We are Homeless???

Before I tell you how two people that own a house in Midlothian, VA and an RV can be homeless, I want to talk about our recent trip without the RV.  It was wonderful.  The time with Diana's family is always fun and the stop in Amelia Island, then in Port Orange and then the cruise were all great.  The visit with my family over Christmas was very special and will be a great memory for a life time.  The visit to Brandermill church and with our neighbors and friends while in Midlothian was amazing.  And finally our trip back to the RV allowed us to see some former neighbors.  An amazing 5 weeks away from the RV.

But we are ready to get back to the RV and return to some routine.  But wait...the RV which was supossed to have all the worked completed so we could pick it up on 12/30 may not be ready until January 2 or maybe later.  What!? How can this be?  The dealer has had the RV for 5 weeks!  We want to get home!!!

You may recall from a previous post that we were getting a new wind shield due to a disagreement with a rock.  Wind shields for RVs are not like those for cars in that glass places do not stock them in their inventory.  So it is special ordered.  Ours had been ordered by December 10, maybe sooner, and so I expected no issues.  Well I called the dealer the other day and the wind shield had not arrived yet.  I called yesterday and it had arrived and they were going to try to install it in the afternoon. Time for a little side bar here; Due to the holidays, and a death of a family member of our service writer, the normal work schedule has been compromised.  Also, the person who is trying to help us is wearing several other hats as well.  The dealership has been very helpful and provided me with all the info they can.  They have even had to track things down and have called me back several times.  End side bar.

So we are in Charlotte, NC with no where to go until at least the 2nd.  And that is how we are homeless!  Fortunately we are in a nice hotel that we have extended our stay until Monday.  But after that we are not sure where we will be or for sure when we will be able to pick up our home.  We'll keep you posted.

Brandermill Church

What a blessing it was to go to our "home church" yesterday.  The Christmas pageant was wonderful, the worship was meaningful and the evening cantata was amazing.  It was great to reconnect with so many friends and to see how things have changed and stayed the same.  We hope to see many of you again over the next week or so.

We did not realize how many of you follow this blog!  We will continue our posts when it seems appropriate.  It is great to feel loved!

Cruisin'

The drive from Hammond, LA to Amelia Island, FL was uneventful and boring.  I-10 across the Florida panhandle is flat, straight and without much scenery.  But since we were in the Jeep and not the RV it was cool to be able to drive at 70 miles and hour!

The short visit with Dale and Christy (Diana's brother and sister-in-law) was great.  The trip to Port Orange to see Diana's sister, Marge and brother-in-law David was short and we had a nice time there.  Dale and Christy came down for Thanksgiving and we all ate too much....the American way.

Friday we were off on a cruise with Marge and David.  The Emerald Princess was the ship and we had 10 days and several islands in the south eastern Caribbean.  The weather was great and the excursions were wonderful.  We watched the sun rise and set from our balcony and had great scenery the entire voyage.  We had been on 2 other cruises but had not had as great a time.  Partly due to poor weather but what made this cruise so great was being with Marge and David.  I don't know about them but we had a great time.

Sadly, the cruise ended and we had to leave Port Orange.  We drove to Midlothian, VA, our old home.  As of this post Diana has been to the church for the Prayer Shawl Ministry (better known as Knit Wits) and we stopped at Bob's brother's house to visit with Don, Janice, Alex, Heather, Flannery, Kathy, Bray plus we got to meet Lilly the dog.  A fun night.

The next few days look great with a cookie decorating in our old neighborhood and lots of "getting together" with friends and relatives.  Looks like we will have a full social schedule for our two weeks here.

Vacation

OK, don't start!  I know most of you, and by most I mean all, think we are on a full time vacation.  I can't argue with that but we are taking a vacation from the RV.  Saturday the 23rd we will drop the RV off at an RV dealer and Camping World in Hammond, LA.  We have a list of warranty work, maintenance work and a few upgrades they will work on while we are gone.  We 'll be back on December 30th to pick up the RV.

First we go to Amelia Island, FL where Di's brother Dale and his wife Christy are staying at a condo.  Two days there then south to visit Di's sister Marge and her husband David for a few days then Dale and Christy will join us for Thanksgiving.  Friday Marge, David, Diana and I leave for a 10 day cruise in the Caribbean.  When we get back from that Diana and I will drive to Midlothian and visit with friends and spend Christmas with my brother and his family.  Then drive back to Hammond, LA to get the RV and resume that life style.

