Goodbye 2015!

What we thought would be a relaxing 3-month fall visit to our home base area near Austin, Texas, was made a little more exciting when I (Maren) had to have my gallbladder removed. Lucky for me it wasn't an emergency -- just started having odd mid-chest pressure after some meals while we were visiting my parents in the Seattle area late August.  Boy, I can see why people say gallstone issues can feel like a heart attack! Thankfully, I had plenty of time to have surgery and recover before we left town. Didn't even miss hosting one of our local Gator Club football game watching parties! (though I had a lot of help for a few weeks).

Surgery aside, we had some nice "positives" from our Texas visit too -- successful annual phyicals, dental checkups, and eye exams along with a wonderful first-time visit to Corpus Cristi to visit my college roommate and her husband (thanks Lisa and Zack!).  We also enjoyed catching up with local friends, watching Gator football with our club, and chasing a golf ball around a small 9-hole course we used to play weekly when we lived in Austin. Unfortunately our golf game hasn't improved much since then, but the fellas we play with are fun so the social part of the game is top notch :-)

Maren and roommate Lisa

We wrapped up our final few weeks with my great idea to wax the motorhome ourselves instead of hiring professionals. As I write this post a month later, I think Jeffrey's wrist is still sore from the experience :-(  But Max looks wonderful and it gave us a chance to check him out in great detail.  Too bad we discovered a few small hairline fiberglass cracks near his front cap running lights (that are 11 feet up in the air). We suspect the angle of the hot Texas sun just overheated the dark brown paint up there. Sigh. We put some repair tape over the cracks to reduce any chance of water getting in and need to think about where to get the repair done. Since it will involve laying down some new paint, we are thinking that we could give Max a lighter-colored "eyebrow" of some sort so it won't happen again (no joke!).

We left Texas mid-November and raced across the gulf states (something we are now very familiar with), getting to Florida in time to visit Jeffrey's brother John and wife Susan in Pensacola, my aunt Helen in Palm City, and Jeffrey's parents in Gainesville leading up to Thanksgiving. The race ended when we got Max settled in the Clewiston area south of Lake Okeechobee in time to get on a flight to St. Thomas where we met my parents for a 10-day chartered cruise.

Frangines, our boat

We scheduled this trip 18 months ago and were pinching ourselves that it was FINALLY here. We had picked a 55ft catamaran with a captain and a chef -- so all we had to do was relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the US and British Virgin Islands. The weather was lovely most of the time, the breezes were perfect (kept the mosquitos away), the daily sailing was fantastic, and we even had numerous chances to snorkel on the island reefs. Jeffrey and I even tried our skills at stand-up paddleboarding. Don't let anyone fool you... it is a real "core" workout and tough to learn even in calm waters. After the requisite number of struggle-up-wobble-wobble-fall-off attempts, we were both successful in paddling around a bit before crawling exhausted back on the boat. Not too bad for 50-something year olds! No resulting pulled muscles or stitches!

Jeffrey using the paddleboard (sorry, not gonna post one of Maren trying it!)

One of the beautiful sunsets we enjoyed

Sunset off the back of Frangines' stern and hammock

A rainbow behind someone else's boat

We sure hope your holidays are "wobble-free" and 2016 greets you with open arms (and hopefully no stitches or hangover).

Maren & Jeffrey

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

Wrapping up our 3rd traveling season

It's hard to believe we have lived in Max over 3 years now and are finishing up our third season of traveling. We consider our annual return to Texas for a few months every fall to be our "recharge" time in a way.  But I'm getting ahead of myself!

Our last post had us arriving in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the wedding of one of Jeffrey's brother's grandsons. In addition to connecting with family who live there and those who traveled in for the event we also got to explore downtown a little, even knocking off another Presidential site -- 23rd President Benjamin Harrison. He was the only President from Indiana to date and his family home is downtown. Interestingly enough, he is the grandson of William Henry Harrison our 9th President and great grandson of a singer of the Declaration of Independence. More about grandpa below.

We also visited the Indiana Medical History Museum, which was an 1890s - 1950s pathology facility as part of a large insane asylum-- making it a perfect place to study scientific psychiatry in an attempt to understand the diseases that caused mental decline.  Other than the age of the contents, frozen in time, it looks like the staff just walked away leaving everything intact.

Indiana Medical History Museum

Thankfully the wedding was lovely and went off "with a hitch" as planned and we continued our journey on to Vincennes, Indiana so we could visit Grouseland, President William Henry Harrison's mansion and museum. Unfortunately, his Presidency was very short as he made the mistake of giving a 2-hour inaugural speech on a very cold winter's day, caught pneumoia from it, and only lived 1 month afterwards. We also checked out the new Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy. It was small but entertaining and definitely worth a stop.

