Last week near the 'Burg

We're rounding out our doc appointments for this year.  We each have two new capped teeth.  First time for me to have 3-D printed caps.  So that was a new experience - having caps made while you wait.  We've gotten the truck detailed.  That ensured a 100% chance of rain within a day - which it did. Otherwise, it's me walking the campground while Donna goes swimming & visiting.

Pictures here are of Elizabeth's (Donna's niece) and Donna's handiwork over the weekend at Elizabeth's house.  Donna traveled up for some "bonding" and home improvement.  Looks like they did a great job sealing the repaired deck/porch.  It seems Elizabeth is a pretty good DIYer.  Donna came back pretty impressed with her work.

So that's what we've been doing.  Current plans are to move to High Point, NC next week before traveling further south to Stone Mtn, GA, B'ham, AL, & Gulf Shores, AL.  As always, that's the plan.  David

Third Week - Still near the 'burg

We've slowly checked off doc visits and follow-up.  Still one to go.  Been visiting friends and eating too much.  Doc said I could stop losing weight.  Didn't think docs would ever say that, but I pretty sure that's what he said.  Even the Wii has mentioned it.  We'll see if that still holds true after this week!

Post office found our absentee ballots.  We believe they're back in the area, but need to confirm.  One of our banks has been sending us email after email telling us to activate a new card.  I'm thinking it's probably done more traveling with our absentee ballots that we did for a whole year as full-time RVers.  They can always send a new one.

New computer...well not a lot has changed.  USB 3.0 slots that are suppose to be backwards compatible to USB 2.0 devices may...or may not... be backwards compatible.  Apparently, our printer isn't.  The Logitech mouse is.  The new machine is (according to all labels and information available) a 64-bit Windows 10 machine.  Some software (32-bit software - Microsoft Office 2010) that you'd expect to be incompatible with 64-bit machines seem to work fine. Tried on a dare just to see if Office 2010 would work when the Microsoft Office 2016 download page would only send a 32-bit version.  So far, so good.  Had to update to Quicken 2017 to get quicken to work.  That seems to be working quite well as of an hour ago.  Windows 10 still wants to update when I have the poorest internet connect possible and still be considered connected to the internet.  So some things never change!

Anyway, Donna's off to visit Elizabeth for the weekend.  Hope they have a good time painting and "bonding".  I'll hang out at the campground & fuss with the computer.  Until next week, David

Weekly Update

Our first week back in the 'burg has been busy with doc appointments.  It seems like we've been on the move the whole time.  We've been pronounced "healthy", but teeth need work. We're working on fillings that have been done twice. Apparently, caps are next for those old fillings.  Still a few more doc visits to make.

Post office still doesn't know where our absentee ballots are.  No joke:  USPS tracking says they're being returned to South Dakota.  They've had plenty of time to make it back.  So just where are they in that journey?  

Geek squad got my 7-month old laptop computer working, but only when it's plugged into power.  New one on order.  We're done with Toshibas.

Cell phone seems to be returning to "normal" - whatever "normal" is for a "smartphone".

Trailer about 1/3rd washed/waxed.    Truck washed.  Still need to set up an appointment to get it detailed before we leave.

So that's where we're at.  Looks like a good weekend for us.  Hope you have one, too.  David

Back in Fredericksburg, VA

We're in Fredericksburg, VA now, but wanted to post some pictures we got along Skyline Drive on Thursday before Hurricane Matthew passed by.  Gorgeous day.  We took a second longer hike around Stony Man Mt and met a really nice couple from Israel along the way.

Whenever we have the trailer serviced and we're able to get all the appliances

working, we're always looking over our shoulder waiting for that first one to break  We got to Thursday - 8 days.  Our record?  2 weeks.  I always take this opportunity to point out to people shopping for RVs that the RV industry's core value is to build a pretty, visually appealing RV that makes you want to buy it.  Quality, durability, reliability do not exist.

If you were to take a manufacturing tour of a RV manufacturer, you would be dismayed and depressed.  Pride of workmanship does not exist in the RV industry's manufacturing process.  Buy an RV at your own risk.  There are organizations looking out for the RV manufacturer, dealer network, and campgrounds/RV parks.  There are no organizations looking out for you.

Lemon laws have been rescinded.  Warranties are hit n' miss.  Donna & I have not experienced a good warranty situation since we retired.  I'm told there are good ones out there, but we haven't found them.  What we have experienced are expensive pieces of paper.

On Thursday morning we lost our over-the-air antenna.  Our current antenna is our second one on this trailer.  They're no longer made.  We had planned to replace the antenna with a newer one, but was talked out of it by the service center due to numerous problems with the newer, replacement antenna.  So we have one dead appliance with no viable replacement.  Typical RV industry result.

