Quilting in Indiana

While we were tooling around the Amish Country we discovered the Quilt Gardens Tour. It was tough but I was able to convince Myron to actually stop at a few so I could get pictures.

The Tour is along Elkhart County's 90-mile Heritage Trail.

Most of the towns and communities along the route display a quilt-designed garden and a quilt mural.

With a map, it was like a scavenger hunt to locate the sites. Fun!
Many of the gardens were difficult to photograph because of my elevation and also some were being tended by Amish during my visit. Check out the website for a better look.

Myron's mother was a fabulous quilter so I believe she was with me in spirit enjoying the tour. I thought this would be a good opportunity to share some pictures of Myron's mother's quilts too. Sarah had a wonderful gift for color design which is beautifully reflected in her quilts.

Chillin' In Shipshewana

We arrived in Shipshewana early in the afternoon. Our first stop was at a self-service bulk ice house, where we filled the cooler and unloaded the fridge in anticipation of changing out the cooling unit ... again. We found Pines RV Refrigeration, after dodging Amish buggies and carriages on narrow county roads, but it was nothing like I had expected. I think I expected a typical small factory building with a parking lot or loading area for trucks, but the factory was located about 200 yards down a private driveway behind an Amish family farmhouse. I think it used to be a chicken house. I met Larry Miller, the owner of the company and the farm, and we planned for the changing of the cooling unit. He had me park just off a gravel loop in front of his factory building, so that the UPS truck could get through. A little corporate background here: all my previous correspondence had been with a man named David Force, who has been an RV technician for many, many years and operates a business known as the RV Cooling Unit Warehouse. He acts as an agent for Pines RV Refrigeration and sells the units, mainly on-line. He actually lives in Memphis and has been a font of great information about troubleshooting RV refrigerator cooling units and other fridge issues. Larry Miller is an Amish gentleman who is the owner of Pines RV Refrigeration, a small family business that re-manufactures RV refrigerator cooling units. They also sell a brand new cooling unit that is reported to be of a superior design and slightly more efficient than the OEM design. This is the unit I had originally purchased in Feb 2009. This unit is built by Mr. Miller's brother-in-law about 1/2 mile down the road. Mr. Miller ships about 15-20 units every day, which I thought was pretty impressive, given the small scale of his operation. Mr. Miller and I worked together and had the unit replaced in about 3 hours. Most RV repair facilities charge over 5 hours for this project; maybe they assume two technicians working 2 1/2 to 3 hours. While we were working on the cooling unit, Dorcas drove over to the Shipshewana Flea Market, said to be the largest flea market in the US. After she returned, one of Mr. Miller's family member's (a daughter?) offered her a buggy ride around the farm. I would have jumped at it, but Dorcas declined. I didn't want to leave town until I was certain the unit was working properly. Mr. Miller said we could park at his house for the night, but I sensed he was not really very comfortable with that, so we moved to Shipshewana CG North, a private CG north of town, apparently also owned by the Amish. We signed up there for two nights.

The fridge seemed to be cooling OK, but we wanted to hang out for a couple of days to be sure. We planned to see some sights and tour the area on Thursday. Dorcas and I had never really been in an Amish community before. LaGrange (Shipshewana) and Elkhart Counties are thriving Amish communities in northern Indiana. 37% of the population of LaGrange County is Amish, and it is the 3rd largest Amish community in the US. I found the Amish folks to be very interesting, but who also live a life of contradiction. They don't drive cars, use phones, or use electricity from outside sources or have other such new world conveniences in their homes. However, they may have a phone in an out-building, where it is not convenient, for emergency use. Those practices don't extend to their businesses, where they use telephones frequently, and use tractors and trucks and other power equipment. Mr. Miller has a generator and an inverter for his factory; his cordless phone was constantly ringing as we worked, and he uses a computer for his business. He attended public schools, but has chosen to send his children to an Amish school. He wore home-made clothes of traditional Amish design and had a traditional Amish beard, without a mustache. Married men or those over 40 years grow a beard. They don't have mustaches because they believe them to be militaristic and contrary to their pacifist beliefs. This link contains good information about Amish history, culture and beliefs. Amish practices are set by elected local community leaders and are usually unwritten. Consequently, practices may vary from one Amish community to another.

The next day we toured the area. The Elkhart area consisting of Elkart and LaGrange Counties is considered to be the RV capitol of the world. Approximately 80% of all RVs made in the US are made in this region, primarily by Amish labor. We did a factory tour at Newmar Corporation, which makes a wide range of medium to upper end motor homes and towables. All the units they build are sold before they go on the line. There is a single manufacturing line for their whole range of products. Air cushion dollies are placed under each wheel, and the unit is pushed down the line by the workers, up to four workers for a 60,000 lb. motor home. I was surprised by the organization and apparent order of the process. It takes about 3 weeks for a unit to be built. Currently 3 units per day are coming off the line. The workers work basically on a piece basis. When they have completed the work on the three units passing though their station they are finished for the day. The Amish are morally opposed to have their pictures taken, so photographing the work was challenging. Newmar is recovering from the economic downturn, as is the industry as a whole. Business has rebounded from last year, but is not as high as it was two years ago.

