I have been remiss in writing (pick any reason to apply), so will try to catch up a little for now.
DAY 6: was an OK day, that means the good part canceled out the bad part and averaged to OK. While we were in Tucumcari, NM we ran into a good-ole-boy from Alabama, didn't get or can't remember his name, but that is my fault, a nice guy. He was big into NASCAR (didn't ask why), so that is what I call him. NASCAR asked where we were going, and when I told him he asked what route we were taking. I told him through Ft Worth and Dallas. He got a serious look on his face and said that he wouldn't want to drive a motor home through Dallas. We should have listened to him. Ft Worth was bad enough, but we made it through there. There was a miss communication between the pilot and the navigator and we relied to heavily on Helen (our electronic navigator) and the next thing I know we are driving through Dallas. Then one wrong turn and we are in the middle of Dallas. I swear if there was a telescopic site on Dallas from a satellite, we would have driven right through the laser beam. Anyway, we made it out of town, made pretty good time, and made it safely to Shreveport, Louisiana, an OK day.
Day 7: a good day. There are two things I have to say about Louisiana. First, I believe the freeway system through Shreveport was built during the Civil War and has only been repaired once since then. And second, I'm not sure that Louisiana drivers are used to operating a motor vehicle off of a dirt road. Just saying. But we made good time and arrived safely at Rob and Beth's house. We hadn't told Nick that we were coming and Rob sent him out to check the mailbox as we were driving up, so I think Nick was a little dumb founded when he saw the motor home and Jeep pulling into the driveway. Andrew wasn't sure what was going on. Oh yeah, Rob and Beth are doing OK too.
DAY 8 - 11: have all been good. We haven't done much but visit and run around town a little. For some reason my direction is messed up. I'm OK at Rob's house, but when we go out I'm 180 degrees out of whack. Slowly getting better as I drive around. Weather hasn't been too bad yet, a little warm (about 90) and the humidity has been moderate. So we are enjoying our time while we can because we know we will be leaving too soon, but still excited about the rest of our trip.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Our 2014 trip - #1
As some of you may know, our motor home is commonly referred to as "the bus". Colleen's niece's son was the first to call it a bus back during our first trip home in 2004. Then Nick also started calling it the bus when he was little. Jami set this page up and I think she probably thought it appropriate to call it the Adventures in the Short Bus. She is probably correct.
I can see us using this blog more in the future during different travels, but for right now it is a means to relay information to our family and friends on our trip to Mississippi/Michigan/Ohio/California over the next couple of weeks. So here is how our adventure has gone so far:
DAY 1 was not a real good day. First we got started about 2-1/2 hours late. I thought we might be slow the first day, but not that late. Then just after we got onto I-5 south, we were hit by a dust devil/small tornado. I don't know when a dust devil becomes a tornado, but this had to be close. Blew the vent cap off of the black water tank and unfurled the awning. We had a similar problem with the awning before, so we knew how to fix that. Then when we finally got to the park in Bakersfield we discovered that one of the batteries was going bad on the coach. That's why we did a shake-down cruise to Plymouth last month was to find out if we had any problems. Weather was cool.
DAY 2 was a little better. This was Mother's Day, so I took Colleen back Sears in Bakersfield to get her a Mother's Day present. I had the batteries checked and found out that not one of the batteries was bad, but both of them were bad. So I replaced both batteries - Happy Mother's Day Colleen. We finally got on the road late again. Had to stop in Tehachapi for gas (very bad idea) and I think we ended up in the most expensive gas station in town. But we made it to Kingman, Arizona that night, kind of late, but safe. We thought we did fairly well on time, but then discovered we had crossed into a different time zone and added an hour, still cool outside.
DAY 3 was a pretty uneventful day. Hit the road and got into camp in Gallup, New Mexico at a decent hour, some wind, but not too bad, and no mechanical problems. Not a bad campground either, but it was still pretty cool (we're talking highs of 58 in California, Arizona, and New Mexico and we have mostly short-sleeve shirts).
I can see us using this blog more in the future during different travels, but for right now it is a means to relay information to our family and friends on our trip to Mississippi/Michigan/Ohio/California over the next couple of weeks. So here is how our adventure has gone so far:
DAY 1 was not a real good day. First we got started about 2-1/2 hours late. I thought we might be slow the first day, but not that late. Then just after we got onto I-5 south, we were hit by a dust devil/small tornado. I don't know when a dust devil becomes a tornado, but this had to be close. Blew the vent cap off of the black water tank and unfurled the awning. We had a similar problem with the awning before, so we knew how to fix that. Then when we finally got to the park in Bakersfield we discovered that one of the batteries was going bad on the coach. That's why we did a shake-down cruise to Plymouth last month was to find out if we had any problems. Weather was cool.
DAY 2 was a little better. This was Mother's Day, so I took Colleen back Sears in Bakersfield to get her a Mother's Day present. I had the batteries checked and found out that not one of the batteries was bad, but both of them were bad. So I replaced both batteries - Happy Mother's Day Colleen. We finally got on the road late again. Had to stop in Tehachapi for gas (very bad idea) and I think we ended up in the most expensive gas station in town. But we made it to Kingman, Arizona that night, kind of late, but safe. We thought we did fairly well on time, but then discovered we had crossed into a different time zone and added an hour, still cool outside.
DAY 3 was a pretty uneventful day. Hit the road and got into camp in Gallup, New Mexico at a decent hour, some wind, but not too bad, and no mechanical problems. Not a bad campground either, but it was still pretty cool (we're talking highs of 58 in California, Arizona, and New Mexico and we have mostly short-sleeve shirts).
DAY 4 - 6 are all pretty good days. We travel on days 4 and 5, make good time, a little gusty winds every once in a while, but make pretty good time. Day 4 we stop at a KOA in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Nothing to rave about, but OK for one night. Day 5 we got snowed on coming out of Albuquerque, but made good time and made it to Wichita Falls, Texas. That's where we are today, a down day for a little rest, and it's in the mid 80s. Tomorrow we're on the road again.
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