Mid-afternoon Thursday my cell phone died while trying to check emails at Big Meadows Lodge.  We've since ran it through a safe mode and uploaded all app updates.  It seems to be working fine now, but the battery life appears to have been cut in half. That may be due to our location here at the KOA.  We'll just have to wait & see.  I'll take this opportunity to remind everyone that I'm part of the generation that made Bill Gates a billionaire by buying his software that didn't work.  For everyone that comes after me, I do regret that it now appears that's the business model everyone is trying to emulate.  I'm truly sorry that we created this situation for you.

Thursday evening, our generator died.  The generator has been a workhorse for us for 8 years and provided for many pleasant visits to the Big Meadows Campground in Shenandoah NP.  I'm only upset that it picked an extremely inconvenient time to break down.  We were extremely low on battery power, and I was counting on that generator to give us the power we needed to pull the slides in on Friday morning, raise the leveling legs, and hitch to the truck.  We decided to completely shut down everything on the trailer, move food that we would use to an ice chest, and keep a couple of buckets of water available in the shower to flush the toilet.  We woke up Friday morning, turned on the batteries and found we had 11.5v of power.  We plugged the trailer into the truck.  When the voltage climbed to 11.7v, we got the trailer ready for travel and put it on the truck.  As Donna says, it all moved real slow, but it moved.  Once on the truck and trailer ready for travel, we turned the frig back on and left. We never shut the truck off until we were in our campsite at the KOA.   Everything worked well.  We had ice by the time we got to Fredericksburg, VA.  We didn't lose any food.  We'll work with the manufacturer, set up appointments, and get the generator taken care of the next time we're in Elkhart.

For us, Hurricane Matthew has come and gone.  We had a lot of rain.  Today is sunny and windy.  Donna's out picking apples.  I'm listening to football and on the computer complaining about RV manufacturers.

Next problem up for us is Spotsylvania Post Office playing hide & seek with our absentee ballots.

We moved to Fredericksburg, VA in May of 1996.  It took a week for me to determine that Fredericksburg, VA post offices are the worst post offices in the country.  By our retirement in 2010, they were still the worst post offices in the US.  We've traveled coast-to-coast and border-to border in the last 6 years.  Fredericksburg Post Offices are still the worst post offices in the lower 48 states.  Apparently, it has now spread to Spotsylvania Post Offices as well.  Our pastor preached this morning on storms that pass through our lives, why they come, and how to solve/survive them.  When it comes to the local post offices in this area, I wish I could be the storm.  They're affecting Donna and my right to vote in the upcoming national elections.  As much as I hate the ACLU, it may be time to give them a call this week and see if they can provide any pressure to help us get our absentee ballots.

Later, David

Stony Man & Skyland Lodge, Shenandoah NP

Rain finally broke on Sunday and made a nice day for our we drive down to Big Meadows campground on Monday.  We have a better feel for how the batteries will handle the residential refrigerator (via inverter), so we're able to stay on top of things this visit.

Tuesday was a beautiful day out.  So off we went to Stony Man for a hike and

lunch at Skyland Lodge.  We were surprised to find that the park was updating the walkways around Skyland Lodge.  As you can see from the pictures, the walkway is rough and contains various paw and foot prints.  Just a really nice job on the paved path.  Bet it looks great when the landscaping is finished.  We've placed all the pictures we took of the paw & foot prints to give you a feel for what it looks like.

Bottom picture is of the mobile visitor center (van) parked at Byrd Visitor Center.  The stuffed fox caught our eye and it was perfectly placed to make you think a live fox was in the van.  Guess you just have to keep an eye out for wildlife everywhere!

We leave for Fredericksburg, VA Friday.  Then, like everyone else, we'll see what Hurricane Matthew is doing for the weekend.

Thanks for dropping by. David

Cuyahoga Valley Nat'l Park

We spent Friday & Saturday at the KOA in Streetsboro, OH.  The rain broke enough on Saturday for us to take a visit to Cuyahoga Valley NP.  This park is very similar to the C&O Canal.  It follows the Cuyahoga River and the canals built for transportation.  The tow path is now a walk/bicycle trail.  Some of the canal still remains with stagnant water.  Some old locks can still be seen, too.

We walked some of the old tow path between Boston and Peninsula (both Ohio).  Maybe 4 or 5 miles.  As you can see, the Cuyahoga River is somewhat muddy from the rains.  Trail could be muddy in places and some ponding at times.  Nice just to be out with being rained on, though.