tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-333484212024-03-06T22:51:58.708-05:00The RoVing ColesCome travel with us as we rove around the country in our RV.Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-46798837134896682472013-04-01T20:00:00.001-04:002013-04-01T20:00:43.063-04:00No Longer HomelessI know I’m skipping ahead by not telling you the details of our drive from Dallas to Mesa, AZ, but that’s not nearly as interesting as the fact that we bought a house today. We made the offer and it was accepted. We’ve looked at several developments and found nice homes but nothing that WOW-ed us until we went to Crescent Run. We liked it almost immediately. The ambiance was beautiful. The Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-42667846041058987112013-03-30T19:44:00.001-04:002013-03-30T19:44:14.333-04:00Grand KidsWe left Galveston on Wednesday morning. We had to wait about an hour until the bad rain storm cleared and then we were off. We drove through Houston, which turned out to be no big deal in spite of late rush-hour fears. I-35 north to Dallas was not at all busy. But through Dallas, the traffic was a whole other story. It was rush hour there and very busy. We got to the RV park and picked a site. Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-83593716786006130542013-03-18T16:37:00.001-04:002013-03-18T16:37:10.992-04:00Part DeuxWe took another spin to the casino on Saturday morning, but had almost no luck at all. Some days are like that. Then it was off to our next stop.The bulk of the day was spent on I-10 and I-12 across Louisiana. I have to say that these were some of the worst roads we’ve ever been on. Bump, bump, bump, bump… I don’t mean bump, pause, bump, pause, bump, pause. These were rapid and major, not great Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-75677276787985678892013-03-15T09:34:00.001-04:002013-03-15T09:34:37.259-04:00And, So It BeginsOnce again that old adage (it’s always something) has reared its ugly head. But at least this time, it wasn’t a BIG thing. We were packed and ready to pull out of our site on Wednesday when I noticed that the steps had not retracted. Whaaaa??? Were they tired from not being used for 6 weeks? Julian tried to get them up. When that failed he called the dealer for advice. Best he could offer was Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-82061658225979281232012-08-11T11:07:00.001-04:002012-08-11T11:07:45.472-04:00If It’s Not One Thing…That old saying is true: if it’s not one thing, it’s another. The saga of our RV problems continues. On Friday, we broke camp and took the RV to the shop to get the dash air conditioner compressor replaced. This went well, if very slowly. Our appointment was at 8am and we were there well before that. Thus began another day of being “homeless”. We stopped at the store for some paper goods and Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-42461131892481477162012-08-05T17:11:00.001-04:002012-08-05T17:13:16.350-04:00Summer Update – Part IIISo I’ve told you all about our efforts to fish and all the RV problems. It’s time for what else we’ve been doing. Our weather has been very hot and very dry. I think most every day of the past month (July) has been at least 100 degrees. We have an outdoor thermometer and can watch the real temps during the day. It’s oppressive. Outdoor activity is almost non-existent. We have been able to spend Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-12989132492247911672012-07-29T17:23:00.001-04:002012-07-29T17:23:28.458-04:00Summer Update – Part IIOn July 5, we headed south to Acorn Acres RV Park & Villas in Branson West. It was a very hot day, like all of them seem to be, and we were sure glad when the set-up process was finished. Here’s what our home-away-from-home looks like. On the drive down there, we noticed a noise in the front end of the coach. It seemed to go away at times, but it was a nagging issue. In the next couple of Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-79122965585372682912012-07-26T17:04:00.001-04:002012-07-26T17:04:05.761-04:00Summer Update – Part 1Yes, I know – it’s long overdue. I haven’t been motivated, primarily because we haven’t done a lot that was news-worthy. We aren’t traveling around like some other summers, nor are we doing a great deal of sight-seeing. We do have some pictures to share and I’ll try to get you caught up on at least part of the last month and a half. One thing we hoped to do a lot of this summer was fishing. Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-52222536462293465432012-06-09T16:20:00.001-04:002012-06-09T16:20:03.034-04:00Let’s Get This Summer Started!It’s amazing that it’s been a week and a half already since we left home in the RV. Time flies when you’re having fun, that’s for sure. We went as far as Bonifay, FL, (in the panhandle) on that first day. The campground where we stayed had recently opened a small restaurant. We had planned to eat in, but the prices couldn’t be beaten, so we enjoyed New Orleans fare, right there in small-town Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-37395268698035683862012-03-27T12:36:00.001-04:002012-03-27T12:36:25.545-04:00Our Weekend with Glen CampbellOK, so it wasn’t a whole weekend – actually only about an hour and a half. But what a fun weekend it was! We left on Friday morning for Silver Springs (just west of Ocala, FL) with another couple. We both took our motor homes and stayed at the RV part right across the street from Silver Springs Park. This was a very short drive, so we got there in time to do our setting up and then headed into Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-52610117398014372222011-08-23T15:59:00.001-04:002011-08-23T15:59:36.576-04:00Maggie Valley RevisitedYes, it’s been way too long since I’ve updated our trip progress. Let me just say that I haven’t been “inspired” to write anything. That’s partly due to the fact that we’ve been here in Maggie Valley, NC, several times before and we haven’t done much that was new or different. But here goes… We arrived at Creekwood Farm RV Park on Tuesday, July 19. We love it here and it’s a bit like a Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-17603405607334430192011-07-25T14:13:00.001-04:002011-07-25T14:13:36.959-04:00Nashville, By Way of Ohio (Again)We headed south out of Elk Rapids and spent the first night in a Wal-Mart parking lot on the west side of Toledo, OH. This became something of a turning point in the trip. It got HOT! Real HOT! (It’s STILL hot as I write this from North Carolina.) We had planned to spend the morning in Toledo and leave around noon since the distance to our next stop wasn’t far. But even by 9am, the heat was Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-1763063575024441402011-07-15T15:19:00.001-04:002011-07-15T15:19:47.255-04:00Michigan – Part IIWow! Have we ever enjoyed being in Michigan! We arrived at Honcho Rest Campground on Wednesday afternoon. When checking in, our host mentioned the Evening on River Street event which takes place every Wednesday evening through the summer months. We headed into Elk Rapids a little after 6pm. The place was already jumping – for a small town, anyway. There were two blocks roped off and all sorts Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-48826032428165853652011-07-06T15:09:00.001-04:002011-07-06T15:09:07.219-04:00Michigan – Part IWe arrived at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping on Friday, July 1. We’d worked out our travel so that we could arrive by about 1pm, giving us a bigger part of the day to get set up and acclimated. Mosquitoes greeted us while checking in and I was NOT happy (they seem to love me). But I must say that they weren’t very much of an issue after that first day. Thankfully! This picture was taken later, but Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-8093483641927889592011-07-02T13:06:00.001-04:002011-07-02T13:06:09.522-04:00Oh, Ohio!We’ve come from central Florida to the ocean and then to the mountains. Our next stop is north Ohio, just off Lake Erie. We’ve been to this RV park before and really enjoyed it. We’re not close to the lake, but it’s a short drive into Port Clinton and the water. The weather was great, breezy with temps in the high 70s and low 80s. No need for air conditioning here, either. Our first full day Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-28192181357619502132011-06-27T15:46:00.001-04:002011-06-27T15:46:59.910-04:00Into the MountainsOur next stop was Lenoir, NC, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our campground was in those mountains, outside of town. It was a gorgeous location. All the RVs were dwarfed by the tall, tall trees. We were allowed to drive the park to pick out our site location. We found what we liked fairly quickly. We got set up before the rain started, though it had obviously rained off an on Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-39404046254711387142011-06-26T09:23:00.001-04:002011-06-26T09:23:16.265-04:00The CoastLet the summer RV trip begin! After lunch on Saturday, June 11, we took off in our motor home for a three-month trip. Our first night was spent in Walkabout Park in Woodbine, GA. We’ve stayed in this park before, before an Aussie couple took it over recently. Not much change in the park itself, but the new owners are VERY nice. By mid-morning on Sunday we were pulling into Hilton Head Island Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-74567842039323690552011-03-12T12:50:00.001-05:002011-03-12T12:50:51.988-05:00Birthday CruiseYes, another birthday has found me. It’s OK, it sure beats the alternative! Most years, my husband’s sister and her husband join us in traveling as his birthday is the day before mine. They had circumstances this year that prevented our getting together. So Julian and I decided to have our own birthday trip. We decided on a cruise to Curacao and Aruba, two Caribbean islands that we had never Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-91111667865809275932010-09-21T11:35:00.000-04:002010-09-21T11:35:20.591-04:00Our Final Days of Summer 2010After several great days in north Georgia, we pulled up stakes and headed south. We stopped for one night outside of Greenville, AL, at a small city park called Sherling Lake Park. We got lucky and were given the site with the most shade and a deck, too.
