Category Archives: Western RV/Alpine Coach

Ozark the Travelin’ Cat

After my last post, a blog follower named Daniel asked, “What’s up with the cat? Do you still have her?” The answer is yes, we still have and adore her and she’s become quite the traveler. At first she she was over-stimulated by travel – all of the new sounds and seeing the world flash by had her edgy. It was difficult for all of us. She would dash around the coach and be very vocal. We worried about her hurting herself and also I had concerns when she would jump up on the dash and distract me or block my vision of the side view mirrors.

Before we left Hollister, Missouri I rode the scooter to Branson and bought a cat carrier/crate which we knew we would need to take her to get spayed. After a day of travel, we decided it was best for all of us if Ozark the cat traveled in her crate. I’m happy to report that after a couple of months of travel, Ozark has accepted her crate and travels quietly in it. She doesn’t fight Donna when she’s put into her crate and usually grooms herself once inside before napping for hours. Ozark seems to have adjusted very well and seems to enjoy finding herself in new surroundings on a regular basis.

Ozark attacking a catnip toy mouse

We changed our surroundings again on Saturday, but not until after Donna took a hike on the Seven Sisters Trail. She found a variety of mushrooms on her hike – we’re not mushroom experts so she didn’t pick any. We don’t know if they’re poisonous or possibly hallucinogenic. Wouldn’t that make a memorable meal! Here are a few photos from her hike. Unfortunately the spectacular views mentioned on websites weren’t evident due to heavy foliage.

At the summit

Something took a bite of one

Looks harmless

Hmmm… is it edible?

I wouldn’t try these.

We left Stony Fork Campground in Jefferson National Forest around 10:30am. Our route took us southwest through Bristol. We saw many road signs warning of heavy traffic and stoppages. These were due to the NASCAR race at the Bristol short track scheduled for Saturday night. We came through by noon and didn’t have any traffic hassles.

The drive through the Smokey Mountains was pleasant. On a tip from the Escapees Days End Directory, Donna had already contacted the management of a restaurant in Crossville and secured permission for overnight parking in their RV/truck lot. I looked at my trucker app and found a Pilot/Flying J station only a few miles away that had diesel fuel for $2.29/gallon. With my Pilot/Flying J Rewards card I would get a seven cent discount making our cost just $2.22/gallon – the least expensive fuel we’ve bought since we hit the road over two years ago!

Before we reached Crossville, I saw a sign for truck/RV wash ahead. Our coach is so dirty, I haven’t been able to wash it properly since we were in Michigan. The road grime was bad enough, but then the rain while we were in gravel/dirt sites in New York splashed more dirt up the sides of the coach. I couldn’t stand it. We stopped at a Blue Beacon truck wash. A crew of about eight guys went at it with pressure washers. I opted for the full treatment – wash, under carriage, Rain X treatment and citrus alloy wheel cleaner. I was amazed at how they were choreographed as a team and got it done in no time at all. The full treatment cost $77 and I think it was money well spent. The coach looks good, the alloy wheels gleam and I’m happy. This is the least expensive (other than doing it myself) RV wash I’ve had.

Waiting to enter the Blue Beacon wash bay

We found the Shoney’s restaurant and their gravel RV/truck lot. After circling the lot a few times like a dog looking to lay down, we decided on a fairly level spot. Donna felt a need to pay back for the free parking and went out to pick up litter. She ended up filling six bags! One of the guys taking care of the lawn expressed his appreciation of her effort.

Clean and shiny in Shoney’s lot

We went inside and had dinner in Shoney’s. Not my favorite food and not a choice Donna would usually make, but when they offer free overnight RV parking, we feel like we should patronize their establishment.

Breakfast will be another Shoney’s meal, then we’ll head onward another 110 miles to Nashville where we’ll relax, find live music and good beer for a few days. Of course rain drops are falling on our clean and shiny rig this morning.

Washington DC

We had the jacks up and I lit the fires on the Cummins ISL by 10:30am on Wednesday. Our route was only 80 miles to Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland (map). We drove down US15 from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to I-270. It was an easy drive until we hit the I-495 Beltway at North Bethesda. Then the traffic picked up considerably and drivers were were making crazy maneuvers trying to gain a minute or two on their way.

I maintained a decent gap between our coach and other vehicles as best I could. I always say driving a 34,000 pound rig is high-performance driving regardless of speed. You need to be aware of your situation at all times. I check my mirrors frequently and think about emergency maneuvers. I also try to keep an eye on the big picture ahead so I can spot trouble before I’m on top of it.

We checked in at the Cherry Hill Park around 1pm. This was good timing as we wanted a pull-through site. They don’t take reservations for pull-throughs – it’s first come, first served. We were assigned to site 1711 all the way at the back of the park. It’s about a half-mile from the office and store to our site. The bus stop is also in front of the office – half a mile from our site.

Our main reason for coming to the Washington, DC area was to visit my youngest daughter, Shauna. She’s living in DC now that she’s graduated law school and has taken a job with a law firm here.

Shauna took the metro and bus to the park and joined us for dinner. I had chicken leg quarters on the Traeger wood fired pellet grill and we dined al fresco at the picnic table outside our coach.

