What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

I have been a bit lax in the maintenance of this journal for the last many months.  Faithful readers may think that Dorcas and I drove our motor home off the edge of the world and disappeared forever.  But no, we are both alive and well!

We departed from our winter home in Titusville FL and arrived home in Winston Salem on April 22.  In the following weeks one or the other of us had a doctor's appointment about every other day.  We maintain a busy travel schedule, but we try to be home for a month or two in the spring and the fall, when North Carolina is at its finest.  So that's when we schedule all our doctor's visits.  Heaven help us if one of our doctors has a sick day or otherwise takes a day off, and we have to reschedule!

In June we took the coach down east for a 2-week trip.  Our first event was the Newmar Kountry Klub (NKK) Carolinas State Rally in Fayetteville.  We stayed at the Fayetteville RV Resort & Cottages just north of town right off I-95.  I don't often mention this, but I was born in Fayetteville.

Our camp at Fayetteville RV Resort & Cottages

While at the rally we visited the US Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum.

I love my folding bikes!

We lunched one day at Gaston Brewing Company, where I found a very interesting and unique plumbing fixture.

Recycling at its finest: returning fluids to their source

On another day we visited the Cape Fear Botanical Garden where we enjoyed a private guided tour.

Our next stop was at Sycamore Lodge in Jackson Springs for 5 nights.  Sycamore Lodge is a membership camping and cabin resort associated with Travel Resorts of America (TRA).  We had a coupon for 3 nights free camping, and we acquired 2 more nights relatively cheaply.  After attending a very low-pressure sales presentation, we were presented with a coupon for 3 more weeks of free camping at any other TRA resort.  (Spoiler alert: We didn't buy the membership.)  There are 3 such resorts in Minnesota, so hopefully we can use at least one of these coupons when we head north in the fall.  

Sycamore Lodge: A Resort With a History. The Loverings, a Boston family, purchased the property, that would become the Sycamore Lodge, in the early 1900s.

They planted trees along Sycamore Lane, hence the name of the estate.  The Loverings planned to grow Peach Trees here, but the sandy soil in this section of North Carolina doesn't support this type of tree. Undeterred, the Loverings decided to farm trees.  Pine, Sycamore, Dogwood, Oak and Magnolia Trees were planted on the property.

The first building on the property was a barn with living quarters on the second floor. It is now the the Registration Building & General Store.

The 6000 SF lodge was built around 1905

On one day we paddled with the Lumber River Canoe Club on a nearby section of the Lumber River.

Our final leg of this trip was for a campout and gathering at the Little Pee Dee State Park near Dillon SC with the Lumber River Canoe Club.  Here we paddled, biked and told tall tales and lies around the campfire with old friends and new friends.

At Little Pee Dee State Park, while riding my RAD Power Bike I stumbled upon a Rivian Adventure Network (RAN) charger.  Go figure! Rivian is placing chargers specifically at trial heads, parks and other places to facilitate the outdoor enthusiast.

My RAD by the RAN

In July we attended another NKK rally, the Mayberry Rally in Mt. Airy.    CLICK HERE to see the video.

Dorcas, Andy and Opie

This guy brought 2 Lamas in the back of his mini van.  Then he went back to the farm and brought 3 more.  Check out the video to watch lamas exiting the mini van.

Aerial view of Mayberry Campground

In the meantime we have been doing home chores and other local activities. I have been playing pickleball regularly and Dorcas goes to yoga at the Robinhood YMCA almost every day.  

Exciting news!!! Three local public parks have opened dedicated pickleball courts: Joanie Moser Memorial Park, Oak Summit Park and Sedge Garden Park.  All of a sudden: so many courts, so little time! 

The City of Winston Salem converted 2 existing tennis courts to 6 dedicated pickleball courts at Oak Summit Park.  They left one tennis court to placate the other riffraff .

Oak Summit Park

The City of Winston Salem converted existing tennis courts to 10 dedicated pickleball courts at Sedge Garden Park.  CLICK HERE to see a short video clip of the new courts at Sedge Garden Park.

Sedge Garden Park

The two Winston Salem city parks described above opened quietly and with little fanfare.  For several years we had been playing pickleball at Joanie Moser Memorial Park, which is a Forsyth County Park, on tennis courts using portable nets. On August 18 there was a major ribbon cutting ceremony at Joanie Moser Memorial Park for nine new dedicated pickleball courts.  County Commissioners, county park staff, the general contractor and members of our Winston Salem Pickleball club made remarks, which altogether lasted way too long ... and then we played PICKLEBALL!!!!  I'm proud to say I won the 1st 3 games I played at the new Joanie Moser Park.  And of course I launched the drone and made a video. CLICK HERE to view the video.

