Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

We're still here having a good time at Gulf State Park.  Been an exciting week for us.  We got in two movies: "The Book Thief" & "Saving Mr. Banks".  "Saving Mr. Banks" gets 4 thumbs-up from us.  We continue to find a half dozen or so ants every other day or so.  We spray and wait for the next "showing".  We've got a good barrier around the outside of the trailer, so they can't leave.  Donna continues to ride with the "Folks-with-Spokes" gang.  We also got in a meal at Steamers.

Our weekly draining of the truck's fuel/water separator still shows we've got nice, beautiful, light-blue diesel (reminds me of aviation 100LL) - just like the last 5 years.  Also, we've bought all we're told we need to change out the hydraulic fluid (in the reservoir) for the trailer's legs & slides.     May try that tomorrow.  May not.

We went to the Gulf Shores United Methodist's contemporary Christmas Eve service.  Nice service.  Some of these people down here can sing.  Did a great job on "My Heart is Bethlehem " - as good any any studio backup singers would do.  Christmas dinner/potluck was held at the state park's activities by a local group.  We volunteered as "servers" and ate at the noon setting on Christmas Day.  Probably had 80 or so at the noon serving.

There's a reason Microsoft is doing poorly as a company.  We've confirmed it's Windows 8.1.  This change over was not something we did willingly. Our laptop came apart Monday night...that's right...it came apart. You could still use it, but it looked like something you'd see on a Borg ship in a Star Trek Next Generation episode.  The screen (top) literally came apart and broke at the hinges.  Not something you'd really want to use on a day-to-day basis.

So off we go, Tuesday, to Spanish Fort to mingle with the last-minute, Christmas-present-buying crowd and get a cheap laptop.  Unfortunately, only Windows 8.1 is available for us Windows users.  You get a "quick start" guide and an owner's manual for the laptop.  Nothing on how to use Windows 8.1.  If you're use to a iPad, you may like Windows 8.1 or at least may be able to use it.  If you're familiar with an iPhone or with an Android smartphone, then you're kinda familiar and can make your way around.  If your a Windows 7 user (that'd be me), then welcome to hell!

Luckily for us, we've experienced a previous laptop and external hard-drive failure, so we've learned to keep everything duplicated and on thumb drives/external backup drive plus any software we may need with us.   You lose Windows 7 functionality, so I've had to learn to work around that.  About half of my installs quit about midway through the install process.  You don't know why.  You can't check the internet connection to see if it needs - and lost - internet connectivity (that is you can't check to see if data is transferring.)  You can't tell if you need to do something like answer a question from the install wizard.  You can't pull up two drives side-by-side to manage files or move pictures from your smartphone to the computer or external hard-drive.  Our printer and scanner work, but the computer sill doesn't list them as available hardware when these two items are connected to the computer.  Loading iTunes was another nightmare.  And this is just the second day...  Oh, and after a day of "playing with the computer", Malwarebytes found 189 items of malware on the computer.

We plan to go get me a Windows 8.1 for Senior Dummies this afternoon.  At least that's the plan.

Enjoy your New Year's!  Later, David

A Visit to Long Beach, MS

We've survived our first week here in Gulf State Park.  No temps below freezing, so that's good.  More eating out, now.  Good food, but not good for our health.  Donna's found a gym, and she's riding her bicycle with the "Folks on Spokes" gang here in the park.  We got in a viewing of "Frozen", too.  We've gotten over to Pensacola to "renew" our military IDs (these news ones are ugly and don't look like us).  Also got over to Long Beach, MS to visit Bill & Debra.   We're still fighting ants from Pelham, AL.  They still pop-up from time-to-time. And we've found we have an exhaust leak on the truck. (OK, maybe that should be "smelled"?) Looks like the cab will come off, again, after the new year.

So, lots of highlights last week, but I'll point out Bill & Debra's decorations.  A lot of times when we're in this part of the country, we'll pass by Fort Wilderness (Walt Disney World) and get our fix of Christmas decorations.  (Though, according to the Fort Fiends forum, the Fort's decorations aren't as good this year.)

 Either way, we not only got our dog fix in, but our Christmas decorations viewing in, too.  In many ways, it looked like Disney at Bill & Debra's house.  Plus they took us to see Christmas lights before we left (which made them late to hear live Christmas music at their church - Sorry!)  So we got a good viewing of Christmas decorations in for this year.  I don't

know about other people, but we're impressed.  Photos here of just a few of the items placed inside and outside their house.  I thought you might enjoy them, too.

Later, David

Your truck is ready, but there's a couple of things not working...

