Wishy, washy, wishy, washy!

Today's adventure was with the washer repairman.  Our combo washer/dryer has not worked for three or four months now.  We had communicated with the service techs in the state of Oregon when our problem first began, and they agreed with our assessment of the problem. Over the phone, they had given directions on how to take the machine apart to find out for sure what the problem was.  When they got to the task of turning the machine on its side in our tiny bathroom, we decided it was beyond our capabilities and we'd head to the laundromat.  Several months later the tech in Indiana quickly diagnosed the problem (exactly what we had suspected) and said it would cost close to $700 to repair and only a couple hundred more for a whole new machine.  Considering that the machine was 10 years old, very well used and has had several other repairs in the last three years we decided to spring for a new one.  It supposedly has a few better features including a faster drying time.  It took about an hour to install and another hour for us to put the cupboard and doors all back together!  So, off we headed to Michigan where we have another service appointment....and are parked without water and sewer hookups...so can't even use the new machine for a while.

Rain, rain, go away!

Good things about being in Indiana.......acres and acres of green things growing, friendly service people
Bad things........rain and more rain,  thunder and lightning, power outages, puddles, construction traffic

But, our door latch has been fixed and we don't need to worry about being locked in or out of the coach, and we have a new floor vent so we don't cut our feet when walking into the bedroom, and a repaired blind that will now cover the window once again.   It felt good to be in a familiar neighborhood in Nappanee and we always enjoy seeing the acres and acres of crops growing and the many neat and tidy Amish and Mennonite farms.  Of course that also means we have to be careful driving among horses and buggies and bicycles.

Checking things off our "to do" list, we've moved up to Elkhart in hopes of getting our washer/dryer repaired after quite a few months of treking to the laudromat.  Time will tell.

Oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roam!

We went for a walk last night around the property of the Downstream Casino which is operated by the Quapaw Indian Tribe.  A large fenced area along the main drive has beautiful flower gardens and five (that we saw) Buffalo roaming around.  Several sat in a big pond - no doubt trying to keep cool in the 98* heat.  We didn't even go inside the casino, but enjoyed our walk and retreated to the RV for the evening, thanking the Indians for their free hospitality and hook-ups.  Today we had a pleasant drive across I-44 through the Ozarks and were happy to see that there was very little traffic through St. Louis...so we kept going!

O-o-o-o-klahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' cross the plains....

We spent two nights at the Fire Lake Grand Casino east of Oklahoma City near Shawnee.  Driving up from Texas, we chose state and US routes and avoided the toll road and were on I-35 only a short distance near Ardmore.  It was a pleasant drive on rolling highways and it was nice to see more and more green fields as we got further north.  Curiosity would have had us drive straight up I-35 through Moore as we have done in the past, but we decided to avoid city traffic and gawkers along the recent tornado route.  As it turned out, it was the one-month-anniversary of the devastating storm and the TV stations all had on-the-scene reports.  They said clean-up is about 40% accomplished.  As we approached Shawnee we did see places where there was much damage as it also touched down in that area briefly.  The reason for a 2-night stay was to break up the drive and we drove into Shawnee on Thursday and to Midwest City on Friday to run some errands.  The Casino has water and electric hookups and we took advantage of that to run our A/C as the temperature hovered in the high 90s.  Typical of Indian casinos, we took advantage of the free soft drink stations and this one also has free soft ice cream…yummy on a hot and quite windy day.             We headed on east again on Saturday morning (missing the opportunity to attend the Elvis impersonation contest that night!) and drove on the I-44 toll road to our next stop at the Downstream Casino at Exit 1 in Missouri.  The casino itself is actually in Oklahoma, the hotel in Missouri and the RV parking lot is in Kansas…how’s that for a Tri-State stop?

On the Road once again....

The travelers returned from Peru and Merrick returned from camp...all about the same time last Saturday afternoon.  They were all tired.  Close and Ann managed to bring home food poisining or some sort of bug and had quite an adventure on the three plane flights and 24 hours it took them to get home.  We retreated to the RV until Monday.  The next two days were busy with errands and running the three granddaughters to dance, horseback riding and school projects and doing a little "lifeguarding" around the pool, fixing meals and doing laundry.  Today Mary had her checkup with Dr. Rocky and he was pleased with the progress of Mary's eyelid surgery and cleared us for travel.  So....we hit the road...not planning to do much driving each day...and heading first to Newmar in Indiana to pick up some parts.  We came through some heavy rain and wind, but luckily it didn't last long and by the time we got to Wichita Falls it had stopped.  Hopefully we're headed to sun and cooler temperatures!

Have bags will travel!

