OK, so we had no takers for our dogs for the length of time we wanted so we have officially called the trip off!:( We really are extremely disappointed but what do you do???? Anyway, we have unloaded everything and things are back to normal. However, I cannot take this Florida heat and humidity all summer so we decided that I am going to Melissa's for the summer while Roger stays home with the "damn" dogs and takes care of the homefront. So I'm leaving tomorrow morning and will be in Kansas City at 2:00 pm. Then Melissa and I are going to Tennessee for the 4th of July (mine and Roger's 21st anniversary)then back to Kansas City and then we're both flying to Portland on July 11th for two weeks - her on business and me to visit with Heather, Jason and the boys. So I'm road ready with not a return ticket home so I'm not sure when I will be back. One of these days I know we will take this trip but before we leave next time it will be just the two of us and there'll be no turning back.
Until ? ? ?
Friday, June 25, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Home Again? :(
What we didn't post yesterday was that we made a decision that we couldn't do this trip with our dogs. They just didn't take to camping and made our lives miserable. To go on with them is just not an option as we'd probably end up pitching them out on the roadside or divorcing or worst - kill each other. So, we started Saturday looking into some folks who may have been interested in staying at our house and keeping them. We made some phone calls and waited for some answers. We drove home yesterday (Sunday) hoping we would have an answer by the time we got home. We did hear from one who turned the offer down and was waiting on someone else. Anyway, we had a safe trip back, the dogs are extremely happy to be home and we did have a great night's sleep. Today (Monday) we heard from the second person who also turned the offer down. We called someone new that knows multiple people who care for dogs and heard back a little while ago. One can't because of their hours of work, one wants to but can't start until July 12 and one could keep them from July 4th until the 12th leaving us to find someone from now until July 4th. I'm exhausted just writing about it so not sure if we can work this all out. It's ironic because I have
said from the first day we bought the camper that I felt like forces were working to keep us home as I wanted to leave three weeks after we bought it and we didn't leave until almost double that time. So, our trip may be over before we get started good but I certainly hope not. I will start again tomorrow trying to find a dog sitter but we have pretty much decided that if we don't find one by the weekend that we're calling the trip off so this may end up a very short blog - only time will tell. One very positive out of all this is that tonight Matt & Amy had us for dinner and we brought Wyatt back home with us to spend the night. We have missed the little dickens but we were also very much looking forward to seeing our first born, Ethan, our second born, Linus, our third born, Campbell and our fifth born, Zuzu. Somehow, we will see them all this year!!!
Our next blog won't be until a decision is final one way or the other. So,
Until next time. . .
said from the first day we bought the camper that I felt like forces were working to keep us home as I wanted to leave three weeks after we bought it and we didn't leave until almost double that time. So, our trip may be over before we get started good but I certainly hope not. I will start again tomorrow trying to find a dog sitter but we have pretty much decided that if we don't find one by the weekend that we're calling the trip off so this may end up a very short blog - only time will tell. One very positive out of all this is that tonight Matt & Amy had us for dinner and we brought Wyatt back home with us to spend the night. We have missed the little dickens but we were also very much looking forward to seeing our first born, Ethan, our second born, Linus, our third born, Campbell and our fifth born, Zuzu. Somehow, we will see them all this year!!!
Our next blog won't be until a decision is final one way or the other. So,
Until next time. . .
Saturday, June 19, 2010
A Better Day On Jekyll Island
It's about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and so far we have had a pretty good day. We slept in until about 8:30, I cooked the rest of the bacon and eggs, I made toast and we sat outside and enjoyed a nice quiet breakfast with about 1000 other campers doing the same thing at their site.
After breakfast we completed blogging for yesterday. We kind of do this like a tag team, I'll type awhile then Rainy will edit me, correct my spelling and grammar then she will add to the blog.
When we completed the blog we drove Herbie to the pier at Driftwood Beach. We walked the pier and walked along the surf taking pictures of the big trees that have fallen on to the beach and petrified. It was sooooo hot! We got back in Herbie and, knowing that we had to have it back by 1:30, just took our time getting it back.
After we dropped it off we went back to the historic district parked and walked around looking at the houses. We did find a place on the water called the "Rah Bar".
They had a band playing outside on the deck. We got a table that had the best breeze we've felt in forever and we just sat there. Rainy had a Margarita and a peach daiquiri and I had a couple of Coronas and peel and eat shrimp. It was actually the best time we've had on the trip so far. For you who might know who I am speaking of I believe that Craiq Statler, the pro golfer was just a couple of tables away.
When we got back to the campsite, we walked the puppys then Rainy took a nap and I watched part of the U.S. Open before we had a little thunder shower. Nothing big but enough to keep me from starting the grill. We really weren't too hungry anyway. We ate the rest of the pimento cheese sandwiches with pickles and chips.
Until tomorrow....
Friday, June 18, 2010
It's Got To Get Better Than This!!
O.K., as I said on Wednesday we were for sure leaving early tomorrow morning. (Thursday) Sure enough we got up early, did the last minute packing, unplugged all the electrical appliances etc. and we were OFF!
We made it out of the drive-way when we both agreed that the hitch on the truck was too low for the camper. It made the camper lean too drastically down towards the truck. That is not a good thing because it puts too much weight on the hitch. So, Rainy suggested that we switch Matt's hitch with the one we had for the Oydessy. We had to completely de-hitch and re-hitch but the result was that we had a level camper.
We were off at about 8:00 a.m. We stopped and got coffee and hit the road. We headed up I-75 until Ocala and got on 301 which led us to I-10 which led us to I-95 where which we got off in Georgia at exit 1. Along the way, we stopped at a Georgia rest stop and had a picnic lunch (Rainy had made pimento cheese sandwiches for the road. The park was the best we have been in as far as providing a nice area for the dogs and their masters in the same area. About seven hours from the time we left home we were checking in to the Jekyll Island Campground just south of Brunswick Georgia. Jekyll Island has a lot of history ranging from the first shore that slaves were brought to the United States to, at one time, one sixth of the wealthest people in the world had cottages here where they spent their winters. We'll get to more of that later.
They assigned us back-in spot #C-3. When we got to our spot we were pleased. It had three trees that would provide shade morning, noon and night.
Rainy guided me and I backed in like a pro the very first time. But. (We've come to realize there is always a "But".) The trees were situated so that if we got way back in our spot where we wanted there was not enough room to pull the rear bed out. I pulled out and moved a little to the left. It looked good. We were happy. So we un-hitched the camper. Rainy got out her revised set up check list and we began leveling, putting down the stablizers, raising the roof and unrolling the canopy when,Uh Oh. One of the trees was closer than we thought and we could not extend the canopy all the way. And it has to extend all the way or nothing due to rain runoff. We had to unchock, unstablize and re-hitch just to move it 12 inches.
I must mention that even though we were only 2000 yards from the Atlantic Ocean there was no sea breeze and the heat and humidity was probably in the 100 degree range at 4:00p.m. Sweat was pouring and tempers were getting a little short, oh yeah, and just for kicks, mother nature through a quick thunder storm, complete with lightning and rain, but we did manage to get it set up and the truck partially unloaded before dark but everything was just piled in the camper. By this time, it was almost 6:30. We fed the dogs and made our bed and then left to go get some dinner because we were just too tired to even think about cooking ourselves. We at dinner at The Sand Bar & Grill - just mediocre - but at this point we didn't care. Got back to camp, set the TV up, watched a little and crashed.
