Peggy and I finished up our stay at my sister Marcie's place in Minden, NV yesterday and made the 250 or so mile drive to McCloud, CA. My mom is to be laid to rest in the McCloud Cemetery this coming Saturday.
We did what we could to help my sisters make all the necessary arrangements and it looks like all those details are now in place.
McCloud is a very small town in extreme northern California - located at the base of 14,000+ foot Mt Shasta. McCloud was a lumber town - owned by the McCloud Lumber Company up until about 1965 (just before my family moved there). In 1965 the homes in town were made available for sale to the residents and the lumber business assets continued to be operated by larger lumber companies through mergers/acquisitions until the lumber operations were shut down in 1979. Except for a couple of year stint - my family lived in McCloud from 1965 until my mom moved in 2005.
Back in my high school days (1965-1968) McCloud had wooden sidewalks, one general store, 2 gas stations, 1 pool hall, 3 churches, and a population of a couple thousand folks. Most of us walked home from school for lunch, we football players had to play both offense and defense, and everybody knew everybody (and everybody's business). A great place to live and grow up.
Peggy and I plan on spending a few days here in McCloud - just kind of resting up from our trip. We will move on to my other sisters place in Yreka on Wednesday, about 50 miles from here.
Although our plans to return home to Maine remain very flexible - at the moment we are planning to head north from Yreka - up through Oregon and into Washington State. Yes - we may actually finish coloring in our travel map of the lower 48 states. We hope to spend a few days in and around Olympic National Park before heading east into Idaho and then Montana where we may take this opportunity to see Glacier National Park. From there we will probably head east again - generally along I-90.
Our return schedule is even more jello-like ... but right now I suspect it will be somewhere in early September.
But first things first.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Thanks For Dinner Nan
Today we finished off Wyoming, traversed the Wasatch Range and Great Salt Lake Basin of Utah, and then continued our travels to Elko, Nevada. Another uneventful travel day - mostly sunny with a couple of intermittent showers as we drove into Elko, Nevada.
After resting up for a while we drove over to a local casino for dinner. Dinner was above average - not bad for casino food.
The slot machines on the way out immediately reminded me of Nan (my mom is affectionately known as Nan by her grandchildren). Nan did enjoy her periodic trips to Reno (or any nearby casino) to play her favorite machines. I have been in casinos with Nan in Reno, Vegas, Connecticut, and even Maine. Since the machines were there ... I decided to play $20 ... just for her. It didn't take too long for that $20 to be worth $59 so I decided to quit while Nan was ahead!
Thanks for dinner Nan!
After resting up for a while we drove over to a local casino for dinner. Dinner was above average - not bad for casino food.
The slot machines on the way out immediately reminded me of Nan (my mom is affectionately known as Nan by her grandchildren). Nan did enjoy her periodic trips to Reno (or any nearby casino) to play her favorite machines. I have been in casinos with Nan in Reno, Vegas, Connecticut, and even Maine. Since the machines were there ... I decided to play $20 ... just for her. It didn't take too long for that $20 to be worth $59 so I decided to quit while Nan was ahead!
Thanks for dinner Nan!
Monday, July 20, 2015
I Love You Mom
My mom passed away yesterday. She was resting comfortably at the end of her life and my sister Marcie was at her side.
I'm sad this world no longer has her ... but I'm glad she is no longer tied to her failed body. She lived a full and exciting life.
I treasure all the time I had with my mom but I think I treasure the times we had in the RV over the past 10 years the most.
Mom traveled with us on our first coast to coast trip after I retired in 2005.
She did it again after her 80th birthday party in 2008.
She even joined us after a tough year of cancer treatments in Arizona in 2011.
Peggy and I are safe and sound in Evanston, WY tonight and should be arriving at my sister's place in Minden, NV on Wednesday.
We'll help celebrate Nan's life and then figure out our return.
I love you Mom.
I'm sad this world no longer has her ... but I'm glad she is no longer tied to her failed body. She lived a full and exciting life.
I treasure all the time I had with my mom but I think I treasure the times we had in the RV over the past 10 years the most.
Mom traveled with us on our first coast to coast trip after I retired in 2005.
