Sunday, July 31, 2011

Our Almost Vintage RV's First Trip North - Day Four

After a light breakfast we are on the road again. This is the fourth and last day of this trip north. We are left Indiana and now on the Illinois Toll road.  First toll booth coming up. Our I- Pass is new so we must go through this first booth.

I-Pass work okay. so no more toll booth stops for us. There isn't any road work to slow us down. so we breeze right through Illinois.

Once we got into Wisconsin, we ran into some constructions so it has been slow going from the state line right through Milwaukee.  We continue to head north now on I-43.  We stop at Culver's in Mantiwoc for bite to eat, then head to Walmart to restock the refrigerator before driving the last 14 miles to Reedsville.

Back on the road again, Jerry hears a clunking noise coming from the front tire. He thinks a belt broke in the tire.  Now the rain starts. The wipers can barely remove all that water. Suddenly the passenger side wiper turns side ways, then breaks and stops all together. Making it impossible to see out that side. At least the driver side wiper still works.  Just 10 more miles now. There it is Rainbows End Campground on the left. We will be here for the next few months.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Our Almost Vintage RV 's First Trip North - Day Three

Back on the road again, heading north on I-65. Jerry says it won't belong before we get to Nashville.There is no plans for sight seeing today though, as we are hoping to get to the northern part of Indiana before night fall. We usually don't like to travel for more than 305 - 350 miles per day. 




We stopped at a wayside to have a little lunch.
Fancy watches Jerry hoping he drops something.
She doesn't know he is only making something to drink.









                                             Mandy and Daisy waiting for their turn.

 The pups are so ready for their walk. They like to run and play but are scared of the noise from the 18 wheelers. They have gotten better at least they will come out of the coach.

                                          Jerry puts the last pup in and we are off again.

We are going through Louisville Kentucky the traffic is not so bad.  I sure would like to sight see here but maybe next trip. So on to Indianapolis we go. Indiana seems to go on forever. It is a very flat state and a little boring too. But at least the coach is getting better gas mileage. Luckly cause the price of gas is higher.

Oh,  it feels so great when we find a station that is selling regular unleaded for $3.82 per gallon. But  having to put the credit card in at least twice to fill the tank really hurts.  We always fill at a quarter of a tank now.  Gone are the days when $100 would fill the tank with enough left over for a snack or two.

Just went through Indianapolis. Sometime I wish we could by pass the big cities there is so much traffic. And today is one of thoses day. The back up camera doesn't work, so we  use the shadows from the Escape and tow dolly when changing lane. It is really scary when there is no shadows. And then there is the traffic merging from the on ramp. When some car trys to merge behind the coach and then realizes there is another 30 ft or more of vehicle.
But, All the traffic and changing lanes stuff doesn't phase Jerry at all. Well at least that is what he says.

Pulling into Caboose Lake Campground in Remington Indiana.  Really nice campground wish we weren't just spending the night. Our site is a pull through across from the 20 acre Pond.

The pups are excited as there are ducks on the pond. They have never seen a duck before. They didn't bark but I thought they might jump in the water if they weren't on a leash. Fancy and Daisy kind of danced on the rocks taking great care not to get their feet wet. While Mandy lays on the grass at my feet, waiting for them to come back to play catch me if you can.

After dinner, Jerry chats with a couple from the area who camps here alot. While I take the pups for their last walk before turning in for the night. One more day and we will be in Wisconsin.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Our Almost Vinetage RV and Her first Trip North - Day Two

Jerry and Nancy had a leisurely breakfast before heading out from Ozark Alabama. Now that they are back on the road and heading north they hope this day will go by with out a hitch.  But, About mid morning the radio decides to go all static. Now the radio is dead. Nancy gets out her pen and little fix it notebook, she adds dash radio. Already, On the list is a new back up camera.
 
Travel north on hwy 65 seems like all we do is go up and down hill, not sure why we are getting better gas mileage than yesterday. Now the trees look more like those in Wisconsin. Wow Alabama is a long state. Looking out the window. There is damage all around. Buildings in rubble, roofs torn from a theater or may be that was a hotel. You could just see the tornado's path of a few weeks ago.

 Stopped for the night at Texas "T" campground. Located at Hwy I-65 and Exit 27 in Cornersville Tennesse. Seems like a nice campground. Each pull through site has grass and a shade tree and newer picnic table. Makes it easy to relax outside.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Our Almost Vintage Coach and Her First Trip North



                                                                                      Bought our 1994 Winnebago Vectra in November 2010. We looked at many a coach before we choose ours. Looking for a coach with out slides became a challenge. She is a gasser on a Ford chassis. We haven't named her yet but we know our coach is a girl. After, replacing the refrig and furnace and top of the stove.and adding two new HD tv's. She was set and ready to roll. As this is our maiden trip with her, we took her to church and had her Blessed.
Jerry hooked up the dolly, loaded on the Escape. Jerry, Nancy and their three little dogs climbed on board and traveled north from Florida to Wisconsin.
Day one:
Our Garim ran out of power, oops the 12v plug socket on the dash doesn't work. Then, Nancy reads the map wrong so we took the two hour scenic route. Florida to Alabama to Georgia to Alabama, finally back on route.
We pulled into a Rv travel park about 5:30pm. I little place called Mr. D's RV Park. It was just pass Ozark Alabama. Nice clean park, has 50amp service, cable tv and all pull through sites.
Gayle the owner ran out to greet us and direct us to our site. She told us of places we could shop, visit in the area and recommend our nexted campground. After hooking up the coach to power, cable and sewer, Jerry talked with her for quite a while. They talked about nascar and how he used to drive stock cars but that is another story.
Jerry and Nancy plan to make a lot of memorys traveling with their Vectra

Our Park Model

It has been a while since my last post. During our travels as fulltim Rv'ers, we landed at the Starke KOA a few winters back. We made some great friends and decided it would be the place to spend our winters. We spend sometime looking around for places to buy in the area. Low and behold a park model came available right in the KOA. It was love at first site. Sure it wasn't a new one but had a great kitchen and an attached sun room. That was just our kind of place. So we bought it in 2008 and have spent every winter there since.