2 down, 1 to go!

One of the best things about this RV adventure is being able to spend time with family wherever they live -- yet still sleep in our own bed at night! We especially enjoy being able to share special family events such as our niece Anna's High School graduation. Her brother, Karl, graduated two years ago (which we celebrated "in person" on our first year of "full-timing") and their youngest brother, Isaac, will graduate in 2017. Ergo the title of this post!

We really enjoyed this month in Raleigh -- not only to be part of Anna's festivities -- but also to visit our other family and friends in the area. Funny, we always think we'll have lots of spare time to explore area museums and other attractions while in town, but the social opportunities will always take priority and we are happy when there are lots of those!  Being here a month also gives us a chance to tackle any special projects we have that take a little extra time (e.g. some sewing to extend the sides of our bed quilt, getting a piece of luggage repaired, and replacing a pair of orthopedic sandals... the mundane things that are easy to do when you aren't moving around).

Us with new graduate Anna

With a little sniff of sadness, we finally got back on the road to continue the trek north (perfect timing too as Raleigh was getting hit with some serious heat waves!).  Our first stop was in Appamattox, VA to a park we had visited 2 years ago and a good location to park Max while we spend a day visiting with Karen and Bob Rasmussen, friends who live in Goode just west of nearby Lynchburg.  The 4 of us fueled up with a big breakfast at a local Cracker Barrel and then aimed for the D-Day Memorial in Bedford.  It included a nice tour of the site and was very informative (and somber). Truly amazing the level of planning that went into this offensive and how many countries were involved. Bedford had the highest number of fatalities per capita of the small towns in the USA.

We closed the day with a visit to the Leo Grande Vineyard and Winery.  Our friends know the owner well and we felt quite privileged to be their guests and meet him too. As is typical near the end of a hot day this time of year, a short storm moved over right after we got settled with a bottle of wine on the lovely lawn overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains. We simply moved the party onto the lovely covered wrap-around porch and opened another bottle. I don't recall ever trying a Sangiovese or Barbera before and really liked them, so this was a real treat.  Once the rain subsided, we loaded up on pre-made salads and hot sides from the local Kroger grocery for dinner back at their house before heading back to Max.

Part of the D-Day Memorial

Us with friends Karen and Bob Rasmussen at the Leo Grande Vineyard and Winery

Before leaving this area, we spent a little time on our own exploring downtown Lynchburg, grabbing lunch, and seeing the Visitor's Center and Lynchburg Museum. We also drove the Appamatox roads around Court House, the site where General Lee surrendered the army of Northern Virginia to General Grant (recognized as the start of the end of the Civil War as the other confederate armies conceded soon after). We had already visited the historic (reconstructed) buildings on our visit 2 years ago, but hadn't yet toured and read the splattering of historical markers along the roadway that identify other areas of importance.  Hard to believe this is the 150th anniversary of this surrender -- and that there is still confederate influence negatively affecting lives in present day.

After relocating Max a few hours north, we immersed ourselves even more in western VA by spending a few days in Staunton (typically pronounced "Stanton" by the way). It was left relatively untouched from physical damage during the Civil War and has one of the best preserved downtown areas we've seen of this era. Our primary objective here is to see the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Museum, but we also managed to enjoy the amazing downtown architecture, lunch in the wharf area, and see glass blowing demonstration.

Woodrow Wilson's birth home

Our last stop in Virginia was a 1-day stop near Winchester. We only managed to drive downtown and see the Old Court House Civil War Museum  (an amazing private collection of Civil War memorabilia) and the lovely pedestrian area, but it was really lovely -- even better preserved than Staunton even though it changed "hands" over 70 times during the Civil War.

Our path takes us into Pennsylvania next, so stay tuned!