The inside of the RV looks like a storm came through since we have piles of clothes for each stop along the way.  We are pretty sure it will all fit in the Jeep...maybe!

Great River Road Complete!!!

On November 16, 2013 we completed our journey down the Great River Road.  This took roughly 3 months, but we took a side trip to Wisconsin for 2+ weeks and spent 3 weeks near the Twin Cities.  Several places along the GRR we saw signs indicating that one drop of water entering the the river at the beginning would take about 90 days to make it to the Gulf of Mexico.  We were not too far off of that timing.  Our approach was to follow the official GRR as much as possible unless we found roads closer to the river, then we followed as closely as we could.  Below is a summary in pictures and words of the trip.  Many places along the GRR we could not see the river at all, other places we were within a few feet.

It all starts at Lake Itasca in Minnesota.

We think Wisconsin has the most scenic drive on the river. 

 Tennessee was the only state with brown signs.

We did about half the road in the RV and the other half we parked the RV in a campground and drove the Jeep.  We drove in all 10 states that touch the river.

The river does not have an official end!  This is because south of New Orleans it begins to branch off and split around dozens of islands.  Technically it does not end until it is out in the Gulf a way.  We followed the road as far as you can by car.   This is as close to the end as we could get.

It was a fun adventure with some beautiful scenery and some just plain ugly industry.  What a blessing to have been able to do this.  Now we celebrate!!

The back up

When we left Baton Rouge our holding tanks were about 1/2 full.  We knew we were staying at Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego near New Orleans and that we would not have a sewer hook up for a week.  So when we pulled into the camping area of the park our first stop was the dump station.  We hooked up and pulled the black water valve and all seemed well.  Once the tank was empty we filled it with fresh water to rinse it clean.  We pulled the valve again and water started coming up out of the hole that the soil line was in.  We closed the valve but still had 15 feet of liquid in the pipe so it continued to over flow the line for awhile.

We called the Park office and they sent 2 guys to help.  The help turned out to be them opening the large receiving tank about 15 yards away and telling me to finish the dump into it directly.  So Diana drove the RV to the tank while I walked along side holding the drain line up in the air.  It took about 10 minutes but we finally got both black and gray tanks drained.  Then we went and set up for the week.

Supposedly the park has had a plumber out twice to fix the problem.  They said they would get him back.  I hope so because we will need to drain again before we leave.

10K

Some where on the Natchez Trace between Vicksburg, MS and Baton Rouge, LA we passed the 10,000 mile mark in the RV.

Windshields and rocks

We had a great visit with Diana's cousin Holly and her husband Roger.  It was Halloween so we put on costumes!

But sadly it was time leave and continue on down the Great River Road. We were driving down hwy 1 from Memphis toward Vicksburg when an on coming truck somehow managed to throw a stone at us.  We never saw it but boy did we hear it.  BAM!  Diana was driving and did a great job of staying cool and calm.  We could not see any damage to the windshield but there was some broken glass on the dash board of the RV.  Of course there is no way to clean it up while we are moving so it will just have to wait.  When we pulled into the campground we looked at the damage.  The rock hit just below the top gasket between the RV body and the glass. The ding was about the size of a golf ball and while it did not go through the glass we knew the glass had been compromised all the way through.

So we call a glass repair company and they came out the next day to tell us that because of the location of the ding, they can not patch it and they do not replace RV windshields.  The RV is safe to drive and looks kind of cute with the tape patching the windshield.

When we get to Hammond, LA later this month we have an appointment at an RV service center.  We'll determine what to do then.

Memphis

We knew we wanted to get to Mud Island in Memphis before going to visit Diana's cousin Holly and her husband Roger.  We also knew we were not taking the RV down town.  So several miles out of Memphis we stopped at a Walmart and unhooked the Jeep. We drove the Jeep to Mud Island.  Mud Island is very cool but first some back ground.  We were in Memphis about a year ago and had a great time.  There was not enough time to visit Mud Island until our return flight was cancelled due to super storm Sandy.  So we had that extra day to go.  It was a Monday and we took the trolly to a visitors center near the island.  Turns out Mud is closed on Mondays.  Really, well shoot!