Dinner outside our coach

Treager grilled chicken keg quarter, black rice with mango and black eyed peas.

Treager grilled chicken leg quarter, black rice with mango and black-eyed peas

After dinner and conversation, Shauna and Donna made the trek to the bus stop at the park entrance. Shauna was carrying her Tacoma acoustic guitar that we’ve had on board since she left San Diego. She needed to catch the bus before 9pm or it might be dicey for her to make it home.

On Thursday morning, Donna and I were up early and ready for a day on the town. We walked to the bus stop. I had two, large, framed antique photos under my arm. These were keepsakes from a trip Shauna and I made to Europe. The photos were taken at the Cinqua Terra region of Italy – Monterosso and Vernazza (link). Shauna will display these in her apartment here.

The bus took us to the College Park metro rail. We took the rail into DC and exited at U Street. We had a choice of walking one direction to 10th Street or the other way to 13th Street. We started walking to 10th Street. Then we got a text that Shauna was waiting at 13th Street since her place was on 14th Street. We managed to hook up after a few blocks of walking.

After a tour of her apartment and depositing the artwork, we went up on the roof of her building. It has a spectacular view of DC. Her apartment is very small – I would say the square footage isn’t much more than we have in the coach. Her bathroom is larger, the bedroom and living room not so much. There are amenities – a workout room, rooftop barbeque grill and tables, etc – that come with the apartment. This is what $2,000/month gets you in DC.

We decided to walk to the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was about two miles away. It was nearly noon and we were hungry so we decided to make a stop about half-way in the Chinatown district. We had Chinese food for lunch – not the finest, but it was okay.

We finally made it to the Newseum. The Newseum is an interactive museum of journalism and TV shows depicting newsworthy events and the journalists that covered them. It’s a seven-level building – one down from street level and six up – with 250,000 square feet of exhibits. We walked for three hours and couldn’t see it all. My highlights were the Vietnam War coverage – I can remember so vividly seeing the war coverage as an 11 or 12-year-old. I would come home from school on my lunch break and watch the latest coverage on TV. The other item I really liked was the Berlin Wall. The wall coming down in the 1989 was a big deal. Then there’s the 9-11 display, including pieces of the Twin Towers. I didn’t take many photos inside thinking I’m in a museum, then I realized others were taking pictures.

National Gallery viewed from the top of Newseum

Looking up Pennsylvania Avenue from the Newseum

Federal Trade Commission library

The wall separating West Germany from East Germany shows the stark reality of the difference between democracy and communism. Although it was illegal to deface the west side of the wall – it was on East German property – many people tagged the wall in protest. On the east side, this was unthinkable.

West side of wall tagged

Barren east side

After we left the Newseum, we had a beer stop, then made our way to the National Mall. Much of the area east of the Washington Monument is being refurbished. They are shoring up the soil and replanting the turf. This won’t be complete until the end of 2016. The dome on the United States Capitol Building is also being refurbished with a timeline that should have it done by the time our next president is inaugurated.

Mall under renovation in front of the Washington Monument

Scaffolding on the capitol dome – that must be the Canadian Embassy next to us

I was getting foot-weary by this time and we headed to the Metro station. At the U Street stop, we said our goodbyes. It’s always tough – I don’t know when I’ll have to opportunity to see and spend time with my daughter again. We took a selfie in the hot, humid station.

Metro station selfie

We did some walking – my S-Health record of the day

We’ll be back to winging it tomorrow. We have a general direction in mind – we’ll probably head down I-81 through Virginia, maybe meander into North Carolina and then head west into Tennessee.

Gettysburg

I unloaded the scooter after posting to the blog yesterday. Donna went out for a walk while I was at it. When Donna returned, we rode the scooter from Artillery Ridge Camping Resort to Historic Gettysburg.

On the way to town, we rode through the Gettysburg National Military Park, then we stopped at the battlefield on the east side of Baltimore Pike. The battlefield is a park with monuments, statues and restored cannons from the Civil War. Most of the area is preserved with fence lines and fields much as they were in 1863.

Major General Oliver O. Howard Memorial

Major General Winfield Scott Hancock

Donna overlooking part of the battlefield

We left the scooter in the free parking lot at the Gettysburg Tour Center. You can buy a ticket and take bus tours of the various battlefields and monuments there. Donna and I aren’t into organized group tours. We may miss some of the sights, but we prefer to move at our own pace and decide where to spend our time.

We walked past the Jennie Wade House. Jennie Wade was the only direct civilian casualty of the Battle of Gettysburg when a stray bullet struck her while she was in the kitchen making biscuits for soldiers. She was 20 years old.

We continued walking and went to see the Gettysburg Diorama. It’s in an old building on Steinwehr Avenue. It was hot and humid out, but we enjoyed walking through the quaint old village. Although the area is geared toward tourists, it still has the small village feel.

We had free tickets for the diorama courtesy of the campground. The owners of Artillery Ridge Camping Resort also happen to own the Gettysburg Diorama and a few other attractions in town. The Gettysburg Diorama is the largest military diorama in the country. We arrived just in time for the 11am show. I took a few pictures before the show began.