Finally!  We've made it to Gulf State Park near Gulf Shores, AL.  Only a few weeks late.  Many folks are already here though the state park looks a little sparse of people.  During a brief walk around the state park campground this afternoon, we found many sites still available.  We still got ants, and our current site is full of ant hills. So we've put out a barrier of Comet around anything of the trailer that touches the ground.  Donna's now spraying clear ammonia inside the trailer as it's a little more environmentally friendly.  We continue to get an ant attack about every other day though the quantities of ants are dwindling.

We finally got away from B'ham, yesterday.  Town & Country Ford, Bessemer, AL called Monday saying the truck was ready, but there were a couple of things not working....wait a minute!  Didn't you just say the truck was ready?  Hope their mechanics are better than their management's communication skills!  Anyway, they found an electrical problem on reassembly.  Got that done and we had the truck back just after noon on Tuesday.  We completed as detailed of tests as we could with everything on the truck before we left the dealership. Transferflow tank status indicated it was OK, but we couldn't test a transfer of fuel.  Also, no good place to check the 4-wheel drive. Everything checked out, so off we went.  One word of advice:  never call Donna and tell her the truck is ready, but there's a "couple things not working".  

Ford's advice to us is to now drain the water separator after every two tank fulls of diesel (originally once per month and is one of the most unbelievable pain-in-the-butt things to do) and continue to change the fuel filters every 8-10,000 miles - which we had been doing.  I take that as "We at Ford built and sold you a truck that there's no physical way you can protect it from water or contaminated fuel.  Since it has over 100,000 miles - meaning Donna & I, as owners, actually use the darn thing - we, at Ford, won't cover or reimburse any of the $10,000 you just spent to repair the thing even though our maintenance schedule and procedures are totally inadequate & incapable of protecting the truck because, if they had, you wouldn't have needed to spend $10,000 to fix your truck. Oh, and please use our fuel additive at each fill up of fuel even though there's no convenient place to carry a bottle of it in the truck, and you can't pour it into the tank without spilling it all over you and your truck.  We appreciate your business.  Oh, and there's a two year parts & labor warranty on the parts installed on your truck.  Just don't count on us honoring that warranty, either."

So the clock begins ticking down to the next major tear down.  At least we were able to transfer fuel on the way down.  We'll try to check the 4-wheel drive when we go over to visit Bill & Debra Sunday.

Now wait until you hear the news we got after getting here (actually the discussions started while we were in Pelham.)  It appears these problems are happening everywhere.  While we set in Pelham, AL we noticed several motor homes having a mobile tech visiting them before the motor homes left. Way more than normal.  Now it seems there's a rash of people who are buying new trucks once they get here at Gulf Shores after experiencing major issues with their previous truck.  And poor Greg & Judy, after taking two weeks to get a new toilet installed a month or so ago, their frig quit last night. (And they have a new truck.)  I think they're all just trying to make Donna and I feel better!  (it isn't working)

So that's our welcoming committee to Gulf Shores, AL.  Man it's hard not to eat out at least once a day here!  And we've only been here one full day!

Later, David   

Delete the word "Durable"...

Next time ya got nothin' to do, go read the Ford website about it's Superduty trucks:  "Guys who own work own Ford Trucks" or "Built Ford Tough".  Do you see the words "reliable" or "durable" there?  I don't.  You know why?  Because they're not "reliable" or "durable."  

According to the Progressive Commercial truck adjuster (we filed a claim so they'd look at the truck for us as an independent representative) , we fell victim to an extended exposure of water to the High Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP). Most likely due to water condensation in the fuel tank over time. This pump rusted and at almost five years of ownership, rust flakes finally broke free - probably the Monday before Thanksgiving - and started plugging the fuel injectors.  This means the monthly draining of fuel from the water/fuel separator and the changing of both fuel filters every 8-10,000 miles as recommended by the Ford Diesel Supplement and service writers at Bozeman Ford (Bozeman, MT) were insufficient to protect our fuel system from water ingestion from the first day we drove the truck off the lot at Purvis Ford in Fredericksburg, VA.

I'm guessing this really all began when we experienced a momentary "green wrench" when returning from a weekend of camping in Shenandoah Nat'l Park during September 2009.  After dropping the trailer off  at storage, we took the truck home, took all our personal stuff out of it, and gave it to Purvis's  service department.  They found no codes, and changed the oil and all the oil and fuel filters as a "just-in-case".  I figure from that day on, we never stood a chance.  That 200,000 mile engine warranty we bought is really just a very expensive piece of paper.  We wasted our money buying that thing.  And when we - hopefully - pull away from Town & Country Ford next week with a completely new fuel injection system at our expense ($9,000 plus a rental car for just over two weeks), the clock starts ticking on the next high pressure fuel pump failure.  It's inevitable.  From here on out, every time I pull up to a diesel pump, it'll be like playing Russian Roulette.  But instead of a gun, it's a diesel nozzle.  Instead of bullets it's the opportunity to spend another $9,000 to get the fuel injection system replaced.