But this time, we're not the travelers.  Last Friday, our daughter and two oldest granddaughters drove to Dallas and from there flew to Peru with the Spanish Club from the high school.  We are getting daily updates via Facebook and Skype of their adventures.  It is winter there, so they have escaped the Texas heat, and they are finding the high altutude somewhat of a challenge.

Our granddaughters are a couple of those dots at the top of Machu Picchu.

On Sunday, we tagged along as our son-in-law drove the youngest granddaughter to YMCA Camp.  She was excited to stop at Culver's for lunch (a favorite from their time in Illinois and a rare find in this part of the country) and then to get to camp where she will be riding horses all week.  The camp also posts on Facebook and Twitter daily and also puts several hundred photos online daily!

Residents of the "Eskimo Cabin" at YMCA Camp
Merrick is at the rear.

Meanwhile we are keeping busy with a few chores and enjoying a slightly slower pace for the week.

Rocky on the road

We've been keeping busy here in Abilene doing all the same stuff....driving the girls around to their various activities and keeping up with their last week of school schedules.  They're Free!  So let the summer activities begin!  Close and her friends like to go to "The Doghouse" which is the fitness center at the high school which is open to all the athletes to keep up with their conditioning over the summer.  Since the coaches aren't allowed to coach the kids, there is a "trainer" on board to delp them do what the coaches prescribe.  Merrick lives for her horseback riding lessons and spends a lot of time in the swimming pool (happy that grandparents are on hand to be lifeguards.)  Coffey, with her learner's permit in hand, will drive us anywhere we want to go!  We've enjoyed hanging out with the family, doing some chores around the house and cooking hot dogs and S'mores at the fire-pit.

Today we met Rocky.  He is an opthomologist, and was the second doctor we'd met today.  The first was a dermatologist who performed a MOHS procedure, removing basal cell cancer from Mary's eyelid.  After doing that procedure he decided that his buddy, Rocky, should finish the job, so he sent us down the road to another office.  He introduced himself as Rocky, and from all the diplomas on the wall, we think that's his real name.  Both doctors were great guys with efficient and friendly staff and we feel so far, that they did an excellent job.  Time will tell, I guess.  Meanwhile we're dealing with one of those "rocks in the road."

S'Mores anyone?

We had a pretty "laid-back" weekend once the dance recital was over.  On Saturday, we joined the McCurdy's for grilled burgers at dinner time.  Afterwards, friends arrived and enjoyed the pool.  At sundown it was time to gather at the fire-pit and make S'Mores.  On Monday we were in charge of transportation to horseback riding lessons, making lasagna in the crockpot for dinner and a few other chores before the evening meal and games following.  The last week of school coming up!

A busy week

Our days since earlier in the week continued to be fairly busy....we continued afternoon "bus service" from the Jr. Hi and the High School, and some dinner preparations to follow.   Thursday we had a cloudy, windy day and by dinnertime it wasn't looking good at all.  Our drive back to the RV was made exciting as the thunder, lightning, wind and rain ramped up to mega-proportions.  Once we got back to the rig, we brought the slides in to protect the canvas "toppers" and spent the rest of the evening "rockin' and rollin'."  Friday was a bit cooler but by Saturday it was hot and sunny once again.  On Friday there were more costume alterations to be made for the dance recital, and on Saturday afternoon we went to the Abilene Civic Center for the grand performance.  It was a well organized and quickly moving show.  Merrick and Coffey both did well.  We celebrated afterwards with dinner at Red Robin and a rousing game of "Herbie" back at the house.  With no big plans for the holiday weekend, we should have some restful days.

Coffey's pirate costume, minus the big hat,  and Merrick as a "techno-robot"

Into the routine

It didn't take us long to get back into the "Abilene Routine."  On Monday Tom provided the school pickups and then drop-offs at dance and horseback riding in the late afternoon.  Meanwhile, Mary got dinner started for the family plus Alex (Close's friend).  Once dinner was over, the McCurdys headed to the pool to cool off.                                    

Tuesday morning we reported to the "mega-church" across from the Wylie Jr. High to attend the Awards Day for the 6th grade.  Merrick received two awards.  From there we headed to the McCurdy house where Mary spent some time making final adjustments to Coffey's costume for her dance recital coming up this weekend.  Evenings the rest of this week will be busy with rehearsals for the recital in which both Coffey and Merrick will participate.   

                         

Mindful of the tragedy over the last several days in Oklahoma, we watched the weather here in Abilene.  We had some extremely dark clouds, high winds, spits of rain and the temperature dropped about 20*.  Luckily, that is all that happened, and by late afternoon it was sunny and 80* once again.