(Friday) Got up around 8:00 walked the dogs then I went down to the camp store and bought some bacon and eggs while Rainy started unpacking. I cooked breakfast on the electric griddle outside on the grill table. The griddle is the ONLY way to cook breakfast. It was fast, easy and a snap to clean up. After breakfast we continued to unpack and trying to decide if we wanted to rent bikes or a street legal electric oversized golf cart thing. We decided on the electric thing because we thought that it would be fun to explore the island in the thing.
We drove down to the Clarion Hotel where the Red Bug Motors rental place is and rented a two seater Red Bug named "Herbie". Ours was not red but white. It seemed to take forever for the rental guy to tell us everything we needed to know about Herbie and showing us on a map all the sites on the island. I drove Herbie back to the campsite while Rainy followed with the truck flashers on. The bug will only go 26 MPH the speed limit on all the roads is a max of 35 and drivers are driving 50. We parked the truck got the camera and took off on the intercoastal side of the island with really no destination in mind other than we wanted to see the rich dead millionaires winter cottages, like Vanderbilt, Goodyear, Rockefeller and many others whom I just can't remember right now.
Back in their hay day they formed the Jekyll Island Club and only the very wealthy could join. They built these cottages here and the men came down to do the manly bonding thing while their wifes either stayed in the Hamptons or came along and bitched the whole time they were here. Making it dificult for the men to have a good time fishing, boating, hunting, drinking, etc. etc. Of course the cottages were huge homes. Nothing short of an "everyday mansion". We didn't go into any of the homes as we've seen enough to know basically the very wealthy's are usually pretty much the same.
We continued until we got to the south end of the island and started up the ocean side. We stopped at a little shopping center so Rainy could get some postcards. Then we stopped at a beach access point and looked at the Ocean for a minute then came on back to the campsite because we needed to plug Herbie up. He is only good for about 25 miles before he needs a charge. I was instructed to plug into the park outlet that is provided, but the plug didn't work so I plugged into one of the camper's plug.
We leashed the dogs and walked them. By this time it was about 5:30. I fed the boys and fired up the grill and we just sat & talked while the fire was getting hot. I was making hollandaisse sauce on the grill and I asked Rainy to plug in the microwave to start cooking the potatoes. She did. Then pop. The microwave stopped. The fan stopped. We put everything on hold so we could figure out what happened. None of the electrical outlets outside or inside the camper would work. After checking the outside electrical box and all around the camper we couldn't find anything - so out came the "Manual." Rainy read while I continued looking and found where there was a reset button. The button itself was not popped out and I couldn't get it to reset. Rainy kept reading something about a converter box but it didn't tell where it was located - this manual is for all Fleetwoods regardless of model - you just have to decide what applies to yours and what doesn't. When it reach 7:00 pm, Rainy suggested we just finish dinner and then work on it some more. I cooked us a rib-eye steak with some asparagus with hollandaisse. We ate but didn't enjoy it for worrying about the electrical. We started cleaning up and while we were inside the ceiling lights started flickering and the radio started coming and going and we thought "oh shit" everything is going to go. Rainy said "if the air-conditioning goes we go!" We read the manual somemore and figured out that certain things were using the battery since we only had partial electricity. So I backed the truck up and hooked up the electrical pigtail so the battery would recharge. And, then, an angel was sent to us. A couple stopped to talk to us because they wanted to see the pop-up so as we started talking we found they had owned a pop-up and I told Jim my problem and he said well I know where your converter is - you probably just blew one of the circuits. He went right in the camper - right to the converter box - opened it and viola the 15 amp circuit was popped which was caused by using the microwave in the wrong outlet. After, one million thank yous, we were back in business. Once again, I unhooked and parked the truck. By this time it is 9:30 pm, we're exhausted but not to be held back, especially what we paid for renting "Herbie" for 24 hours, we took off for a late night ride. We drove about half the island again and it was cool and relaxing from what we had just gone through. We came back to camp and Rainy went to take her shower followed by me and we settled in for the night - Rainy went to bed and I started this blog but just got too tired so I climbed into bed about 11:45 pm.
So now, even though this is Saturday morning, I will wait and blog tonight. Hold your breath for us - this morning seems to be going normal and we are very much hoping and ready for a nice relaxing, fun-filled day - going to the beach!!!
Until tomorrow. . .
P.S. In case we haven't mentioned it before, please forgive us for any misspelling or improper grammer as we're not even trying!!!
We made it out of the drive-way when we both agreed that the hitch on the truck was too low for the camper. It made the camper lean too drastically down towards the truck. That is not a good thing because it puts too much weight on the hitch. So, Rainy suggested that we switch Matt's hitch with the one we had for the Oydessy. We had to completely de-hitch and re-hitch but the result was that we had a level camper.
We were off at about 8:00 a.m. We stopped and got coffee and hit the road. We headed up I-75 until Ocala and got on 301 which led us to I-10 which led us to I-95 where which we got off in Georgia at exit 1. Along the way, we stopped at a Georgia rest stop and had a picnic lunch (Rainy had made pimento cheese sandwiches for the road. The park was the best we have been in as far as providing a nice area for the dogs and their masters in the same area. About seven hours from the time we left home we were checking in to the Jekyll Island Campground just south of Brunswick Georgia. Jekyll Island has a lot of history ranging from the first shore that slaves were brought to the United States to, at one time, one sixth of the wealthest people in the world had cottages here where they spent their winters. We'll get to more of that later.
They assigned us back-in spot #C-3. When we got to our spot we were pleased. It had three trees that would provide shade morning, noon and night.
Rainy guided me and I backed in like a pro the very first time. But. (We've come to realize there is always a "But".) The trees were situated so that if we got way back in our spot where we wanted there was not enough room to pull the rear bed out. I pulled out and moved a little to the left. It looked good. We were happy. So we un-hitched the camper. Rainy got out her revised set up check list and we began leveling, putting down the stablizers, raising the roof and unrolling the canopy when,Uh Oh. One of the trees was closer than we thought and we could not extend the canopy all the way. And it has to extend all the way or nothing due to rain runoff. We had to unchock, unstablize and re-hitch just to move it 12 inches.
I must mention that even though we were only 2000 yards from the Atlantic Ocean there was no sea breeze and the heat and humidity was probably in the 100 degree range at 4:00p.m. Sweat was pouring and tempers were getting a little short, oh yeah, and just for kicks, mother nature through a quick thunder storm, complete with lightning and rain, but we did manage to get it set up and the truck partially unloaded before dark but everything was just piled in the camper. By this time, it was almost 6:30. We fed the dogs and made our bed and then left to go get some dinner because we were just too tired to even think about cooking ourselves. We at dinner at The Sand Bar & Grill - just mediocre - but at this point we didn't care. Got back to camp, set the TV up, watched a little and crashed.
(Friday) Got up around 8:00 walked the dogs then I went down to the camp store and bought some bacon and eggs while Rainy started unpacking. I cooked breakfast on the electric griddle outside on the grill table. The griddle is the ONLY way to cook breakfast. It was fast, easy and a snap to clean up. After breakfast we continued to unpack and trying to decide if we wanted to rent bikes or a street legal electric oversized golf cart thing. We decided on the electric thing because we thought that it would be fun to explore the island in the thing.