...and wouldn't it be a hoot if after doing all this, the truck still experiences drivability issues when they drive it next week?

In other news:

 - It's wet & humid here.  So the ants decided to move into the trailer just to get dry.  They hit pay dirt when they found an opened roll of Momentos in Donna's purse.  We've now got a perimeter of Comet and Home Defender Ant Killer around the trailer and utility connections, and we've sprayed the ant's "conga" lines throughout the trailer.  Donna's cleaned all the cabinets and sprayed any that were occupied by the ants.  All open food has been thrown out in addition to any containers the ants took a liking to - whether open or not. We're confident there's still a group hidden behind one wall - probably in some insulation where I can't reach them with the ant spray, but they're surrounded.

- Our thunderbolt "smart" phone finally refused to open one time too many while in a weak signal zone when trying to answer an incoming phone call from Ford.  We now have a new Droid Maxx.  We're counting on the better (stronger?) antennae to help us out in those weak signal areas and a longer battery life before needing to recharge the battery.  So far it's a good phone.  One word to the wise: learn how to answer the phone before leaving the store.

-  We understand we're missing out on a lot of shrimp at Gulf Shores, AL.  We're told there may not be any left by the time we get there.  Stupid Ford.  Maybe there's a Dodge in our future?  (Someday, I'll have to tell you why it won't be a GM product.)

Man, I just cannot get into the mood to fill out & mail Christmas cards this week.  Wonder why?

Later, David

Happy Thanksgiving!

Warmer times - at Flying Goose RV Park near Fairmont, MN

Happy Thanksgiving!

We fine & remain parked near B'ham, AL.  Suppose to be a big dinner at Dad & Anna's house today as Dean, Debbie, the grand kids & Donna & I invade the place for a few hours.

It's cold here this morning.  I woke up during the night & checked on the temps.  The outdoor thermometer read 21* F.  We knew it'd get cold, so we removed all the water hoses last night.  But I never expected that the RV park's water faucet would freeze as they're well insulated.    Should have let them drip a little.  Otherwise, we'd planned ahead and filled the freshwater tank Tuesday just in case.

Only news this week is that after 103,000 miles the truck got sick Monday.  Knew this day would come and other than just an inconvenience, it picked a good spot to get sick.  Most importantly, it didn't leave us stuck on the side of the road.  The inconvenience is that it's going to take a week to get anyone to look at it.  To some people that's no big deal, but to me I want to know when things are going to be done, what reservations need to be changed, what appointments to cancel, letting the RV park where we're parked know how long we need to stay, etc.

What happened?  Well, the first thing we noticed is that we couldn't set the cruise control.  A mile or two down the road we realized the truck wouldn't downshift.  I'm telling people we didn't build boost, but the drivability problem was more like a two-speed automatic transmission that didn't have a passing gear.  Not sure our issue is a turbo problem or just the result of a module going bad on the transmission, a bad wiring harness, a blown fuse (again), or what.  Whatever it is, it won't pull the trailer in it's current condition.

Anyway, we hoping they get to it tomorrow, but we're being told it's probably next week.  And we continue to guess on what we need to tell people.

That's it from here.  Have a great Turkey Day!  David

Back in Birmingham

We're back in B'ham visiting Dad & Anna and hoping to catch up with Randy & Harolda while we're here.  Made the trip over on Tuesday with all the trailer lights working at both the beginning and the end of the trip.  The picture, above, is from 2011, but we're in the same spot.  Only thing missing is the roof satellite antenna.    We'd considered staying  at Tannehill State Park this time (first come, first served).   But by mid-morning Tuesday we were chatting with the park staff while traveling over here, and there were only a few full-hookup sites available.  The park staff also told us they'd received a bunch of calls checking on the full-hookup sites.  So we went to an RV park that we were familiar with.

Seems like we've been around the world since we were last here.  Based on the date of the pictures, it's been 19 months.  The construction along I-65 at the I-459 interchange south of Birmingham is finished & they did a nice job.

Since returning to the east coast, everyone wants to know what our best spot was while we were gone.  Well...almost all of them!  You're asking us to choose between working at Voyageurs Natl Park, to Glacier Natl Park, to the buffalo roundup at Custer State Park (South Dakota), to Rocky Mountain Natl Park, to hanging out with friends at Port Hueneme & the Channel Islands, to the Oregon coast, to Priest Lake (Idaho), to Yellowstone, to Shipshewana (Indiana), to Stone Mountain (Georgia), to whatever.  OK...we'll pick one...Oregon coast...Cape Perpetua to be exact.  I really don't think anyone understands how lucky & blessed Donna & I feel to have made this trip. There's no "one" great spot.  I mean, the trailer didn't even want to come back.  Why else would it have started to fall apart after crossing the Mississippi River?  But we're back.

