QC41-07 A Quiet Stay, A Warming Trend

January 23, 2014 (Thu) Moore Haven, FL (4) 48/74° - The bicycles came off the front of the motor home today. After lubrication all around they were ready for a nice long tour. But we weren't! The ride down to the near loop, about 1/4 mile, was easy - the wind was at our backs. Coming back muscles burned! It's been a long time. Several rides down there during the day didn't help, in fact, it became harder each time. The long ride out to the main road will have to wait for a few days.

One of the few down sides of this campground, learned through reputation not experience, is that water hoses tend to develop tiny holes if left lying on the ground. They are caused, we are told, by nine ringed armadillos looking for a drink of water. They have learned that those long skinny white things contain plenty of water if they bite into them hard enough. A walk around the campground reveals many ingenious ways to keep hoses off the ground. We use a cheap flamingo lawn ornament.

January 24, 2014 (Fri) Moore Haven, FL (5) 46/67° - We were a little surprised that it wasn't as cold as we expected this morning. That said, it was a long cold walk down to the shower house - the wind had a sharp bite to it. And coming back with wet hair, well....

The water here tastes terrible and getting worse! Chlorine? We don't remember it being a problem in the past so we think it may have something to do with the hole occupied by two men in hard hats out in back of the rest room/shower/laundry facility. We decided that it was time for another away trip to buy some water, so off we went, east this time, to Clewiston. In the Walmart we got 4 gallons of spring water and a rain coat for Mark. At the CVS Pharmacy we got Joy's pain prescription refilled. At the tiny Chinese buffet that we'd rejected in the past, because it was so small, we got a surprisingly good lunch. Back home we're chilling out waiting for it to warm up. This is the south after all!

January 25, 2014 (Sat) Moore Haven, FL (6) 50/76° - The day started with some activity on the canal but after a couple of westbound power yachts, one on the large side, the other a medium sized one eastbound, we thought the waterway was going to be busy - it being Saturday and all. But we haven't seen anything else since. The gate allowing access to the dam, closed since we got here, was open this morning so we gave some thought to taking advantage to cross over to the locks and watch the boats up close. Lack of boat traffic and down right laziness discouraged us.

It's been a travel day for many of the folks here - travel meaning leaving for other parts as opposed to moving from one site to another which is a favored pass time in this park. Our neighbors across the way pulled their large fifth-wheel trailer out and left about mid-morning. In the afternoon a grey pickup backed a large fifth-wheel into the site. The rig and its owners looked so much like those that left this morning that we thought at first that our previous neighbors had come back, but these people are from Ohio not Ontario.

January 26, 2014 (Sun) Moore Haven, FL (7) 55/74° - The service plan that we have for our cell/smart phones allow us unlimited voice and texting (a welcome change from our previously severely limited allowance) but we are limited in our data usage. At home where we have an almost constant WiFi connection the minimum (1GB) is way more than enough. But on the road where there is seldom or no WiFi connection available we've been running through our allotment really fast. Yesterday morning Verizon kindly sent us an alert (not so kindly at 2:30 am in the morning) warning us that we were running low. We could have bought another block of usage but it seemed pointless since there were only 4 days left before it is automatically refreshed. So we drastically reduced our internet access. Our smart phones have a way to shut off data usage while still being able to use the phone and to text. (It's hard to believe that we used to live like that all the time!)

We can't see the waterway from our campsite but we can see the tops of boats as they come and go. Well actually not all of them. Sometimes they are so small we see only the heads of the operators. Friday afternoon we saw what looked like a huge boat entering the locks from the east. The perception of its gargantuan proportions was reenforced by what appeared to be two bridge (conning?) towers and its unusual slow speed into the locks. We watched and waited as the water level slowly dropped to where it could proceed west. When it began to move out, again very slowly, we walked over to where we could get a better look. What emerged was not one huge boat but two fairly normal sized tug boats, one pushing the other. Interesting configuration.