No time for napping

After living this lifestyle for almost 3 years now, Jeffrey keeps saying "I thought there would be more naps!".  Compared to many full-timers, we like to think that we "take it slow" as we are traveling around, but the long list of things we did over the last 3 weeks is making me think we failed miserably at that goal -- and we STILL found ourselves saying "we'll just have to come back" when we didn't see everything each area had to offer.  Heck, we barely scratched the surface!  When time is limited and feet are sore, you have to prioritize what is important -- in our case, factory tours, presidential and Civil War sites, and family/friends.  Okay, museums sometimes squeak in there too... and animals... and anything else that sounds generally cool.

Thinking we needed to give ourselves more time in Nashville, we gave ourselves a whopping 8 days there. We started with a day at The Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson's plantation.  It is very well preserved and offers a fascinating history.  Downtown we took in the Visitor's Center, Parthenon, Frist Center for Visual Arts, and a local pub crawl tour (which included some great local Nashville history stories).  Needless to say, we were the oldest members of the pub crawl group, but thankfully not the only couple. The seven single ladies in our group made for plenty of entertainment over and above the fantastic bands we got to listen to at each pub.  One of the pubs specialized in moonshine varieties and I really enjoyed sipping the chocolate one. Who knew?

Recreation of the Greek Parthenon; Contains art exhibit (and Athena statue) inside.

Me and my designated driver at the end of the Nashville pub crawl.

There was lots to do just outside of Nashville too.  Thanks to someone else cancelling, we lucked out and got on a tour of the Nissan factory in Smyrna.  A new car rolls off the lines every 30 seconds and, with the exception of the paint area, we got to see (and unfortunately hear) the entire process. We also drove to Lynchburg to tour the Jack Daniels Distillery. Talk about "steeped" in history.  Every single drop is still bottled only at this location using the natural spring that it was built around.  Funny enough, it is located in a "dry" county!  When US prohibition ended, Tennessee's was still in place, so they could make Jack Daniels, but had to ship it all out of the state to sell it. We also did the "sampling" portion of the tour -- I must say it tastes much better mixed in a Coke than just straight!

Jeffrey at the Jack Daniels Visitor's Center

We managed to also squeeze in a trip through nearby Franklin, but only had time for lunch and seeing the Carnton Plantation.  This site found itself next to a raging civil war battle and was converted overnight into a hospital for thousands of wounded soldiers (and a large graveyard too). A little further down the road was the James K Polk ancestral home in Columbia. Though he only lived there for 6 years a younger man, it was still interesting to see how they lived (e.g. no bathrooms inside the house). Sad to say that he died of cholera just three months after finishing his Presidential term.

I'm embarrassed to say that, other than checking out the gift shop, we pretty much just did walk-bys of the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium.  I had been watching the musician lineups with the intention of getting tickets if it was someone we knew, but by then they were sold out.  Next visit!
We had to use day 8 in Nashville to just rest up.

We moved Max south to Chattanooga for the next week.  Our campground was close to the tri-fecta of tourist spots -- Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, Ruby Falls, and Rock City Gardens.  Words really can't describe the uniqueness of these attractions, so I've put some pictures below.  No trouble getting a Civil War fix in this area either as there is plenty to see about the battle of Chattanooga and at the Chickamauga Battlefield.  Chattanooga also has a great aquarium, especially their alligator exhibit (Go Gators!).  Our one big mistake was that May is the peak of school field trips and big heaps of kids followed us everywhere.  We soon figured out that they were gone by about 2pm, so we started timing our attraction visits better.

Ruby Falls -- an amazing underground waterfall

Us standing on one of the best Rock City lookouts

Sitting in the Incline Railway railcar.  Steepest grade is 73%!

An adorable stingray begging for treats at the Chattanooga Aquarium

My favorite college mascot!

Our final day in Chattanooga was spent in the company of some dear RV friends that we met at a state park in Florida in early 2014, Ken and Wendy Zitterich. They are also "full-timers" and we were thrilled to discover we would be overlapping for a day as they head north and we head south to Atlanta on our way to Raleigh.  The four of us had a grand time doing the Mayfield Dairy tour (only $4.50 tour price and you get an ice cream cone included too!) and the Lost Sea.  Topped the day off with some good local BBQ and life couldn't be more perfect!

Us with our friends at the Lost Sea.  Sea is in the background -- so big and such a large cavern that it is impossible to photograph well.