The diorama recreates the town and surrounding 6,000 acres as it appeared during the battle in July 1863. It contains over 20,000 hand-painted soldiers, horses, cannons and buildings. For the show, we sat in a small three-row bleacher along with a few other people. The show has light and sound effects and video displays as a narrator takes you through the events of July 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1863 which comprised the Battle of Gettysburg. The narrative was comprehensive, describing the ebb and flow of the fight. There were more than 46,000 casualties including nearly 8,000 killed in the three-day battle.

After the 20-minute show, we walked back up the street to the Dobbin House for lunch. This is the oldest standing structure in Gettysburg. It was built by Reverend Alexander Dobbin in 1776. Today it houses a tavern serving lunch in the spring cellar and a dinner restaurant upstairs. We had lunch in the tavern. Donna had a French onion soup and spinach salad with hot bacon dressing. I had a reuben sandwich washed down with IPA from Troegs Brewery in nearby Hershey, Pennsylvania. The IPA was excellent – citrusy and spicy.

Dobbin House

One of many historical markers on the street

We walked around a little more, then made our way back to the scooter. On the way home, I first stopped at a pizza restaurant to buy Yuengling beer. Yuengling traditional lager is a low alcohol (4.4% ABV) beer brewed in the pre-prohibition style. Yuengling is America’s oldest brewery. Here in Pennsylvania, they have weird alcohol laws. You can buy beer at a distributor, but you must buy a case at a time. Anything less than a case can only be bought at a restaurant that has a beer license. Grocery stores only have watered down 3.2% ABV beer.

We made another stop past the campground at a vegetable and fruit stand and bought fresh corn on the cob that they said was just picked two hours earlier. We also bought some really juicy plums and peaches.

When we came back to our site, Donna headed for the pool. She didn’t make it far before she heard thunder and returned to the coach as it started raining.

Roomy uphill site 422

We hung out inside and read. For dinner, I dodged a couple of showers and grilled sausage and corn on the cob. Donna served it with sauteed asparagus, peppers and onions with grated parmesan cheese.

Sausage, corn and asparagus plate

I need to get busy and load the scooter. Today we’ll move about 80 miles to Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland – just north of Washington D.C. I’m hoping my youngest daughter, Shauna, can join us for dinner tonight. Tomorrow we’ll take the train into DC and have a look around. We’ve been to all of the big monuments before, so we may take in the Newseum this time.

Long Wait for a Quick Fix

We took our time getting ready to move yesterday. I went into the Cabela’s store in Hamburg, Pennsylvania after spending the night in their lot. I bought a pair of lightweight trail runner shoes. Donna went for walk in the neighborhood.

We changed up our plan and decided to spend a couple of nights at an RV park in Gettysburg before heading to D.C. We reserved two nights with our Passport America discount at the Artillery Ridge Camping Resort three miles from historic Gettysburg (map). We were preparing to leave around 10am.

After pulling the slides in, I retracted the HWH leveling jacks. The parking lot at Cabela’s sloped and I had the jacks well extended. I felt the coach shudder as the jacks came up and Donna heard a noise back in the bedroom. She said to me, “Did you hear that? Do they always make that sound or is it because I’m standing back here?” I didn’t know what she was asking about because I didn’t hear anything in the front of the coach.

I went outside to walk around the coach and look everything over. When I circled around the right rear, I saw a problem. I could see the ram from the hydraulic jack extended down within an inch of the pavement. The pad that should be on the end of the ram was dangling from one spring, the other spring was missing.

I used my push broom as a pry-bar in an effort to push the ram back up. I couldn’t budge it – I only succeeded in bending the broom handle. We were in trouble. We couldn’t roll down the road with the ram extended like that. I needed help.

We have a roadside assistance plan with Coach-Net. Apparently, Monday mornings are a busy time to call. I used Coach-Net once before and they were very good, but like all call centers, they have their issues. I was on hold for nearly 10 minutes before I talked to someone.

When you call, the first person you talk to goes through a verification process including all of the vehicle info and personal info that’s already on file. This took another 10 minutes. Then they document the problem description and turn the case over to their technical people. I advised the woman that technical assistance over the phone wasn’t going to help. I knew what needed to be done – I just didn’t have a big enough pry bar or a second set of hands. She said she had to turn the call over to a technician before they could have someone come to the coach. Then the call got disconnected.

I called back and got right through this time. I explained what just happened. She put me on hold for a moment, then came back on the line and said she checked with their technical department and everyone was on the line with a customer – she would mark my case “priority” and I would get a call back.

Donna called the campground in Gettysburg and told them we might have to cancel due to mechanical issues. They said they would hold our site until we called later in the afternoon and told them whether we could make it or not. They were very nice about it.

I sat back and read a book with the generator running and air conditioners on. It was already in the upper 80s and humid out. About a half hour later, I got the call from the technician. He said he would find a mobile service in our area and call me back with a name and ETA. I waited another 30 minutes – by now it was one and half hours since my initial call. So I called them back again. The guy told me he was working on finding someone that could come to my location – I needed to sit tight. After another 30 minutes, he called and said he had someone that could do the work. It would take 90 minutes for them to get to me. I thanked him and sat back with my book. It was 12:30pm and I didn’t expect help until 2pm.