Next, we visited the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum in Elkhart. The hall of fame portion was a little dull, celebrating folks that most people, including me, had never heard of, but who pioneered the industry. The museum was much more interesting. It was a large hall with many classic examples of RVs from the beginning of the industry. It turns out that RVs have existed essentially since folks have had cars. Early RVs are surprisingly similar in function to RVs today.

We left the museum just in time to catch another tour. We headed about a mile down the road to the Damon Motor Coach factory to catch their tour, but there was a mix-up on their web site and there actually was no tour this day. So we went down the block to catch the tour at Four Winds International. At this factory Four Winds builds lower and entry level motor homes. It was obvious from the two tours that these units were of lower quality than the Newmars and that less care was taken during their construction. Also the tour guide was less knowledgeable and less organized than the one at Newmar. If you ever intend to buy an RV it might be wise to visit the factory where it was made. You may be surprised. Many manufacturers don't offer tours at all, or only offer them by appointment. I suspect they don't want people to actually see how their units are really made.

Back in Shipshewana I visited one store that was particularly interesting. Wellspring Components is an Amish company specializing in batteries, inverters, solar power, wind power, and grilling and cooking appliance for Amish homes. One section of the store was dedicated to tricking out their buggies: lights, turn signals, rear-view mirrors, etc. They had a buggy wheel mounted on a display with an alternator installed, so that it would charge the battery as the horse pulled the buggy. Does it get any cooler than that?

Back at the hacienda the fridge was chugging along just fine. I think we are set to pull out in the morning.

Thousand Trails Indian Lakes

My brother departed for his home at Angier, NC Saturday afternoon. Dorcas and I departed Linville Falls headed north Sunday morning. We weren't sure exactly how far we would go or where we would spend the next night when we left Linville Falls, but after driving a few hours we decided we would make for Thousand Trails Indian Lakes in Batesville Indiana, almost 450 miles away. The drive was uneventful except for crossing the NC mountains from Linville Falls to Johnson City TN. Of course the road was hilly and twisty, but shortly before entering TN we saw a sign on US 19E near Plumtree NC advising that the road was closed ahead. DANG. We didn't see a detour sign and turning back was not an option, so we ignorantly charged onward. A few miles later we came upon another "Road Closed Ahead" sign, this one blocking the road and directing us off on a mountain side road. Again, we had little choice, so off we went. The best thing I can say about this road is that it was paved. It was steep, narrow and winding. The road was so narrow that when we met an oncoming vehicle, one or both of us would have to stop and pull off the road. We met a couple dozen oncoming vehicles, and more than once a car screeched his brakes and skidded over to the side. All the traffic coming down US19E would be on this road, but this was Sunday morning and, thankfully, most of the locals were parked at church this morning, praying for the survival of those lost souls in that huge motor home. The detour lasted perhaps about four miles and returned us to US19E without physical damage. US19E, which is itself a fairly small mountain road, looked like a major interstate to us now.

The rest of our drive was very pleasant and uneventful. We drove north from Knoxville through TN and KY across the Cumberland Plateau, crossed the Ohio River as we circled Cincinnati, and arrived at TT Indian Lakes shortly before dark.

Thousand Trails is a membership park system to which we belong. We can stay at a Thousand Trails park for up to two weeks at no cost, except for our annual dues. We stay at TT parks in Florida more than enough to cover the cost of our annual dues, so any other TT parks we manage to visit is like free camping. Thousand Trails Indian Lakes is a very pleasant park. It is huge, covering 544 acres with 722 camp sites and 52 cabins. The campsites are clustered in four areas with vast open grassy and wooded spaces between them. I wonder if this facility wasn't a county or regional park in a previous life. There is lots of room to run Matilda without her getting into trouble with other campers and other dogs. Most of the motor homes stay in Phase IV which has 50A service and full hookups. When we arrived on Sunday we had a choice of a number of sites in that area.

We stayed here three nights and didn't really do anything. We mainly decompressed from our long hard summer. I fretted a bit over the refrigerator, which, by the way, was behaving pretty well at this point. It was cooling well enough that I had put our food back into it and stowed the cooler in the car. Sometimes an obstruction can block the flow of coolant through the unit, and the motion of driving and the bumps of the road can clear the obstruction. At least temporarily. The thing that caused the obstruction may still exist, and it could come back around and block up the works again. The fridge may be working, but it may not be fixed.

Which brings us back to the Saga of the Jinxed Fridge. Pines RV Refrigeration still owed us a new cooling unit to replace the temporary re-manufactured unit they had sent us two weeks ago. The most direct route to Minnesota, our final destination is through Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. That is the route we had originally intended to take, with planned stops in Wisconsin at the Lienenkugel Brewery, a Canoe Rendezvous, a Harley-Davidson factory tour and maybe a Brewers game. We then planned to return home through the U.P. of Michigan. It turns out that these aftermarket cooling units are made by an Amish family at a factory on their farm in Shipshewana in northern Indiana, only a few miles from the Michigan state line. Shipshewana is not so far out of the way if we go to Minnesota up the Michigan side. So, it had occurred to me before leaving home, that we might could go by the factory, pick up our new cooling unit there, and not leave until we knew it was working correctly. When I mentioned that to the sales guy, he said that was a great idea, and that the owner of the company would actually install it for me. That clinched the deal; it was off to Shipshewana for a new cooling unit and a counter-clockwise Lake Michigan circle tour. We departed Batesville IN and TT Indian Lakes early Wednesday morning for a 230 mile dash to Shipshewana in northern Indiana.