January 27, 2014 (Mon) Moore Haven, FL (8) 58/84° - We're kind of timid when it comes to trying out new restaurants. Even at home where there are plenty to choose from and plenty of time to make up for mistakes the next time. It's probably the risk of spending good money on bad food more than anything else that keeps us in our rut. The Chinese buffet in Clewiston turning out to be a positive experience probably gave us the courage to try the tiny "authentic cuisine" Mexican place in Labelle this noon. It's new, three months I think the young waitress (and we suspect the owner) said, and as far as we could tell authentic as advertised. It probably would have to be to survive in a heavily Hispanic area like this. It was quite small, maybe a dozen tables serviced by one waitress. A short bar, just opening up as we were eating, occupied the end of one room. The portions of food were not gluttonous but everything tasted very good, although a little different than the Tex-Mex we are use to. While we may or may not go back to the Chinese buffet, we probably will go back to the Mexican restaurant. It's a definite keeper.

January 28, 2014 (Tue) Moore Haven, FL (9) 58/83° - The last day of internet use restriction! Tomorrow we find out what's been happening in the world.

When we rode our bikes out to the main road the other day a teenaged bovine stood at the fence watching us go by. It would have made an interesting picture - if we'd had a camera! He was gone when we rode out the next time - with a camera. In fact all the wild life along the road had found better grazing somewhere on the back range. Camera shy? This afternoon a youngster, who apparently didn't know any better, was so anxious to have her picture taken that she walked right up to the fence. Her mom wanted a contract but she settled for bragging rights.

Q091391 Ortona South Campground #50 w/e $12 A+

QC41-06 Still Further South

Ed's motive power

January 19 2014 (Sun) Lakeland, FL (5) 37/62° -  We've been seeing Beef 'O' Brady's restaurants all over the south but never ventured into one until today. After going to church at the big Episcopal church in downtown Lakeland we stopped at the one close to Ed and Kathy's for lunch. Assuming that this one was typical, we can report that they are not gourmet by any means but they are several steps up from Macdonalds and Wendys. They call themselves a family sports restaurant and pub so there is a central bar with several TVs above and more all around the outer perimeter - all tuned to sports programs of one stripe or another. The noise level was considerably lower than we've experienced in other so-called sports bars. That may be because all the TVs were muted or perhaps because it was noon rather than 7, 8 or 9 at night. The food was of generous portions and quite good - the Santa Fe Chicken Salad, the Philly Steak sandwich, the Beef Burrito and the Fish and Chips are all recommended.

It's been a lazy afternoon. Since it's on the cool side with a sprinkle of rain now and then outside activity gave way to reading, knitting, quilt making, snoozing and chatting.

Q091256 Ed and Kathy's yard (x5)
_____________________________

January 20, 2014 (Mon) Lakeland, FL to Moore Haven (Ortona South CG), FL (203/1568 miles) 48/78° - We got off at about 10:00. Thanks Ed and Kathy for a great time in civilization. Now it's back on the road and into the wild - more or less.  But first repairs.

Yesterday, while at Beef 'O' Brady's, Mark's bridge fell out. That could have been embarrassing but it wasn't. In fact no one noticed - not even when he mentioned that it had happened! So he wrapped it up in a napkin, stuck it in his pocket and went on to finish his meal. This morning, while Ed and Kathy were off on a task for their church, we sat in Q and made phone calls trying to find a dentist who would put it back before we hit the road. We found one in south Lakeland and the bridge is now back where it belongs. Finding this kind of service in the "yellow pages" (i.e. the internet) is chancy but Mark reports that the experience was positive in every respect.

Except for getting lost in residential south Lakeland trying to avoid a left turn back onto US-27 (a.k.a. Florida Ave) without the help of a traffic light, the trip went smoothly - until we reached the entrance to the campground. Construction on US-80 resulted in the removal (apparently) of the "Campground 1/4 mile ahead" warning sign so when we actually got there we were going way too fast to make the turn. Fortunately about a mile down the road we found a wide spot, apparently an entrance to a helipad, where we could unhook Lamont and turn around.

January 21, 2014 (Tue) Moore Haven, FL (2) 56/74° - Ortona Locks campground is one of our favorite campgrounds. Apparently it's the favorite of a lot of other folks too because it is always completely booked up 6 months ahead. The one time we tried to make reservations that far ahead, we failed - timing has to be perfect. Now we wait until a couple of weeks before we want to be there and watch for cancellations. There are always cancellations and we have always been able to be here about when we want to be.