Abilene, Abilene, Prettiest town I've ever seen

Well, maybe!  But we were glad to arrive here this afternoon and get settled in our familiar campground.  After relaxing a bit from the windy drive, we headed over to the McCurdys.  As usual, the family was involved in various activities...Matt and Coffey spent the sunny 100* afternoon at tryouts for a softball team, Ann and Close tended to various shopping chores gathering stuff for their trip to Peru, new swim suits to meet specifications for Merrick's stay at a camp and groceries.  When we all were finally together Matt cooked burgers on the grill for us and the family enjoyed a dip in the pool.  A pleasant end to a great day!

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles!

We woke up early today, even without an alarm clock.  Our bodies must still be on the “get up early for golf” schedule.  We walked up to the clubhouse/office to pay our electric bill and check-out and joined some other RVers for homemade cinnamon rolls.  They may have been homemade, but they didn’t compare in the least to Mary’s Mom’s rolls!!!  We went through the morning routine checking the tow hitch and running the car through its gears, checking the vehicle lights and signals and were on the road a little before 9:00 MDT.  We cruised past Las Cruces and through El Paso, then switched drivers for the ride to Van Horn.  Mary’s cousins, Bethann and Geoff called on the phone while we were stopped for lunch – finally catching up on messages we’d left earlier in the week asking if they were at their New Mexico house.  Since we’d passed on by several hours earlier, we were glad to hear they are still in Virginia.  This drive from Arizona to Abilene is through 800 miles of rock, thorns and scrubby bushes.  We can see for miles and miles and miles and miles in any direction!  We arrived at the Escapee’s Tra-Park in Pecos, Texas around 4:30 CDT (we’d lost another hour today!).  The park is in an area of Texas that has lots of oil drilling going on and they have leased many of their sites to oil workers, and it’s a pretty “bare bones” park in the Escapee’s system.  The park is quite full, but at least they keep some open sites for travelers.  This is where we were parked when our engine failed last fall.  Hopefully we’ll be on the road in the morning with no problems!

The Wheels on the Bus go 'Round and 'Round!

After sitting for seven months, the engine started and the wheels turned!  Hooray!!!   At about 8:00am this morning we pulled out of a very empty Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort and headed east on I-10.  We had enjoyed the last six weeks or so of a more “laid back” routine in the park.  Day by day residents departed and by the time we left there were very few people still in the park.  In season the poker games have about 80 people playing.  It’s now down to about 15…and we’re not sure where they come from because as we ride around the park, it looks nobody is around.  For several weeks playing on the golf course was free…and we took advantage of that daily.  The day we left, however, the “back nine” was closed due to all the new construction going on.  We are looking forward to seeing all the changes around the park when we return in the fall.

Our first stop today was at the “Speed-co” just six miles down I-10 from the park.  We had some service done, but they weren’t able to do everything we wanted, so we’ll have to arrange some service stops back east.  From there we continued east, stopping at one of the prettiest rest areas on the Interstate, Texas Canyon, for a lunch break.  It felt good to be back on the road!  From there it was on to Deming, New Mexico and an overnight stop at the Escapee’s “Dreamcatcher RV Park.”    

We pulled into the park just at 5:00 New Mexico time (we’d lost an hour entering NM) and found a space in the almost empty park.  Almost immediately a neighbor came over and asked us about our Ford Escape.  Seems he burned up the transmission in his Escape for the second time just the other day.  We’ve met several people this way!

Our destination tomorrow is Pecos, TX.  

Getting Settled!

We're certainly enjoying the perfect weather here in Casa Grande...low 90s in the daytime and mid-60's at night (good sleeping with the windows open!)  The various chores on our list are slowly getting checked off, but there are still lots of things to do before we're truly ready to "play" for the winter.  We stopped by to see some tennis buddies today and they tell us we're expected at the courts at 7am daily, so perhaps we'll get in some tennis early in the day and work on some chores a bit later.  We did go to Phoenix today for Tom's routine check-up at the neurologist and all was well...so good, in fact, that he doesn't need to return for 6 months.  While in the city, we also stopped at "Golfsmith," allowing Tom some time to try out various new golf drivers.  He found one that looks promising, but we're going to do a little more shopping before he makes his decision.   Do you think he needs a new one????

We also checked in at the front office here at Palm Creek, paid our annual rent, had our new photo-IDs made and picked up our accumulated mail.  So I guess we're "legal" for the time-being.

Home, Sweet Home!