Our final week on this swing was spent in Atlanta.  I have flown in an out of this city many times in my life, but to my recollection had never stepped out of the airport. The weather forecast was for lots of rain for most of our visit, so we rushed out to enjoy what we could before our world got soggy. We started with the CDC Museum and were treated to an extensive security check of the car and our persons before they let us in since it is also an active CDC business office. Though it wasn't large, it was an interesting (and sobering) exhibit.  I left feeling thankful they exist. We also had time that day to see the Jimmy Carter Museum.  He is one of the first Presidents I remember from my childhood, though I had forgotten some of the challenges he faced.  It is amazing that, in his early 90s now, he still actively works to help with world peace efforts wherever he can.

Just because we hadn't run into enough school groups yet (NOT), we made a visit to the World of Coca-Cola.  It was fun seeing the extensive brand memorabilia, the vault containing the secret formula, decades-old TV commercials, and the tasting room where you can try all 100+ products that they bottle worldwide.  The gift shop was probably one of the best we've ever seen too.  Thank goodness we live in a motorhome and just can't buy everything we want -- we managed to escape with only purchasing a small pill case.  Next door to the World of Coca-Cola is the National Center for Civil & Human Rights. You will no doubt guess that the exhibits here were very emotionally moving.  I noticed a box of kleenex carefully placed in just about every room there.  What surprised me the most (but shouldn't have) was just how recent so many of the events occurred -- many within my own lifetime.  It is so easy to think of them in "the past past", but really they aren't.

Our last few days in town were dedicated to reconnecting with friends that we hadn't seen in decades. This is probably the thing we enjoy the most about our mobility. You can run but we will find you!

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Rocky Top!

Yes, there really is a Rock Top, Tennessee -- though it is buried in the Smokey Mountains and we didn't actually get there.  But we got close! Our journey from Gainesville to Tennessee was rainy rainy rainy, so we were glad to make it without incident to Sevierville, TN for the Escapees RV Rally.  This was a 5-day event with about 115 other RVs (some full-timers like us) that included lots of socializing, entertainment, a little education (there is always something to learn when you live in an RV), and lots of free time to explore the area.

Though an ongoing rain pattern continued to plague us, we had two really nice days -- one where we went to Dollywood in nearby Pigeon Forge and one where we explored Smokey Mountain National Park.  Needless to say, we needed a lot more than one day to do this National Park, but we at least got to drive/hike up to the big lookout at the top of Klingman's Dome (highest point in these mountains) and did the short walk to the Cataract Falls. We also saw some very dedicated Appalachian Trail hikers as it intersects with Clingman's Dome.

An incredibly (and unusual) clear day in the Smokey Mountains -- view from Clingman's Dome

We then moved Max to a small park near Knoxville.  Luckily weather was much nicer for this segment of our Tennessee tour and we ended up only taking one day to stay in Max, relax, and catch up on the laundry.  We also needed to rest our weary feet!  We started this area by driving east to see the Bush's Visitor Center (think beans, not Presidents).  It was a real kick learning about the history of this family-run company and  how it got its start in little Chestnut Hill, TN.  We got to taste test some of their products in their cute (and delicious) cafe, and then stocked up at their store.  We even got a picture with Duke, the family dog who keeps trying to sell the secret recipe for their beans.

Yes, Jeffrey weighs 149,760 "beans" (Maren wouldn't get on the scale)

Maren posing with Duke and Jay (plus "arrow" road-sign that just happens to be pointing to my head through the window)

Posing with Duke

Downtown Knoxville had a lot to offer too -- an Eastern TN History Museum (this side of TN has a fascinating Civil War history), a chocolate factory/store, an art museum, and what remains of the World's Fair Park from 1982. The grand attraction in this park is the Sunsphere, where you get a 360 degree view of the city.  Funny enough, we got quite a few "Go Gators!" greetings as we walked around town wearing Gator logos.

