Days 3 & 4 - November 13 & 14 - Coach Repairs and a Fun Day

November 13 - I had the coach over at Lakeshore by 7:20. I had not bothered to unload my motorcycle before I unhooked the trailer from the coach so I was "stranded" for the day. (If the hitch isn't connected when the bike weight moves back on the trailer the trailer front tips up. I'm shaky enough loading and unloading it, I don't need any other things adding to the excitement.) 

Bryan gave me the WiFi password so I spent some of the time watching TV shows. I also did some reading. The rear camera screen is shot. A new one should arrive by Monday afternoon. I enjoy the area and have no problem staying here a few days. When I moved the coach back over to the campground I reconnected the trailer so that I could unload my bike. It was a time consuming project since the I couldn't see the trailer when I backed up to it.

The weather was beautiful.

November 14 - I unloaded my bike in the morning and rode over to J P Coleman State Park, and around the park. The park gate is less than two miles from the campground. Total ride was only 10 miles.

J P Coleman State Park is on the bank of the Tennessee River, which is also called Pickwick Lake in this area. Pickwick Lake was created when the Pickwick Landing Dam was built. The lake covers over 43,000 acres. On the other side of the river is Alabama. A short distance downstream and the other side of the river is Tennessee.

Part of the parks marina.

Looking downstream.

Looking upstream.

A boat went by every couple of minutes.

In the afternoon I rode into Iuka, just to look around. I didn't notice any significant changes. While there I stopped at the combination Piggly Wiggly grocery store and Ace Hardware store. It's a decent hardware store sandwiched in the grocery store. The pressure regulator I use to protect the coach against high pressure campground water systems was leaking so I bought a new one.

I filled up with gas. 968 miles on the odometer when I filled up. I've had the bike for a little over 9 weeks. Over the 968 miles I've averaged 61 mpg.

The last stop before heading back to the campground was at Mineral Springs Park. Mineral water from it's "world-renowned oasis" won a prize at the 1902 World's Fair. I filled up a gallon jug for Kathy.

The round trip to Iuka was about 25 miles.

Back at the campground I got in a 1.5 mile walk around the local roads.

If you are interested in seeing/reading more about Iuka and the Park below are links to previous blog post while in the area.

December 2, 2024 Park in Iuka https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/day-4-monday-december-2-spent-day-in.html

December 7, 2024 Kathy bottling spring water https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/day-7-thursday-december-5-still-at.html

March 29 & 30 Coleman State Park and Pickwick Dam and campground https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/

December 7, 2023 More Iuka https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2023/12/day-4-thursday-december-7th-exploring.html

God is good. I pray that He blesses you. He has blessed me.

Days 1 & 2 - November 11 & 12 - Home to Lakeshore Custom RV in Iuka, MS

 I left home about 9:30 Tuesday morning. As I was leaving I noticed that our camera (full time backup camera) was not working. It had worked fine on Monday. 

When Kathy and I are together we normally opt to take US highways instead of Interstates but since I was soloing, driving and navigating, I chose to stay on Interstates where practical. I went north to Kingdom City and then east to Wentzville where I took I64/I270/I155 around St. Louis to get to I55 south.

 Tuesday, the 11th - traffic flowed freely, even through the numerous construction sites I encountered. I spent Tuesday night at the Marson Welcome Center Rest Area, in Missouri's boot heel, 298 miles from home. There were only a few trucks when I arrived a little after 4 PM. When I got up Wednesday morning the place was full. There were quite a few truck "parallel parked" around the edge of the lot.

The wind blew at around 15 mph most of the evening and night. I ran the generator some while I made supper, I could  run the heat pumps when the generator was running. After supper I shut the generator off and switched to the gas furnaces for heat.

PS. Not having the camera showing your towed vehicle, or in this case my motorcycle on a trailer, was a pain. The week before we left we found out our Ford Flex has a leaking water pump. The water pump is internal and it is a MAJOR job to replace. We have an appointment to have it replaced on the 20th. Kathy will drive it down when her back feels ready, she had back surgery 7 weeks ago and the surgery caused a spinal fluid leak. If she feels like here back is up to the 1,100 mile trip from home to Harlingen, TX, but she isn't ready to drive all that way, I will fly home and drive down with her.

The place is about 40 miles north of the state line. Why Missouri has a "Welcome Center" on the southbound side is a mystery. I didn't bother to check out the building.

Wednesday morning I left around 10:00, I only had 178 miles to go until I arrived at Lakeshore Custom RV. Only the last 30-40 miles was two lane road. The only "problem area" was Jackson, TN. Garmin RV GPS routing through Jackson seemed screwy. When Kathy drives I use both our Garmin and Google Maps. We often follow the Google Maps routing.

I arrived at Lakeshore at 1:20. I encounter two construction sites on the two lane roads that had one way traffic, but the total delay was only about 10 minutes. I checked in with Bryan to let him know I had arrived. I'm supposed to be there at 7:30 Thursday morning.

