2009 Going east

May
Escapade, Sedelia Missouri  School is over for the summer time to pack up and hit the road. First stop, Sedelia Missouri for the Escapees rally, Escapade. Leave about 0900 and head north. Arrive Sedelia about 1400. Check in and get parked. Hook everything up, put the slide out, level, put up the TV and hook it to the dish box. Woohoo, we have TV. Go to pavilion to get our goodie bag. To late, everybody went somewhere else. Go out get something to eat and go back to camp and survey our surroundings. It's been raining and things are kind of squishy. Yuck. Found out we have no hot water, crap. Look at things, check circuit breakers, nothing. Open box in bay and find fuse blown. Go get another fuse, blown again. Well crap, looks like bath house showers till we get back home. Next morning get up and go get our goodie bag, new shirts, and other goodies like a battery operated hand held fan, how cool is that. Go back into town, Walmart, buy a bunch of things and head back to camp. On the way we find a Hardees, oh boy, mushroom Swiss burger, it just doesn’t get any better than this. Get home and eat, yumyum. Go outside and meet new neighbors. Chat for a while. Still raining, that light misty stuff that sinks in to the bone. Back inside, sit back and relax. Evening comes and we go to the opening ceremonies, I win one of the raffle prizes. A new road atlas, coupons, and some other stuff. Next day we go to the vendor area and look around at all the neat things, Pat buys microfiber dish rags, towels, mops, scrubbers, and, and. I get one of those cool weather vane black tank vents and have it installed the next day. Gonna get another one for the gray tank. While the installation in being done Pat goes back to the vendor area to look some more and I forget all about her not knowing where we are. She calls but my phone is inside and I don’t hear it. About the time the installer is done here she comes, not a happy camper. She found our spot though. Neighbors come to meet and greet, we chat for a while and arrange to go out for dinner that evening, Applebee’s. Had a good dinner and chatted, back to the campground and check out their Country Coach, very nice. Wednesday we drive south to Branson. Gonna see Yakov Smirnoff. On the way we stop and look at some motorhomes, Fleetwood’s. Not bad. Get to Branson a little early so we drive around and walk around Branson. Go check out a campground, Turkey Creek (http://www.escapees.com/parkpages/Turkey%20Creek/park17.asp). Very nice.

 Looks like a nice place to spend a few days when we can. Drive around the lake and do the touristy thing until show time.  Watched the and laughed and laughed. Yakov is great. Did the handshake thing, picture thing, chat some thing. Time to go back home. Stop in Springfield for dinner, Ruby Tuesday’s. We like this place. Back north we go. Time to go back home. Stop in Springfield for dinner, Ruby Tuesday’s. We like this place. Back north we go. Get back, still raining. Bummer. Get up and go to the vendor area again and just look around. Meet people I have met on the forum. Meet up with neighbors and make plans to go to Bingo that evening. Went to Bingo, didn’t win a thing, oh well, normal for me. Next morning we get ready to leave for the east. No so east with all the rain that has been coming down, the ground is soaked and we get stuck about halfway out of the spot.

Call the insurance company road service. While on the phone with them a tow truck shows up, I go over and ask how much to pull me out, $100. Yep, taking advantage of people stuck in the mud. Things start looking up, I’m still on the phone with the road service folks when I ask a couple of key questions.

Seems the tow truck honors the same tow plan that the road service offers, how cool is that. Get hooked up and out of the mud we go.

 Hook up the truck and we’re on the road again.  East bound on I-70, headed for St.Louis and Scott Air Force Base for the night.  Get to campground, it’s a little tight but I manage not to hit or break anything. Since it's late and no one had reserved the spot we picked out, handicapped but thought we would take a chance since there was another one next to us.

