North to Newfoundland!!!

"Travel is fatal to prejudice"     Innocents Abroad   Mark Twain

The third time's a charm, right?  The Newmar Kountry Klub, the owner's club for Newmar Corporation, the maker of our Dutch Star, offers a lot of really nice events, rallies and caravans.  We have been on quite a few of their offerings during the 5 1/2 years of our Dutch Star ownership.  One such recurring event is a caravan to the Canadian Maritimes including Newfoundland.  We initially signed up for this event for 2021, but that trip was ultimately canceled due to the COVID pandemic and concerns about crossing the border.  We signed up again for 2022, but ultimately bowed out before the cancelation deadline due to health concerns, both Matilda's and mine.  Matilda's health had declined significantly starting about November 2021.  She ended up passing during the time we would have been on the trip.  Also, my left knee was failing, and I was experiencing significant mobility issues, leading to a total replacement in May 2022, about the time we would have departed on the trip.  In retrospect it was a good thing we didn't go on the 2022 trip; the trip leader had some mechanical issues, with his coach, and had to leave the caravan.  Apparently, the trip went downhill from there.

So here we go, on our third attempt to attend this caravan.  We arrived home from Florida on April 27, with the first of about a dozen doctor’s appointments over the next 2 weeks. Plus, we had a number of home and coach chores to perform, and research to do on crossing the border into Canada.  The rules can change almost daily.  Suffice to say we have been very busy.  

Pickleball friends Dave and Robyn from TGO dropped in and we played a few games

My tool shed had been crushed by a red oak during Hurricane Debby last August while we were traveling in Colorado  My insurance company totaled the shed and bought me a new one.  In October I moved the old shed about 75' and rebuilt it, making it about 5 feet shorter.  Now Dorcas has a she-shed.

So sad!

I built a ramp for the relocated and rebuilt damaged tool shed

Ready to go!!!

Ultimately, we departed Winston Salem on Thursday May 15. We weren't finished with all our chores, far from it, but we had "A long way to go and a short time to get there" (quote from "East Bound and Down" by Jerry Reed from "Smokey and the Bandit".  The caravan officially starts on May 24 (we will arrive on May 23 for a pre-rally event) in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, a distance of 1180 miles from home.  We finally hit the road at the crack of noon and headed north on US 52, I-77 and I-81.  

Whenever we head north, we pass Pilot Mountain a NC state park, about 15 miles north of our home. It is an old friend.

After an easy driving day of 254 miles, we arrived at Endless Caverns RV Resort, just off I-81 in the Shenandoah Valley near New Market VA. We stayed here once before in July 2022 on our way to Maryland and West Virginia.  The campground is built on the side of a mountain with fairly steep roads, but with very level and nicely terraced camp sites.

Giraffe's eye view of Site E62

Bird's eye view of Site E62

The campground was far from full

When we stayed here in 2022 we stayed just one night and did not do a cavern tour.  On this trip we stayed 2 nights and went down into the caverns.  The tour was about a mile long and lasted about 1 3/4 hours.

Tours can accommodate up to 30 tourists.  On our tour there were only 4.  It was a lot like a private tour.

In the afternoon, after our cave tour, we visited Virginia Museum of the Civil War operated by the Virginia Military Institute.  The museum is located on the site of the Battle of New Market, which occurred on May 15, 1864.  From Wikipedia: 

"The battle is primarily remembered today for being the only time in American history a school's student body was used as an organized combat unit. During the battle Confederate general John C. Breckinridge ordered cadets from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), averaging 18 years of age but with several child soldiers no older than 15, to join an attack on the Union lines. The event is central to the Institute's history and heritage."

"Of the 247 VMI cadets at the battle, there were 60 casualties (around 24%), with five cadets killed in action, five more dying later of wounds received, and 50 others wounded in action but surviving. Eight VMI staff also accompanied the cadets and the Commandant, Scott Shipp, was wounded in action as well."

