Ft. Desoto State Park, St. Pete Florida, July 2012

For the last week Linda and I have been staying at Fort Desoto State Park  located near St. Petersburg Florida.  This is an interesting campground primarily due to its unique location, on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico where it meets Tampa bay.  This is a spectacular location and we have certainly enjoyed our time here.

The campground is located on a peninsula of land, or perhaps more accurately, sand and shell.  The campground has 238 campsites, all of which are equipped with 30/50 amp electric and city water.  There are shower rooms located throughout the campground and many of the sites back up onto the water, providing spectacular views of the water, the lush vegetation, and of course the sunsets.

This is a photo of the sunset just after a huge storm.  Absolutely beautiful

.

Fort Desoto is a quiet, family style campground with a lot of the residents staying here for the fishing and the other water recreation opportunities.  There is a decent sized camp store with all the usual and necessary camping items, as well as a menu of freshly prepared hot meals and Edy's ice cream.  The store is located on the second floor and there is a back deck where you can sit and enjoy your meal while enjoying the view of the bay.

The fur kids have enjoyed our stay here as they have had ample opportunity to chase after the countless lizards inhabiting the park. There are also gray squirrels that love to tease the pups and there are a fair number of raccoons which we stay far away from .

While walking the pups, I have also enjoyed the beautiful flowers, unique trees and other vegetation.  Linda and I have also spent time riding our bikes around the park on the shell paved park roads, checking out the other campsites for a possible return visit.  All in all, we would consider returning here again in the future.  Hopefully there will be less rain and fewer thunderstorms next time.

Monday, July 9 Daytona Speedway

Last weekend, we attended the Nascar race at Daytona International Speedway, watching the Coke Zero 400.

This was our first time attending a race at Daytona so this qualified as a learning experience for us.  As usual, we camped at the track, and as usual we dry camped, or for the RV un-initiated we parked on a piece of ground and lived on what we carried in the motorhome which included about 100 gallons of water, our most precious and limited commodity.

With that information in mind, and with the understanding that this race takes place in sunny Florida where the temperatures hovered near 100 every day, along with very high humidity and you can begin to suspect that not all would be smooth sailing.  Actually, quite the opposite was the case as we had a great time at the "headquarters of auto racing", and we got to watch a rare, EXCITING Nascar race.  But, I am getting ahead of myself.

We arrived at the speedway on Thursday night after traveling from New Jersey over the holiday and with a quick stop in North Carolina to visit with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson.  It was late when we pulled in, and after a brief delay when we got lost and turned into the wrong gate, we were quickly escorted to our reserved "campsite".

We use the term campsite loosely here as we really had a piece of grassy dirt 20'x40' long, in the midst of dozens of other campers with the same goal we had.  We backed into the site, did minimal setup and then hit the sack.  Tomorrow would begin the weekend and bring new adventures we were sure.  Another thing that really adds to the "color" of camping at a Nascar race are the extreme eccentrics who attend.  These folks go to all sorts of extremes to express their support for various sports, including college football.

If you have never camped at a Nascar race, one thing you should understand is that you need electricity.  With temperatures hovering near 100 all weekend, if you didn't have access to air conditioning, you would wilt very quickly.  Fortunately in our RV, we have a large built in diesel generator which is capable of supplying our electrical needs 24 hours a day, and just as importantly it runs quietly.  Unfortunately most folks who camp at these type of events do not have this capability and provide for their electrical needs with what is known as a "contractor" generator.  This type of generator is relatively inexpensive, and works well on noisy construction sites.  However, in the close confines of a Nascar campground, the din of dozens of such generators running throughout the day and into the night begins to approach the level of a modern day rock concert.  Add to this the ever present carbon monoxide cloud and you have at best, an unpleasant situation. 

Then the cavalry comes to the rescue!  Or perhaps more correctly, our son Larry jr..  Jr. was camping with us during the weekend and after our first attempt to to settle in comfortably, he took it upon himself to find a better location, and succeed he did!  Jr. took off on one of our bikes and returned shortly after announcing that we were going to move.  The new location was, by comparison, almost heaven.  We had almost unlimited space, with not a single noisy neighbor, we were across the road from the local airport, and had a great view of the racetrack.  There was a large grassy area where we could walk the pups and plenty of room to set up the pool and other comfort accessories.  To say the least, the outlook for a great weekend was much brighter.