    Nice campground that could use some updating but since we were only staying the night we could live with it. 

http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105&Itemid=38 

June

Morning comes way to early in the day, get up, make coffee and have breakfast. Pull out of spot and hook up the truck, on the road again, this time headed for Ohio.  Get on Illinois 4 north bound to US40 at St. Jacob where we get back on I-70 toward Indianapolis going trough Terra Haute.  Pick up I-74 to Cincinnati and our home for the next few days.  I thought I-70 was rough, I-74 will rattle your back teeth loose.  Drop speed to 55 and  really slow down for bridges.  Get to outskirts of Cincinnati and look for Hollaman RV to see if we can get the water fixed, they are backed for months and no one there knew much about the Hurricane system, bummer, guess it's the shower house for us for the rest of the trip.  Back on the road heading north to find the campground.  Cedarbrook Campground  

(http://cedarbrookcampground.com/default.aspx ).  This place is great.  It's in the middle of town but you wouldn't know it, it feels like you are way out in the boonies.  The campground roads and entrance is a little on the tight side but the spaces are plenty big enough to park a 40' motorhome and towed with enough room left on the access road, and wide enough to put out the awning with room to spare.    Met some other veterans doing a yearly civil war reenactment thing, a train robbery.  I was invited to tag along but decided to pass.  Met a very nice electrician that gave us his opinion on putting a ceiling fan in the bedroom.

We drove around the country side and down to downtown Cincinnati and Covington Kentucky,

we wanted to visit the aquarium in Covington but the $25 per person price was more than we were willing to pay since a yearly pass was only $37.  Thought we might ride the "Ducks" but a look at the weather convinced us it wouldn't be a good idea to be out on the water during a storm.  So we walked around the boardwalk and visited a nocturnal creature display that was fun but over rated. 

And  yes, it rained and thunder boomed.  What is it with all this rain? On the way back to the campground there was a tornado warning, in Ohio???  The tornado missed the campground so we still had our home.  During our driving around we found a nice state park and thought we would come back and stay a night.    We stayed in the Cincinnati area for three nights before heading north to Dayton.  Had a bit of fun at Wright-Patterson AFB, couldn't find the gate to enter the base for over an hour.

  When we finally got in we took a wrong turn and ended up back off base and had to turn around and go back on the base.  Finally found the campground and learned that the only spots were in the overflow area, the host told us to go look and if we liked it to pick a spot and get settled.  http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=162&Itemid=38

We found a great spot right behind the shower house, it just doesn't get any better than this.  The only thing we didn't have was sewer, no biggie, we could dump when we left.  Wright-Patterson is the most disjointed base I've ever been on, to get to the shopping area you have to go off base and then back on base in a different area.  Pat needed to check her email  so we went to the base library where we had heard they had WiFi, well the library was closed so we went over to the commissary (military for grocery store) to get dinner.  Also visited the BX (military for Walmart).  While there we saw a vendor with rugs on display, now we wanted to do some remodeling in the MH so we wandered over and found a rug we both liked very much, after going through a few others and picking out three that appealed to both of us, the vendor allowed us take two rugs back to the motorhome to see if they would fit and looked like they would  match our stuff.  We bought the smaller one and it fit perfectly when we installed it back at home.  I took off one day for a visit to the Air Force museum.  Got about half way through when Pat called to say she wasn't feeling well so home I go.  The next day Pat was feeling better so we both went to the museum, she had a blast looking at all the old and new planes that have been in the Air Force inventory.  She said it made a difference me being there to explain a lot of the history and other tid bits of the planes.  Back at the campground we got ready for our trip back to Cincinnati and the state park, Stonelick State Park,  we found it during our last time there.  So off we go back to Cincinnati.

Got to the park after negotiating some narrow roads and low hanging tree branches checked in and picked out a nice spot.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/stonelck/tabid/789/Default.aspx

After our stay in Cincinnati we head back west toward home.  First stop Scott AFB, which was full up but the time we got there.  Had a bunch of fun getting out of the campground, one of the units on base was having an awards picnic.  Seems everyone drove themselves there and parked along the access road, way to tight for a 40' motorhome and towed to get out.  Walked over and inquired about the owner of the cars that were preventing us getting out.  They were good sports about it and three people moved their cars and we made it out and back on the road headed west to St.Louis.  Saw signs for the Casino Queen and the RV Park. http://www.casinoqueen.com/rv-park.aspx  Found the Casino Queen casino and the Good Sam campground.  A nice campground even if a little pricey for a casino campground.  Nice large sites and a small convience store where you check in and out, though the hours of operation are a little short, 8am to 8pm.

After checking in we got all hooked up and decided we would go over and donate some money to the casino, which is what we did.  Pulled out the next morning and headed home, making it by early afternoon.  All in all a very good trip, even without hot water.