Lakeshore has a couple of "pads" next to there facility were RV'ers can park. Those sites have water and electric. They also have a small full hook up campground across the road from them, Parking on one of the pads is free, parking at one of the full hook up sites cost $20/night last year. I chose to park on one of the full hook up sits. Backing up with a trailer, when you can't see the trailer, is a pain! If Bryan can't fix our backup camera it will be a real pain getting the trailer hitched back up when I leave. I don't plan on taking my motorcycle off while I am here so I can't drag the tongue over to the hitch ball.

Yes, our coach is very dirty. One of my To Do lists that I didn't get accomplished was to wash it before I left. The weather has been beautiful. I had the door open and a window open for several hours this afternoon.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Back on the Road

 Before heading to Texas for the winter I went to Michigan to visit my 97 year old mother. From our house to Mom's is 560 miles. I drove there on Saturday, November 1st, was there for the 2nd and drove back home on Monday, November 3rd. Kathy's back wasn't up to riding 1,200 miles in 3 days so she didn't go with me.

Breakfast Sunday morning. Mom probably doesn't weigh 100# but she managed to pack away 6 little pancakes.

We had lunch with two of Kathy's sisters. Cindy & Nancy. Nancy is the one waving; plus Cindy's husband Ed.

Supper down at my brother David's. His grandson Colton is on the right.

Our son Doug and his husband Anthony came for a very short visit. They drove from Indianapolis to Centertown on Sunday and drove back on Monday.

Left to right: Nolan, Anthony, Lydia, Kathy, Doug and Andy.

I managed to get Kelsey in the photo below.

We have been working diligently to get "stuff" transferred back into the motorhome. It has taken a stunning number of trips from the house to the motorhome. 

Kathy's back isn't up to riding hundreds of miles a day yet so she stayed home for now. Also, she still has a Doctor's appointment on the 19th. The first place I go is to Lakeshore Custom RV in Iuka, MS, to get the annual service done on the coach. She has been to Iuka enough times that the novelty has worn off. 

Many years ago I sold an old motorcycle to a guy from central Mississippi. We have kept in touch over the years. I'm meeting him for coffee on Friday afternoon. He still has the old Virago.

After that I'm headed to Livingston, TX for a week while I wait until the weekend so that I can get in to visit a cousin who is in prison. His family moved away from Michigan, where I grew up, when I was a teenager and Jeff was preteen. We have been corresponding for the past 10 years. He has no family close to the prison and hasn't had a visitor in 9 years. The visit is scheduled for Saturday, Nov 22. After that I will take two or three days to drive to Lakewood RV Resort in Harlingen, TX, where we have spent the past several winters.

Of course all of the above is prefaced by, "God willing".

God is good. I pray that He bless you and yours, He has blessed me.

t

Still at Fairgrounds, Not Quite as Hot

 It is cooling down a little. Yesterday's high was 90 and todays was only 89. Lows are still above 70.

Yesterday Kathy and I had lunch at the Ponderosa in Coldwater. She liked her food, mine was edible. In the afternoon I picked up Mom. We drove around for several hours and then stopped at the RV for supper.

This morning Kathy picked Mom up and took her to her weekly hair appointment. I picked Mom up and we did another several hours of driving around. Mom and I had lunch at a local restaurant I normally like but today both our meals weren't good. I took Mom back home after lunch and came back to the RV for a nap. Kathy was busy doing Mom's and our laundry. In the late afternoon I got Mom and we had supper in the RV.

We had entertainment both of the last two evenings as the 4H girls were out in the arena with their horses. They arrive at 6PM and leave about 7:30PM.

I took the photos below through the windshield of our RV.

After the show ended I took Mom home.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Still at the Fairgrounds and Still HOT!

 The "feels like" temperature hit 104 degrees both Saturday and Sunday. The actual highs/lows were 91/76 and 92/73.  Monday the "feels like" temperature hit 101 degrees, while the actuals were 92/75. Today (Tuesday) I didn't check the "feels like" temperature, the actual high was 91 degrees. Last nights low was 77 degrees. The average high/lows for Coldwater this time of year are 80/58. The rest of our stay here the highs are supposed to be in the high 80's and the lows in the low 70's. There is also a significant chance of rain every day.

In order to distract Mom from her constant rounds of repeated questions we drive her around some to distract her. Yesterday we drove through a huge solar farm that is under construction near where her brother used to live. Where complete the "farm" is supposed to encompass 1,500 acres. Close to 1,000 acres of it look like it could be in service. 

Mom has had a Culligan water dispenser for at least 3 years, one that uses 5 gallon jugs for a supply and dispenses both hot and cold water. Mom, and my  grandmother before her, drink a lot of coffee. (I think to get around the nasty taste of the well water.) Kathy had shown Mom how to use the hot water dispenser to make instant coffee, after we realized that Mom could no longer remember how to use a standard coffee maker. A lady from the Senior Center, she comes out and spends several hours with Mom one day a week, mentioned to me that the hot water heating part of the dispenser had failed. Mom rents it from Culligan. I called them and they said they would swap it out when they next came out (they also keep her water softener filled with salt) or I could bring it in and swap it. I put a full bottle on the new one and plugged it in yesterday morning. Later in the day I checked it. The cold water dispenser was fine the second tap only dispensed room temperature, not hot, water. I called Culligan and they tried to tell me that Mom's old unit never dispensed hot water. They needed to charge more for one that dispensed hot water. I will talk to my brother when he gets back and we will probably just buy a unit that dispenses both hot and cold water.