I went outside to look for the MIA spring. I found it – it had shot straight up and jammed in the chassis. It wasn’t broken, but it had come off the tab on the jack pad. I had repaired this pad when we were in Bakersfield last year. The tab was bent and I straightened it as best I could, but it wasn’t right.

I was surprised to see a service truck with an Onsite Fleet Repair logo on the side pull up next to us at 1pm. I started putting my shoes on when I saw the driver on his cell phone. My cell phone began ringing. I answered and told him he was right outside our door. By then, there were more than a dozen RVs in the Cabela’s lot.

The driver and his sidekick got out and introduced themselves. I showed them the problem. He removed the jack pad and went into the rolling workshop in the back of his truck. He had a large vise and was able to quickly straighten the bent tab. The other guy took a long pry bar and a block of wood to the ram. I opened the manual valve on the solenoid so the fluid could pass back to reservoir as he pried the ram up. Once he had the ram up, he used the pry bar to extend the spring. The first guy grabbed the end of the spring while it was tensioned by the pry bar and guided the end into the mounting tab. I couldn’t bear to watch. If the spring slipped from the pry bar while he had his hand around the end, the heavy spring would likely take off a finger or two. They had it in place with no trouble and we were back in business.

I extended and retracted the jack a couple of times to make sure the spring would hold. All was good. Coach-Net covered the dispatch and travel time for the mobile repair. I had to pay their minimum labor cost of $90.

We were on our way by 2pm and expected to be in Gettysburg by 4pm. I stopped at the Flying J truck stop at exit 10 on I-81. All of the pumps had trucks at them. I lined up behind a truck and waited. It took him about 15 minutes to fill up and pull forward. I took on 50 gallons of fuel with two high speed nozzles in about 5 minutes. The fuel cost $2.75/gallon with my Pilot/Flying J discount card. The truck that was fueling ahead of me only pulled forward far enough for me to get to the pump. I couldn’t move until he moved. After five minutes, I walked up to the cab of the truck. It was empty – the guy had gone into the store! There wasn’t anyone behind me so I was considering backing out of the lane. Just as I made the decision to do so, Donna saw the guy return to his truck. He pulled out and we followed. This turned out to be a 30-minute fuel stop.

We turned onto I-83 at Harrisburg and the traffic slowed to a crawl. Donna saw a lighted sign that said be prepared to stop – traffic incident at mile post 7 on PA581. Our route was taking us across PA581. It was stop and go for more than five miles.

Traffic jam

When we finally made it to mile post 7, we saw the incident. We were heading westbound. The blockage was a wreck on the eastbound side of the highway. The five-mile backup on the westbound side was entirely due to drivers stopping and gawking at an overturned tractor-trailer rig and a wrecked Cadillac Escalade on the other side of the divided highway!

We found the Artillery Ridge Camping Resort around 5pm and checked in quickly. Our site is spacious but it isn’t level. I used pads under the rear jacks after dumping the air from our suspension and it’s still an uphill walk from the bedroom to the front of the coach. We’ll live with it.

I was ready for a cocktail. It hadn’t been the best day, but like Sean Welsh (Our Odyssey) says, “These are first-world problems.” There are people all over the world coping with much worse situations. Donna made her famous crab cakes for dinner. They were delicious.

Crab cakes

We want to go sightseeing in Gettysburg this morning. Thunderstorms are forecast for this afternoon.

Winging It to DC

Sunday was a travel day. After three straight nights of poor sleep, I was tired and a little grumpy as we made our preparations to leave. I was hoping for an early start – we were shooting for 9am. It took longer than usual to put away the hoses and power cord because everything was a mess from the rain the night before. I cleaned the pine needles and dirt from everything as I was packing it.

It was 9:45am by the time I had the tanks dumped and flushed, slides in and jacks up. We said our goodbyes to Tommy and Linda and squeezed our way out of our narrow site. Maneuvering a 40′ motorhome through Lake George Escape Campground is challenging, but we made our way slowly out of the park without incident.

Our route took us down the Northway (I-87) toward Albany, New York. We followed Route 20 west for 15 miles and then continued west on the lightly traveled I-88. This road has stretches of smooth pavement broken up by some of the worst, bone-jarring interstate anywhere. We stopped at a rest area and Donna made wraps for lunch with leftover pork kabob meat and veggies.

The route led us to I-81 south where we crossed into Pennsylvania. We stopped at the visitor center after crossing the border and picked up a free state map. We like having up-to-date paper maps as well as all of the electronic conveniences.

This route was hilly as we crossed the Pocono Mountains. Traffic was heavy through the cities of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Drivers entering the interstate around here tend to brake and look for an opening rather than accelerate and blend in. It makes for some hairy situations at times. I followed a tractor-trailer rig most of the time through the congested areas.

We left the interstate and drove down PA309 – a poor road surface pocked with potholes – through the town of Tamaqua. We continued down PA895, which is a much better road. We rattled over so many bumps, the butcher block knife holder (minus the knives) and Keurig coffeemaker slid several feet across the kitchen counter and to the floor. In 12,000 miles of driving this rig, this has never happened before. In the future, we’ll have to secure these things better.

We arrived at Cabela’s retail store in Hamburg, Pennsylvania around 4:30pm (map). The parking lot has a large area reserved for RVs. There were several rigs here when we arrived. It also has a corral and horse walking area as well as temporary dog kennels for people who want to let their dog out while they shop.