We decided not to attend the Friday night Nationwide race and missed a very exciting event with plenty of action and an exciting finish even though Kurt Busch eventually won.  Some of you may know that I am not a fan of either of the Busch brothers and consider them both to be total jerks and spoiled brats.  A study of their careers in Nascar will confirm my opinion.

Kurt Busch, one of the all time top 20 sports jerks!

Saturday, the day of the race, we spent relaxing and enjoying the warm sunny weather in Florida in a raceday kind of way.

  This is a plastic cup that was setting out in the sun and melted!  Man it's hot!



These are good times, spent with good folks, having good fun and we are fortunate to be able to do this kind of activity in our motorhome.

Saturday night we journeyed to the track, did some sight seeing, and then found our seats in preparation for the main event.  Nascar races are always filled with tons of "sight and sound" occasions and this one was no different.  The evening started with a live concert by "Train", and then the opening ceremonies which included driver introductions and a special event which was the introduction of four Congressional Medal of Honor winners.  This was a very moving ceremony and one that I enjoyed.  I was proud to be part of the large crowd that gave a standing ovation for all four hero's.  Following this, was the presentation of the flag, and the singing of the national anthem, which concluded with a flyby of a B-52H bomber, probably one of the most dramatic scenes you will ever see.  The B-52 is powered  by EIGHT huge jet engines and even though it was first introduced in 1952 it is still one of the most impressive war planes in the world.

The Daytona race is a "restrictor plate" race, referring to a component that limits the horsepower of the cars, and thus the top speed.  This practice creates a totally different racing environment and typically a very exciting race.  This one was no exception.  Although the early part of the race appeared to be boring, a study of some of the strategies employed by the various race teams kept observant fans keenly watching the race.  The latter part of the race was exciting because of the number of wrecks, sometimes known as "the big one" at Daytona and other super speedways.

To make a long story short, at the beginning of the race, I predicted that #14, Tony "smoke" Stewart would take the checkered flag.

There were times when my prediction didn't look too good, but at Daytona, track position during the race is not too important, only where you are when you cross the finish line.  That night Tony was the first.  I like Smoke, and was glad he won that night.

After the race, we went back to the motorhome and relaxed while the majority of the crowd fought departing traffic.  On Sunday morning we packed up and headed for our next destination in Sarasota on the west coast of Florida.

Our experience at Daytona ranks near the top of our ratings of various tracks.  The camping area was clean when we arrived and clean when we departed.  Although we were camping without connections, there were water outlets located around the campground that you could get water from at no charge.  That is a first in our experience at other tracks.  We enjoyed the race and had a good time all weekend and would definitely consider returning in the future.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012 Goshen Indiana

Today is Tuesday and we have relocated to Goshen at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds.  We are here for the Fleetwood owners national rally which opens tomorrow.  We moved in here on Monday and have had yesterday and today to just sit and relax which we are getting good at.  Actually, yesterday we went trailer shopping.  No, not a camper trailer, rather an enclosed car hauler trailer.  Ever since we started RVing, we have always towed our jeep behind the RV and this has been a simple and easy method to get our car to where we are camping.  However, a couple of years ago, we spent the winter in Florida and it was, to say the least, traumatic, due primarily to the weather.  Apparently the winter of 2009 was one of the worst in Florida with temperatures in the 30s, and high winds most days.

Now, we love our motorhome and all the conveniences it provides, but for what ever reason, I really like to get out and do "something" during the day.  Some of you know that I like to make pens on my lathe and the plan that winter was to do just that.  However, it is the nature of wood turning that it produces a lot of dust, something that is not really compatible with the inside of a motorhome.  During the 4-5 months we were in Florida, I attempted to set up an outdoor work shop on our patio where I could spend time doing my pens.  To say the least, the weather did not cooperate.  Between cold, wind, and rain, it was just about impossible to do anything outside.  I tried sitting and reading a couple of times but finally gave that up too.  About the only outdoor activity we could engage in was taking the pups for walks around the lake.  By the time we left Florida, I was traumatized and hesitant to ever return for another winter.

Fast forward to today, and we are now considering an enclosed trailer which would serve two purposes.  First, we can haul the car in the trailer, but more importantly, when we arrive at our destination, and unload the car, the trailer can serve as a climate resistant workshop that doesn't mind having a bit of dust around.  At least that is the theory.  We don't know how that will work out, but we see a lot of RVers doing just that, and it seems to have some possibilities.  As a result of this line of thinking, we have been looking around for a suitable trailer.

