tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83658362109873074142024-02-18T19:46:52.809-06:00Joe's JourneysJoe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-2458517892214694552014-08-27T22:57:00.001-05:002014-08-27T22:57:57.508-05:00Southern OregonWe currently find ourselves in Boise, ID at Hi Valley RV Park. It was a beautiful drive over although kind of hot. The last few months I've noticed that my dash air had not been as cool as it used to be. Running around in 60 - 70 degree temps for 2 hours at the most it is not a problem. Today running for 5 hours in 80 + temps it was warm to say the least. To top that my front AC is giving me problems popping the inside breakers. We're here for a week so I guess I'll have to see about those problems.<br />
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To continue on with the migration, we travelled to Smith River, CA a small little town We stayed at a park right at the mouth of the Smith River. <br />
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We drove up and down the coast and pretty it was. Lots of pictures, but we knew there were many more sites to see.</div>
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We went on up to the Cape Blanco RV Park in Port Orford, OR. Nice small park, but they made every effort to accommodate our size rig. There were about 5-6 sites that would do but mostly made up semi permanents. We did the normal sites again on the water.<br />
Cape Blanco Lighthouse We were there on a clear day, but when we went back it was foggy.<br />
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We drove up to Bandon, OR and found it to be a quaint little town that if we go back we may elect to stay there. Coquille Point is just below town and has nice views for several miles down the coast.<br />
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We traveled 100 to 150 miles at a time and then go up and down the coast to see all the sights. We were amazed at the beauty everywhere. Cool days clear (when the fog would burn off) and sights to see. It doesn't get much better. We couldn't wait to get up the coast, but we didn't really want to pass anything up. We would just watch the tourist come in and leave the next day or two. We were real happy that we no longer had to travel that way.<br />
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The next post will be of Winchester Bay which I believe is our favorite place.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-79184937664930800812014-08-12T17:18:00.000-05:002014-08-12T17:18:39.938-05:00The Northly MigrationWe have finished our migration north almost feeling like the whales that move up and down the coast. <br />
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After leaving the National Parks we headed to Travis AFB, just out of San Francisco. It was amazing the temperature change from the coast to just 30 miles inland. On the day we went into the city, it was 58 on the north side of the Golden Gate and 102 in Fairfield just about 30 miles as the crow flies.<br />
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Well hallelujah we have pictures back.<br />
While in SF we did all the usual sites; Coit Tower - closed and we could only look up. Expected Clint Eastwood to be around. :), Fisherman's Wharf - Lots of people and not many places to park but a nice place to have lunch.; Drive through town - not many yards in any of the areas we went by. All the houses share walls in almost all areas of town. Went by several city parks and all were full of people doing all kinds of things, they just have no where else to go (no yards). We did go to Lombard Street which is the most crooked street in America to see the mass confusion going on there. We walked there from the Fisherman's Wharf area and wow, those are some good hills. (I looked for Steve McQueen (Bullet) to come whizzing by) We also drove down Lombard Street just to say we were there. :)<br />
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After SF we headed up the long awaited Highway 101 for the start of our northerly migration. <br />
The first stop was Fortuna, CA. It was a nice park just off the highway. We road up to several sights in the area. The first was a ride to the beach at Samoa where we found a tourist in his "dune buggy". He needed assistance in the worst way. Luckily I had my strap to pull him out of the sand.<br />
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We then rode up the coast to Prairie Creek Redwood State Park. There was a nice 7 or 8 mile road through the Big Redwoods.<br />
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A funny story was when we were driving back down the road and saw a sign with an arrow that said "Big Tree". We stopped and there were some big trees in the direction of the arrow. There was also a little footpath leading through the ferns (which were chest high). I traipsed off looking for the big tree. There were several all around and I couldn't consider one any bigger than the other so I took pictures of all of them.<br />
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We got back in the truck and drove about 75 yards and there was the parking lot for the "Big Tree". The joke was on me. :)</div>
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It was a beautiful area, but there was more to see. :)</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-65706218198215837592014-07-01T18:16:00.002-05:002014-07-01T18:16:55.501-05:00Utah and BeyondWhile in Bluff, UT, which isn't much, we were right in the middle of several scenic areas that we felt as a must see. Gooseneck State Park, Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, and other areas are fairly significant in their views. None of the pictures I took can come close to the vast scope of the view presented around every turn.<br />
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Gooseneck State Park is one of those that has a view in each direction. Everyone that post on their blogs post this a picture like this. Ugh it won't post. I've worked 5 or 6 times trying to upload pictures and they just sit there and spin. But believe me it is pretty. :)<br />
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We would go out most every day in one direction or another and see some amazing scenery. I took a picture about where Forest Gump turned around after doing all of his running, and went home. My pic doesn't quite look like theirs because traffic wasn't stopped and I didn't want to get run over.<br />
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After Bluff, we headed toward Las Vegas through Williams, AZ. While there we rested up and stocked up on groceries. The drive to Vegas wasn't to long and very scenic. We made it through Vegas (not the strip) to Nellis AFB. That is the nicest biggest sites on a military base we have seen. It was a huge site on a circle. The drive to the Strip wasn't to far (about 10 mi maybe) and we did that twice. The first was a mid day trip and while nice was just plain hot. The second time was late afternoon and we stayed until well after dark. It is something to see all lit up. No gambling was done although we did eat fairly well. We didn't leave anything in Vegas, so I guess we did nothing bad. :) There are some weird people there though.<br />
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We left Vegas and headed to Yosemite by way of Bakersfield, CA. The overnight selection there was a nice campground with paved streets and hard sites. It was a little more than I like for an overnight, but it had a restaurant with discounts. That was a convenient item and we used it that evening and the next morning.<br />
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Leaving Bakersfield we used Hwy 99 and ran straight up to Fresno and took 41 out to Coarsegold. It is about 20 miles out of Yosemite. There we had selected the Escapees park, Park of the Sierras. It is a Coop park where all the sites are owned and you can place your site into the rental pool when not occupied. It had huge sites nestled on the side of rolling hills. Not your usual RV Park, but kind of like a resort where the buildings are arranged according to what the land will provide for access. And for $20.00 a night a bargain compared to the other campgrounds in the area.<br />
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While here we went to Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks. We would go out about 9 AM and get back each day about 6 to 8 PM and would drive about 200 miles. That is a lot when you doing about 30 -40 mph and turning left or right and going up or down. :( It made for one tired puppy when the day was over. Some days we would go out and others we wouldn't. Out of the three parks their is only one road that goes to the other side of the mountain range (Tioga Rd) we drove it and on the other side of Yosemite there was snow left and the lake was frozen and just breaking up. That is where we stopped and ate our lunch, beautiful. The usual sites were beautiful, but when we went up to Glacier Point late in the afternoon, that was really something. There all the sites were in their splendor and just out in front of you. Half dome was striking with the afternoon sun on it.<br />
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We also went in on a Saturday when we first arrived, but didn't go very far and realized there were to many people and left. But before we did we went to the Mariposa Grove to see the big trees. We were not disappointed. They were everywhere and so were the people. We saw the ones we wanted to see (trees) and left. You can do this when not on a schedule. :)<br />
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Coming out of the park we turned on this scenic byway that looked (on the map) like it might be good. Five hours later we got back to the Park tired and hungry. It did all right at first then it turned into what I would say were logging roads. I've been on some of them that were in better shape. We made wrong turns on not well marked roads, etc. We finally found our way through to where I kind of knew where we were and there was a little snow left on the ground where the sun couldn't hit. Carolyn was very happy about that.<br />
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We made day trips to both Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks mainly to see the big trees and were not disappointed. They were all over the place in the areas where they had been preserved. <br />
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Logging in the 1890's threatened all of the big Sequoia's. The wood wasn't good for much and was being used for toothpicks and pencils. The move by Roosevelt to make National Parks and Monuments saved a vast amount of natural environment all across this beautiful land of ours. While I'm not a tree hugger, man would have truly destroyed it forever. Just go to any park or public land and see the carvings and graffiti left behind by mostly kids thinking it would be cool. No respect for themselves or anyone else. My political statement is over.<br />
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Our drive across the country to get to Yosemite and see that has been marked by some beautiful sights and I can only imagine what is around the next hill or curve. <br />
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Everyday and I do mean everyday we give thanks to God for where we are in our lives and are very thankful for being here.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-78739737461690176932014-05-07T20:58:00.001-05:002014-05-07T20:58:04.835-05:00Time Marches On And So Do We<br />
When last we spoke, we were headed after our doctor visits to Guntersville to visit family and await arrival of our tires to Red Bay. It took a little longer with the doctors, but gone we are. <br />
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We have a friend that call the Ga Mtn RV Resort in Guntersville home. He has lived there for 7 years. About 3 years ago he traded his older (no slide) MH in on an Allegro Bus. It was delivered to his site and they picked his older one up and drove back the next day. Note, he has never driven this MH. I've suggested to him that he needed to go to Red Bay (Tiffin Meca) and check on the recall items. He may need them repaired. <br />
