April - Early May Update

Kider's "World Fair" Garden, Middlebury, IN

We're fine & in Elkhart, IN for awhile. We're in-between service appointments for the trailer - this upcoming one unplanned. And if you haven't guessed or read our history, it's hydraulics or at least something affecting hydraulics like a broken bracket or weld on our bedroom slide.

Now don't go beating up on Elkhart, IN. There's a lot of worse places to be "stuck" plus there's a lot of really nice places that if you get stuck, you're toast. No one can come help you. That's why we're staying here. Lippert factory service is 35 mins away. You just gotta get an appointment. We're currently scheduled for the 18th of May plus we're on the first-call list if someone cancels.

We'd had a good trip up from Virginia and visited an old repair shop in Lagrange, IN that's under new management to get a few things replace or repaired plus some general maintenance on the trailer.  Techs that worked on the trailer were great, but not experienced in a larger, multi-slide unit with hydraulics. When the work was finished, we went in to check the work before leaving. We were so excited to see & check things while the trailer was inside the shop that we forgot to level the trailer before doing anything. When Donna moved the bedroom slide there was a large pop. Donna retracted the slides, we leveled the trailer and reopened the slides. Didn't notice anything else wrong. The work that was done was excellent. We paid & left.  

We left the Lagrange/Howe area the next day. I had opened the slides the morning we left and noticed that the bedroom slide didn't full extend. I figured we had an air bubble which we'd work out as time went on. We we arrived at Elkhart, we leveled and extended the slides. I watched the bedroom slide as it fully extended, then retracted about 4 inches. Donna re-extended the bedroom slide and it retracted (per Donna) about 2 inches. The third time it held.

As were doing all of this Donna sees the temp gauge in the freezer indicate 74 degrees and it's not dropping (but we have ice). OK, we got two things going whacky. Guess we stayed RV full-timer & kept the trailer one year too long! Once, again, we're coming out of service, we're in Indiana and we're developing a cascade of additional problems. It's a recurring theme for us.

Turns out the problem with the freezer is a bad battery in the thermometer. Confirmed by placed a different thermometer in the freezer. A new battery and it's all going well. 

Bedroom slide becomes a problem. We cannot see if any fluid is leaking. the slide frame and hydraulics is completely hidden from view. Do we travel and take our chances or be late to our volunteer position at Grand Teton. We chose to be late. Not an exciting proposition for a guy who, when I say we'll be there, intends to be there. Kinda like you word is your bond - no contract needed. Fortunately, all the staff at Grand Teton is great. While we've thrown a small wrench into the staffing schedule & will miss training, we were told to be safe and get there when we can.

So we wait. Now to see if I can get camping reservations over Memorial Day weekend! Anyway, that gets you up to date with us.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us! David 

March Update

Oak Hollow Family Campground, Section B, High Point, NC

OK, I'm late getting this out. We're fine. We're in the middle of our "Friends & Family" tour and currently in Fredericksburg, VA for our spring season doc & friends' visits. (We're also sampling all the various types of pollen along the way, too.)

From Gulf Shores, AL we stopped in Tallahassee, FL for a quick visit with Randy & Shirley. Then it was on to Eustis, FL to visit Donna's middle brother & sister-in-law before traveling a couple of days north to Atlanta, Ga to visit her older brother & Donna's niece. From Atlanta we traveled another couple of days to High Point, NC for a week-long visit with friends there. Last Thursday we traveled further north to Fredericksburg, VA where we sit. We plan to be in the area until April 16th.

Doc & friends visits have already started. We've still got a couple of near-to-below freezing nights to experience this weekend before we get warmer mornings. At least it'll be warmer until we head further north.

We were invited back to volunteer at Grand Teton NP this summer and expect to arrive by May 14th. It looks like it's going to be an interesting time this season on the Moose-Wilson Road (travels from Teton Village to Moose). Death Canyon trailhead (reached by a side road off Moose-Wilson Road) has been in need of a new parking lot & trailhead for some time. It appears all those improvements plus a Moose-Wilson Road alignment at the Moose intersection start this spring with significant travel impacts for the season to include closure of the Death Canyon trailhead. Since we volunteer at the Rockefeller Preserve Visitor Center which sits along the Moose-Wilson Road, this visitor center will be the only parking lot (50 cars only - no large vehicles, RVs, trailers, etc. and no over night parking for back country campsites) near Death Canyon. If you accidently came across this blog and have been routinely frustrated by the lack of parking at Rockefeller Preserve in the past, it appears you're not gonna have a lot of fun this summer for sure.

Current plans are to travel to Dayton, OH to visit friends before returning to Indiana for spring trailer service. After that we're on our way to Grand Teton. As always, that's the plan.