Franklin Reunion Linville Falls NC

Since we were already delayed for our fall trip because of jury duty, The Great Driveway Project and our yard sale, we had decided to stay home long enough to attend the annual Franklin Reunion in Linville Falls. The reunion is always held the 2nd Saturday in August and is a gathering of the descendants of Samuel and Dorcas Franklin. Samuel Franklin is my great, great, great, great grandfather. Samuel Franklin's father was James Franklin, Ben Franklin's older brother. It is ironic that granddaddy Sam and I both hooked up with gals named Dorcas. As far as I know there are no direct descendants named Dorcas. I have always been thanked by the clan for bringing another Dorcas back into the family.

We took the motor home up on Friday and parked at the Linville Falls Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Ironically the Franklin family used to own the land where the campground and the Falls are. Many of my kin still live and own much of the land around the community of Linville Falls.

My brother Ran had been waffling all week about coming to the reunion. It is about 4 hours for him to drive one way, no one else in his family wanted to come, and he had to be back for church service Sunday morning. I told him that if he came he could sleep in the coach (a rare honor; we have never before let anyone else sleep in the coach!), we would grill him a rib eye and he could have all the beer, wine, whiskey and rum he wanted. He doesn't often have a chance to drink and carry on with none of his family present, so maybe that's what hooked him. He came on up arriving Friday evening just in time for dinner. We built a fire and enjoyed some refreshing cool mountain air. It was a stark contrast from the weather we have seen in Winston-Salem the last 2 months.

The next morning we gathered at the Linville Falls Community Church for programs, singing, entertainment and finally ... great food. We talked with cousins and uncles and others that were related in other unknown ways. Many said how they missed my mother, who had attended the reunion last year. I told them she was here in spirit this year. Mom had willed a very nice hand carved wooden Franklin coat of arms to the family, and it was on display along with many family artifacts. The coat of arms contained the Franklin family motto: "Our humility is surpassed only by our beauty and our intelligence". Or at least that's the way I translate it. I did earn a "C" in high school Latin, you know. After the reunion ended we visited with some immediate family at my Aunt Ruth's house at Land Harbor. This photo is of some first cousins. Note the family resemblance.

This reunion actually represents the beginning of our annual summer/fall trip to the upper Midwest and to Minnesota and the BWCAW. We will not be returning home until about the 2nd week in October. Bon voyage.

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation

Once again I have found myself hopelessly behind in updating this journal. Here is an attempt to get caught up in one fell swoop. This is the tale of how we spent our summer vacation.

Missouri River Camping

Faithful readers last found us in mid April preparing to put-in on several rivers in southeast Missouri for extended camping trips. We did paddle four days and three nights on the Eleven Point River in the Mark Twain National Forest. After taking off the Eleven Point we drove to Van Buren MO and camped a night at the developed camp ground at Big Spring. Then we bought ice and groceries and put in for seven days on the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The water was relatively high, so we were able to put-in on the Prongs section of the Jack’s Fork River and paddled until the Jack’s Fork converged with the Current River. We spent 7 days and 6 nights on the river, taking out at Big Spring. It was a very nice float. The flow was less than it was when we were there three years ago, but it was a very nice level. The weather was very nice for both trips. The temperatures were mild, and we only had some light rain at one camp. We enjoyed the company of our fellow trippers: Wayne and Lynda and Harry. For those who would like to read more here is Wayne's account of the trip.

Hanging Rock State Park

From May 12 -17 we were camped at Hanging Rock State Park, attending the annual spring gathering there of the Lumber River Canoe Club. Hanging Rock State Park is one of the finest state parks in NC and is only 30 miles from our house. For the next four days we paddled successive sections of the Dan River. The Dan River is a jewel among Piedmont rivers, and we always enjoy paddling there. It has enough riffles and obstacles to be interesting and requires some maneuvering. It has outstanding views with high bluffs and thick rhododendron banks. We enjoyed good food and outstanding companionship with our friends in the Lumber River Canoe Club. Don Meece wrote a detailed report on the trip.


Down East NC and Lighthouse Tour

On May 27 we departed for a few weeks in down east North Carolina and the outer banks. Our primary objective was to attend a rally of the Southeast Country Coachers on Hatteras Island. Prior to the rally, SECC club members John and Lillian invited all rally attendees to visit and stay at their farm in Aurora prior to the rally. We ended up staying 7 nights at Old Hole RV Park, their private 15-site park, which is only available to friends. We very much enjoyed their hospitality. During our stay they hosted a spaghetti dinner, a pig pickin', a fish fry and a brisket dinner. The nights when there weren't fancy cookouts there were plenty of leftovers. Our stay there coincided with the Aurora Fossil Festival. Aurora is home to PCS, a huge phosphate mining and processing operation. The mine produces ore which is rich in fossils, particularly sharks teeth. Fossil hunting is not currently allowed in the mine, but PCS trucks over loads of ore to the festival site so people can dig through them looking for fossils. They also offer bus tours through their mining and manufacturing facility. I particularly enjoyed the plant tour, because I had heard a lot about PCS during my Air Quality career. They have a number of acid production plants and at one time were one of the largest polluters in the state. They also had the dubious distinction of being the most highly fined facilities in the state. Perhaps things may have improved since then. Most of the people in Aurora are dependent on the mine either directly or indirectly. I learned quickly not to tell folks that I used to work as an air quality regulator for the state. While staying at the "Old Hole" we made several side trips. One day we took the ferry across the Pamlico River and explored historic Bath, North Carolina's oldest town. On another day we drove to little Washington and visited with our friends Dave and Audrey. But mostly we just hung around the "Old Hole" and took it easy, listening to the juke box and enjoying the company sitting in the rockers on the front porch.

