Goshen, IN

Easy drive to Goshen. My ScanGuageD showed 9.2 for the trip. To bad I can't get that all the time.  The world would have to be as flat as Indiana and what fun would that be? On arrival we had the coach weighed on all 4 corners. Only about 200# over weight, balance, left to right, isn't all that bad either. At the seminal later this week I'm sure will get some guidance on what to do to improve things.

Since we arrived early, the rally doesn't begin until Friday, we were assigned a full hook up site with 50A service. We also registered fairly early so that played into the parking too.

While walking thru the vendor area we allowed ourselves to get trapped by an rv dealer and ended up taking a 43' tag axle 2013 Endeavor for a test drive. It has many features we like and one I question, the Maxx Force 10 engine. It drove real well. They will have to have a very sharp pencil for us to be able to afford to upgrade this soon. But it does give us a data point for a few years down the road.

Dinner was an arranged affair at an Amish home about 35 minutes away. Food was good.

Anderson IN

Another leg of our journey to the Holiday Rambler Chapter 419 Maintenance Session complete. Not a bad day but the roads are not the best. Kinda like North East roads, pot holes. Really shook thing up but nothing broke. We did have some cross wind along I69 and I'm glad I didn't have to drive in it all day.

We are at Timberline Valley RV Resort which is a nice little camp ground.. Owners are friendly and helpful. There is an airport, regional, near by but not an issue. There are also train tracks that are well away but you still hear the horn and they approach crossings. Not really an issue.

Bowling Green

Yesterday we made the trip from Elkmont to Bowling Green KOA. No issues on the road but the traffic was heavy in both directions. Easy into the KOA and a decent site. Like all KOA's it is on the pricey side but location, location, location.

Once set up my first job was to tighten the bike rack. It works loose in a few thousand miles. This time I had some blue thread locker to put on the bolt. So we will see if it stay's tight longer, like forever.

The KOA is near Aviation Heritage Park which I would like to visit but the weather has not cooperated, rain, high wind, tornado warnings generally not nice to crawl around in the rain. However the National Corvette Museum is near by. Museums are a good place to go on a rainy day.

Quite a place. There were at least 6 new Corvettes in the main entry hall waiting for their owners to take delivery. After our museum tour we saw several owners being given the rundown on their new toy's by their advisor type person. Very impressive.

The museum is really worth a visit even with the sink hole. The sink hole did not so any damage to the main museum display area. Only the Sky Dome Hall of Fame was damaged, and that is a big ONLY. There is a display area of the vett's they pulled out. It is enough to make you cry.

Put the bikes back on the rack, bailed out the kayaks and put the cockpit covers on. Then more rain.
Thunder, lightning, tornado warning. Our basement is full so we will have to find other shelter next time. We waited this one out in the RV since the news/weather showed to warning area several miles east of us. I don't think any tornadoes touched down,

We spent some time going over our travel plans for the next couple of days and where to fuel. Indiana is one of the states that do not add the tax at the truck pumps. So in all stations except Pilot/Flying J you have to get diesel at the non truck pumps. PFJ has the tech to adjust the price at the pump for us RV's so we can use the truck islands.

There are not many, really no, Pilot Flying J north of Saginaw MI and in the UP as well as Wisconsin, Minnesota but this page from DieselPlace should be a big help.


Tomorrow we head to Indianapolis for an overnight before a short ride to Goshen  and the rally.

Another day another 3xx miles

Today we drove from Pine Lake to Mill Creek to see rural Alabama. Yep it is rural. The road in was long and dusty and the jeep looked like it was covered with flour. Not really a bad park, however there are only 5 of us here. There are a few rigs which look to be seasonal but no folks in them. Although it is about 8 miles from the Interstate it isn't a bad choice considering that it is a Passport America park and only cost us $16. There does seem to be a lot to see and do in the area but it isn't in our plan to explore this area on this visit.