  The first thing that we realize is that there are no used ones anywhere.  For whatever reason, people who buy these things hang onto them.  This is encouraging and gives us confidence that we are moving in the right direction.  The other thing we realize is that it is possible to order these things with just about every imaginable option including 42" plasma TV, surround sound, etc.  I mean, you could live in it if properly spec'd out.  Of interest to us, are the various options that affect the utility of the trailer such as torsion axles, lights, etc.  To this end, we visited 3 trailer dealers yesterday on our day off to help in the education process, and we did learn a lot, including that we want an extended tongue!

Today we are talking with a trailer dealer in Georgia about pricing and options as we begin to zero in on what we want.  I will also add this comment, if President Obama is looking for a bright spot in US manufacturing, he should hitch his wagon to the cargo trailer industry.  These folks, by their own admission, are booming!  Most are selling 6-8 trailers a day, and if you want to custom order one, you will wait 6-8 weeks!  Add to that the fact that nobody is selling their used ones and you have an amazing success story.

There is more to tell on this story and we will try to keep you all posted as it unfolds.  Until then, have a great day.

Sunday, June 24, 2012 Getting ready to move on

I started writing this on Sunday when the quiltfest was over.  Our friends Orlando and Sally left for home early that morning and we were just being lazy that day.  On Mondaymorning we packed up and moved about 20 miles down the road to Goshen Indiana for the Fleetwood RV national rally which is being held at the Elkhart county fairgrounds.  Not sure what to expect because this will be our first Fleetwood rally.  We don't have any expectations so it would be difficult to be disappointed.  :)

One thing that deserves comment is the weather here in the midwest.  Most of last week the temps were in the 90s, with clear skies and sun.  Today is no different and the forecast for the coming week is for the high to reach up to over 100!!!!  Remember, we are in Indiana, in June!  To my way of thinking, this is not normal.  Along with the high temps, there has been virtually no rain for some time.  Although we did have some spotty rain one day last week, it lasted about 10 minutes max.  Obviously the farmers, of which there are many, are not happy.  Many fields have irrigation systems running in the hope of saving the crop.

June 20,2012 Catching up......again

Since we have been spending a few weeks at home, I have been busy with other matters and have not been posting on the blog.  Now that we are out on the road again, I am hoping to get caught up a bit starting with where we are and what we are currently doing.  First, a bit of history.  Last year we attended a rally with the American Coach Association at Shipshewana South Campground, in Shipshewana Indiana.  While at the rally, Linda became aware that the town holds an annual quilt fest during the month of June.  At that point, the die was struck, and reservations were made to return this year during the fest.  We made these arrangements with our friends Orlando and Sally because Sally is also a quilter, and I needed someone to watch over me while the girls attend daily seminars to learn how to quilt.  (Silly me, I guess I just thought they already knew how!)   We arrived here last night, checked in, and went to dinner at Blue Gate Restaurant.

This is what you might call a typical Amish style restaurant with lots of "comfort food" such as chicken and noodles, fried chicken, etc. as well as lots of home made pies.  Needless to say, we did not come home

hungry. 

Unfortunately, while getting ready to leave yesterday, our front air conditioner decided to let the smoke get out which generally means it won't work anymore.  Add to this the fact that we are experiencing mid August weather with temps in the 90s, and you can begin to see our problem.  Today, the girls were "shop hopping" so the boys decided to attempt to fix the broken air conditioner.  This involved a trip to South Bend Indiana to visit W.W. Grainger to pick up a new compressor start capacitor, and then back home to install the new part.  Unfortunately, while the capacitor was bad, it turns out there is a PTCR in series with the offending capacitor and the PTCR is also bad.  End result: the new capacitor immediately smoked.  YIKES!!  Fortunately I remembered some spare electrical parts I had in the basement compartment and was able to get the thing going temporarily.  Now I have to locate the right parts and get the permanent fix installed.

It has been a busy time here in metro Shipshewana Indiana and while I started this post on Wednesday, it is now Friday morning.  I am going to finish here and post this and try to start another post later.  This retirement thing sure does take up a lot of my time! 