Downtown Knoxville as seen from the Museum of Art

Our final "out an about in the car" day in this area was a trip to nearby Oak Ridge, TN to see our nephew, Isaac, in a rowing meet.  His club had traveled over by bus from Raleigh, NC for a day of racing and his team of 4 won one of the heats.  It was a real kick to see him and hang out at the club tent with some of the parents that traveled over too.

Nephew Isaac in his 4-man rowing heat

Our next stop is Nashville and I'm sure our feet will get a workout there as well!

Remember the TV show "MacGyver"?

Normally I start a blog post talking about where we have traveled recently and put the "RV lessons learned" at the end.  However, this time I have to reverse this tradition in honor of a few recent RV mystery "successes".

If you recall, I ended our last post with returning to Max after a trip to Hawaii and getting him out of storage and off to Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont, FL.  When Jeffrey was pulling him out of the storage bay, I could hear a strange flapping sound coming from our rear radiator area.  Everything was operating fine, so we drove him to the park and, after settling in, we dug out our "mirror on a stick" and "snake camera" tools. Space is tight back there, but Jeffrey wiggled in under the engine and worked and worked to get the camera positioned so that he could spot something unusual.  He could finally see letters that read "Winn Dixie, Purified Water"! Apparently we had sucked up one of those clear plastic water bottle labels and it had wedged itself at the top of the radiator fan. Thankfully we were able to dig it out ourselves.

The next surprise was a brief few instances of "hot electrical" smell in one of the bathrooms.  After a few days, it was suddenly a "burning plastic" smell, so the hunt for the cause became urgent.  The hunt was brief -- it was the electrical connections behind the hot water heater (that just happen to reside underneath that bathroom).  Wires were scorched and melted AGAIN (the first two times occurred over a year ago so we had hoped this issue was resolved).  Though we had paid professionals fix it before, we decided to try our hand at engineering a better solution that would bring us more peace of mind.  After replacing the melted parts, we completely rewired things in a way that hopefully made the connections safer (it sometimes pays to be two engineers).  What with finding all the parts we needed (thank you Home Depot, Camping World, and Radio Shack) and building our new electrical box, this little project spanned almost 4 days -- luckily we had the option of using the water heater with propane so we still had hot water.  As I write this, the new wiring is still working perfectly.

Our final mystery took the longest to diagnose. When we created a negative air pressure inside Max, the other bathroom got smelly.  This was easy to reproduce -- just have all the windows closed and open one of our ceiling vents with the fan on... or run the dryer... or drive down the road with the front windows open.  Unfortunately there were too many possible culprits.  As it seemed to come from under the sink (thankfully not the toilet) we initially thought a small animal (lizard, frog) had made a home in one of the piping chases and then died.  Maybe we'd get lucky and it would stop on its own soon.  No such luck. I then did some investigation on the RV forums we follow and we tried replacing something called a vent cap.  Though it was an improved model from what we had, the smell didn't go away then either.  That left just one possibility -- a recently replaced vacuum breaker under the sink that is used when we operate the high-pressure black flush system when we dump our tanks.  Turns out it was the wrong part for this application and black tank odors were getting sucked back up through this valve.  We researched and found the right one, were lucky to find it just down the road in Ocala, FL, and replaced it ourselves.  Voila!  Smell gone.

Hey, we are getting good at this RV fix-it stuff! I knock on wood as I tell you that we are back to not having ANYTHING on the list that we need a professional to fix :-) This is actually pretty rare.  We celebrated by catching a flight to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to enjoy a week at our Grand Mayan timeshare with my parents.  We had lovely weather and were so laid back we forgot to take any pictures, so this blog post is text only :-(

Anyhow, having finished our travels around Florida for this winter season, here we sit at the end of March near Gainesville, FL spending some quality time with Jeffrey's parents and enjoying the last few weeks before we head to points north. We decided to lag a little here so we can see the Orange & Blue Debut Gator spring football game for the first time. The day after we hit the road to attend an "Escapee" RV rally in Sevierville, TN and then will tour Pigeon Forge, Knoxville, Nashville, and Chattanooga.  Memphis will have to wait until another trip.