Today started out warm (at least in the sun) so we took out our anti-gravity lounge chairs and just sat for a while. As much fun as it has been visiting family and friends the last few weeks, it is good to be on our own at last. Our campsite isn't right on the waterway as it often has been in the past but we are where we can see the boats enter or leave the locks. The first was the largest, a huge power yacht, headed west on its way to Fort Myers (or the Gulf of Mexico) from Lake Okeechobee.

The wind came up about noon and it began to sprinkle rain. So much for outdoor living.

January 22, 2014 (Wed) Moore Haven, FL (3) 48/71° - Joy spent a lot of time yesterday working on her quilting project - pieces for applique; not the full quilt which is too big to travel with. Today she is paying for it with pain in her wrist and thumb - an old malady. A thorough search confirmed that she must have left her wrist brace at home. So off to the "big city" and the only drug store in town for a new one. Trussed and inactive she should be as good as new in a day or so.

The waterway has been rather inactive today but as we walked up to the other end of the campground this afternoon we spotted a small sloop in the waiting area east of the locks. It looked to be about the same size as cousin Bill and Gail's Regalo. In fact, from that distance, it looked to be the same boat, covered cockpit, aft hung dingy and all. When we got back home we retrieved binoculars for a closer look when she came out headed west. Bill might know better but we suspect a "Catalina 150" is a bit smaller the Regalo. A nice little sailboat.

Q091391 Ortona South Campground #50 w/e $12 A+ (x14)

QC41-05 A slight move to the west

January 13, 2014 (Mon) Titusville, FL (4) 43/74°] - This has been a day that speaks more of rest and relaxation than adventure. We puttered around a bit - Joy vacuumed inside and sent out a few emails, Mark did some maintenance on the vacuum cleaner and published our newsletter. Other than that there was a lot of sitting, reading, knitting and visiting. That's the good news. The bad news is that Lamont's rear running gear is in bad shape. Repairs, which should be complete sometime mid day tomorrow will cost nearly as much as a whole new car. Well, not quite.

January 14, 2014 (Tue) Titusville, FL (5) 68/76°] - Lamont was released from the hospital today. Except for a very faint scraping sound (a normal wear-in sound according to the mechanic - will go away after a few miles) he seemed to be preforming like a youngster - well, almost.

The owner/residents of The Great Outdoors RV and Golf Resort (TGO) have bought the golf course, restaurant and other concessions there from what have been private outside people. Problems resulting of absentee ownership (and possibly bad management) can now be addressed more easily. Even though the sale is not yet final, progress is already apparent - according to Mike and Dorcas. We had dinner at the restaurant this evening and it was quite good.

Q901168 The Great Outdoors, Titusville, FL. 440 Cove (x5)
___________________________

January 15, 2014 (Wed) Titusville, FL to Lakeland, FL (68/1365) 56/68°] - We waved good buy Mike and Dorcas (thanks guys for a restful few days in spite Lamont's problems) at about 9:00am and made our way to US-50. The traffic was relatively light and fast most of the way. As far a we know, Lamont's wheels stayed cool and undamaged.

We discovered something about our new GPS (Hildene) today. Apparently She uses real time traffic conditions to calculate estimated time of arrival (ETA). As we approached Orlando, FL on I-4 (a 65 mph highway) from the east the ETA at Ed and Kathy's was 11:39. That was just before we hit a massive traffic jam (2 of 3 lanes blocked for accident clean-up) caused us to slow to stop and go for several miles. As we broke free and returned to highway speed, our ETA was 11:41, only 2 minutes! It would have been a much bigger difference had she been calculating a clear run all the way.

There are several very good Chinese Buffets in this area. When we got to to Ed and Kathy's we all took advantage of one of them, a new one for us, for lunch. We spent the rest of the day wondering why we felt so stuffed.

