True Love and Truly Blessed

Getting ready to pack up and head to a nearby Corps of Engineers campground where I hope to spend a couple of days kayaking on Lake Lanier with my nephew Clay.  I am looking forward to spending some time on the water.  And time with Clay is always fun.  Back in the spring we camped together in Pelham, TN where he worked some dog trials and we both stomped around in the mud all weekend. 

I’ll never forget that weekend – I don’t think it stopped raining until a few hours before I left.  And the mud was everywhere including on the carpet in Seeker.  But this week, thanks to big brother Mike, I am saying sayonara to the mud prints and all the other stains.  I don’t know if all big brothers would give up so much of their time and work in the sweltering Georgia heat for nothing more than my undying gratitude, but I know that I am blessed. 

Not only am I getting a newly renovated rv home out of this deal, I get to spend time with two people deeply in love for just at a half century now.  It’s just so great to be around them and see how much they care for each other.  Linda has had some serious health issues lately and Mike is very attuned to her every need.  But it really doesn’t seem all that long ago that big brother brought me home a sister.  Yep, in 1967 when I was 12, Linda came to live with us (and share a room with me) while Mike served in Vietnam.  I was so amazed by this beautiful woman with the guitar and the Carly Simon albums.   Today she still amazes me but it with a sewing needle or a crochet hook these days.   Just take a look at the new curtains in Seeker that came from her “scrap basket”. 

So even though it’s time to leave here I get to take some great memories and a great new look for Seeker.  Hey, I’ll be back soon.  Thanks, Mike!

Day of Renovations

Short post today as we are really busy.  Mike is already on his knees (wearing kneepads today!) putting down more flooring.  Linda and I are heading to the store for slipcovers and a few other goodies.  I'm excited to see the changes.  I am so grateful for a brother who is (a) retired, (b) a short drive from Nashville, (c) willing to spend his time doing this work for me.  Actually, I am blessed with 3 wonderful big brothers who all jump in to help me when I ask.  And I do have a little brother, but his job as an over the road driver keeps him out of town most of the time.  But I have considered asking him for some driving tips next time we talk. 

OK, so I added a couple of pix from day 1.  Was really funny to look out the window and see Annie, the pet goat from next door, watching us.  Seems she got the gate open and was grazing the front yard and wondering if we might have some goodies in the RV.  Made for a fun break.  Wonder what fun things we will discover today???

War Movies and Renovations

No rest for the wicked my mother used to say.  So after just a few days at home I sent Gus home with the Goddess and pointed Seeker southeast to my big brother Mike's house.  I have 3 big brothers and they are all really great, but they are also nothing alike.  Clint, who is closest to my age is sometimes silly and always ready to help me with my car or anything mechanical.  Pat, the artist in the family, lives in the Arizona desert now where he makes beautiful beaded jewelry and calls from time to time with rv advice.  He and his wife lived full time in a class A for a while before settling in their current home and I turn to him a lot with my rv questions.  And then there's Mike.

Mike, the oldest, is my go to guy for fishing trips and carpentry work.  Sometimes we go out on Lanier and he fishes while I just enjoy the quiet beauty of the lake.  For me it's the closest I will ever get to my childhood again.  We all grew up in tents on the shores of Old Hickory Lake with ski boats, and trot lines, and campfires.  I thought it was a wonderful way to grow up even though I never did learn to ski.

So whenever I come to Mike's house we fish in the daytime and watch WWII movies all night.  Tonight's fare is the HBO series called Pacific that I'm sure he has watched many times but since I hadn't seen it yet he is seeing it again with me.  It's an intense drama but I can't stop watching.  But tomorrow we will make a shopping run to pick up supplies and get to work on reconfiguring the TV cabinet in Seeker to accommodate a small flat screen TV, ripping out that awful beige carpet on the floor, and a few other small tasks. 

So time to sleep some, as soon as the movie is over, then hit the ground running tomorrow.  Hopefully we'll find some time to work in a little fishing trip.  Just hope the fish aren't boiling to death in this heat.

