Out of Stealth Mode

Bloomfield, IA – June 17, 2012 Our map location.

We left Orange Park 30 days ago on the 17th of May  and we’re pretty much back into the travel mode.  Although it had only been a little over 5 months since we returned from our adventure last year, we found that we have had to retrain ourselves on lots of things.  The idiosyncrasies of “Big Guy’s” mechanical systems, where things are stored in the cabinets and bays,  remembering that those things have a tendency to jump out of the cabinets after a day on the road and so on.  We’ve relearned most of the routines and got our “travel legs” back, so to speak. The cats have also adjusted to life on the road, again.

We have added a few new “toys” and tweaked some things to make our travels more comfortable. We wanted to have more reliable internet, so we got a hot spot that uses Verizon 3 or 4 G. Now EJ can look things up or check weather radar as we go down the road. The other big luxury we included is a roof mounted Dish satellite that finds the signals at the touch of a button! No more thirty minute set up for Frank.

We took some of the lessons we learned last year to heart and applied them to this trip.  One of things we’re doing different is using Passport America(PA) when we stay at some commercial campgrounds.  Our first night out we ended up in Milledgeville, GA at the Scenic Mountain RV Park.  This gave us the opportunity to use our PA discount for the first time and learn how it works.  First lesson, have cash. Most require cash since they are giving a 50% discount they’re not inclined to pay credit card fees too. So far with PA we’ve been paying $10 to $20 for a nights stay which is much more to our liking than the standard fees.

For instance, our next three nights were spent in the Blue Ridge Mineral Springs RV Park in Blue Ridge, GA.  This campground is pretty rustic although but did include wi-fi, cable tv, showers, restrooms, swimming pool, full hookups, 50 amp service and horse shoes.  But at $35 a night with no discounts, it’s a little pricey for what you get.

We had a great time visiting with friends Jim and Shelley who live just outside of Blue Ridge, GA in a beautiful cabin on a thickly wooded lot with a view of Blue Ridge Lake.  They always make us feel so welcome in their home. Jim put in his usual fine performance on the charcoal grill and Shelley worked her magic in the kitchen to prepare several feasts so delicious that we ate way too much.

Sadly though, after a few days it was time to move on.  We didn’t want to wear out our welcome, and we had places to go.

We contacted Frank’s cousin Connie in Tullahoma, TN and made plans to visit with her since we were in the neighborhood.  But on the first leg of the trip from Blue Ridge we experienced a problem with Big Guy.  The Check Engine light came on and to protect the engine, power was reduced, meaning we crept up a few hills at 25 mph while  looking for a place to pull off.  We found a parking lot and broke out the engine manual to get a clue as to what the problem might be and decided to add some oil since it was a little low.   That seemed to fix the problem, so off we went towards Cloudland Canyon State Park.  The further we went and the more we talked, we decided that would be a waste since we would get in late and wouldn’t have time in the morning to really enjoy it.  Instead, we headed to the Walmart located in Fort Oglethorpe, GA.  

Just as we pulled in the Check Engine light came on again.  By this time I was pretty sure that it was not an oil level problem.  I got on the Internet and did some more research and discovered that this particular engine is very sensitive to coolant levels.  So I checked that and saw that while it was still above the add level, it wasn’t completely topped off.  Using some of the supplies we carry with us,  I added some coolant and we’ll see if this relieves the problem.

We paid homage to Walmart by replenishing our oil reserves and buying several other odds and ends and settled in for the night.  About 3:30am I was awakened by some of the local inhabitants verbally abusing one another in the parking lot about 100 feet from Big Guy.  While I was thinking about calling 911, another car showed up and one of the original participants jumped in it and every body drove off. So who knew what that was all about?  The rest of the night was peaceful and EJ slept through the whole thing.

Next morning we made our way to Chattanooga and I-24 where we tackled Monteagle which I figured would be the ultimate test for Big Guy.  Monteagle is about 1300 foot higher than Chattanooga although it seems more than that as you go up an up for miles.  At the top we pulled into a nice rest area to stretch our legs have some lunch.  Big Guy performed flawlessly, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

We had a good time in Tullahoma visiting with Connie and her mom.  We even had some Colonel Sanders chicken which we haven’t had in years.  Connie had to go to work the next morning and we began the trek west to Texas to see Frank’s Dad.

