| Wednesday, October 31, 2007 Happy Great Pumpkin Day!!! Yesterday I got the bugs off the front of the RV and washed the black streaks off as well. Also, I washed the truck; it was overcast in the morning which is the best time to wash a black truck. If the sun is out then it leaves water spots all over the truck. Today I will wax the truck and then over the next week I will start hand washing and waxing the RV - one section at a time. It will take the better part of a week but what's the hurry? The weather is supposed to be good and there is no sense in overworking myself :). Judy and I went to the Fairhope Library and was able to get library cards. I got The Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara which is a novel of the American Revolution. Although it is fiction Shaara does his homework in order to make it historically correct. I enjoy history and reading it in novel form should only make it more interesting. So, the formula for the next week will be to wash and wax in the morning and sit and read in the afternoons. It's just possible that a nap or two will sneak into the plan, you think? Tuesday, October 30, 2007 "The toilet is not holding water again." is the statement that I heard as I was still in my prenatal position under the warm covers. This has been an ongoing problem with our toilet and this time I'm going to make the fix permanent. We have a Sealand porcelain toilet and I have had to replace the ball seal twice in the past two years. It is not that difficult to do but it is expensive ($40 for a set of seals) and the clamping system is rather archaic. The toilet has two major parts (bowl and base) which are held together with a clamp that is made up of two plastic pieces which clamps over the flanges of the bowl and base and is held together by tightening a large hose clamp that goes around the plastic clamps. The problem is if you don't tighten it enough then you get leaking and if you over tighten it then you get leaking, so no matter what your going to get leaking until you get it right which is a trial and error process. And, along with the leaking, you get that unpleasant urine smell in the water closet which is totally unacceptable. "So what is the permanent fix?" you might ask. Replace the Sealand toilet with a Thetford Style Plus toilet. I wouldn't take such a radical approach except that we're not the only ones experiencing this problem with the Sealand toilet. This has been an ongoing problem with them for a long time and they need to address it. We have friends who insisted that a the Sealand toilet be replaced with a Thetford before they would purchase their new fifthwheel and the salesman was surprised that failure to do so would be a deal breaker. But, when you live in small quarters you don't want any urine smells or any other odors in your rig. So, it's good bye Mr. Sealand and hello Mr. Thetford. Monday, October 29, 2007 It was just a year ago that we discovered Rainbow Plantation. While we were out walking about we met J Hopwood who told us about a nice little United Methodist church located in the area so when we returned in January we began worshiping there. That church became one of the reasons that we decided to put our names on the waiting list for an ERPU site and we were very surprised that we got a site so quickly. Anyhow, we have been welcomed back to the church just as if we had been attending for years. The worship services are not the traditional liturgical style that you find in the typical Methodist Church. Pastor Bill doesn't wear a robe and teaches (yes, teaches not preaches) in an informal method. He dresses casually (no coat, no tie) and teaches while sitting on a stool but his message is very relevant to our everyday lives. The music is what is referred to as contemporary which suits us just fine. The entire worship experience is very uplifting and challenging. This morning we are going to meet Pastor Bill at Julwin's for breakfast so we can get to know each other a little better. We will talk about how Judy and I can become more involved in the mission at Jubilee Shores United Methodist church. The church is currently extending its mission with annexation of a sister church known as Celebration United Methodist Church so there is plenty of work to be done. We look forward to becoming more involved now that we are "retired" and have more time to give back to the Lord. By the way, Julwin's is a great place to have breakfast and was visited by Charles Kurualt while he was "On the Road". Saturday, October 27, 2007 Another beautiful day here in Alabama. The sun is coming up as I sit here writing. Our rig is set in a somewhat east to west direction with the back window pointing to the east so the nice warm sunshine fills our home in the early morning. We are now getting settled into the Central Time Zone so that we are up before Mr. Sunshine. We will just about be acclimated and then we will change time again which will throw off our routine once again and then we will start all over again (remember, we came from the Eastern Time Zone to the Central and already lost an hour). One thing about fulltime RVing is that there is plenty of food. This morning it is bagels and coffee then this afternoon it is the neighborhood B-B-Q with short ribs. On Sunday after church a group is going to Big Daddy's Grill for Po-Boys, on Monday morning it will be breakfast at Julwin's and Tuesday morning it's omelets in a bag. Now this is a diet program that you can sink your teeth into, literally. Sorry