Home at Last... Well, almost

Brenda (the Goddess) says that it feels good to breath Tennessee air again.  While I admit that there is some satisfaction in knowing that we have returned to home soil pretty much unscathed, I don't know about the air.  It was hot and muggy in NY, CT, RI, MASS, and pretty much every other state we visited and it's hot and muggy here.  But we are once again in Tennessee tonight and tomorrow I will be home again - for a while.

So, what have we accomplished in the last 3 and a half weeks?  3,242 miles added to Seeker's odometer; a new appreciation for home and the way we are used to things, and lots of sometimes hilarious sometimes scary adventures.  I have tried to share most of them here in this blog without going past a PG rating.  Did I remember to tell you about spilling my beer into my computer keyboard in Salisbury?  As you can see, it survived but I swear I don't know how.  And after the third time of killing the battery in my toad I have resolved to buy my own jump starter kit and just carry it in the back seat.  Oh I have grown so much in these last weeks.

So we are back in Tennessee.  In Gallatin to be exact.  I discovered that my new friend Carolyn who is also a blogger (http://sunshinecruisertn.blogspot.com/) and my inspiration for full time rving was camping at Cages Bend COE so we found a spot near hers and have been visiting and just unwinding a bit for now.  Even got the kayak out on the lake today and took Gus for a ride.  Carolyn has been living rull time in her rv since she retired a couple of years ago.  The Goddess told me about her blog about a year and a half ago and I started reading hers and some other female rv bloggers.  Then last year I actually drove down to Huntsville, AL to one of their get togethers to meet these ladies.  They were so sweet and answered lots of questions for me.  And now that I am retired and have my rv I have even more questions for Carolyn.  And she is always there with answers.  Lucky I have her to go to.

So what's next?  Will I be in Nashville long?  Hmmmmmm......

Answers to these and other questions that so many want to know will be in the next blog entry, I promise.

Stay safe.

The Good, The Great, and The Really Ugly

The CIBs have been on the road 22 days now and we're entering the home stretch.  We left the bright lights of NYC behind early this morning and navigated the scary drivers and all that crazy traffic behind us.  Then, just as we crossed over that Mason Dixon Line we hit a wall of traffic.  I carefully navigated Seeker to the nearest exit and what do ya know, a Walmart.  I went inside and talked to customer service to explain that we would be visiting for a few hours till the traffic cleared.  They informed me that a semi had turned over and crushed a mini van filled with a family on vacation.  Not something I want to see any part of, thank you.  So we were cordially invited to spend the night right here in Rising Sun, MD.  I think we'll just stay a few hours to let the traffic die down.  In the meantime, here's a brief look back at highlights of the trip.

We have traveled through/camped in 12 states with only one more, Virginia, between us and home.  That's good.
We were sprayed/soaked by Niagra Falls and that was great.
We had a flat on the Mass. Turnpike after dark (I know I promised not to drive that late) in a construction zone and that was really ugly.

We crossed through the Alleghenies, the Berkshires, the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Boy, was that good.
We stood on top of Mount Washington in 45 mph winds and an icy rain.  That was fabulously great!
We lost the connection for the lights to RV somewhere between Mount Washington and Portland, ME (actually one end was still connected but we didn't know the other end was dragging along the road for 30 miles) and had to wait for a camping store to open so we could buy a new one.  That was ugly.

We drycamped a mile from the feet of the Statue of Liberty and that was good, great, and ugly all at once.  It was good to be so close and just look out the window at night to see her standing there.  Even better, dare I say great, was seeing her in person, up close, and personal.  A life long goal met there.  But the place we camped was not all it promised to be.  The shuttle from the train station to the ferry for the statue only runs on Sat/Sun but our campground folks told us it ran everyday.  The campground advertised a ferry right from their dock to Wall Street.  Well, the ferry was there but only sold one month tickets at the cost of $65 each.  So, for their misrepresentation of amenitities, I have to say that they were the ugly part of our Jersey City experience.

Overall, the good and the great far outweighed the uglies.  A fun, eventful trip so far, but we are both ready to be home for a little while.