This time we were pushing to get there because of weather and because they close for the season after the big Halloween party on 10/31.

Mud Island has a to scale working model of the Mississippi River.

This picture is a very small section of the model.

We spent about 2 hours just walking the river model.  It shows all the significant tributaries, varies in width and depth and has markers throughout giving details and history.  Since we have been following the river from the source, this model was really great.

Well, that was fun!!??

We have had success following the GRR with the RV pulling the Jeep.  This new approach has save us time and money while allowing us a more relaxed trip.  So we left Cairo, IL and headed down the GRR toward Memphis, TN.  But as we drove the road became more narrow and in poor driving condition.  So we were driving about 25 - 30 mph rather than the 55 posted limit.  No worries because there is no other traffic on this road.  But it continues to narrow and deteriorate.  Soon we are on a road that is about 1.3 lanes wide.  But still no traffic so we are OK.  It is a concern that we have not seen a Great River Road sign in some time but there was no place to turn so we figured we must be on the right path.

We came to a sharp left turn in the road or we could go straight. We chose to go straight and that took us up a small hill.  Once over that knoll we knew we were wrong!  Turns out it is an entrance to a Cargill  grain receiving station.  In order to turn around and go back out we have to disconnect the Jeep,  maneuver the RV then reconnect. OR we could ask at the receiving office if we could go through the truck unloading area which was just a big circle.  Since Diana was driving I went in and explained our situation and they had no problem with me driving through. So we switched drivers and I began to make the loop.

I chose door # 2!

We made it through with no problem so we switched drivers again and Diana took the wheel.  We pulled out of Cargill and realized that there was no way we could make the now right hand turn on to the "road" we supposed to be on.  So we had to disconnect the Jeep, drive about 100 yards back up the road where we could turn the RV around, then reconnect the Jeep.  The entire process took about 30 minutes.  The beauty was that neither of us got upset and we just went with the flow.  I was very impressed with us!

This road did not get any better and finally we turned on the GPS and plugged in our destination.  It told us to stay on the road for 5 more miles.  So we did and about 1/2 mile before the intersection where we were to turn on to a real road we finally see a Great River Road sign.  We laughed, made the turn and continued on to Memphis.

By the way, Tennessee is the only state with brown GRR signs.  So far all other states have been green signs but use brown ones to indicate roads to parks or boat ramps.  Odd.

Cairo, IL

Cairo, Illinois is where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi.  When I first Goggled Cairo I was greeted with a post that Cairo was the most depressed town in the United States.  As we drove through Cairo I realized the post was right.  Not just empty store fronts but vacated buildings that were as run down as many slum areas.  I estimate that at least 40% of the buildings were vacant.  Somewhat of a ghost town.  We drove through town to cross the Ohio River into Kentucky to get to our campground and set up.


We set up camp at Columbus-Belmont State Park.  This was one of the nicest Campgrounds we have been in.  It had big level sites with a fire pit, picnic table and lots of grass.  The real beauty was that it was on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi.  So we not only had a great view, but part of the view was being able to watch boats pushing long lines of barges up or down the river.  The only down side to this location was that we had no internet and no phone service.

The next morning we headed back into Cairo to find the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi.

After seeing the confluence we drove into town to a diner where we could use our phones and get internet.  After taking care of that it was back home.

GRR St. Louis

We parked in a campground in West Chain of Rocks, IL.  We took the jeep and drove up the Mississippi to a tower overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers.

An interesting place but we wanted to get to the junction itself.  So we drove across the Mississippi into Missouri and went to a state park where we could walk right down to the point where these two great rivers become one.

We then drove south following the river as closely as we could.  We stopped for lunch in St. Louis then headed back to the campground.

Rude awakening

This morning we were awakened by Osage oranges bouncing off the roof of the RV!!  They are about the size of a tennis ball and hard as a rock.  When they drop from a tree and hit the roof of the RV at 6:43 AM you are up for the day.  We pulled in the sides, raised the leveling jacks and moved out from under the tree.  No damage, but a rude awakening!