J and Heidi, you'll arrive just in time for the fast that will be starting on Wednesday. This morning the RV will start getting its bath as I will climb my pudgy little body up on to the roof to wash it (after the bagels, that is). Then I will just sit back and relax waiting for the pig to cook and yes, my friends, the lawn got its "grass cut" yesterday. Friday, October 26, 2007 Boy did I ever open a can of worms with yesterday's comments regarding the Boston Red Sox. I've not heard of such a clamor since Benedict Arnold tried to sell the British the blueprints for the Fort at West Point. You'da thunk that I committed the unpardonable sin. I'm not sure but I think my New England citizenship may have been revoked. Miss Judy has a new fan club though. She even got three marriage proposals if she decides to dump me for unfaithfulness. I would try to explain what I was saying but I'm afraid that it would only make matters worse so I won't say anything. From now on I will restrict my discussions to religion and politics, it's much safer ground. The shed arrived and was set-up with hurricane straps installed. It will make it convenient for putting our lawn chairs, grill, etc. away each night rather than having to fold them up and put them in the basement of the RV (of course those things will have to be put in the RV whenever we travel). We still need to add a step and some storage shelves in the shed, just a few more things to do. I keep telling you that I don't lack for things to do. And, yes, the lawn gets a "grass cut" today. Thursday, October 25, 2007 Yey Red Sox. I was surprised at the score for the first game of the World Series. The Rockies are a great team and I half expected the Sox to get their hinnies handed to them. But I didn't expect that the Sox would hand the Rockies their hinnies. In any event, it still promises to be a good series with two great teams. Being from New England I'm a Red Sox fan but I wouldn't be awfully upset if the Rockies won their first World Series. They are a young team and have worked hard to earn their spot in the Series plus they aren't the Yankees (by the way, these are not the sentiments my dear wife - being from Michigan Miss Judy is a die hard Red Sox and Patriots fan, go figure ;) ). I will continue to root for the Red Sox, however, since old habits are hard to break. For those of you who are wondering, the lawn will get mowed tomorrow. It was still too wet yesterday and today is shed day. We were going to build ourselves a shed but it got to be too expensive so we purchased an already constructed shed. It will be delivered today so we will be busy with the set-up. I will still need to build some shelving into the shed and then it will be ready for the remnants of our past life which have been stored at our son's house in Tennessee. Katie and Alex have settled in quite nicely. They travel well for katts but don't necessarily like it. Alex hates to travel two days in a row. They think it is nice to just sit in one place for awhile and they like having mom and dad around a little more. When we were visiting we would be gone most of the time. Being Ragdoll pussy katts they like their humaniods to be at hand to do their bidding. They have been happier and more affectionate this past week as well as more playful. Alex is learning to sleep in and let us arise naturally which might be a result of the late nights watching baseball (yes, they like sports using smaller balls). We still get up earlier than the average retired bear - Miss Judy and Alex get up between 5:30 and 6:00 while Katie and I tend to sleep in until around 6:30. Wednesday, October 24, 2007 It is nice to look out our windows and see some blue sky. There are still clouds floating over head but at least the rain has passed us by. It seems like we have had rain the last eight out of seven days. The good thing is that when I get to start washing and waxing the RV most of the heavy grime will have been washed away. The rain poured down so hard at times that it was almost like a power wash for the roof; I always start with the roof first and work my way down. We were on a very dusty corner this summer at Lake George Escape and I had washed the RV before we hit the road but it only "scratched the surface" so to speak. The dust was very thick and the roof needed another wash job so this rain has helped. This is the time of the year that the residents of East Traveler Street in Rainbow Plantation begin to arrive and the fun begins. We have already had several small "get togethers" and on Saturday we are having the first neighborhood cookout for the season. East Traveler Street has twenty-two residences with some of the nicest people we've ever met. It's fun to be out each day and visit with our neighbors as we walk about the neighborhood. It reminds me of the way things used to be when I was a kid growing up in small town USA. We all have patios instead of porches and there are always extra chairs set out to welcome guests. We sit and talk and laugh and share snacks and drinks as we get to know each other better. Even the rain didn't keep us from doing some visiting between the storms. Yep, we are going to enjoy our home base here in the Gulf Shores area of Alabama. Tuesday, October 23, 2007 There's an old saying about what Thought did but I won't go into that here other than to say I thought I had the Dell computer fixed. Thought being the key operative here. Computers, like katts, have minds of their own and getting them to do what you want, when you want is like trying to march katts in a parade. I guess four days of fighting with the darned thing isn't enough but I will die trying. I'm not giving up, I will not be defeated by a piece of plastic and some circuits. No siree, not me! So stay tuned, victory is on the horizon. What this computer doesn't know is that I have a sixteen pound sledge hammer for fine tuning so it had better shape up and get it's act together real soon. As I said before, man plans and God laughs. I planned to mow the lawn today but yesterday and today is God's watering day. So the grass will have to wait until tomorrow. Isn't that a wonderful word? Tomorrow! Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow. My grandmother used to go on the "Tomorrow" diet; "I can eat that today, but tomorrow. . . !" Anyway, tomorrow will be a fine day to mow the lawn or maybe even Thursday. The grass will still be long and green on Thursday. Possibly even Friday; who knows, whenever God is ready. Now it sounds like I have nothing to do but that is not the case at all. It's just that in this lifestyle I can be very flexible and rearrange priorities in a heartbeat. A man said the other day that he could never retire and asked me what I did all day. I told him I didn't know but that I never got it finished. I am busy all day, every day. The sun comes up and before I know it the sun is going down. There is always plenty to do and very little time to do it. This fast pace is giving me stress {grin}! All I know is if this keeps up I'm going to have to hire myself an event planner :). Monday, October 22, 2007 It's another rainy day so we'll be inside most of the day; but, guess what I get to do tomorrow? How'd you guess? That's right, mow the lawn! I haven't mowed a lawn in over a year now, wonder if I can remember how? It certainly won't be a difficult task because we only have a 50 by 70 lot and that shouldn't take long. It will be kinda nice to hear the roar of the lawn mower and smell the freshly cut grass once again. The park provides the lawn mower, gas, and a weed whacker as part of our annual maintenance fee plus they mow the lawn when we are not here. The lot looks good with the flowers planted and the fireplace ready to go now just a little "grass" cut and we'll be ready boogie. Speaking of boogie-ing, our next window neighbors (we don't have a door on that side of the RV) brought their chairs over and sat for a visit yesterday afternoon as we all watched the football games out on the patio. We had a wonderful visit getting to know Ray and LaRue who are from Memphis - great people and great neighbors. Then Sunday evening we joined with Clyde and Sarita, who are from Texas, at Bob and Pam's, who are from Michigan, for dinner. This certainly is getting to feel like home (Judy has added an article about "Home" in Judy's Corner). But the highlight of our day was spending time in the Lord's house. We discovered a wonderful church while we were here last winter and we were welcomed back as if we had been attending there for years. We had a great worship time with beautiful music and a wonderful sermon. Later this week we will be joining the Pastor for breakfast so he can get to know us better and to discuss how we can "put our shoulder to the plow". The greatest thing about this church is that the Lord is present as we join in community "standing alone together" in our faith. Sunday, October 21, 2007 Who needs computers anyway? They can be a nuisance, they can be a pain, they can be down right frustrating!! They consume waaaay more than their fair share of time and they have a mind of their own. People say katts are independent and own their humaniods, well I'm here to tell you that computers have it all over katts. At least you can train a katt but have you ever tried to train a computer? I must admit that there are people out there who can train a computer. We have lion trainers who can train the most stubborn katt and we have computer geeks who can train the most stubborn computer. I'm neither a lion trainer nor a computer geek so my house is run a muck with undisciplined katts and computers. You either discipline or you become disciplined so I guess you could say that I have become subservient to the katts and the computers in my house, oh those little beasts. Well again, who needs computers anyway? Why, we do! When we were outfitting the RV we thought that we would want satellite TV and a WIFI connection. We were about to have a Kingdome installed on the RV when we asked ourselves why - we had satellite TV in our sticks and bricks house and hardly ever watched it. So why pay $1200 dollars to have the satellite installed and then $55 dollars every month for something that we wouldn't watch very often? But computers, on the other hand, have become our life lines. We are on the computers no less than two hours a day. We pay bills, we communicate with family and friends, we gather information, we publish our website, we read other's travelogues, we enter forums and chat rooms, and on and on. Computers have replaced the TV for us and we have become one of our main sources of entertainment. So when the little dears take it in their minds to go off in cyberspace and do their own thing we go into withdrawal symptoms. We have a Dell laptop and a Gateway laptop, the Dell being the newest. Last week the Dell decided it wanted a vacation from emails. We could not access any of our email accounts while Mr. Dell just sat their and smiled. At first we figured we must have