Today’s first chore was to make phone calls about replacing our now shattered heat pump cover.  The people in the office at the RV park gave us a name to call and it was the same one we had found on the internet.  The man who answered the call said his shop is closed on Saturday but he’d be willing to help if he could.  He did not have the part we needed in stock, but said he didn’t feel there would be any problem with us driving 200 miles to Tucson unless it was raining.  So, we were on the road in short order.   We arrived at the Camping World in Tucson around noon Arizona time.  Our friends Art and June Nelson were waiting for us as we had plans to visit over lunch.  Art had also made some phone calls to Camping World and the Lazy Days RV Dealership and had information for us.  Camping World had a cover in stock and Tom and Art took it up on the roof to make certain that it would fit our model.  It did!  They tightened the screws and we were protected once again.  Tom will need to remove the cover again to clean the heat pump area and to install the insulation and perhaps paint the cover.  There were no cracks visible on the second heat pump and Camping World only had one cover anyway, so the second one was not replaced.  We had a great visit with Art and June over lunch in the restaurant on the Lazy Days property behind Camping World and hope to see them again soon.              From Tucson we continued on I-10 to Eloy, Arizona where we visited the Flying J and topped off our fuel and propane tanks – ready for the winter stay.  We arrived at Palm Creek around 4:30 and got all parked in our usual site with the help of our neighbor and Chief Ranger, Bob.  Once we were hooked up we enjoyed a visit with our neighbors Harry and Marilou and their son Mike.  It’s good to be “home.”

Back on the road

Cummins South Plains in Odessa, Texas went right to work on our RV first thing this morning.  They discovered that in order to install our new part they would have to remove the muffler from the coach.  After the new part and the muffler were installed, they took the coach for a test drive and declared it repaired.  Around 10:30 they presented us with the bill for the part and about 5 hours of labor plus taxes and fees….close to $900.    We paid the bill and hooked up the Escape and got organized for travel.  We hit the road around 11:30 and drove back to Pecos where we topped off the fuel at Flying J and continued west.  By making minimal stops to change off drivers, we made good time and arrived at the Dreamcatcher RV Park in Deming, NM around 5:30 local time.  (We’d changed time zones near Van Horn, TX)  From Las Cruces, NM to Deming we were driving in very strong winds and we kept an eye on the large awning which we had secured with extra straps.  As we pulled into Dreamcatcher we heard a loud banging and thumping and thought the awning had indeed come loose.  But, no, the large plastic cover on the rear heat pump had come off, crashed around on the roof and part of it onto the ground, in lots of pieces.  Nine years in the sun obviously is not good for plastic!  We picked up the pieces and got registered and parked before Tom climbed to the roof to get the rest of the pieces.  The wine came out shortly thereafter!!!  Tomorrow will be another day…and we had already planned to stop at Camping World in Tucson to meet friends for lunch

Definitely, NOT our best.day.ever!

We had arrived at the TraPark RV Park in Pecos, Texas Wednesday afternoon around 4:00.  We settled into a site and had a relaxing evening.  It had been a pleasant day’s drive from Abilene and we had two more ahead of us to get to Palm Creek in Casa Grande, AZ.  Thursday morning we went through our usual departure routine and were ready to head to our next stop in Deming, NM.  When we turned on the engine a loud, constant alarm sounded and the “check engine” light came on in the dashboard display.  We made several phone calls to Spartan Chassis and Cummins Engine service centers.  They had several suggestions, which we followed, to check the coolant and the engine oil levels.  The coolant was at the proper level, but the oil was a little low.  So, we unhooked the car and made a trip to Walmart to purchase oil which was then added to the engine.  After the 15 minute run-time we still had the alarm and the lovely light on the dash.  At that point Cummins said we should not drive the coach. 

Calling “road service” was our next step and it was an hour and a half before they returned our call to say they had found us a tow truck that would be arriving momentarily.  Sure enough, in about 15 minutes a truck arrived.  The drivers took one look at our rig and said they could not tow us!  They would damage the generator and exhaust if they did.  Luckily, they had a flat-bed truck available and made a trip to their garage to trade trucks.  Another plus was that they were from Pecos, not a far away place!  So, they directed Tom to drive the Dutch Star up onto the trailer which they could tilt by moving the wheels forward…pretty neat!  Then we were off on a 75 mile drive to the Cummins service facility in Odessa, TX.  As we followed the truck in our car, we cringed every time we came to an overpass on the freeway.  Our rig is 12’3” high and it was sitting on a flat bed that looked to us to be 3 or 4 ft. off the ground.  Tom had discussed the height with the driver before we departed Pecos.  The only really “close call” came somewhere along the I-20 route when the driver pulled the truck over to the edge of the road and inched his way under an overpass marked 15’4”…while we held our breath!