January 16, 2014 (Thu) Lakeland, FL (2) 41/57°- Harbor Freight Tools sells a build-it-yourself green house (several sizes actually). This afternoon Ed and Kathy (with marginal help from Mark) started to build the one they bought. It is a small one but it seems to be a good size for starting a small number of plants. We might consider getting one ourselves, if our gardening pursuits become any more intensive. Something to think about as the spring planting season comes upon us in a couple of months.

Walmart has camping type raincoats, by Coleman, that we have been looking at. The trouble is the colors we would like in the sizes we need have been in short supply (read absent) where we've been. The Walmart here in Lakeland had them but only one that met our requirements. Joy now has a new rain coat.

January 17 2014 (Fri) Lakeland, FL (3) 37/65° - We took three bags of paperback books into Book Bazaar, a 1/2 price used book store south of Lakeland, and walked out with one bag new purchases and one bag of rejects. We though we'd gotten away with a small credit to use the next time. Wrong! On the way out the door, we saw two relatively new books we just had to have. Oh well 14 paperback books for $3.20 isn't bad.

January 18 2014 (Sat) Lakeland, FL (4) 45/53° - A trip to Harbor Freight Tools yielded a kit to polish the haze off Lamont's head light lenses. They have become more and more hazy over the last couple of years. A poster in Jiffy Lube advertises that they could do it for me for $75 but I'll give it a try myself first. What an interesting store that is! Even Joy was fascinated with seeing all the different and interesting tools. The fascination wore off pretty fast for her though, much faster than seeing all the different and interesting fabrics in a quilt shop.

Ed has a growing garden railroad out beside his motor home garage. Over the years he has laid 700 feet of track along which there are a couple of villages providing the labor force for a coal mine and processing plant, a saw mill, an oil storage facility and other industries. He stores his 20 some locomotives and rolling stock (65 plus rail cars) in a yard beside their class A motor home in the garage. Although it was a little chilly for outside spectator activity Mark and Ed spent some time running one of the coal trains around the track and talking trains.

Q091256 Ed and Kathy's yard

QC41-04 Further South

January 9, 2014 (Thu) Mars Hill, NC to Savannah, GA (344/1032 miles) 22/68° - Traveling down out of the mountains is always a beautiful way to begin the next leg of our journey. The cold of the last few days followed by thawing temperatures created masses of icicles looking all the world like hundreds of waterfalls all along the road. The strange cloud formations over the mountains ahead looked like snow squalls and we wondered if we were headed into wintery trouble. We weren't. In fact we never did learn what the heavens were sending our way. I'd like to say that when those clouds cleared away and we were left with bright sunny skies but I can't. A dull overcast replaced the interesting cloud shapes. The best I can say for the weather was a gradual warming as we drove south.

We got the best price on gas so far in our trip at a Walmart (MurphyUSA) in Bowman, SC, 2.95/gal. There happened to be a Wendy's nearby so we went on and had lunch.

The Walmart parking lot in Savannah, GA was relatively devoid of overnighting RVs - there was only one older motor home and a fifth-wheel. A couple of big motor homes pulled in later but that was it. Unusual.

Q090903 Camp Walmart, Savannah, GA
____________________________________

January 10, 2014 (Fri) Savannah, GA to Titusville, FL (265/1297 miles) 54/72° - Eating breakfast in a rest area along the highway usually offers a better ambiance than a Walmart parking lot. So after an expensive refueling at the nearby MurphyUSA station ($3.21/gal) we headed on down the road 100 plus miles to the first rest area. It rained along the way, sometimes heavily, but it lightened up by the time we got there.

Whether to stay on the main interstate (in this case I-95) straight through a major city or to take the "bypass" or "loop" around it is a question that often comes up as we travel. Jacksonville, FL presented that dilemma this morning. We chose to follow Hildene's instructions - straight through. We hit some construction at one point but, other than some heavy traffic in that area, we breezed right through.

I've come to the conclusion that traffic engineers either drive fast cars or don't drive at all. It is very annoying to be driving along in the right hand "granny" lane and suddenly find that it has become an exit only lane. More often than not when this happens, a lane has been added to the left, the fast lane, to accommodate the continued flow of traffic. My driver education classes, back in the day, taught that changing lanes is a relatively dangerous move yet a driver wanting to keep to the speed limit, i.e. stay in the slow lane, has to continuously change lanes to avoid ending up in city traffic.  Why not add it on the right and let the folks exiting do the lane changes?