After settling down back at home I took the MH to Adventure RV to get the water heater fixed.  They replaced the  fuel pump but that didn't fix it, $740 and still no hot water.  guess I'm going to have to figure this thing out for my self in the spring of 2010.  So we started to do the floor in the motorhome, rip out the old carpet and get the floor ready for the new one.  But first we found a leather sleeper couch that matched our other furniture and bought it, which resulted in a trip to Arizona to get it.  Took son in law along for company and as he hadn't been in the west before he really enjoyed the trip.  So, back home and the work begins.

The old stuff, 

The old couch,

 

Started on the ripping and tearing and got all the old carpet out and the floor cleaned up. 

Here is what we ended up with,

Doesn't this look a whole lot better??? 

2008 Mexico, our out of country trip.

Mexico   Plans were done and we were off.  Loaded up and headed out west bound.  First stop Wichita to pick up Daughter and Granddaughter.  Off we go, US54 west bound.  First night Tucumcari.  Stopped in at the Mountain View campground, no a bad place to stay for a night.  Next morning get on I-40 west bound for Santa Rosa and pick US54 again.  Next stop Alamogordo and Holloman AFB, where we found a very nice campground. 

http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=178&Itemid=38

Took a small side trip to El Paso to see the old homestead, the place has changed so much we couldn't find it.  Next morning back on the road west bound on US70 to Las Cruces.  Climb the mountain and then down the other side.  Got through Las Cruces ok and got on I-10 west bound.  

Next overnight facility, Ft. Huachua, by Sierra Vista.  Very nice campground with views of the mountains.  Planned to spend two days and three nights here.  It rained each day in the afternoon.  One morning Pat stepped out side to find a very large tarantula, it was BIG.

http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=38

Granddaughter and I paid a visit to Tombstone, she loved it.  Watched a gun fight, popped in to just about every store and had lunch at a nice little restaurant.  Spent almost the entire day doing the tourist thing.

Here is where it got a little on the bad side.  The morning we left I got in a hurry and forgot a couple of things, like taking the truck out of first gear and unlocking the steering wheel.  Here is what happens when the above things are not done:

Don't do this, it's expensive.  Called the insurance company to arrange transport for the truck to somewhere for repairs, found a Chevy dealer in Sierra Vista.  Then found out the Chevy dealer is not on the approved list for the insurance company.  Took two weeks for the adjustor to get to Sierra Vista and do the "how much are we going to fix and what will it cost" thing.  All this was done on the cell phone from Mexico.  Finally got that done when we returned to Sierra Vista where I found out that we had gotten a new adjustor.  Felt like I was on a merry-go-round.  Got the approval for the repairs, was hoping for a total...  Oh well.  Got the estimate for repair time, "this is going to take a while".  This was July, I got the truck back in September.

Back on the road bound for Nogales and the border crossing.  That was fun.  Got in the wrong lane, should have taken the 'bus' lane.  Where were the signs???  Finally got through and entered Nogales, Mexico and found that I had made a very big mistake.  There were cars everywhere and no descernable traffic lanes, cars were going helter skelter this way and that.  To top it off the road was under construction.  An hour or so later we got to the southern edge of Nogales and onto the highway.  Will not do that again.  Headed south on highway 19 toward Hermosillo, 170 miles away.  The roads are not bad but there are sections that will jar your teeth and loosen joints.  The good thing?  Diesel fuel is only $2.20 a gallon, we had been paying up to $5 a gallon.  The people are very friendly and helpful. 

Arrived in Hermosillo about 3:00pm and checked in.  There is a real difference between Nogales and Hermosillo.  No tourists for one.  Slower pace of life.  And not dirty.  Went to Walmart.  Got learned in enough Spanish to be able to get around and know what I'm buying at Walmart.  The parking lot at Walmart was a lesson in pragmatism, each line of parking spaces was covered.  Now how neat is that???