picked up a virus but the virus scan didn't turn up anything, not that they are a hundred percent. Next I deleted all temporary files, cookies, and history files and still Mr. Dell just sat there and smiled. So I did a disk cleanup and defragmentation and Mr. Dell still sat there and smiled. To make a looooong story short (I know, too late for that), I stumbled into program called "manage add-ons". Whenever you download a new program or receive a Microsoft update they may also download an "add-on" with the program that enables it to run. Anyway, I found an "add-on" that just didn't look right so I disabled it and, vowella, Mr. Dell came to life. This dilemma only took four days to figure out but we are back in business and life is good and there is peace in the valley once more. Saturday, October 20, 2007 As Judy checked out email this morning we had an email from our own personal email account with the subject "Hurry....The Finest Replica Watches! Big Sale!!". Well, needless to say, we are not in the Replica Watch business and did not send this email which can only mean that someone has pirated our account. We've done some spot checking to see if others in our address book has received this email but so far it doesn't appear that way. In any event if you have received it, don't open it - it is not from us. We have changed our password and may have to change the entire account. If you remember, on Wednesday I mentioned that I had trouble publishing the travelogue from our Dell computer and had to transfer the Wandering America website to our Gateway computer. Well, since Tuesday we have not been able to get into our email or do searches from any of our accounts from our Dell. We can access Our Favorites and I have been able to publish this journal but something is definitely wrong with the computer. I don't know whether these two events are related or not but am going to assume they are. I'm going to take the Dell to the "Geek Squad" to see what they can do, hopefully it is nothing serious. Today we are going to stay right at home. We bought a free standing fireplace and I will assemble that as well as plant some flowers in a small garden around the base of one of the trees. Then we will just sit back and enjoy our site while sipping some lemonade and doing some reading. We'll take a walk around the park which is a three mile hike if we go up and down each road. And, I'm sure that we will either visit or be visited by some of our friends on East Travelers Street here at Rainbow Plantation. Friday, October 19, 2007 And the rain continues. It began on Tuesday and will continue through this morning. One thunder boomer storm right after another rolled through all the night long. Even Katie and Alex, who can sleep through just about anything, have been uneasy and pacing. Yesterday morning a tornado touched down in Pensacola, Florida and another one in Mississippi. We were under a tornado watch but not a warning; however, Pensacola is only 30 miles away. So with tornadoes on either side of us it was enough to make one a little uneasy. It's not just here in the south either. I was reading Nick Russell's blog this morning and they are experiencing the same type of weather in the Elkhart, Indiana area. Nick and Terry also experienced high winds which, fortunately, we have not experienced. The storms are supposed to pass through by noon today and the weatherman says that we will get back to the mild fall weather with low humidity once this cold front has passed us by. This area has had a deep need for rain but we will be glad to see it move on since we have been pretty much couped up inside for the past two days. But, that has not be all bad because we needed to just take it easy and lounge around for a few days anyway. Also, with all of the down pours that we have had most of the road grime has been removed from the RV and the truck which will make it easier to wash them later on this weekend or early next week. No matter what the weather, this is the best lifestyle ever. Thursday, October 18, 2007 What a night!!! Alabama knows how to do rain. We haven't seen any rain since we left Maine, not even on the plain, and only a couple of light showers back then. But last night the NOAA radio alarm kept going off with thunderstorm warnings, high seas warnings, and tornado warnings. I guess it wasn't just the Gulf Coast area but across the entire mid section of the country with serve weather occurring in Missouri and Indiana. Anyhow, the truck and RV got power washed as we attempted to sleep between the alarms (didn't do a real good job getting the bugs off the front of the coach though). We did get some pretty substantial winds from the southwest but the new tripod system does a real good job of holding the RV secure as we barely felt the wind. I haven't felt real energetic since arriving here on Monday but we did go to Lowes and pick up some scalloped bricks for making a flower garden around the base of the tree, a free standing fireplace, some pavers for putting under the fireplace, and a solar light for putting on our "Patterson's" sign. Judy, in her wisdom, asked why we needed to build steps and as we talked about it we decided it was definitely not a necessity at this time. I may not have to build a shed as one of people moving off their site wants to sell their shed so I am negotiating a deal on that. It would save us money so we'll just have to see how that goes. Anyway, I got the flower garden ready for some potting soil and flowers and got the pavers