A Long Night and Greeting the Great Lady

When I last blogged I think I made it clear that it was HOT. And it's not supposed to be hot up north. We're supposed to have that market cornered in the south. But we had to cope with it just like the locals so we pulled over to a Walmart and waited out the day for cooler temps.

We left our comfy little corner in New London, CT around 10:30pm last night and drove about 120 miles across CT, through the narrow neck of New York over the Tappan Zee Bridge, and into New Jersey where we circled for what seemed like hours to find the local Walmart. Finally I decided to give it up and we pulled into a service plaza in Ridgeland, New Jersey about 15 minutes from Jersey City. We found a spot practically under the New Jersey Turnpike in amongst the truckers who were getting a few hours of sleep before heading out to make their deliveries. The swaying of the RV with the traffic passing overhead creating a cradle-like effect that soon had us both fast asleep - well, that and shear exhaustion.

This morning we moved closer to the service bay area to have the lights checked on the toad but all was well so we ventured on down the turnpike and found our little campsite in what the locals call a campground in Jersey City. I would call it a parking lot with a view. And what a view. Just over the tops of some pretty expensive looking yachts is Lady Liberty herself for all the world to see. We are parked so that we can sit at our dinette table and gaze out at her.

Is this a great campground? No, not really. But the folks are great and very helpful. And the view, did I mention the view? This afternoon we are just tired so we are taking our afternoon naps - I could get into this habit - and planning to walk with Gus over to Liberty Park to watch the sun go down and the lights go on at the statue's feet.

More of our misadventures tomorrow

A Long Way From the Cold North

Sitting in a Walmart parking lot taking a rest from the heat in Waterford, CT.  We drove this far (about 180 miles) this morning from Salisbury, Massachusetts but the engine kept running hot, the road construction was everywhere, and traffic was terrible.  We found this nice super Wally and pulled off to a far lot to just let things cool off.  At this point we plan to rest here till about 11pm when the temperature is scheduled to drop below 85 and try driving across the Hudson into New Jersey.  I don’t normally go for late night driving but the temperatures and the traffic are pushing me to try a new tactic.

In fact, this whole trip has pushed me to doing and learning new things – about towing, about driving with a flat, about my road service, about the weather (yeah, I thought it never got hot up north) and about my resilience.  Somehow I have managed to get through every ordeal, big and little, and move on. 

One thing I know for certain is that my goal to drive from Buffalo to Albany and on into Massachusetts in one day was a bad one and I paid for it.  The roads were rough and we paid a heavy toll to ride on them.  The toll was $48 to get out of New York.  Then we got on the Mass Turnpike which was just as rough but the tolls were cheaper.  And that’s where the tire went flat.  I was able to limp up the road into Vermont where we found a truck stop to stay in for the night (running over 4 of those orange cones around some road construction along the way).  From there I called my road service and within an hour or so the guy was there to fix the tire which turned out to not be blown but that the stem had busted out.  He was able to put a new valve stem in for me which was lucky because while I do have a spare underneath it seems to have been there so long he couldn’t break the connection on the tire holder.  Something I will get the guys at Bass Tire to take a look at when I get back home.   Also had to get the service to send a guy out to jump start the battery on my car because I had left it sitting there with the lights on while I was worrying over the tire.  Thank goodness for a good road service package.  We ended up just spending the night in the parking lot of the truck stop and had breakfast the next morning at the 50s style diner there where we were entertained by the 2 waitresses’ discussion of IUD problems.  Amazing what you learn on the road!

Things started looking up after that.  We went on up the highway toward Ben & Jerry’s with a stop at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial at the Sharon, VT visitor center.  It’s one of the best we’ve seen and we stop at just about all of them we come across.  The folks at Ben & Jerry’s were busy but very kind.  They had some special parking for RVs which was great.  I thought the tour was a bit lame but the flavors we tried afterward were great.  Ever heard of Bonaroo Buzz?  The Goddess says it’s great.  I had a 7 Layer Cake flavor with coconut, graham crackers, and chocolate.  Yummy!!  Before we left I walked up to the flavor graveyard and took some pix for Brenda since she couldn’t make the climb.  Very funny stuff. 