She did it again after her 80th birthday party in 2008.
She even joined us after a tough year of cancer treatments in Arizona in 2011.
Peggy and I are safe and sound in Evanston, WY tonight and should be arriving at my sister's place in Minden, NV on Wednesday.
We'll help celebrate Nan's life and then figure out our return.
I love you Mom.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
The Great Plains of Nebraska
Another day down and another 370 or so miles west.
We arrived this afternoon in Kearney, NE after another uneventful day of driving. Once again - Winne ran great and today the weather even cooperated as the high only made it to about 86 or so. We did end up running the generator and the coach A/C system this afternoon for a few hours and everything worked fine. I think the generator exhaust system will still require some repair later on -- but for now ... all is OK.
We have now driven a little over 1,750 miles on this trip -- a little more than half way to Minden, NV. I figure we have about 1,350 miles to go from here. So ... if we keep up our average miles/day ... we will need about 4 driving days.
Tomorrow the plan is to finish driving through Nebraska, cross into Mountain Time, and then finish up our day somewhere between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming. Time to leave the Great Plains and our present 2,000 foot elevation and enter the 5,000 to 9,000 foot elevations of the Rockies along I-80.
I suspect it may be a bit cooler up there as well!
We arrived this afternoon in Kearney, NE after another uneventful day of driving. Once again - Winne ran great and today the weather even cooperated as the high only made it to about 86 or so. We did end up running the generator and the coach A/C system this afternoon for a few hours and everything worked fine. I think the generator exhaust system will still require some repair later on -- but for now ... all is OK.
We have now driven a little over 1,750 miles on this trip -- a little more than half way to Minden, NV. I figure we have about 1,350 miles to go from here. So ... if we keep up our average miles/day ... we will need about 4 driving days.
Tomorrow the plan is to finish driving through Nebraska, cross into Mountain Time, and then finish up our day somewhere between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming. Time to leave the Great Plains and our present 2,000 foot elevation and enter the 5,000 to 9,000 foot elevations of the Rockies along I-80.
I suspect it may be a bit cooler up there as well!
Friday, July 17, 2015
It's Really Hot
OK ... it's hot now.
After a night of on-and-off rain and thunderstorms we left Elkhart this morning with the temps round 70 degrees and some left over cloudiness and plenty of humidity.
As we drove west the clouds finally broke up as the temperature gradually increased. By the time we got to Illinois it was in the 80s and then it hit the low 90s by the time we made it into Iowa.
When the outdoor temps get that high Winne's engine driven A/C system just can't handle the load so we start the generator and then run the big coach A/C unit which is large enough to keep the temps under control inside the coach. Unfortunately ... when we started the generator at the Flying J back in Illinois it was making a really load exhaust related noise! Since I really didn't want to troubleshoot the problem at the time - we continued on our way using the engine driven A/C system to keep us relatively cool but the inside of the coach got pretty warm. By the time we finally stopped here in Kellogg, Iowa - the outside temp was right around 94 and it was pretty much the same inside the coach.
Once we got parked and got the big A/C unit running the temps started sloowly coming down and finally reached "normal" temps inside in the mids 70s about 8 PM with the outside temp still near 90 degrees - some 4 hours later.
I did venture outside and do a little better troubleshooting on the generator exhaust and found the spring mounted muffler had become detached from it's mounting points. I fixed that issue and started the generator. It is still a little loud but much better than it was. Unfortunately it will take some involved dis-assembly to fix it correctly but I think it is safe to run for now.
So we will try and stay cool tonight and then hit the road again tomorrow morning. We should make it to somewhere in Nebraska tomorrow on another hot-humid mid-western day.
While we were in Elkhart yesterday we took an hour to re-tour the RV Museum and Hall of Fame. I think we first toured the Museum in 2008. Some of the exhibits were the same as back in 2008 but there were enough new ones to make it an interesting walk-about. Here are a few pics I took ...
You may recall a similar picture of me sitting on a similar bench talking to Poker Alice from our trip a few years ago to the Black Hills. More specifically - we were at Wall Drug in Wall, SD. Anyway - I couldn't pass up a chance to say hi to an old friend.