When we reached Odessa and the Cummins facility, their driveway had a low hanging utility cable.  Fortunately, the driver noticed it as he was making the left-hand turn into the drive.  He held up traffic on the busy street while he back up and drove in sideways.  Whew!  They got the Dutch Star unloaded and pulled up to a service bay about 4:30.  It was after 6:30 when the service manager was able to tell us they had followed their trouble-shooting procedure and had come up with a defective electrical diode.  They couldn’t find a part number on the diode or their computer program, so had to search through parts books to come up with a number which they used to search their inventory.  Hooray!  They have the part in stock.  It will be installed first thing Friday morning.   Meanwhile, we’re spending the night in front of the service bays with an electrical hookup.  Hopefully we’ll be on our way again late Friday morning.

Considering we are not too far from last year’s vehicle fiasco, maybe next year we should go from Abilene to Casa Grande by way of Denver!

A step back in time!

Not quite 45 years ago we drove our '67 Mustang (with all our earthly possessions packed in the back seat and trunk) from Ohio to Arizona to make our first home in Arizona.  I don't remember how long it took us, but we made it a leisurely drive as it was our honeymoon.  We drove the famous Route 66 much of the way as that was before the days of coast-to-coast Interstate Highways!  Ever since that trip we have often repeated the story of our one-night stop in Lebanon, Missouri and our stay at the Munger Moss Motel.  We've driven through, and even stopped in Lebanon numerous times in our RV travels (there's a Russell Stover Candy Outlet, Cheese Outlet and Antique Store that is a favorite stop) but today as we approached on I-44 heading west from St. Louis we noticed a big billboard for the Munger Moss Motel.  Could the place still be in business?  We got off at the appropriate exit and sure enough, there it was!  We parked in the lot across the street at a bowling alley and went over to the motel and met the owner, Ramona Lehman.  She's been there since 1971 and has preserved the motel pretty much as it was then. (Although they now have Free WiFi...didn't have that 45 years ago!) The motel is frequently a stop for travelers reminiscing the "good old days of Route 66."  We had our own little bit of nostalgia...we had stayed at the motel, eaten at the adjacent (now gone) restaurant and bowled a couple games at the bowling alley across the street...all for the grand sum of $10 for the evening.  Mrs. Lehman was glad to see us and hear our story.  She even gave us a couple of small souvenirs.  She is active in a group to preserve the old Route 66 and posts stories on her Facebook page for The Munger Moss Motel.  There is even a web page www.mungermoss.com that tells the history of the place.  It was a fun stop!

Once more...with feeling!

We drove through St. Louis again today...that Arch is looking really familiar...I didn't even take a photo! Our GPS took us on a really different route and we didn't realize it till it was too late to change lanes.  That caused a few stressful minutes, but we recovered and found our way along a pleasant route through the city that we hadn't seen in all our times going through St. Louis.  We're at a Walmart where we stayed last year and tonight there was no problem getting permission to stay.   The weather has been great and is getting warmer each day...in fact it may be a little warm tonight without the A/C...our last night without electricity if all goes as planned.  We'll be moving on again tomorrow.

Spartan territory

Friday morning, August 31, Reid picked us up at the motel we had stayed at and we returned to his WV house to finish packing and loading.  For a guy who lived in a tent all that time, where did all this stuff come from?  It was decided that we did not need to stick around for Reid's closing, so we took off in the truck heading to Ohio and Michigan.  We reached the Toledo area around 8pm and rather than continuing on to East Lansing and a MSU Football Friday night game, we decided to "crash" in our own bed in the RV parked in storage in Swanton.  Ah, that felt good!   Saturday morning came quickly, but we were up and on the road.  Reid had called around 10pm Friday night to say he was in Columbus and heading north, so he was waiting for us when we arrived in East Lansing.  By 2:30 the truck was empty - much of it piled next to the backyard shed where Reid organized and stored his collection of outdoor gear and kayaks.

What do you think?  Will it all fit in with the lawn equipment already there?

I'm not so sure, but let's get started.

 Inside the house, Tom began assembling bookshelves while Mary tackled laundry and Reid tried to find places for his stuff and whipped up a quite delicious dinner.  We all slept pretty good Saturday night.   Sunday morning we headed out for breakfast and then to the local Farmer's Market where Reid stocked up for the week ahead. More laundry and bookcases and some new chairs occupied the crew in the afternoon.  Then Tom and I met up with some RVing friends who happened to be in the area...a great visit over dinner at the Texas Roadhouse.  Labor Day will find us heading south for a bit.