Anyway, for those of you following the RV parks we stay in, Birmingham South Campground always looks like its a rundown, sorta dumpy RV park - and the reviews on the rvparksreview.com site seem to agree.  But this time we're seeing some improvements.  A new fence around the swimming pool is in place.  They've paved some of the worst sections of the entrance road and the road in front of the first (overnighters') row of sites.  But there's still work to do as the appearance remains that of a rundown, unkempt park.  Restrooms remain clean & functional as are the sites utilities (except cable - crews are here working on it).  It still appears to be a "staging" area for Tiffin Motor-homes before going to or returning from Red Bay, AL for service.

So that's it for this week.  We're just here visiting.  later, David

Magnolia-on-the-Ashley (Charleston, SC)

Stone Mtn Campground "orange" site on loop C.

We're back at Stone Mountain, GA visiting Donna's brother and sister-in-law.  We had a great time in Charleston, SC as we finally got to walk around without being soaked with rain.

We got a chance to visit the Magnolia (on the Ashley) Plantation.  Pictures to the right and below are from our walk around the plantation.  This house is the third one.  The first was struck by lightening and burned down.  The

second was struck by yankees and burned down.  The current plantation house was a cabin moved to the site of the second house after the civil war.  Owners realized the need to enlarge the house, so the house you see today was expanded (in increments) to what you see today.  The large pillars were added in the early 1990s to make it appear more of a traditional southern plantation home.

We're not well versed in South Carolina history, so we were caught by surprise that this was a rice plantation.   Makes for some nice swamp land now.

After the civil war the plantation became more of a mining enterprise.  The land was gradually turned into gardens and eventually opened to the public (for a fee, of course).  The gardens are considered informal, but I can't tell you what that means.   If you go, plan on a full day to fully explore it.  The plantation has bicycle trails for your enjoyment, too.

Our trip over to Stone Mountain got off to a late start.  We planned on a 6 hour drive (long day for us), and we've had issues with getting our trailer's "pigtail" plugged into the truck's in-bed socket over the last week or two.  This time we thought we had it fully inserted, but as we started to back out of the campsite Donna noticed that some of the trailer lights weren't working.  We spent an hour trouble shooting it.

As always, people are willing to help.  Most assured us it was probably a blown fuse, and one gentleman gave us the 25 amp fuse we would probably need.  Problem became how to get to the second fuse box under the hood.  First, I was completely unaware of the second fuse box (primary fuse box is in the truck cab).  Sounds easy to do since most vehicles have their fuse box out in the open under the hood, and we've replaced fuses every now and then on our vehicles over the years.  Not our truck.  Our second fuse box is located under a vacuum regulator (or vacuum something) which must be removed to even get to the second fuse box.  Yep, sounds easy doesn't it.  It sure didn't look easy to me or anyone else that looked at it.  So with only one side of the signal lights working, no brake lights and no emergency flashers, we drove over to Stone Mountain, anyway, and continued to trouble shoot - including a full clean up of all the sockets and the "pigtail" - once we got set up.

We have a little tool that we can insert the trailer's "pigtail" into which turns on the trailer's running lights and emergency flashers.  It's primary use is for safety - to turn those lights on if you have to leave the trailer on the side of the road.  Plugging the "pigtail" into that tool didn't give us any emergency flashers, so I figured it was the trailer that had a problem.  A quick scan through the Suites Owners forum found instances of similar trailer light behavior, and the solutions ran the gambit from tow vehicle fuses to bad wiring in the umbilical cord/"pigtail".

So on the phone to a mobile RV tech we went who told us to get the truck checked out first.  A quick call to the local Ford service department got us in the service bay early the next morning (I wasn't dealing with that vacuum whatever that was installed above the fuse box).  But before I left, I asked the Suites Owners forum how to open & check the "pigtail" and it's wiring. Once at the service bay, I asked them to show me how to get to that second fuse box once they were done.  So on to the bay they went with the truck.  15 minutes later they called me back to the truck.  They had that vacuum whatever off and the fuse box open and a neat little 7-way tester with LED lights plugged into one of the trailer plug sockets on the truck (we have two locations to the plug the trailer into on the truck).  The tech had already replaced the fuse and was ready to teach me how to do what he did.  Turns out our vacuum whatever is easy to remove and re-install (no tools needed), but the tech noted that the installation above a fuse box was "unconventional".

So with the truck back in full working condition, it was back to the trailer.  By that time, members on the Suites Owners forum had posted how to check the wring on the trailer.  So once again out we went to check the wiring.  Tightened a few things and all looked fine.  So now it was time to plug the trailer back into the truck.  Crossed our fingers, plugged the "pigtail" in, and...it all worked!  What a relief!