We drove down to the Clarion Hotel where the Red Bug Motors rental place is and rented a two seater Red Bug named "Herbie". Ours was not red but white. It seemed to take forever for the rental guy to tell us everything we needed to know about Herbie and showing us on a map all the sites on the island. I drove Herbie back to the campsite while Rainy followed with the truck flashers on. The bug will only go 26 MPH the speed limit on all the roads is a max of 35 and drivers are driving 50. We parked the truck got the camera and took off on the intercoastal side of the island with really no destination in mind other than we wanted to see the rich dead millionaires winter cottages, like Vanderbilt, Goodyear, Rockefeller and many others whom I just can't remember right now.
Back in their hay day they formed the Jekyll Island Club and only the very wealthy could join. They built these cottages here and the men came down to do the manly bonding thing while their wifes either stayed in the Hamptons or came along and bitched the whole time they were here. Making it dificult for the men to have a good time fishing, boating, hunting, drinking, etc. etc. Of course the cottages were huge homes. Nothing short of an "everyday mansion". We didn't go into any of the homes as we've seen enough to know basically the very wealthy's are usually pretty much the same.
We continued until we got to the south end of the island and started up the ocean side. We stopped at a little shopping center so Rainy could get some postcards. Then we stopped at a beach access point and looked at the Ocean for a minute then came on back to the campsite because we needed to plug Herbie up. He is only good for about 25 miles before he needs a charge. I was instructed to plug into the park outlet that is provided, but the plug didn't work so I plugged into one of the camper's plug.
We leashed the dogs and walked them. By this time it was about 5:30. I fed the boys and fired up the grill and we just sat & talked while the fire was getting hot. I was making hollandaisse sauce on the grill and I asked Rainy to plug in the microwave to start cooking the potatoes. She did. Then pop. The microwave stopped. The fan stopped. We put everything on hold so we could figure out what happened. None of the electrical outlets outside or inside the camper would work. After checking the outside electrical box and all around the camper we couldn't find anything - so out came the "Manual." Rainy read while I continued looking and found where there was a reset button. The button itself was not popped out and I couldn't get it to reset. Rainy kept reading something about a converter box but it didn't tell where it was located - this manual is for all Fleetwoods regardless of model - you just have to decide what applies to yours and what doesn't. When it reach 7:00 pm, Rainy suggested we just finish dinner and then work on it some more. I cooked us a rib-eye steak with some asparagus with hollandaisse. We ate but didn't enjoy it for worrying about the electrical. We started cleaning up and while we were inside the ceiling lights started flickering and the radio started coming and going and we thought "oh shit" everything is going to go. Rainy said "if the air-conditioning goes we go!" We read the manual somemore and figured out that certain things were using the battery since we only had partial electricity. So I backed the truck up and hooked up the electrical pigtail so the battery would recharge. And, then, an angel was sent to us. A couple stopped to talk to us because they wanted to see the pop-up so as we started talking we found they had owned a pop-up and I told Jim my problem and he said well I know where your converter is - you probably just blew one of the circuits. He went right in the camper - right to the converter box - opened it and viola the 15 amp circuit was popped which was caused by using the microwave in the wrong outlet. After, one million thank yous, we were back in business. Once again, I unhooked and parked the truck. By this time it is 9:30 pm, we're exhausted but not to be held back, especially what we paid for renting "Herbie" for 24 hours, we took off for a late night ride. We drove about half the island again and it was cool and relaxing from what we had just gone through. We came back to camp and Rainy went to take her shower followed by me and we settled in for the night - Rainy went to bed and I started this blog but just got too tired so I climbed into bed about 11:45 pm.
So now, even though this is Saturday morning, I will wait and blog tonight. Hold your breath for us - this morning seems to be going normal and we are very much hoping and ready for a nice relaxing, fun-filled day - going to the beach!!!
Until tomorrow. . .
P.S. In case we haven't mentioned it before, please forgive us for any misspelling or improper grammer as we're not even trying!!!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Finally Tomorrow!!!!
OK, I know that Rainy said in our last blog that our drop dead, absolute day that we are driving away would be today Wednesday, June 16th. Well guess what? We are still here. Yesterday we worked our asses off trying to get ready and by 5:00 p.m. we were wiped out, beat, exhausted. We thought this is no way to start a vacation so we changed our plans to take Wednesday to get completely ready and packed including the camper and the truck so that at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday we would for sure head north.
You got to know that it is a thousand degrees down here in the tropics of Florida. Probably only around 96 degrees or so but with the humidity it feels like you are living in a sauna.
Tuesday I put the hurricane shutters on all the windows and lanai openings, something I had never done before and I can tell you who ever screwed the screws before me must have had the strength of Schwarzenegger. They were in the concrete so tight I had to borrow Matt's super duper power driver drill/screwdriver to even budge them. Once I got past the vertical panels the horizontal ones weren't as hard. Then I had to weed the flower beds, wash down the front entrance and clean the garage all this in this stifling heat.
Rainy cleaned the house, then started packing all the things we will need on the road like can goods, pots and pans, utensils, bedding, dog stuff and clothes. She packed plastic tubs and boxes and labeled each with the contents so we would not have to search every container for the salt shaker.
Today we finished. We did the last minute things like putting everything in the camper and truck bed. Rainy organized all the important banking stuff and made sure all the bills were paid. She also called and made a reservation at our first stop, Jekyll Island, Georgia. We will tell you all about it next time.
Later....
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Days are ticking by and we haven't left yet :(
It's Sunday again and we can't believe how long it is taking us to get to a departure date but we have a drop-dead departure date for Wednesday morning!!!
Roger spent this past Thursday finishing the truck cleaning (Matt doesn't keep a very clean truck to say the least and he smokes) but finally it is all clean and the smoke smell eradicated so the truck is road ready. I continued do administrative things such as paying bills, updating our lists of things to do or buy, etc. We also picked up Wyatt from daycare as Matt & Amy were meeting us at home for us to all go out and eat for Roger's upcoming birthday and father's day since we won't be here. We picked up Wyatt at 3:30 and played with him until Matt & Amy came at 6:00 and we went to eat and then came back home, gave Wyatt a bath and they went home.
Friday, we did things around the house and then went to Port Charlotte to do a little more shopping for the trip. We also went to our warehouse to make sure everything was in good shape before we left town for so long - and everything is good there. We picked Wyatt up at daycare at 3:45 and kept him overnight which is always a blast but tiring too for two old folks - hehe.
Saturday morning Matt & Amy picked up Wyatt and we went to get the camper to bring it to our house so we could clean it and start packing it on Sunday. Wouldn't you know - we got it all hooked up and checked the lights before we pulled off and the back right light wasn't working (same problem as the left light when we first bought it) so we had to unhook and leave it there for them to fix it on Monday but they are not sure if they can get to it until Tuesday as they have a full day of commitment on Monday but may try to work us in so we are hoping because we're not sure if we can pack in one day but I'm willing to do whatever it takes for us to pull out early Wednesday morning. Roger had an appointment at noon Saturday that went well. Saturday evening we had dinner with our best friends, Karen & Lin. They went all out as they usually do but extra special this time for Roger's birthday. It was an absolute wonderful meal, great company and fine entertainment. Martha Stewart has nothing on Karen - she is the quintessential hostess.
We are spending today (Sunday) writing this post, I'm continuing and should finish a more friendly version of our camper manual in order to give us check off lists for leaving, set-up, and tear-down, we're cleaning house, and are going to start packing some of our things in tubs so I better run and get started!