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He was hot to trot upon my arrival. I was going to spend 2 weeks there, but since he was so adamant about going, I shortened my stay and took him over to show him the situation and introduce him to the system. We got there on a Friday about lunch and all was full with 15 units sitting in overflow (boondocking). We hustled down to the Self Service Park and got 2 recently vacated sites. We were set. Two weeks later we both had our issues completed and were on our way.<br />
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We got a call reference Carolyn's mom about her breaking her leg. We headed straight to B'ham to see about that issue. Carolyn went ahead so she could go to the hospital and I followed to the Hoover RV Park. That is about what we call our home park. We got that issue taken care of and were prepared to leave the area.<br />
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On the last day (Friday) out of Red Bay I got a new switch installed to my DS MCD shade. Short story it didn't work. We left, partly because of weather coming in, on Sunday and made it all the way to Shreveport, LA. We weren't doing anything but spending the night so I looked for a truck stop or rest area to pull into. Tried Walmart, but couldn't even get into the parking lot. Found a truck stop with a paved area out back that didn't have but 3 trucks in it. That was our park.<br />
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When we tried to get set up the air supplied step cover would not retract. When the switch was activated I could hear air leaking. I got out and checked where it was coming from. It was from a part labeled the, air step solenoid, a call the next morning found that was what it was and no RV service facility in the area had one to fix it. I called Tiffin back and ordered the part to be sent to Carolyn's aunt in Tucson. It was difficult, especially for Carolyn, to climb up or down from the coach with the step cover closed.<br />
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The next call was to MCD to see if I could get the open time on Tuesday they had for my simple fix. I explained the whole situation and said I didn't need a new shade, just fix the current one and I thought is was a bad electrical connection. She said come on in that day and she would work me in before the next appointment. Great. We arrived about 2 PM and had a tech working on it within 20 minutes. He carried the whole shade in to analyze the shade and found another bad motor. It got replaced and back in within 1 hour and to top it off because it was new and had already been worked on, it didn't cost a thing. It continues to work fine.<br />
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We headed the next day toward Tuscon and stopped in Midland at supposedly the best park in the area. Just didn't care for the area and would probably not come back by there.<br />
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We made it to Deming, NM the next night and stayed at 81 Palms RV Park. It was a nice clean park and I would stop there again. Note, there weren't many people there and lots of open sites. If it had been full, it would have been real tight.<br />
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We landed in Tucson the next day at Davis Monthan AFB, Agave Gulch. This is a clean area and real quiet. It was with 2 miles of Carolyn's aunt's house and gave us the opportunity to see the family for the 4 days we were in the area. <br />
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When we got to Tucson, I thought I should check my fluid level in the Aqua Hot. It was completely dry. That was a shock, so I dug out my extra fluid and poured 1 1/3 gallons of fluid and it kept going down. I heard fluid leaking and looked under the coach and saw it running out through the hole in the bottom. I jumped on the net and found an Aqua Hot mobile tech that was recommended by the office. He said he could come out late the next morning. He arrived about noon and found out it was just a cut hose and trimmed off the end and slide it back. While I had already paid for a service call I just let him put on the air step solenoid that had been sent ahead of me. All in all I got out for an hour of work and a gallon of fluid. Boy I'm getting lucky on this stuff. My head is sore from knocking on my wooden head.<br />
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We headed to Cottonwood, AZ, Deadhorse State Park. While there we saw the Sedona area and Jerome.<br />
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While there on the top of the mountain Carolyn got the call that no one wants to get. Her mother had passed that afternoon. We stayed on top awhile and made some calls to other family members and then got back to the park to make arrangements and think about how we were going to make this happen. (While in Florida and the B'ham areas we had gone in and made arrangements in case this happened while we were gone this summer.)<br />
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We decided to leave the MH in the area and fly to Orlando where the burial would occur. We found a military Family Camp just out of Flagstaff. We headed toward Williams, AZ to allow time for the family and activities to take place. On Monday we headed to Flagstaff and the Tuthill (Luke AFB Family Camp) to leave the coach and pack. We could not get a flight out of Flagstaff so got a flight out of Phoenix. We spent the rest of the week in Orlando and flew back on Sunday.<br />
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I used to fly regularly in the Army and a few times after. This past week was appalling as to how low flying has gotten. It took a whole day to fly to Orlando and 21 hours to fly back. They nickel and dime you for everything. I had heard that you couldn't get pillows and blankets anymore and noticed that there was not room in the bins for pillows and blankets. The music and occasional movie you used to get, you now had to pay for. If I had to travel by plane to see the country I would just sit at home!!!!<br />
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We stayed a couple of days to rest up and now find ourselves in Bluff, UT, Cottonwood RV Park. As we travel around the next few days I hope to get some fine pictures. <br />
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It won't be as long next time. :)<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-24277963516765219982014-03-17T14:26:00.000-05:002014-03-17T14:26:51.040-05:00Our 3rd YearBetter late than never. Our 3rd year actually started November 16th.<br />
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Our 3rd year finds us with a different attitude about the lifestyle than when we first started. We are comfortable and very much settled into our daily routines. While we like to see new places and things we have found out we get to pick our days to have fun. If it's cool and raining we don't have to go any place. If we run out of time we will just see it next time. The least costly park is not always the best choice. <br />
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We also want to head toward the Pacific coast this year, again. Outside any emergencies we'll make it with a few stops along the way and on the way back. We've put about 18,000 miles on the MH since we bought it. I anticipate we'll have a lot more on it by the end of the year.<br />
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The end result is we are very happy and pleased with our place in life and the options to our travels can change at the drop of the hat and that is alright. :)<br />
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We/I went Duck hunting the first of December. We stayed in West Helena, AR at Pat Kelley's RV Park. It is a PA park and while was 30 min from the lodge was a decent place to stay. We experienced an ice storm and that delayed our leaving a day because of crossing the Mississippi River. Traffic was moving very slow and no commercial trucks were coming across while I was watching. We just set tight another day and the good part was the park didn't charge me for the extra night.<br />
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We ended up leaving Alabama for warmer weather in Florida. My buddy Steve and Debbie were in Kamp Gulf, Destin watching outside TV in shorts. We spent 3 days there on our way to our winter stay in the driveway in Clermont, FL. <br />
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Blogger is not allowing me to post pictures. I know it's been awhile, but something has changed.<br />
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We had Christmas in Clermont and stayed in our moochdocking mode for 6 weeks. After that we went to the RV Dreams Boondocking Rally in Ft Ogden, FL. Had a great time and shared some stories. We loved those breakfasts prepared by the Solo Café group.<br />
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We left after 5 days and went to The Glades and met some friends in the area. While there we went to meet some friends at Riverbend RV Resort, Labelle. Now I'm just saying this was a real nice park, real nice.<br />
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We stayed in The Glades for two weeks. It got to 85 deg and that was pretty warm. I was happy to get to a little cooler temps (mid 70's). We left and stopped over the weekend in Clermont before heading to the Suwannee River Resort in Mayo, FL. It was a lot cooler there.<br />
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We are currently in Hoover RV Park, Hoover, AL. Seeing a few doctors and just resting. We're heading up to Guntersville and await the arrival of our tires. Then we will head to Tiffin meca and get the windshield replaced. Seems as if ours cracked when we left Mayo, at least that is when I saw it. I had a flat tire in Mayo and had it fixed. I believe that when he jacked up the rear that twisted the frame enough to crack the windshield. Didn't see it then so can not be sure.<br />
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Maybe Blogger can straighten out by my next post and I'll have a picture or two. :)<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-61951118561439572202013-11-29T07:14:00.000-06:002013-11-29T07:14:34.043-06:00The AppointmentIt's been awhile since I posted, but we haven't done a lot.<br />
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Our trip to Mitchell, SD was so that I could be close to my Pheasant Hunt. Part of my (not Carolyn's) full timing lifestyle was to travel the country seeing the sights, fishing, and hunting across the country. All the magazines had indicated lots of places free to hunt. That is still the case, but getting a little older :( it is a little more difficult to walk 10 to 20 miles across terrain that you don't know hoping to see the ever elusive game animal. Also all the farmers have found they can make a fair off season living leasing their land out to hunters. All that boils down to, it is harder to do that than I thought. The conclusion is to find local outfitters and book hunts for a few days and sit back and let them do the work to get WHERE I need to be. :)<br />
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My hunt was with an outfitter in Woonsocket, SD. Note that we are residents :) so that is a savings already. We stayed in Mitchell, SD at Fam E Fun Campground. Nice campground and easy to maneuver around. Owner is friendly and lives on site.<br />
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It was about a 40 minute drive, but had shopping and activities close by.<br />
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It seems that Huron, SD may be the center of the area Pheasant activities. A ride through town found this.<br />
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We had our limit each day. Hopefully they will be good eating.<br />
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Getting to Mitchell we drove 4 hours through a storm with 24 mph cross winds and gusting to 44 mph with driving rains. It was not a pleasant day at all.<br />
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After that we dropped down and went by the Blue Ox factory to have the hitch serviced. We had it serviced Feb of 12. The factory here did a much better job and went over everything. It works a lot better now. They have a nice campground for $20 per night and free if getting service done.<br />