Mike and Dorcas were waiting at our site (their old one - they have move around the corner to a new and better one) to greet us when we arrived at The Great Outdoors just before 3:00 pm. It was good to see them again after a year.

January 11, 2014 (Sat) Titusville, FL (2) 69/82° - Yesterday, when we unhooked Lamont from Q, we heard a squeaking/grinding noise in his left rear wheel. Wow, how long has that been going on? And how much damage has been done? We located a Honda dealer in Titusville and called for an appointment. "All filled up till Tuesday" was the response. "Bring it in, leave it and we'll see if we can fit it in today or Monday but no promises." Mark and Mike dropped it off there this morning. We got a call at about 2:00 this afternoon saying they couldn't get to it today - maybe Monday. Well, I guess we'll be here until Tuesday at least. No telling how much longer than that!

For lunch we rode in the Lavery golf cart over to a The Grill Cafe for Tuna Melts and Turkey Reubens. Generous and delicious. The decoration in the dining room consisted of posters, art work and memorabilia of the 1950s. Among the art work displayed was one that Joy particularly liked. She took a picture for her roadkill album.


January 12, 2014 (Sun) Titusville, FL (3) 57/68° - The Great Outdoors RV and Golf Resort (TGO) is a high-end gated trailer park, very high-end. There are no decaying mobile homes on junky overcrowded lots here, but expensive, well cared for motor homes and fifth-wheels in pristine surroundings. Not all units are mobile, though. Some are permanently built homes ranging in size from about that of a double-wide trailer to multimillion dollar mini mansions. All the lots are small and immaculately landscaped and maintained. One of the main features/attractions here is an 18 hole golf course around which many of the lots are located. Other resort amenities include the usual, restaurants, swimming pools, hot tubs, tennis courts, pavilions and meeting halls. Q seems a little out of place here, not only because he is relatively small - though there are a few small motor homes scattered around, but also because he hasn't had a bath for a while.

There were high winds and heavy rain during the night - or I should say during the evening as it was all over by 9:30. We were no worse the wear here but some nearby communities north and west had trees down and flooding. We probably would have had to take emergency precautions had we been in the Ocala National Forest - a distinct possibility, if our itinerary had been slightly different. We wonder how our friends who spend their winters in Alexander Springs Campground made out.

It's been what Mike calls a typical Sunday at TGO. Everybody just sitting around doing little more than nothing. There are people puttering around their pads, making them and their rigs more beautiful, or walking by, or riding by in golf carts heading for the first tee or swimming pool or wherever. Everyone waves as if it were a precondition to living here. It's kind of nice - friendly and small-townish. Typical Sunday? It seems like a typical everyday here to us.

Q901168 The Great Outdoors, Titusville, FL. 440 Cove

QC41-03 The Colder South

 January 6, 2014 (Mon) Mars Hill, NC (7) 10/44° - Winterizing for storage is rather straight forward and after years of practice, quickly done.  But we'll be living aboard this time which means that we need to make decisions about what gets antifreeze and what doesn't, what goes into the house, what stays in the motor home and where (so it doesn't freeze yet is out of the way). We decided that the holding tanks Black, gray and fresh water) would probably be OK. They have enough liquid and are inside (fresh water) or heated (black and gray) to not freeze in the length of time the bitter cold will be with us. We'll also leave the hot water heater on so we won't have to drain that.

About mid morning the women folk piled into a car and headed down the road to The Echoview Fiber Mill in Weaverville just south of Mars Hill.  It is an ecologically built building dedicated to the fiber artists and fiber farmers of the area.  In addition to classes in everything fiber, they have work spaces devoted to felting, spinning and weaving and there is a beautiful showroom filled with art objects and knitting/spinning related supplies.  Wonderful, wonderful!!