Kathy took Mom to Edon, Ohio this afternoon for a fund raising dinner at a church one of her sisters attends. Two of Kathy's sisters put on a monthly(?) dinner and the proceeds go for Missions. I think I have a touch of food poisoning and I'm staying home.

With the high temperatures staying in the upper 80's and the lows staying in the 70's we will stay at the Fairgrounds and not move the coach back to Mom's. Hopefully we will head back to Missouri Sunday.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He had blessed me.

In Michigan for a couple of Weeks

 If you drove down Route 50 and saw that our coach is missing, and are checking my blog….

My brother, who lives just down the road from our mother, in rural Michigan, watches over her. He goes to her house: puts drops in her eyes morning and evening, gives her the few meds that she takes, and takes her meals. He, his wife and their youngest grandson wanted to take a two week vacation to see the sights around Yellowstone. We volunteered to “Mom sit” while they were gone.

At 9AM Tuesday, June 10^th we left home and started making our way to Michigan. We planned on taking 3 days to drive the 570 miles. We decided to go “cross country”, thru Louisiana, MO, Springfield, IL, Lafayette, IN. I drove the first 200 miles, which was unusual because Kathy normally does the driving. Kathy took over driving and I started searching for a campground with a pull-thru spot for the night, I couldn’t find one. At 9PM, after 445 miles, we pulled into a Walmart parking lot in Wabash, IN and spent the night. It was a surprise that we couldn’t find one campground we could fit in along that many miles. On Wednesday we continued on the Branch County Fairgrounds in Coldwater, MI. Mom, and my brother live 7 miles south of the Fairgrounds. We stayed at the Fairgrounds overnight so that we could dump our waste tanks and fill up our fresh water tank.

Below is a photo of us parked at the Fairgrounds last year. $30/night for a full hook up. Other than fair time, the first two weeks of August, it is pretty empty.

On Thursday we drove out to Mom’s and parked out back, by the pond. Her parents lived on this farmstead when Mom was born in 1928, it has been in the family a long time. My brother David lives a quarter mile down the road, on the farmstead where my paternal great-grandmother lived most of her adult life, she was born in 1889. David moved into the farm house in 1987, shortly after our great-grandmother died.

Below is a photo of us parked at Mom’s pond last year. 

The water from Mom’s old well is full of iron and tastes NASTY. We used to fill our fresh water tank at Davids but some of his trees have gotten so big that we can’t get down his driveway with our coach. Now we stay the first night at the Fairgrounds, service our tanks and when we get to Mom’s our black tank is empty and our fresh water tank is full. We don’t worry about the grey water tank. I just run a hose over to the field and dump gray water into the field. After 3-4 days I fill a 25 gallon bladder with fresh water, at Davids, and pump it into our fresh water tank. After 5-7 days we go back to the Fairgrounds for an overnight stay and repeat the dumping and filling of tanks.

This year it is really HOT here and today, Saturday, June 21^st, we moved to the Fairgrounds for at least several days. Mom has minimal electricity back at the pond, not even close to enough to run our AC. In the past we have started our generator in the evening so that we could run the AC and cool the coach down for sleeping. This year it is supposed to be HOT for several days. Right now, 3PM Saturday, it is sunny and 89 degrees. The “feels like” temperature is 98 and the dew point in 74. Sunday, Monday & Tuesday are supposed to be just as hot, or even hotter.

One nice thing about parking at Mom’s pond is the wild life. One evening the bean field next to us had 17 deer, multiple turkeys and a couple of sand hill cranes feasting on the soy beans. I took the photo below this morning, thru the coach windshield.

David and family are to return next Saturday. We plan on heading back home on Sunday.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Winter 2024-25 Trip Wrap Up

We were gone 127 days. Last years winter trip  lasted 123 days.

We put 2,655 miles on the coach. Fuels costs ranged from $2.98-3.19/gallon.

We put 2,820 miles on the car. Gas costs ranged from $2.98-3.19/gallon.

After leaving Missouri we were in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and back to Missouri.

Neither of of went into Mexico, even though we were only around 10 miles from the border. Lots of folks from the campground regularly crossed the border at Progresso. 

Thoughts about next winter. We reserved our Site for 5 months, Nov 15 - Apr 15, for next winter. The cost to go from 4 months to 5 months was only around $80. Lord willing I would like to head south around November 1, almost a full month earlier than we did last fall, and then take a couple of weeks to get to Harlingen. Leaving the campground and heading north at the end of the 1st week of April sounds about right.

It was an enjoyable trip.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.