in place for the fireplace. If we can get outside today then I will assemble the fireplace and get it ready to burn some wood (and maybe cook something). Wednesday, October 17, 2007 We are now in our site at the Escapees Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama. It seemed especially good to get up yesterday morning and know that we were not going to be on the road again for a few weeks. It began raining in the early morning hours which contributed to just lounging around and doing a little bit of nothing, but there will be plenty to do over the next few weeks here in site 318. We need to detail both the RV and the truck, build some steps, build a shed (which may have to wait until we get back from Branson), and do a little landscaping plus there are still a lot of things to do and see in the area. Today I will need to start work on some of the items mentioned above. The bugs on the front of the RV will be the first task and then, if I have enough energy, I may continue washing the rig (or maybe the truck, it's really bad). I need to go to Home Depot or Lowes and get some cement blocks to finish leveling the rig. I will put these under the jacks so we don't have to extend them as far. This, along with using the hitch tripod, helps to steady the rig so there is less movement. For some reason, still unknown to me, I had a lot of difficulty publishing the October Part I Travelogue. It has taken me over two days to get it published. I ended up downloading the entire Wandering America folder onto a memory stick and using our old Gateway computer to publish. In any event it is finally published for your enjoyment which leaves me to figure out what lurks in the background of the Dell computer that keeps me from publishing. Isn't technology great? We all need a little frustration in our lives in order to feel productive - right? Tuesday, October 16, 2007 We had a little bit of excitement on our travel day yesterday. As we were traveling south on I-65 just north of Birmingham, Alabama there was a mini convoy of three pickup trucks from Indiana towing trailers. The lead truck was towing a cargo trailer, the second truck was towing a travel trailer, and the third truck was towing another cargo trailer. They were going up a hill at around 55 to 60 MPH and there was a line of traffic passing them in the left lane so we had pulled in behind a semi to pass them as well. A couple of cars managed to get between us and the semi as we continued to climb the hill. The convoy crested the hill and was going down the other side before we reached them. As they picked up momentum going down the hill the travel trailer on the second truck began to fishtail. I began slowing down but the semi continued pass them and by that time the trailer was swaying back and forth pretty violently. As the truck went by them they crossed into the breakdown lane and I said to Judy, "they're gonna lose it!" and I hit the brakes. Then they came flying out of the breakdown lane and crossed the road heading for the median strip and I thought for sure that they were going to clean out the two cars in front of us but fortunately they had seen what was happening and hit the brakes as well. Next they spun around skidding sideways down the highway and then the whole thing jackknifed with the truck facing oncoming traffic and the trailer broadside to the road as they went careening over the embankment on the right side of the road. Why that thing didn't roll over I'll never know but they ended up with the truck up against a rock ledge and the trailer at an acute angle to the truck with the back end of it sitting on the edge of the highway. Their buddy, in the third truck of the convoy. pulled over and went running down to see if they were all right. Several other cars stopped as well so we just continued on. I don't think they were very seriously hurt but I can guarantee that they were pretty well shaken up as they had just gone for the ride of their lives. At the very least they will need a clean pair of undershorts. We weren't in any danger because I backed off when I saw the trailer begin to fishtail but that's still a little more excitement than we need while driving down the highway at 65 miles per hour with 22,000 pounds. Monday, October 15, 2007 Delays, delays, delays. We had planned to leave Lebanon early this morning so we could get through Nashville before the rush hour traffic. But, yesterday, on our way home from church, the "Change Oil Now" light came on. It has been over 3.000 miles since the last oil change and I was hoping to squeeze out another 500 miles. In the past this has not been a problem as I've always changed the oil between 3,000 to 4,000 miles. Normally I use the Shell Rotella oil but the last place where I had the oil changed did not have the Shell, they only had a Mobil product which they assured me was every bit as good. This is the first time I have ever had the light come on so I question whether the Mobil is as good as Shell. Of course, it could be due to the fact that we have done a lot of hauling in the warmer weather. In any event, I am not going to take any chances so I will get the oil changed the first thing this morning and leave later after the Nashville rush hour traffic. Beating the rush hour traffic out of town is not worth blowing an engine over. Saturday, October 13, 2007 We have a day clock in the RV, that's a clock that only shows the day and not the time. Basically, why would we care what time it is? But you'd be surprised how