We visited on a Friday and volunteers were preparing for an anniversary event to occur over the weekend.  These tents were staffed by the Society of Civil War Surgeons.  While talking to one of these volunteers, we mentioned that we would be in Newfoundland in a few weeks.  This volunteer told us he had been flying on 9/11 and his flight had been diverted to Gander, Newfoundland. When the U.S. closed its airspace after the September 11 attacks, Gander International Airport took in 38 commercial aircraft and four military aircraft, and accommodated nearly 6,700 evacuees.  This event is chronicled in the book "The Day the World Came to Town" by Jim DeFede.  We will be visiting Gander in about 4 weeks.   I have the book and hope to read it by the time we arrive there.

 

The battle occurred on the Bushong farm.

The Bushong house was used as a field hospital

Most of this afternoon the weather was threatening and there were very high winds.  The Society of Civil War Surgeons' tents and exhibits were blowing over.  Consequently we did not risk a long walking tour of the battlefield.  So we headed back to camp and prepared to shove off the next morning.

We really did like this campground, but we might not ever return.  We had a bit of a disagreement with the management over our bill.  None of their statements specifically stated the nightly rate of our stay, and when we questioned the management, we could not get a straight answer about the charges.  They claimed they used "dynamic pricing" which apparently meant they charged as much as they thought they could get away with before the customer revolted.  Our charges were higher than expected based on our initial deposit and our initial understanding of the rates.  After several long debates with management we did get a modest credit, but I'm still not convinced it was right.  I think they just gave up to make us go away.

On the other hand, they did have pretty nice pickleball courts ...

Headed North: Upper Midwest Adventure 2021

Dorcas and I are on the move again, heading north and west, eventually landing in Ely MN for our traditional wilderness canoe trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  The temperatures in the upper Midwest have been brutally hot much of the summer, but the forecasts I have seen show cooler temps in August.  Let's hope so.

We have owned our Newmar Dutch Star for about 19 months now and are still enjoying it.  Faithful readers will remember that our 2004 Country Coach, in which we had been traveling for about 13 years, had been crushed and totaled by a fallen oak tree in November 2019.  You can read about the demise of the Country Coach and the quest that led to the purchase of the Dutch Star HERE. Since buying the Dutch Star in December 2019, we have been continuing to make modifications and improvements to make it our own.  Not that it needed much; it already had most of the bells and whistles and gee whiz gadgets and electronics to be expected in a newer coach.  One thing lacking in the Dutch Star was a comprehensive energy management system (EMS) that monitors the power entering the coach and takes protective action if it detects harmful conditions.  I had installed the Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C in the Country Coach, and it had served us well, particularly protecting coach appliances and devices from the low voltage conditions we have encountered at avarioud campground pedestals.  In the few days before this trip I installed a very similar device, the Progressive Industries EMS-LCHW50 Hardwired RV Surge & Electrical Protector in the Dutch Star.  

The EMS has the following features:

• Over/Under Voltage Protection
• Open Ground, Open Neutral & Reverse Polarity Detection
• Accidental 240V Protection
• Miswired Pedestal Indication
• Surge Failure Indicator
• Amperage Meter Display
• Previous Error Code
• A/C Frequency Protection
• Adjustable Time Delay
• Thermally Protected
• Built-in Scrolling Digital Display
• Field Serviceable 
• UL Certified and Canadian Approved
• Lifetime Warranty 

Whenever the device detects a fault condition it will cut power to the coach, then continue to monitor the condition and restore power when the fault ends,  With the lifetime warranty, if the LED goes out or even if a lightning strike takes out the the unit, it's covered.  The manufacturer will send a new circuit board, and the user can replace the part himself.  I really love a well-engineered and supported product.