Change in Strategy for GRR

Up until now our Great River Road journey was really one where we would park the RV for several days and then use the Jeep to back track on the GRR one day then drive south for awhile another day.  This was dictated by the roads we were on as they often were not really roads but gravel or thru a city.  This is hard on the RV and hard driving.  This was particularly true north of the Twin Cities.  The GRR from St. Paul, MN to Wabasha, MN would have been fine with the RV pulling the Jeep.  Also, the GRR from La Crosse, WI to Wabasha would have been fine.  So on our trip from La Crosse to Rock Island, IL we decided to try using the RV while pulling the Jeep.  This will save backtracking, time and gasoline.  We like saving gasoline!!!

The roads were fine and we had no issues at all.  There was one area that was narrow and windy but it was no problem for me because Diana was driving.  We had switched about 10 minutes earlier, so I lucked out.

The drive was beautiful, with the trees showing lots of color and there was plenty of sun.  We drove down the Wisconsin and Illinois side so we were looking across to Minnesota or Iowa.  Cliffs on the left, the river on the right.  As we drove southward the cliffs gave way to open and rolling farms with lots of corn.  As we were coming toward Rock Island we left the GRR and found the campground.  The next day we covered the area from our campground north to I-80 then crossed over to IA and came back south.  Today's drive was not a pretty one as it was a rain and snow mix.  Plus we have noticed that near the big towns or cities the river view is often blocked by industry.

We will continue this new strategy of traveling the GRR in the RV with the Jeep in tow.

Awnings are cool!

We have a large awning that is extended or retraced with a remote(yep, it has a remote) or by the switch at the entry.  It also has a wind sensor so if the wind comes up over the programmable wind speed setting, the awning will automatically retract to keep it from ripping.  We use the awning a lot unless it is windy.  Today it is cold with a mix of snow and rain, but no wind.  So when we were getting ready to go outside to get some cleaning supplies we thought we would extend the awning to give us some protection from the snow and rain.  Diana pushed the button and nothing happened.  Well, shoot, one more thing gone wrong.  She got out the manual and learned that at temperatures of 32 or below the awning will not extend.  Not sure why, but it won't.  At that time it was 32 degrees.  So I got wet getting the cleaning supplies.  The learning continues.

Where are we anyway?

The last few nights we have been at Pettibone Campground near La Crosse, Wisconsin.  And technically speaking we are in Wisconsin.  At this point, Wisconsin and Minnesota are separated by the Mississippi River.  Also, at this point the river is wide and has a lot of islands.  We are on one of those islands.  So when we take the Jeep to drive some where we must cross part of the Mississippi.  As we pull out of the campground if we turn right we travel about 2 miles crossing a bridge and end up in La Crosse, WI.  If we turn left, we travel about 3 miles, cross a bridge and end up in La Cresent, MN.  So I feel like we are really in neither the state of Wisconsin nor in the state of Minnesota.  We are really in a state of limbo that is neither here nor there!

Heating

We have 3 heat sources on the RV.  A propane furnace that will run whether we are hooked up to shore power or not, an electric fire place that will run when we have shore power or if the generator is running and a heat pump that will run on shore power or when the generator is running.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each so we try to optimize their use.

As the weather here in Wisconsin turns cooler we have learned a little more about the heating systems.  Up until now we have relied mostly on the fire place and the heat pump to warm the RV.  Both are electric and since we pay the same price for a camp site no matter how much electricity using these 2 heat sources make the most cents (pun intended).  This week we have learned that the heat pump produces little to no heat when the outside temperature gets to about 40 degrees or less.  This means that on a morning like today when it is 32 degrees at 5 AM the heat pump is running full time but producing no heat.  So then the propane furnace kicks in and warms the place very nicely.

I know that heat pumps are less efficient as the temps drop, which is why nobody has them for their house in cold climates.  But it is now good to know where our cut off point is.  And we are warm and toasty in cool Wisconsin...but heading south tomorrow!!!

Great River Road continues

When we last left the GRR we were in Coon Rapids, MN.  So while we were in Prior Lake we took a day and drove back to Coon Rapids and followed the river in to Minneapolis and stopped for lunch at Nicolette Island.

This was a wonderful island in the river and a very pleasant day.

 Down town Minneapolis from Nicolette Island

 St. Anthony Falls

The Grain Belt sign is a Minneapolis landmark.  Grain Belt is the second worst beer ever.

We continued along the river into St. Paul.  The roads along the river parkway were all lined with barricades in preparation for the Twin Cities Marathon that was coming up Saturday.  The ride along the river was beautiful.