Donna and I shopped around in the store, then walked over to Pizza Hut. We don’t usually get our pizza from Pizza Hut, but it wasn’t bad. After dinner, I downloaded the Moto GP race from the Czech Republic. It was a good race, but the download used up 2.5GB of data. Donna walked back to the store and caught the tail end of weekend-long canine agility competition in which the trainer tosses a ball into a pool and the dog jumps off the dock after it. After the store closed at 7pm, many of the RVs pulled out. Only five of us stayed overnight.

RV lot at Cabela’s

Today will be hot – expected temperatures will be in the 90s. We’ll come up with a plan this morning and continue on our way. Up until now, we’ve just been winging our way toward Washington, D.C.

Lunch on the Lake

I didn’t post Saturday morning as I had much to do. So, I’m writing this post Saturday evening and will share it Sunday morning.

On Friday, Donna’s sister Pam and her husband Gene came down from Lake Placid. Shortly after they arrived, we went to the farmers’ market at Bolton Landing. Pam and Gene rode with Donna’s other sister Linda and her husband Tom. Donna and I scootered over to Bolton Landing. It was about a 10-mile ride over the hill to Diamond Point, then up along Lake George to Bolton (map).

The farmers’ market was fairly sizable and had a number of interesting vendors. One of the booths had the largest assortment of mushrooms I’ve ever seen. They also had “Shroom Shakers” which are small spice shakers with powdered mushrooms. Donna bought the pioppino mushroom shaker. I’m not sure what she plans to do with it.

Some of the mushroom selection

It was nearly 1pm by the time we got there. I didn’t have the best night’s sleep and was out of bed before 6am. I was hungry when we started shopping around at the market and feeling the lack of quality sleep. After 40 minutes of browsing, I was ready to move on and find lunch. It was like herding cats to get everyone interested in lunch and figuring out where we were going.

We went about a mile away to a restaurant called Algonquin (map). Donna and I arrived first and snagged a table on the lower deck which is barely above the Lake George water level. We enjoyed a good meal and lots of conversation. Although it was a warm and sunny day, sitting outside on the water was pleasant.

Linda. Tommy, Gene, Pam and Donna on the Algonquin deck

After lunch, Donna and I scootered over to the Price Chopper market in Warrensburg before we headed back to the campground. I broke down and bought Dogfish IPA made in Delaware. I just can’t appreciate the New York IPAs. I relaxed for a while. The Prednisone I’m taking to counteract an allergic reaction is playing havoc with my stomach. That’s why I didn’t sleep well the night before.

We gathered at Tom and Linda’s place for happy hour. We swapped a few jokes and stories before Tom grilled burgers for dinner. We sat outside until about 10pm before we called it a day.

During the night, Donna had to call security at 2:30am. There was a group of people whooping it up outdoors somewhere in the vicinity of our site. Sometimes, in places like this, you get city people out for the weekend. They rent a cabin on the property – they’re not RVers and have no clue of RV park etiquette. Even after a visit from the campground security, they partied on until 4am. Shame on the campground management.

On Saturday morning, I wanted to prepare for our move day on Sunday. The weather forecast was calling for thundershowers after midday. So I wanted to have things packed away while everything was dry. The temperature rose quickly and it was very humid out. Donna went for a hike up Hackensack Mountain and hiked the trail in the opposite direction from the first time she hiked there about a week ago.

While Donna was out hiking, I deflated our Sea Eagle kayak and packed it away. I took some time to reorganize some of the items in our cargo trailer. It was worth the time and effort – I’m pleased with the results. I ended up working for a few hours and took the windshield covers down and packed away our chairs and the outdoor carpet. When Donna returned, she helped with the awning. I had her working the switch to pull the awning in a short distance at a time. Then I would use my push broom to sweep the tree debris from the awning so it wouldn’t get rolled up in the fabric. This was a slow process and I’m feeling it in my arms and shoulders.

All those passes back and forth along the 19′ foot awning with a heavy broom was a workout. I’ve been working on my upper body strength over the past couple of months and I’m up to doing 45 push-ups daily. After the broom workout, I didn’t need the push-ups.

By 2:30pm, I had everything loaded in the trailer, including the scooter and Traeger wood pellet fired grill. The rain held off and I thought maybe we would stay dry all day. Donna went to the store in Linda’s car and picked up some snacks and beer. We sat outside for happy hour at our table with Linda and Tommy. We could hear thunder around us and the weather radar app showed thundershowers to the north, east and south of us but it was clear over us and to the west.

The happy hour was cut down to a happy half-hour when the thundershowers found us. Large rain drops suddenly pelted down and chased Linda and Tommy home while we dashed indoors.

Last night our party neighbors were at it again. After midnight I went over to the cabin site behind us. A large group of college age kids rented the cabin and had tents set up in the sites behind it. They were playing beer pong on the picnic table and shouting at each other and cheering. I told them it was after quiet time – quiet time is 10pm to 8am. They pretty much ignored me. I called the park security and met the security guy. I told him about the partying until 4am the night before. He went over and talked to the group. Whatever he said got their attention and it was quiet after that.