As I'm sure you all know - Poker Alice was a good friend to Buffalo Bill Cody during his days in Deadwood, SD. That being the case -- guess what cards she is holding in this picture!
Tomorrow we should pass the half way point on our trip west. And oh by the way ... Happy Anniversary tomorrow to Kaj and Stacy!
It was really hot that day as well!
After a night of on-and-off rain and thunderstorms we left Elkhart this morning with the temps round 70 degrees and some left over cloudiness and plenty of humidity.
As we drove west the clouds finally broke up as the temperature gradually increased. By the time we got to Illinois it was in the 80s and then it hit the low 90s by the time we made it into Iowa.
When the outdoor temps get that high Winne's engine driven A/C system just can't handle the load so we start the generator and then run the big coach A/C unit which is large enough to keep the temps under control inside the coach. Unfortunately ... when we started the generator at the Flying J back in Illinois it was making a really load exhaust related noise! Since I really didn't want to troubleshoot the problem at the time - we continued on our way using the engine driven A/C system to keep us relatively cool but the inside of the coach got pretty warm. By the time we finally stopped here in Kellogg, Iowa - the outside temp was right around 94 and it was pretty much the same inside the coach.
Once we got parked and got the big A/C unit running the temps started sloowly coming down and finally reached "normal" temps inside in the mids 70s about 8 PM with the outside temp still near 90 degrees - some 4 hours later.
I did venture outside and do a little better troubleshooting on the generator exhaust and found the spring mounted muffler had become detached from it's mounting points. I fixed that issue and started the generator. It is still a little loud but much better than it was. Unfortunately it will take some involved dis-assembly to fix it correctly but I think it is safe to run for now.
So we will try and stay cool tonight and then hit the road again tomorrow morning. We should make it to somewhere in Nebraska tomorrow on another hot-humid mid-western day.
While we were in Elkhart yesterday we took an hour to re-tour the RV Museum and Hall of Fame. I think we first toured the Museum in 2008. Some of the exhibits were the same as back in 2008 but there were enough new ones to make it an interesting walk-about. Here are a few pics I took ...
You may recall a similar picture of me sitting on a similar bench talking to Poker Alice from our trip a few years ago to the Black Hills. More specifically - we were at Wall Drug in Wall, SD. Anyway - I couldn't pass up a chance to say hi to an old friend.
As I'm sure you all know - Poker Alice was a good friend to Buffalo Bill Cody during his days in Deadwood, SD. That being the case -- guess what cards she is holding in this picture!
Tomorrow we should pass the half way point on our trip west. And oh by the way ... Happy Anniversary tomorrow to Kaj and Stacy!
It was really hot that day as well!
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Resting the Horses
We continued our westward trip yesterday on a relatively cool day (for mid July) along Lake Erie through that corner of Pennsylvania and then into Ohio. We made it through Cleveland with no problems and then merged with I-80. I-80 will be our home for the next week or so as we travel through the nations mid-section.
As planned - we stopped in Elkhart, IN at the Elkhart Campground - a spot we have stayed many times in the past. The Elkhart Campground is not necessarily the most inexpensive place along our route - but it is a nice family run spot with good facilities.
Our plan is to stay here one more night as we take a day off from traveling and take care of some chores - like grocery shopping.
Tomorrow we will be off again -- into the Central Time Zone and across the Mississippi ... officially into the "mid-west."
As planned - we stopped in Elkhart, IN at the Elkhart Campground - a spot we have stayed many times in the past. The Elkhart Campground is not necessarily the most inexpensive place along our route - but it is a nice family run spot with good facilities.
Our plan is to stay here one more night as we take a day off from traveling and take care of some chores - like grocery shopping.
Tomorrow we will be off again -- into the Central Time Zone and across the Mississippi ... officially into the "mid-west."
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Thru New York
Peggy and I made it to Westfield, NY near the NY/PA border on Lake Erie this afternoon after a long trek across New York state along the NY Thruway. The weather looked a bit threatening as we headed west and we ran into a small rainstorm as we drove through Syracuse but the first several hours of our trip were relatively calm.
Soon after we entered the greater Buffalo area the heavens opened up and we drove through several downpours as we drove south on I-90 along lake Erie.