Until next time. . .
Roger spent this past Thursday finishing the truck cleaning (Matt doesn't keep a very clean truck to say the least and he smokes) but finally it is all clean and the smoke smell eradicated so the truck is road ready. I continued do administrative things such as paying bills, updating our lists of things to do or buy, etc. We also picked up Wyatt from daycare as Matt & Amy were meeting us at home for us to all go out and eat for Roger's upcoming birthday and father's day since we won't be here. We picked up Wyatt at 3:30 and played with him until Matt & Amy came at 6:00 and we went to eat and then came back home, gave Wyatt a bath and they went home.
Friday, we did things around the house and then went to Port Charlotte to do a little more shopping for the trip. We also went to our warehouse to make sure everything was in good shape before we left town for so long - and everything is good there. We picked Wyatt up at daycare at 3:45 and kept him overnight which is always a blast but tiring too for two old folks - hehe.
Saturday morning Matt & Amy picked up Wyatt and we went to get the camper to bring it to our house so we could clean it and start packing it on Sunday. Wouldn't you know - we got it all hooked up and checked the lights before we pulled off and the back right light wasn't working (same problem as the left light when we first bought it) so we had to unhook and leave it there for them to fix it on Monday but they are not sure if they can get to it until Tuesday as they have a full day of commitment on Monday but may try to work us in so we are hoping because we're not sure if we can pack in one day but I'm willing to do whatever it takes for us to pull out early Wednesday morning. Roger had an appointment at noon Saturday that went well. Saturday evening we had dinner with our best friends, Karen & Lin. They went all out as they usually do but extra special this time for Roger's birthday. It was an absolute wonderful meal, great company and fine entertainment. Martha Stewart has nothing on Karen - she is the quintessential hostess.
We are spending today (Sunday) writing this post, I'm continuing and should finish a more friendly version of our camper manual in order to give us check off lists for leaving, set-up, and tear-down, we're cleaning house, and are going to start packing some of our things in tubs so I better run and get started!
Until next time. . .
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
One Step Closer
It's Wednesday and the past three days were spent getting Matt's truck ready to pull the pup. Although it has the factory towing package there were things that we thought we needed to get it just right to leave. First it needed new tires. I found a deal on Bridgestones that if you buy three the fourth is free. From my other research it was the best deal. We also knew that it needed a front end alignment and possibly new brake pads and the rotors turned. So when I took it in for the tires they did the other work at a discount because it was already on the lift and the wheels off. That was on Monday.
On Tuesday I took it to the Toyota dealership in Venice for the 75,000 mile check up which included oil, filters inside and out, fluids engine cleaning etc. Also yesterday, Rainy and I took Matt's truck to a place in Port Charlotte that sells and installs Tonneau covers. We bought one. A Tonneau cover covers the bed of the truck and rolls up to expose the bed or covers the bed so you can carry stuff without it getting wet or blown around. It was ordered and would be in tomorrow from their warehouse in Orlando.
At 8:30 this morning (Wednesday) the Tonneau cover guy called and said that it was in and that he could install it at eleven. Cool. Sure enough I got there at eleven and one hour later it was installed, I was given a tutorial on using it and adjusting it and I was on my way back home. Before I went home I went to the RV place so they could install a trailer brake controller on Matt's truck. That done I went home and started cleaning the interior of the truck. I got as far as general cleaning and steam cleaning the upholstery and carpets. When that was done and the drying time began it was quiting time. (Its 5:00 somewhere)
All the time I was doing this Rainy was busy with administrative stuff, such as dealing with our stores (regular and Ebay)preparing to leave those for a while, working on getting all our bills set up for e-bill, shopping more camping stuff - she ordered us a "shower/changing room" tent, etc. etc.
This is a picture of the Wee Willie Wyatt and Poppy at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park on Memorial Day.
A very Happy Birthday to our granddaughter, Zuzu, she is two years old today!
Until next time. . .
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Waiting to Exit (Florida)
It's Sunday and we haven't posted since Wednesday. Why? Well because there isn't much to say. We have decided to use Matt's truck instead of the Van. Matt's truck is a V8 rated to pull 8000 lbs. and is factory equipped with a towing package. We are putting on new tires and getting an oil change and getting the brakes checked out, but those are things Matt needs to do anyway. I will just feel safer and much more comfortable pulling the pop up over the Rocky mountains with the power, stability and the ground clearance of a truck.
We plan to spend this week getting the house ready for us to leave. At the end of the week we will install the hurricane shutters, just in case.
Until tomorrow...
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Rest & More Research
Today (Wednesday) I had a couple more appointments and ran an errand for Matt & Amy. After our "shakedown" trip, we are not sure we want to do this trip in our Honda van so we started looking into possibly trading our van for a "quad cab" truck so we both spent time today looking into trucks. We also rested some more from our trip and we picked up Wyatt from daycare and kept him until after supper and after we bathed him and then took him home - we did all this because his mom wasn't feeling well.
Until tomorrow...
Until tomorrow...
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Back Home From Memorial Day Camping
This blog will cover Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The reason I haven't blogged in four days is that we did not take a computer with us on our long week-end trip to Homosassa Springs.
Saturday we met Matt, Amy and Wyatt at their house around 7:30 a.m. Wyatt rode up with us because they only had room for all their gear and Ruby in there small SUV.
We got there just before noon and after we checked in everyone had a good laugh watching me trying to back the camper into our assigned space. Only with the help of Danny, one of the camper helpers, did I get the camper parked. Matt and Amy kept an eye on the three dogs and Wyatt while Rainy and I set up the pop up. We wanted to do it ourselves because this was the first time and we wanted to see how long it would take.
We did it! It only took us about an hour. The only thing we didn't get right was the bed supports. It wasn't until the next day that we discovered that they were not locked in. The beds were so much more stable after we figured out how to lock the supports.
After we had some lunch, Matt went fishing in Turtle Creek, Rainy, Amy and Wyatt went to the pool and I organized the campsite. They got back to the campsite just before the rain set in. It rained until about seven. It slacked up long enough to get the grill started and the hot dogs and bratwurst cooked. We ate inside. The rest of the night was spent just sitting around watching Wyatt play and the dogs get used to each other.
Sunday...Everyone got up early, around 7:00. I was bound and determined to figure out why the beds bounced all night. Matt was in charge of breakfast. I forgot to tell you that while setting up the inside bench and table I found the RVQ (a play on words for a RV BarBQ.) It was neatly stored in its case under the table. It attaches to the outside of the pup with supports and everything and there is even a gas line and regulator attached that fits perfectly into a receptacle on the side of the pup. NEAT! Matt and I hooked it up and after we finally got gas flowing to it, Matt cooked bacon, sausage and eggs on it. I did the toast. Best toast you've ever eaten!
After breakfast we drove down the road to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. Rainy and I have been there before and we were excited to show it to the Hoods, especially Wyatt. They were not disappointed. Wyatt saw up close and in person, bears, foxes, wolves, panthers, bobcats, alligators, turtles, flamingos, bald eagles, owls and all of the native snakes of Florida and even after one of the rangers gave everyone a lecture on the do's and don'ts of snakes, Wyatt got to touch a real live king snake. The highlight of the park is the manatees. They are huge, probably 3000 to 4000 pounds of friendly blubber. They are also called sea cows. They come to the Homosassa and Halls River because of the natural springs that feed the cool pools where they just lounge around waiting for the rangers to feed them all the romaine lettuce they can eat. There is this place in the park called the "fish bowl." It's a underwater observatory that you can go down into and watch through windows the manatees feeding. We all enjoyed that. We were there about three hours.