Sunday, May 13, 2012. The Preacher's treehouse

We had such an interesting day today, that I had to do an "extra" edition of the blog.  We are staying at Spring Lake RV resort in Crossville Tennessee for an American Coach Association rally.  Today was a quiet day for official activities and it was suggested that we take a tour of the Preacher's tree house.  This was perhaps, the most interesting and most weird tours I have ever taken and suggest you take the opportunity to tour this amazing structure if you ever have the chance.  If you click on the link above, you will read some of the history of this structure which is a 7 or 8 or 9 story tree house.  I'm not sure how many stories there really are, but by all accounts, the house is over 100 feet tall.  As you can see from the pictures, the actual structure is difficult to describe, even if you have been in it, walked up and down in it, toured it, and walked away from it, shaking your head in wonder.  One word kept coming to my mind and that is, "WHY??".  Why did this preacher invest the time and money into building this structure which, while unique and different, is almost totally useless.  What I have heard is that several couples said their vows in the chapel, and at one point some homeless people lived there.  Other than that, there seems to be no purpose, no use, no reason for the tremendous effort put into erecting this house.  It did, however, provide an interesting afternoon for us, along with a lot of exercise exploring the twisting random rooms, stairways, and hall ways.

While this photo doesn't really do the structure justice, you do get an idea of the magnitude of the project.

Randomly located throughout the house are lifesize carved wooden figures of various biblical characters.

This is a view of the "chapel" from the "balcony".  I use the quotes because at any moment, you are never really certain what room you are looking at or located in as the structure is very non-descript.

This is a photo of the tower that extends up from the roof of the house.  If you climb up to the top of the tower you are at least 100 ft. above the ground.  There is a warning that if you jump or fall, you will die!

This is your view of the front lawn from the top of the tower.

Our "tree hugger"  This is one of seven trees that the house is built on/into.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Today is Sunday, and in addition, today is also Mother's day so consider this a great big hug to all the mothers out there who work hard to raise kids, and keep their family together.  Obviously being a mother is a full time job and one of the hardest jobs on earth.  I thank God every day for my family, for my kids, and give credit to my wife for her contribution to the way my kids turned out.

Along a similar line, I was having a discussion the other day, here in the motorhome, about one aspect of RVing that hasn't been discussed before, that is the subject of towels, and in particular, those smaller "hand" towels that are sooooooooo useful in daily life.  In case you don't know what I'm talking about, here are a couple of examples:

I will readily admit that when I am in desperate need of a hand towel for (as an example) wiping up spilled water, or cleaning off some greasy engine part, I reach out for the closest one in reach.  My first glance is to the counter top where all hand towels should be stored!  Where I do not look is on the towel rack shown in the first picture.  Who in their right mind will go to the trouble of taking a hand towel, folding it neatly, and then threading it through the rack?  Why go to all that trouble when you know you will need that same towel in just a few minutes anyway?  Seems like a waste of effort to me.

The green towel laying on the counter is just fine for me, but apparently not for the other occupant in our rolling home, or as our son calls it, "the box".  "She who must be obeyed" is of the school which says you have to hang the towel back up on the rack, or even worse, if you find the towel neatly and precisely folded when you arrive, you must neatly and precisely fold it back into the same shape after you are finished using it.  I suspect there is some mysterious precise location on the counter top where the previously mentioned precisely folded towel must also be positioned or some awful fate awaits the errant towel positioner.  Just one more thing to worry about in an already troubled world!

Men know instinctively that those pretty towels typically found in places like the bathroom of the home of special friends you are visiting, those towels are not there to be used!  After all, if you use them, you have to refold them, again, precisely and neatly, and then reposition them as you found them.  All men have found this to be totally impossible, at least for the male of the specie and therefore chose not to even attempt it as the results are a very poor imitation of the original.  Besides removing those greasy spots after drying ones hands just takes too much time.  It is soooo much easier to just take the path of least resistance and wipe one's hands on one's jeans and then walk out of the bathroom with a smile on your face, acting as though nothing special has happened.  If you watch carefully in this situation, I have actually seen our hostess slyly get up, go into the aforementioned bathroom and surreptitiously check to see if her towels had been disturbed.  Don't deny it ladies, you all do it!  Men know that and that is why we use our garments as towels.  Keeps us out of trouble and that is the goal of every married man.

Getting caught up----maybe

I was reminded recently that according to my blog, I am stuck in Wyoming, when actually we made it home to Ohio mid April.  After remaining in Ohio for about a week, we then left for a gathering of friends in Gettysburg Pa., staying at Gettysburg Campground.  We had a great time getting caught up with everyone, and I was busy fixing various motorhome problems including installation of a new battery charger, and fixing an icemaker.  We traveled to Gettysburg with our friends Orlando and Sally, and spent about 3 hours on Saturday touring the civil war battlefield.  The magnitude of that battle still amazes me when you start to realize the number of combatants, the amount of ammunition expended, the casualties, etc. it is overwhelming.  This doesn't even begin to take into account the human interest stories that abound. 