We headed for Memphis, TN where we decided to hole up for the Memorial Day weekend.  Anticipating that camp sites might be hard to find we arrived on a Thursday in order to stake our claim at T. O. Fuller State Park.  Well, the joke was on us.  Even though it is a small-ish campground with 45 sites, at it’s most crowded point over the weekend there were only 6 campers including the camp host.

That long weekend we toured Mud Island, Chucalissa Museum and Beale Street where we had lunch at The Pig,  which has “Pork with an attitude”.  And it was good! Also did some provisioning for the road.

It was in Memphis that we started to be real secretive and yes, even spread a little disinformation.  We had been very hush-hush about our location and destination as we really wanted to surprise Frank’s Dad in San Angelo, TX.  He didn’t think he would see us on this trip as we are heading for the northeast for the summer. We called ahead and made arrangements to park Big Guy without him knowing.  We even had help from some of the people at the Manor who kept him distracted while we drove through the parking lot.

The surprise was a huge success and as an added bonus, we got to surprise Frank’s brother Terry and his wife Joy when they came to visit on Sunday, June 3rd.  All in all we were quite pleased that we were able to pull this off. We really wanted to get  an early start on Frank’s Dad’s 90th birthday celebration.

After a week visiting with Dad, we left San Angelo for Georgetown, Texas to see Joy and Terry’s place. We went to Joy’s garden plot to gather some fresh veggies. Once again we used PA at the Berry Springs RV Park.

From there we pointed more or less in the direction of Missouri favoring the eastern side of Oklahoma.  We had never camped in Oklahoma and wanted to fill in that spot on our “states camped in” map.

We found a pleasant little campground (Big Cedar RV Park) in Hodgen, OK that accepted PA for $12 per night.  That included full hookups, 50 amp service, and wi-fi. This is such a  really beautiful area we ended up staying three nights. We drove the  Talimena Scenic Drive that runs from Talihina, OK to Mena, AR.  This drive is on the ridge of mountains that run east-west, one of two mountain ranges in the US that run in that direction.

While at the Big Cedar campground, our water pump failed, again.  This is the fourth failure we’ve experienced in one year.  Fortunately, SHURflo has a great 3 year warrantee and once again we were able to exchange it for a new pump.  SHURflo if you’re listening, your Extreme Series 5.7 pumps are junk.

Our next stop was Colaw RV Salvage just outside or Carthage, MO on I-44.  Here lie 100’s and 100’s of wrecked, burned and crushed motorhomes and trailers.  We had a few items on our list that we hoped to find. We spent two hours looking , but everything we wanted had already been picked clean.

Our final destination for the day was Louisburg, MO to visit with friends Don and Trish. On the way we swung by Camping World to pick up a spare SHURflo pump.  Given our preference for camping in obscure out of the way places, the last thing we need is for our water pump to give up on us again without a spare.

We rolled into Don and Trish’s about 6:15 on Wednesday June 13 and almost missed Happy Hour.  They were very understanding and extended it just for us.  Their lives are like revolving doors with all the visitors coming and going and we were just real glad they could squeeze us in for a couple of days.  We had a great time, lot’s of laughs, fresh vegetables, good food and wine.  On Friday it was time to go, time to get on with the quest for cooler weather.

The last two days have been travel days with today being a rest/catch up day.  We stayed at the City Park in Brookfield, MO Friday night and at the City Park here in Bloomfield, IA.  Both places have electric and water at the sites and it’s only $10 a night.

We’ll attempt to update you more often now that that we’re no longer obscuring our location.  Our tentative plans are to eventually reconnect with I-35 and stop by Forest City,IA for a Winnebago factory tour.  If we’re lucky, maybe they’ll look at some things on Big Guy while we’re there.

Then we’ll continue our trek north, eventually arriving at the upper peninsula of Michigan where we’ll cross over into Canada and finally start our eastward journey to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to see the Bay of Fundy.

Our path so far…..