Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Settled

We had to play "musical sites", but we are here for at least a month at Oak Forest RV Park in Austin, Tx. Staying five nights in our arrival spot then moving over a grand total of----one space---- on Friday. Love it when I can drag all of our property over to our next RV space, all be it the rig is a tad too heavy for this lightweight, so we will hitch up and haul it around the loop once and be done for 31 days.


When the bikes are down and the cargo box is out of the back of the truck, you know as an RV'er you are put for awhile. Good feeling!


Arrived at the In-laws on Friday only to discover our back plate had been stolen, so filed police report and put front tag on the back. As you might surmise, the back plate is entered as "stolen". Since the front plate has the exact same info on it, guess what Mr. Policeman sees on his car computer--"STOLEN LICENSE PLATE". With my background, an overzealous officer will sometime mistakenly read "STOLEN VEHICLE" and that is where the roadside entertainment begins with officers pointing guns at you and commanding you to exit the vehicle with your hands up, blah-blah. Of course, I would be tempted to start "signing" with them pretending I was deaf to test their training and it would probably go bad from there. So, limited driving til new tags arrive.


One of the very few possessions we did not thankfully sell--our home vacuum, which rested in the shop loft at the in-laws. Within hours, I had the RV basement reorganized to take quick possession of this MUST NEEDED tool. Even though Teri swept and vacuumed with the (useless) Walmart mini-vac, this was the result with the Dirt Devil---one third full in a rig that has about 50 square feet of carpet.


When we started this journey, one of Teri's desires was to be near a community farm or a farmer's market. Well, it took our final campground and lo and behold if we aren't parked across the street from Green Gate Farms. Oh, and those turnips right there, when Teri works her culinary magic, really do taste just like mashed potatoes!


"Happy, happy, happy" (for you fans of Duck Dynasty) when this boy is 5 miles from the touchdown zone of Austin Bergstrom International Airport. In Texas, we call this bird-watching.


May have to reactivate spam controls on the blog----sorry---- but a bit tired of vaginal bacteriosis prevention, penile enlargements and the best one--eyelash growth serums--promotional links. Although I am not a doctor, I don't believe we have a need for any of those at this stage.



As promised, we headed back to Texas to spend more time with family....


Day 237 of full-time RV living/leaving/loving, sometimes all of the above....



Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Moving....Moving....Moving....Stopped.


7 days, just shy of 1,100 miles, Myrtle Beach, SC-Lake Charles, LA, where we will rest for Thanksgiving on the road. We sit just shy of 35 miles from the Lone Star state border- good, stiff westerly breeze and we might just get a whiff of some home grown Texas BBQ.


Yellow means yield--as in stay 2 lanes over and 100 yards back. The two closest near hits in this 11K mile journey involved truck rentals, no doubt inexperienced yahoos who still think they are in their daily driver.

To the average eye, that appears to be a washboard. In reality, that is a picture of I-12, westbound, from Baton Rouge, La. to Lafayette. There were more bumps than an experimental group testing out a new cure for acne.


 So you want to pay half-price via Passport America, then we will give you half a picnic table.


Ok, my astute wife spotted their nifty solution---they redeemed themselves--- combo picnic table and bench.

Rv'ers are an ingenious bunch. Hey, when you don't have kickstands, just grab the 6 ft aluminum ladder and convert it into a bike storage unit.


Nothing spells stability like drying off sitting on a bar stool on a wet floor in a campground bathroom.


Hat tip to Newmann, a faithful mentor I found over at RV.net and who is currently residing in La. for recommending Steamboat Bills, possibly the best meal we have had on this journey. A Boudin ball, red beans&rice, shrimp pistolettes and shrimp platter. All is well in the land of Cajun.


What the final journey will look like---those 16 states were the only ones Mr. Barnum and Ms. Bailey did not traverse through. There will always be next time...via a Gulfstream V business jet.


35,000
Here is wishing all of you who have stopped by since our journey began 7.5 months ago a Happy Thanksgiving!


Off to Texas on Friday, HookEm! Day 228.





Thursday, November 15, 2012

Home for the Holidays!



Decision time: We said we would give it 9 days once we arrived at Myrtle Beach, so we did what we always do--changed our mind--gave it 9 hours. We are moseying our way back to the Lone Star state to be home with friends and families for the holidays and will take an extended, if not permanent break, from being mobile. Yee-haw-ho-ho!

If you followed Teri's most recent post, there probably is no need for you to pick yourself off the floor.

We will continue to reside in the Lady Eagle for the foreseeable future. For those that do not know, we owner financed the home we sold for a year, so buyer has until March to seek funding, all be it the possibility exists it could be done in 2 weeks or so. So, our hands are tied until that point as we need the balance to purchase property. Additionally, I will probably try to find a career position and the RV gives us more flexibility to have a portable house to be close to employment until a sticks and bricks surfaces, or God reveals a different course of action. Austin is a traffic zoo and you don't want to commit to a home first and saddle yourself with a commuting headache.