Anyway, I digress; back to our trip.  We left home Tuesday afternoon August 3 following an 11:00 doctor appointment.  We got off to an auspicious start; when we tried to start the Pilot to hitch it up to the coach, its battery was dead, and it wouldn't start.  I think the issue relates to a bad reading light switch.  The switch works intermittently, and you can't tell if the light is switched on or off.  If the switch is on, the light may come on later unbeknownst to us, and run the battery down.  But we were able to get it jumped, and we were off.  We departed town prior to the afternoon rush hour, then pumped 84 gallons of diesel and 3.8 gallons of DEF at the TA TravelCenter in Wytheville VA.  We spent our first night at the Walmart SuperCenter in Ripley WV after driving 249 miles.

Camp Wally World Ripley WV

Shortly after leaving Ripley we crossed the Ohio River and entered Ohio.  

Normally Wayne and Lynda join us in the Boundary Waters, and sometimes we travel together. This year Wayne and Lynda had different plans, and Dorcas and I will be entering the Boundary Waters on our own. Wayne and Lynda travel in a white truck and pull an Airstream travel trailer. Notwithstanding the fact they are not coming, we can't seem to escape them.

A Wayne and Lynda sighting at a rest area in Ohio

Wayne is pretty old, and he must have been here before and made an impression.  They named the Wayne National Forest after him.

One other device I have purchased for the Dutch Star is the BlueFire 9-Pin J1939/J1708 Bluetooth Data Adapter for Heavy Duty Trucks, Motorhomes.  The BlueFire device attaches the vehicle Engine Control Module and transits digital data via bluetooth to an app on my iPad.  It provides much more data and in a more graphic manner than the OEM data displays.  It's really cool for a techno gear head like me.  Following is a screen shot from the custom dashboard I designed for our coach. Data fields and gauges can be added, deleted, edited, resized and moved as desired. 

Screen shot from the BlueFire app on my iPad

You can see from this screen shot we have traveled 461.5 miles and were getting 7.7 MPG for the trip.  The compass function is not working correctly, showing us head south when we were actually headed in a generally north direction.  Also, there are several values that the ECM does not report, namely, the cooling fan speed and the exhaust temperature.  I need to correct these errors.

We passed through Findlay Ohio, which is not particularly noteworthy except that it is considered the Flag Capitol of the USA, and they want everyone to know it.

We also passed through Toledo OH, just before entering Michigan.  This reminds me of the Toledo War, which I have written about before.  You can read about the Toledo War HERE.

We made camp on Wednesday Aug 4 at Camp Lord Willing near Monroe Michigan.  Monroe is known, among other things, as the home town of George Armstrong Custer and the La-Z-Boy world headquarters.  We are camped here because it is relatively close to Dearborn MI, and we intend to visit The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn. We had spotted some other camps closer to Dearborn, but they were also near the Wayne County fairgrounds, and were fully booked because the Wayne County Fair was in progress. My friend Wayne strikes again!

Camp Lord Willing was a surprisingly pretty and quaint park.  Most of the sites are permanent sites, and  we were lucky to get in.  Click HERE to view a video of Camp Lord Willing.

Our home at Camp Lord Willing

We will be at Camp Lord Willing for 2 nights. Tomorrow we will spend the day at The Henry Ford museum, then head north through Michigan towards its Upper Peninsula. 

 

North to Alaska

Dorcas and I traveled in our motor home to Alaska in 2011 (click here to read blog entries for that trip) and had a great time.  We had planned to return to Alaska in 2016, but circumstances conspired against us, and we just didn't make it.  So we tried again for 2017.  This year was looking tough too.  We didn't arrive home from Florida until Saturday April 22.  The following week was clogged with a total of 6 doctors appointments, and I was determined to play pickleball for 3 hours each Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.  Additionally, I had follow-up doctor appointments, labs and a chest scan in the following weeks.  If anything would prevent us from taking this trip, it would be concerns about my continued health monitoring and care on the long trip, and while passing through Canada.  Thankfully, all my specialists gave me the green light to go.  Several said they would love to make house calls along the way!

