HOME AGAIN..HOME AGAIN..
Well - almost. At least we made it to Missouri. Today is Saturday, Oct 24 and we drove from Dickson Tennesse to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Clear blew skies...but a little nippy. One of the best things about driving a motorhome is always having the conveniences of home with you. Today we stopped at the Missouri Welcome Center, made lunch and kicked back for 45 minutes. Took a walk around the park and continued our journey.
Arrived at Cape Campground around 4pm, and asked for the simplest pull thru spot available for us newbees.
The office thought they had accommodated us, but it proved not to be so simply. The spot was tight, chat rock and bordered by narrow landscape ties. The Jeep got hung up on the edge of one of the ties which required us to ONCE AGAIN, un-hook the tow cables, lighting cables, break-away cable and braking system, remove the Brake Buddy from the car, put it in gear and move it out of the way.
The position of the car locked the pins on the tow bar in such a way that Joan had to gently reposition the car
to ease the tension on the pins.
After about 20 minutes of this frustration the Jeep was separated from the motorhome. Of course, there are always people milling around their camp sites watching your irritations and stupidity. We WILL get better with the tow bar or rent a car at every location.
Hope all is well!
Ron & Joan
Saturday, October 24, 2009
MOVING OUR WAY NORTH
MOVING OUR WAY NORTH
Friday, October 23....drove only 175 miles today to Tanbark Campground in Dickson, Tennessee. We stopped at a TA to switch drivers and re-fuel. I thought I was in line behind an 18 wheeler waiting to get diesel. Instead there was no one in the truck and it didn't look like it was going to move real soon. Ron ( the shy one) got out and approached another trucker to find out what was going on. We then found out that we were in a "waiting" area and not the area to get fuel. What do I know!
The number one rule in driving a motorhome with a car in tow is you NEVER back up. Soooo we had to unhook the Jeep, put it back in gear and move it to a parking area. While Ron backed up the motorhome, fueled up, then had to drive it around several trucks to the area where the Jeep was parked. We then re-hooked. Not only do we have to anchor the tow bar, we have to hook up the lighting system, braking system, and all of the break-away cables.
Then we have to set up the Brake Buddy in the Jeep and put it back into tow mode. Not an easy task for sales people like us.
Needles to say were again exhausted and glad our trip was a short one.
Next time I'll let Ron pull the motorhome in when we need to re-fuel. It's still an adventure and exciting.
Hope all is well!
Joan & Ron
Friday, October 23....drove only 175 miles today to Tanbark Campground in Dickson, Tennessee. We stopped at a TA to switch drivers and re-fuel. I thought I was in line behind an 18 wheeler waiting to get diesel. Instead there was no one in the truck and it didn't look like it was going to move real soon. Ron ( the shy one) got out and approached another trucker to find out what was going on. We then found out that we were in a "waiting" area and not the area to get fuel. What do I know!
The number one rule in driving a motorhome with a car in tow is you NEVER back up. Soooo we had to unhook the Jeep, put it back in gear and move it to a parking area. While Ron backed up the motorhome, fueled up, then had to drive it around several trucks to the area where the Jeep was parked. We then re-hooked. Not only do we have to anchor the tow bar, we have to hook up the lighting system, braking system, and all of the break-away cables.
Then we have to set up the Brake Buddy in the Jeep and put it back into tow mode. Not an easy task for sales people like us.
Needles to say were again exhausted and glad our trip was a short one.
Next time I'll let Ron pull the motorhome in when we need to re-fuel. It's still an adventure and exciting.
Hope all is well!
Joan & Ron
Thursday, October 22
Arrived in Cullman in northern Alabama. Ron went into the office to check in and I thought I lost him he took so long. It seemed that he was away a long time. When he came back he relayed his conversation with the owner about his 100 year old cash register that he took such pride in. You know Ron...always chatting them up.
There were threats of severe thunderstorms that night and the owner invited us to come to his house located at the campground if we felt unsafe. Guess making friends never hurts. The night went along uneventfully and we pulled out with several others the next morning.
Once again the site was very basic....I look forward to the day when we can stay in one place for several days or even weeks and really see the area.
