The Eagle has landed

We arrived yesterday around 4PM.  The drive took us 7 hours.  It was only 335 miles, but about 250 miles of it was on secondary highway and we had many lights, many small towns and many slow downs.  The roads were excellent just lots of stops.  We are on Central time here so we lost an hour.  And the ride seemed especially long because Jackson for some reason couldn’t settle.  He was panting like crazy and drooling .  He doesn’t travel well so we always give him a couple Gravol before we leave but for some reason it didn’t appear to work yesterday.  Fortunately he wasn’t sick.  I gave him some Pepto Bismol and that seemed to help him a lot.  When we got here Ken took him over to the pet park and he ran a few laps so there was evidently no lasting effects.

It was a lot warmer here than the place we left.  Still not summer weather, but so much warmer, the furnace never came on all night, just had our little ceramic heater going.

We are very pleased with the park.  People here are so very friendly.  It’s very pet friendly and that’s #1 in my books.  On weekends they do breakfast so this morning we headed over and had breakfast.  It was good and the best part was I didn’t have to cook it.  There is a zoo behind us, a small zoo where they keep rescued wild animals.  This morning we woke to a rooster crowing and a peacock calling.  And later a lion roaring.  But it doesn’t bother us at all.  Now if it were kids screaming ??? !!!!! that’s a whole different ball game.  Actually so far the place appears to be all snowbirds just like us.  There’s lots of palm trees and other greenery around and we like that.  Not ‘naked’ like some places.  Level, concrete pads, full hook-ups, cable TV, and free excellent internet.  They only charged us $3.00 to wash the rig.  For the filth that was on it, it should have been double.  There’s a heated pool, hot tub and games room.  We’re happy.

Today we made a quick trip over to Wal-Mart, picked up a couple things.  We tackled the rig and car this afternoon.  Took us about 4 hours to clean both with both of us working at it.  What a job!  But it was absolutely necessary.  I can actually see out the windows now.  All that’s left is to Windex the windows.  We’ll get to it.  Also did a load of laundry, but as I have a washer/dryer combo it’s no big deal.

Today I think I am just going to veg.  That sounds like a great plan to me.

All nice and clean.

Until later..take care.

Cullman, Alabama

Very short one tonight.  Great drive today, the sun was shining all day, the roads were mostly pothole free.  We got here pretty early.  Around 3 PM.  It was about a 300 mile day. 

This campground is way out in the boonies.  Very nice scenery around here.  We have a site with full hook-ups, heated taps, and absolutely screaming wifi.  Price is right too $21 for the night.  We have left the water off as it is supposed to get down to around freezing tonight.  It’s not the weather I was hoping for, but it sure is warmer than it was a couple days ago and warmer than up north. 

So until later..

I’m sorry, I forgot to mention and welcome a new follower, welcome Rene and Jeanette Genereux.

Sorry for such a short, boring blog, but I’m dead tired today and heading for my pillow.  Night.

Shepherdsville, Kentucky

First let me welcome The Bayfield Bunch.  I have been following Al & Kelly’s blog for some time and really enjoy his posts.  Thanks Al.

It sure was a cold night, but we were all warm and toasty in the rig.  Furnaces ran, space heaters cranked up and electric blanket turned on.  Both dogs went to bed with blankets on and left them on.  There was ice on the inside of the front window this morning. 

We arrived in Shepherdsville, Kentucky about 3:30 today.  We decided to fill up the water tank and run from that.  We had brought several jugs of water, but it such a pain having no water at the taps.  It’s such a nuisance  to flush all the anti freeze out of the lines, and I always find that there is so much air in the lines that I really have to run water from the main water supply first, before running from the pump.  Lot’s of frothy water going on for awhile.  I put a utility light in the pump bay cause it is supposed to go down to 28 F here tonight. 

It was a good drive here.  It was very sunny, the roads were clear and the traffic was AOK. 

I think that we are the only travellers in the campground.  There are several, what look like, permanent RV’s or are here for storage for the winter.  We had choice of any spot we liked.  But we still couldn’t get a signal on our ExpressVu box.  There are lots of trees overhead even if they are missing leaves.  So I’m hoping that is the problem.  But there are oodles of channels that we are picking up on the the regular old antenna.

Tomorrow’s destination is Cullman, Alabama.  I sure hope the weather starts to really warm up. 

Take care….really tired tonight…

Monroe, Michigan

First I would like to welcome 3 new followers.  Susan, Freely Living Life and Through Gates of Grace.