Joanie Moser Memorial Park

Two more Winston Salem city parks are scheduled to convert tennis courts to pickleball courts.  One is Old Town Park, only 11/2 miles from my house, where we will have 8 new dedicated courts. 

In other news, we have finally "cut the cord", so to speak, and disconnected our Spectrum cable TV/internet service, and have begun streaming.  We picked up a T-Mobile 5G Gateway router that provides pretty fair cellular internet service, generally 50-100 Mbps, which has proved to be adequate for our internet and TV streaming needs.  Additionally I installed a TV antenna on the roof, and we get all our local programming over-the-air.  I bought a Tablo device which is a DVR with a local programming guide for over-the-air TV viewing. We have subsequently subscribed to a number of streaming app services: Netflix, Prime Video, AppleTV, Paramount+, all at no cost.  By dropping Spectrum and going to T-Mobile the sum of our monthly bill for cable and cellular services has dropped from ~$330/mo to $130 mo, but with enhanced service.  Best of all, we can take our T-Mobile router with us on trips.  The T-Mobile plan has unlimited data usage, while previously we had been limited to about 5gb/mo by Spectrum Mobile using the personal hot spots on our iPhones when traveling.

Making Repairs at Freightliner Service Center Gaffney SC

 Faithful readers will remember that at the beginning of our summer trip we had some problems with the leveling system not re-inflating the air bags after leveling, and with the Comfort Drive.  Specifically, when departing the Great Smokey Mountains National Park on August 17, the air bags would not fill.  With no air in the bags, the coach could not be driven without causing significant damage.  After spending hours on the phone with Newmar Corporation and Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation, with no resolution, we were told of a work-around to manually engage a valve to inflate the bags.  At the same time, although the systems are totally unrelated, the Comfort Drive system ceased operating, likely because I had been pulling and checking fuses and had disconnected the chassis batteries.  Both problems persisted for the duration of our summer trip and during our trip to Georgia this month.  

While our Newmar warranty has expired, our Freightliner Chassis is still under warranty until February 2021.  The air issue could be a Freightliner issue or it could be a Newmar issue, depending on what specific part is broken.  I have talked to Newmar and Freightliner and neither could tell me whether it was a house issue or a chassis issue without an inspection and diagnosis.   BUMMER!  The Comfort Drive is clearly a Freightliner issue.  I decided to work with Freightliner first since we are still covered under their warranty.  Shortly after arriving home at the end of September, I called the local Freightliner service center in Greensboro and was told they were very busy, and they did not make appointments for service.  I would need to bring the coach and leave it there, and they would get to it in 1-2 weeks.  BUMMER!  Freightliner RV chassis are manufactured in Gaffney SC only about 130 miles from home.  Freightliner has a customer service center near their Gaffney plant to specifically service and repair Freightliner RV chassis.  COOL!  The good news is they do take appointments for service.  The bad news is they are booked up until 2021. BUMMER!  However, one can drop in and wait on stand-by in case there is a cancellation or they are running ahead.  I called Freightliner last week before leaving Brunswick and was told there was a fair chance they could gets in the same day if we checked in first thing Monday morning.  COOL!  

So that's what we did.  Rather than coming straight home on Friday after our last rally, we drug our (w)heels and spent 2 nights with our friends in Savannah.  On Sunday we drove to Gaffney, which was not too far out of our way home, adding less than 70 miles to our trip, and spent the night at the Freightliner Service Center. 

Our home at Camp Freightliner

There are 27 campsites at Freightliner, each with 50A electric service.  All are available for no charge on a first come basis.  When we arrived we found ~10 sites available and set up on #22. 

They opened up at 7:45 on Monday morning.  I was in line at 7:30, but I was the second person in line without an appointment.  Should'a got up earlier!  However, when I checked in, I found I was #4 in line for stand-by service.  Apparently there were two units ahead of us left over from the weekend.

We are not alone in our quest for factory service

Monday came and went but our number did not come up.  We did gain one position in line.  But that's OK; I don't think I really expected to get in on Monday anyway.  We were in no particular hurry to get home, we were comfortable with good 50A service, good OTA TV and fast internet. I spent some time working on other coach chores and internet projects.  

Tuesday came and went with no service, but when I checked we had gained another position or two on the list.  By this time we are getting a little bit impatient and wondering if we might want to leave the coach and go home.  Finally at closing time on Tuesday I received a call from the lady at the front desk; they would take us first thing Wednesday morning.  COOL!  