much your body does care, especially when you change time zones from Eastern to Central. It now gets dark by 6:30 PM and our bodies are saying that it's time for bed by 8:00 in the evening (they think it's 9:00). The sun didn't used to get up until after we got up, but now it beats us up each morning ( I know what you're thinking - "they don't think the sun rises until they get out of bed!!!"). Unfortunately our children have J-O-Bs and must w*rk for a living; therefore, we are somewhat driven by a schedule (which is a violation of the "there is no schedule in RVing" rule). But, we had our grand-daughter all day yesterday and what a great day it was - she was an excellent little person. She must be two going on thirty because there was no fusing, there was no being naughty, there was nothing but sweetness all day (well almost except for the stinky diaper incident). Anyway, her parents (our children) were coming to dinner and to pick her up after they ran an errand once leaving w*rk which translates to around 7:00. We generally eat only two meals a day and hadn't eaten since breakfast, which was around 10:00 eastern time, 9:00 central (Catia had a sandwich for lunch). But, remember the time thing? Our bodies said 7 o'clock was waaaay past our time to eat. After they left we watched the Red Sox beat the Indians (sorry, the Native Americans) before going to sleep which again made our bodies think we had stayed up beyond our curfew. Then Alex's biological clock told him it was time for breakfast at about 5:00 this morning. After tending to his needs I hit the sack for a little more sleep and, yep, the sun beat us up again this morning. It will take a few weeks for our bodies to adjust to Central time; that will be just in time for us to turn the clocks back again to Standard Time. Dang, that means Alex will be looking for his breakfast at 4:00 in the morning. Well, I guess we'll be able to get up before the sun after all. Friday, October 12, 2007 A year ago today we awoke to three inches of snow on the ground and coooooold temperatures. It was the day before I was to quit working (informally called retiring, but I can't officially collect retirement until 2009). In any event, here we are in Lebanon, Tennessee sucking up the warm weather. What a difference a year can make. Today is grand-daughter day. We pick the little dear up at 8:15 and will have her until mom and dad show up for dinner after work. Grand-daughter days are the highlights of the highlights in our otherwise mundane lifestyle ;). We are totally worn out at the end of these little sessions but go to bed with great big grins on our faces. You know where kids get their energy? They suck it out of adults. That's why we're exhausted when the day is done, but oh the joy of a day spent with a grand-child. Today's game plan is to spoil her, buy her loud toys, fill her full of sugar, and turn her over to her parents. You know the old saying, "what goes around, comes around"? Well, it's coming around so hang on mom and dad. Thursday, October 11, 2007 Yesterday we visited the Paynes, now I don't want you to get confused here so follow me closely. In the morning we visited with Norm and Linda Payne and in the afternoon we visited with Howard and Linda Payne. They are both from the Louisville, Kentucky area and they are both fulltime RVers but they are not related nor do they know each other (although they do know of each other through their websites). Norm and Linda Payne are our fulltime RVing mentors. I discovered them through their website (See Ya Down the Road) in the fall of 2003. They have been fulltiming since 1999 and have graciously provided us with guidance while making the transition to this wonderful lifestyle. We first met them in the spring of 2004 when they had come to Michigan for service on their motorhome. Our next meeting was in Clarksville, Indiana last October not more than 500 feet from where we visited with them yesterday. Three weeks later we bumped into them in Summerdale, Alabama and we met up with them again at the end of February this year. Norm has been undergoing some medical treatments in Louisville so we wanted to stop by and see them while we were passing through the area. We hope to be getting together again in November in Summerdale, Alabama. Howard and Linda Payne began fulltiming in the summer of 2005 and we have been in contact with them through their website (RV-Dreams) since the beginning. It has been fun watching them make the transition into the fulltiming lifestyle. Howard has put a lot of information in his website for those considering fulltime RVing as an alternate lifestyle. This was the first time that our paths have crossed and we both wanted so much to meet each other. We had a great time getting to know them better over the past couple of days and look forward to bumping into them again as we travel. Yep, I've said it before and I'm going to say it again, the friends you make along the way is the greatest part of this lifestyle. And as Linda said, "I don't get sad about saying good bye because I know that we are going to meet again." "Which Linda said that?" you might ask, why Linda Payne, of course. Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Here we are in Louisville, Kentucky with the weather continuing to be just wonderful. We arrived yesterday afternoon after a 5 hour trip and decided a good meal was in order. Being that Howard and Linda Payne (RV-Dreams website) were coming to visit us in the evening, we extended an invite for them to join us for dinner. Normally we do not prepare big meals on travel days, especially travel days with over three hours of travel, but we were hungry for a good home cooked meal. So Pa, what's for dinner? Well, we had lightly breaded pork chops covered and fried slowly in olive oil, then cooked for another hour in a special spaghetti sauce, and topped with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese. Then the pork chops and spaghetti sauce is served over whole wheat spaghetti with Italian bread to dip into olive oil mixed with herbs and spices - Yum, yum. The meal was good but the company was great. We enjoyed Howard and Linda's visit, they are such a fun loving couple. We have been hoping to get together for a long time now and had planned to meet in Hot Springs, Arkansas last October but things didn't work out. We will spend some more time with them this afternoon. Howard offered to take us sightseeing in the Louisville area (they are from Louisville) but we just wanted an afternoon to "chill out" and they were more than willing to accommodate. So today we are just going to take it easy as we have been traveling waaaay toooooo muchhhhh the last seven weeks. Next week at this time we will be in Alabama where we will stay put for five whole weeks before going to Branson. While in Alabama we will be spending a lot of time "detailing" the RV outside and in. The poor thing looks like it has been ridden hard and put away wet - well, actually, it has!!! Tuesday, October 9. 2007 Yesterday, while heading out of Michigan and less than a half hour after leaving the campground, we experienced our first flat tire on the rig. The Pressure Pro Tire Monitor alerted us to the problem and we were able to get safely off the highway. The highway was under construction (this is Michigan - the highway is always under construction) and there were construction barrels on the shoulder with no place to pull over so we had to pull into one of the emergency crossovers in the median that are generally used by the state police to clock speeders. That proved to be a very nice safe level place to be to get the tire changed. The tire has been losing pressure for a long time, but it has only been about 4 or 5 pounds of pressure over a period of several months so I didn't think it was anything serious. Weather condition can contribute to that kind of loss although none of the other tires had had any loss of pressure. It turned out to be a manufacturer's defect in the beading of the tire that finally just gave out so essentially we experienced a blowout. The tire was beyond any kind of repair so we had to purchase a new one. Being that we were just north of Grand Rapids we drove onto General RV to get a new tire. Being that they don't sell tires they directed us to their tire dealer which was just on the other side of the highway. Fleet Services wasn't very busy, so we were in and out in about 45 minutes with a new tire. The tire was on the RV before the paperwork was completed. There are four things that you need before becoming a fulltime or extended RVer. So here it goes, number one - you need a flexible schedule. If you are under time pressure any delay causes anxiety. Two - you need a Pressure Pro tire monitor. Without it we would have never known that we had a flat tire which would have eventually resulted in damaging the coach as the tire began de-laminating. Three - you need to be a member of Coachnet. We do not carry a jack strong enough to lift any of the tires off the ground in order to change a tire and Coachnet had us back on the road within the hour (I barely got dirty). And four - it is helpful to have an insurance policy on the tires. All we lost was a little over a couple of hours of time while Coachnet paid for the service call and Sure Guard paid for a new tire (mounted and installed). Yey for our team. A disaster was diverted thanks to the Pressure Pro Tire Monitoring system, "don't leave home without it" or in our case, don't hit the road without it. Monday, October 8,
2007 Judy and I have been talking about our fulltime lifestyle and have decided that this first year has not been exactly what we anticipated. We did two workamping assignments. a Habitat for Humanity build, and visited a boat load of people from Maine to Michigan. So, we will be restructuring our agenda for the second year. With children and grand daughters in Michigan, New Hampshire and Tennessee you know that those destinations will always be on the agenda. Then with close family members in Maine, Massachusetts, and Michigan we'll want to visit those states frequently (how frequently to be determined). Then we have good friends all over the country that we want to visit at least once in our journeys. And somehow we want to squeeze in volunteer work and sightseeing, I think we a going to have to hire a travel agent just to figure it all out. Our current destination is the Escapees Rainbow
Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama. As we leave Michigan we plan to visit some
friends in Louisville, Kentucky and our children/grand daughter in Tennessee so
we will arrive at our site in Summerdale a week from tomorrow. Then we can take
some time to just relax and figure it all out. Two things for sure - one: we
will not workamp as much, and two: we will take more time while traveling by
driving less and staying longer. As you can see, it is up to each of us
fulltimers to develop our lifestyles and just like in the past life there are no
two exactly a like.