We left there and decided to drive toward New Hampshire.  Went through downtown Barre which was the prettiest town but with the toad we just couldn’t find a place to park so we moved on down the 302.  All along the way was beautiful New England scenery: rivers filled with big boulders and covered bridges and red barns.  And so cool.  We rode with the windows down and enjoyed it all so much that we were surprised when we saw the welcome to New Hampshire sign.  We soon found a nice campground near Littleton, NH with a hot tub.  After that long drive through New York and the rough night at the truck stop we decided we were due a treat.  The next morning we slept in for a while then hitched up the toad and drove over to Mount Washington base camp to ride the cog railroad to the top.  Many hardy souls actually climb the 2.something miles/over 4,000 ft. rise in altitude, but we decided to ride the train.  There was only one other rv in the lot and the folks were from a little town in Georgia just outside of Chattanooga so we became fast friends on the ride up and down both. 

I was really happy to get to the top of Mount Washington.  Last fall when I visited the area there was so much snow already you couldn’t get to the top.  It was in the low 40s on top with a wind gusting at around 45 mph which gave you a 32 windchill.  We had chili for lunch.  I wasn’t able to get a webcam picture of me on the observatory deck so I missed out on the find for a webcam cache, but I don’t care.  I was there and had a blast.  Once we were back down to earth and in the seeker we headed east again on the 302.  We stopped at the pull off along the highway with a view of the Mount Washington Hotel which is supposed to be haunted so we could take a couple of pictures then moved on toward Maine. 

I had to shift down into a lower gear to get down out of the mountains without being run over by my toad, but there were several opportunities to pull off and enjoy the view.  Again the roadside scenery was like someone from Hollywood had set the stage for us all along the roadway.  The only thing we didn’t see was a moose, and while I wouldn’t have minded seeing one off in the distance, I wasn’t keen on finding out if I could survive hitting one.  Just outside of Portland Maine we found a super Walmart and decided to stop to shop and maybe stay the night.  I got out to check the toad and made an ugly discovery: the cable that hooks the car electrical to the RV had come unplugged somewhere in the last 30 miles (the last time I checked things) and had dragged along the road all that time.  In short, it was ruined.  I checked Walmart and a couple of car parts places but only camper supply stores would have another one.  Luckily there was one about 2 miles down the road.  We just had to wait till the next morning at 11 when they opened. 

So we boondocked at Wally’s for the first time.  And actually it was fine.  We were parked back in a corner near a pond and the frogs sang all night.  The next morning we drove the Seeker to Yarmouth to shop at the Delorme store and for Brenda to see the coin vault and sign the log.  Then we rode back by way of the Head Lighthouse in Portland.  Lee’s Camping World was on the way back to the Walmart where we left the toad so we stopped and bought the new cable then headed back to get hooked up.  Before long we were on the road and heading down 295 toward Boston.  We found the Black Bear Campground at Salisbury, Massachusetts where we settled in for a couple days’ rest.  That night we were in bed before the sun went down.  The next morning we drove to the commuter station in town and took a train to Salem where we had a great lunch at a café called The Coven and then milled around some of the shops, visited the witch history museum, the Bewitched statue, ate some frozen custard, and ended up at the Burying Ground in the middle of town.  Didn’t really do a lot as we were still a bit tired from all we’ve been doing, but we enjoyed it just the same.  We wandered down to the train station and had a short and thankfully air conditioned train ride back to Salisbury.  I took the laundry down and put our clothes in the wash then walked over to the pool and walked laps in the water while the clothes got clean.  We’ve probably done too much sitting and driving on this trip and I’m taking every chance I get to help my leg circulation.  After laundry and dinner we drove down to the Salisbury beach.  Ugh.  Too much like Panama City Beach in Florida.  We just turned around and headed back to get some sleep. 

