Sunday 28 February 2010

Just Vegging !!

Yesterday we just kind of really got settled in. Got the bikes out of the back of the care, finally put the awning out (much to Jackie's displeasure, most of you know the reason for that!!!)BUT it was raining, pouring actually. Had a bit of problem with my hot water, was just warm coming out of the tap. Thinking oh oh!! more $$$$ to get a new element AND I don't want to use public showers. Got onto my favourite RV forum, the guys that have helped me time and time again and explained the problem. Right away one of the most reliable members asked me if I had left the outside shower taps on, off at the shower head but taps on. I had been using the outside shower to clean off hoses and such. Ventured out into the pouring rain and sure enough that was exactly what I had done. He explained it's something about water backtracking and mixing with the hot in the lines. Whatever the explanation, that is exactly what it was. Problem solved. Whew was I relieved.
We then headed out to the Camper's World about 20 miles away to pick up a new water filter for the coach. Marlene..you know what happened to my other one LOL. By the time we got back the rain was letting up and finally stopped. Yahoo.
Ken's family invited us over for supper last night and we spent a very enjoyable evening chatting and having several laughs. Not to mention a very good supper.
Today has dawned chilly, but sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Weather prediction is 63 degrees and it's 41 degrees right now. Check the temperature box on the blog. Not much planned for today, get the bike tires pumped up and take a spin around the park.
Until later...take care.
*sorry Robin camera hasn't even come out of it's case yet. Soon.

Friday 26 February 2010

Destination Reached !!

We made it to Lakeland today. All setup and enjoying not having to move, for a week, anyway. We have a pretty nice spot, under some trees, with a concrete patio. That is great, it if rains, no doggie dirty feet.
Ken's family here, get together every Friday night with a bunch of friends, they go out to a restaurant then go back to someone's place and play cards. This week because Ken's brother and wife are heading home on Monday, and his sister and husband, just arrived yesterday, one of their friends had a little celebration at their place. They had BBQed hotdogs/hamburgers with all the trimmings. It was very nice. No card playing for us, I hate playing cards. Then we went to Walmart and picked up some groceries and other items we needed.
Just relaxing and enjoying the warmer weather. Although it's not super warm, it is certainly warmer than where we were last night.
Probably won't update the blog everyday now, since we're here and won't be much interesting stuff, just now and then.
Till later...take care.

Thursday 25 February 2010

Stayed Put

Our next stop was about 100 miles down the road. We checked into it and it didn't have cable and it didn't look the greatest and it was the most expensive so far. We thought that we'd just drive through then and see if we could book into our site in Lakeland a day early. Phoned them but someone is in the site and they didn't have anything else. No problem, we just decided to stay put here. This is a really nice campground, and we're very comfortable here. It is supposed to get down to 27 degrees F tonight, so we will have to disconnect the water outside as it will probably freeze. We should be fine in here for water as long as the furnaces are running and believe me, they will be running.
We fixed the bedroom TV that had fallen down the second day out. It took some fiddling around as it's in a tight spot and we had to ratchet the bolts into place. We added some more screws as the ones there had stripped and they really needed more than what they had. So it's back up. Ken can watch his icky show 'Survivor' and I won't have to endure it. Also fixed a couple minor things that needed looking into. Nice to just sit and veg today, just wish it was somewhat warmer. So tomorrow we have about 170 miles to Lakeland. The roads are good, hopefully we'll make it in about 4 hours or so.
Til tomorrow then..take care

Wednesday 24 February 2010

Finally in Florida

Today we finally made it to northern Florida. Although based on the temperature you wouldn't know it. It's rather nippy. Supposed to go to just below freezing overnight. What gives with this crappy weather anyway???
We are in Lake City, Florida. Nice RV park, lots of room, full hookups, cable, and free wi fi. Life is good.
Good ride today. Interstate all the way. Roads were very good, just straight driving. We drove 220 miles from our last location.
Would be nice if we didn't have to keep using our furnace. But it's downright chilly at night so on it goes.
Until tomorrow...take care.

Tuesday 23 February 2010

Gloomy day

Weather was gloomy most of the day. Sun came out for about 1 hour just after we had parked. It made it very warm, lovely, opened the windows of the MH. Then the sun went in and it got chilly, so had to close them all. Right now it's reading 10 degrees C outside.
The KOA we're in had homemade pizzas that you could buy, so we did. On a scale of 0 to 10 they were about a 6. But.....I didn't have to cook supper.
I did have to do laundry though. Had scads of doggie towels to wash as it's been very wet and grimy on the way down. So just finished the first load and working on the second. This red Georgia clay is hard to get out.
We are just south of Atlanta. What a crazy place to drive through. 8 lane highways, cars going this way and that way. And us stuck in the middle with this 38 foot MH pulling a car. Scary !!! for me anyway, Ken just swore.
Tomorrow we are supposed to stay in a campground in the northern end of Florida. Weather still hasn't been promising. Remember previous trips and when we reached this far, it was really warm. But it's still chilly, will still have to put the furnace on again tonight.
Internet here is good, but it does cost $5 bucks for 24 hours. Not bad, what the heck. At least there is internet.
Until tomorrow then..take care.