Today I only have a few things to do before we hit the road. We’ll head toward Cabela’s in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. I want to purchase a few things there and it will likely be a good dry camping place for the night. From there we plan to go to an RV park near Baltimore that offers shuttle service to the train into Washington, DC.

Generator Maintenance

In my last post, I wrote about getting a generator up and running. The main reason this generator quit working was lack of use. Regularly exercising a generator should be part of the preventive maintenance schedule. Gasoline-powered generators can suffer fuel system maladies such as varnished carburetors from fuel evaporation. Gasoline also has a shelf life. Although gasoline is formulated with stabilizers, it will deteriorate over time. Gasoline is made up of many compounds. Some of them are light and volatile while others are heavier and less volatile. The light, volatile components evaporate first and over time, the chemistry of the gasoline changes.

Running the generator on a regular schedule keeps fresh fuel running through the fuel system. The fuel in the tank should be replenished every six months or so – maybe longer if additional stabilizing additives are used.

The generator needs to be run under load – it should power electrical consumers that equal about half of the output capacity. This allows the engine to run at full operating temperature and also warms up the electrical windings and removes corrosion from electrical contacts. The oil circulating in the engine will prevent internal corrosion. It needs to be run long enough to get the oil up to operating temperature. I would say half an hour is the minimum. The manual for our Onan Quiet Diesel 7.5kW generator suggests two hours of run time per month.

Yesterday I performed another part of the scheduled preventive maintenance on our generator. I changed the engine oil and oil filter. The maintenance schedule for our generator calls for an oil and filter change every 150 hours. We have a meter on the start switch on a panel in our coach that records the generator run time. Whenever the generator is running, it records the time in increments of 1/10th of an hour.

Generator start switch and hour meter

The last time I changed the oil and filter in our generator was last September. In 11 months, we put 150 hours on our generator. If we hadn’t hit 150 hours, I would consider changing the oil at 12 months. The generator engine isn’t especially hard on oil. Engines that don’t spend much time idling or running hot at high load are easy on the oil. Also engines that come up to full operating temperature each time they’re used are easier on the oil than engines that are run for short duration.

The crankcase of the engine condenses moisture from the air as it cools down. Over time, this moisture contaminates the oil. In extreme cases, it can form an emulsion and hinder the lubricating ability of the oil. When an engine is regularly brought up to full operating temperature and the oil temperature reaches or exceeds 180 degrees Fahrenheit, the moisture in the crankcase or in the oil is converted to steam and driven out of the engine.

If an engine is regularly run for short durations and the oil temperature stays too low – 150 degrees or less – it will have excessive moisture in the crankcase and should have the oil changed more often.

Our generator is usually run for at least an hour at a time and always gets up to full operating temperature. Every time I’ve drained the oil from it, I haven’t see any sign of excessive moisture. Lately we’ve been running the generator as we drive down the road to operate our roof-mounted air conditioner. This makes it a much more comfortable ride in hot, humid areas. It also ensures plenty of exercise for our generator.

Some modern cars have oil service indicators that customize the oil change schedule. These systems don’t actually sample the oil for condition. They monitor the driving conditions such as how much time is spent idling and what the temperature of the engine and environment are. Plugging these factors into a table, it comes up with a recommended oil change interval.

Today we plan to go to the farmers’ market at Bolton Landing (map). Donna’s sister Pam and her husband Gene will join Tom, Linda and us to shop there and go out to lunch. This afternoon, I’ll start preparing the coach for travel – I want to pull out early on Sunday.

Up and Running Again

I didn’t post to the blog yesterday because I didn’t do much on Tuesday. In my last post, I mentioned Donna’s bike ride on Monday when she rode past the Hudson Headwaters Health Center where I was. Her route also took her past the confluence where the Schroon River empties in the upper Hudson River (map). Here are a few photos she took on her ride.

Schroon River looking west

Schroon River looking east

She got to a point where she thought she might have a missed a turn and stopped for directions at the ticket office for the tour train that runs up the Hudson River. The train doesn’t run on Mondays, but there was an employee at the office who helped Donna find her way. It turned out that it was not the route Donna had planned, but very scenic anyway.

Boarding platform for the train

Train track along the Hudson River

On Tuesday evening, I made chicken leg quarters on the Traeger wood pellet fired grill again and they were absolutely delicious. This has become a favorite dish. After an hour on the grill, I basted them with a honey-maple glaze and cooked for another 10 minutes. At 99 cents a pound, this meal can’t be beat! Donna served it with sauteed zucchini and corn with red peppers.

Honey-maple glazed chicken

Earlier in the day, Donna borrowed Linda’s car and drove to Westport on Lake Champlain to meet up with her friend, Karen Dayan (map). They had lunch and spent the afternoon together.

Karen and Donna

Karen is a long-time Ironman participant. She recently finished third in her age group at the Lake Placid Ironman. She’s qualified to compete in the Ironman Hawaii event several times and is headed to the Half-Ironman World Championship in Austria in a few weeks.

While Karen and Donna were catching up, I followed doctors orders and hung out in the coach. I used antibiotic soap and a pail of water to cleanse my feet, then let them air out without shoes and read a book. It was raining, so I had nothing better to do. In the afternoon, Ozark climbed into her carrying crate and napped. She usually only goes in her crate when we’re traveling. Maybe she’s trying to tell us it’s time for a change in scenery. She’ll have to wait a few more days – we’ll pull out of here on Sunday.