Finally we left the Old Hole and drove to Hatteras Island where we stayed 3 nights at Camp Hatteras in Rodanthe. We were camped on the sound side, and it was very hot and windy during our entire stay. There were about 20 other Country Coaches at the rally, and we enjoyed meals and happy hour with our motor home friends each evening. One night the club hosted a fish fry in the rally hall. On the next night we had an old fashioned weenie roast over a wood fire on the beach. It was very quaint and nostalgic. During the days we explored the OBX, mostly the parts south of our camp. We visited Cape Hatteras and climbed the lighthouse tower. There we saw a very interesting video showing the moving of the lighthouse almost 1/2 mile to it's current location. We also took the ferry to Ocracoke, where we walked around the island and visited the Ocracoke lighthouse, which is now open to visitors. We enjoyed a crab cake sandwich and a brew on the waterfront deck at the Jolly Roger Pub.

After the rally we moved about 15 miles north and stayed 4 nights at the National Park Service CG at Oregon Inlet. That CG has no hookups, and we were able to benefit from our solar array. From there we spent the days primarily exploring the OBX north of that point. We visited the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island and the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk. One day we drove as far north as NC 12 goes up the OBX to Corolla. There we climbed the Currituck Beach lighthouse. Finally, in order to celebrate the high winds that we had been enjoying, I bought a new stunt kite, a Prism Quantum, at Kitty Hawk Kites. I had bought a Trilby triple-ganged stunt many years ago and had been flying it some on this trip, but the Prism is a whole different animal. This video shows some stunts that Prism kites can do, and it is extremely impressive. I can do some pretty basic stuff, like loops, stalls and landings that are not quite crash-and-burns, but nothing like the stunts in this video. Check it out!

Finally, we visited the Bodie Island lighthouse, but learned it was closed for renovations, and we could not climb it. This put only a small damper on our quest to climb all the lighthouses on the OBX. Actually it was interesting to see it shrouded in scaffolding and canvas and to listen to the wind whistle and scream through the scaffolding. We'll catch it next time.

Lumber River Camp Out

The Lumber River Canoe Club is a very active club with trips scheduled practically every weekend. A traditional annual trip is the overnight trip from Fair Bluff NC to Nichols SC each July. Some years we make this trip and some we don't. This year we were able to make it. The only bad thing about this trip is that we need to meet for the shuttle at 9:00 am on Saturday, which means we have to get up about 4:30 am. That's right 4:30, in the morning. That usually means we can't party very hard on Saturday night. We had a very pleasant paddle punctuated with frequent swim breaks. The highlight of the trip was Don's new antique wood and canvas canoe. Don bought this canoe a few months ago and had paddled it on some day trips, but not on an over-nighter. At some point early on Saturday he hit a submerged cypress knee and poked a hole in the bottom of the boat, whereupon it started leaking like a sieve. Don is a trooper. He borrowed a bilge pump from one of the kayakers and started bailing. I think he will be looking for someone qualified to replace the canvas skin on the outside of the hull.

We camped at a large shaded sand bar on river left fondly known as "The Oasis" about half way between the state line and Nichols. There was an intense but brief shower shortly after we arrived, which helped cool things down a bit. There was more swimming, an extended happy hour and a shared meal consisting of heavy hors d'ouevres. Dorcas and I, as well as many other of the old folks, crashed early and slept soundly. Sunday morning we cooked a hearty round of breakfast burritos, a riverside standard. The paddle to Rice Field Cove Landing near Nichols was slow and easy, with more frequent swim breaks. On the drive home we enjoyed another tradition: dinner at Skipper's Seafood near Thomasville with our friends Wayne and Lynda. Here is Don's account of the trip.

Home Stuff

In between these trips we did a number of projects around the house and I discharged one civic responsibility. In years past by mid-July we would have already departed for our annual trek to the upper Midwest and Minnesota. This year however, I was summoned for jury duty on July 26. Bummer. I had been summoned earlier last year for a date when we were to be in the Florida Keys. I wrote a very nice letter to the clerk explaining our travel plans and our reservations and suggested a specific 3-week period which would be perfect and not interfere with any travel arrangements. They did postpone my jury service, but ignored my specific window and assigned me a totally random date. Luckily that date did not conflict with any plans. It turns out that my number was not called that time,and I didn't have to report to the court house. This time I figured if I tried to change the date I could end up with a worse conflict and decided to just roll with it. This time I did have to report. There were three jury trials scheduled that day. After sitting all morning and then going to lunch, about half of the pool (not me!) was called away for one of the trials. They never came back, so I don't know what happened with them. About 4:00 PM they said the other two cases had been resolved and we were dismissed. About a week later I got my check for $12.00. Such is our system of juris prudence.