We hit the road around mid morning today thinking of stopping and staying in Rhode Island then changing our minds and going a little further south into Connecticut.  I had hoped to visit the USS Nautilus but it was closed today.  Just my luck.  We pulled off into the super Walmart just down the road to rethink our plans.  The heat, the traffic, and the road construction are all bad here during the day.  So we will just wait out all three and try moving down across New York and into New Jersey some time late tonight.  Hopefully we will find a nice place to spend a day or two before leaving the area.

I’ll let you know later how this plan works out.

Over the falls in a barrell

No, I didn't go over the falls in a barrell, but if I had I might have gotten home sooner.  Still, we got to see Niagra Falls and had a lot of laughs, so who cares about the long detention at the border?

I think the way the day started should have been an omen.  We found out that if you collect 10 caches in the Buffalo/Niagra area from a list of 15 you can turn in some paperwork for a really nice geocoin.  Not that I or Brenda care to collect geocoins, but we do know a certain young man who is a collector, and, well, we did miss his birthday in April.  So out we went to northernmost New York first thing to start collecting the caches we needed to claim the prize.  I hope that same young man can appreciate my being attacked by not one, but two hordes of hungry Canadian (I'm sure American wouldn't do this to me) skeeters at two different cache sites.  And I was wearing bug spray but still ended the day with 22 bug bites. 

So we got all the caches done saving the last one, a cache at Honeymoon Trail Winery, for last where we did a LITTLE tasting and shopping before returning to the rv to doctor my bug bites and eat a late lunch.  Then we dressed for the evening tour of Niagra Falls from the Canadian side.  We were so psyched for this!

First of all, we were on the short bus.  If you've ever worked in education you know what I mean.  Some really strange characters on this bus.  Topping our list was our driver/guide, an Indian man named Prady (rhymes with Brady) who drove a lot like the cab drivers in Mexico and made lots of bad jokes.  And his accent was so thick that when he was trying to explain "ice wine" I thought he said "ass wipe" and I couldn't understand why that was so expensive.

So we darted in and out of Tonawanda/Buffalo traffic to pick up a busload of tourists and headed for the border.  That's when things turned weird.  The Canadian border agent took us all off the bus (wheel chairs, canes, and all) and searched the bus claiming she could smell marijuana.  She even made them get the dogs.  Meanwhile, we each had to go through customs one at a time and have our bags searched.  I was wearing my geocaching backpack that I thought I had emptied of any suspicious items so that I could carry the passports, wallets, sourvenirs, etc. for both of us.  Little did I know that tucked into the bottom of one of the pockets were about 4 small baggies each containing a sheet of paper with the word TOPLESS on it.  If you cache, you know what it was - a cache log.  But if you're a Candaian border agent you are not willing to let this one go away easily.  So I had to show her my GPSr and explain how it works though I think she was confused as to why I had to do it TOPLESS.  But I still got into her country!

The tour was great.  The falls were awesome.  I'm still glad we didn't try to drive up and do it all ourselves.  We ended the night at the Skylon Tower watching the light show over the falls.  Just freaking gorgeous!  Then we returned to the U.S. border where they again held us, searched our bags, searched the vehicle including the engine compartments again, and finally let us through after a 45 minute wait. 

It's been fun.  It's been downright awesome at times.  I am really ready to put New York in the rear view mirror.  We head to the Berkshires tomorrow and perhaps even Edith Wharton's home.  Just hope there's no border patrol between here and Massachusetts.

RV: My life, not the movie

I recently watched the Robin Williams movie about taking his family on vacation in an RV.  I got a kick out of his black tank issues and running into things.  I know all about the learning curve (I’m still traveling it).  But packing up, knowing what to pack up and what to leave behind, and setting up/breaking down camp present a whole new set of dilemmas.  I remember camping in tents as kids with all my family, but I don’t remember anything about setting up camp or taking it down.  I do remember my brothers taking the pot out to an island by boat to dump every morning.   But all that aside, it’s different in an rv.  Brenda had some experiences as a child camping in a truck camper with her parents when she was small, but again that’s different from an rv and different from my tent experiences.  But we do each try to bring out own experiences to the road to make things easier.  Too bad that doesn’t always work.