That gets you up to date with us. Thanks for dropping by and checking on us. Until next time, David

February Update

Happy Super Bowl, Valentine's Day, President's Day, Mardi Gras, Olympics, whatever. 

It's the middle of February, and we're counting down the days until we leave the first of March. We're fine, though achy. We've got at least one more doc appointment to get to. Pollen's out. Weather is trending warmer. Taxes are done. We've visited most of the friends we could get to. Truck is pretty much ready to roll. Now to get the trailer ready. 

We've donated our bicycles & bike rack. Donna's bike was worn out. We couldn't keep up with friends & their electric bikes, plus we're not ready for electric bikes. Consequently, our current bikes just hung on the back of the trailer. One less thing to keep up with.

That's all the big stuff and gets you caught up with us. Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us. We'll post more when we start moving. David

January Update

 

Just checking in with everyone. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. Whatever creeping crud is running around this part of the country managed to hit Donna a couple of weeks ago, then me. We're beginning to come out of the head-fog even though the cough seems to hang around a lot longer. We still plan to reach out to see people, but we know time is running short. We're just not interested in spreading whatever we had around

We, apparently, got our first winter mixture last night. We weren't awake for it, but there was some ice still on the board walks on our stroll this morning. 

The campground is beginning to be full most days even though it's been somewhat quieter than in previous years past. Otherwise, it's a typical winter stay in the park. So there's little to write about.

Sorry that it's not a lot to read, but it's a routine stay for us. Thanks for dropping by, though. Until later, David

 

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!

 Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

We had a nice, though rainy, trip down to Gulf Shores from Stone Mountain, GA. We arrived as planned on Dec 1st and the campground seemed empty.  Surprisingly to us, it's still seems empty when compared to years past where the campground filled the weekend before Christmas.

We moved into our typical routine quickly, even if it is a somewhat different routine. Donna's bike is not working well at all, so there's little bike riding so far.  We were going to donate them away, anyway, later in the season before we leave. Family doc in Fredericksburg had told Donna to walk more, so that's now what we're doing.

Truck is in for major service.  We took it in Dec 2nd and the latest date to get it back is the second week of January.  We had a similar situation years, ago. It just how busy shops are mixed with when parts arrive and trying to do all this over the holidays. We've got a nice, small rental car - reasonably priced compared to Jackson, WY - so we're good. Just can't deliver the bicycles to a donation site until we get the truck back.

In the meantime, we're getting a lot of walking in. We've gotten the trailer washed & waxed. We've eaten out with the bicycle group once and gotten one meal in with Jenny & Craig. We'll reach out to more people after the holidays. We've already experienced one night below freezing since arriving while most of our days are warmer than in years past (and as was predicted by weather forecasters in October.) We're trying to get use to the humidity. It's amazing how three straight summers in Jackson Hole has made us sensitive to humidity.

So that's where we're at. We still plan to leave Gulf Shores the first of March. Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us. Have a safe and fun Christmas and New Years! David 

Mid-November Update

We've had a great visit in Fredericksburg, VA for late October. After that we moved down to High Point, NC for a couple of weeks. Today we arrived in Stove Mountain, GA. Plan to be here a couple of weeks, then move down to Gulf Shores, AL for the winter. We're hoping to get some quality visits with Doug & Elizabeth while here plus drive over to Alabama and spend an afternoon with Anna.

We've got a couple little chores we'd like to do while here at Stone Mountain. There's a backflow valve for the hot water heater that needs to be replaced. The shop we normally have such work done was unable to get the part while we were in Indiana. When they got it, they shipped it down to us. There's some good & reliable RV Mobile Techs in the Atlanta area, and we're hoping we can get that replaced while here.

Donna's hearing aids died, yesterday. In the past she's experienced a slow deterioration in the aids' performance, and we'd have plenty of time to get replacements. Not this time - Friday fine, Saturday dead. Hard way to learn we probably should have a back up pair. Now we know.

So that gets you caught up with us. Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us. Everyone have a great Thanksgiving!

David

 

Fredericksburg, VA

Lee's Drive, Fredericksburg, VA 

We're back in Fredericksburg for our annual doc visits. We left Lagrange, IN with most items repaired and traveled over Columbus Day weekend to get to Fredericksburg. So far, all doc visits going well. We're now doing friend visits and walking the battlefields & the Virginia Central Railway trails.

We plan to move on down to High Point, NC the first of November for a couple of weeks. Then down to Stone Mountain, GA for the last two weeks of November. From there it's on down to Gulf Shores, Al for the winter.

Not much more to add. Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us. We'll keep ya posted. David