels that it owns the generator and I should keep my hands off the switch. Now a number of the menu items disappeared from the menu and I couldn't get the generator auto start to work. AAARRGGHH! We got the propane and enough diesel to keep us going to a cheaper fuel source, a Flying J in Kansas.
    We took I-70 to Lyman, Colorado then dropped south to US 50 where we turned east toward Kansas. We had been with family for a month and I needed some alone time with Louise so we are taking the long way home through southern Kansas. I have traveled some of these roads a long time ago but it is always different. This trip the winter wheat is thriving and summer crops are being planted. We enjoyed the agricultural scenery and the leisurely pace of a non-interstate road. Just before reaching Kansas we found a nice rest area and parked for the night. We had truckers for neighbors and of course there was a railroad track right behind the rest area. There were no road crossings on the track so we only heard the rumble of the train, no whistle.
    The next morning I am on the phone to Xantrex searching for a solution. They suggest resetting the unit! AAARRGGHH! But this time I am ready. I think I can poke the reset button with the window awning pull rod (WAPR). I had to think about something while trying to go to sleep after each train! I crawl in over the top of the stuff as far as I can and then use the WAPR to open the plexiglass door in front of the inverter. With a little squinting I can just see that little red button. I brace the WAPR against the plexiglass and twist it so the end presses the red button. Viola! The inverter is reset! Back inside I am able to reprogram the inverter with no problem. I give Louise instruction on starting and stopping the generator by manipulating the menu for the inverter!
    We are off to Dodge City, Kansas by noon. No sense rushing things. We decided to stay at Gunsmoke RV and arrived there about 4:00 p.m. We got a nice pull through site and settled in for the evening. The electrical connection between the motor home and toad were not working properly so I spent some time working on that problem. I fixed one problem only to have another crop up. Turns out I can have the right turn signal or the left turn signal but not both! I am going to have to replace the receptacle on the toad. Those springy pins just don't last forever. I'll have a chance to work on this when I get to Missouri. In the meantime, I can't make any left turns. I'll be a UPS driver in no time!
    Wednesday we left Gunsmoke RV and stopped in Dodge City to see the Boot Hill Museum. I had been here before and remember it as kind of a tourist trap but Louise hadn't seen it. I was impressed, either they have improved things tremendously or my memory is really bad. Anyway, we enjoyed touring the museum before heading on down the road. Our lunch stop was a quick shop lot in Greensburg, Kansas. Greensburg was hit by a monster F5 tornado on May 4, 2007, just over two years ago. The quick shop lot where we stopped had only the flooring and the stubs of the pumps left. All around us were trees that had been trimmed by the tornado, just trunks with a few branches now growing out about 15 feet off the ground. Twisted sign posts and concrete pads marked other buildings that were no more. We saw lots of new construction going on as Greensburg rebuilds.
    Wichita is our next stop. We'll stay two nights here before heading to Kansas City and a weekend visit with my sister. We watched a line of thunderstorms develop off to the east of Wichita as the sun was setting on our campsite. There are storm warnings out all along that line. Could it be another night for tornadoes? Glad we're on the back side of the line. <UPDATE> Yes, we were on the back side of the line of thunderstorms which did produce tornadoes across Oklahoma and Missouri during the night of May 13-14.
  21. tbutler
    At first glance this might not be what you think of when you think of going RVing but this adventure was made possible by our RV lifestyle. Staying as long as we are in Denver would have been prohibitive if we weren't living in our motor home. Having all my resources at hand made this work for me.
    Everything has fallen into place and I have just completed my training to fly gliders. I started this quest on Thursday April 23rd and was able to satisfy the FAA authorized examiner on the oral and flight performance exams on Sunday, May 4. These were 12 intense days of work to get to this point. Having never been in a glider before, everything about gliders was foreign territory. Having a private pilot license already made the process much easier and quicker. I didn't have to take the introductory ground school or knowledge test. I did have to take the glider ground school and this was accomplished with the help of John. I had to learn how to fly the glider with an emphasis on what is different about glider and power airplanes. Sean guided me through this process. For the first few days, as with any aerial instruction, we only flew with good weather, light winds and high ceilings. As my skills progressed the weather became less of a factor with the exception of low ceilings. On those days we did ground work, learning to understand performance factors in gliders and exploring techniques of soaring and cross country gliding.