Another project that has occupied much of our summer is our yard sale. To put it bluntly: our house is a mess. Dorcas and I are both hopeless pack rats. It runs in both our families and we have never been able to overcome it. We have stuff in boxes from when we combined our households more than 10 years ago. We have stuff in boxes from our offices when we each retired. We have stuff in boxes from each of our parents houses and my grandmother's house after they passed. Etc., etc., etc. So, we decided we had to do something. I am reluctant to just throw something away if it has some value. We donated some clothes and other items to charitable organizations, but we decided we would also have a yard sale. All summer we have been going through boxes, closets and drawers; pulling stuff out of the rafters and off the shelves in the basement and staging stuff in the basement for a sale. We scheduled the sale for Friday and Saturday Aug 6 & 7. We advertised in the paper and on Craigs list and put signs and balloons out on the road. We had the sale on our new concrete driveway (more about that later), which was perfect. Our road is a narrow dead-end road with little parking, but somehow most of Forsyth County came down our road and looked at our junk. It was a lot of work, but we pulled it off, unloading at least all the major/big items. We had a lot of traffic and cleared a little over $900. We certainly haven't solved the junk problem in our house, but we made some serious headway. Whew! I'm glad that's over! After we cleaned up on Saturday our friends Wayne and Lynda came over. We then dined at Foothills Brewing, had a few brews and attended a Winston-Salem Dash baseball game. The home team won. Life is good.

Motor Home Maintenance and Repairs

The tires on the coach were manufactured in Oct 2003. Motor home tires usually "age out" before the tread wears out. Conventional wisdom suggests tires should be replaced every 5-7 years, although there is a great deal of controversy and disagreement on this point. Some say you are courting certain death if you go over 5 years. Others say they have run their tires 10 years or more and to change them simply because they have a birthday is wasteful. The manufacturers waffle on the point but do suggest internal inspections of the side wall after about 7 years. In any case my tires are almost 7 years old. All my friends with 2004 coaches have just had their tires replaced, so I figured it was my time. Besides, my right steer tire had recently shown some abnormal and very serious wear on the outside corner. I called Bill Plemmons, the big RV dealer in town, and asked for their recommendation for a tire dealer and an alignment shop. They suggested Stokes Tire in King and Auto Spring Company in Winston-Salem. After long consideration I had already decided I wanted the same model tires that were on the coach now. This was unfortunate, because that is not a common tire and Stokes Tire had difficulty locating a set, at least from a distributor who could get it here within a week. I was in a bit of a time crunch with our upcoming trip. Stokes Tire finally located 6 tires, but they were not as fresh as I would have liked; in fact were not as fresh as he had promised when I ordered them. Two were manufactured in March 2009 and four were manufactured in October 2009. I really didn't want to buy stale tires, because they would have to be replaced again that much sooner (remember the 7 year rule?) But I had no choice if I wanted that model and wanted them before I left on my trip. So I took the coach to King to have them installed. I have never watched them install large truck tires. I don't know if they do it this way everywhere, but here it was a manual process. The coach was jacked at one wheel position and that wheel was removed. The tire was then removed and re-installed manually, meaning laying the wheel on the pavement and using tire bars and no iron tire machine. They could not spin balance tires of that size so they put a granular beads in each tire which will distribute as the tire rolls and provide balance. This process was repeated for each of the 6 wheels and took about 4 hours. I also had the brakes inspected while the wheels were off. They looked like brand new. The coach is equipped with an engine compression brake, or Jake brake, so the service brakes get very little wear. I won't say here how much the set of new tires cost, but it hurt. It hurt a lot.

A few days after installing the tires I went to Auto Spring Co. for an alignment. At Auto Spring Co they align wheels manually, the old fashioned way, rather than using a computerized machine. My coach has independent front suspension (IFS) and the camber, castor and toe-in are all adjustable. The guy put a device on each wheel with level bubbles and checked the camber and castor. He used a rod to set the toe-in, measuring the distance between each tire. It turned out that the castor on the right front was off by 7/8", which explained the sever tire wear I had recently seen.

I changed the oil and filter on the engine, an annual project. This task is not too difficult but it is rather messy. The crankcase and the filter hold about 27 quarts. I have made the job easier by replacing the oil pan drain plug with a valve so that I can easily stop the draining oil and empty my pan. Perhaps the hardest part is filling the engine with the fresh oil. There is very little clearance between the oil fill and the top of the engine compartment, such that you can't simple pour the oil in from the bottle. I devised a funnel with a long hose, and stand on a ladder. That seems to work pretty well.