Sooooo...why didn't we get emergency flashers with the "pigtail" plugged into our little safety tool?  Turns out that tool is trying to flash the turn signal lights, but our trailer is wired so that the brake lights flash as emergency flashers vice the turn signals.  As it's not designed to turn on the trailer's brake lights, nothing flashes.  Good to know.

So that's been our week.  I still think we may have a "pigtail" issue (bad plug), but we'll confirm that over time.  We now carry that 25 amp fuse the gentleman gave us in Charleston in the truck knowing we'll probably need to use it.  Oh, and we now have one of those 7-way tester with LED lights.   Neat little toy that thing is!  Later, David

Charleston, SC

Trees at the park near the battery.

We've further south near Charleston, SC this week.  We're here to visit the Slussers and to try to see a drier Charleston than we saw two years ago.

So far, so good.  We've had a great dinner out with the Slussers. I didn't recognize any of the kids - they're so much bigger!  Charleston is drier, but it took a day to find the over-sized vehicle lot at the visitors center.  We got a chance to walk from the visitors center down to the battery, back up to the wharf, and back to the visitors center.

Plantations are on the list to visit tomorrow.  We'll see what happens after that for the weekend.  On Monday, we'll begin our two day trip over to Stone Mountain, Ga.  At least that's the plan.  Later, David

Horses on the beach at Myrtle Beach, SC

Happy Halloween!

I know - I should have swept the pad before taking the picture.

Warmest Halloween we've had on the east coast in quite some time.  We here in Longs, SC at the Willow Tree RV Resort for the week & getting in some visiting time with Pete & Mary.  This is one of our many planned stops as we make a slow trip to Gulf State Park in Alabama for the winter.

Willow Tree is a really nice RV Resort.  But if your intention is to visit Myrtle Beach, you may want to consider other RV parks in the area that are closer in.  We're about 20 minutes away from North Myrtle Beach.  Willow Tree, itself, is nice with beach, swimming pool, paved roads, paved sites & patios, some sites with hot tubs, individual restrooms with showers, and some sites built to pull into so that your motor home's windshield faces the lake.

This photo is the main complex.   Hard to see behind the bridge, but there's a small dock for "non-fuel" powered boats (think electric trolling motor).  The path you see is a walk/bike path around the lake.  Depending on the route you take, it's almost a mile & a half around the place.

This picture gives you a better look at the RV sites that face the lake. Some back-in sites do exist.  There's no cable TV here, so view the park's map ahead of time & pick your site wisely if you plan to use your satellite antenna. (We got one of the last sites available - a handicapped site - & didn't.)  Local channels are pretty strong if you just want to use your over-the-air antenna.


Pete & Mary seem to be doing well.  They're volunteering at the local hospital two days a week and are thoroughly enjoying their life in South Carolina.  We'll go down later today and spend time with them plus watch the trick-or-treaters before heading back.  Oh, and we're getting a lot of dog time in, too, while there.

Next stop is Mt Pleasant, SC (just north of Charleston) for a week to visit Freeda and also visit the Slussers.  We're skipping the James Island County RV park because of the potential conflicts with our trailer's height and the low hanging limbs that decorated the roads in and around Charleston.

Anyway, that's the plan.  Later, David

High Point, NC

World's largest  set of Chester-drawers 

We're back in High Point, NC visiting Donna & Craig.  We're here for the weekend - trying to squeeze in a visit between Market Week and all the fall & Halloween festivals before heading further south.

We've had a great stay in Fredericksburg, VA.  We spent this past week making a run down to the BBQ Exchange in Gordonsville, VA on Saturday with Beth & Frank. Then it was a visit up to Alexandria, VA to visit Julio & Mike.  Then a last night out with Beth & Frank on Monday for dinner followed by a great visit from Buddy & Gaye (our church's co-pastors) for dinner Tuesday evening.  We missed seeing Frank's new truck.  Maybe we'll get lucky, and they'll send us a picture by email.

We slept in late Wednesday morning waiting for the showers to end.  Then moved down to the RV Resort at Carolina Cross Roads in Roanoke Rapids, NC to wait for a campsite to come available at Oak Hollow Family Campground in High Point.  High Point's Market Week packs the campground, so we're coming in just as people are leaving on the last day of Market Week.  As Oak Hollow is first-come, first-served, it can get a little "sporting", but we got a great spot.  We've had a great dinner & visit this evening with Donna & Craig.  And all I know is that more "girl" time is being planned.

Later, David

Section B of Oak Hollow Family Campground

Checking In from F'burg

...no longer closed

Just checking in from Fredericksburg.  Nothing really new to report. We're fine though either a bug or some bad food got to me.  Either that or I forgot I had a colonoscopy planned.

Donna still volunteering at the hospital and visiting friends (girl-time, I'm told).  Knitting seems to be going strong, too.  I think some new mittens are about done.