Since we didn't get into western Tennessee when we toured it earlier in the year, we planned a stop in Memphis on the way home.  We stayed at the Tom Sawyer RV park -- notable because it sits right on the west bank of the Mississippi. There are times when it floods and isn't usable, but we were lucky and got to enjoy the amazing view of barge after barge being pushed up and down the mighty river.  At this point the temperatures outside were also starting to climb in a big way. Ah, the joys of summer!

Barge on the Mississippi

Memphis has a lot to see, but the big things we picked were Graceland, the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel (where Martin Luther King was assassinated), the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, BB King's club, and the Bass Pro Shop. Everything was really amazing, especially the efficiency with which they can get the huge quantity of visitors through the first two places. They actually give you a personal iPad for Graceland so you don't have to try to keep up with and a human tour guide. It talks you through the entire home and other buildings and gives you lots of links to extra content along the way. Though it looks original on the outside, the Lorraine Hotel has been transformed inside to the fascinating museum it is today. It is only when you get to the location of the 2 rooms where King and his friends were staying that you remember you are inside the hotel.

Graceland

Odd that we put a Bass Pro Shop on the itinerary, isn't it? Well, this one is special. It is housed in a huge pyramid that had the shop, a restaurant, a bowling alley, gun range, boat dealeship, hotel rooms -- and lots and lots of water features filled with fish, floating boat displays, ducks and more. If you were willing to pay $10, you could even ride up the free-standing elevator to the very top and get a great view of the city!

Our final big stop before Texas was in Hot Springs, Arkansas. As its name implies, the city has a collection of natural hot springs that continually pump up 143-degree water from great depths. There are still a collection of bath houses where you can go and experience the "healing waters" that have attracted folks from around the world for almost 2 centuries. Hot Springs also attracted an interesting collection of gangsters as well as corrupt politicians and law enforcement who protected them. The local Gangster Museum does a pretty good job of sharing this local "history".

Bath House "row" in Hot Springs

The hot/healing springs were identified as a significant national resource before there were anything called  national parks, so it was designated a national reservation to protect it early on -- and is now the Hot Springs National park. There are still active bath houses, both modern and more "original". As much as I wanted to, I just couldn't work up the desire to have a "spa day" when it was over 100 degrees outside. That said, the park visitor's center is inside the Fordythe Bath House which is now preserved as a museum so you can see how it all worked. Another bath house has been converted to a brewery and they make their beer with the naturally pure spring water. I could work up the desire to sample the local beers.

Now for the "living in a motorhome" segment of this blog post :-) We actually ended up extending our stay in Hot Springs 4 extra days because Max had a nice shady parking spot and we were caught in the middle of a "dangerous heat index" weather pattern.  Unfortunately, we didn't realize until too late that we were parked under a Hackberry tree infested with woolly aphids.  Yup, that's what I said. Furry little white pests that excrete a sticky substance which proceeded to coat Max and the car (named Moby). Boy, what a mess!  It was no fun washing them after we left!

Hot hot day in Hot Springs!

And for those of you who have been following this blog for awhile, you may recall that the last 2 years we drove into Texas we had a engine-coolant overheat because our big radiator fan stopped and didn't re-engage in the 100+ Texas heat.  Well, we are happy to report it didn't happen this year! Guess the replacement of the fan clutch last fall did the trick -- yay!

So that's it for traveling season #3! Thanks for following along -- we'll reach out again later this fall!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

So many sights, so MUCH rain!

As we continued to travel north, rain met us at the border of Pennsylvania and drizzled persistently along with us for our first week in the state -- and apparently we'd already missed the worst of it!  We started our PA tour near Somerset and were happy to find our campground wasn't under water. Since the things we wanted to see in the area were almost exclusively outdoors and it was raining, we spent our first day checking out the live entertainment at a local winery. Funny, the music got better the more wine I drank!

The next day was just heavy "mist", so we broke out umbrellas and ponchos and found our way to the United 93 National Memorial Site. It was a very somber experience but heartwarming to see the many other folks who ventured out on a crummy day to pay their respects to the passengers and crew who perished trying to keep the terrorists on that plane from carrying out their part of the 9/11 plan. From there we visited Fort Ligoniere, a re-construction of the mid-1700's fort used during the French and Indian War when Great Britain and France fought over ownership of the inner basin of North America. A young George Washington was a British officer back then -- an allegiance he clearly changed later during the American Revolutionary War. Apparently I (Maren) am an indirect descendant of George, so it is especially interesting to learn more about his life.