I have had problems with my refrigerator seemingly since we got the coach almost four years ago. In February 2009 the cooling unit blew out, releasing its pressurized contents and rendering the fridge useless. This failure was caused by the manufacturer using steel tubing that was too thin and which would fail after a number of heat cycles. It was the subject of a recall, but the recall did not fix the underlying problem. It simply installed a plate to separate the explosive gas that would ultimately be released from the LP burner, so that when it did fail, it would (hopefully) not burn down the coach. Mine failed and I replaced the cooling unit myself with an aftermarket unit. It seemed to work fine for a while, but during the last 8-10 months it has cooled erratically, cooling normally for about a week, then soaring into the mid 50 degree range for a while, then cooling again. After much research and discussion with technicians, including the one who sold me the cooling unit, it was determined that this cooling unit had now failed. The cooling unit was still under warranty and the company agreed to ship me a replacement. The problem was that they were out of stock, and they could not deliver before my Midwest trip. CRAP! They offered to send me a similar rebuilt unit to install and use until I returned, after which they would send me a new unit like the one I had bought originally. This would give me a working fridge for my trip, but would mean I would have to change out the cooling unit twice. An all-day job for me and not fun. But I didn't have much choice, so they sent me the rebuilt unit and I installed. it. It worked for about a day then began to not cool so good. After monitoring its performance for a few days and trying a few tricks suggested by the dealer, he determined that that unit was defective too. So now I am days away from leaving on a 10 week trip, I've spent dozens of hours messing with it and I still don't have a working fridge. We have no choice but to leave home with a large cooler packed with ice food, and try to have a new unit shipped to us somewhere on the road. Oh the joys of RV ownership! This story will be continued ....

The Taj Mahal Driveway Project 2010

We bought a 25' travel trailer in 2000 and started practicing for retirement. I realized after backing the trailer down my steep driveway and around a sharp 90 degree bend and the lower corner of the house the first time, that I never wanted to do again. It was too stressful for Dorcas, who was the recipient of my irate rants as she tried to keep me from hitting a tree or the house. Soon I hired a guy with a Bobcat to cut a loop around the west side of the house back to the street, making for a complete circular driveway around the house. I put down several loads of gravel. but never really finished it. It wasn't perfect, but it was functional. One problem was that it was narrow, uneven and held water. It wasn't really a suitable place to park the coach. Consequently I usually parked the coach behind the house on the old driveway. That meant it was difficult to get the cars into the garage (notwithstanding all the crap in the garage where the cars would normally be parked; see topic above). And I still couldn't drive all the way around the circle because there would be the coach or another vehicle blocking the way. It was kinda like one of those little tile puzzles where you have move the tiles around in a frame to get them all in a certain position. It was also just unfinished. It looked bad, and I had plans in my head that would make it so much nicer.

So, after procrastinating many years, Dorcas and I decided to bite the bullet and finish The Driveway. We would smooth out the vertical transition as it rises to the street, pour a wide level pad at the bottom and build a decorative retaining wall on the bank next to the house. Folks who know me also know that when I undertake a project such as this, I tend to go all out and don't take any shortcuts. So it was with The Driveway. We ended up pouring 54 cubic yards of 3500 psi concrete, 6" thick with 1/2" re-bar on 12" center. As they say in the trade you only get one chance when you pour concrete. We put 48' of 15" reinforced concrete pipe under the driveway below the path where the gravel always washed out, with a formed concrete catch basin and cast iron grate. The lower pad is level, 24' wide and 35' long (short edge) to 45' long (long edge). It is wide enough to park the coach on one side and drive another large vehicle around it. In fact, I made the pad wide enough to park 2 motor homes side by side. We are also good if we upgrade to 45' motor home (heaven forbid!). I have also installed PVC conduits under the concrete for an electrical service panel and a gutter pipe. We included 5' stamped concrete aprons at the edge of the road at both the new and old sections of the driveway. There is a decorative stacked block retaining wall on the bank between the pad and the house, with block steps up to the front yard. Most of the grading and forming was done by a contractor, but I put in a fair bit of sweat equity. The wall, however, that was all me. It was very hot and humid and the blocks weighed more than 60 pounds each. Seldom could a block be set without moving it several more times before it was right. This was certainly the most difficult home improvement project I have ever undertaken; much more difficult than our painting project last year. Perhaps I'm just getting old.

All in all it came out extremely well. The steps are only half completed, I haven't completed all the final grading and I haven't wired my electrical pedestal. In October we will plant some new grass, ground cover and some shrubbery. I expect the last 10% of the project will probably take another year to complete. But it's looking nice!

Spring in the Ozarks

We have an annual tradition of doing a spring canoe camping trip in the Missouri or Arkansas Ozarks with our friends Wayne and Lynda. Today the tradition continues. Today we will put in on the Eleven Point River, a national river in southeastern Missouri. The plan is to paddle about 50 miles over four days, camping on the riverside. Then, we will take off, re-provision, and put in the next day on the Jacks Fork or Current River, in the same general area, for seven days, assuming the water levels are suitable. We have paddled on the Jacks Fork and Current Rivers several times. They are spring fed, clear green, and beautiful. They are known for good trout and smallmouth fishing. We believe the Eleven Point will be similar and the weather forecast is excellent. We are looking forward to another grand trip.

We will be out of touch for the next twelve days or so and will report when we return.

A Lazy Day on the Hillsborough

During the first six weeks of our winter Florida adventure, due to unseasonably cold weather, we only paddled one time. That was on the Weeki Wachee River and it was the warmest frigid day we had seen. Today, we paddled the Hillsborough River with our friends John and Susan. It has warmed considerably here in sunny Florida and this trip will mark our 11th paddle since we left the Keys in mid-February.