January 7, 2014 (Tue) Mars Hill, NC (8) 1/20° - When Mark looked at the thermometer the first thing this morning, it read 1° outside and 33° inside (just barely warm enough to keep things from freezing!). Since the low was supposed to have come sometime in the wee hours, it must have gotten down to 0 or below sometime during the night. We turned the furnace on and watched TV in bed while it warmed up enough inside to get dressed.

Joy considers Friends and Fiberworks in Asheville to be one of the better yarn shops she's been to. Since Papas and Beer, one of the better Mexican restaurants we been to, is nearby and a terrific (and huge) discount shoe store is not too far away we all took an excursion into the big city. Joy got a pair of shoes and Mark a belt at the shoe store before heading for Papas and Beer for a too-big-a lunch. We found Friends and Fiberworks not to be where it use to be but moved several miles south. Not to be deterred by a small thing like a geographical dislocation, we headed for Candler, NC where Joy picked up some supplies for future projects.

The evening wound down with a rousing game of dominoes.

January 8, 2014 (Wed) Mars Hill, NC (9) 8/45° - Warmer this morning, 8° (33° inside). Enough said about the deep freeze (almost) except to say that it appears to be over.

The pictures are included as experiments. I'm trying to include images that will be displayed in the email, in the blog and on facebook without having to upload them for each separately. Jane is one of Bob and Pat's cats. The icicle on Lamont's bumper was formed several days ago - when it was still warm enough for water to flow. It survived a 65 mph run on I-26 down to Weaverville and back yesterday.

Today we had to repack Q and Lamont for returning to the road tomorrow. Liquids brought into the house and piled around inside Q's cabin had to be stowed in their proper storage bins and cubbys and pipes filled with antifreeze had to refilled with water. We don't expect super cold tonight.

Q090559 Bob and Pat's driveway

QC41-02 The Cold South

January 2, 2014 (Thu) Mars Hill, NC (3) 30/41° - We've spent the afternoon watching the progress of a storm moving into the northeast. Snow and cold are even expected here in the North Carolina mountains. The temperature is expected to go down to 19° tonight. But we've been here before when it's gotten colder than we like for camping. 11° in February several years ago. We have a small electric heater and plenty of warm blankets. We survived then, we'll survive this time.

January 3, 2014 (Fri) Mars Hill, NC (4) 13/40° - Q's pipes froze last night. Fortunately it was only in the pipe supplying water to the toilet but we're a bit worried about what may happen in the next few days. It's been a nice sunny day so the pipe was thawed out by 11:00 even thought the thermometer still reads below freezing at 21°. The forecast is for temperatures to go down to 9° Monday night, maybe even lower. If we're still here, we'll have to think about some additional protection or we're going to be in trouble.

Every Friday Bob meets three or four of his friends for breakfast at a local greasy spoon. When we're here Mark joins them. This morning, because Bob had to leave the restaurant early to go into Asheville to pick up Tom, Barbara and Louie, Mark was going to take our car. But he found the doors frozen shut! We had had freezing rain before the snow came yesterday. He worked for over a half hour with hot water and a hair drier to soften the ice but the door still wouldn't budge. By then the snow were sufficiently cleaned off the windows to see that the door was locked, not frozen! Instead of unlocking the doors as he'd thought, he'd locked them! It's not supposed to be this cold in the south.

For lunch the whole gang went into Asheville to a wonderful pizza restaurant - the Mellow Mushroom. The pizza there is as good as the best in the New York area which is a real accomplishment.

January 4, 2014 (Sat) Mars Hill, NC (5) 11/36° - Another cold night! No pipes frozen though - that we could detect. The forecast now is for temperatures below zero Monday night, maybe as low as -7°. Now that is way below our ability to protect the pipes from freezing with anything other than total winterization, meaning they have to be drained and filled with antifreeze. We had planned to maybe leave here on Monday and go down into the Ocala National Forest for a few days but with that kind of cold coming, we need to be where we can plug into shore power for our little heater. We will also need water and sanitary facilities closer by than in the Walmart parking lot where we'd planned to be Monday night.

Today was the day of Bob's 80th birthday celebration and a celebration it was. 30 plus people from Bob and Pat's church came by in the late afternoon bringing gifts of food for the banquet table. The mingling, chatting and eating culminated with carrot cake, cheese cake and humorous cards. A great time was had by all.