Our motto was: "Cash is gone or we hit a year, whatever comes first". Are we out of money? No. Did we make it to a year? Time will tell. It is simply time to reunite with our friends and families for an extended basis and reevaluate in the stability of a known area and one that is as beautiful as any place we have visited. 

Other factors:
  • It was our plan to have our boys join us in FL. for a Christmas get together. We priced fares from Austin and Denver where our boys reside and they were price prohibitive. They are typical young adults with checking account balances that vary from "Slim" to "Pickens". If they would have bought plane tickets, they would have had zero monies left to lavish their parents with gifts. Unthinkable.
  • We have loose ends to tie up with settling post-accident matters, taxes to work on, etc.
  • Where gas prices have receded 25% from Summer highs, there has been almost no offest with diesel, still pumping it out at about $4 per gallon. Continuing to move would be budget crippling.
  • We are both ready to give back to our friends, families and community. It has always been a mental battle for me between "Enjoy this season of your life since you have been blessed with the resources to do so" versus "Are you really fulfilling God's path for your life serving the less of us". That was an epic struggle in this midget of a mind. Can you do both on the road--absolutely--so I don't want to take away from those that have found "their place" in the mobile community. There are wonderful organizations such as RV-Care-A-Vanners and such serving the locals. We just feel a tug toward longer term relationships.
  • I need a big dog to love. Yup, alot of you folks travel with them well, but I would have been right in our 2 week stay in a hotel and the hassle of trying to solve that with a canine in tow.
  • Need to get annual cholesterol tested. Results last time said: "Too much chicken fried steak". If you have followed our travels, put your money in the makers of Lipitor.
  • There is a Trader Joe's coming to Austin, so Teri can rest easy.
  • Driving 11,000 miles+ in tow is enough. Even though we had well maintained gear operating very safely and being driven likewise, I could not get rid of that 6th sense of uneasiness. Sadly, it manifested itself into 6 seconds of more excitement than we ever needed.
  • There is no 12 step program for brisket withdrawal and I need a fix.
The good news is Teri is back in her comfort zone as a co-pilot post North Crasholina. She actually napped during our brief ride today into Tallahassee. Thank goodness, that passenger brake was being worn out.


 
What does blogging foretell? What's not to love about making fun of ourselves and folks who are involved in this lifestyle. Of course, it continues until we hand over the title of the rig.

What about the RVing lifestyle? We still want a connection as we have met so many real and virtual friends. Teri even had a good idea to add an RV pad with power and water for ya'll to have a place to experience real Texas hospitality at no cost. Workkamping and even RV sales still is of interest to me, now that we have seen the inside looking out of the lifestyle.

When do we put on the cowboy hat again? Before Christmas. We know we will just mosey back on I-10 enjoying Turkey Day on the road. If you know of a cool town between FL and TX let us know. We have done Panama City, Mobile and N'awlins as recent as January, but are open minded to other hangouts.

Day 226...the journey slowing down to a crawl to the finish line.

Tally-ho from Tallhassee...

Sunday, November 11, 2012

On The Road Again...

After spending an unplanned 19 days in Wilmington, NC, this party of two is back on the road. A bit of uneasiness, as would be expected, on our 80 mile commute south on Friday to Myrtle Beach, but all in all, uneventful.


Before.....


After....


Yes, the first morning after arriving into Myrtle Beach--BLOWOUT on Teri's bike. Can we please revist the wooden wheel.


The good luck of finding payola, which I blogged about a few months ago, laying on the ground continues. Day #1 arriving at the repair center, now fondly known to us as Kollisions Of America resort, the crispy Georgy was on my path. On our departure date, a quarter appeared. We are now only $1,482.00 short of our out of pocket expenses from the accident. For the curious, GMAC on the truck and National Interstate insurance on the RV were very responsive. All total, including statuatowry rape, insurance covered right at $10,000.

 
Oh, almost forgot. The No Pot Squat streak is over. For the first time in 212 days, I had to stare at my kneecaps using the RV's bathroom as my dump station--pun intended. Yup, no facilities at the collision center after hours, other than a bush along side the state highway. Thanks for cheering me on as I did my best to honor all of you to keep the streak alive! But the good news, a new one has started.


Arriving at Ocean Lakes--voted America's favorite RV park in 2011-2012, Myrtle Beach, SC. YES, that is their campground map spread out on our floor. I informed the lady at the counter when she handed it to me that we only had an extended cab pickup and wasnt sure if I could open it up in our truck. 900 campground sites at this mega resort on the Atlantic Ocean. We are in the top left red section.


 The sun coming up over the Atlantic from our bedrrom window. We are 167 feet away from the sand.


Yes, their camping cabins. Seriously.


                                            Awesome Fun Center---pictured is Evil Knivel.


 One of 3....


Their own post office....


How Teri spells H-A-P-P-Y.

All for only $38 per night. Off season rate. Oh, and an off season that has 70 degree highs and 50 degree lows. Count us in on that plan.