In spite of the rain, a few construction areas, and a bit of localized flooding (standing water on the highway) we pulled in for the day here in Westfield, NY right around 2:30. Another 326 miles further west.
We have decided to push on west again tomorrow - hopefully all the way to Elkhart, IN. Elkhart is some 370 miles from here so that will be a bit of a long day for us! After that I think we will need a zero mile day to get ready for the second thousand miles of this journey.
Now - if I could only sleep past 4 AM!
Soon after we entered the greater Buffalo area the heavens opened up and we drove through several downpours as we drove south on I-90 along lake Erie.
In spite of the rain, a few construction areas, and a bit of localized flooding (standing water on the highway) we pulled in for the day here in Westfield, NY right around 2:30. Another 326 miles further west.
We have decided to push on west again tomorrow - hopefully all the way to Elkhart, IN. Elkhart is some 370 miles from here so that will be a bit of a long day for us! After that I think we will need a zero mile day to get ready for the second thousand miles of this journey.
Now - if I could only sleep past 4 AM!
Monday, July 13, 2015
Rolling West - In The East
This will just be a quick update to let you all know that we did roll out of town around 8:30 this morning on a lovely New England summer day. We made a few stops early in the trip for a breakfast snack at the I-95 Kennebunk rest area and then for a liquor restocking at the New Hampshire Liquor Store. Other than those stops - we stopped one other time for fuel and lunch in Western Massachusetts and rolled in here at the Arrowhead Marina and RV Park in Glenville, NY along the Mohawk River at around 3 PM - having logged about 320 miles.
Tomorrow we hope to make it to the NY/PA border near Lake Erie - about another 320 or so miles. Having said that ... thunderstorms are forecast along our path so we may decide to call it a day early.
Such is the life of us Maineiacs In Motion. Sometimes you just get what nature gives you.
Love Each Other
Tomorrow we hope to make it to the NY/PA border near Lake Erie - about another 320 or so miles. Having said that ... thunderstorms are forecast along our path so we may decide to call it a day early.
Such is the life of us Maineiacs In Motion. Sometimes you just get what nature gives you.
Love Each Other
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Loaded Up - Ready to Go
Here we are - Sunday evening and pretty much ready to roll. All the system checks are done and just about everything we intend to take with us is loaded. All we have left is to get a good nights sleep, hook up the car, say "Happy Birthday" and "See Ya Later" to daughter Stacy, load a few last minute items in the morning ... and we're off.
The weather today was downright hot and muggy and it it looks like we will be seeing more of the same for at least the first half of our cross country trip.
When I removed Winne from storage a couple of weeks ago I noticed the engine driven air conditioning unit wasn't cooling. Frankly, considering Winne is some 12 years old and has been driven over 125,000 miles I wasn't really surprised. After checking the A/C unit state of charge and finding it essentially empty - I recharged the unit with some fresh refrigerant with some leak sealing stuff added. The unit immediately started working and it appears to still be working OK. Following this theme - the whole coach A/C unit also failed to work initially but sprang to life after some targeted massaging by Mikee the Motorhome Mechanic. I suspect we will be needing/wanting both those A/C systems working over the next few months so lets hope those gremlins don't return!
Tomorrow looks to be a little cooler and ought to be a good travel day.
Look out USA ... the Blue and White Winne is about to be rolling your way!
The weather today was downright hot and muggy and it it looks like we will be seeing more of the same for at least the first half of our cross country trip.
When I removed Winne from storage a couple of weeks ago I noticed the engine driven air conditioning unit wasn't cooling. Frankly, considering Winne is some 12 years old and has been driven over 125,000 miles I wasn't really surprised. After checking the A/C unit state of charge and finding it essentially empty - I recharged the unit with some fresh refrigerant with some leak sealing stuff added. The unit immediately started working and it appears to still be working OK. Following this theme - the whole coach A/C unit also failed to work initially but sprang to life after some targeted massaging by Mikee the Motorhome Mechanic. I suspect we will be needing/wanting both those A/C systems working over the next few months so lets hope those gremlins don't return!
Tomorrow looks to be a little cooler and ought to be a good travel day.
