On Our Way!

Day one of our journey south is complete and we are in a campground at Dixie Caverns just outside of Salem, Virginia. The early part wasn't easy, however.

The cats tried to wake us up at 1 AM when the moon was up and shining brightly but we weren't having any of that. The alarm was set for 5 AM and, although we tossed and turned to the protestations of the cats on the far side of the door, we were determined to stay in bed until 5 AM. We eventually did manage to doze off and were awakened by the alarm. The moon was no longer shining and there was snow falling.

We quickly did our early morning tasks and loaded the with the last minute foodstuffs for the refrigerator. And we were on the road by 5:45 AM. Stopping for coffee and gas in Mansfield took some time but by 6:10 AM we were on a snowy Route 15 heading south.

There was enough snow (and lack of plows) that determining where the lanes were was difficult if not impossible. However, many Pennsylvania roads have rumble strips on the sides separating the driving lanes from the shoulder. Some have a similar set of grooves where the dotted white lines that separate lanes runs. When the snow covers the road like it did this morning--or like it did the day after Christmas--you sometimes drive by the braille method. Drift too far left or right and you get a harsh growl from the road surface. Fun!

As we got further along, the snow deepened. Through Williamsport, and south to Lewisburg, it reached its maximum. Then it was brown slush until we got to Maryland and West Virginia. At the very first stop in Virginia, there was very little snow on the ground, but any untrodden or driven upon paved surface was covered in ice. Ten miles further south, even that was gone and the sun hung in the blue sky as a burning orb. And south of Roanoke, the roads were pretty well dry.

We traveled a little over 430 miles  today. We made three fuel stops (at the start, middle and end of the day's travel). We made two rest stops and a third for lunch. We stopped and did some shopping at Wally World in Haggerstown, MD. We were on the road from 5:45 AM until 4:30 PM. It was a long, long day.

Some positive notes:
1) The Winnie's engine started right up this morning.
2) The generator which had not wanted to start in the driveway, started easily after we got our second tank of gas and reached some warmer climates.
3) The propane run refrigerator is working fine.
4) I figured out how to get the water system working again after having winterized the bloody thing last Fall. It only took three tries before I got the three valves under the sink turned the right way.
5) The hot water heater (propane run) is working very well, thank you.
6) I didn't hit anything or any one. (Although there were a few drivers I would have loved to get behind the woodshed for a few *ahem* instructions on a) the proper way to merge from an entrance ramp, b) how much space one should allow before pulling back in front of a 32' Winnebago you have just passed, c)how to keep your foot off the break peddle every single time you come to a down hill slope in the snow even when it's about 3 degrees of angle, d) why, if you insist upon traveling at a ridiculously low speed, you should stay to the right so others going ever so slightly faster may pass you, and e) why it is not necessary (nor even advisable) to try to travel 5 miles ABOVE the speed limit when you can't even see the lanes. And, oh yeah: Gripping the steering wheel so tightly that your knuckles turn white and the steering wheel begins to bleed while peering at the road through the wheel, not over it, does not make it any safer Granny. Maybe you should have stayed home.

Tomorrow promises to be another exciting day. The morning will be fine, but possible thunderstorms may appear late in the day as we approach Chattanooga, Tennessee. (This morning they were even talking about tornadoes! But that's been hushed up a bit.)

Until tomorrow, then.

Interesting Week End (That's not an error.)

Terry and I had an...interesting short trip over the last few days.

Thursday we left the Aerie in two vehicles. Terry drove the Aveo and I had the Winnie Access as we headed to Camping World in Bath to have the shower caddy replaced (part of our purchase agreement) and to pick up a dolly to haul the Aveo behind the Winnie. We also asked that they repair the power cord that hooks the Winnie to either the campground's power or to the generator. (The plug on that cord was separated from the heavy duty insulating portion of the cord exposing the smaller wires.)

We sat for nearly three hours while they fixed the cord and the shower and wired the dolly to be connected to the Winnie. We finally got things hooked up in the Camping World lot, put the Aveo on the dolly and headed down the road toward Corning and the Watkins Glen KOA. The wiring connecting the Winnie and the dolly seemed a little strange to me, but I let it go.

We never got to the KOA. As I pulled off Route 17 in Corning, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw smoke pouring out of the left tire of the dolly. I jumped out of the cab of the Winnie as the driver of the semi behind me did the same. We met at the dolly and the trucker said he thought the bearings or the brake had seized up based upon the smell. I agreed. We had gone only 25 miles. Terry and I went another eighth of a mile on Route 414 to a place that was safe to pull over and called Camping World. They sent someone out with a trailer to take the dolly back to the shop and try to figure out what was wrong.

While we waited for them to arrive--something that took almost two hours--Terry and I took the Aveo off the dolly. (The hubs of the dolly were still hot to the touch.) That's when I really noticed how screwed up the wiring was. Instead of cutting the wires to a reasonably short length, the installer had left them very, very long and used zip ties to attach them to the undercarriage of the Winnie. I thought I might have to cut the wires to unhook the dolly. So I left them for the guys from Camping World to see what had been done. The lead man on the rescue squad was an assistant manager in the service department and his jaw dropped when he looked at the wiring. Then he crawled under the Winnie and cut the zip ties hauling the ball of wires out from underneath. Now we could simply unplug the dolly and leave it with them.

Terry and I went on to the Watkins Glen KOA Camping Resort--in two vehicles. We checked in and set up the Winnie. Then headed up to Watkins Glen to have  a scrumptious dinner at Seneca Station (Captain Bill's) in town. Nice steaks, seafood and strong alcoholic beverages...which I needed. The rest of Thursday night was uneventful. (Although we just can not get the bloody TV to work properly despite following the directions in the owner's manual. All I get is an "unusable signal" message.) The campground was quiet and peaceful and we slept well.

