Hoover, AL

Shades Creek Greenway

We're here celebrating my Dad's 90th birthday.  We got in late Monday evening and planned to stay the week before moving over near Stone Mountain, GA.  Had a good, long trip down.  We think Dad's had a great birthday.  My step sister gave a great birthday dinner for him.  He got some nice gifts, too.  He appreciates all the "Happy Birthdays" we past along, as well.

When not visiting we've been walking some of the bicycle/walking trails in the area.  We've walked the Hillsboro Heritage trail twice (near Helena) and the Shades Creek Greenway once (Near Samford University).  Both are nice - just not that long in length.

So that's it for this week.  Thanks for dropping by.  Later, David

F'burg VA Week 2

VCR entrance at Essex St

Just checking in.  We're fine.  Trailer's assembled and at Bremen, IN for painting.  Once we know when it's actually in preparation for paint, we can make some plans...that we'll have to probably change, too.

Pictures here are of the Virginia Central Railway (VCR) trail.  We've seen parts of it from the US 1 By-Pass in previous visits and had read comments about it on Facebook.  This week we decided to try to find it.  We started from the Old Mill Park and walked through town to the Battlefield Visitor Center.  From there we just started going down streets until we found it.  Turns out it runs southwest from Essex St along Lafayette Blvd in Fredericksburg, across the Blue and Gray Parkway, past Alum Springs Park, across the US 1 By-Pass, and past the Fredericksburg Christian School before ending.  It's slightly longer than 2.6 miles and follows the old railroad bed that runs from Fredericksburg toward Culpeper, VA.

So that was our great adventure this week.  Otherwise, Donna keeps visiting, still has doc appointments to keep, and we're hanging out waiting for our trailer to be finished.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.    David

Fredericksburg, VA

We've decided to maintain as much of our plans as we can while our trailer is being repaired.  The picture to the right and the next one down show the extent of the cracks.  The bottom is of the replacement cross member that was completed Wednesday.  Apparently, Lippert did much more than just come out and look.  The front & bottom caps need to be reattached and may be done by tomorrow.  We're thinking it may go to paint early next week...or it may not.  Your guess as good as anyone else's.

In the mean time we're here visiting and getting some doc appointments out of the way.  We've canceled all reservations except our Dec 1st reservation at Gulf State Park.  Probably be late, but too early to give up on arriving on Dec 1st.  We're carrying our crock pot and both summer & winter wardrobes with us (two large totes from Wally World) and all my automotive cleaning gear.  Nothing starts a conversation like me washing & waxing our truck in a hotel parking lot without using a water hose.  Donna's crock pot recipes also gets us some nice notes from housekeeping on just how wonderful whatever-Donna's-making smells, too.

We're missing our trailer, but we know it needs to be repaired correctly.  We're thankful that a Lippert tech finally agreed with us that the trailer flexed too much and started to investigate.  I've always joked on the Suites Owners forum that we didn't need to worry

about the height of our trailer as it'd just see the low clearance and just bend down on it's own to get below the obstruction.  May have been more truth to that than I care to admit!  And then there's that one fleeting idea that keeps popping up:  will the trailer still be traveling level after the repair?  My guess is that we'll be a little nose high with more clearance over the tailgate of the truck.  But I've guessed wrong on that before, too.  We'll see.  Oh, and is this going to change our hitch and axle weights?  Inquisitive minds want to know!

One thing we've noticed: this adventure has given us a chance to use the truck as a car and take full advantage of all the bells and whistles currently available as automotive manufacturers begin to introduce electronics for autonomous driving.  Many of you are already use to having these new gadgets in your vehicles, but it's new to us.  You'd think we'd be using all this stuff while towing, but some of the electronics aren't available with the trailer attached (for example, blind spot warnings are automatically turn off when our trailer is attached).  And you're not suppose to use adaptive cruise control when you have a trailer attached.  (You set it for "normal" or what I call "traditional" cruise control.)  Also, the settings for the exhaust brake are different when traveling light vs. carrying a load in the pickup bed or towing a trailer.  We find there's less stress when you're not towing, too.  People do some real stupid things around people towing trailers.  OK, make that people do some real stupid things - period - but the consequences are significantly less without an additional 39 ft and 18,500 lbs behind you.  Let's just say Donna really, really likes her truck. 

So, we're in Fredericksburg for the time being.  We think we're fine.  Appreciate you stopping by and checking up on us.  It's all part of the adventure!  David

Stuck in Indiana

Modern Amish house

Sometimes you live the dream; sometimes you live the nightmare.  My best guess is that we're currently in the best outcome of what could have been a real nightmare.   Since 2011 I have complained on various forums and to DRV directly that our trailer flexes much, much more than it should.  Some six years later we find out why. 

Original plans were to be in Virginia at this time with our trailer setting back in Bremen, IN being repainted.  Reality is that we're stuck in Indiana with a trailer that's unsafe to move due to two major cracks in the front frame cross member that holds the hitch pin in place.  An issue with the frame welds was found while the hydraulic leak was being repaired.  When people went in to fix the welds, they found the cracked frame.  (Hydraulic leak fixed, by-the-way.)  As of now there's no plan in place on when or where it will be repaired (temporary fixes would be made to make it somewhat safe for travel if it were decided to move it for repairs). 

So we're stuck until Lippert decides what's the best way to proceed.  The trailer could be repaired tomorrow (um...sure), or next week.  Your guess is probably as good as anyone else's.  In the meantime, we're traveling from hotel to hotel - as rooms become available - waiting to be told what will be done & when.  Otherwise, we're fine, and the trailer's in a safe spot at Cross RV in Lagrange, IN under a very watchful eye.

So that's our week.  How's yours?  David