I think we have each done well at limiting what we bring on the trip with us.  Of course, I toured most of Southeast Asia with a small suitcase and a backpack and 3 weeks out west with just a backpack.  Brenda is a little more high maintenance but she has simplified a lot.  She is buying into my theory that anything we forgot and really need can be bought on the road so the most important thing to pack is your credit card.  We have been to a lot of Walmarts in this country!

Setting up has been simplified by Brenda the list maker.  And since I can jump out and do the outside hook ups much quicker than her (at least until she gets that knee fixed) I generally hook up the electric/water/sewer while she sets things up inside.  Then on checking out days she puts things away inside while I take care of the outside.  It usually runs smoothly – usually.  One time we were rushed leaving a state park to get back to Nashville so I just went to a local KOA to use their dump tanks.  First of all, I hate being rushed, and secondly, I hate paying someone for something I could have done for free.  So I was distracted and not following standard procedure and well, while I didn’t have as big a fiasco as Robin Williams did while emptying the black tank, let’s just say that I am EXTREMELY careful about closing the black and gray tank valves BEFORE opening the main line.  So what could go wrong with setting up?

Well, try plugging in to the electric but forgetting to flip the breaker and then spending an hour messing around with the fuse box before it dawns on you that maybe you didn’t flip the breaker.  Duhhhhh!  Or the more recent hilarious (hey, it wasn’t me on the firing line so I thought it was funny) experience of the spitting toilet.  I hooked up the water line outside so Brenda decided to fill the toilet and add the packet that helps keep the tank “fresh”, however she had forgotten to open the faucet a little first to relieve the pressure on the line.  When she stepped on the water pedal to fill the toilet she was assaulted by the vicious spitting rv toilet.  Bet she never does that again.

My kitchen has a gas stove which Brenda has experience with from her camping days.  I am trying to learn to use it while Brenda is still the pro there.  On the other hand, we always cooked on a campfire so I have been able to amaze her with my cooking skills in the outdoors (with a big thanks to Jengoround for her Vaseline cotton balls firestarters).  Brenda keeps saying that one day she plans to bake something in the propane oven.  Not that I doubt she can do it, but I just keep remembering that spitting toilet…..

On The Level

I never truly appreciated the importance of being on the level until I bought my rv.  My family grew up camping in a tent on the shores of Old Hickory Lake, but a little off level in a tent is forgiving, not so much so in an rv. 

When I first started driving Seeker I was nervous about height clearances and backing up, and while I still pay close attention to both of those, being level has moved to the top of my list of concerns when picking a campsite.  Back in March we pulled into Monte Santo CG in Huntsville, AL and the attendant asked if I had a preference and without thinking I said, “anything level”. 

Most of the fancier, newer models have leveling jacks that activate with the touch of a button on the control panel.  I have the old-fashioned blocks that go under the wheels which work just fine.  In my opinion, anything more than 2” out of level is not where I want to be.  In Bardstown there was a big class A in the site across from us that had its rear jacks down to raise the back end up to level.  The back wheels were a good 4” off the ground.  I just don’t like that. 

Most of the time I’m able to drive through the area and pick out a site.  A couple of times I’ve driven through the park and not liked the looks of the place at all and just moved on.  Once we had a good level parking pad but one step too far to either side meant a 6” drop to the ground.  And one night in Alabama we were just tired and willing to accept the last spot they had which was a pull through (yah, no backing up) but really unlevel.  And it was nearly dark when we got there which makes it difficult to work with the blocks so we just made do for the night and moved on the next morning.  Of course, being 3” out of level meant that we couldn’t open the slide but we could still unfold the sleeper for Brenda.  I woke up during the night to go to the bathroom (meaning I had to walk across her bed) and noticed she was sleeping crosswise of the bed.  Her bed was tilted downhill (ah c’mon Brenda, it was only 3”) and she kept rolling off so she slept crosswise to keep off the floor!