The Hillsborough River is very close to Lazydays. After an omelet breakfast at the Crown Club, We met John and Susan at the put-in at John B Sargeant park only 5 miles from our camp. It was a beautiful day to paddle. The water level was higher than we had every seen it due to recent storms. We put in at the landing, paddled out a short canal and turned right up Flint Creek. In spite of the high water there was little flow on Flint Creek. We paddled about a mile up Flint Creek before it narrowed and we turned around. When we returned to the Hillsborough River we turned right and paddled upstream about a mile. After about an hour of chasing alligators, turtles and herons we turned around and enjoyed a leisurely float. Between the high water and the warm sunshine, we saw dozens of snakes basking in the bushes. We also saw ospreys, hawks and roseate spoonbills. After a wonderful four hours and about eight miles, we arrived at the take-out at Trout Creek Park.

On the shuttle back to the put-in, we visited with our friends Joe and Jean Faulk, who operate a canoe livery service on the Hillsborough called Canoe Escape. We had hoped Joe and Jean would be able to break away and paddle with us one day before we left town, but business is booming now so maybe next year. After completing the shuttle we said goodbye to John and Susan who were excited about their upcoming trip. In two days they are flying to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands for a twenty day adventure. Dorcas and I beat it back to the Crown Club just in time for happy hour.

Coming Home to Lazydays

Wednesday night it was threatening rain, so we packed up most of our outside gear before we went to bed. Thursday we departed Thousand Trails Peace River about 9AM, just as it started to rain for serious. We drove north toward Tampa in intermittent heavy rain, but by the time we set up at Lazydays RV Campground (formerly Rally Park) it had mostly quit.

We bought our Country Coach at Lazydays a little over 3 years ago and have spent many nights here since then. When we bought our coach, they gave us a membership in the Crown Club, an exclusive club for folks who buy high-end coaches here. At the Crown Club we are wined and dined three times a day for free. Our membership expires next month (unless we shell out BIG $$$ for a new coach, which ain't likely) so we like to spend as much time in this area as we can while the gettin' is good. Lazydays is the largest single-site RV dealer in the country. They have thousands of RV's on site that are unlocked so you can look through them without being bothered by a salesperson. It's a wonderful place to hang out.

Staying at Lazydays is kind of like coming home, we usually see people we know having service done, buying a new coach, hanging out or just passing through. This time we saw friends, Dave and Rita in Lazydays RV Campground attending a rally; Jim and Luci in the Crown Club for service; and Rob and Bonnie in the Crown Club trading coaches. Small world.

Today, unsettled weather set in; it was a crappy day outside but a good day to spend in the Crown Club. It rained hard all day with high winds and thunder storms. The news reported tornadoes close by to the north and east. The forecast for tomorrow is excellent and we have a date to paddle the Hillsboro River with friends John and Susan.

Paddle Arbuckle Creek 2X

Arbuckle Creek is fairly close to Thousand Trails Peace River, but we have never paddled it. We have never been here when we were with other paddlers who could help us run a shuttle. Arbuckle Creek is frequently paddled by members of the Florida Sport Paddling Club, usually as an overnight trip. John and Susan had paddled the creek previously, but were very agreeable to paddle it again. On Sunday we decided to paddle the section from East Arbuckle Road to the bridge at Arbuckle Creek Road, a distance of about 12 miles. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. We drove about 30 miles east through Avon Park and unloaded the boats at the put-in. Susan and I ran the shuttle, and then we anxiously put onto the creek.

The creek was gorgeous, but the highlight of the trip was the wildlife. We saw numerous examples of the usual water birds. We saw many raptors including red-shouldered hawks, ospreys and a barred owl. We saw a herd of turkeys. We got a good look at an American bittern, which I'm not sure is rare, but I don't recall seeing one before. We also saw several raccoons on the banks of the river and in the live oak trees. However, the highlight of the trip was a great sighting of a Florida panther! John saw it first; its head was sticking up from behind some brush. At first we thought it was a huge house cat, but it was quickly obvious that it certainly wasn't a house cat. Then we thought it might be a bobcat, but it just didn't have the tufts or the ears or the shape to be a bobcat. Then it ran, and we could see it clearly, and we were sure. It was a panther. It had a full tail and was bigger than I expect a bobcat would be. After some research and after viewing some photos on the internet, we confirmed it was a panther. We believe the cat was not yet mature. He showed a few stripes on his face and some spots on his body, indicative of an immature cat. Dorcas got a pretty nice photo of his head, but she was unable to get another clear shot as he bolted from behind the brush and loped up and over the creek bank. This was a very fortunate and rare sighting. Most visitors and even native Floridians will never see a panther in the wild. After the paddle we returned via Sebring and enjoyed a muy grande dinner at Don Jose Mexican restaurant.

Dorcas and I decided to paddle on Arbuckle Creek again today. Unfortunately John and Susan had left Thousand Trails Peace River and moved up to Thousand Trails Orlando, so we were on our own. We decided to put in at the same place we had put in on Sunday, but paddle upstream instead. We would paddle up as far as we could go or until we reached Lake Arbuckle, whichever came first, then turn around and return to our put-in. We found the current was not very swift and we made good time. After about 1.5 hours we arrived at the head of the creek at Lake Arbuckle. We paddled out into the lake and around to the right where we found a very nice paved canoe landing with a dock and a restroom. While Dorcas was in the restroom I walked over to what looked like a ranger station. There I found an armed uniformed guard who informed me that I was on military property and had to leave. He was actually very polite, but we quickly finished walking Matilda and left. We paddled back the way we came enjoying the fact that we did not have to fight the current. We saw a number of alligators on the paddle. Several gators were apparently recent mothers and had many baby gators on their backs. I wanted to pick up one of the babies, but Dorcas thought it was a bad idea and wouldn't let me.