January 5, 2014 (Sun) Mars Hill, NC (6) 37/43° - After church this morning it was a day of rest, relaxation and anticipation of the sub zero night to come (tomorrow night).

Q090559 Bob and Pat's driveway

QC41-01 A Start South

December 30, 2013 (Mon) Home to Winchester, VA (293/293 miles) ??/40° - Our start was considerably more complicated this year than it has been in the past (not an especially good way to begin an extended trip) but we seemed to have pulled it off without having forgotten anything important - we don't think. We've had carpenters with us for several days making repairs and improvements to the old homestead - in fact they were still there when we left and will probably be there tomorrow finishing up. It's not an ideal situation but we trust them.

We finally got off at 9:30am after touching base with our contractor (the boss) and crossed the state line into PA at about 11:15. An hour later Q's odometer turned 90,000. He's getting on in miles but is as spry and energetic as he was in his youth. He could use a good bath though.

One of our favorite fast-food restaurants, whether at home or on the road, is Chipotle Mexican Grill. There's one in Winchester near the Walmart where we planned to spend the night. After splitting a Chicken Fajita (I think that what they call our combo of choice) bowl for a late lunch/early dinner at 4:30, we pulled into the Walmart parking lot and transformed Q into a home (by moving into the cabin).

Sometime early in the trip on Monday Mark decided that the electrical umbilical between Q and Lamont should be below the the tow bar rather than above it - less chance of wear on the cable insulation. When we checked the integrity of the connection after making the change, we noticed that neither Q's nor Lamont's tail lights were working, although the brake and directional lights all worked. A check of the appropriate fuse revealed no problem. There must be another fuse somewhere - or a loose connection under the dash. Since we were in a busy truck parking rest stop with 18 wheelers coming and going, a cold wind was blowing and we didn't plan on traveling after dark we decided that further troubleshooting was neither desirable nor necessary. A more extensive investigation when we got to the Walmart revealed nothing new - except that Lamont refused to shift into either reverse or park!! Oh boy. Now we're in real trouble! Nothing to do in a cold, dark, windy parking lot except go to bed. So that's what we did.

Q090164 Camp Walmart, Winchester, VA
__________________________________________

December 31, 2013 (Tue) Winchester, VA to Mars Hill, NC (395/688 miles) 27/39° - Most readers of our travelogue may remember the chronic problem we've been having with Lamont's battery going dead while under tow. One solution posed by many experienced RVers is to pull the fuse that protects the CRV's accessory circuits - a fuse nearly impossible to reach way up under the dash. This summer Mark installed a switch on the dashboard to disable (pull) it. Well, it turns out that this switch also disables Lamont's ability to shift into reverse and therefore park. With that problem resolved but the tail lights still inoperative we got back onto I-81 and continued south.

We haven't said much about the actually being on the road again. It really was wonderful to be traveling again. For us there is nothing better sitting back in our comfortable seats with a cup of hot coffee watching the beautiful scenery pass by. Even the problems we were having with our vehicles seemed to fade into the background. The Appalachian Mountains down through Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina were especially beautiful. The fog, which might be hazardous if in the roadways, made the mountains stand out in vivid relief.

Bob and Pat had invited friends Colleen, John and Marty for dinner and celebration tonight. It was great to see old friends again and to share the excitement of seeing in a new year - even if for us it came early. We were in bed by 10:30.

January 1, 2014 (Wed) Mars Hill, NC (2) 24/40° - Happy New Year! It is a new year but a problem from the old one remained. At 40° it's not really warm but the lack of the wind, persistent the last few days, and the sun in a cloudless skies makes it seem almost balmy - a good day to tackle a puzzling problem. The dark tail lights turned out to be a faulty fuse. It looked good and tested good with an ohm meter but it wasn't allowing electricity to flow. A new one fixed the problem. Other than that and Joy's and Pat's quick trip to a grocery store, it's been pretty much a relaxing, do nothing day - a welcome change.

Q090559 Bob and Pat's driveway