They have lots of spare parts!

About 8:15 on Wednesday Scott, our mechanic, came to pick up the coach.  We went over my list of items to check or repair, and he did an exterior inspection of the coach to see if there was any pre-existing damage to note.  Mine was not a short list.  I asked if he would be finished by lunch, and he laughed at me.  We did want to get home as soon as possible.  Hurricane Zeta would make landfall in Louisiana this afternoon, and the remnants of the storm were expected to impact our area on Thursday morning. We really wanted to be home before the storm hit. 

A pair of naked Front Engine Diesel (FRED) chassis

With the coach parked in the service bay Dorcas and I were forced to hang out elsewhere.  They had a nice customer lounge, but I found it more comfortable to sit on the covered porch out front, where I wouldn't need to wear a mask.  Dorcas mostly waited in the car with Matilda.  We lunched at a Mexican restaurant nearby, and got the call about 2:00 that the coach was ready to go.  They made all the requested repairs, checks and adjustments I had requested and all is good.  Specifically, they replaced the auto level valve (which resolved the air bag fill issue), restored the Comfort Drive function, checked ride height, weighed the coach and adjusted tire pressures, and checked windshield wiper function.  All the charges were covered under warranty except for the 4-corner weighing I had requested.  COOL!  It is always a good idea to weigh each corner of the coach at least once after it has been loaded with gear and with tanks full in order to determine proper tire pressures.  As it turns out I had been running the Michelins a bit under-inflated.

We hit the road and headed for the barn.  It was particularly enjoyable that the Comfort Drive was functioning.  Comfort Drive rules!!!!  It rained pretty hard off and on all the home, but the major part of the storm had not arrived, and the winds were light.  We arrived home safely shortly before dark.

We'll be home until about the middle of November and then migrate south to our winter home in Florida.  

A rolling stone gathers no moss!

Life is still good. 

Lee State Natural Area and the Lynches River Nov 29-Dec 2

We had decided that we wanted to take the coach out one more time before we left for Florida in mid December. Our first thought was to go to the outer banks for about a week in mid November, but that never happened. Our second thought was to go to Stone Mountain State Park, but that never happened either. Finally we decided to join a group of friends and members of the Lumber River Canoe Club for a four-day weekend at Lee State Natural Area on the Lynches River, near Bishopsville, SC. When we arrived at the campground at Lee State Natural Area and State Park about lunch time, Wayne and Lynda were already there and had a nice fire going. No fire ban for those devil-may-care South Carolinians! Jim and Ann arrived about an hour later. The campground offers large level sites in tall pines and has water and 30A electric. Every day Ranger Lester brought a new load of free firewood. The place was practically deserted. For much of the day we sat around the fire, listened to Christmas music and talked with our friends. Later we walked to the river and onto a boardwalk into the wetlands.

On Friday we decided to paddle a section of the Lynches River. We were not familiar with the river, but we knew the level was low. Ranger Lester suggested putting in on a section well below the park. Being "Dumb But Tough" and not trusting the judgment and opinions of non-paddlers, we elected to paddle the section from US 15 to the park, a distance of about five miles. This section is above the first section described by Able and Horan in "Paddling South Carolina". Ann was feeling poorly with a cold, so Jim and Ann didn't paddle. Jim dropped Wayne, Lynda, Dorcas and me off at the access at US 15, with a promise to pick us up at the state park access. The river was more of a piedmont river than a blackwater river. It was 30-50 feet wide with 4-6 foot banks and a clear sandy bottom. The going was pretty easy. We had about 6 fairly easy pullovers and portages. We arrived at the take-out about three hours after putting in. We called Ann, who was very surprised we were finished so early. She had told Ranger Lester of our route and he had predicted we wouldn't be back until dark. By the time we returned to the campground Mike and Liz had arrived. Don and Sandy arrived shortly thereafter. Later we again enjoyed the campfire, with good Christmas music and good friends.

On Saturday we paddled the section from the park (our previous take-out) to US 401, a distance of about 8 miles. This section was very similar to the upstream section, but a little wider. Consequently we only had about two drag-overs. Ann was feeling better today, so we had ten paddlers in 5 boats. The weather was perfect and a good time was had by all.

On Sunday we took it easy and lounged around the campfire. Everyone began the routine of packing up their campers. We outlasted everyone else and left the camp about 1:00. Before leaving the park we explored the artesian springs, for which the park is known.

Here is a link to Don's report of the same trip.