We got the truck and trailer detailed by Central Virginia Mobile Detailing over a couple of days this week.  Both clean and each got a new, slick coat of wax.  Boy, does the water bead up now. (Note that our ability to always plan to have our vehicles detailed in Fredericksburg by Central VA Mobile Detailing only to have it rain no matter what the weather channel prediction is, continues.  It's now about a decade long run.  Even the owner commented about how it always seems to rain when he cleans our vehicles.)  We're pleased with the results to say the least.

Our new, not-suppose-to-be-used-on 5th-wheel-trailers bicycle rack worked flawlessly.  Donna noted that even she can get the bicycles on & off the bike rack by herself.   And, without even trying, we actually positioned our roof-top satellite antenna in a slightly better spot on the campsite when we returned so that now we can get a few stations in HD.    But most surprising is that we got up before dawn, hitched in the dark (not recommended), took the trailer over to be detailed, and returned by early afternoon.  By the time we're set back up, it feels like we never left - sort of our theme for this year's visit to Fredericksburg.

New for the Fredericksburg/Washington DC South KOA is the upgraded, pull-thru site.  Apparently, to meet a new definition for an "upscale" KOA, they have to have at least one large pull-thru with paved area, gas BBQ grill, upgraded outdoor furniture (vice the standard wooden picnic table), etc.  It's not done, yet.  But when the chosen site became empty, down came the trees, excavation started, and today they started laying the brick pavers.  Be a nice site when it's done.

So that's it from here.  I know.  We're boring.  Later, David

It's as if we never left...continued

before

after

Continuing with our "The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same" theme:  

We've really enjoyed our stay this past week, and continue to compare how things have changed since retiring. But before I bore you with that:  We've gotten out to our home church.  We got to see our home church's service live vice a corner on our laptop screen.  (Hey, there really is full size people up on that stage!)  We've had dinner with Paul & Tricia.  Donna 's gotten to go nuts helping Terry with presentations at the hospital.  She's also gotten in a lot of "girl time" and some knitting classes.  Donna's travel time up to Baltimore, MD to visit Coco was measured in several hours vice the way too optimistic 92 minutes predicted by the Garmin.  And a new memory-foam mattress is on it's way.

We've gotten our Doc appointments done.  Since we do our doc appointments one after the other, it always helps to get our story straight before we go in to see the Docs.  I think we were successful this time.  Dr Church even let us in the same exam room at the same time.  Brave soul that Dr Church.

Really liking our new bicycle rack.  Unfortunately, we continue to buy things that, apparently, aren't suppose to be used on an RV.  Lippert Components Inc's Level-up system, Swagman bicycle racks, Yakima bicycle racks, etc.  We're gonna use the new Yakima bike rack, anyway.  Until it breaks.   (Actually, I understand the issue.  I'm just a little surprised that it's OK on the back of a Ford F450 pickup, but not on the back of a 5th wheel trailer that has an air-ride suspension.)  Along the same line, we're going to swap our 40 lb propane tanks to 30 lb propane tanks over the winter after we arrive in Gulf Shores.   The 40 pounders are just gettin' too heavy to carry around and lifting to install on the trailer when full.  I love the endurance, but man are those things heavy when full!

What else...road work on Route 3 appears to be done.  Nice job there.  Now Route 17 is a disaster.  I guess that's the "no pain, no gain" cliche' rule there.  At least they're tearing down the eyesores - which means we're now missing some landmarks.  We've lost our "situation awareness" a couple of times because of this.  They've moved the Navy Federal Credit Union branch.  Nice, nice job with the new branch, NFCU!

Anyway, we've noted as we cross the country that non-east coast people perceive the east coast folks as a little "weird".  I've decided the problem with east coast people is the time zone they live in.  East coast time zone stinks.  Where else will people stay up past midnight to watch their favorite TV show or sports game and then get up at 4:00 AM and ride a train an hour and a half to work.  No wonder things don't get done over here.  Their brains are mush.  It's the only reason I can come up with for the National Park Service trying to block pull-offs with orange cones on public-funded highways.  I mean, it just takes an idiot...  

And, yes, we're missing our corvette.  Later, David

It's as if we never left...

Fire and breakfast by Mathew

We had a great stay at Big Meadows this past weekend.  Some eleven people made it up to visit.  It was a cold, cloudy weekend, but having all your friends around kept you warm.  Hopefully, everyone enjoyed the sunshine on their way back home on Sunday.

On Monday, we made our way down the Skyline Drive to Fredericksburg.  Since being here, we've gotten our physicals & Donna's gotten her hair cut. She's back volunteering at the hospital and found a Curves.