    I made landings right from the beginning and did the take off on my third flight and each flight after that. Each flight was short, the longest being about 20 minutes so the learning was concentrated. I had to make thirty flights, ten of them had to be solo flights. I purchased the 30 flight package to take me through the whole program. It turned out I needed about 3 more flights and finished them off on Friday, May 1. I was signed off to take my oral exam and flight check ride.
    I was set to use Saturday to study for the oral exam and to plan the cross country flight my flight examiner, Quay, had set as one of my practical assignments. I wouldn't actually fly the cross country, just demonstrate my skills at planning one and be able to discuss and explain the reasons for planning the way I did. My plans hit a bump when Louise's mother went back into the hospital. She had been recovering nicely up to this point but was complaining about abdominal pain. Louise and I went to the hospital, Irene was in the emergency room with Louise's sister and her husband as well as Louise's oldest daughter. I brought my study materials along and worked while in the waiting room. Mom was dismissed from the hospital about 8:00 p.m. I went home as soon as I knew she was OK. It turned out to be nothing serious.
    Sunday I was up early to get weather reports before meeting Quay at his office in Aurora, Colorado. He grilled me, in a friendly way, for three hours. Then we were off to the airport in Boulder to do the check ride. I could have flown better but it was good enough to get my license. So now I am a licensed glider pilot. The weather held off long enough for me to fly but it rained on me all the way back to Wheat Ridge. So I beat the weather after all. One more achievement that I always wanted to reach has been accomplished.
    Meanwhile, our plans for the trip to Florida have been canceled. We'll stay here another week and then head for Missouri to see my mother, children and grandchildren. Maybe we'll get to see a shuttle launch next year!
  22. tbutler
    We were into our second week in Denver last week. Louise was busy taking care of her mother and while I could help some, Mom was getting better and mostly needed supervision. Louise needed a nightly debriefing. So being the restless sort, I thought ... "I have always wanted to add a glider certification to my pilots license. Here I am in one of the glider meccas of the U.S. for an extended period of time. I wonder what opportunities there are?" A quick check on the WWWeb brought me to Mile High Gliders in Boulder, CO. I called and talked to the owner, Dave. He set me up for an interview with an instructor the following day.
    On Wednesday, I met Sean, late 20s, learned gliders in Hawaii and looked the part! Sean did a short interview, took me out and introduced me to their instructional gliders. We pre-flighted one, climbed in and went flying. I had the controls for a bit during the first flight and then we landed. These teaching sessions will be short; we don't go far from the airport and then return.
    After landing we hooked up to the tow plane again and were airborne in short order. This time I got more stick time, some practice following the tow plane (not as simple as it looks), turns, stalls and flying the landing pattern but Sean did the landing. We parked the glider after two flights because the wind was picking up. While you can fly gliders in winds, they weren't suitable for the practice that I needed to do.
    Thursday the weather was not suitable, for flying either. I spent a few hours at the airport after dropping off our motor home at Camping World. We are getting a new inverter/charger installed, so I turned our home over to the experts at Camping World in Wheat Ridge, CO.
    They had told us we could stay in the motor home Thursday night. A call from them Thursday confirmed that, so I made it a point to arrive before closing time. When I arrived I found we had no 12V current in the motor home. That meant no heat, no water. Even the refrigerator wouldn't work without the 12V for the controls. I caught two workers in the shop and prevailed upon them to help. Since they couldn't find the problem, they hooked up a 12V battery to the refrigerator to keep it running. We stayed the night with Louise's sister.
    Friday I spent the morning at Camping World. I worked with a crew of four to five techs who were buzzing around the motor home like bees at a hive. They tested everything and talked back and forth, seeking the source of the problem. They thought the 12 V was working when they left the unit Thursday night. Eventually, after much searching, the "a-ha moment" occurred. Dan said if they couldn't find the problem with the power, perhaps the ground was the problem.
    Viola. Connect the ground on the inverter and everything works again! I don't understand it, and that is why I have these guys working on it. I thought the DC was grounded to the frame of the motor home and they were testing the power at various points against the frame. They got nothing until connecting the ground at the inverter! At that point I was off to the airport.
    Friday was a good day to fly and I was able to fly six times. The first flight I took over the stick at 500 feet above ground and with each flight I was doing more of the flying. I made all six landings. The second flight we were 200 feet above ground when I got the stick. From there on, I was doing take-offs and landings. By Friday afternoon, I was walking on air. What a great experience.