Friday I was expecting a call from Camping World all day. Something that would tell me what was going on with the dolly. But I wasn't going to hang around in the campground waiting for it. They had my cell number. Terry and I had planned to hit a couple of places on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail.

We ended up going to just one winery--3 Brothers' -- and the Finger Lakes' Distillery. We've been to the 3 Brothers' before. The Brothers were not able to agree on the type of winery they wanted to operate--so they have three wineries at the one site. One is somewhat formal (Stony Lonesome), one used to be a somewhat risque 1920's (Passion Feet)--although they've opened up the shop area more with a loss of ambiance, and the third is Bagg Dare which is modeled after a Louisiana Bayou hangout. The last two have rather humorous names for their vintages. All three have very, very good wines. Apparently the brothers can agree on one thing for they also have a micro brewery on site--The War Horse--modeled in 1940s WWII style with several beers and ales available as well as root beer. We ended up buying three and a half cases of wine and some beer.

We stopped for lunch at Ginny Lee's at the Wagner Winery on Route 414 before driving to the Finger Lakes Distilling. They make some wonderful vodkas, liqueurs and whiskeys. We got a couple of bottles of liqueurs and a bottle of bourbon.

Then we went to walk a bit in Watkins Glen before heading back to the campground. I made a couple of calls to Camping World but my calls were dropped by weak signals and/or directed to answering machines. As the end of the working day arrived I had learned nothing about the condition of the dolly.

Friday night, the campground was more crowded, but our area was still quiet...until someone's car alarm went off at 2 AM. It took them several minutes to realize that it was their car, find the keys and then get outside and get it shut off. Having several hours of solid sleep, I had some difficulty getting back to  sleep.

Saturday morning dawned with on and off showers. After breakfast we broke camp draining the black and grey water tanks, unhooking the water and power. That's when I found out that the plug attached to the power cord was incompatible with the generator's outlet. Another thing that needed to be corrected ASAP.

When we headed out, I was going to Camping World to see about the dolly and get the plug fixed, Terry was going to go home. We got as far as Route 17 in Corning and were heading west toward Route 15 when I got a phone call from Camping World. "We've figured out what went wrong and got your dolly repaired but need you to bring your camper in so we can check one more thing out." "Not a problem," I said. "I'll be there in less than 30 minutes." Then I called Terry to tell her to head to Camping World.

At Camping World, they checked the wiring on the Winnie and confirmed that the problem was with the job done on the dolly. They had replaced the brakes AND the bearings. The service manager apologized profusely and wanted to know what he could do to make it right. We ended up getting an auxiliary brake controller installed. This little project took a little time so Terry and I went to lunch.

Once again, we had everything hooked up in the Camping World lot and we headed home to the Aerie. For some reason, the stupid Aveo's alarm kept going off as we drove along. (It hadn't done that on Thursday.) Terry kept her keys in hand and repeatedly pushed the buttons to kill the alarm. We got to the dirt road on which we live and the alarm didn't go off once despite all the jouncing and bouncing along the way. I pulled up to the driveway and parked on the road so Terry could take the Aveo off the dolly and park it. I backed the dolly and Winnie into the driveway, separated them and parked the Winnie so we could unpack.

With the dolly and auxiliary brake, we're ready to go on our next adventure. Hopefully it will not include any mechanical failures.

My not so lazy day.

We got 0.86 inches of rain last night and it was still misting a bit this morning. Of course, that meant no chance of staining the deck. The sun did come out--eventually--around 4 PM and things are looking much better. Too bad Terry and I have a meeting with our financial planner tomorrow morning. Might have to wait until after lunch to start staining.

I did get some things done today. I went to Lowe's and picked up a new set of drawer glides to replace the broken one in the RV. Then I installed them. They both got replaced because the replacements were just a little bit larger (wider) than the originals. Pulling out one of the other drawers I noticed a missing plastic piece on one of the glides. The same piece lead to the failure of the drawer I just repaired. Luckily, I had a spare glide from the set I had to replace so that got fixed pronto.

While at Lowe's I also got an adapter and a cap to go over my freshwater intake so as to keep dust and dirt out. Still have to see about a 30 AMP extension cord and getting the power cord from the camper repaired. (The plug end has separated from the thick insulating rubber coating on the wire. The three wires are still connected but they are now exposed. I could live with it, but Terry is concerned. And when Terry gets concerned....)

Then we got a call from the notary down in Mansfield. She had just received all the papers and payments from Camping World and we could come pick up our registration and license plate whenever we wanted to--which was now. (Ever drive around with out a license plate? Even if you've got one of those temporary paper tags in the rear window, you are constantly waiting for some cop to pull you over. Mine wasn't even in the rear window but on the side. I thought sure some cope would pull me over as we drove to and from West Wareham, MA but it didn't happen. They were out there. I saw them. But they were either setting up or manning radar sites or already had someone else pulled over. Whew!) Anyway, so now the Winnie has a real plate on the rear and I don't feel so paranoid anymore.

Having gotten the PA plate and registration, I had to schedule an inspection. There's a place just over the other side of the valley in Mansfield that does inspections of motorhomes. I called and will take the Winnie over on Friday morning.

Oh, and I called Camping World to find out about the shower caddy that needed to be replaced. The part came in yesterday and I set an appointment to have that installed September 20th. They should have the tow dolly assembled when we get there.

Other than that, we had one meal of delightful clam chowder and another of left over fish with quahog stuffing, corn on the cob and sweet potatoes. MMM-mmm GOOD!

R.A. Dickey won his 18th game (18-4) for the Mets. Not bad for a 38 year-old knuckleballer.
Beer is cold, Chips are available. The NFL starts tonight: Cowboys at the Giants. Go Giants!