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From Pender, NE we headed south and stopped in Independence, MO for a couple of nights. On the way out of town we stopped at a Blue Beacon Truck/RV wash. I've heard about them and some have really talked them up. The bus was filthy after driving in the rain. Just walking outside I would get dirty. I got in line with the 18 wheelers and finally moved into the bay after about 30 minutes. I was concerned with brushes being used and scratching the paint. There were no brushes used just 2-3 guys on each side with a pressure wash and a row of nozzles down the center on top. Took about 10 minutes. I got the Rain X applied also and total was $47.00. It was clean. I didn't take the time to dry it down when I pulled out so I got some water spots, but I don't think my wheels had been cleaner.<br />
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We headed further south and stopped below Branson in Omaha, AR. It is a nice area with drives that are nice this time of year.<br />
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We went on down to Grenada, MS to stay at Frog Hollow Campground a few days. Carolyn's sister Linda lives just up the road and we had a nice visit.<br />
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From there we went to Tiffin Meca (Red Bay) to get the body work from all the wrecks :(( done. I also had a problem driver side window MCD shade that needed to be fixed. Consensus was to replace it and we did. We drive from there to Guntersville, AL and it didn't work. Luckily we are going right by there Monday on my was to AR for another appointment. (quack quack). I think is just an electrical connection that came loose.<br />
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We have been here in Guntersville seeing family and friends for Thanksgiving. It got down to 16 two nights ago. We have been in the cooler than normal weather for three months now. My buddy Steve has been sitting in Destin, on the beach, in shorts watching he outside TV. I think that might be pretty nice for a change so after my next appointment (Duck Hunt) and a week of Doctor appointments in Birmingham we are headed on South.<br />
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We had a great Thanksgiving and as usual ate to much. We have a lot to be thankful, good health, great healthy family, and the ability to be at this place in our lives. More on that soon.<br />
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Till next time. Run your life, don't let life run you!<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-66866415767150532262013-10-13T12:16:00.000-05:002013-10-13T12:16:14.604-05:00Their Turning Off The LightsOur leisurely summer is over and it is time to head south. Last night the temperature got down to 33 degrees on one site. To compound that problem the campground is turning off the water tonight at 11 PM. The last two weekends have had local MN Good Sam rally's. They blow in Friday and blow out Sunday AM. As you can tell most have left this morning already and the few left related with the rally are rolling up their hoses. It does make for a quite campground. :)<br />
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The site has been a nice one. It's real level and larger than some we have been in. The park, St Cloud Campground and RV Park, touts itself as a rally park and has a building set aside for that activity and a kids game room and playground. It also has a few long term residents, but their sites are clean and well maintained.<br />
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Our summer, although starting a little late, mid July, has certainly been laid back. We spent 6 weeks in Michigan and 6 weeks in Minnesota. We saw a few sights along the way and really enjoyed the Lake Superior shoreline. It is like going to Florida and enjoying the Gulf, but it is all fresh water and clearer than the Gulf. The drawback it is cooler although we did see people swimming at different places.<br />
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We stayed initially in St Cloud to allow for the insurance adjuster of the guy that hit me to come by. I figured that being mid Friday PM that they got back to me that Wednesday would be a good day to leave. My surprise came Sunday evening the adjuster called to set the appointment and Monday AM at 9 we had a check in hand. It wasn't a bad experience at all, just the hassle of it. <br />
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The park was nice enough with shopping close by so we decided to stay another week. It was to far to go to our original plan to International Falls. One of the reasons we wanted to go was to see Voyager National Park and if they closed the government that would not be open. They did, and it was, so it was a good decision not to go. Sometimes regardless what I do we get it right. :)<br />
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Going into town one day (Walmart run) found us on a traffic circle. The truck GPS told us to go to the 3d exit. A major discussion started about whether to turn right or left. Having been a country boy going to Germany in 1972 it didn't take long (once) to find out a left turn puts you on a perpetual loop. :)<br />
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We were just delaying heading south until my appointment Oct 19th in Woonsocket, SD. We decided to stay another week only to find out that the water would be turned off on our last night. There wouldn't even be a faucet in the park to get water. ??? Even in the south we have freeze faucets. So we were going to have to move anyway. We are headed to Mitchell, SD tomorrow in preparation for my 19th appointment. <br />
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I guess we'll let winter or fall anyway blow us south. If you haven't guessed yet, I like cool weather. :)<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-44676428531155874162013-09-28T10:59:00.001-05:002013-09-28T10:59:37.124-05:00There Will Be Bad DaysWe enjoyed our stay in Grand Marais, MN. We got lucky upon our arrival. They have reserved sites and non reserved sites. We had reservation for 3 days, but we wanted to stay at least a week. I figured as big as the place was I would be able to, upon arrival, wangle a spot of some kind. One of the lake sites which are non-reservable had just become available. I was asked if I wanted a water spot, and my reply, "if I have to" :). While the smallest of the sites along the water, it had a beautiful view.<br />
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We were close enough to town to walk to eat and close enough to the local areas to take a leisurely drive to see the sites. We took a drive up to Grand Portage and the border and were to surprised to see a lovely area.<br />
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The first picture is overlooking the bay and the second is High Falls in the State Park. The town of Grand Portage also has a nice National Park informational area discussing the Obijiwa Indians and their involvement in developing trade in the area.<br />
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After two weeks were going to have to move so we decided to head on down the road towards International Falls. We had to go all the way to Duluth to stop by Walmart and get our meds renewed. All went to plan until I pulled into the Walmart parking lot which was within a mile from the Int Airport. My MCD shades went haywire and wouldn't respond and my direct wired windshield night shade went 2/3d's the way down and stopped and wouldn't do anything. I thought the batteries had gone out so I went in to get new ones. That didn't fix the problem. Called MCD and after about 30 minutes he asked me if I was next to an airport and I said yes, the map indicated one reasonably close. Seems that some airport frequencies will override the wireless controls to the MCD shades and when we move away they will start responding. That would not work with the windshield shades as they are direct switch wired. The closest dealer for MCD was Anoka, MN which is about 2.5 hours south. A couple of calls later I had a place to stay the night and headed that way. After a few miles I tried the wireless shades and they were working correctly.<br />
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Upon arrival and unhooking the truck someone, I think at Walmart, had backed into the MH. I was a little perturbed.<br />
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The next morning called Shorwood RV in Anoka, MN and luckily arranged to bring it on in and they would work me in. It was determined the motor in the shade was dead. A call to Tiffin to find out the stock number revealed they had 26 of them in stock. I think this is a recurring problem and they would send one out UPS that day to arrive tomorrow.<br />
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We arrived about 9:30 and my part had just arrived. I was parked on the street, and the Svc Mgr said he would be right out. :) When he arrived we were standing outside on the curb talking when a pickup pulling a brand new trailer pulled out of the Dealership. I immediately started saying and yelling he was not going to make it and was turning to sharp when he hit my DS front mirror. <br />
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Luckily the mirror broke away and HE stopped before it got into the windshield frame and cracked the windshield. The mechanic went and got wrenches and we got it back into place and all of the mechanics still work. It just has a pretty good scratch on my big chrome mirror. After all of the problems the last few days I did speak a little harshly to him, but after a few minutes of repairing and calling Tiffin for part prices, I did go and apologize to him and shook hands. It happens to all of us and no one was hurt. Since he had insurance it was just a little inconvenience. <br />
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We got our shade motor replaced, it had completely come apart and he had to dig gears and such out of the tube. We motored on to St Cloud, MN about 50 miles away and are waiting to hear from his insurance adjuster. Maybe Wednesday or Thursday we can go on. Anyway we have full hookups and there is a little to see around the area. The fulltiming lifestyle allows for instant changes like this and I've had to react to similar changes throughout my working career. So it is no problem. Also, the leaves are turning, we'll do just fine. :)<br />
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When life throws you a lemon just make lemonade and watch a sunset. :)<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-52781562301291523922013-09-18T15:03:00.000-05:002013-09-18T15:23:19.754-05:00The Land of "Gitche Gumee"It has been far to long since my last post. We have been moving slowly across the Upper Peninsula and Lake Superior area into Wisconsin and Minnesota.<br />
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We made our trip into the UP landing in St Ignace at the Tiki RV Park. It is a Passport America park and St Ignace is located right on Lake Huron. We really liked the slow pace of the town and ended up staying three weeks. The town is a small town with no traffic lights. A traffic jam happens every Saturday night about 10:15 pm when the summer fireworks are over. It only lasts for about 10 minutes and due to the location of them (over the harbor) you can see them from just about all over town. The park is almost downtown and close to plenty of places to eat.<br />
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While there we went on some excursions. The first was to Whitefish Point to the Marine Museum. A very moving and well presented exhibit of all the shipwrecks of the area. Everyone can relate to this one.<br />
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Another trip was to Taquamenom Falls State Park. Had some good paved trails and platforms that allowed great access to the falls. A pretty good falls that had lots of water going through it.<br />
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We made a trip to the Soo Locks also. We got lucky with our arrival and there were two ships scheduled within the next two hours. One 700+' and the other mid 600'. They locked through at the same time. The picture shows the larger one in front of the smaller one heading out of the lock.<br />
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Everyone goes to see the above sites and they are all worth a trip, but we got an extra perk when a Tall Ship came into port heading to the Chicago tall ship race. The SSV Niagra came in. We thought we would get to see it under sail, but it came in and left under its own power. It was a cool experience to see it so close. Its crew is made up of mostly kids paying their way to crew the ship. We happened to meet up with some parents that were there to pick up their 18 year old daughter. This was her second year and we learned a good bit about the experience. Believe me when I say this is not a cruise boat experience. :) I don't think I would like it now, but when I was a kid it would have been fun. I would have had to mow a lot of yards to come up with the funds. :(<br />