The truck's gotten it's 100,000 mile service and a new, lower-profile tonneau cover to help offset the loss of bed rail clearance from adding the MOR/ryde hitch pin to the trailer. (Trailer still rides a little "nose" high.)  We've had a couple of dinners with Beth & Frank.  And Dona's got her weekend booked.  Verizon Wireless still poor at the Fredericksburg, VA KOA and the KOA's Tengo internet is as unreliable as ever. It's as if we never left...

David

Big Meadows - Shenandoah National Park

We're back in some of our old stomping grounds.  We've got a nice spot at the campground.  I just don't remember the hills being so hard to walk up!

Pictures are from our walk down the Lewis Falls Trail and back up the Appalachian Trail back to the Big Meadows complex.  Gorgeous day here.  Long sleeve weather.

As some may be aware, it seemed like the trailer started falling apart since crossing the Mississippi River.  Small, annoying stuff.  Well that stopped.  But then Donna and I started falling apart.  I had a filing finally crack apart which made for an early morning visit to a dentist.  Then Donna got her traditional "bug in the ear"...or what she calls the "free Willy exercise" while walking back to the trailer from the wayside.  Since it was late in the day, that all resulted in a trip to an ER to

"free Willy".   And you'd think finding an ER would be easy.

We've got GPS.  We've got a smart phone with tons of apps to find things.  And they've got those blue "H" signs along the highway to find hospitals.  Well, it's not.  GPS useless in trying to find a hospital.  Smart phone can't even get you to a hospital.  And those little blue "H" signs - total joke, too.  They sent us to closed surgi-centers.  We had to do it the old fashion way.  When I finally gave up, Donna asked  

somebody.  When we got there, the roads weren't on the GPS or on the Google Maps app.  I'm guessing that if it was a real emergency, you'd call 911 and get an ambulance there - assuming the ambulance knows where the ER is.  All this money for all this electronics and it's a total joke.  In hindsight, maybe I should have called NSA.  They're suppose to know everything, anyway.

But we survived.  Donna's got drops to help heal the inflammation.  I can chew on both sides of my mouth now.  So lets go walking.  Later, David

Moving Day

Once, again, I forgot to update the blog and watched football instead.  Yesterday was moving day for us as we traveled from Shipshewana, IN to Streetsboro, OH.

Pictures here are some of the quilt gardens from the Heritage Trail.  Last pic is of our new furniture.  Chairs are smaller and allow for the

end-table/drawers.  Chair on the left is a platform rocker while the chair on the right is a wall-hugging recliner.  So far, so good, but we're having a little trouble keeping the drawers shut while traveling.  Probably turn the piece around, put a pillow between it and the wall and put it up against the wall next time we move.  Or duck tape.

So that's last week's news.  Currently, we're in Streetsboro, OH. Came here to see more of and bike ride the Cuyahoga Valley Nat'l Park.

That may or may not work out as a cold front is coming through, and it's predicted we'll have rain most of the weekend.  We've found out David & Sharon Phillips are nearby, so we'll try to touch base with them.  That's the plan, anyway.

We continue to travel and break stuff.  Trips have not been kind to us since crossing the Mississippi River.  It seems we either lost something off the trailer or something breaks each day we travel.  There's at least three RV forums with active, heated discussions on the poor quality of RV craftsmanship.  Thankfully, we seem to have the least amount of problems.  But it's annoying to have something break or stop working each day you travel.  I blame it all on Bill Gates.  We made the dude a billionaire while he sold us stuff that didn't work. Now everyone thinks that's a successful business plan.  And the RV industry is right there with them.  According to new friends we made at Mitchell, SD, it's the same way with farm equipment.  But let's be truthful.  I break a lot of stuff on my own.  I don't need help from a RV manufacturer.

So that's it from here.  Later, David

Checkin' In

It's not everyday we follow an Amish buggy through the automated teller lane.

We're fine.  Trailer service is done.  We're now awaiting our new furniture (due the 18th).  Our days are now spent riding the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail, relearning math via Khan Academy, cleaning trailer, washing truck, walking into town to eat a large hot, fresh-out-of-the-oven pretzel, trying out new restaurants, tracking down some hard-to-fine spare parts for the trailer to help expedite future repairs on the road...and watching football.  Oh, and planning our upcoming visit to Virginia.

Weather here in Shipshewana is getting cooler.  The heat wave broke earlier this week.  A few thunderstorms came by Wednesday evening and settle some of the dust, but didn't do much for real watering of the land.  Lows overnight now reach into the high 30s. Gettin' comfortable temperature wise around here, now.  

Anyway, that's it for now.  We'll keep dodging the horse poop.  David

Shipshewana, IN

We've settled in at Shipshewana and gotten our trailer's pin box replaced. Next up is our appointment at Indiana Interstate Enterprise (Paul & Kay Cross) to have the trailer serviced (Monday).  Oh, and we're awaiting the Bahnmiller's arrival in a little while.  They'll be here a couple of days before continuing south.