But all was not joyful this week as with heavy hearts we lost 2 acquaintances, the first a police officer I worked with for 5 years who was tragically killed by another police officer in a case of friendly fire. Second, Sherry, who was a follower of our journey and a full time RVer, passed away after a 3 month struggle with complications secondary to a lung transplant. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Yes, emotions-heart strings-tugging for us over the past 3 weeks.

Day 220...with mixed feelings...some humor....some sadness.....like life....and death.





Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Checking In....




Day 16 of the Wilmington, NC tour of 2012. Progress seemingly seems stuck between slow and stop. What last week was Friday or Monday for the truck to hit the paint booth has turned into Tuesday or Wednesday. Tis the way of the insurance and the collision worlds.

The RV has passed its inspection, been powered up and ready to go. We became inhabitants again this past Saturday. Full hookups, local TV and wi-fi---well, wi-fi is 2 miles away at the McDonalds, so we are arm wrestling for Teri’s I-phone once an hour. She has some nice biceps developing. Sort of miss the hotel cable networks, but it was becoming scary every afternoon watching “The First 48 Hours”, “I Almost Got Away With It”, etc. as I looked over at the wife discreetly taking notes on her laptop. Run Forest Run!

As seemingly has been our luck since the journey began, we seem stuck in the weather pattern of “unseasonable”, “above average”, “below average”, “historical”, “record setting” fill-in-the blank forecast. Hurricane Sandy kept us confined for a weekend, followed last weekend by T-storms and golf ball sized hail circling above us and now we have coastal beach temps at night in the upper 30s—in early Nov. But it’s supposed to be gorgeous--- after we leave. We would have been wealthy if there would have been a tip jar for us as we exited every town.

Oh, and small market news reporters, woah— it’s like they grab every girl who took 2nd place in the local beauty contest and tell her “read this teleprompter, wear something low-cut and get those teeth whitened once a month”. 


 Remnants awaiting their final destination to the metal scrap heap. 


 “Alex, I will take Least Favorite Campgrounds for $400”. Oh well, free is easy on the budget.

Hoping to be out of here by Thursday, but not counting our paint gallons before they are shook.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Light...tunnel....



Oh joy, where to start. Where we left off--truck would be ready in 10 working days will probably become a reality. We saw it with all of its bandaids being applied to it in its assigned bay yesterday. Shooting for no later than Monday. 

The RV rig, which we thought was the easy part, arrived last Thursday at the collision center. The walk-around to start estimate process only took place yesterday and only because we arrived somewhat unannounced to check the status. But, they assured me it would be at least liveable by tomorrow, if you want to reside in a parking lot with full hookups in the middle of nowhere.We guesstimate we will stay in it Sat and Sun night to see if indeed all systems are "go". 

I am sure there will be a couple tweeks needed, so let's target next Wednesday as a departure date. Destination--1 hour drive down to Myrtle Beach--close enough to return if issues arise and far enough away to see if we can get our RV groove back. When Teri asked me today "What part of RV'ing are you most looking forward to returning to", I, being fully transparent with our readers, could not provide an answer. Seriously. Scary. I then concurred with her when she suggested her cooking. Again, there is an R and a V in the word groove, so time will tell.

As to hotel living, the Holiday Inn Express has served us well. Free hot breakfast, friendly folks, solid wi-fi and and an excellent gym we walk by every morning. Hey, walking is exercise and we have been faithful about using the stairs up/down to the 4th floor. Oh yes, we did stop in earlier this week and I weighed myself---no results, the scale just blurted out "Oink". Yes, dining out can be brutal, and we are on day 12! We have hit every 4-5 star eatery on Yelp in Wilmington. Thai, Italian, American, Mexican--every category of food except "pet", I do believe.

Our emergency vacation expense/trip interruption clauses are right on the edge of their thresh holds. 2 more days in hotel, 3 days of eating and 4 days in the rental car are all that remain. And then the difficult part---collecting reimbursement. You know what is coming-- "Dave, we are sorry, but according to Article 8, Paragraph 19, Section 12, Subsection B, Stipulation ii, we won't be able to reimburse you any of your submitted items".

As to the outrageous tow bill, I have created this site, but yet to really propel it into the viral world. It is about 90% complete and I have been careful to stay away from the slander cliff. So far, the 2 insurance companies haven't seemed overly interested in taking on the fight. GMAC has talked to the owner a couple times and he just gives the typical, indifferent response of "We applied our standard rates". Uhh no, that would be applying standard rape.

Regarding the incredulous "unsafe tire" ticket, I finally looked at the details this week. Fine: $25. The Court costs for NOT going to court: $243.00. So, let me see, endorsing the check for deposit and marking "Paid" in the final disposition field of their records computer system will take maybe 3 minutes?? Little high on their hourly rate in North Carolina, dont ya think? Maybe they are in cahoots with the tow company.

Day 210, a flicker of light...