When we got back to camp Rainy and I went to the pool to cool off. The Hoods took a nap then joined us. We watched Wyatt jump in, try to swim to each of us, crawl out and do it all again. By the time we got back to camp it was supper time. We set up the charcoal grill. Matt grilled the rib eyes and I cooked the potatoes and corn on the RVQ. It turned out great. After dinner we built a bon fire and roasted marshmallows for smores. Um Um.
Monday, Memorial Day...We all kind of slept in. Maybe until 7:30 or so. We got up, took care of walking the dogs, made coffee and just lounged around for awhile. Matt cooked the bacon and sausage that we had left over and we ate it with muffins. Good breakfast. After breakfast the Hoods packed up their stuff and around 10 they hit the road for home.
After they left Rainy and I surveyed the campsite and reorganized everything. It was exceptionally quite after we finally stopped and set down. We set outside under the canopy with the fan blowing on us, Taylor Dog and Toby asleep at our feet and just relaxed and listened to the music coming from our pup's stereo system. That afternoon we went down to the pool. Other than us there was just one couple there. After they left we had it by ourselves. The whole campground was either gone or asleep it seemed.
We had planned to go out to a restaurant but after we had showers we were just to lazy to decide which one and go through the hassle of being socialable. We needed gas and ice for the trip home tomorrow so I went and got that and picked up McDonald's on my way back. We ate outside. It was really nice. We played Aggravation and card games until bed time.
Tuesday...We both got up early. I made coffee and while we drank our coffee we began taking down the pup. We followed the take down instructions and everything went smoothly except for the bed supports and the hitch lock. The bed supports unlocked correctly but we had a time with getting the poles off of their supports. We finally did, but we about strained our last muscle doing it. There has to be a trick that we need to learn. The hitch was working fine until I tried to put the locking mechanism down. It wouldn't go down. I pushed. Rainy kicked it. We sweated. We re-chocked and rocked the trailer. I got in the van and pushed backwards to no avail but as soon as Rainy got in the drivers seat and pulled forward oh so slightly it locked down successfully.
We pulled away at 9:15 and after dropping the pup off at the storage place we got home about noon. We were tired. Taylor Dog and Toby were exhausted but we really had a good time.
Our next trip is going to be the long one. We know there will be stressful times. There will be problems along the way. There will be times when we are convinced that we are idiots for doing this, but we are not getting any younger. I will be 60 next week. Time is passing us by. It is time for a great adventure. THIS IS IT!!!
Until tomorrow...
Friday, May 28, 2010
Getting Ready For The Weekend
This morning we had to get up early to get Taylor and Toby to Janet's by 8:15. Janet is the boy's groomer and her shop is in DeSoto County about 30-35 miles from here. We don't mind because she's the best. While we were waiting for them we did some last minute shopping and found the perfect coffee maker and a new atlas for our journey.
After we got back we dropped the boys at the house, went and got the pop up and brought it home. We spent the next 4 hours packing the things we will need for the four day three night stay at the Turtle Creek campground in Homosassa, Fl. We are officially pooped! I just checked the forecast for Homosassa and they are saying there is a 50% to 60% chance of rain all weekend. What will we do with 4 adults, 3 dogs and a very active 2 year old in a 24 foot pop-up if it does? Well I guess we'll see.
Until tomorrow...
After we got back we dropped the boys at the house, went and got the pop up and brought it home. We spent the next 4 hours packing the things we will need for the four day three night stay at the Turtle Creek campground in Homosassa, Fl. We are officially pooped! I just checked the forecast for Homosassa and they are saying there is a 50% to 60% chance of rain all weekend. What will we do with 4 adults, 3 dogs and a very active 2 year old in a 24 foot pop-up if it does? Well I guess we'll see.
Until tomorrow...
Thursday, May 27, 2010
A Screw Here A Bolt There
Today Rainy had a dentist appointment that left her a little incapacitated so we did'nt get much done. I finally found a pair of towing mirrors at Auto Zone so this afternoon I put those together. The factory had the straps inside out so it took me forever to figure out that they wouldn't fit because of that. Once I turned them around it took minutes to install. I also put together the portable grill we bought. That too was in a million pieces and the instructions were only pictures, no text at all. It is really great. It is light, compact and the legs fold up for easy traveling.
Until tomorrow....
Until tomorrow....
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Things to Do, People to See
This blog will cover Monday the 24th, Tuesday the 25th and today, Wednesday the 26th of May. On Monday I woke up with a bit of a cold with a sore throat, slight fever and just not feeling real good. So we decided not to go to the storage place and play with our new toy (our pop-up camper). Instead we stayed in and planned our route from here to the wild, wild, west and back. If we stick with this route we will travel in access of 7,900 miles and see all the wonders of the continental U.S. and visit all of our relatives.
On Tuesday we did go and play with our pup (short for pop up camper). The first thing I wanted to do was to see if the 12V electrical connector line was long enough now that the connector on the van had to be raised from below the hitch bar. It wasn't. The next thing we checked was the left rear tail light that the RV guys fixed that was not working when we bought it. It wasn't. So I marched right over to the RV guys office, where I had already paid over $75 for them to fix the light, and told them of the problem. They said, "Oh that ain't right, I fixed it myself." I said, "Duh." They sent a new guy over to our pup, assessed the problem (a faulty ground) and took care of the problem post haste. He also extended the electrical cord by about 2 feet. Both task and did'nt even charge us a dime. Yee Haw! We really liked him. He said that he and his wife traveled around the country full time for about a year in a pop up camper. While he worked Rainy and I took total advantage of his road knowledge and asked all the questions we could think of concerning the mechanics of of the pup, campsites, national parks, sites along the way etc. He was very generous with his answers. We raised the camper, slid out and secured one of the beds, but by the time the rv mechanic was finished so were we. It had gotten pretty hot and the only shade was that of a pull behind travel trailer parked next to our pup.
Today, Wednesday, we shopped. Except for Rainy's annual physical and my glaucoma check up, we spent the rest of the day buying things we will need on the road. I won't go into an exclusive list but we bought lawn chairs, camper canopy rug, camper size microwave, water jug, camper grill, port-a-pot and a sundry of other things we believe we can't live without on the road.
The best deal of the day was something I found on Craig's List. This guy had a portable folding grill table. Brand New at a retail price of $69.95. His price $35.
I went to see it while Rainy was in her check up. I offered $30 and he took it. I should've offered $25. It is really nice. It folds up into a carrying case and sets up real easy. It should serve us well.
Until tomorrow...