This year we've managed to arrive during the Labor Day Auction & Flea Market. Apparently, everyone comes here and lives for this.  RV park was packed, but a lot of people left this morning.  Interesting traffic when you mix in city slickers, RVers, Amish carriages, and bicyclists.  Makes for interesting 4-way stops (though most

get it right.)  And the Amish aren't immune to pulling out in front of each other, either.

New for us on this year's visit: Pumpkinvine Nature Trail (bicycle path).  At left is one of the parking & rest areas along the trail.  We're

fortunate in that we can get to the path from the RV park.  All of the pictures here are taken at this stop (mile post 11).  It's about 6 miles from the trailer to this point.  I stop here, while Donna continues on a mile or two before turning around.  So, for those of you wondering what Shipshewana looks like, this is it.  You're in the heart of Amish country.  I can see why "outsiders" come here to live.   And the only difference from previous visits?  It's dry here this year.  Kinda ironic that South Dakota was the greenist we'd ever seen it, and this is the driest we've seen Indiana.  Usually, it's the other way around.

So that's it for this week.  Next week is trailer service week, and we get our new furniture the following week.  That's the plan, anyway.  More later, David

Ludington, MI

Ludington Lighthouse

We've had  a nice stay here in Ludington.  We chose this place as it's relatively close to the Taylor's "cottage" just in case some Taylors stayed over.  Turns out that didn't happen, but Donna did find a Curves (gym) nearby and a House of Flavors was just close enough that it was convenient to go visit while just far enough away that we weren't there every hour eating ice cream.  We stayed at the Good Sam 10/10/10 rated Vacation Station RV park.  Really nice park with wide, concrete sites.  Ours was wide & long enough that the both truck and trailer fit on our site.

This was also a good spot to put the trailer while we took a short trip to Shipshewana for an over night at the Peaceful Acres Bed & Breakfast, and a trip to Lambrights Comfort Chairs to order new furniture.  We're replacing our two leather rocker-recliners with a narrower wall-hugging cloth recliner and a narrower cloth rocker-recliner that allows for a night stand between the two chairs.  These pieces are similar to the ones we saw in the campground in Mitchell, SD.  Donna took her knitting along to ensure everything worked as planned.  I think it's a good change for us as it'll result in more usable space in the trailer.  Furniture due September 18th

We also took the time to set up an appointment at MOR/ryde to swap out our 5th Airborne pin box for MOR/ryde's rubber pin box on August 30th.  This should give us some relief with the chucking under braking that we're experiencing.  It won't all go away, but we were real happy with the Demco pin box on our Excel 5th wheel.  The MOR/ryde rubber pin box is a similar solution (though different engineering design) as the Demco, so the thinking is that it'll help solve some our chucking problem as the Demco pin box did.  Background:  Some people on the Ford forums are noting that the 2008-2010 F450s are experiencing chucking that isn't being experienced on the other Ford trucks when towing the same trailer.   The issue has popped back up as  people are beginning to buy used F450s and experience a pretty rough ride while towing 5th wheel trailers.   We had a pretty rough time with that chucking coming up US 31 going to Manistee, and that spurred us to go ahead and change out our pin box.  Only time will tell if it is worth the money and effort.  

Well, if all goes as planned we'll move to Shipshewana, IN tomorrow.  Trailer service is scheduled for the week of September 9th in LaGrange, IN.  Then we'll hangout for the new furniture.  At least that's the plan.  Later, David

Ludington Lighthouse and harbor entrance

M&M IV @ Manistee, MI

Scottsville Clown Band

photo courtesy of Greg Bahnmiller

We've had a great time here in Manistee visiting with friends from the NuWa Owners forum.  Several of these folks winter - just as we do - in/around Gulf Shores, AL.  So we'll see many of them, again, in a few months.  Most have roots here in Michigan though the auto tags will run from Michigan, Texas, and South Dakota.  In Alabama, I believe these people are technically known as "Michibamians".  At least that's the t-shirt.

photo courtesy of Greg Bahnmiller

Highlights of the week are food and good conversation.  However, this group does get out and about.  They held a mini-golf tournament (Donna and I lost), and we went to see the Scottville, MI Clown Band.  Photos here are of the clown band - a volunteer group of men and women who get together to have fun playing music.  And they do a super job playing all types of music genre.

We also got in a short visit with Gordy Mark, Ken, Kendra, Sven, and Taylor at Ludington, MI plus taking a short walk to the lighthouse (a Taylor family tradition) and lunch at House of Flavors.  It was great to see everyone, but the visit was way too short.  And sorry, no pictures.  I've had a bad run of battery management lately, and it continued today.

Tomorrow we move to Ludington, MI for a few days before traveling on down to Shipshewana, IN to await our turn for trailer service. At least that's the plan..until it changes.  Later, David