I really wanted to see the Sprint Cup race at RIR so I chatted with Dish Customer Service to get my service address changed to the campgrounds address. Finally after 3 chat sessions I have the locals for this area. However it looks like they left the Sarasota locals active for my receiver. If I could just get those turkeys to provide the national feeds I would be happy.

Suzette took a few pictures with her iPad and she may have posted them on FB. I'll try and get them loaded to our online album.

Saying good bye to the gulf, for a while

We choose to stay at Pine Lake RV because it was a Passport America park and we could stay cheap and still get to Panama City rather easily. We went to St Andrews SP to spend a little time at the snow white beach and do a little kayaking. I think the sand here is much whiter than Sarasota. "...The soft Panama City Beach sand is actually quartz crystals, which over time has been broken down, bleached, polished and deposited on the shoreline. This natural process has made Panama City Beach home to the "World's Most Beautiful Beaches."  ".

 Where did the quartz come from, would you believe the Appalachian Mountain chain a few thousands of years ago. Check it out.

Well, kayaking, beach time, and late lunch at Margaritaville a fine day all in all.

Pine Lake is kind of in the middle of no where so if you go take your own fun and have enough eats and beverages. The sites are flat and well spaced and the services were good. I don't know if we would stay there more than a couple of days. Perhaps we didn't look hard enough for what is in the surrounding area. There is some river kayaking but the one launch site we went to was a floating dock and the river was very high and flowing quite fast. If there was a down stream pick up it would have been fun.

Margaritaville

Another hour to play Pickleball

But no pickleball here at Pine Lake RV Park in Fountain FL. There really isn't much here or near here, but it is cheap and almost on the way to Goshen.

Our annual service was completed and we left Alliance Coach about 0930 and arrived here at about 1530. The extra hour came from passing into CDT somewhere on I10, about MM160 or so.

I did get the bugs cleaned off of the windshield and we did check out a possible kayak launch. Decided we would not kayak there, a close launch, because the river is really running high and it is a floating dock which could be hard to get out of the kayak.

Tomorrow it will be a day at the beach, sort of, in Panama City with lunch at Margaritaville Cafe.

Annual Service

We are currently at Alliance Coach in Wildwood FL to get the annual service completed as well as a few minor things taken care of;

1. Lube, oil, filter
2. Air filter, check and replace as needed. I do not trust indicator.
3. Check and adjust coolant SCA. Replace coolant if needed.
4. Check serpentine belt and replace if needed.
5. Check hydraulic fluid and filter and replace as needed.
6. Service generator, oil, fuel, air filters.
7. Service transmission, change filter(s).
8. Check ride height and adjust if needed.
9. Replace air drier desiccant canister.
10. Estimate paint repair curb side near rear wheel.
11. Replace valve extensions, right rear.

Everything should be completed and we should be on the road after we review the service and pay for it.

We had a great evening last night, 4/22, with friends Phil and Jan Cervi who we know from our days at Endicott IBM. We spent most of the day with them playing pickelball, visiting and lunch. When we returned from pickleball Logan was so excited to see us he went for a swim in their pool. I guess he thought the pool  cover, plastic thing to keep the heat in, was a little more solid than it was. Quite a shock for him.

We got a load of laundry done and a light supper. While at supper we saw that the yanks and sox were playing so I put the sat up and we are watching the game. It is the Sox to loose at 4 to 1 Sox in the top of the eight.

Tomorrow we head for the panhandle of Florida on our journey to the HRRVC chapter 419 rally, called the MS, in Goshen IN.

Rvillage.com

This is a Facebook like site for RV'ers.
Check it out, we are HRCAMPER on that site.

Happy Easter

What a fine day.
We went out for breakfast and returned to the park a little before 0900. Took care of a few things and then off to the pickleball courts. We played until noon. Some good games, some not so good but we had fun and that's what it is all about.

I did a little work on the coach and Suzette prepared her dish for the Westfield groups Easter Dinner.
We had a great dinner and nice visit with our friends. To work off a little dinner we took a bike ride around the park. It is really getting empty. Many are leaving tomorrow, Monday, with more leaving on Tuesday, which is our day.

See you on the road.