Look out USA ... the Blue and White Winne is about to be rolling your way!
Friday, July 10, 2015
Heading West
Several times in our RVing past we have needed to change our plans and head in a previously unplanned direction for a variety of reasons. This is one of those times.
My mom's health has been deteriorating over the past several weeks so we have made the decision to head west to see if we can help out in some way. We knew this was a possibility a few weeks ago so Winne was removed from storage and I started on some maintenance issues that I wanted to address. I did accomplish a few of those items including the exterior waxing but now it is time to move on to getting Winne ready for travel, us ready for travel, and the house ready for "layup." Fortunately we have done this several times in the past so we pretty much know what needs to be done. Our plan is to start heading west on Monday so we have a few days to complete our preparations.
Our initial plan is to take the most direct route along I-90 and then I-80. We have taken this route several times in the past and Winne knows the way! It has been several years since we made this trip in the summer so we'll need to be ready to deal with summer temperatures, vacationing families, and hundreds of miles of corn.
We may not know what we will face when we get there or have firm plans on when we may return ... but we know we have a great family and group of friends that will support us no matter what we face.
Can't ask for much more.
My mom's health has been deteriorating over the past several weeks so we have made the decision to head west to see if we can help out in some way. We knew this was a possibility a few weeks ago so Winne was removed from storage and I started on some maintenance issues that I wanted to address. I did accomplish a few of those items including the exterior waxing but now it is time to move on to getting Winne ready for travel, us ready for travel, and the house ready for "layup." Fortunately we have done this several times in the past so we pretty much know what needs to be done. Our plan is to start heading west on Monday so we have a few days to complete our preparations.
Our initial plan is to take the most direct route along I-90 and then I-80. We have taken this route several times in the past and Winne knows the way! It has been several years since we made this trip in the summer so we'll need to be ready to deal with summer temperatures, vacationing families, and hundreds of miles of corn.
We may not know what we will face when we get there or have firm plans on when we may return ... but we know we have a great family and group of friends that will support us no matter what we face.
Can't ask for much more.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Maine Summer Potpourri
Our summer has continued to be pretty great weather-wise this past week with daytime temps near 80 degrees and tolerable humidity. The nice weather has allowed me to make some progress on my outdoor related chores and projects .... and has just been generally pleasing.
Since bringing Winne home I have managed to successfully obtain a Maine State Safety Inspection Sticker. I must admit that it had been almost two years since I last completed this "Annual" requirement but I don't get too excited about the whole thing when Winne spends most of her time on-the-road out of state. I suppose this annual safety inspection requirement is a "good" idea but I'm just cynical enough to see it as yet another governmental infringement on my right to be as stupid as I want. I know the government do-gooders want to keep the unsafe vehicles off the road but I guess I know too many folks who manage to get a sticker every year regardless how "un-safe" their vehicle appears to be. I put this requirement in the same bin as requiring helmets to be worn while riding a motorcycle (or bicycle for that matter) and banning fireworks. Each of these activities includes some degree of risk, requires some common sense decision making, and a sense of personal responsibility ... and each should be left up to the individual to decide. Have I ridden without a helmet or lit a fire cracker? Yes I have! Would I recommend someone else do these things? NO! Do I agree with legislating personal conduct for every "risky" behavior - Nope. Of course then there is the Maine idiot that got drunk and thought it was OK to light a fireworks "mortar" while it was on top his head ... he was stupid ... and he died. Sorry - I guess I just believe that you can't "fix" stupid! Or perhaps we should pass a law that requires wearing a helmet when lighting fireworks on ones head?!
Regardless of the previous rant ... Peggy was refusing to ride in the motorhome until it was safety inspected - so I got that done. She wasn't really worried that we were driving an unsafe vehicle - she just didn't want to be embarrassed when the trooper pulled us over!
I also managed to get half of Winne waxed last week. I hope to finish that task over the next few days before the rains return on Wednesday.