    Before leaving the airport , I signed on for their intense five-day program, which should get me the glider certification on my pilots certificate. This was possible because I already had a pilots license and lots of experience in the air. I had been practicing many of the skills needed already. Now all I had to learn was to deal with the silence of flying in a glider, right? Not really, it is more complicated than that. Basically, I have to learn all the things that are unique about flying a glider. If I didn't have the pilots license it would have taken at least twice as long to get to the glider certification.
    Upon returning to Camping World to pick up the motor home, we found it parked heading out the driveway, a good sign. We paid the bill, picked up the keys and then went back to our parking spot at The Prospect RV Park. Everything seems to be working fine so far. I reloaded the compartment with access to the inverter, and when I closed the compartment door, I found water dripping from the refrigerator access door outside. Removing the access panel, I was greeted with a fine mist of water coming from the ice maker connecting hose. I knew this problem, because I had replaced one about two years ago. So I shut off the water at the valve immediately before the faulty hose and turned off the ice maker.
    Saturday I took Louise to the airport in Boulder to see the operation and perhaps watch me fly. It was not to be -- the weather was low clouds and flying, while possible, would be just up and down without any chance to practice other maneuvers. I worked several hours with John, a physics professor, on some of the book work required.
    We returned to Denver and enjoyed some family time with Louise's two sisters and her mother. We did some shopping. Louise needed some new walking shoes and my Nikes were wearing thin on the soles, so off to the mall for shoes. On the way home I stopped at Lowe's and picked up a replacement hose for the ice maker. I couldn't find the connections for the clear plastic hose that was originally installed and which I had replaced several years ago. I bought a stainless-steel reinforced hose with fittings for under three dollars. The one-foot hose fit fine and now perhaps I won't have to replace that part again. The water is back on and the ice maker works! Time for a drink!
    Sunday we woke to sunshine. I was off to the airport and spent the day there from 9 a.m. until about 4 p.m. I worked on my pre-solo written exam in between flights. John took over my flight instruction today and gave me a good workout with three flights in the morning.
    After a break in midday, we returned to flying in the afternoon. The winds had now picked up and the flying was more difficult. The fact that I was flying in these conditions meant that they were confident in my ability to cope with the challenge and still learn. Three more flights in the afternoon and I was finished for the day. I turned in my pre-solo exam to John and left hoping that I would see the solo on Monday.
    The forecast for Monday is once again low clouds and rain. Tuesday looks better. If all goes well, I'll be able to take my FAA check ride by Thursday or Friday. We are hoping to leave Denver on Saturday, May 2. I'd love to have a new pilots license in my pocket. I have almost half of the flights I paid for under my belt and the forecast suggests at least four of the next five days will be good for flying. I think I'll make it!
  23. tbutler
    We arrived in Denver last Monday to help care for Louise's mother who had a heart attack, angioplasty and a stent inserted into an artery to resolve the situation. She had great care at Exempla-Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge and even at age 88 was able to leave the hospital on Wednesday. We took her home to Louise's youngest sisters home. Louise's sister took her mother in five years ago when she could no longer live alone. Mom has been able to care for herself during the day while the rest of the family works. Now, that has changed if only temporarily. Her mobility is down, her medications are up and she needs help with simple tasks. We are filling the gap providing "day care" for her while she recovers from her surgery. What happens when we leave depends on how well she recovers.
    Now if you have been watching the news, you know that a major winter storm has been slowly moving across the mountain states. Forecasts for Denver ranged from a foot of snow to as much as 24 inches. Mountain areas got plenty of snow and I-70 across the mountains was closed due to avalanche danger. There was an avalanche on one of the smaller highways in Colorado. It took two cars off the road but luckily no major injuries. For us the rain started on Friday morning. We drove north to pick up Mom for a doctors visit. When we got to their house about five miles north, they had three inches of snow already.
    We are staying at The Prospect RV Park in Wheat Ridge, a suburb of Denver. It's not fancy but very affordable and close to where Mom is staying. Friday morning the rain had formed a small lake near the rear of our motor home. We have water and electric but no sewer on this site. The manger, Nancy, has promised us a site with a sewer connection as soon as one is available. Meanwhile we are showering at Louise's sisters house.