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After our laid back three weeks in St Ignace we headed to Munising, MI to take a Pictured Rocks Cruise. The City Park was certainly not a destination park, but it was nicer than any other park in the area. We did not have full hookups (although they are available but booked far in advance) and only 30 amp, but due to our short stay and the lower temps we survived. The first site did not have good power and kept knocking the breaker off. Upon moving that did not happen again and we were on about 1/4 acre. You could park anywhere as there was no set pad. The power and water hooked up in the middle of 4 sites. An extension for power and water was necessary.<br />
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Our main reason for coming here was to take the Pictured Rocks cruise. It was nice. Over our four days there we picked the best day for a cruise and it turned out very nicely.<br />
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There are 15 miles of bluffs to ride by. It is one way out, turn around and then back. I would sit on the Port side or left side of the boat on the top. People are kind of in the way for some nice pictures going up, but on the way back they get a lot closer and you have the advantage then. I like advantages. :)<br />
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We went to Houghton, MI and stayed in the Houghton City Park. Now I'm here to tell you that this is a nice park in downtown. Houghton is a college town with lots of restaurants, a Walmart within 1 mile, and PO and other government buildings close. It is well up the peninsula which allows day trips as far as Copper Harbor which is at the end. One word of caution is make sure you have fuel before you leave town as it is scarce up the peninsula and/or very expensive.<br />
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We ended up staying here 12 days because of the nice peaceful site.<br />
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Each site has a balcony with there being 6 sites on the upper level overlooking a row of sites below. The river flows below with Hancock on the other side of the river. Although not really looking for it, most sites have another sewer outlet which would allow a MH to face the river. Extension cords would be necessary. I didn't do this, but it looked feasible. This is a busy park and reservations are a must. We got lucky and since it was coming up on Labor Day I called about 10 days out and got a site although I was going to have to boondock for two nights. When we arrived, this was fixed and we wouldn't even have to change sites. We were lucky indeed.<br />
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Our next stop is Ashland, WI to the Kehrer RV Park owned by the City. While it is right in town you are on the water with nice views. Our reason for being here was to go on the Apostle Island Cruise. The cruise goes out of Bayfield, WI which was only about 40 min from the park. The weather was pretty active with either wind or rain coming through. We picked the best day we could and dealt with it. The weather while out changed 3 times. From fair to cloudy and windy with 3-5' waves to fair again. <br />
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We enjoyed the trip, but I was expecting more of the wave washed rocks. While there were a few other areas the one they showed us was only about 300 yards long and we spent a little time there so taking pictures was not a problem. The narration about the area and the islands was very informative and since it was 3 hr and 15 minutes there was a need to fill up time. Overall a good experience.<br />
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We took a lot more pictures at each place, but not wanting a War and Peace blog post only selected a few.<br />
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We are currently in Grand Marais, MN. That will be next time. We love to travel slowly and see a few sights along the way. We like to eat along the way and are enjoying the local fish servings. :)<br />
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Next time.<br />
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Run your life don't let life run you!<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-80324163604855119132013-08-03T11:47:00.001-05:002013-08-03T11:47:58.230-05:00Never Never LandI have been accused of hanging around with Peter Pan and Captain Hook in Never Never Land. Well, Peter Pan I'm not. We've just been having a great time and the longer you don't post, the harder it is to start back. For awhile we were traveling every couple of days and seeing things every day with great friends. It is tiring to say the least, but currently we are in St Ignace, MI until the 15th and are relaxing and seeing the sights. I'll try to recap what we've done as best I can.<br />
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We went to Red Bay to get our stove fixed. That is an important thing to me, but Carolyn for some reason could care less. :) The sealed knob switch was sticking and was hard to light and the igniter would stay on. After finally getting it out, (I had to help) the tech scratched his head and said he didn't have a clue about what to do????? His suggestion was to spray contact cleaner on it and that would free it up. It did and we put it back in. I was soaking wet after all that and I'm the customer. I was helping because the helper was putting my awning back together. It was practically rebuilt and a wonder it hadn't fallen off. My 3 hour express bay turned into all day and barely got through.<br />
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We left heading toward B'ham for some Dr appointments. The stove would not light much less stay igniting. A return to Red Bay was in the plan.<br />
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The 4th we headed to Crossville, TN and stayed at the Bean Pot Campground. Not a bad park, but was heavily wooded. My request for a sat site gave me a shaded site with a hole in the trees to my front. Perfect. We had a family reunion on the 7th and we had a great time and visit with family in the area. Our boys came with their families and we had some grand kid time which is always good.<br />
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We then went back to Red Bay, but not to Tiffin. Didn't want to get into the wait in line stuff. We just called Brannon at Custom RV and he worked us in. 1 hr after our arrival I had a replaced stove and another minor thing fixed. The stove was one he had taken out of a new RV and replaced with an electric or induction stove. It still had the new labels on it. :) Wonderful. Now I'm in business, Carolyn is still not impressed, although this one does work great.<br />
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The best thing about the last Red Bay visit is I had my 32" LCD TV replaced with a 40" Samsung LED and sound bar. It is sweet and the sound is great for watching action movies and things. Now the LCD was a good picture especially after running everything through the HDMI plug, but this LED is wonderful. It actually makes some shows look computer generated they're so clear and sharp.<br />
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We then dropped the old TV off at my folks house and headed north. Met a guy at Tiffin that talked up the Michigan and the Upper Peninsula so that sold it for me. We needed to get out of these 90+ deg days. We landed in Cave City, KY overnight and went to Camp Atterbury, IN (Mil Fam Camp) for 2 nights. It wasn't far off the Interstate and only $20/night. It was pretty hot and we popped the breaker on the pole 5-6 times. We just ran the generator until the sun went down. The next morning they got maintenance to replace the breaker as the other one would be hot when touched. There were no problems the next day and for my troubles didn't charge for the second night. I'm all for that.<br />
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We had friends, Steve and Debbie, coming through Michigan and were in Sawyer, MI staying at Kamp Across From The Dunes RV Park. We stopped in to see them for two nights. Friends Dennis and Deena were in northern IN and as we drove by a sign that mentioned the town they were in, I sent them an email saying we were headed to Sawyer, MI. The next day as they were headed north Deena finally red the email and came to a screeching halt just 10 miles from us. A few calls later they were snugged into the same park as us and the good times proceeded. The park is across from Warren Dunes State Park and gave some beautiful sunsets.<br />
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The next day we all said our goodbyes and we followed Deena and Dennis to Indigo Bluffs in Empire, MI. They were going to see friends they met this spring. Indigo Bluffs is a park where you buy your lots and they rent the owner pool and unsold lots. It was a beautiful park and the surrounding area is stunning to say the least.<br />
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While there we ate extremely well :) and had a great time. The county has a zoning ordinance that keeps out the big box stores like hotels, fast food, and grocery stores. They are all available about 30 min away in Traverse City. The result is a low key laid back atmosphere where local stores can continue to do business without major competition from people that can buy in bulk. Much different from most other places where the small business is all but run out of business because he cannot get his material as cheap.<br />
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We then went to Mancelano, MI to Whispering Pines RV park to kick back and see Carolyn's niece which she hasn't seen in a long time. The cool days, 60's and low 70's, are continuing. From here we can drive to the coastal areas and see the sights.<br />
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There are a lot of different boats up here.<br />
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More later. Stay tuned. And we ARE having a great time.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-33192326074572616582013-06-23T16:12:00.000-05:002013-06-23T16:12:03.272-05:00Hello, We're BackOur three month to the day hiatus has come to an end, thank goodness. We now find ourselves back on out original journey with some changes. We sit in Red Bay to get a few tweaks (we hope) accomplished this week. Hopefully we can get these done this week because they close for the week of the 4th. What doesn't get done can just wait. Luckily there is nothing major, unless they find something. :(<br />
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Dad is currently in outpatient rehab. He is mobile (on a walker), but still needs to gain some strength. He is able to get about the house and do for himself. That is a great relief. We are extremely lucky to be in a position to assist in these times of need and consider ourselves fortunate.<br />
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We got to see the grandchildren in their ballgames and dance recitals and I would post pictures, but I'm sure everyone knows what that would be like. They probably have an album full of these themselves.<br />
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While hanging out in the old home town, I rode into areas I hadn't been into for 40-50 years. It looked a lot different. In some cases it was a good change and some bad, but I guess change, good or bad, is good.<br />
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We have a family reunion in TN for the 4th we're going to and then who knows. West is the general consensus. On the way we are going to stop in Stuttgart, AR (Duck Central) and find an outfitter or two that I can drive my MH into and stay in it. Some duck hunting this fall is definitely in the offering if the snow doesn't get me in the west. :)<br />
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We have been here for only a day and have met our neighbors that going to fulltime also. That is the great thing about this lifestyle. The people are great and the times you can have sitting on an old airport runway in front of repair bays can create great memories and friends.<br />