The setting up and breaking down everyday has been exhausting.
Hope all is well!
Joan & Ron
Arrived in Cullman in northern Alabama. Ron went into the office to check in and I thought I lost him he took so long. It seemed that he was away a long time. When he came back he relayed his conversation with the owner about his 100 year old cash register that he took such pride in. You know Ron...always chatting them up.
There were threats of severe thunderstorms that night and the owner invited us to come to his house located at the campground if we felt unsafe. Guess making friends never hurts. The night went along uneventfully and we pulled out with several others the next morning.
Once again the site was very basic....I look forward to the day when we can stay in one place for several days or even weeks and really see the area.
The setting up and breaking down everyday has been exhausting.
Hope all is well!
Joan & Ron
ON THE ROAD....
On Wednesday (Oct 21st) we left Ocala for our journey back to St. Louis to see family and load the coach with the 68 boxes in storage. Ha Ha. I actually thought we would be able to fit all of the items we had identified for the motorhome....Ron wasn't too sure. I hate when he is right.....there will never be enough space for everything.
Currently we have gone through exercise of paring it down to ONLY 32 boxes. We'll see.
Spent the night in Dothan, Alabama at the Pecan Pointe RV park. When you tell these people you are new..they are very helpful. A very basic site but fairly crowded due to all of the "snow birds" coming down
for the winter.
Hope all is well!
Joan & Ron
On Wednesday (Oct 21st) we left Ocala for our journey back to St. Louis to see family and load the coach with the 68 boxes in storage. Ha Ha. I actually thought we would be able to fit all of the items we had identified for the motorhome....Ron wasn't too sure. I hate when he is right.....there will never be enough space for everything.
Currently we have gone through exercise of paring it down to ONLY 32 boxes. We'll see.
Spent the night in Dothan, Alabama at the Pecan Pointe RV park. When you tell these people you are new..they are very helpful. A very basic site but fairly crowded due to all of the "snow birds" coming down
for the winter.
Hope all is well!
Joan & Ron
DRIVERS ED HERE WE COME!
We began our day at 9 AM with the instructor from Dick Reed Driving School. We had actually met the owner of the school last year when we attending "Life on Wheels" in Bowling Green Kentucky. We knew at that time that getting driving lessons were going to be one of the first items on our agenda.
Spent the first 3 hours getting an intense and intimidating overview of the coach. Then the later part of the day making nine million turns, radius rights & lefts, straight rights & lefts and then again and again.
The driving was fun and very helpful.....but the overview of the coach was way toooooo much!! And somewhat frightening. The instructor thought we should be able to take the coach apart and put it back together. Any of you who really know us....know we use to hire an electrician to change our light bulbs!
We both woke up about 1:30 am wondering if we knew what we were doing. The guy terrorized us.
The second day was much better. We spent a little more time on turn, a lot more time on 2 lane and highway driving. Plus, quite a bit of time on backing up and parking. Overall very beneficial and confidence building.
Still have a lot to learn but do feel we can move it down the road.
Hope all is well.
Ron & Joan
We began our day at 9 AM with the instructor from Dick Reed Driving School. We had actually met the owner of the school last year when we attending "Life on Wheels" in Bowling Green Kentucky. We knew at that time that getting driving lessons were going to be one of the first items on our agenda.
Spent the first 3 hours getting an intense and intimidating overview of the coach. Then the later part of the day making nine million turns, radius rights & lefts, straight rights & lefts and then again and again.
The driving was fun and very helpful.....but the overview of the coach was way toooooo much!! And somewhat frightening. The instructor thought we should be able to take the coach apart and put it back together. Any of you who really know us....know we use to hire an electrician to change our light bulbs!
We both woke up about 1:30 am wondering if we knew what we were doing. The guy terrorized us.
The second day was much better. We spent a little more time on turn, a lot more time on 2 lane and highway driving. Plus, quite a bit of time on backing up and parking. Overall very beneficial and confidence building.
Still have a lot to learn but do feel we can move it down the road.
Hope all is well.
Ron & Joan
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