    We took Mom to the doctor and returned home. The blanket of wet snow on the driveway almost prevented us from making it up the incline into the garage. After getting Mom settled in the warm house I went out to shovel the driveway. The snow was coming down in large heavy wet flakes. It wasn't long before everything I wore was wet. About halfway through the job, my nephew Frank came home and pitched in shoveling. Between the two of us the driveway, walk and porch were cleared in short order. I love shoveling snow so much, I may give up the full time life and buy a house way up north somewhere - NOT!
    After an early dinner, we headed for home. I spent ten minutes wiping snow off the Trailblazer, put it in 4WD and started to back away from the curb in front of the house. The roadway slopes down into the gutter at the curb and the slick wet snow under the tires was now ice. I could get the Trailblazer to move but the front tires just slid, I couldn't get it to turn away from the curb. I loaded up our gear and Louise and tried going forward but no luck. I got the shovel and cleared a path behind the rear wheels - no luck. So I dug out all four wheels and finally freed ourselves from the curb. The residential street was deep in slushy snow but the 4WD handled it nicely. Once we made it back to the main roads, they were clear enough to make travel easier. The rest of the trip back to Prospect RV was uneventful. When we arrived I saw that the small lake at the rear of the RV was now a large lake. The only place to park the car was right next to our front door. Even then, we were in the shallows of the lake when we got out of the car.
    The snow on our roof blocked the satellite dome and we were reduced to watching local TV. This morning the rain resumed and warmer temperatures (it's almost 40 now) have cleared the snow off the satellite dome. Louise is enjoying West Side Story on the encore drama channel. Except for snow on the roofs the area here at Prospect RV is now a big wet lake. We have been reassured that it will soak into the ground quickly but it is still raining. Warm weather later this week will bring relief and we'll be able to get around the motor home but for now we are staying inside rather than wading out! It isn't this wet in Denver normally so everyone here is glad to see the moisture. We didn't get the huge snowfall that was forecast but what we did get has certainly made a mess. It was just a matter of a few degrees. If the rain we got, an inch and a half today alone, had been snow we'd be buried now! So no matter how bad it is, it could have been much worse.
  24. tbutler
    Ok! So I had this great excursion of air and space planned for this spring in Florida. It was so simple, depart south Texas, drive north, keep making right turns until we got to Lakeland, Florida. Then we got a phone call from Louise's sister. Her mother had a heart attack on Friday, April 10. Our plans immediately took a tailspin into the trash can and we shifted gears. After some discussion I canceled my tennis match for Saturday morning. Louise arranged to get us out of the couples water volleyball tournament on Saturday afternoon. Then I made a first pass at getting ready for travel by taking down the external sun screens and wheel covers. They were all rolled and stowed in the dark and quietly too, it was after quiet hours. The fresh water tank is flushed and filled and I start organizing my desk (some call it a nest) area. The GPS is loaded with the maps and waypoints for the route. Louise began packing up all the little decorations that make the RV a home during our winter stay.
    Saturday morning I'm up early taking care of communication details with family and friends. I check the weather forecast for the next few days along our route of travel. The computer, disk drives and printers are stowed. Then I began the serious work of washing off the worst of the south Texas dust that had accumulated over the last few months. Everything comes out of our small shed and it is carefully packed away in the Trailblazer and Windsor. Then our tables, chairs, porch and other gear that will be left behind are stowed in the shed. Meanwhile Louise has systematically organized and secured the interior of the motor home. Nothing is going to rattle or crash when we pull out. A quick shower and we are out the gate at 6:20 p.m.
    Our route now takes us north to San Antonio, then northwest toward Denver. The GPS has plotted a course that I would never have worked out on my own. Leaving I-10 west of San Antonio, we head toward Lubbock, Amarillo, Lamar and Limon on our way to Denver. From I-10 to Limon is completely new territory for both of us and we enjoy the sights as we keep pushing on to the north and left.
    Our first overnight was a parking area north of Alice, Texas. The next day starts with rain, wet roads and light showers give way to cloudy skies, perfect for driving. Traffic is light, this is Easter and most people are with family. The smaller highways have little traffic. As we near Amarillo we encounter more showers including a quick hail storm as we pass through Hale, Texas. The hail is soft and the rain is hard for about three minutes. Then it is all over. After fueling at Flying J, we locate a Sam's Club parking lot. The GPS said it would be a Wal-Mart but the data must be old. The Sam's Club is new! We park at a back fence. A sign on the fence says "no idling, shut off engine" so we comply. We covered over 600 miles on Sunday. It is a nice quiet place for the night.