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One thing, we were just here a few months ago and they have opened up the new highway bypass. I missed my turnoff and ended up in MS before I realized I had gone about 4 miles to far. Luckily it was an easy turnaround and back to where I should have turned. It just goes to show how sitting for long periods can dull you thinking. :) Need to be moving more.<br />
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Still loving the lifestyle and some days sleep until 6:00 AM. Follow us as we encounter new adventures.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-29529216221272996522013-04-13T19:08:00.000-05:002013-04-13T19:08:21.869-05:00Out of Hibernation - AlmostHad a good winter in the Clermont area with the family. My shorter stay this winter turned into a longer - 7 week stay.<br />
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As mentioned before we got to see several of our RV buddies while there. Went to the RV show in Tampa and saw Deena and Dennis, several RV Dreamers at the get together at the floating pavilion, Steve and Debbie <a href="http://stevendebstravels.blogspot.com/">http://stevendebstravels.blogspot.com/</a>, and Rick and Elaine <a href="http://e-rstravels.blogspot.com/">http://e-rstravels.blogspot.com/</a>.<br />
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We were going to the Keys and stay and the Navy base there. This time of year usually requires boondocking until you move up to a full hookup site where you can stay for only 14 days before you rotate back to boondocking. I've had doubts about my batteries capabilities all year and this fall it just got worse. End result, didn't think I could boondock without running the generator all the time. That would be a no no.<br />
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Rick and Elaine asked us to come the The Glades in Moore Haven, FL. So off we went to Moore Haven. I didn't get out of town good until the generator started and basically had to run it all the way. The Glades was a pretty nice campground on grass sites. The sites were a decent size and had all kind of activities. We extended a week and had to move from our primo site next to Elaine and the pool, but the site we selected was out in the country. i.e. no one close.<br />
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We had lots of fun and also Valentines Day dance. There was lots of fun, food, and dancing.<br />
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While at the Glades I saw on the news where up north they had a polar plunge. I thought it would be neat if we had one. I prepared a little flyer and set it up for the next night as it was going to be the coldest of the winter. I was trying to get a huge turnout. :)</div>
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I didn't get any takers like I thought. I thought it would be an annual event, but being a man true to my word, I didn't let it slow me down.<br />
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I did draw a crowd so I did have some supporters. Who knows, maybe next year.<br />
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I was doing real good until it slipped out on Elaine's blog that the pool was heated. I've been in a lot colder water duck hunting and would have again if it hadn't been for Kevin, thanks.<br />
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Headed from The Glades to Cedar Key to see the sunsets and eat some great seafood. It was cold and windy most of our week, but it was still a good time. While getting there we had to run the generator half the time so I pulled the plug and a guy that knew about solar and stuff. I headed into Mayo, FL and got 6 new AGMs installed. His place is a boondocking site, but within 1 mile was the Suwanee River Rendezvous RV Resort. 3 nights later with batteries installed we boondocked and being successful were on our way. Most of the time the inverter reads full charge. It didn't do that before. Hopefully, I should be good to go for 6-8 years on batteries and not have to touch them. :)<br />
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We got to Birmingham in a long day pull. We had an appointment or two and were leaving Friday Mar 22d. The night of the 21st got the dreaded call that my dad had fallen and broken his hip and would have surgery Friday at 10. We headed toward Guntersville. Got checked in to the Hospital about 11 AM. We finally had surgery at midnight, a long day to say the least.<br />
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We are back to a Rehab facility and will have to see how this progresses. Luckily I was within 100 miles of home where I can lend assistance. The west coast will have to wait awhile.<br />
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So here we sit engine idling and awaiting departure, kind of like being on the space shuttle. Wonder what I could do with that. :) More later. There are just the high points. Got to get back to a more normal pattern of blogging, hopefully there will be something to talk about.<br />
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We consider ourselves luckier than most.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-71966739356757814862013-01-03T10:33:00.001-06:002013-01-03T10:33:23.426-06:00The Start of a New YearWe ended up the year busy, but quietly. My shoulder scope went well and didn't hold us up much. We pulled a "PDD" and drove straight to the Orlando area on the 16th, about 9 hours. We arrived shortly after dark expecting a thundering crowd. No one was around :( We got situated in the driveway and were all set up when they arrived. It is quiet here with everyone going about their daily activities. <br />
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Christmas came along with a few birthdays and in general we both ate way to much. This year for New Year's Eve there was a party with a lot of neighborhood friends. It was the first year in many that we stayed up until the magic hour. I'm glad I don't do that every day. <br />
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Shortly school will start up and we'll be on our own all day. We hope to get to see some of our new RVing friends we've met on the road this month. Several are close to us so we will see. Hope to start out late this month on our quest to hit the west coast this year. We had a great time this last year and have great expectations for this upcoming one.<br />
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There will be more posts when we start doing things. Hope to see you soon. It's all good.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-23650638655205813092012-12-04T10:11:00.001-06:002012-12-04T10:11:47.208-06:00AppointmentsWe are back at the Hoover RV Park, Hoover, AL. It is a nice place, not a destination park, but has full hook ups on a paved parking area adjacent to Regions Park sports facility. Convenience is the key here to shopping, eating, interstate, and all of our Doctors and friends in the area.<br />
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We spent the first week having one to two appointments a day. Had to have some old cavities replaced and went to my old Orthopedic Surgeon about my shoulder. I had been putting it off for a couple of years. Cleaning the MH and using my inflatable boat (paddleski) left me with a couple of days of a sore shoulder, hence the boat doesn't get used as much and the MH is not a clean as it could be :). <br />
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His diagnosis was that a scope (which is what I had done in 03) could be done and get another 5 years or longer out of it. I keep waiting until they perfect the growing of new limbs and things and then you just swap them out. With all of this medical hub bub I'm afraid my wait may be a lot longer or never. :( Oh well, we just deal with what we have and make the best of it. Only worry about the things that you can change and just suck it up on the rest. <br />
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I'll be having the scope tomorrow, out patient. I hope to be able to leave town the first of the following week. Although it is warm in Florida still, I guess we will head in that direction and get ready for the holidays. I just hope to beat Santa down there. He missed our place last year, hopefully he'll be able to locate us this year. I have the GPS on the phone turned on. I'm sure that will help. :)<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-67717834154716600122012-11-24T17:41:00.000-06:002012-11-24T17:41:16.319-06:00A Year of RVing and ThanksgivingWell, the 16th saw us owning the motor home for a year. Once we owned it, we haven't spent the night anywhere else. There wasn't any bedding the first couple of days, but we survived with a throw. We have had a wonderful year.<br />
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I will say that the initial daily excitement of something new has kind of worn off, but the sense of total freedom still exist. As I get up each morning and sit in the observatory watching the news and sipping a hot cup of coffee, I relish in the enjoyment of this lifestyle. I have always loved to see daylight come and the motor home gives me the perfect opportunity to see the sights very comfortably. Before selling the house, I would grab my cup of coffee and head for the hot tub on the patio. <br />
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We have seen many wonderful sights this year and ended up back in our original neck of the woods to end the year. In our rush to get back to the Atlanta area in August, we came through some nice country we will get back out to.<br />
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It seems as if there is always some minor inconvenience coming up that needs attention. It is surprising that I can work through the problem and usually know what the problem might be and sometimes work around it. This is a very complicated machine that just shakes and shimmy's down the highway. Imagine driving your house down the highway and how that would end up. But even with all of those mishaps I wouldn't trade this for anything at this time. <br />
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I've also found out that with all my research of the lifestyle and RVing in general that I am able to help people out of situations or impart with some valuable knowledge. I know that for some of you that may be hard to believe, but it is the truth.<br />
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Carolyn has really gotten used to the lifestyle and really enjoys it. The motor home has all of the conveniences of the house and we have always used our on board shower and laundry facilities. Note: we did have to take showers using hot water heated on the stove and poured over the head, but that was just for three days. :):))))) Carolyn didn't think much of that idea. :)<br />
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We have spent the last couple of weeks at River Country RV in Gasden, AL. Several people had stayed there and said it was nice and Amy (our daughter) said it was a nice place. Upon leaving Red Bay we just ambled over to there. We were only going to stay for two or three days, but upon arriving and seeing where they were going to put us we just took a week. After four days we took another week. The first week was very windy with hurricane Sandy and cool, but with our location we just stayed in looking at the view. No sand, but plenty of fish and birds.<br />
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The second week warmed up and wasn't near as windy. It allowed for a little getting out with some nice sunsets. Oh and that is Carolyn...</div>
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Our friends Steve and Debbie had been in Red Bay when we left and decided to come by and see us here before heading on down to Destin. We had a couple of good meals and enjoyed the park views. Steve had worked on his sound system and had put all of his components being delivered to the TV's by HDMI which increased the picture quality and significantly enhanced the sound quality. Before it was muffled and not clear. We would have to turn the TV all the way up to understand what was being said for most shows. We worked on mine and now all is great. All it took was an HDMI splitter and a couple of short cables.</div>
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We also worked on my coach radio and hooked my Zune to the axillary input. Result is music of my choice while driving down the road instead of constantly searching for channels. Crystal clear! Wish I had done that before that 2400 mile, 4.5 days of driving last August. :)</div>