On Tuesday we did go and play with our pup (short for pop up camper). The first thing I wanted to do was to see if the 12V electrical connector line was long enough now that the connector on the van had to be raised from below the hitch bar. It wasn't. The next thing we checked was the left rear tail light that the RV guys fixed that was not working when we bought it. It wasn't. So I marched right over to the RV guys office, where I had already paid over $75 for them to fix the light, and told them of the problem. They said, "Oh that ain't right, I fixed it myself." I said, "Duh." They sent a new guy over to our pup, assessed the problem (a faulty ground) and took care of the problem post haste. He also extended the electrical cord by about 2 feet. Both task and did'nt even charge us a dime. Yee Haw! We really liked him. He said that he and his wife traveled around the country full time for about a year in a pop up camper. While he worked Rainy and I took total advantage of his road knowledge and asked all the questions we could think of concerning the mechanics of of the pup, campsites, national parks, sites along the way etc. He was very generous with his answers. We raised the camper, slid out and secured one of the beds, but by the time the rv mechanic was finished so were we. It had gotten pretty hot and the only shade was that of a pull behind travel trailer parked next to our pup.
Today, Wednesday, we shopped. Except for Rainy's annual physical and my glaucoma check up, we spent the rest of the day buying things we will need on the road. I won't go into an exclusive list but we bought lawn chairs, camper canopy rug, camper size microwave, water jug, camper grill, port-a-pot and a sundry of other things we believe we can't live without on the road.
The best deal of the day was something I found on Craig's List. This guy had a portable folding grill table. Brand New at a retail price of $69.95. His price $35.
I went to see it while Rainy was in her check up. I offered $30 and he took it. I should've offered $25. It is really nice. It folds up into a carrying case and sets up real easy. It should serve us well.
Until tomorrow...
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Three days little progress
I haven't blogged since Thursday so I will give you the highlights of the last three days in this blog. Today is Sunday, May 23rd. On Friday we had the house air conditioner serviced. It hasn't been done in about 6 years. It was fine. The technician cleaned and lubricated everything and installed new internal filters. Rainy had one of her annual medical check-ups. Everything looked good there too. We started doing some of the shopping for camp stuff while we were in Port Charlotte, but we had left our list at home, so we had to rely on our memories and that's not a good thing.
On Saturday I called the campground in Homosassa Springs that we had decided on for our Memorial Day weekend stay but they were completely booked. I called our second choice, Turtle Creek, they had a spot, so I booked it. We are going up on Saturday morning and coming home on Monday afternoon.
Today we drove down to Fort Myers. Matt, Amy and Wyatt went along for the ride and we had lunch at Matt's favorite burger place, 5 Guys. Great burgers!! We went to Bass Pro Shop and bought some of the things we needed like a good lantern, coolers, hot dog fork etc. Believe it or not we left our list at home, again. After leaving there we stopped by Camper's World but was very disappointed that they didn't cater much to pop-up camper people. We looked around awhile but decided that the things we could get there we could get at Wal-Mart cheaper.
Until tomorrow...
On Saturday I called the campground in Homosassa Springs that we had decided on for our Memorial Day weekend stay but they were completely booked. I called our second choice, Turtle Creek, they had a spot, so I booked it. We are going up on Saturday morning and coming home on Monday afternoon.
Today we drove down to Fort Myers. Matt, Amy and Wyatt went along for the ride and we had lunch at Matt's favorite burger place, 5 Guys. Great burgers!! We went to Bass Pro Shop and bought some of the things we needed like a good lantern, coolers, hot dog fork etc. Believe it or not we left our list at home, again. After leaving there we stopped by Camper's World but was very disappointed that they didn't cater much to pop-up camper people. We looked around awhile but decided that the things we could get there we could get at Wal-Mart cheaper.
Until tomorrow...
Friday, May 21, 2010
Decided on a trial run
Today (Thursday) we decided to take a "trial run" over the Memorial Day weekend to a RV park in Homosassa, Florida. The campsite is called Nature's Resort and it is about 3 hours north of here. Matt, Amy and Wyatt may be going with us or meeting us there if we decide to go up a day earlier than they can. This camp ground has concrete pads for our pop-up, electric, water, cable TV, WI-FI, swimming pool, fishing pier, playground, showers, hiking trails, and just about anything else you may need while camping in the wilderness:)
This area is famous for its manatees. Something about the combination of salt and fresh water and how it creates warm pools attracts thousands of manatees. You can even swim with them if you want. Also the Homosassa State Wild Animal Park is just minutes away. Rainy and I have been there and we can't wait for Wyatt to see all the animals. Everything from Florida brown bears and alligators to pink flamingos. This area is where we got our start kayaking a couple of years ago.
This trip will give us an opportunity to check out our rig and see how everything works and decide what we need to take and what we can leave at home.
We continue with appointments tomorrow and we got several months "Revolution" ordered for Taylor and Toby.
Until tomorrow...
This area is famous for its manatees. Something about the combination of salt and fresh water and how it creates warm pools attracts thousands of manatees. You can even swim with them if you want. Also the Homosassa State Wild Animal Park is just minutes away. Rainy and I have been there and we can't wait for Wyatt to see all the animals. Everything from Florida brown bears and alligators to pink flamingos. This area is where we got our start kayaking a couple of years ago.
This trip will give us an opportunity to check out our rig and see how everything works and decide what we need to take and what we can leave at home.
We continue with appointments tomorrow and we got several months "Revolution" ordered for Taylor and Toby.
Until tomorrow...
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Road Ready (But Broke)
Today (Wednesday) I took our Honda (in camper language the TV (tow vehicle))to Venice Honda to have the transmission cooler installed. I had made a deal with them over the phone on Monday and they matched Charlotte Honda's price. I got there early because they said it would take a couple hours to install. After waiting about an hour the service manager came out and said that the transmission cooler could not be installed because it had to be bolted where the factory power steering cooler is. But, if I wanted to pay an additional $170.00 they could install a heavy duty power steering cooler just above the transmission cooler. (Are you confused yet?)I had him get the parts manager and the three of us went out to the automobile bay so they could show me what they were saying. After the explanation I decided that I didn't have much of a choice if I wanted the transmission cooler. We did a little negotiating and they agreed to install the power steering cooler for less than $100.00 including tax.
They had a Honda Odyssey up on the rack with the front bumper off and the undercarriage unsnapped ready to install the coolers. The problem was it wasn't our Odyssey. Oops. Sure enough it was someone else's. Good thing I went out there or my coolers would be on some other Odyssey. Boy were they embarrassed. Sat and read old magazines and drank luke-warm weak coffee for three hours waiting for them to finish.
This afternoon we took the Odyssey back to the hitch guy so he could raise the electrical connector and yes, you guessed it. The one that came with the hitch they installed couldn't be mounted higher so I had to purchase a different one but he was gracious enough to give me credit for the other one, but once again Ka-Ching! - another $75 bucks. Then we went to the DMV to get our camper licensed. We had to pay sales tax on the total purchase price plus tax - Ka-Ching - Ka-Ching - Ka-Ching!!!
Anyway, we were so glad to get home so we didn't have to spend any more money. At least for today. Until tomorrow....
They had a Honda Odyssey up on the rack with the front bumper off and the undercarriage unsnapped ready to install the coolers. The problem was it wasn't our Odyssey. Oops. Sure enough it was someone else's. Good thing I went out there or my coolers would be on some other Odyssey. Boy were they embarrassed. Sat and read old magazines and drank luke-warm weak coffee for three hours waiting for them to finish.
This afternoon we took the Odyssey back to the hitch guy so he could raise the electrical connector and yes, you guessed it. The one that came with the hitch they installed couldn't be mounted higher so I had to purchase a different one but he was gracious enough to give me credit for the other one, but once again Ka-Ching! - another $75 bucks. Then we went to the DMV to get our camper licensed. We had to pay sales tax on the total purchase price plus tax - Ka-Ching - Ka-Ching - Ka-Ching!!!