In between my Winne chores I did make some additional progress on the Honda CB350F project. Last week I focused on the back of the bike. Some previous owner had removed the chrome grab bar that went around the seat and the correct turn signals that were attached to the grab bar. I wanted to return the turn signals back to "stock" so I found replacement used pieces on Ebay that looked to be in pretty good condition. While I was at it ... the rear fender and shock absorbers on the bike had some serious rust issues and some decent used replacements were also sourced from Ebay. These chromed used pieces weren't flawless and needed a bit of cleaning and buffing to look as good as they could ... but the back of the bike is looking much better than it did!
Next on the agenda - beautify this seat!
Last Christmas Peggy received season tickets to the Maine State Music Theater from Santa. Each summer the MSMT presents 4 shows over the summer months at Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick. Several weeks ago Peggy and Stacy saw "The Full Monty" ... or should I say they attended the theatrical presentation of the musical "The Full Monty." I understand there was a flash of light and some rare booty ... but not much Monty. I think the girls had a fun time - but the reviews I heard were kinda ..."meh."
Yesterday Peggy and I attended the second show of the season ... "Sister Act" based loosely on the movie of the same name. I thought the show was pretty well done and we had a good time on a lovely summer day in Maine.
SO that's pretty much the way it is here in Vacationland. The "summer people" have arrived and lobster prices are still pretty high ... but on the bright side ... it hasn't snowed for a couple of months now!
Since bringing Winne home I have managed to successfully obtain a Maine State Safety Inspection Sticker. I must admit that it had been almost two years since I last completed this "Annual" requirement but I don't get too excited about the whole thing when Winne spends most of her time on-the-road out of state. I suppose this annual safety inspection requirement is a "good" idea but I'm just cynical enough to see it as yet another governmental infringement on my right to be as stupid as I want. I know the government do-gooders want to keep the unsafe vehicles off the road but I guess I know too many folks who manage to get a sticker every year regardless how "un-safe" their vehicle appears to be. I put this requirement in the same bin as requiring helmets to be worn while riding a motorcycle (or bicycle for that matter) and banning fireworks. Each of these activities includes some degree of risk, requires some common sense decision making, and a sense of personal responsibility ... and each should be left up to the individual to decide. Have I ridden without a helmet or lit a fire cracker? Yes I have! Would I recommend someone else do these things? NO! Do I agree with legislating personal conduct for every "risky" behavior - Nope. Of course then there is the Maine idiot that got drunk and thought it was OK to light a fireworks "mortar" while it was on top his head ... he was stupid ... and he died. Sorry - I guess I just believe that you can't "fix" stupid! Or perhaps we should pass a law that requires wearing a helmet when lighting fireworks on ones head?!
Regardless of the previous rant ... Peggy was refusing to ride in the motorhome until it was safety inspected - so I got that done. She wasn't really worried that we were driving an unsafe vehicle - she just didn't want to be embarrassed when the trooper pulled us over!
I also managed to get half of Winne waxed last week. I hope to finish that task over the next few days before the rains return on Wednesday.
In between my Winne chores I did make some additional progress on the Honda CB350F project. Last week I focused on the back of the bike. Some previous owner had removed the chrome grab bar that went around the seat and the correct turn signals that were attached to the grab bar. I wanted to return the turn signals back to "stock" so I found replacement used pieces on Ebay that looked to be in pretty good condition. While I was at it ... the rear fender and shock absorbers on the bike had some serious rust issues and some decent used replacements were also sourced from Ebay. These chromed used pieces weren't flawless and needed a bit of cleaning and buffing to look as good as they could ... but the back of the bike is looking much better than it did!
Last Christmas Peggy received season tickets to the Maine State Music Theater from Santa. Each summer the MSMT presents 4 shows over the summer months at Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick. Several weeks ago Peggy and Stacy saw "The Full Monty" ... or should I say they attended the theatrical presentation of the musical "The Full Monty." I understand there was a flash of light and some rare booty ... but not much Monty. I think the girls had a fun time - but the reviews I heard were kinda ..."meh."
Yesterday Peggy and I attended the second show of the season ... "Sister Act" based loosely on the movie of the same name. I thought the show was pretty well done and we had a good time on a lovely summer day in Maine.
SO that's pretty much the way it is here in Vacationland. The "summer people" have arrived and lobster prices are still pretty high ... but on the bright side ... it hasn't snowed for a couple of months now!
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