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Thanksgiving was very nice. We had way more than we needed to cook and are still eating leftovers. Got to see some of the family and Amy, Heath and the kids got by. It was a great day. We are very Thankful for the good Lord to have guided us to this point in our lives. It is all about choices of life and what you do with the results. We are at a good place right now and look forward to what is before us to see. If it is anything like the last year we will be truly blessed indeed.</div>
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Come follow us this year and share our experiences.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-80459137102335548602012-11-06T09:58:00.001-06:002012-11-06T09:58:31.090-06:00Asheville and the Blue Ridge ParkwayMany, well maybe one or two, may be wondering if we are still traveling. We ARE. We are just doing it slower.<br />
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We went to the Asheville, NC area to see the leaves change. We weren't going to drive straight there as it is a long drive from B'ham and we didn't leave until about 9:30. An easy drive to Chattanooga rest area led me to call Miles RV Campground in the Asheville area to see if they had a sight. They did and indicated that I was still over 5 hours away and probably would not get there before they closed. Well, that was like a challenge and I put the pedal to the metal. I got there in about 4 hours like I thought and just missed the office by about 30 minutes. It is a decent park flat with paved roads and gravel and paved pads. We got a pull through site and faced into the center of the park with a large football sized field in front of us. For $25 a night, weekly rate, it was a very reasonable rate for the area. There was a little noise, Interstate, highway, business next door and a train a couple times a night, but it was convenient to everything we wanted to do. We could even walk to the Post Office and get something to eat.<br />
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I've been coming to this area for 30 years to see the leaves during this time of year. We were a little earlier this time and arrived on the 14th for about the start of the change. We were here for 12 days and each time out saw an unbelievable change in color. Here are a few pictures, but believe me, they do not begin to tell the story.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkDlbsclZgLwHtsu6Tql5XTioxCLATVTbK12VDSObqhFMGF0yREz59XRDDU1ys8t6zCinFd6porA7_Kw8Pp7UgeGAvbU4rybZ8qm-15ZVhyphenhyphenFkbVowSHGiS9Ey9VB_NoYjRa_ZC26cKUM/s1600/DSC_0030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkDlbsclZgLwHtsu6Tql5XTioxCLATVTbK12VDSObqhFMGF0yREz59XRDDU1ys8t6zCinFd6porA7_Kw8Pp7UgeGAvbU4rybZ8qm-15ZVhyphenhyphenFkbVowSHGiS9Ey9VB_NoYjRa_ZC26cKUM/s320/DSC_0030.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Several years ago we were driving on the Parkway and saw a Motor home sitting in a pull off early one morning. We imagined they were there having breakfast and set our sites to one day do the same. Here is the location of where the Motor home was parked. Don't you think that would be a nice place to start the day?<br />
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Everybody likes to come to Asheville and see the Biltmore Estate and we have seen it to. Once you have seen it there is an understanding of how the Vanderbilt's contributed heavily toward the establishment of the National Forest system and their contributions toward modern forestry methods. We benefit from their involvement every time we go into a National Forest or Park. I can only imagine what it would be like if there were no protections. They lived here.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmWotjzLSrTUjoF6Q-IRXI1YcqVYGYC7rRXrZj6OP7RWvpLG8wHhyphenhyphenBpDkFlFSEVXXmtAAZQjV1X_d-TIJFW53uvp89jRrl076bSUhcbz2I0q-lYOQAIwSBeGESMXBwwsMG2I5Si7yX4A/s1600/DSC_0053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglmWotjzLSrTUjoF6Q-IRXI1YcqVYGYC7rRXrZj6OP7RWvpLG8wHhyphenhyphenBpDkFlFSEVXXmtAAZQjV1X_d-TIJFW53uvp89jRrl076bSUhcbz2I0q-lYOQAIwSBeGESMXBwwsMG2I5Si7yX4A/s320/DSC_0053.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had an electrical problem during our stay that when we called a technician and talked with Xantrex required a new Inverter. We cut our stay short and headed toward Red Bay to get this done. We installed a Magnum MS2812 as recommended by several people. We stayed over at the facility that night and had another occurrence of the problem. A further check came out that a bad breaker in the panel wasn't making good connection and burnt the connection and required a new breaker. Now things that were hit and miss about working have worked since that install. (knock on wood) End result I have a good Xantrex RS3000 inverter, AGS, and panel. If anyone needs one I have a good deal going on. :) <br />
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We are currently in Gadsden, AL sitting on the river at River Country Campground. We are 15' from the water facing it. More next time.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-58742358941525760602012-10-13T18:47:00.001-05:002012-10-13T18:47:36.057-05:00Hope Somebody is Still Out ThereIt has been awhile and we have done a lot of nothing. We spent two weeks in Guntersville, AL to be with the family. We saw everyone a couple of times and went through the motorhome to unload stuff we either hadn't used or realized that we didn't need. It wasn't much, but every little bit helps.<br />
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We spent 10 days in Red Bay at the Tiffin Service Center. They had replaced my rails (the radius that meets the roof to the side wall) in April and the DS rear had come loose and lifted up. I had noticed this while in Hungry Horse, MT and was going back to Tiffin when we came back to this area. I also had several little things to do, i.e. DS day/night shade had come loose from the ceiling and the burner on the stove would not stay lite. I also had a couple of questions about systems and my understanding of what they were doing.<br />
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Tiffin is quite busy, basically all the time. They have about 100 sites and they are almost always full with several in the overflow dry camping locations, especially this time of year. It doesn't take long to get into a full hook up site, it's just a process.<br />
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We arrived on a Tuesday about noon. While coming through town I met two MHs with toads leaving. I was optimistic about getting a full site and we just walked in to site 57. It was looking up. Got things rolling and got into the express bay on Monday of the next week. It is just a process of waiting for your number to come up and then the process will begin.<br />
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Carolyn had a problem with a drawer slide and that was a quick fix - out of the track. The shade was put back with an additional clip. Things were looking up. The stove problem (I thought was a thermocouple gone bad) was just the knob. It has a little metal piece on the flat section of the knob and the plastic had split enough that allowed the metal piece to turn within the space and not make good contact. Great.<br />
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Then came the Aqua-hot. For a long time if not since we've had the MH we have not had hot water without the diesel burner being on. Reading other peoples blogs and comments on the forums I thought the electric side of our Aqua-hot was bad. The technician came out and we worked through the problem (two days). I hate to say the problem was the breaker on the inside panel was flipped, again Great even though my problem. <br />
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While working through this problem one morning the diesel side of the Aqua-hot did not fire. Long story short, it was the control unit for that part within the Aqua-hot. Note, not my fault. :)<br />
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While working through the diesel side problem we took cup showers for two mornings. Now I didn't have a problem with this as I did this a lot while in the Army. Carolyn had not had to do this, but with a little instruction she had no problems. :)<br />
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While worrying with the Aqua-hot, I was going to have the rails repaired. They are now putting a rivet down both sides of the rail replacement, spaced about every 4". This hopefully should prevent any further problems.<br />
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My fuel gauge had never worked properly. No matter how much I put in it would never read much above 3/4 of a tank. Now the question was; was I full, 150 gallons? or when registering empty did I have another 30-40 gallons left? That is a question I did not want to test. The fix was to cut the vent lines to the tank fill, which had a loop in them, and make them straight and then go and fill up. I had filled up just out of town, but I was able to put about 15-20 gallons more. Still registered the same. The solution was to change out the fuel sending unit. It required emptying the tank into two big drums and then change out the unit. The old unit had fuel getting into the wires and the wire was just a hair different in angle. Upon refill, we were full. In fact after we left I was afraid it was stuck because it wouldn't move, but after 100 miles or so it did show a little drop.<br />
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The good part of the whole trip was that I got to use my newly purchased (Aug) extended warranty. Now I no it was a decent purchase, everything got fixed, and I now know a little more about this complicated piece of machinery. There is much more to learn, although I'd like to wait a little to learn it. :):)<br />
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We headed to Hoover RV Park, Hoover, AL and stayed a week having several appointments. It was a laid back parking lot with a lot of good walking area. It is at the Ball Stadium and is patrolled day and night.<br />
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We now sit just outside of Asheville, NC. The leaves are turning and it just saw 60 today. Great fall weather. There will be more to come, I promise.<br />
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Life is good.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-85290940613281665822012-09-13T09:54:00.000-05:002012-09-13T10:06:44.765-05:00We Are Back AlmostThis past Tuesday found us heading toward Guntersville, AL. We are currently at Blue Herron RV Resort.<br />
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We have been in NE Atlanta assisting Carolyn's BIL's family with his illness and lending a hand where needed. Jimmy passed on Aug 23d after a battle with Renal Cancer for over a year. He faced it headon and fought the battle at every turn. He didn't let it interfer with his work and kept giving wisdom and kind words to the end. He will be missed.<br />
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While in the area we stayed initially at FT Yargo State Park. We were going week to week due to the situation (they have a 14 day limit, but due to the circumstances allowed us to stay over that time). With our week to week extensions the Labor Day weekend was coming up and they were full so we checked out on Friday before. It was a beautiful place and was only a 20 minute drive to the house. <br />
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Not all the sites were this large, but there were larger. As you can see satellite was a "no go". Also, this site - 34, was the only site with sewer besides the 2 camphosts sites. That is because it used to be a camphost site. It was $28 per night with no discounts.<br />
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On the 31st we moved to Jones RV Park in Norcross, GA. It was just 5 miles further, but going in the other direction, requiring us to get on I85 and heavy traffic. It has 2/3ds of the park as long term (more than a month). Some looked like they had been there years. A mile away was a heavy ethnic neighborhood with store signs in foreign lanquages. It was $30/night or $165 per week. There is not a lot to choose from in the area and it filled a need. Not the place that invited you to sit outside. The sites were not very large either. The second picture has a site between us and to the left is another site opening to our passenger side.<br />