On Thursday, we all traveled to Lancaster Pa. to see the presentation of Jonah and the Whale at the Sight and Sound Theatre.  This was an amazing performance.  The special effects and the costumes were tremendous and the story was a joy to watch.  The theater holds 2200 and every seat was full. If you are planning to be in the Lancaster area any time before Dec. 29, you should look into attending a performance.

Following the trip to Gettysburg, we returned back home for a week to relax and clean up the RV.  Then, on Wednesday of this week, we headed out again, this time for the Volunteer state.  We will be in Tennessee for a week and a half to attend a rally in Crossville Tn. with the Great Lakes Chapter of the American Coach Association, and then on to Sevierville Tn. to attend the national rally for the American Coach Association.

Today is Thursday, and we just arrived at Spring Lake RV resort in Crossville.  Thus far, it appears we are going to have a comfortable stay here with full hookups, a large grassy site, with a very nice view of the lake located right behind our site.

As the week goes on, I will try to discuss some of the attractions here just in case you decide you might want to visit the area.

Sunday, April 15, 2012, Cheyenne Wyo.

Having considered the weather, both here in Cheyenne, and in Nebraska, we decided to stay here last night, and then remain here at least until later this afternoon, hoping the wind will die down and the tornadoes will go away in Nebraska.  This is an example of what we are contending with here in Wyo., and people wonder why people don't camp in Wyo. in April!

 

And so we sit, waiting for the weather to improve when we will head out for Nebraska.

Saturday, April 14, 2012 Rock Springs, Wyoming

Yesterday was Friday the 13th, and after what we went through, I am beginning to be superstitious.  We had spent the last week in Salt Lake City Utah, attending a home missions conference and graduation ceremony at Salt Lake Baptist College.  We got to spend time with old friends, and make many new friends.  All in all, we had a great time.  The conference ended Thursday evening and after taking friends to the airport, we made it back to the church where we parked our RV for the week.  We also made it back just in time to discover that we both had encountered a case of intestinal malfeasance.  Since there were several others who attended, we concluded that something in the previous evenings menu contained the culprit with evidence pointing to the cantelope being the bad player.

We managed to get things packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed up the road on I-80 towards Wyoming.  I was not comfortable at all, and after about 3 hours of driving, we pulled into the Flying J in Rock Springs Wy, to spend the night.  After a very uncomfortable night, with little sleep, we are both feeling a little bit better today and after putting things away, and taking a hot shower, we will be heading east in I-80 towards Nebraska, specifically Pender NE. 

I decided, after looking at my Blue Ox, Aventa tow bar, that a side trip to the Blue Ox factory was in order.  We bought the tow bar in 2004, and have about 70000 miles of towing on it.  That plus some winter snow and salt, have led me to conclude it needs some TLC from the factory.  Blue Ox reportedly has a nice campground at the factory where we can stay while having the service done, so we will make the trip, and  then be able to report on our experience. 

This morning, I woke up to snow falling outside.  Apparently the snow in our high altitude is part of a larger system that is raining in Nebraska and causing tornadoes in Oklahoma.  Thanks to our friend Jim for pointing that out, and naturally, we will keep a close eye on the weather as we travel. 

Sunday, April 8, 2012 Salt Lake City, Utah

Whew!!!  It has been almost a week since my last post and have we been busy.  Since my last post, we have traveled from Phoenix, up to Las Vegas, and then on to Salt Lake City, Utah, where we are presently located.  We had a great time in Phoenix, getting together with folks we haven't seen in far too long.  It is a wonderful thing to have a great family, and we both thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with family members.

On Thursday morning, we met up with friends from northern NY who flew into town on business.  We had a great time at breakfast with Bruce and Jill and the girls and appreciate them taking time out from their business to spend time with us.

Thursday afternoon we left Phoenix with sad hearts.  We love the warm weather, the sunny skies and the great times we had, but our schedule was looming and off we went.  Our stop that night was Las Vegas, at the KOA located by Circus Circus.