Ozark catching a cat nap

Last week, Donna’s sister Linda told me their generator wasn’t working. They have a 1800-watt portable generator that they use when they dry camp or have a power outage at home. She told me it worked fine the last time they ran it, but then it sat unused for several months and now it won’t start. I figured the fuel in the carburetor evaporated and left varnish deposits gumming up the fuel passages.

Yesterday, I couldn’t stand another day of inactivity. I started my day by deep cleaning the Traeger grill. Then I put Linda and Tommy’s generator on our table and went to work on it. I removed the side cover and the air filter housing. I saw the housing was cracked where it mounts to the carburetor.

Cracked air filter housing

Side cover removed exposing carburetor

I removed the float bowl from the carburetor. The float bowl is the fuel reservoir that meters the fuel mixture into the carb venturi. I expected to find varnish deposits. What I found was worse. The bowl had rust deposits and scaly, dry white flakes in the bottom. The white flakes were some kind of mineral left behind. I don’t know if water had gotten into the float bowl or what the origin of these deposits was – I’ve never seen this in a carburetor before.

Rust and scale in the bottom of the float bowl

I cleaned the bowl with carburetor cleaner and scraped the deposits. Then I removed the main jet from the carb body and shot carburetor cleaner from an aerosol can through the fuel passages.

When I reassembled everything, I used room temperature vulcanizing silicone sealant on the cracked air filter housing. Meanwhile Tommy went out to buy a gas can and fresh gasoline for the generator. He had to go out twice because after buying the gas can, he got side-tracked when Donna texted him and asked him to pick up something at the store. He came home with the gas can, but forgot to buy the gas. This was okay as it allowed time for the silicone sealant to set up.

By then, Donna’s parents, Duke and Lorraine Connor, arrived to spend the afternoon with us. Tommy and I set the generator on the ground. I opened the fuel petcock, switched the ignition on and set the choke. On the third pull, it started. I opened the choke and the generator ran smoothly. I think Tommy was surprised to find it running like that. I fully expected that I would have it up and running again.

Donna and her mom set out snacks on the picnic table. Unfortunately, while I worked on the generator I spilled old stinky gasoline on the end of the table. I rinsed it as best as I could, but the odor lingered.

We had a couple of rain squalls kick up, so we moved the heavy table under our awning to wait them out. The rain passed quickly the few times it fell and it was a mostly sunny day.

Donna prepared pork tenderloin skewers spiced with cumin and hot sauce and added red onion, green pepper and pineapple chunks. I cooked them on the Traeger grill and then Donna brushed them with a pineapple-ginger glaze that she prepared earlier. I neglected to take a picture of the dinner plate – it was fine meal. We had potato salad and broccoli slaw on the side and lots of appetizers from the afternoon still on the table. For dessert, we had a silken tofu chocolate pie that Donna made – no one guessed that it was made with tofu! This was yet another excellent recipe that a fellow RVer, Karin Von Kay, shared with Donna.

Donna and her parents

Last night, we watched a Netflix movie at Tom and Linda’s RV – the movie was Homefront. I couldn’t give it more than 2.5 stars on a scale of five. The others were a little more generous with their ratings.

The weather looks good this morning. I plan to change the oil and filter on our generator this morning as scattered thundershowers are in the forecast this afternoon. Donna is headed out for another bike ride.

Back to the Doc

I took it easy Sunday. I soaked my feet in a pail of warm salt water and let my bare feet dry. The infection that had been treated two weeks ago returned and was spreading across the top of my feet. To make matters worse, the contact dermatitis on my arms never fully cleared up and it was making another appearance.

I put triple antibiotic ointment on my feet and used hydrocortisone cream on my arms. It didn’t bring much relief. In fact, the ointment seemed to make the skin infection on my feet worse.

I tried to find the Indianapolis Moto GP race on the campground cable network. It turned out the race was being televised on Fox Sports1 and the campground cable service didn’t carry that channel. I didn’t want to download the race on my computer because I was near the end of my data cycle and a 2+ gigabyte download would put me over the limit and cost $15-$20 in extra charges. So I went to Crash.net and followed the race on their race day coverage. The page updates every minute or so with lap-by-lap descriptions and an occasional still photo. It was an interesting way to follow the race which turned out to be an exciting one.

By the end of the day, it was apparent to me that I needed another visit to the doctor. So on Monday morning, I went to the Hudson Headwaters Health Center in Warrensburg (map). When I checked in, I was informed they won’t bill my insurance – I would have to pay upfront and seek reimbursement from Cigna. What a mess health care insurance has become.

I was checked in quickly and waited only about five minutes before I was taken to an exam room. A nurse spent a few minutes checking my vitals and going over my history and current issue. Ten minutes later, I was seen by a doctor. He told me the contact dermatitis was a reaction of my immune system. The pollen contact on my skin provoked an allergic reaction which my immune system interpreted as an attack. This in turn led to release of histamines which creates the redness and itching. I think I got that right – I’m no expert. He prescribed a much more aggressive course of Prednisone for the dermatitis. I have three days of high dosage followed by seven days of tapering off. For the skin infection on my feet, he wants me to wash them twice a day with antibacterial soap and pat dry, then let them dry out without socks or shoes as much as possible. He also prescribed ten days of Keflex oral antibiotics.