I promise my next post will be much more "RV Travel" exciting!

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Getting away from getting away

It always feels a little strange going on a vacation "away" from the motorhome. When we owned a "bricks and sticks" house we certainly didn't need to worry about where it would stay while we were gone.  We also didn't need to think so hard about what airport we'd be flying out of!

We just returned from one of these vacations with my parents -- to the very lovely Hawaiian islands of Maui and the "Big Island" of Hawaii itself.  Max remained behind in Tampa, plugged in and tucked into a nice covered RV storage unit, so we didn't need to worry about him this time.  We even left Jeffrey's expensive allergy serum in the fridge of the storage owner so there was a smaller risk of it being damaged -- you never know when your RV refridgerator will fail.  We were also able to position our "mobile" Tailgator satellite dish so that we could still DVR our favorite shows. BONUS!

Before we left we also managed to meet up with some friends at the annual Tampa RV Supershow.  Thankfully we aren't looking to replace Max, but this show is a great place to get our BlueOx tow hitch serviced (what we tow the car with) as well as look at the many many vendors selling RV supplies.  We managed to escape with just a few new "My Pillow"s, a cleaner/wax product to try on Max's painted fiberglass exterior walls, new microfiber pads, and a huge pile of brochures for states and parks we want to visit.

New purchases stowed, there was nothing left to do except get on the plane to Hawaii.  It would have been even better if we'd been in a really cold climate to begin with, but alas, Florida was pretty nice when we left it.  For my parents, it was another story since their home is Washington State!  We had a fantastic time whale, dolphin, and surf watching and even ventured up Mauna Kea (at over 13,700 feet where there was still snow) to watch the sun set over the clouds.  We also enjoyed a few snorkel trips, where we'd like to think we saw the state fish, the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. In any case, we got to see and snorkel at Kealakekua Bay where Captain Cook was killed -- unfortunate history for such a beautiful place.

Jeffrey on cliff over north shore of Maui

Iao Valley State Park in Maui

Captain Cook's memorial at Kealakekua Bay

The view from the top of Mauna Kea at sunset

The whale watching was especially good -- this is the time of year when the humpbacks are having their babies and being courted by the males, so we saw lots of breaching, tail slapping, and rolling.  One mother whale even brought her calf near the snorkeling tour boat we were on and it rolled sideways so an eye could look up at us.  I can only imagine what she was telling it: "See these creatures floating on top of the sea?  Steer clear of them!".

Wanting to pull our weight, we also used the time to help my parents set up their new laptops.  This is their first time using Windows 8, so being able to sit together and talk through the changes is much easier than doing it long distance.  We even managed to learn a few new things ourselves as we tried to set things up the way they liked.

Once back in Florida, we unpacked Max from his storage spot and drove him an hour up the road to Lake Louisa State Park.  Thankfully we didn't have a busy week ahead which gave us time to adjust back to the eastern time zone. We were also happily surprised to have some new-fulltimer RV friends overlap us for part of our stay at this park, giving us a chance to ogle their new rig and enjoy their great company.  We also got a chance to connect one last time (this year) with friends and family we have in the area.

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Oops! Where did December go?

Jeffrey gently reminded me this morning that I haven't updated this blog since November.  What?  Where did December go?  It blew by so fast that I lost track of time and suddenly it is 2015!

We started December with our annual visit to Lazydays -- our preferred service facility to get non-chassis items fixed or serviced.  Like a house, there always seems to be a (hopefully short) list of "fix it" items. For us this time, it was just replacing a dripping vacuum valve under a sink and swapping out a seal in a roof A/C unit.  We also had them do some general maintenance items that we don't like to do ourselves -- replacing sealant along the roof and window edges in a few places plus a general "jack & slide" service.  In hindsight, this last item resulted in slide seal lubricant getting all over our newly waxed areas, so I have already decided I will do this part myself next time and hopefully be a little more careful about where it goes!