Anyway, we were so glad to get home so we didn't have to spend any more money. At least for today. Until tomorrow....
Clean Bill of Canine Health
Today (Tuesday) not much was accomplished concerning getting ready to leave on our road adventure. We did however order a car charger for our phones and we took Taylor and Toby for their annual check up. The Doc said they were just fine and fit. He gave them the necessary vaccinations and drew blood for testing. The assistants had a real hard time finding Taylor's vein. They tried in three legs but still couldn't find the vein. The Doc came in and found one first time. It made me a little queasy. Rainy made me leave the room. The "boys" are ready to go except for their teeth cleaning which we scheduled for June 3 so now our new target date to leave is June
5! Until tomorrow....
5! Until tomorrow....
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Transmission Cooler Madness
Today (Monday) I went to two different auto shops asking if they would install a cooler if I purchased it. One said that they do not have the necessary equipment and the other said yes but wasn't sure that it would be that effective since it was not designed exclusively for my vehicle. What to do? What to do? So, I called another Honda dealer and got a quote from them to install the Honda cooler. Their price was less than the first Honda place, but it was a little further to drive. So I called the first Honda place told them the quote I got from the second. They matched that price and so we scheduled the installation for Wednesday morning.
I had mentioned in an earlier blog that we damaged the electrical connector on the hitch because it was installed to low. Wednesday afternoon the hitch guy is going to raise it to the height of the hitch.
Nothing more today except we are beginning to look at road maps and camping facilities.
Until tomorrow...
I had mentioned in an earlier blog that we damaged the electrical connector on the hitch because it was installed to low. Wednesday afternoon the hitch guy is going to raise it to the height of the hitch.
Nothing more today except we are beginning to look at road maps and camping facilities.
Until tomorrow...
Monday, May 17, 2010
Not much progress
Today (Sunday) was strictly a research day. Continuing to research "pulling and traveling with a pop-up camper." Rainy had to work at the antique store and I had our grandson, Wyatt, until almost noon so I spent Sunday afternoon doing more research and making notes and I have to admit that I caught a little nap. Tomorrow I am planning to wrap up trying to get that transmission cooler taken care of. We promise this blog is going to get more exciting once we can get on the road. Until tomorrow . . .
Sunday, May 16, 2010
A Better Place To Park
Today (Saturday) Rainy and I went back to Matt's house to fetch the pop up and take it to the storage place. We were both concerned that if we try and move it out of the yard the same way we brought it in we would cause even more damage to the electrical connector. So when we got there I had this great idea. I would disconnect the bracket that holds the connector, tape it safely up under the van temporarily, back the camper out onto the street, reconnect the bracket, hook up and be on our way.
Easier said than done. I had to lay on my back reach underneath the van, behind the hitch to unscrew the bracket. As I was finishing up, and wiping sweat from my brow, Matt comes out and says, "My truck has a higher clearance, why don't we hook it up to my truck and I back it out to the street?" Great idea. Where was this suggestion 30 minutes ago before I scratched up my knuckles and almost died of heat prostration.
So that's what we did. I got back down and re-attached the bracket, Matt hooked to the camper and backed it into the street, we hooked up the van to the camper and pulled it to the storage facility.
Until tomorrow....
Easier said than done. I had to lay on my back reach underneath the van, behind the hitch to unscrew the bracket. As I was finishing up, and wiping sweat from my brow, Matt comes out and says, "My truck has a higher clearance, why don't we hook it up to my truck and I back it out to the street?" Great idea. Where was this suggestion 30 minutes ago before I scratched up my knuckles and almost died of heat prostration.
So that's what we did. I got back down and re-attached the bracket, Matt hooked to the camper and backed it into the street, we hooked up the van to the camper and pulled it to the storage facility.
Until tomorrow....
Not in love with Love Bugs
Today (Friday) Rainy and I left home about 9:00 a.m. to make the 2 hour drive to Sebring to pick up our new pop-up camper. Our conversations were mostly about places of interest that we want to see and how we can get there by mostly avoiding interstates. As we left the coast (we live five minutes from the Gulf of Mexico) and was getting further away from the sea breeze we began hearing the pitter patter of what sounded like a medium size rain shower. But no it wasn't rain it was Love Bugs. Millions of them splattering themselves on our windshield, grill, luggage rack and side view mirrors.
For you fortunate ones that haven't seen this phenomenon Love Bugs is the term for a mating ritual where a male and female good for nothing black flying insect attach themselves to each other(god know where)and fly around in swarms until the female is inpregnated and then the male dies.
Anyway, we had to stop twice on the way there and once on the way back to wash and scrape the dead and nearly dead bugs off the windshield. Yuck, yuck it was horrible!
We got home with our new pop-up mid afternoon and took it to our son Matt's house and parked it in his yard. Sounds simple right? Wrong. Once Rainy and I decided how and where we were going to park it I drove and she navigated me through his swale and as I pulled it up the small incline the electrical connector dug into the ground and broke the cover. We did get it parked but we weren't satisfied with leaving it there more than overnight because it was on an incline and, although we had it chocked and the hitch lowered we didn't feel that it was the best place for it. So we called around and found a place just down the road from our house to store it until we leave. Big day, some mistakes, but all in all a great adventure. Until tomorrow....
For you fortunate ones that haven't seen this phenomenon Love Bugs is the term for a mating ritual where a male and female good for nothing black flying insect attach themselves to each other(god know where)and fly around in swarms until the female is inpregnated and then the male dies.
Anyway, we had to stop twice on the way there and once on the way back to wash and scrape the dead and nearly dead bugs off the windshield. Yuck, yuck it was horrible!
We got home with our new pop-up mid afternoon and took it to our son Matt's house and parked it in his yard. Sounds simple right? Wrong. Once Rainy and I decided how and where we were going to park it I drove and she navigated me through his swale and as I pulled it up the small incline the electrical connector dug into the ground and broke the cover. We did get it parked but we weren't satisfied with leaving it there more than overnight because it was on an incline and, although we had it chocked and the hitch lowered we didn't feel that it was the best place for it. So we called around and found a place just down the road from our house to store it until we leave. Big day, some mistakes, but all in all a great adventure. Until tomorrow....
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Van Ready
Today (Thursday) was a big day in that we got the hitch and harness and brakes all installed on the van so we are now ready to go get our new portable home tomorrow. Also, the transmission cooler the rv place had wouldn't fit the Honda transmission so we researched and found one on-line to order. So now we have to wait until that comes in and have that installed but it doesn't hold us up from getting the camper as the transmission cooler is just to protect the van's transmission long term so hopefully we can get that done next week. This is all that was accomplished today as we had other chores/responsibilities that had to be done. We are very excited that we are going early in the morning to pick it up!!! Until tomorrow. . .
Lists and appointments
Today (Wednesday) was spent making a list of things that would need to be done before we can leave our home and be gone for an extended period, such as cancel paper, find a home for my plants, put-up hurricane shutters, etc. etc. Also, I made all the doctor appointments for us that we would need before we left. Roger actually had his check-up today so that took the afternoon between the driving distance round trip and the appointment itself. Also started a list of things that would have to be purchased that we don't already have such as a small microwave, shower flipflops, new cooler, etc. etc. This doesn't sound like much but these things are time consuming. And, of course, daily routine has to go on. But our preparation is going fairly well. Until tomorrow. . .