This was our first experience at camping in downtown Las Vegas, and it was certainly interesting.  Somehow we got the address of the KOA entered into the GPS wrong and ended up driving the coach down some dark and narrow streets.  Just as we were about to panic, I saw the yellow KOA sign and we were saved.  The campground is mostly blacktop with full hookups.  The "sites" are large enough, but close together as is typical for KOA.  The big draw of course, is the proximity of the casino.  After getting registered and set up, we walked across the parking lot and into the casino for dinner.  We went to the buffet and ate way more than we should have, especially from the dessert bar.  After that we walked around inside and outside.  We were sitting and watching the crowd go by when a ruckus sounded above our head.  To our surprise, there was a flying acrobat show starting right over out head.

We just sat there watching  as the acrobats flew through the air.  Kind of neat as an unexpected surprise.  After that, we walked back to the coach and went to sleep as we had driven a long way that day and we were tired.

The next morning we broke camp and took off heading north towards Utah.  It was during this drive that we got to see scenery that has to rate as the most beautiful and awe inspiring I have ever seen.

Unfortunately, my camera cannot do justice to the scenery.  You will just have to see it for yourself.  Trust me though, it is worth the drive.

Also unfortunately, our Jeep continued it's slide into oblivion.  Maybe, just maybe it's time to think about replacing old reliable.  With about 195000 miles on the odometer, and another 80000 being towed, things just don't work as well as they used to.  Friday afternoon, as we were driving up I-15, a passing car honked and waved at us, pointing toward the back of the motorhome.  I looked in the rearview monitor and to my surprise, there was smoke billowing out of the hood of the jeep.  I immediately pulled over, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and ran back to the car.  I raised the hood and realized that the smoke was from hot oil smoking from the front differential, and the smoke was slowing down, rather than growing.  I climbed under the car and saw that there was some kind of problem with the drive shaft.  I pulled out the tool box, and removed the front drive shaft.  On the jeep, the front wheel drive mechanism has a transfer case that sends power to the front wheels through a driveshaft.  When I pulled out the driveshaft, I noticed that the pinion gear on the end was missing.  I then removed the back cover from the differential and there was the gear, laying on the bottom of the case, with some parts slightly bent.

With the gear removed, I reinstalled the cover, added some 90 wt. gear lube, and stuffed a tennis ball into the hole where the driveshaft used to be to keep the oil from splashing out.  After that, we continued on our way to the Nephi Utah Flying J, our original destination.  We pulled in there after dark and crashed for the night.  It had been a looooooong and stressful day.

In the morning, we woke up and I took the pups outside to take care of business and saw yet another breathtaking sight.

In the distance was a beautiful snowcapped mountain range.  Wow!  I could get to like this place!

After breakfast at...........you guessed it...........Denny's, we hit the road again for our last leg, about 80 miles to Salt Lake City.  We will be staying there for about a week to attend a world missions conference, to catch up with some old friends and make some new ones.  We will be talking more about that in future posts.  Needless to say, this has been an eventful trip that we will long remember.

One last comment, one of our dear friends, Jim, and his family are camping this week at Disney in Florida and apparently he is thoroughly enjoying his stay there:

Until next time, safe travels.

Larry

Saturday, March 31, 2012. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Today was a really mixed bag with good, bad, and ugly.  Things started out ok, I mean, I woke up and I was NOT looking up at grass roots, and at my age, that is a plus.  After breakfast, I took Linda over to Desert Ridge Resort to meet up with her sister and cousin for a day of shopping.  Unfortunately on the way back, the bad struck big time.  Driving along and heard a thump, then the power steering quit, the volt meter started dropping and the engine temp began climbing.  I quickly concluded the serpentine belt had broken, and after pulling off into a restaurant parking lot, raising the hood, and looking, I confirmed my suspicion.  Fortunately I had my Garmin with me, and plugged in "AutoZone".  Even more fortunate, the closest AZ was........right across the street!  Lucky me!  I hoofed it across the road, and bought a new belt, plus a wrench to move the tensioner pulley.  A closer investigation revealed that in addition to the broken belt, the tension pulley was gone, as a result of a bad bearing.  Hoofed it back to AZ, and got a replacement pulley, and after about a half hour of wrenching, the new pulley and belt were installed and I was on my way.

I finished my drive home and then gave the puppies a bath.  As usual when we are traveling they have a tendency to pick up a lot of dirt and the normally white coats have a grey cast to them.  After washing the dirt down the drain in the shower, the pups look much better.

After that it was off to sister Nian's place for a dinner get together with some members of my extended family, including my favorite aunt and uncle who are also celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary.  We got to see cousins, and uncles and aunts and others, some of whom I have not seen in many, many years.  A good time was had by all and many thanks to my sister for hosting.

