Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Trip West March 2008
Trip West
March 2008
(Note: If you are only reading this blog to see what fell off our RV this month, you’re a sick person; please see a mental health professional.)
On March 5 we headed south to pick up our RV in Fayetteville, NC. We put our I-95 curse (3 breakdowns in 6 weeks) behind us and headed to Lewisburg, WV. We arrived at our property and discovered we had misplaced the keys to our garage. A local locksmith picked the lock. We dropped off a few things and headed west. We had planned to go to Louisville, KY to see Pat’s friend Margaret, but a record breaking snow storm had just dropped about 10 inches of snow there. We took a more southerly course and headed to Memphis. We took all back roads to get there but found a 200 mile trip took most of the day. We wanted more time to hike and explore so we got back on the interstates.
Raise your hand if you’ve been to Oklahoma. Didn’t think so, neither had we, so that’s why we went. In OK city, we visited the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Center. We enjoyed the section on TV and movie Westerns the most. The follow day we visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. The memorial remembers those who lost their lives in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The museum covers the events of the day of the bombing through 16 days of rescue and recovery.
From OK we headed SW to Carlsbad Caverns in NM. We spent 5 hours touring the cave and the next day we hiked in Guadalupe Mountain NP. In Tucson we toured BioSphere2. This was a sealed experimental enclosure that housed 8 scientists for 2 years. Low oxygen levels, scarcity of food and coffee (2 cups /mo.), resulted in a poor teamwork setting. No wonder they all had been rejected by E-Harmony.
On this trip I was hoping to relive and share with Pat was certain experiences that I had when I traveled through the Southwest in 1972. This turned out to be impossible, but we were able to create our own memories. The more we travel the harder it gets to have new experiences, but we had such an experience hiking in the Mojave Desert. At the end of our hike was an oasis, complete with very large palm trees and watering holes. The only thing missing was a camel.
(Since you read the boring stuff, I’ll give you the dirt - during our 4200 mile cross country trip, we had two flat tires, but they were both on our bikes!)
March 2008
(Note: If you are only reading this blog to see what fell off our RV this month, you’re a sick person; please see a mental health professional.)
On March 5 we headed south to pick up our RV in Fayetteville, NC. We put our I-95 curse (3 breakdowns in 6 weeks) behind us and headed to Lewisburg, WV. We arrived at our property and discovered we had misplaced the keys to our garage. A local locksmith picked the lock. We dropped off a few things and headed west. We had planned to go to Louisville, KY to see Pat’s friend Margaret, but a record breaking snow storm had just dropped about 10 inches of snow there. We took a more southerly course and headed to Memphis. We took all back roads to get there but found a 200 mile trip took most of the day. We wanted more time to hike and explore so we got back on the interstates.
Raise your hand if you’ve been to Oklahoma. Didn’t think so, neither had we, so that’s why we went. In OK city, we visited the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Center. We enjoyed the section on TV and movie Westerns the most. The follow day we visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. The memorial remembers those who lost their lives in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The museum covers the events of the day of the bombing through 16 days of rescue and recovery.
From OK we headed SW to Carlsbad Caverns in NM. We spent 5 hours touring the cave and the next day we hiked in Guadalupe Mountain NP. In Tucson we toured BioSphere2. This was a sealed experimental enclosure that housed 8 scientists for 2 years. Low oxygen levels, scarcity of food and coffee (2 cups /mo.), resulted in a poor teamwork setting. No wonder they all had been rejected by E-Harmony.
On this trip I was hoping to relive and share with Pat was certain experiences that I had when I traveled through the Southwest in 1972. This turned out to be impossible, but we were able to create our own memories. The more we travel the harder it gets to have new experiences, but we had such an experience hiking in the Mojave Desert. At the end of our hike was an oasis, complete with very large palm trees and watering holes. The only thing missing was a camel.
(Since you read the boring stuff, I’ll give you the dirt - during our 4200 mile cross country trip, we had two flat tires, but they were both on our bikes!)