After we got set up, we walked down to the lake.
We decided to enjoy our breakfast on that cool deck before heading down the road again.
Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-14851755157794697992010-09-17T16:27:00.000-04:002010-09-17T16:27:08.796-04:00A Trip to the HospitalWe went to Cleveland, GA, to Babyland General Hospital, the home of all Cabbage Patch Kids.
When we planned our trip to the mountains of north Georgia, we didn’t even know that we would be so close to the birthplace of these famous dolls. A friend heard we were coming up here and told us to be sure to go see the Hospital. I’m so glad she did.
We drove up to the “Hospital” and were struck by theDonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-27046326926450880032010-09-15T11:24:00.000-04:002010-09-15T11:24:32.594-04:00North Carolina and BeyondWell, it seems to be well past time to update you on our activities of the past few weeks. I don’t have many photos to share, but I’ll give you the rundown on things we’ve done.
In general, we walked anywhere from a mile to 2.5 miles when we felt like it, or when we had time. We hung out and relaxed a lot. There was a lot of reading and napping in the month of August. Then there was happy hourDonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-27064476513189191332010-08-23T13:41:00.000-04:002010-08-23T13:41:27.613-04:00Things Are Lookin' UpSorry it's taken so long for an update. Yes, things have been looking up for us. We can't complain.
As for updates on our "issues", here's what's new. The old monitor and new camera were mistakenly shipped to our home address. A kind neighbor noticed the package and called us, then shipped it to us here in NC. Julian got both pieces installed and now the rear camera is working great. It looks Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-31600553356453937812010-08-07T15:28:00.000-04:002010-08-07T15:28:27.481-04:00On the Road - FinallyI am writing this from the coach parked in our favorite campground outside Maggie Valley, NC. We made it - finally. But it was no small task.
We have been in communication with Blue Ox. At first they told us we'd have to pay for all the new towing equipment plus the shipping of the broken pieces back to them for evaluation. Then they would decide about reimbursement. But after our local "expert"Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-75130355377417209422010-07-24T14:52:00.002-04:002010-07-24T14:55:32.281-04:00Vacation UpdateIf you read my previous post, you know all about how our car separated from the RV while being towed down the road. We've learned much since that post was written.
On Wednesday, the insurance adjuster declared the car to be "totalled". (The check is in the mail.) So the next day we drove out on the same route that we had gone on the day of the accident. It was a little spooky driving Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33348421.post-90818763535183825912010-07-18T15:03:00.001-04:002010-07-19T06:45:45.915-04:00A Six-Hour VacationWe brought the RV over to the house on Thursday morning and got busy cleaning and packing it up. Everything went very smoothly. We started talking Friday morning about leaving in the afternoon instead of waiting until Saturday morning. We could leave after lunch and get about 100 miles into the drive towards North Carolina. So that’s what we did… or tried to do.
We pulled away from the house at Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12235789051862926205noreply@blogger.com2