Now for the ugly.  While at the party, we had the TV on and watched the Ohio State, Kansas NCAA b'ball game.  Sad to say, the Buckeyes came up a couple points short and will be going home instead of to the final to play Kentucky.  Congratulations to Coach Thad and the team for a great season.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Quartzsite Az.

Today was an interesting day as we took a day trip to Quartzsite Az.  Quartzsite is a sleepy little desert town in western Arizona, near the California border.  At least it is sleepy most of the time.  However, when the weather in the north starts to turn cold, snowbirds head south and about 150,000 of them end up camping in Quartzsite.

Normally the population of Quartzsite is around 3500, and taking care of this many visitors for several months every year, has taken some interesting twists and turns.  For a town with 3500 citizens, there is a large number of RV parks or campgrounds here.  They cater to a small number of permanent residents and then fill up during the winter months.  The campgrounds are only a small part of the accomodation picture however.  In addition, the federal government owns thousands of acres of desert land around Quartzsite and thousands of the visitors chose to drive out into the desert, park their RVs, and spend the winter there without any ties to the civilization grid.  A typical "campsite" in the desert looks something like this:

Or this:

Suffice to say amenities are not the strong suit here.  There are several attractions that bring thousands of RVers here to the desert.  The winter weather is generally mild, the government either charges nothing, or very little to stay on the desert land, and the real attractions are the RV show in January that attracts upwards of 1,000,000 people, the hobby craft and gem show in early February, and the Rock and Roll Classic Car show that runs along with the gem show.  All this activity takes place in the "big top", a huge tent erected in Quartzsite just for the purpose of housing this event.  This is an amazing phenomenon that is a "must see" for all true RVers.  Linda and I are thinking that this coming winter is probably going to be our turn.  She actually has her desert "site" already picked out, subject to change of course.

Our purpose today was to scope out the area, and get our feet wet in anticipation of our journey there next fall.  We will keep you posted as we plan this adventure.

It has been a busy and tiring last couple of days.  Our last post was on Sunday and at that time we were in El Paso Texas.  Monday morning, after jousting with Pilot/Flying J, we headed further west, through New Mexico, and into Arizona.  After driving the full width of Texas the previous couple of days, the trip through New Mexico and Arizona was like doing a wind spring, and the miles just rolled by and we found ourselves in Casa Grande Az. by early evening.  Earlier in the day, we had called our friends Byran and Billie who live in Casa Grande during the winter and arranged to have dinner with them Monday night.  Byran suggested we stay at Fiesta Grande RV park in Casa Grande for the night.  This turned out to be a good suggestion, particularly since they have a wonderful dog run area with REAL grass, fenced in, and a bunch of other puppies for them to play with.  Needless to say, Webster and Kassy had a great time playing with their new friends.

We also had a great time with Byran and Billie at their home, with great food and a fun time with all who attended dinner last night.  Linda and I returned to the coach tired, full and relaxed.  Thank you Byran and Billie for hosting us.

Tuesday morning, we go up, took the pups to play, and then packed up in preparation for the short hop up to Phoenix and our destination there, Royal Palm RV Resort.

This is a very nice resort park with all the usual amenities.  Our site is large and we are comfortable.  Tomorrow we are going to drive over to Quartzsite to scope out the territory in anticipation of staying there next winter.

Not everything was wonderful in our world on Sunday as we went round and round with the manager of the Flying J over how they were charging our diesel fuel on our card, but I won't get into that right now.  I will say that it took many phone calls and took until Monday night before Pilot finally got it straightened out.

Nancy Reagan Movie

It has been announced that Jane Fonda will be playing the part of Nancy Reagan in a new movie.  As a Vietnam vet, I have a real problem with the likes of Ms. Fonda playing a true patriot such as the heroic wife of a one of the greatest presidents ever.   I'm certain there will be formal protests of this move and I encourage all to participate in those protests.

Sunday March 25, 2012, West Texas

Today is Sunday, March 25, and sad to say, we had to leave our friends at Scenic View and move on down the highway towards Phoenix Az.

Leaving such a restful and beautiful place is difficult, but we have a schedule to keep on this trip, and so we go. We departed Lone Star TX around 1:30 yesterday and headed west, towards Dallas/Ft. Worth. We are not trying to burn up the highway on this leg, so we ended up in Abilene Tx. last night, staying at our second favorite destination, Flying J, pulling in around 8 PM. We had a bit of a catastrophe yesterday when we stopped at a road side picnic area and took the kids out for a walk. Apparently Governor Perry was so busy campaigning earlier this year, and didn't have time to mow the grass at the picnic area here. As a result, the kids got their fur full of sticky weeds and Linda and I spent about an hour cleaning them up. Poor kids were really good though and got rewarded with extra treats as a result.