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Blue Heron is a nice quiet owner owned lots, that for $143.10 a week (Good Sam Discount) you can not beat. Being owner owned lots, several are for sale and are unoccupied, giving a large amount of space around you. 50 amp, FHU for the price isn't to bad.<br />
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We'll probably stay here a week or two and then head to Red Bay.<br />
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Life is pretty Good.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-88043749911784733672012-08-12T20:31:00.001-05:002012-08-12T20:31:15.556-05:00The Westward Tour is OverOur two weeks in Hungry Horse, MT were very relaxing. Clear blue sky, crystal clear and blue waters rushing by, and when you leave the built up areas vast wilderness areas with "Beware of Bear" signs everywhere. We found Montana to be a very nice place with so much diversity it was amazing.<br />
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Last week we found out that Carolyn's BIL Jimmy had been admitted to the hospital. He has been battling cancer for almost a year. Despite several reports of getting better it has just kept up the endless march forward. He has faced it head on and has continued to fight it at every turn. <br />
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We decided to curtel our westward tour and head back to Georgia and Thursday after checking for our mail we pulled out of Hungry Horse about 10 AM. We drove for 10 hours and ended up in Billings, MT at a Burger King. At least we got dinner and breakfast :)<br />
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Friday found us heading west about 7 AM. We covered a lot of ground (after missing a turn and taking a leisurely 1 hour drive up I94. At least it was all new stuff) and ended up in Imperial, NE about 7 PM and saw Nancy and Randy. They have been friends for about 20 years and it was very nice to see them and see the big city of Imperial. We will definitely get back and see them in the future.<br />
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Saturday saw us pulling out at 8 AM and arrived in Boonville, MO. We pulled into a rest area and were only going to stay for a couple of hours to grab some sleep about 8:30 PM. It got hot and I turned on the generator and didn't get up until 5 AM.<br />
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Sunday we pulled out at 6 AM and pulled into the south side of Chattanooga about 7 PM. We're plugged up and kicked back. We only have a couple of hours to get to the Dacula, Ga area tomorrow morning.<br />
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We plan to be in the area to assist the family in whatever they need. That is one of the benefits of this lifestyle, that you can do what you want when you need to. Most people have to work around their work schedules and while, would like to, it is just not practical for them to give the time necessary.<br />
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I've sat in the driver seat except for filling up for fuel for 45 hours over the last 4 days. I'm one tired puppy, arf, arf!<br />
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This is just to let everyone know where we are and what we are up to. Posting may get a little slower, sorry.<br />
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Later.<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-1677311254106711062012-08-05T18:27:00.000-05:002012-08-05T18:27:17.373-05:00Fishing at GlacierI have been a little remiss in posting. I thought I had posted about my fishing trip, but had just put in on FB, so sorry fans.<br />
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On Tuesday of this week I had scheduled to take some fly fishing lessons with a guide and have a float down the Middle Fork River on the west boundary of Glacier National Park. It was a beautiful day and I had done nothing for a few days to save my shoulder for the trip. The boat could hold 2 for the price and they had no singles that wanted to go. I decided that Carolyn would like to float the river also as it was supposed to only be 4-5 hours of fishing after the lessons. <br />
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We showed up at 8:30 to get started. The guide said if it was alright with me, we would do the lessons on the river instead of a little fish pond at their office. It was fine with me. We drove about 30 miles up the river to put in and were on the water by 10 AM. My lessons consisted of stopping on a sand bar and throwing about 10 minutes and then we were off. Great! It was about 55 degrees about that time and a little cool. The first couple of miles the guide had me getting out and walking/wading the bank. It was cold. I only had water shoes and shorts on, but we caught a fish every now and then.<br />
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I caught fish and this was my biggest.<br />
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It was a nice day and the fishing was pretty good even for a novice. I caught 13, hung but lost a couple of dozen, and got 30 - 50 bumps or hits. It took awhile to learn that I didn't have to set the hook. :) Carolyn ended up having a great time and was real tired when we finished. I thought she would get pictures of all the fish I caught, but as you can tell she did not. There are more scenery pictures though and they are great.<br />
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Steve and Debbie from Sioux Falls stopped by on their way through and we went fishing Thursday before they left on Friday. We just waded up and down a few spots for 3-4 hours. I ended up catching 3. Steve got this picture before we got separated.<br />
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It has been a good time here with the weather being in the mid 80's most of the time and getting down in the 40's at night. Daytime humidity is under 30% so it is real nice. A lot different than Alabama right now.<br />
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May have found an area to spend the summers, but then there are a lot of places we haven't been yet. :)<br />
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Life is pretty good. If it gets better I might not be able to stand it...<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-79159249551486146532012-07-29T14:17:00.000-05:002012-07-29T14:17:00.893-05:00Fish and GlacierWhile in Ekstroms Stage Station just east of Clinton, MT we kicked back and enjoyed the beauty and the local rivers to fish in. After my first foray into the local fishing, and falling in 3 times on the first day, I got better outfitted and never fell in again. :) <br />
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I had some neighbors that came in from the Carolina and California areas. Rudy, Ryan and Greg were there to fish. Greg had lived in the area for awhile and had some good pointers. I tried to act as a sponge and learn all I could. I guess it worked since I didn't fall in again and even caught another fish (total of 2) and got several strikes and hung another, but lost it. I didn't go all day like most other people did. I could go 3 or 4 hours and then would have to let the inflammation in my shoulder go down for a couple of days before I went back. Had a picture of the three guys, but deleted it by mistake. :((<br />
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One of our days out was to cross Skalkaho Pass in the Bitteroot National Forest. Beautiful area and after crossing the pass came up on the Skalkaho Falls. Even in the warm temps and the height of the summer, there was a lot of water coming off of the falls. The water was even good and cool to drink.<br />
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We left the area on July 26th and headed toward Hungry Horse, MT and are staying in Canyon RV and Campground. It is a nice place with some trees to provide a little shade and enough open space to allow for Satellite access. It also is only 9 miles to the west gate to Glacier National Park.<br />
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Usually as we ride through these forest and parks we miss the photo of the wildlife. It is so quick there is little time to reach for the camera much less take a picture. The other day I got a great picture of local park wildlife.<br />
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I'm not sure if this classifies as wildlife, but it was in the wild and huge, kind of like Alice and Wonderland.<br />
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The first full day here we went on the Going to the Sun Road. It is a fascinating and beautiful drive. We elected to drive ourselves versus the bus or touring car route so we could go at our own pace and stay as long as we wanted to at any one location. These pictures do not begin to offer what the view is, but merely offer a glimpse into what one may see.<br />
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As you can see very nice. We plan on extending a couple of days to see more. Stay tuned for the Logan Pass adventure.<br />
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Life is Pretty Good!!<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-87822036025534246452012-07-16T20:19:00.000-05:002012-07-16T20:19:03.190-05:00Dream Comes TrueI have always had a dream, even before fulltiming, of catching a mountain stream trout and eating it. Now with time the eating eat part has faded, but the dream of catching trout was still there. With the advent of the fulltiming thing I thought that it was even more possible especially seeing Howard catching some in the places he has been. Well as my previous post indicates (note: this is the second post for the day) I was licensed, outfitted and ready. <br />
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My neighbors left at good daylight, but I wanted to clean the front of the MH first. We (Carolyn was my photographer and the person that was going to try to catch me downstream) left about 1030. We drove trying to find the perfect access so she could watch and I wouldn't have to much trouble, and there wasn't anybody around to see my first foray into fly fishing.<br />
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We found a place and got Carolyn set up in her chair. I proceeded to enter the water and hadn't gone 15' when I slipped on the rocks and down I went. I had my hunting waders on and I believe the clod hopper boots weren't made for nimble rock movement. Plus these were 12" to 18" rocks to maneuver over. Lucky for me their high and I didn't get to wet. Downer was the vest I got seems to hold water. :( I figured out how to empty most of that out and proceeded on.<br />
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Learned an important fact. Walkie Talkies need to be in plastic bags, as they do not do well submerged in water. :( It is now in a bowl submerged in rice to try and dry it out. We'll see.<br />
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I wasn't to far from the bank and kept hitting the limbs behind me. It took me about 30 minutes to hang my fly in a tree and that was that. Now I had to come to the bank and recreate what these other neighbors had done for me in sitting me up. I'm here to tell you that I tied another fly on with a perfect knot (note here: Knots are important in fly fishing). <br />
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I put the purple haze on the guy in the store said they were hitting and got back to it. After another 30 minutes I caught my first ever trout. My trusty photographer wasn't ready, but came on strong. I told her to get a picture, she said, "I can't see the fish". To heck with the fish, its in the water take pictures of me, you can't take to many. Well, we worked through all that and came up with a couple of pictures. A nice rainbow trout.<br />
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Carolyn trying to find the fish.<br />
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The second spot was nicer and allowed me more movement. The first place had me in to deep of water which added my imbalance.<br />
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The day was nice, got some experience, caught a fish, got 4 other bites and only fell in 3 times. Carolyn wasn't ready the other two, but caught me after I got up. She says I got up to fast, I told her the water temp was 61 deg and it was cold.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back at the MH drying out and warming up. Probably will go back tomorrow. <br />
