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.

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...

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.

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 2^nd 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.

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...

Hurry Up To Wait...

As most insurance claims go, we are pretty much trapped playing the "Hurry Up and Wait" game. It is slightly more complicated involving 2 insurance companies, one for the truck and the other for the RV. The truck has been a bit easier since GMAC has a large presence including adjusters in Wilmington, NC where National Interstate has to send out an independent adjuster.

The accident occurred last Sunday and the truck arrived at Mikes Collision Center on Wednesday and the RV not until Thursday evening. The holdup--$3900 tow bill--color me not surprised. The insurance companies decided to split it. Although they don't seem very interested in the facts and my photos, I am taking on the fight in the interest of price gouging and deceptive information provided to the insurance folks. Yes, Yelp.com, Ripoffreport.com and the BBB are all part of the strategy, although I will give them the benefit of the doubt to correct their ways. Principles matter.

The truck damage when all is said and done will be at least $6100 and the estimated time frame is at least ten days. With the storm circling this area for the next few days, I am not sure how that will impact work and parts arriving from across the USA. The RV's adjuster played phone tag with me on Friday and no progress was made in even starting that process, so perhaps more on Monday. So, do the math--8 days and we have gotten the Lady Eagle from the accident scene to the repair shop.

Our depression meds....

 

Time to Google "laptop cemeteries"....rains, pours, and all that..

Spent Thursday away from insurance company jargon and hung out in downtown Wilmington. The Coast Guard Diligence, based here, was just leaving port after being docked for 30 days. Prediction: Population count to rise in 9 months. We stayed for 3 hours for one purpose--wanted to see how the bridge worked--draw or something else? Elevator bridge--real cool--as you can tell in the background, the span across the water separates and goes straight up to allow clearance for the Cutter enroute to the Caribbean for drug enforcement.

What the Atlantic looked like on Wednesday....a few days before Hurricane Sandy disturbs the scenery...

...and the gloom of Sandy arrives, four days of it on the forecast...

Because of the looming storm, we decided to return the rental car Friday night and will go without wheels for 4 days. We did not want another claim with the storm potential, debris flying around, etc. Our hotel has been great to us offering at 25% hardship discount and is proximate to eateries and WalMart.

We have eaten out more in the past 6 days than we have in the almost 7 months of this adventure. Not the way we planned it, but now for the first time, it feels like a vacation for Teri not having to cook! I am thankful for elastic.

What to do, what to do. In a bit of a quandary as I suspect most folks would be encountering such a drastic circumstance.We have learned patience is an asset when making a big decision on changing courses.

Our thoughts are in a holding pattern, but hard to expel the "what ifs"---what if it would have happened on the 2 lane road an hour earlier with families going out for a Sunday breakfast, what if my speed would have been 2 mph faster into the median cable, what if an 18 wheeler gas tanker would have been on my left side when the tire gave way---those are all thoughts that were realities that day, just not at the moment of the incident. We don't want to live a life in fear, sort of takes the joy out of it. So, we will trust we will be protected as we were 1 week ago today and move on. It is only 250 miles further back to Austin the way our course had us going, so why not go exploring rather than direct. Time and the checkbook balance hold the real clues.

Day #206---the journey remains parked in a hotel room in Wilmington, NC.

Well, That Was One Way To Meet New Friends !

In the first 24 hours following a disabling accident in an RV journey, one speaks to a bunch of new folks. For vagabonding introverts, I am not sure that has been a great thing, merely a thing. Because I seldom have informative blogs, excuse me, "meaningful" per the co-pilot, perhaps I can offer up one in this post of what transpires after such an ordeal.

Let's count the friends:

• North Carolina State Highway Patrol- 2- The 911 dispatcher (hat tip, did well, from this "expert witness") and the investigating trooper. Well, investigating is perhaps going a bit far since he never once exited his vehicle other than to return my paperwork and the bogus ticket for an unsafe tire which he never looked at or inquired about. Officer Iam Surly also never inquired as to our condition opting instead to immediately go for the standard fare of asking for "vehicle registration, insurance and ID's for you and your passenger". Guess Teri resembled someone from his Wanted file (well-kept chicks over 50 wanted by young bucks).
• Roadside assistance- 3- CoachNet folks calling me back trying to find a tow solution, although not obligated since it was accident related and therefore up to the trooper or my insurance company to assist. But trying to point out I-40 was an eastbound/westbound highway was a chore as I kept on getting "My map shows you southbound". Uhhh---crow flight is not standard direction.  HINT: In the USA, even numbered interstates run east/west, odd north/south. (See, that right there is MEANINGFUL).
• Towing service- 7- Three in communications, two drivers and two who had to come let us in to the storage yard to get more belongings. Yup, we are still a fan of undergarments and toothbrushes. Oh, as you can see from our tow truck photo, you would have thought I told them I had crashed the Space Shuttle.
• RV park-1- Originally thought RV was OK so had KOA hold a spot for us, until we discovered batteries decided to launch themselves rendering us without power.
• Hotel desk clerks-2- One upon arrival and one second morning to announce we needed 2nd night as no bed bugs were discovered.
• South Dakota insurance agency- 2-  one morning call and one afternoon call for questions.
• Truck insurance providers- 4- the initial call to after hours number to report the accident, plus 3 people on the claims/adjusters side, all who have decided I should  be the event coordinator since none of them have called me back. My main point of contact locally has been pretty much non-existent explaining to me she was new. Based upon my only conversation with her, I am thinking she was a Pharmaceutical Rep. who left with some of the product.
• RV insurance provider-1- (Yes, we have different companies for our truck and RV). So far, just called them Monday afternoon as policy info was locked in our rig.
• Collision repair service-1- They specialize in trucks AND RVs, ideal for us, and they have an excellent reputation (holds breath).

Twenty-three new acquaintances, almost one per hour. Frankly, just grateful "Paramedic" and "ER Doctor" didn't join the list.

8 seconds of terror trail before the Eagle landed.

Oh yeah, one more shout out as there was a THANK YOU JESUS dialogue from my passenger as we grated to a stop, so that makes 24! I think I was too busy perusing the cab for a roll of Charmin and some Febreeze before any words came to mind.

The extent of my damage to State of N.C. property were 2 posts like you see in this photo. Yes, two. For that, the officer noted $4000!! as estimated damages. I darn near went up and tapped his shoulder to say "sleep through Damage Assessment class, did ya?" Tow driver even laughed commenting "those stakes run the State about $150 each installed".

So what did we glean:
1) Sunday travel double-edge sword. This was only the second time in 6+ months to do so. Blessing--lighter traffic perhaps helped with someone not being in the left lane as we decided to take ownership of the whole highway. Drawback--trying to get tow solutions, repairs, campgrounds, etc.
2) I am a comparison shopper, hence we ended up with 2 insurance companies having to deal with. I played the odds of not having a claim (have not had auto at fault accident in 36 years of driving) and lost. So be it, I would do it again for the 30% savings.
3) I am not a fan of overlapping insurance coverages (ie, rental car, roadside, etc). So we have a piece meal, but workable solution proceeding forward. Our RV, because it was our home, had an "emergency expense" clause to go toward temporary lodging and food. Teri has knocked off Cracker Barrel and Chick Filet off the crave list. Our fairly priced hotel is very nice and comfortable. Once those funds dry, our Roadside Assistance covers another small amount to supplement. Essentially, we can live for about 15 days before we have to hunt for cardboard, find highly traveled intersections and don our transient costumes.
4) If you are not sitting down, this is a moment to take a seat. After being held hostage for 36 hours this afternoon, it was time to find out what the hold up was with having no communication since our truck and fiver arrived into the tow yard. Rightfully so, neither insurance company was impressed with a $3,900 tow bill--yes, that is not a typo and was an insane amount. The monster tow rig in the photo never even came over to our side of the highway. It was 2 men and 3 hours total time from dispatch to return to tow yard, a distance of 35 miles each way. More shockingly, when I offered up all of my photos and willing to be a witness to my facts, the insurance company seemed indifferent. And you wonder why we have skyrocketing premiums?

So, where we are at time of posting this evening. The truck is being towed by itself to a repair shop through its insurance company as they paid 1/2 of the tow bill. The RV insurance will now have to come in and solve their piece of the tow which amounted to the tires being kicked and verifying the flashers on back were still working--they did zilch otherwise as it merely stayed attached to the truck the entire time never striking an obstacle.

We should have estimate on truck damage by tomorrow afternoon. Once the RV posts bond and is released from custody, it will go to the same repair shop (blessedly they work on both) to have a thorough systems and safety check to certify it as towable and liveable.

And just think, who started this whole thread on the Darker Side of full-timing?

Much to ponder...much to ponder...I did receive this link today along with this link from my wife via email. Is it time for a team meeting?

And do we have a potential complication brewing in the Caribbean tonight?

Oh, and to close out, one more gem from the wife's memory bank as we awaited the trooper's arrival--"you remember last night commenting you didn't have much to blog about right now". Careful what you ask for.

The journey of life continues, the RV one is on hold. But the thought of a small ranch home with a 3 legged hound chasing around a flock of hens by day and howling at the moon by night sounds appealing----------------------------------------tonight.