We were hungry when we pulled in, and after getting parked, we took off to locate a mexican restaurant we had found on the GPS. After a 20 mile round trip, including finding the "closed" restaurant, we ended up eating at the Denny's at the Flying J. Oh well! Of course, we did get to watch THE Ohio State Buckeyes basketball team knock off #1 seed Syracuse. Go Buckeyes. Up next, either Tarheels, or Kansas. Either way, final four baby!!!

Although, Abilene is the prettiest town that I've ever seen, and the women here don't treat you mean, it is now Sunday morning and we are getting ready for the next leg of our journey which will take us out in the west Texas town of El Paso. I intend to fall in love with a mexican girl at Rosa's cafe'!

More later!

Another Day in Paradise Monday March 19, 2012

Today is Monday here in east Texas. Yesterday whizzed by so as to hardly even notice its coming and going. However, it stayed here long enough for us to enjoy some beautiful weather, to lay in the clover, to soak up the sunshine, and to watch the puffy clouds drift by. In particular, the pups really enjoyed the day. The figured out very quickly that they could relax in the clover with the cool ground and the warm sun creating a perfect balance of comfort.

We are still here in Lone Star Texas, about 2 hours east of Dallas. East Texas is a beautiful area with rolling hills, green grass and beautiful trees. Lone Star is a small town with population of about 1600 really nice people (and from what I hear, a couple of old grouches). Lone Star has one stop light, two gas stations, one grocery store and 8 baptist churches. Linda and I attended South Union Missionary Baptist Church yesterday then spent the rest of the day relaxing and catching up on sleep lost during the mad rush through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and into Texas the other day.

Last night our hosts here at Scenic View Campground

http://www.scenicviewmarina.com/

invited us to dinner at a local mexican restaurant and we dined on enchiladas, tortillas and other tasty cuisine along with some other friends. A good time was had by all.

Today, being Monday, we had few plans, especially since the weather forecast was for strong winds and heavy rain. So far (at 3:30) we have had some breezes, a couple of sprinkles, and some clouds, but mostly blue skies and sun. Once again we spent the day relaxing and recharging our batteries.

A Journey

In the year 550 BC, the chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Well, that covers a thousand mile journey, but I was beginning to wonder what it would take to get an 1100 mile journey going! Our original plans this month were to leave Ohio on Wednesday, March 14. However, because our motorhome was in storage up until the Sunday before that, we really didn't have time to get going until the afternoon of Thursday the 15th. Since we had reservations for Saturday the 17th in Texas, we decided to push ourselves a bit and traveled to Franklin Kentucky on Thursday, arriving there about 11 PM. As is our habit, we stopped at a convenient Flying J truck stop for the night, where I and the bed became as one for the rest of the night. We got up about 8 on Friday morning and went into the Denny's located at the Flying J. After breakfast we fired up the coach, aired up the bags, and headed southwest towards Tennessee and Arkansas with our goal being the Flying J in Texarkana. We expected to stay the night there and finish the last hour and a half of our journey to Lone Star Texas on Saturday morning. As luck would have it, we ran into a lengthy delay due to construction on I45, and finally arrived at our destination about 11 PM. After another night sleep, we woke up refreshed, and while taking the pups for a walk in the parking lot, came across an interesting sight:



A trailer full of giant animals including a chicken, a horse, a hippo, some sort of griffin thing, and other assorted animals that, apparently the driver had to have along on his trip with him, sort of like a modern day Noah, if you will.


We left Texarkana and after a short drive through east Texas, we arrived at Scenic View Marina and RV park in Lone Star Texas. If you are wondering why we worked so hard to get here, this is the reason:



After our arrival here, Linda and I got into the car and headed down the road about 5 miles to David Beard's Catfish Village:



If you like farm raised catfish, or even think you might, you owe it to yourself to someday try David Beard's Catfish Village. They have really good catfish filets in an awesome batter, along with cole slaw, tomato relish, tartar sauce, a really nice cocktail sauce, and it is all you can eat. I may be hungry again, sometime next week!!

Tomorrow is Sunday, and we will be going to church at South Union Missionary Baptist Church. After that there is plenty more relaxation in store for these weary travelers, with more adventures to come. See you next time.