We arrived at the put-in/take-out after a 6.2 mile round trip paddle. The only house on the creek was at the take-out where we saw a man in the yard just as a red-shouldered hawk swooped down towards him. It turns out that a pair of hawks were nesting in a tree in the yard. The man had been feeding them turkey necks, so they kept a close watch whenever he came out into the yard. He went back into the house, got a fresh neck and threw it into the air. The hawk dived for it and caught it in mid air and returned to his nest. Cool!

Paddle Peace River 2X

A few days ago, I struck up a conversation with Dick, our back door neighbor at Thousand Trails. Dick had noticed our boats and wondered if we wanted to paddle on the Peace River. He had met another couple in the park, and they had made a tentative plan to paddle a short section of the river the next day. We had not paddled in a while and were raring to go, although the forecast for the next day was not very good.

It rained in the morning, but the forecast for the afternoon was better. It was still a windy, cool and dreary day. We put in at the public landing in Wauchula and shuttled the cars back to Thousand Trails where we would take out. With us, in addition to Dick, were Bob and Paula, kayakers from Long Island. Dorcas and I had paddled this section of the river several times before, but had always put in at Bowling Green, about 8 miles further upstream. Given the weather it was probably just as well that the paddle was relatively short. It sprinkled a little and we had to work a bit to keep the wind from blowing us off course. When we arrived at the take out at camp we had covered just a little under 4 miles.

Shortly after arriving at camp we were surprised to find our friends John and Susan had arrived at Thousand Trails. We had met John and Susan at another Thousand Trails park several years ago and had run into them several times since then. We found that we have much in common: we all paddle, bike, tent-camp, and we have similar views and philosophies. We also both belong to the Florida Sport Paddling Club and have some common friends. We had paddled with John and Susan last year, and made plans to paddle with them again while here together.

So it was that today we paddled another section of the Peace River with John and Susan. We decided on the section from Fort Meade to Bowling Green, which Dorcas and I had never paddled. It is always fun to paddle a new section of river! We drove to Fort Meade and located the put-in at the Fort Meade Recreational Park off US 98 after a little aimless wandering and after talking to some locals.

The day was much nicer than our previous paddle on the Peace. It was perfect paddling weather, warm and sunny. We saw a few gators and most of the usual wading birds as well as ospreys and red-shouldered hawks.

Our most unusual wildlife sighting was a cow stuck in the mud at the edge of the river. The cow was stuck up to her neck in the soft mud and could not get out. It was obvious she had been there for some time and was quite tired from the struggling. We had heard some shooting and some ATVs a short distance downstream, so we knew some people were close by. John got out and went to find someone that could help. After a few minutes he returned with a man and two young girls. One of the girls said "Oh no! it's Sandy!". It was clear that the man did not know how he was going to get the cow out of the mud, but he thanked us for letting him know about it and left, presumably to get more help. I hope Sandy made it. Before leaving he warned us that folks were shooting skeets across the river around the bend, and he would go let them know we were coming through. Thanks!

It was a wonderful day on the river. We took out at the bridge near Payne's Creek State Historic Site after the 14 mile paddle.

Highlands Hammock State Park

We finally had a nice warm sunny day and decided to visit Highlands Hammock State Park about 20 miles away near Sebring. It was an excellent day to cycle so we packed up the trikes and Matilda and headed towards Sebring.

Highlands Hammock State Park has a very nice paved one-way loop road through a hardwood hammock and an off-road bike trail around the perimeter of the park. We first took Matilda for a brisk trot/ride. We started off on the unpaved bike trail. She was good for a while, but seemed to poop out after less than 1/2 mile. So we turned back to the car to park Matilda in the shade for the remainder of our ride. We then toured the campground, which looked like a very nice place to stay. There we connected again with the perimeter bike loop and biked the eastern portion of that trail. The surface alternated from hard-packed sand and grass, to short stretches of soft sand. We passed the primitive camping and managed to make it back to the parking lot without getting stuck.


We then biked the paved loop road which was an excellent ride. The loop road passes through a dense hardwood hammock for about 3 miles. Numerous short hiking trails lead from the road. Traffic was light, and we cycled the loop twice. After our ride we returned again to the parking lot near the cafe, lusting for a cup of wild orange ice cream, but no, not today. The cafe was closed this day. Dang. We did tour the adjacent Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) museum. The CCC museum celebrates the CCC in Florida and the US. The CCC was instrumental in developing many public works projects during the 30s and 40s. Finally we retrieved Matilda and hiked some of the short trails. There we saw several armadillos and got a short glimpse of what might have been a wild hog.

A few days later we returned to Highlands Hammock State Park and biked the park with our friends John and Susan. We biked all the routes we had biked previously, except we explored more of the northern section of the perimeter bike trail. The rangers had warned us that this section contained a bit of deep soft sand, but we did it anyway. This was not a particularly wise decision; the rangers were right. We made it though, with just a little bit of dragging our cycles through the soft sand. We ended up at the cafe where we had a long belated cup of wild orange ice cream. Yum yum!.