Never Never Land

I 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There are a lot of different boats up here.

More later. Stay tuned.  And we ARE having a great time.

Hello, We're Back

Our 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. :(

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.

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.

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.

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. :)

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.

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.

Still loving the lifestyle and some days sleep until 6:00 AM. Follow us as we encounter new adventures.

Out of Hibernation - Almost

Had a good winter in the Clermont area with the family.  My shorter stay this winter turned into a longer - 7 week stay.

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 http://stevendebstravels.blogspot.com/, and Rick and Elaine http://e-rstravels.blogspot.com/.

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.

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.

We had lots of fun and also Valentines Day dance.  There was lots of fun, food, and dancing.

 

 

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. :)

 



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.

I did draw a crowd so I did have some supporters. Who knows, maybe next year.

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.

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. :)

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.

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.

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.

We consider ourselves luckier than most.

The Start of a New Year

We 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. 

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.

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.

There will be more posts when we start doing things. Hope to see you soon.  It's all good.

Appointments

We 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.

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 :). 

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. 

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. :)

A Year of RVing and Thanksgiving

Well, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. :)

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.

 

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...

 

 

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.

 

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. :)

 

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.

 

Come follow us this year and share our experiences.





Asheville and the Blue Ridge Parkway

Many, well maybe one or two, may be wondering if we are still traveling.  We ARE.  We are just doing it slower.

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.

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.

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?

 

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.

 

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. :) 



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.