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PS - my neighbors only caught 1 fish out of 3 people. :)<br />
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Life is pretty good.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-37479691409915752782012-07-16T11:59:00.000-05:002012-07-16T11:59:19.574-05:00Falling into ItIt has been awhile, but we have done a lot.<br />
<br />We traveled to Hardin, MT last Monday. We planned that stop to see the Little Big Horn Battlefield. While I brought the camera, I forgot to get my card out of the computer. It was going to be a hot day with temps around the 100 deg mark. The campground, Grand View RV Park, has the driving tour CD's for checkout to drive the battlefield. The CD cost $16.95 and was welcome. It only takes about 1 1/2 hours to drive it and that was with stops to observe the terrain.<br />
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Regardless of individual feelings of the battle, Custer basically lost the battle because of lack of communication between the elements which caused confusion among the troops and a break down of organization.<br />
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When we finished the drive it was 99 deg. I was going to walk maybe 200 yds to the final marker. It was uphill and about 2/3ds of the way I had to stop and catch my breath. We left shortly after and went back to the MH and tried to stay cool. Later that afternoon the breaker on my pole tripped 5 times. Did I say it was HOT.<br />
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While there there were two harvest crews in the park. Talking with one owner he told me he had 7 combines and all equipment necessary to go from field to field and harvest and take it to the market. The farmer just pays him. He doesn't make to the South because of the average size of the fields. He said the biggest field he has been in was in North Dakota and was 11,000 acres. Now that is a big field by anybody's standards.<br />
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We had met some people in Cedar Key, FL back in February and stopped in Big Timber, MT on Wednesday to say hi to Mike and Janna. They are good folks and although we have only seen them twice now, it seems we are old friends. <br />
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Now Big Timber did not look very big and I thought it would be a quick stop, but we were mistaken. We stayed at Spring Creek RV Park and it was a pleasant surprise. Although they did not have what was reserved we regrouped and had to move once, but we got our three days. The site.<br />
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The Boulder River runs by the park and it really moves. Mike says it drops 5000' from the top of the mountains to where it enters another river. <br />
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At the edge of the Gallatin National Forest is the Natural Bridge. The water runs out of the mountains there and had cut a bridge in the rock. It has collapsed, but still goes underground and emerges downstream. When there is a large run off it runs over the collapsed bridge as there is too much water to go underground.<br />
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We had to move to another site in order to stay another night and have dinner with Mike and Jana. They took us around the area to see some wildlife and scenery and we were not dismayed by either. This is some amazing country.<br />
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Dinner with Mike and Janna was great and the scenery was wonderful. I kept my eye out for some of the bears they have seen lately, but did not see any. Not really sure I really wanted to. :) Since it doesn't get dark until about 10 PM the evening crept away to soon. We left with a nice picture of our friends.<br />
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We left Saturday and landed at exit 126 on I90, about 5 miles east of Clinton, MT. Wanted to go to Missoula, MT about 20 miles away, but they didn't have room. We are at Ekstroms Stage Station, Rock Creek, MT. It is alright with 50 amp and sewer and I can get sat TV. Everybody was walking around with fly fishing attire on. I took a nap and then we drove up Rock Creek Road into the forest. I had looked and saw that this road went all the way through and we could circle around Phillipsburg and back. The road ran beside to creek for almost the whole way, 40 miles. There were people fishing in a lot of spots. When I got back, I went to the local mercantile to check it out. I was informed that Rock Creek is one of the US Blue Ribbon Trout Fishing Streams. <br />
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Now it has been a dream to catch a trout out of a mountain stream. So, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to see if that could happen. I now have a license, rod, reel, flys, and desire. My neighbor in the park used to live here about 30 miles away and has come back with family to do some fishing. They went out last night and caught three in about 2 hours. I'm ready and as you can see can get into the water.<br />
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Stay tuned for progress. :)<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-5601074624282641372012-07-09T07:54:00.000-05:002012-07-09T07:54:30.096-05:00Upper Big Horn MountainsAfter we got the MH repaired, we just vegged out let the storage bays air out and dry. It is kind of like watching grass grow, but at 13% humidity and an 8 mph wind it doesn't take all that long. <br />
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Sunday we started out about 9:30 to ride a loop up highway 14 into the northern Big Horn Mtns and make a loop and come back on 14A. The scenery was fantastic. Such a diverse area with the difference in altitudes. We topped out twice at 9300' to 9400'. That is on the roadway. There was a little ice/snow in places still left, some only 1/4 to 1/2 mile from the road. <br />
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The best views were while going up the OMG highway. It is the western entrance to the Big Horn Mtns on hwy 14A. It lasts about 10 miles and has 10% grade the whole way. I was going up and my truck ran up to about 220 degrees. It was narrow and did not offer a lot of availability to pull off. There were people pulling trailers, sometimes two, with SRW coming off the mountain. In my defense of not getting any pictures, there were such wide views I couldn't get everything in a picture to do it justice anyway.</div>
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We took a side trip in the Big Horn Canyon National Rec Area. It is pretty much a desert environment with a river running through it creating a deep canyon. The top picture is of that area. This area has 150 wild mustangs and Big Horn Sheep. We didn't see any Sheep, but did get a picture of a couple of wild horses. After all it was the middle of the afternoon with temps in the mid 90's. I would have been in the shade.</div>
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I got this new camera and allows me a 55-200 zoom. This was maxed out.<br />
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We had a great drive, but we did not get back until 6 PM which made for a long day. The Big Horn mountains, both the upper and lower, is a beautiful area. I know we will be back, that is unless we go over the next hill and see something better. :) That has been happening a lot lately. Now that I know I can boondock, the world is my oyster. :))))<br />
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We're off to see where Custer met his match.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365836210987307414.post-36303576973648307192012-07-06T22:04:00.000-05:002012-07-06T22:04:17.646-05:00We SurvivedBig Horn National Forest - Wyoming <br />
We have been offline for most of this week. We had an opportunity to boondock with Howard and Linda. They have a rig that is really set up for this activity and I really thought I could get over my reluctance to put my foot in the water.<br />
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Our rig has <u>A </u>solar panel, Inverter, 6 house batteries and a generator. My daily activity on the solar did not meet my outgoing amperage from the batteries, thereby increasing my need for generator usage. We discussed over time several suggestions to increase my capabilities thus changing some parameters of the inverter/auto gen start. <br />
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Finally, the last night, I just jumped off the deep end and turned off the inverter. I came up sputtering and splashing and I had success. Nothing melted in the freezer, although it went from 0 to 16 degrees and withing 3 hours had recovered.<br />
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Now to the benefits. Wowie, Zowie did we have fun. We are just quiet nature lovers at heart and did we get our fill of that. After saying that, can you ever get full??? There was plenty of scenery even before we found our site. While doing that we did have a <u>discussion</u> with the Forest Rangers about what was available for campsites. End result we were right, they were wrong, and we went down the road and found a quieter spot, just couldn't see the snow <u>all</u> of the time.<br />
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The view.<br />
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Our campsite.<br />
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We had many more photos of the above, but you can not show them all. I can only say the wildlife, mule deer, marmots, Linda and Carolyn saw a moose, were fantastic.<br />
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On the 4th of July we took both Howard and Linda's See Eagle and my brand new, unpacked, See Eagle Paddleski to Tie Hack reservoir for an initial cruise. Carolyn was a little leery about how small and narrow it was, but 30 minutes into the cruise she was having a ball and felt more secure. As you can see.<br />
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I will admit to an overwhelming moment gliding around the lake realizing that July 4th, the designated day of freedom, and with us being totally free on the boondocking experience and finally doing things we had only dreamed about. I felt like William Wallace and wanting to yell at the top of my lungs, "F R E E D O M". You just had to be there. We have Howard and Linda to thank for this as much as anyone. They gave us their history and experiences to lead us and many others to believe that this experience can be anyone's. All you have to do is prepare and then dip that toe in the water.<br />
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We did have a <u>minor</u> problem upon leaving. An engine coolant hose burst before we made it out of the mountains. I made it to the pull off to check the brakes before continuing. Getting out of the MH we could see coolant running out of the storage bays. We proceeded to open and unload and try to get up as much as we could while making our calls to Coachnet to initiate help and assistance. The tow truck arrived at 1 hour and 45 minutes after pulling off the road. It took 2 hrs to hook up the motor home to the tow truck. 1 hour later we were at the Steve's Truck Service in Sheridan, WY for a Tuesday appointment. The mechanic looked at it during our discussion about where to park where so I could get some kind of power, and determined that he could fix it quick. :)))<br />
It was a 5" piece of hose connector at the Aqua Hot (I figure for an engine bypass heater). That fixed, and 6 gallons of coolant and we were in business. Great because it was hot in Sheridan and all I was going to have was 15 amp power. (I didn't have a 30 to 15 amp connector) I was prepared to boondock again. I know I can do it now. It was just another day in paradise.<br />
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We were tired and found a local park, Peter D's RV Park. We're staying 2 nights and will get to see the OMG hill on highway 14 in the upper Big Horn National Forest. Stay tuned for more.<br />
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It just keeps getting better and better.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Been all I can be, got all I can get, now it's time to be me (us)</div>Joe and Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04625507985570848569noreply@blogger.com3