While at Lazydays, we got to catch up with another full-time RV couple we met there 2 years ago, the Zingers!  We always enjoy each other's company and had several overlapping service days to visit and share this past year's adventures. We also got to connect with my uncle/aunt/cousin families in St. Petersburg, one of Jeffrey's cousins from Valrico, plus do quick visits to Costco and Trader Joes before settling in an hour northeast at Lake Louisa State Park for 10 days.

This State Park is in Clermont and wonderfully secluded -- a perfect rest stop before the holiday activities kicked in.  We even pulled out the bikes and gas grill from the "basement" and gave them both some exercise. We also visited with more of Jeffrey's extended family in the Orlando area and even saw a cousin's 12 year-old daughter perform in a team "cheer" competition.  All I can say is WOW -- just amazing to see these talented kids tumble, flip, and toss each other around at lightening speed.  Her team even won first place!

Us with Jeffrey's "first cousin once removed", Jessica

Our next stop was across the state in Hobe Sound -- Jonathan Dickinson State Park.  This continues to be one of our favorite destinations, not only because it is located near more of my family, but also because it is lovely and well configured for a rig like ours (fewer trees, full hookups and big RV pads).  Within a day of plugging in, we jumped on a plane to Raleigh for a 60th wedding anniversary celebration for Jeffrey's parents. Minus some difficulty with flights back to Florida, it was really wonderful spending the Christmas holiday with such a big chunk of family.

Jeffrey's parents, Jack and Evelyn Martin

Us with nephews Karl & Isaac plus niece Anna

Once we got back to Florida, we enjoyed visits with my family there with the few days we had left before once again having to leave to traverse over to Clermont. While we love the state parks, we don't like that there is a 14-day limit on them.  That said, the price and convenience are very nice indeed!  Too bad we aren't Florida residents anymore or it would be cheaper.

As I write this, we have less than a week left before we take Max to a storage unit near Tampa where he will sleep while we fly to spend 2 weeks in Hawaii with my Dad and Sheila.  We are hoping to see whales there as this is the time they visit the islands.

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Winter is threatening central Texas -- time to leave!

We have wrapped up our annual visit to Texas and our trek across the gulf states to Florida so we can celebrate Thanksgiving with Jeffrey's parents. This is one of the few journeys that we make quickly -- driving every day and staying in a different park every night.  Our 3-year chassis warranty is due to expire soon, so we tempted fate by trying to also squeeze in Max's annual service along the way (normal oil changes, etc) at a place that was recommended in Louisiana.  The bad news is they found a small issue and didn't have the part they needed to fix it.  The good news is the warranty covered it.  The bad news is that we were delayed an extra day waiting for the part. The good news is that we got some experience camping with no hookups ("boondocking") in their parking lot.  Hey, even WE can make lemonade out of lemons!

Anyhow, this extra adventure made for 2 very long driving days to make up the time so we could still get to Florida on schedule. The sore butts didn't stop us from enjoying time with one of Jeffrey's 4 older brothers/sister-in-law (John & Susan) in Pensacola plus a fun lunch connecting with 2 other full-time RV couples we met last January. The conversation is what you'd imagine -- cool places and parks visited, issues with the rigs, lifestyle "lessons learned", plus plans to try to intersect again soon. It was hard to part ways again :-(

Our next stop was a week in Gainesville visiting Jeffrey's parents for Thanksgiving (and enjoying a few "live" Gator sporting events on campus), and we have now settled in for a week at Lazydays in Tampa.  Today Max is getting a much-needed wash and hand wax plus having his aluminum wheels polished.  For a rig that is 41 feet long and almost 13 feet tall, these are efforts that we are more than happy to pay somebody else to do!  Tomorrow we report for our "service" appointment and, thankfully, the "fix it" list is very short this year -- just a few minor items that we don't want to tackle ourselves. We have RV friends who are also here having some items worked on, so this gives us a chance to visit with them too.

Since I don't have any RV travel pictures to post yet, below are some good shots taken of us during a cruise we took in October.  We left Max in Texas and flew out to California for a cruise that visited Los Angeles, San Diego, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, plus a few other lovely quaint Mexican towns.

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