Monday 22 February 2010

Over 1/2 Way

I know to some of you this seems like a very long drawn out drive to Florida. Usually we'd be 2 nights in a Motel and 2 1/2 days of driving. But driving one of these huge puppies is not quite the same. It's tiring and also the dogs (1 in particular) get restless. The most we can really do comfortably is about 5 hours driving. Today was a nice short drive and we are enjoying relaxing. And after all, what's the rush, this is a holiday.
We are just a stone's throw away from Chattanooga, TN. This is a KOA campground, it's very nice, we have all hookups, water/sewer/electricity/cable and obviously internet.
We just finished lunch and both pooches have crashed. It's beautiful temperature, the door is open. It's 18 degrees out. We just had a bird fly into the MH through the little opening in the screen door. Dogs were chasing the poor thing all over the place, Ken finally got it by throwing a towel over it. Probably have a real story to tell it's family later on !!!
We have 190 miles to go tomorrow. So we'll start out early. Till then, take care.

Sunday 21 February 2010

Beautiful Day

Today we had a nice lazy start to the day. Got up had breakfast and because we still had no water and I had an air lock in my onboard water tank system we went over to the camps showers. Actually they were very clean. Felt great to get clean.
We went about 160 miles down the road and ended up just north of Knoxville TN. The campground is ok, has what we need a little cramped but ok. We didn't have to unhook the car because the site is long enough. That's a bonus.
We only have a little under 100 miles to travel tomorrow should it makes for a nice relaxing day.
Tomorrow we're staying at a KOA at least we will know what to expect. Kind of like Holiday Inn, the same across the country.
Ken is going to go out and wash the 2 beasties, Bertha and Billy (RV and Car) they are somewhat disgustingly filthy. The other 2 beasties (Maggie and Jackson) are crashed in here.
Happy to say we now have water so we should be able to shower in here tomorrow.

Saturday 20 February 2010

What a day...

What a day !!!! First off we had to take the MH to the mechanic due to our problem yesterday and there we lucked out. We thought it was a loose wire because the light would flicker and that’s exactly what it was. Actually it was a short because the wires were barely touching causing it to short and burn out the wire. He fixed it and we were on our way. Mind you 2 hours behind time but hey it wasn’t major and it didn’t cost us a cent. Still under warranty. BONUS.
We arrived at the next night’s stop which was deemed a nice park. Yeah right. What a piece of crap it was. Each site was covered in snow, but we decided to find one that didn’t have much and just spend the night as were tired. WE GOT STUCK IN THE SNOW. Took us 1 ½ hours to get out. We shovelled and put pieces of wood under the tires and some nice man that was living in his trailer in the park came with a much bigger shovel and some more wood and got us out. We decided against staying. So I got on my cell phone again $$$$ and phoned Coach-Net to find another spot. This one was 40 miles down the road and it’s the Kentucky Horse Track Park. Very nice really. No staff here they go by the honour system, you put your money in an envelope and leave it in a mailbox. Wonder how many don’t?
We got our slides out and are quite comfortable now. Think we’ll turn in early tonight.
Wonder what’s up for tomorrow???

Friday 19 February 2010

What a start to our trip !!!

Well this is a auspicious start to our 6 week trip!!! The drive was great, got here by 230 PM. We were thinking isn't this great, get setup, relax and have a lovely evening. NOT !!!
In order for us to put our jacks down and then put out our slides, you have to apply the parking brake. If you don't, neither of these 2 things work. Well we applied the parking brake, the brake itself worked, but the light on the dash didn't come on. So because of that, the jacks, and the slides think the brake isn't on. And consequently, the slides won't go out. So here we sit, all jammed in the RV with no slides out. We tried everything, finally called a mechanic and have an appointment tomorrow morning at 8 AM. Hopefully it isn't anything too serious. But this just sucks. It's somewhat tight in here with the 4 of us, but we're coping.
The campground appears really nice, a few RV'ers here. Some look like they are staying here for the winter, some, like us, passing through. We haven't bothered with connecting the water, but I think we could, they have a heating pipe on each of the outlets, but I think it may freeze between their heated pipes and our intake. For a 1 day we'll manage.
Well, hopefully tomorrow brings good news for our problem. Keep you posted.

Sunday 14 February 2010

5 Days to Go

It's countdown time..Picked up the MH last Thursday and have been slowly getting it packed up and ready to go.
I didn't like the mirror backsplash that was behind the stove and beside the kitchen sink so I installed a new backsplash called Smart Tiles. They are vinyl tiles that are adhesive and look like real tile. Will make my life much easier. It was a really bugger trying to keep those mirrors clean after washing dishes and cooking something on the stovetop.
It was a little chilly working out there even though I did have a small ceramic heater running, had to turn on the main furnace a one point. That worked!!!! was warm in no time.
Don't like loading up in this cold weather, but what can you do???
Weather permitting, we will take off first thing Friday morning. First stop planned is Monroe, Michigan.
Till later...take care..