When I picked up the prescriptions, the people at the pharmacy were great. The girl at the counter looked up my insurance information and I was charged a grand total of 24 cents for both medications!

While I was at the pharmacy Donna sent me a text telling she was out for a 28-mile bike ride. Later I learned she rode right past me at the pharmacy.

I spent the rest of the day hanging out in the coach with bare feet and reading a book. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night with searing stomach pain. It felt like a hole was burning through my stomach. I chewed on a couple of antacids and drank some water. Eventually the pain was reduced and I went back to sleep. I don’t know if it was due to the high Prednisone dose or the antibiotic, but I think it’s the medication that caused the stomach issue.

I haven’t been sick in well over two years – not even a cold since we’ve been on the road – until this skin condition surfaced a month ago. I hope it goes away for good once I complete the 10-day cycle of medication and I can go back to being my normal healthy self.

It’s raining this morning and the rain is forecast to linger most of the day. Looking at the weather radar app, I believe it. There’s a huge system to the west of us slowly moving eastward. I’ll lie low again, keep my feet dry and read another book. Donna is going to meet her friend Karen for lunch and spend the afternoon with her in Westport, NY.

Kayaking the Schroon River

We unpacked the Sea Eagle SE-370 inflatable kayak yesterday. I filled it with air using the foot pump and we loaded it in the back of Tommy’s truck. Tom drove us to the kayak rental place in the campground on the Schroon River (map). We had easy access to the sandy beach and launched the kayak there.

I hadn’t been out in the kayak since we left San Diego. We paddled in unison and headed upriver. At the first bend, we had two out-of-control rental kayaks bearing straight at us, forcing us to take evasive action that ran us into the branches of an over-hanging tree. The people in the rental kayaks were totally oblivious as they paddled madly past us.

We put that behind us and continued upriver. We saw people tubing and kayaking downriver as we paddled along, but didn’t have any problems with the traffic. About a mile upriver, there’s a one-lane bridge connecting East Schroon River Road with Schroon River Road at the Warren County fairgrounds. This is where the bus drops off people tubing down the river. The bus must have arrived there just ahead of us as there was a gaggle of tubers in the water at the bridge.

Traffic at the bridge

A couple of days ago, Donna walked across that bridge after hiking on Hackensack Mountain. As she was crossing, a vehicle towing a travel trailer approached the one-lane bridge. The driver didn’t wait for Donna to finish crossing – she drove onto the narrow bridge and stayed tight to the right to give Donna room. As she passed by, Donna heard a loud screeching sound. The trailer was making contact with the bridge railing. Donna looked back as the trailer passed by and saw scrape marks on the metal rail. The travel trailer was damaged for sure – all because the driver was too impatient to allow a pedestrian to finish crossing the bridge.

As we paddled to the bridge, we saw Tommy there taking photos of us.

Tommy’s photo of us approaching the bridge

We continued upriver past the bridge

Once we passed the bridge, we only saw a few other kayaks. The river current is moving slowly in most places and paddling upriver wasn’t too hard. We stopped where a pond formed on the west side of the river and ate ham and cheese sandwiches that Donna had packed for us (map).

The river bends and twists back and forth from there. The outside of the bends have deeper water. In the deeper areas, the current is slow. In some shallow areas, it picks up speed but the paddling wasn’t too hard. It was very quiet along this stretch with no houses or roads in sight.

Looking back after we passed the bridge

What’s around the bend?

Quiet, deep water

We turned back and headed downriver. The current didn’t hinder us much going upriver, so it was no surprise when it didn’t carry us with any speed downriver. At one point, Donna wanted to see how fast we could sprint. We paddled with quick strokes and picked up speed quickly, but found it was hard to keep our paddling in sync to stay the course. We’ll have to work on that.

We only saw a few fish in the river and some geese. I expected to see more wildlife. We saw a few fishermen but no one was catching anything. We pulled out at the kayak rental beach and Tommy came back to pick us up. We were out on the river for over an hour and it was pleasant.

Last night, I grilled chicken leg quarters on the Traeger. We dined at Tom and Linda’s table – Donna made mango salsa to put on the chicken and we had white rice and a side of green beans with garlic and parmesan cheese that Tommy made.

After dinner, Donna, Linda, Tommy and their daughter Felicia went to the rodeo. I stayed home and soaked my feet in a warm salt water bath. The infection on my feet healed while I was taking antibiotic (Keflex) but it looks like it’s returning! I followed the salt water bath with triple antibiotic ointment. I hope I don’t need another visit to the doctor.

Today I’ll hook up to the campground cable TV and watch the Moto GP race at Indianapolis. Donna and I attended the Indianapolis round of Moto GP twice in the past.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Western RV/Alpine Coach

Ozark the Travelin’ Cat

Washington DC

Gettysburg

Long Wait for a Quick Fix

Winging It to DC

Lunch on the Lake

Generator Maintenance

Up and Running Again

Back to the Doc

Kayaking the Schroon River

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