Eleven days later we leave and head for home.  Back up the highway toward Nogales.  Got stopped at a Mexican Army checkpoint, Pat and Daughter thought the two cute soldiers that inspected the motorhome were "hotties".  Good grief.  They were impressed with the rig and looked in every cupboard and closet and any door that opened.  Back on the road.  Got to the border.  This part was no fun at all.  Big mistake going through a border crossing that was this busy.  It took us three and a half hours to get through.  First the inspected the inside, we had to get out and stand at the side of the building, then they did the mirror thing underneath, then they brought in the dogs, then they sent us to get X-Rayed (which took two trips around the compound mingling with the big trucks), then to agriculture inspection where they went through every opening again.  All they found was one grilled pork steak in the freezer, I was surprised the dog didn't find it.  Finally got cleared to continue our trip.  Stopped at the KFC in Nogales, AZ and had supper.  Hmmm hmmmm good.  North bound to Tuscon and Davis-Monthan AFB.  http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=38

Definitely not a good day.  Got to the campground and registered then over to the spot.  While pulling in, a very tight spot by the way, I managed to rip out the water spigot and ding the water heater exhaust pipe.  The campground now had a water feature fountain.  Go back to the office and call the emergency phone number.  While talking to the campground manager, whose wife had passed away that morning, the camp host shows up.  I offer my condolences to the manager and hang up to deal with the host.  Get out the insurance papers, registration, and ID card.  Do a lot of paperwork and finally get settled in to a different spot.  Next morning I take Pat and Daughter to the Tuscon airport, they had had enough and decided to fly home.  At the airport I had a conversation with the rent a cop who told me I couldn't park where I did.  Now anyone that has ever been to an airport knows that a 40' long, 8.5' wide 13' high motorhome can't be parked just anywhere.  I parked in the "deliveries" spot.  This rent a cop didn't think this was a good idea since the spot was marked for "deliveries".  Duh!  I pointed out to him that I was making a delivery, my wife and daughter.  He was not impressed.  I told him to call the cops and disengaged.  The airline folks had by this brought the wheelchairs and were wheeling to two of them into the terminal.  Granddaughter and I boarded the motorhome and left.  Never did see any cops.  Sierra Vista here we come.  Spent four hours at the Chevy dealer and was informed that the adjuster had arrived and done his thing.  Talked to the adjuster and was informed that the truck would be repaired.  Ok.  Back on the road.  Next stop, White Sands Missile Range campground.  Not shabby for an overnight stay. 

http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=149&Itemid=38

Next morning we head out for Tucomcari and the same campground we stayed in on the way down.  Left Tucomcari and made it home that evening.

2008 Where we went

First trip  March 2008, spring break.  Loaded up the motorhome for a  short getaway.  Decided to visit Oklahoma City.  The drive down I-35 wasn't bad, a little rough, a little construction, a little mixmaster through the interstate system of Oklahoma City and then a lot of confusion finding the truck gate at Tinker Air Force Base, http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=178&Itemid=38 , only took three hours and I asked a lot of people how to get to the campground.  Very nice campground.  Did the set up thing, oops, found a water leak.  Seems I had a busted heat exchanger for the hot water system.  Oh well, take showers at the bath house.  Next morning off we went into Oklahoma City to visit the Murrah building, the OKC bombing site. http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/  , I think everybody should visit this place.  What with the water situation, the weather, and a not feeling well MiL we packed up and went back home.  All in all, a good first shake down cruise.  Found some problems that needed fixing and learned a few things about motorhoming.

First real trip in our new to us motorhome  In June 2008 we took off for Wyoming and the Escapees Escapade, our first rally.  We left fairly early, bout 0900 or so and headed north.  We made Hastings Nebraska before dark and set up camp.  Ate at a local watering hole, not bad.  Next morning back on the road going north toward Grand Island then west on NEB highway 2, stopped off and looked at the old house in Cairo, and made it to Alliance.  Set up camp and went to Walmart, don't know why we didn't do this in Hastings, must have been to tired I guess.  Next morning going north.  Stopped at Carhenge, very interesting.  Back on the road heading north, down hill with a tailwind, got 36 MPG.  Pretty cool huh? 

Crossed the South Dakota state line and got a nice surprise.  Buffalo headed in for supper, way cool.  Had to stop and take a couple of pictures.  