Braking or lack of it

On the road from the Green Bay area to Eau Claire and from there to Prior Lake we got an alarm from our supplemental braking system on the Jeep that we had a low battery.  This meant the system was not working properly and we really did not have a supplemental braking system.  The purpose of the system is to apply brakes to the Jeep when it is in tow and we apply the brakes in the RV.  It is a safety system that is required in many states and in Canada.  We bought it as a safety feature and to reduce ware on the RV brakes.  Now it stopped working.  We still have brakes but it is entirely up to the RV to stop both vehicles.

The brake pack plugs into the 12 volt DC plug in the Jeep for power.  The RVi web site (maker of the braking system) said the DC plug may not be providing enough power to the unit and therefore causing the "low battery" alarm.  The solution was to order and install a direct power line to the battery.  Before I spent the money and did that I took the Jeep to a dealer and had the system tested and it tested out fine.  The dealer did tell me that the wiring for the DC outlet had a lower gauge wire than the braking system specified and that the direct wire would solve that.  They could do it but for considerably more than me buying the kit and doing it myself.  So I got the kit and installed it.  Many of you know that I am not really a car guy so I was a little concerned, but it was simple.  We tested the braking system and got the alarm again.  So I contacted the manufacturer.  They had me plug in the unit and the guy listened to it start up over the phone.  He immediately determine the vacuum seal was leaking and that would cause it to recharge too often and thus drain the battery.  Good news, there are 2 solutions.

One solution is that I could return the brake pack, they would repair it and send it back to me at no charge. The process would take about 2 weeks.  The other solution is that I could upgrade to the new and improved RVi2 and I could have that new pack in a few days.  It also would give me a 4 year warranty.  Because we were scheduled to leave MN in a few days and liking the idea of a new unit rather than a rebuilt one I went for the upgrade.

On the 17th we hooked everything up and drove about 2.5 hours with no problem with the braking system. 

Twin Cities

What a great visit we had in the Twin Cities area.  We were actually in Prior Lake south and west of the cities.  We visited with Diana's cousin and her husband, mom and her husband, with Diana's brother Charlie and his wife Betty.  We met up with a former pastor and friend of mine from from my church in Irwin, PA, hit the Mall of America, we visited some former coworkers and friends of mine, visited our friends the MacKenzies plus had time to continue the Great River Road exploration.  We were there for about 3 1/2 weeks.  That is the longest we have stayed anywhere since we left VA.  We had a blast!  We left there on 10/17/13 and rolled south east to La Crosse, WI.  We'll be here about a week then continues down the GRR moving south as the weather cools.

22 and a championship

On September 25th we went to Target Field in Minneapolis to see the stadium and to watch the Twins host the Detroit Tigers.  As some of you know part of our journey is to try to get to all 30 major league stadiums.  Target Field was the 22nd we have attended.  Target Field is only 3 years old, so while we had been to the old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, we had not made it to Target.  So 22 down with 8 to go.  Those 8 will be a long time coming as they include 2 in Texas and 6 on the west coast.  Maybe next season.  By the way, the old Met stadium site was re-purposed and now is home to the Mall of America!

Unfortunately, the Twins lost 1-0.  Many of you might think that was a boring baseball game but it is exactly the type of game Diana and I love.  It was well played and fun to watch.  There were a lot of Tiger fans there because a win for the Tigers gave them the American League Central Division Championship.  This also gives them a home field advantage at the start of the play offs.  As mentioned the Tigers won and had a nice but very respectful celebration on their division rivals infield.  It was the first time we had attended a game where the championship was determined.  Very cool!

Brew Crew

No this is not a post about visiting breweries.  It is a post about visiting Miller Park home of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team.  We drove from De Pere to Milwaukee on September 17th to see the Brewers host the Chicago Cubs.  Now by this point in the season both teams were eliminated from any play off chances.  In fact they were playing for last place in the division.  But that does not matter because there is a nice rivalry between the two teams.  Miller park has a retractable roof but on the night we were there, the roof was closed.  We both liked the stadium as they had done a nice job of including the history of the Brewers and also the Milwaukee Braves.  It was cool.  We saw an excellent baseball game and the home team won in the bottom of the 9th with a bases loaded 1 out squeeze play.  First game ending squeeze I have seen.