There were a large number of chores to perform including social obligations and time-consuming maintenance and repairs to the coach.  In addition to going to Alaska, we would return through Minnesota for our traditional annual Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness adventure, which by itself takes the better part of a week to pack for.  We set a target date of Saturday May 13 to leave, which would allow us less than 3 weeks to prepare.  Even then we would be leaving a little more a week later in the month than we did in 2011.  We will have no specific itinerary, but are intending to follow a similar route to the one we took in 2011.  We expect to spend the latter part of May in the US and Canadian Rockies, June on the inside passage island hopping via the Alaska Marine Highway, July in southern Alaska proper, including Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, Denali NP and Fairbanks, and August working our way down the Alaska Highway through the Yukon Territory and British Columbia, eventually landing in Minnesota towards the end of August.  We will be home in mid September for a few days before attending two back-to-back Country Coach motor home rallies in the tidewater Virginia area.  Whew!!!  No moss on these rolling stones!

It went down to the wire.  Motor home chores that should have taken an hour or two took half a day.  (Note to self:  motor home crankcase holds 28 quarts of motor oil: my drain pan holds only 25 quarts.  CRAP!!!!  Next time do the math and pay attention!)  As the 13th approached we thought we might actually make it.  The LP gauge in the coach read zero.  No LP means no refrigerator while driving down the road.  A local RV dealer sells LP at a loss for $0.99 per gallon.  The market price is closer to $3.00, so I really wanted to buy LP there on Saturday.  That left us a specific time to leave home and still be able to pump ~20 gallons of LP at the sale price.  On Saturday we both busted our humps doing last minute chores, and at the end, just throwing things into the coach and the Honda.  The RV shop would be closed on Sunday, so if we didn't make it on Saturday, we would have to wait until Monday to get cheap LP there.  Plan B was to buy LP at the Flying J in Wytheville VA, but that is a difficult place to get into, and the LP supply tank is almost always blocked by some moron in the store buying cigarettes.  Besides, their price was $2.90 per gallon.  Thankfully, we were able to get away about 3:30 and managed to buy LP before closing time.

The drive north up I-77 through Virginia and West Virginia was very pleasant and the weather was cool and clear.  Temperatures dropped into the 50's on the drive through the WV mountains, and I actually turned on some heat in the coach.  We spent the night at Tamarack, a WV gift and craft center, in Beckley after driving about 165 miles.  Tamarack is a great place to over-night, and we have stayed there several times in past years.  We parked in one of their designated RV spaces along with about 6 other RVs, and enjoyed a cool and quiet night as the temperature dropped to 48 degrees.  West Virginia is very scenic, and admittance is free, however, they hit you up for $10 in tolls on your way out the door.

Camp Tamarack

Today, we continued northward on I-77 and then west on I-64 before taking US 35 north to Dayton OH.  Along the way we entered the first of the dreaded midwest "vowel" states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.  There is nothing particularly bad about any of these states, but the scenery along the interstates is rather boring.  We also enjoyed a stiff headwind, which sometimes was a stiff cross wind, reducing our fuel economy and resulting in a few abrupt sideways maneuvers, causing Dorcas to make her dreaded sucky-hissy sounds. We stopped for a break about every 2 hours.  Matilda loves to break!  In Octa OH we stopped for lunch and noticed that the price for diesel here was significantly less than what we had seen anywhere else so far.  We topped off with about 55 gallons at $2.18/gal, while it was in the high $2.40s everywhere else we passed.  I love driving with a full tank of cheap diesel! We finally stopped for the night at the Walmart Supercenter in Bloomington IL, after driving 536 uneventful miles.  Here we will buy all the groceries that we didn't have time to load from home yesterday.  I expect we will have another long diving day tomorrow, before eventually slowing down in South Dakota.

Enjoying a break from the wind

I'd love to visit this farm!  Pick your own?  Somewhere in Ohio. 

Camp Walmart in Bloomington IL