Pulled in the brand new campground not to far from Devils Tower in Wyoming and set up camp. http://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm   Had dinner in the restaurant there and had a view of the tower.  Tried to call home, not up here.  Drove down the mountain till we got a signal.  There we were on the side of the road with every car stopping to see if we were ok.  Talk about a fun evening.  In the morning  we were off to Gillett and the rally.

http://www.ci.gillette.wy.us/special/visitors.html

The rally  Got our parking place, kind of tight but doable.  Hooked up everything, electric, sewer, and water.  Didn't know that the fresh water tank didn't have a "I'm full switch".  Went into town to get something to eat and when we got back there was a lake where we parked.  Luckily one of the neighbors shut off the water before everything floated away.  Got everything setup the way it should be and went to the pavilion to check in and get our goodies.  Signed up for the Motorhome Defensive Driving Course, and wandered around looking at RV stuff.  This could get expensive so we controlled ourselves.  Back to the camping spot and had dinner.  I had signed up for RV Boot Camp so away I went Thursday morning, back to school.  During the ten days were were attending the rally we met some very nice folks and exchanged email addresses, now where did we put those things???  The only bad thing that happened was the TV antennae broke which I got fixed fairly quick and getting a signal for the puter.  A wonderful ten day first long outing. 

How we got started

Hello, my name is Mike.  I am married to the most beautiful and smart woman in the world, Pat.  We have three furbabies, Becki (Toy Poodle), Jazzi (Yorkshire Terrier), and Lexus (Toy Poodle), two offspring, Mike Jr. and Amanda, and one Granddaughter, Jenah Noel.  We currently live in south central Kansas but plan to become houseless by the end of 2012.  I am retired from the US Military (U.S. Army/U.S. Air Force), and Civil Service (U.S. Air Force, DLA, and DCMA).  Combined I have a little over 38 years of service.  Pat is an Educator at the local school teaching fourth grade.  She will be retiring in 2012 with 30 years of service.

Way back in 1973 my girlfriend, Pat, and I bought a 1969 Chevrolet C10 van.  It had a dinette, Coleman Stove, ice box, and a bench seat along the side that converted into a bed.   This van would qualify as a class 'B'  motorhome today.  In November of that year we decided to get married, this picture was taken on our wedding day just before we took off on our honeymoon to Paris.  We never got to Paris, didn't like France, and ended up going to Luxemburg, Belgium and then back to Germany.  We traveled and camped in this quite a bit over the next year or so seeing a lot of the German coutrysiide and sights. 

2001
Bought a big motorcycle and started touring.  

2003, built a trailer to pull behind the motorcycle.  Started doing some real touring.  Oklahoma, Colorado, South Dakota, Arkansas, North Carolina, Missouri, and all the states in between.

Skip forward to 2005.  I started to look at retirement and thought I would see what was out there in the RV world.  Information overload.  We looked at many many RVs.  We would travel to far away places and look at RVs.  Finally we settled on a class 'A' motorhome.  Gas or Diesel???  I wanted diesel, she didn't want the noise.  Out we go looking at class A motorhomes.  She wasn't impressed with the gas coaches and so we settled on a diesel. 

2006.  We start looking on Ebay.  Very good resource BTW.  We drove to Houston over the Christmas break and visited PPL motorhomes.  Again, information overload.  We spent the day there looking at what must have been every know brand, size, and shape of diesel motorhome.  None met the criteria.  Off we go to north Houston, Best Pre-Owned RVs.  Great people.  They let us walk through just about every diesel motorhome they had.  I liked them all she wasn't all that impressed.  Back home and Ebay.  I retired in September 2007.  Still looking, having decided we would be buying after New Years.  Found one in Mesa AZ.  Drove down in February and looked, nope, not the one.  I had hired a guy to do an inspection, well that didn't work out.  I asked if he would be willing to drive around and look, he was willing and away we went.  Found a 2000 Beaver Contessa and a 2001 Safari Panther 455.

  Liked them both.  The Beaver was 40' the Safari was 42'.  That extra 2' looked a little imposing, I had doubts about getting this beast into some of the campgrounds we hoped camp in.  Looked some more, nothing to compare with the two already found.  Decided to sleep on it and head home in the morning.  Got a call from my inspector, he had Blue Booked both units, both were under Blue Book.  O boy.  Heading home up near Payson Pat called, I told her about what I had found and asked if I should go back and look some more, I had the dealers email photos home so she said no come on home and we'll talk about it.  At home we looked and looked at the pictures, and Ebay, and talked and talked.  She didn't like the monkeys on the dining chairs of the Safari so that one was out.  We talked some more.  She asked which one I liked better.  I said the Beaver.  The rest is history.