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Transmission cooler
It is recommended that you have a transmission cooler put in your vehicle's transmission when you are going to be pulling a camper. So we called Honda and they said it would be $310.00 (we thought that was installed) so we let them order the part. They called today to say the part was in and that it was going to be $305.00 for the part plus $25.00 for another part needed to go with it plus $170.00 to install it plus tax on that so we were looking at over $500.00. So, we called the folks (which is an RV/camper place) who are going to put our hitch, run brake lines between the two vehicles, etc. They can put the same transmission cooler on and installed is $130.00 plus tax total!!! Woo Hoo - lesson learned - don't take one person's word for it - thoroughly check around yourself. We had our grandson, Wyatt, this afternoon so that's about all we got done except we did add a few more things to our "to take" list. If anyone out there is reading this and you have recommendations, we're all ears. Until tomorrow. . .
Oops
Time got away from us and before we knew it we were going to bed and realized we didn't make our post. However, there's not much to report today as yesterday wasn't very productive due to other obligations. We did get our van serviced so it's road ready and picked up the harness. We also got the parts ordered for the hitch and brakes and appointment is scheduled for Thursday morning for the install. The dollars are adding up and we're hoping that is going to end soon. We did watch a dvr recording we had made of the Grand Canyon and we're getting excited but still lots to do before we get there! Until later. . .
Sunday, May 9, 2010
New Owners
Great News! We are the proud new owners of a 2007 Fleetwood E1 pop-up camper!!! Since today was Mother's Day (great gift - huh?) we didn't get much done because we took time to be with our son, Matt, his wife, Amy, and of course grandson, Wyatt. Roger and Matt made lunch for us girls for Mother's Day. Matt & Amy and our daughter, Melissa, went together and got me a new golf bag for Mother's Day and our son, Jason, and his wife, Heather, sent me a beautiful arrangement of orchids called
"Orchids on the rocks" - right up my alley! And so, it was a very good day. After lunch, we went to see the camper we were interested in and it was everything and more of what we were expecting so we made the deal. We put down a deposit as now we have to get our van ready to pull it home. Tomorrow we are having the van serviced, buying a harness and have the transmission cooler installed. Hopefully, Tuesday or Wednesday we will have the hitch and harnessed installed and if all goes well we are going back on Friday to pick the camper up. I will post pictures soon. Also got some additional research done on the recommendations of loads and towing and downloaded the owner's manual to the camper so we can start reading up. One more checkmark on the list!!! Until tomorrow . . .
"Orchids on the rocks" - right up my alley! And so, it was a very good day. After lunch, we went to see the camper we were interested in and it was everything and more of what we were expecting so we made the deal. We put down a deposit as now we have to get our van ready to pull it home. Tomorrow we are having the van serviced, buying a harness and have the transmission cooler installed. Hopefully, Tuesday or Wednesday we will have the hitch and harnessed installed and if all goes well we are going back on Friday to pick the camper up. I will post pictures soon. Also got some additional research done on the recommendations of loads and towing and downloaded the owner's manual to the camper so we can start reading up. One more checkmark on the list!!! Until tomorrow . . .
Friday, May 7, 2010
Pop-Up Camper
We didn't get much done today because we kept our two year old grandson, Wyatt, but it was worth it. He's just so much fun and lovable!!! However, we did find out everything we need to get installed on our Honda Odyssey to tow a camper and we have an appointment set for Sunday to go see a camper that we found on CraigsList that we are really interested in. Hopefully, it's everything we think it is and we can make a deal. Also, Roger did research today on everything you would want to know about P-ups and he read many testimonials learning from others. We also made a list of things to take and we are sure that we will add to this list daily. It is weighing on us that we will be leaving Wyatt for an extended length of time. The longest we have been away from him is three weeks (and that was just this past March) since he was born. However, his parents are wanting to leave Florida and move back to Kentucky so one day he will leave us so maybe this will be a "break-in" for us :( Well, like we said, today was a low production day as will be tomorrow as Roger will have Wyatt again tomorrow and Rainy has to work at the antique store where she has a small business. Oh yeah, I don't believe we mentioned in our "background", we have about 200 square feet in an antique store where we sell older antique reproduction furniture and gifts and retired collectibles and we have two eBay stores, one mostly dolls and the other one mostly flags. It has been nice having Roger's help for the past year with these businesses and he has been doing consulting work too so he has been very productive while applying for a new position. Until tomorrow. . .
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Background
We're Roger & Rainy Pulley. We'll be married 21 years this July 4th. We have four children (Tennessee/Missouri/Oregon/Florida)and five grandchildren, who are the grandest things since we took our first breath. We have lived in Florida for the past 9 years. Roger is in local government work, starting out in 1979 as a small town (less than 3000) city fireman and working his way up through the years being city manager, economic development and public works directors, assistant county manager (county in excess of 150,000) & county manager (county in excess of 30,000). Rainy had a long history of administrative and high level management in the private sector and retired her career in 2002 after the sale of the company she worked for and had a little ownership. The sale obviously allowed her the flexibility of retiring her career.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, Roger resigned his last position as a county manager and has been applying for similar positions since. As many of you know with the current economic conditions, the search has been gruesome. As of this posting, he is in the running for a couple of positions and time will tell how that goes. However, if we have learned anything over the past year is that you can't bet on anything until signed paper is in hand so we have decided that now would be a good time to do a major road trip, one that we have talked about doing for some time but never made the leap. So, we decided yesterday that we are doing it! And not only are we doing it but we're going to bring you along with us!!! We will be blogging the good and the bad (hopefully there won't be too much bad - keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers for us).
You'll also be meeting family along the way (Heaven help us - hehe). We have very large families - Roger comes from a family of 8 kids and Rainy from a family of 6 kids). Roger's family leans toward the quiet and conservative and Rainy's family leans toward the loud and colorful. They're all a good bunch of folks though and have open hearts.
We are planning to obviously start from Florida and then head west and eventually north and back south - that's the plan anyway.
So since we decided to take the leap yesterday, today Rainy started this blog so we could have a record of everything from the beginning and Roger is looking into pop-up campers. Depending on when we can get some appointments, we are planning a departure date somewhere around the end of the month.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, Roger resigned his last position as a county manager and has been applying for similar positions since. As many of you know with the current economic conditions, the search has been gruesome. As of this posting, he is in the running for a couple of positions and time will tell how that goes. However, if we have learned anything over the past year is that you can't bet on anything until signed paper is in hand so we have decided that now would be a good time to do a major road trip, one that we have talked about doing for some time but never made the leap. So, we decided yesterday that we are doing it! And not only are we doing it but we're going to bring you along with us!!! We will be blogging the good and the bad (hopefully there won't be too much bad - keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers for us).
You'll also be meeting family along the way (Heaven help us - hehe). We have very large families - Roger comes from a family of 8 kids and Rainy from a family of 6 kids). Roger's family leans toward the quiet and conservative and Rainy's family leans toward the loud and colorful. They're all a good bunch of folks though and have open hearts.
We are planning to obviously start from Florida and then head west and eventually north and back south - that's the plan anyway.
So since we decided to take the leap yesterday, today Rainy started this blog so we could have a record of everything from the beginning and Roger is looking into pop-up campers. Depending on when we can get some appointments, we are planning a departure date somewhere around the end of the month.
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