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Florida in Feb 2008
In the continuing adventure of getting our trailer road worthy, we picked up new tires and wheels for the trailer (shipped from CA) and had them installed. Less than 10 miles later, one brand new tire was flat. After 5 stops to find a tire place that could fix the tire, we found a motorcycle shop that did. Since we were having such good luck with the trailer we decided to store it in FL, so that we could have a trouble-free ride back north.
Also, we had been hearing various noises coming from the rear wheels of the RV so we took it to a VW dealer and they checked it out. The found no problems and said the bearings were fine. We were still troubled by this noise so we made an appointment to have it checked by our RV dealer when we returned to MD.
We continued our tour in north central FL visiting several state parks. At Chassahowitzka we saw Manatees hanging around warm springs and wood storks in the marshes. We had a get together with other Rialta owners. We were the only ones there (out of 45 rigs) that were full time RVing. Afterwards, we canoed in the Okefenokee Swamp and hiked in Magnolia Springs SP in GA before we headed north.
On Friday night, 2/15, at 8 PM Pat was driving up I-95 just north of Fayetteville, NC. I was lying on the bed in the back of the RV, when the RV started to swerve and I saw sparks shooing 10 feet in the air. I fell to the floor and braced for a crash or roll-over. Finally the RV came to a stop on the shoulder of the interstate. We were both emotionally drained but OK. We inspected the RV and found the vehicle resting on the left rear axle. The tire and wheel were lost in the darkness.
An hour later a tow truck and an incline flat bed showed up. The tow truck lifted the rear end of the RV and pushed it up on the flat bed. They dropped us off at a hotel in Dunn and took the RV to their yard in Fayetteville. The next morning we rented a car from Enterprise “We’ll pick you up” Rental Car Agency. (The only rental company in Dunn). We asked to be picked up, but agent said she was working by herself and couldn’t leave the office. We walked to the office only to find a note on the door that the agent would be right back. She arrived later, carrying breakfast. I guess when I called; I should have told her I was a donut.
Currently the Rialta is still in the shop. Our plan is to start driving to the West Coast on 3/5/08. We may be delayed a few days. Our flight to Australia leaves San Jose, CA on March 29-whether we make it there or not!
Also, we had been hearing various noises coming from the rear wheels of the RV so we took it to a VW dealer and they checked it out. The found no problems and said the bearings were fine. We were still troubled by this noise so we made an appointment to have it checked by our RV dealer when we returned to MD.
We continued our tour in north central FL visiting several state parks. At Chassahowitzka we saw Manatees hanging around warm springs and wood storks in the marshes. We had a get together with other Rialta owners. We were the only ones there (out of 45 rigs) that were full time RVing. Afterwards, we canoed in the Okefenokee Swamp and hiked in Magnolia Springs SP in GA before we headed north.
On Friday night, 2/15, at 8 PM Pat was driving up I-95 just north of Fayetteville, NC. I was lying on the bed in the back of the RV, when the RV started to swerve and I saw sparks shooing 10 feet in the air. I fell to the floor and braced for a crash or roll-over. Finally the RV came to a stop on the shoulder of the interstate. We were both emotionally drained but OK. We inspected the RV and found the vehicle resting on the left rear axle. The tire and wheel were lost in the darkness.
An hour later a tow truck and an incline flat bed showed up. The tow truck lifted the rear end of the RV and pushed it up on the flat bed. They dropped us off at a hotel in Dunn and took the RV to their yard in Fayetteville. The next morning we rented a car from Enterprise “We’ll pick you up” Rental Car Agency. (The only rental company in Dunn). We asked to be picked up, but agent said she was working by herself and couldn’t leave the office. We walked to the office only to find a note on the door that the agent would be right back. She arrived later, carrying breakfast. I guess when I called; I should have told her I was a donut.
Currently the Rialta is still in the shop. Our plan is to start driving to the West Coast on 3/5/08. We may be delayed a few days. Our flight to Australia leaves San Jose, CA on March 29-whether we make it there or not!
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