    Next morning up early again. The temperature is 30 degrees cooler than the previous day and the tires are all low on pressure. I air tires while Louise makes breakfast and tidies the interior. Continuing northward through the Texas Panhandle and through the Oklahoma Panhandle we encounter some of our roughest roads. I watch the LCD TV that I installed to replace the old CRT. I am pleased to see that it is handling the rough roads with no problem. We talk history, here and there we see an old soddy. Contrast that with the immense wind farms we see throughout northern Texas. In places we see new wind generators right next to old windmills pumping water for livestock. Louise catches an occasional nap, I drive. She can drive and does frequently but I am intent on keeping us moving.
    At 4:05 p.m. we pull into Prospect RV in Wheat Ridge, CO. Nancy has arranged for us to park on a space temporarily until she can put us in a better spot. We won't have a sewer connection until we move. They have turned on the water in this part of the park today or we wouldn't have had water either. We are glad to be parked. Hooked up and showered we are off to see Louise's mother. Seventy two hours ago we were going to Florida. Forty eight hours ago we departed Sandpipers. Now we are living in Denver! What great flexibility the motor home gives us.
    Louise's mother had a stent inserted into the offending artery and is doing well. I hope I'll be able to stand such surgery when I am 88 years old. We'll be here for as long as needed to assist with her care. When Louise's sister and family are able resume caring of her with their full work schedules, we'll salvage what we can of our summer plans.
  25. tbutler
    Here is how our travel decisions occur. As full timers we don't have a home to return to, so none of those pressures factor in.
    We hadn't set a definite date for our departure from Sandpipers Resort in south Texas until today. Several days ago I picked up a message that mentioned the dates for the Sun 'n Fun Airshow in Lakeland, Florida. We were planning to be in Florida for the launch of STS 125 and STS 127. Those are two Space Shuttle launches scheduled for May 12 and 15. The dates for the Sun 'n Fun are April 21 through 26. So I checked out the RV camping facilities and it looked good. We talked about it, thought about it and today made a decision to go. We'll move our departure date up about a week from what we were initially thinking.
    I scheduled some work at Camping World for Tuesday the 14th. They will install a new sine wave inverter/charger in our 2004 motor home. Our old modified sine wave inverter had a few things that wouldn't work; in fact it destroyed the electronics in several inexpensive items. I tried an infinite number of doorbells but none would work with the modified sine wave inverter. We also like our heated mattress pad and we've ruined several of them, forgetting to unplug them before disconnecting the shore power. With several new TVs and an ever-increasing list of electronics on board, the risk becomes greater. Last year the generator auto start function failed so we decided to replace the old inverter. Camping World had a sale a few weeks ago and that pushed us over the edge. We'll leave the bay with access to the inverter open for the repair work and then do the final packing up when we return to Sandpipers for a final night before departing on the 16th for Florida. We will have 5 days to travel just over 1,600 miles.
    Our original plans were to spend some time exploring along the Gulf Coast in Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle, but we'll sacrifice that for the chance to walk the flight line and see all the vintage aircraft, warbirds and current military hardware. We'll enjoy some spectacular air shows and just visiting with a multitude of other pilots. With the motor home we'll be able to eat many meals "at home." The camping is dry camping which is no problem with our motor home. We'll watch our water consumption and may have to restrict our generator use depending on where we are parked. Our costs will be less than the motel costs alone for someone staying there for the week. After the airshow we'll spend two weeks exploring Florida before we head for Cape Canaveral and our reserved spot at Jetty Park to watch the launch(s) of the shuttles. Sure hope they go off on schedule!
    So now we begin the final push to get everything in the motor home ready for travel. You can really get settled in when you park somewhere for five months. The motor home needs a good wash. I'll flush the water heater before we go. The water filters in the basement compartment will be changed, batteries and engine fluids checked. The tire pressure will be checked and the Pressure Pro sensors will be tested. There are things to be stored in the shed on our leased lot and things that have been stored in the shed to be loaded into the motor home.
    So when we get an opportunity, we are free to chase the dream! Look out Florida, here we come!
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