If you're looking for a place that rivals New England for fall color, then northern Michigan is the place you want to be. Actually they might even out do New England in the color department. Michigan has far more hardwood trees than you'll find in the New England states which means a lot of color during the fall foliage season. Now don't get me wrong, New England is probably prettier due to the mountains and the evergreen trees that are sprinkled intermittently throughout the color scheme, but still it was absolutely gorgeous driving from Big Rapids to Levering yesterday. And the weather was just beautiful with crystal clear skies and temperatures in the high seventies. This is a wonderful time of year, my favorite. I just wish it would last for several months instead of several weeks. Thursday, October 4, 2007 Ahhh, here I sit, in my chair, in the peace and quiet of the early morning, reflecting on the past six weeks. We have got to slooow down! We left New York and went to Maine, from Maine we went to New Hampshire, then from New Hampshire it was off to Massachusetts, we went from Massachusetts to Connecticut, then from Connecticut to Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania to Michigan, and here we sit! In the next two weeks we will go from Michigan to Kentucky (with a possible stop in Indiana), from Kentucky to Tennessee, and then from Tennessee to Alabama. We are on the visiting circuit. Today we will take a day trip to Harbor Springs for a doctor's appointment for Miss Judy (this sinus thing hasn't gone away) and then onto Levering to see Judy's brother John and his wife Della. That little jaunt will encompass about five hours of driving time let alone time for sitting and visiting. Tomorrow we will go to Grand Rapids to visit our son Brian. That'll be just a short hop compared to today's traveling escapade. We could slow down a bit but Miss Judy (me too) is chopping at the bit to get to Alabama and put down roots for a few weeks before hitting the road again at the end of November. Once we get this rig back to Alabama we are going to slow the RV wheels down a little before we wear the darn things out. Workamping for four and a half months put a crimp in the time left for us to travel, so we raced about trying to visit everyone in the north before the cold weather caught up with us. So far, so good. The weather has been fantastic but even the katts are screaming "enough already"!! So in 2008 we will put a little more planning and a lot more time into our trips - we won't travel as often or as far and we will stay longer between moves so we can smell the roses, or the pine trees, or the spring breeze, or whatever God has for us to smell along the way. Wednesday, October 3, 2007 We are still in the visiting mode. Today we head for MeCosta Pines Campground, the place where our fulltime travels began a year ago. We will be spending time with our son in Grand Rapids, Michigan and get to see all of our old "seasonal" friends at the campground. One thing that comes with this lifestyle is food - lots and lots of food. It is difficult to loose weight and keep it off. There will most definitely be a pot luck dinner either Friday or Saturday night. That along with our wine tasting extravaganzas with plenty of snacks. As I said, it's next to impossible to loose weight. On travel days we have a check list that we use to prep the RV for travel. It covers everything that has to be done, inside and outside, to ensure that it gets done. We generally go about preparing for the move and before leaving we go through every item on the list. It gets checked regardless of whether we "know" we did the item or not. We are at that stage of life where our memory, although very good, is also very short. So by checking off each item on the list we know that we know that we know the task was accomplished. The list starts in the bedroom, moves on into the bathroom, then goes to the kitchen and living room, and finishes with the outside. Each area is organized so we just move from the front to the back without having to go back and forth. Now, where did I put that list? Tuesday, October 2, 2007 Here I sit, Katie on one side of me and Alex on the other. They are two contented "putty katts" and have gotten the knack for this relaxing thing down pat. Alex normally acts as our alarm katt but this morning, for some uncanny reason, he decided to let us sleep in and rise naturally. Ahhhh, that felt good. Sleeping in for us means getting up between 6:30 and 7:00 in the morning. I know, some of you out there are saying we're sick and need help while others of you are saying what sluggards. In Michigan, though, it is still dark at that hour which gives us the opportunity catch "first light" followed by "sunrise". We enjoy sitting with our coffee in hand while playing witness to these daily events. It is always a joy to see first hand a beautiful sunrise filled with lots of color and freshness. It is the signal of a new beginning and a fresh start. We have a clean slate to work with and hopefully we will use it wisely. Now it's time for another cup of coffee while I just relax - Now Katie and Alex teach me the technique. Monday, October 1, 2007 Holy cow, three quarters of 2007 is gone - where 'dit go? Time sure does fly by when you're having fun!!! Well, after traveling down miles of dirt roads to get to Judy's sister's house you wouldn't realize that they were living next to "high brow" people. Warren and Shirley's place is located across the road from the Mott farm which encompasses thousands of acres - Mott as in apple juice, apple sauce, etc. And on that farm are beautiful horses that sell for  more than a nice gas driven motorhome. I wanted to
see if horses would come and visit with me, so I walked over to the fence and
whistled and waited, and called and waited, and made strange noises and waited.
Finally their curiosity got the better of them and over they came. I got to
take a lot of pictures of them as they slowly made their way over to me. Once
they reached the fence they even let me pet them. Normally I don't include
pictures in this journal but here's one for your enjoyment. Events like these
are the simple daily pleasures that are all around us for our enjoyment if we
will just stop long enough to enjoy them. I'm slowly learning to let my senses
have the freedom to "live in" the moment, but that is not always easy for me.
As I said before, I tend to get so focused on the destination that I miss the
journey. Well, enough horsing around this morning. The weather is predicting
rain and I intend to just sit inside and enjoy it - it may even contribute to an
afternoon nap, we'll see.
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