Fort Ligoniere's exterior walls

The weather improved even more and gave us a sunny day for our visit to Falling Waters, a private home designed for the Kaufmann family by Frank Lloyd Wright in the late 1930s. It is now a National Historic Landmark and open to public tours. Part of it actually hangs over a waterfall and is a fascinating architectural feat.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to get a good picture because it is so surrounded and integrated with nature. The first picture below is the real house from the best vantage point we could get and the second is actually a picture of a model displayed at the Carnegie Science Center (which at least gives you a view of the entire structure).

Real Falling Waters

Model of Falling Waters

Our next stop was Tarentum, PA -- just NE of Pittsburgh. We spent a week here and boy was it a busy one.  In addition to the Carnegie Science Center (which also has the USS Requin SS-481 WWII-era deisel-electric submarine), we visited the Heintz History Center, Fort Pitt Museum, attended a Pirates Baseball game (our first "pro" game), and went downtown to watch the famous Pittsburgh fireworks show on July 4th. Our campground was on a hilltop over a closed mine and we got a great firefly show over the valley every night, too! We were really lucky to have relatives nearby as they shared the amazing history of their city as well as their wonderful hospitality with us.  Thank you, Wean family!

Us at the Baseball Park

July 4th Fireworks

Us on Mount Washington overlooking downtown Pittsburgh

View from our campsite on top of the mine

Our next big destination was Indiana, but we spotted a chance to catch two more Presidential museums in Ohio on the way over.  Canton, OH is the home of William McKinley's National Memorial plus a museum next door which includes a small display about his life. We also made a quick stop at the nearby NFL Football Hall of Fame (WOW, talk about a gift shop!).  We had one full day to spare and decided to make the drive in the car up to Cleveland to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This ended up being a full-day activity and they almost had to sweep us out at closing time. So much to enjoy and so much good music to listen to!

Our final stop in Ohio was Sandusky.  It is on Lake Erie and not too far from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, OH. The site, called Spiegel Grove, includes his actual home as well as a large museum about his life.

We finally rolled into Indiana with the first target city being Elkhart. Our two goals here were to see some of the many "RV" related attractions in this area -- where apparently over 80% of RVs are manufactured -- and have some sealant on the roof inspected/repaired (always something to watch on an RV). We also had one of our roof air conditioners making some odd noises and figured we better get that addressed before we head back to Texas and its heat.  Unfortunately, the A/C decided to work perfectly as soon as we pulled into the service center. It is like finally going to a doctor when you are sick only to feel better as soon as the doctor examines you. Just to be safe, we had them check it out anyhow and blow out a little dust debris, so hopefully that takes care of it. For our RV friends, this place was called Duncan RV and they get great reviews if you need a little work (or even  BIG work) done in the area. Apparently they are known for their extensive RV wreck repairs.

Within a short drive of Elkhart were the Thor and Newmar factories which both offered public tours of their RV assembly floors.  I personally love to see how things are built, so these stops were real treats (and maybe a little scary too). We also checked out the Shipshewana Flea Market/Auction -- advertised as the biggest flea market in the "west".  Other than a breakfast sandwich, we managed to escape with only buying a few gifts as we really can't accumulate a bunch of extra stuff for ourselves in this lifestyle! We also stopped by a few "RV Surplus" stores (no purchases there either) and the RV Hall of Fame. Amazing to us how long RVs have been around.

1931 Ford Model AA Housecar (one of the first motorhomes)

 We also drove a little west in the car to South Bend, Indiana to see the History Center.  This place was a tri-fecta of sights -- the Studabaker museum, a History Museum, and the Copshaholm (Oliver Mansion).  We figured the Studabakers would be a fast walk-by and instead they took up most of our time.  We also took a fantastic tour of the Copshaholm, the home of the Oliver family who made their riches in town building a better plow.  Sounds like a small thing, but at their height they were selling 800,000 of them worldwide annually!

Jeffrey in a classic Studabaker

Just to top off the RV manufacturing tour circuit, we stopped by the Allied Recreation Group plant in Decatur, IN on our way south to Indianapolis.  For our RV friends, this is where Fleetwood, Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Trek, and American Coach RVs are manufactured.  They invited us to stay overnight in their service lot and we looked a little odd parking our Winnebago amongst the natives, but the other RV owners were very nice (and curious as to why we were there).  We even had dinner with several other couples that night.  The tour the next morning was one of the best we'd seen and we even got to go into the paint shop (something no other manufacturer has allowed).

Now we head south to Indianapolis for the final leg of travel before we get back to Texas. More soon!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

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!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

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!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you aren't notified by email when we post new blog updates but would like to be in the future, please click this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Nfel34nwmpCGfpXeJxCqZoy6_uJOCru7KTk01pDMicI/viewform