Sometimes I like for the back end to be a little lower, say maybe ½”, so that the a/c drip runs to the back.  Here in New York it’s about 1” lower even with the blocks so we make do because it’s level side to side.  But walking to the kitchen is a downhill experience but fortunately I don’t go into that area much.

I’m having fun learning all these new tricks for this new lifestyle.  Never owned a level in my life and now I have 4 plus an app on my phone (I know, it’s geeky, but I like it).  And I may give up and go for the levelers, but I’d rather spend the money on a satellite dish to pick up the internet.  I don’t mind sleeping with a strong starboard list.

Staying Connected On The Road

While I might have left most of the comforts of home behind, I made sure that my internet addiction would be covered while traveling.  I like keeping up on Facebook.  I like getting my email before it stacks up into the hundreds.  I like using the app for geocaching instead of preloading caches into my handheld.  And I like being able to blog often and post pictures of my travels and the things I see.  So I have the IPhone 4 and a new Verizon MiFi as well as my large laptop and my mini that I carry in my backpack when out exploring the city.  Of course Brenda has her laptop too, so we have one small cabinet devoted to all the electronics and attachments/cords, etc.  No, I don’t have a TV because I just don’t miss it when on the road.  Most of what I watch is news or weather and I can keep up with all that on the internet.  That is, if I can get a signal. 

We started off a little over a week ago in Bardstown, KY and had a pretty good signal in the My Old Kentucky Home State Park which is practically downtown.  The first night in West Virginia we stayed at a KOA that was, in my opinion, overpriced but within 5 miles of the Blenko Glass Factory that we wanted to tour the next morning.  And it had free WiFi which we both stayed on most of the night.  I even took the mini with me to the laundry room and caught up while doing the wash.  Later that night I logged into my account at Netflix and we watched The Magician’s Apprentice with Nicolas Cage which was pretty good. 

The next night in Ohio, in the heart of Amish country was better priced and also had WiFi but it was a slow signal that made loading pictures frustrating and watching a movie or the news was out of the question.  So then we moved on to our campsite for Geowoodstock near Warren, PA.  The campgrounds were really nice and the bathrooms/showers brand new.  But to get a signal for the phone meant driving outside the park.  One morning we took the laptops to McDonalds for breakfast and an internet fix.  Signals were spotty throughout our stay in the area but I think it’s just that AT&T hates me. 

So now we are in New York on the banks of Lake Erie and it is beautiful.  But the coverage is a bit unique.  To get a signal I have to stand at the front of the rv and balance my IPhone against a pillow (my hand gets tired of holding it) which will get me 3 bars and an E.  If I move to the table to sit down suddenly I’m in Canada and get no signal at all because I blocked my number from picking up towers in Canada (and the roaming charges).  The Verizon MiFi fares a little better but all the trees in our beautiful site don’t help.  This did lead to a really fun discovery.  We drove into town yesterday to find a McDonalds which turned out to be at an exit just off the New York Thruway (that’s I 90 in yankee talk).  What’s cool is that you exit and park in a lot that has access to a covered walkway going over the thruway where the McDonalds is kind of in the center of the road with an identical access from the southbound lanes.  Pretty cool, huh?  Plus there was a geocache on each side so I got a twofer and we spent a couple of hours on the WiFi checking mail and catching up while having fries and a coke.

Tomorrow we are planning to move on to Grand Island and the Niagra Falls part of the trip.  So today we drove into Buffalo to see some things and check out our next campground.  We drove all through the sites, which look really level (very important) and had 3G access!  Woot Woot!  We may just stay an extra day and really get a fix.

Towing a Toad: So Easy, Right?

On this first extended trip I got the bright idea that I would need to tow my car along.  That way the Seeker is truly a home base set up in camp and my car, now known affectionately as “Toad” is handy for driving into town and exploring.  In theory, this all sounds good.  In practice, well, I hope to get better with practice.