Was up bright and early this morning anticipating an early start.  Looked out and window, and what to my wondering eyes should appear..about 1 inch of snow on the ground.  Turned on the TV to catch the local weather and traffic situation.  They were saying that the roads were slippery and several cars had spun out.  Great !! just Great!!  We talked about what to do.  Didn’t really want to postpone for a day.  We decided to just postpone our departure by and hour or so.  Wait until the sun was up and to ensure all the salters and sanders had been out.  By the time we got the car hooked and on the road it was 8:30 and traffic wasn’t too bad.  A little slow but I think that was mainly due to it being the kids first day back to school and maybe some people too who had taken Christmas holidays.  Then after a couple hours we ran into an accident that was miles up the road, and we wasted 45 minutes trying to get through that.  Roads were fine, a little wet in spots, it was a very, very dirty drive.  Our poor rig and car look terrible.  We got here around 4 PM.  Got settled, even though the water here is in a heated enclosure we decided not to hook up.  It’s very cold here.  I don’t need to worry about frozen pipes.  And it’s very windy too.

First order of business when we parked and put out the slides, get poor Arthur fed.  Poor little guy had been in his crate all day.  I tried to let him out but he got scared and ran back in.  He’s fine now, stretched out on the bench at the table.  After that was to get the furnace and our 2 ceramic heaters going.  Place warmed up nicely.  I’ve turned on the electric blanket so that bed will be nice and toasty when we go to bed.  I really hate this cold weather %$#*%.

We’re staying at a campground here called Harbortown RV Resort.  We’ve stayed here before.  It was also winter last time we were here so I can’t really comment on any of their amenities, but we like it.  It’s easy in and easy out, nice long sites so we don’t need to unhook the car. 

Tomorrow’s goal is Shepherdsville, KY.  There’s a KOA there we’re heading for.

I was going to take a picture of the site but it’s just too darn cold and windy out there so I’m staying inside, thank you very much.

Hope we’ll all nice an toasty night in here, with the wind, it’s very bitter.

Until later..take care.

Packing Up

So now it starts, the many, many trips out to the rig.  I really don’t mind it in the summer time, but this time of year, I must put on decent shoes, no sandals and a coat.  And although I’m running a small heater in the rig, it only keeps it at about 45 F.  Workable, but only as long as I’m moving. 

I checked out the 2 furnaces to make sure they were working, the back one gave us a little trouble on our southwest trip.  But they seemed to be just fine and were belching out the heat.  But I don’t leave them on as they use a fair bit of propane.  Surprisingly it is very difficult to find propane here.  Oh there are lots of places to fill up your BBQ tank, but they don’t have the adapter for motorhome propane tanks.  It’s a real pain.  The first stop on our trip does not have propane either, but  I contacted them and there’s a place 2 miles down the road.  We will ensure that our tank is topped up before stopping for the night.  It’s at 2/3 right now, but I know we will have to run the front furnace while driving as it gets chilly in there.  If it was just Ken and myself we’d be ok with the dash heat but we have 3 fur traveling buddies.  We do have the Extend A Trip adapter though on our tank so we can hook up a regular propane tank (which we keep in the car while travelling) if we run out and can’t find a place to fill up.  In the US there are alot more places where you can fill up.  Flying J for example.

I suppose that I am about 1/3 packed up.  I’m in the write it down and check it off mode now.

Rick and Paulette must be almost at their first stop for the night.   How exciting to be taking your first big trip in your brand spanking new 5er.  And it sure looks like a beauty.  I wish them a safe trip to their winter digs.

I’m still undecided about the water situation.  I know that our rig is supposed to be just fine using onboard water at these temperatures.  But I’m a worry wart and I’m thinking that for the first night we’ll dry camp.  I have lots of bottled water and the campground even has heated water taps.  But it won’t kill us for 1 night to dry camp. 

Don’t think I’d be blogging again before 2011 so I want to wish all of you a very Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year.

Happy RVing….

Quick One

Was so pleasantly surprised today to see 2 new followers..welcome Wandering Willy and Happy Trails.

Christmas is over for another year.  It’s always such a huge rush and build up and it’s over so fast.  I spend all day cooking, preparing and organizing a big meal and it’s done and eaten in about 45 minutes.  Gee, I wish it only took 45 minutes to get it on the table.  But it was yummy and everyone was crying the blues about being too full.  So I guess it was well worth the effort.  Everyone is gone now, the house is back to normal.  Hubby and dogs have gone off to bed and I’m just winding down here.  It was a great day!

Monday we’re going over to where we store the rig and bringing her home.  I have 9 days to get packed up and ready for our 3 1/2 month trip south.  Seems like I make a zillion trips from the house to the rig.  Just when I think I’ve loaded everything, another thing pops into my head.  I have woken up in the middle of the night and tell myself ‘I must remember to put this in’ and of course in the morning it’s completely erased from my brain.  So I keep a pen and pad on my nightstand.  Sometimes it’s a little difficult to read what I’ve written down, but it helps to know it’s there if I get a brain wave in the middle of the night.

Well, it’s late, I’m very tired.  The house is quiet and I’m the only living thing in it that’s not sleeping.  So I’m off to bed.  Night all.

Merry Christmas

Just a very quick note to wish everyone a very Merry and Happy Christmas.  However you may celebrate your Christmas, I hope it’s a truly wonderful one.  All the best in 2011.

We will be on our way south in a couple weeks and I will pick up the blog again at that time.

Happy and safe RVing.  And keep those blogs coming…..