When we hooked up in Nashville it took about 30 minutes to get all the connections just right.  The Blue Ox system is brand new and as the installer told me, the fittings are tight until it gets used a few times.  I’m looking forward to the broken in stage already.  And connecting the line for the lights required a certain fat old lady to lay on the ground with her head up under the rear end of the Seeker and then under the front end of Toad.  Like I said, will be glad when the connections get to the broken in stage.

Then there’s the Brake Buddy set up which is a box that sets in front of the driver’s seat in Toad and pushes the brake pedal when I brake Seeker.  That one is pretty easy but somewhere between West Virginia and Pennsylvania the fuse blew in the cigarette lighter which powers BB so for a while I guess I had no auxiliary brakes.   We spent our first morning in Warren, PA at the local Chevy dealer because we had also blown the front left turn signal bulb which requires removing a section of the front end to get to it.  Hey, I know when I’m licked so while we were there I let the nice folks at Jones Chevrolet replace the bulbs (back left was out too) and the fuse.  One hour and $42 later we were on our way.  And I was able to walk Gus to a cache near the dealership while Brenda waited in the WiFi enabled waiting room (that’s another story).

OK, so it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing.  But with time I hope to get better.  And every time I mess up I learn an invaluable lesson which I hope means I will never make that mistake again.  For instance, I now know how fast Brenda can run and will never make the mistake of forgetting to set the parking brake before unhooking Toad from the tow bar.  Also, I will never forget to double check that all electricals are turned off in Toad before we pull away in towing mode and have to relive the “getting to know your new neighbors in the park by going around begging for jumper cables” moment.  Yep, battery goes totally dead if you leave the lights and wipers on while in towing mode.

Overall, I’m glad to have my little Toad along for the journey.  It’s so easy to jump in the car and go exploring.  And I’m learning so much. 

Lucy, You Got Some 'splaining to do!!!

Pardon my use of the old I Love Lucy line for my title, but I was just looking at our pictures from a quick visit we made to Jamestown, NY where we found the grave of Lucille Ball and her childhood home.  Museum was closed though. 

As I "splained" in my last post, AT&T kept thinking I was in Canada and since I had called them and blocked my number from receiving a signal from cell towers across the water, I was unable to use my IPhone for calls or for net access without driving to Buffalo.  Which of course we did on July 4th.  It was cool to have the town almost to ourselves since everyone else was at the beach.  It is a gorgeous town filled with some awesome architecture.  I even saw the spot where William McKinley was assassinated.  Pretty cool for a (retired) history teacher.

But even though I didn't have access to post to my blog, that doesn't mean I didn't blog.  So for the next day or two I will post some musings on the rv life and things we have run into.  Hope you enjoy these while we run off to see Niagra Falls.

Back in a few....

Finally Back in a WiFi Zone

I know it's been a few days since I blogged.  I make no apologies.  We pulled into Chapman State Park in Warren County, PA on the morning of the 28th and found that while the campground was really nice and our site was level, there was no cell signal in the park.  Not that it would have mattered because we were running constantly from one geo-event to the next and caching in between.  We ran hard, partied hard, and cached hard. 

Tonight and tomorrow night we are camping at Evangola State Park about 20 miles from Buffalo, NY.  Yes, we have a signal but no, we aren't in Canada.  Somehow AT&T thinks we are and wants to charge extra for me to use the phone or internet card.  So, we are sitting on top of I 90.  Yes, we are in a McDonald's that straddles the interstate!  So cool!  I've checked mail, caught up on posting caches, checked to make sure all my bills were paid and money is still in the bank, and all the other little things that must be done.  It's about a 20 minute drive back to camp where we will grill some chicken for supper and enjoy the cool breezes off of Lake Erie. 

Tomorrow we plan to drive in to Buffalo and see a few things (and grab a cache or two) and then get back to the RV with Gus before all the fireworks start.  He will be a nervous wreck!  We leave on the 5th and move on to Niagra Falls where I hope to have time and a signal to tell you about the past week.  Here are the highlights:

the spitting toilet
the car rolling down the drive without a driver
the long, long lines at GW9
and so much more....

oh, and pictures too!