Michigan Road Trip-Days 3,4, and 5(05-03-15)

Day 3

Elk City, Oklahoma to St. Clair, Missouri

( 550 miles)

Yup, we drove, and drove and drove.  All day. The most exciting thing that happened all day was that Dozer calmed down and started sleeping all day…




We did have a little frustration at the end of the day.  When we were all tuckered out and ready to call it quits, we headed to an Elks Lodge that has one RV spot.  We  didn't call ahead since we figured if the one spot was taken, we'd just dry camp for the night.  Well, the one spot was taken and the parking lot was sooooo sloped, we couldn't find a spot that we could set up the camper!  Wow, now that is sloped!  We had to drive another 15 miles or so to get to the local state park.

Day 4

St. Clair, Missouri to Fremont, IN

( 454 miles)

Today’s exciting observation was signs of spring- the bright, vibrant green of new leaves on the trees…




Later in the day we started to feel like we were on home territory, as we passed Ball State University in Muncie Indiana.  Our daughter went to college there and we spent many a day driving to and from this school, back in the day.





  We almost made it all the way to our destination on day 4, but when we called the RV park we want to stay in, they were closed for the day and we couldn't confirm availability, and since we would have been really pushing it, and arriving at 8 pm, we decided to call it a day.

Day 5

  Fremont, IN to Ypsilanti, MI

( 121 miles)

This is more like the travel day that we are used to….as fulltimers, we usually adhere to the 2-2-2 rule; travel no more than 200 miles, arrive by 2 pm, and stay 2 nights.  In other words, slow down the pace. When we are on a “mission” that doesn't happen, and we can, if necessary, travel as fast as possible.  But we don’t like it.

Once we arrived at the RV park, we checked in, and got permission to take the camper off the truck. That doesn’t seem like a big deal, but some parks require you to keep a truck camper on the truck and many parks don’t allow truck campers at all.

Notice that although yesterday we had trees full of new leaves, in Michigan, spring hasn’t really sprung yet, and the trees barely have buds on them.

Our first priority is the boat.  Come hell or high water, it’s coming back to Arizona with us, and since it’s been sitting for so many years, we need to check the trailer, tires and brakes.

We remember that we packed it full of stuff-we vaguely remember that the yard rakes are in there, but we have no idea what else is under the shrink-wrap, and it isn't worth removing it just to take a peek.

After giving it a couple of test laps around the parking lot, Paul deemed it road worthy and we took it back to the campground with us so he can finish working on it there. 

That’s one less thing we are paying to store!

That was enough excitement for one day so we put off going to the storage unit for another time.

Iowa- don’t Blink (09-12-13)

Before leaving for Iowa, we spent one incredibly hot afternoon in Shipshewana (or Shopshewanna, as my friend says).  As many times as we have been to this area, we've never made it to the huge flea market. We finally remedied that, but with record high temperatures, we didn't walk the whole thing.  After all, we don’t buy much anyway.

We took two days to drive across Indiana and Illinois, into Iowa. This is the view we were greeted with when we arrived:

Acres and acres….and acres….of corn fields.  Mile after mile.  Of course, there were some acres of soybeans in there too, but farming is clearly  the main business in Iowa. I searched the internet looking for something to stop and see that wouldn't be too far out of our way as we crossed the state.  I found “The Kellogg Museum” nearby and thought it would be pretty cool to see where Corn Pops are made.  But when I looked further, I realized that this Kellogg had nothing to do with the cereal.  Oh well.  We skipped the museum.


We decided to spend a couple of nights at the Core of Engineers  Park on Lake Red Rock, near the small town of Pella. 




Our interest in Pella was a sports bar-the Sports Page- that was showing the Patriots football game on Thursday night.  We used it as an excuse to go out for dinner, and watch the football game.  Dinner was actually really good, but we were the only customers left by the time half time arrived.  We left a little while before the end of the game and listened to the last bit on the truck radio on the way home.








The next day we took off on the nearby bike trail. We had a pleasant 12 mile ride, and saw a fair amount of wildlife along the way. At least the weather has cooled off and it was only in the mid 70s.



This deer is barely visible in the picture, but he carefully watched us as we stopped to take his picture.  Before I could get a clear shot, he decided he’d had enough and took off.

Along the shores of the lake we saw pelicans, great blue Herons, and a young bald eagle.

  

And, last but not least, the Monarch butterfly migrates through this area on the way to Mexico.

One of the things I've really enjoyed since we left Michigan is the price of the RV parks we've been staying in.  Paying $35-$55 a night for a spot for the trailer gets pricey after a while.  It feels great to pay $12-$20 !!

A little of this, a little of that (09-09-13)

That’s about what we’ve been up to.  We finished our visit to the Novi area with some doctor visits.  Nothing but good news, and that’s always nice!


Anyone who has been in my trailer for the last few days may be wondering why we have a sleeping bag on the couch.  Well, we are bringing it to California for our daughter, and as soon as I brought it in and put it down, Dozer decided to make a nest in it.  Once he finds a new “place”, he sleeps there for about a week, and since I am sooo nice, I am leaving it there until he gets tired of it.




 

Once we had the doctor appointments out of the way, we headed across the state to a mini DRV Suites rally. We went to this rally last year and really enjoyed the people, so we made a point to get there again this year.

We had several potluck dinners and breakfasts, and went out to dinner one night at a nearby casino.   The weather was just about perfect for  hanging around outside all weekend long. With a small group, you get a chance to get to know people a little better.  Different combinations of people would be lounging by the fire at any given time, which made for smaller, more intimate conversations.

And of course, part of the fun of these rallies is checking out everyone else’s rig.  One of the potential consequences of that pastime is the creation of envy.  More about that later. 

Last year Paul and I played tennis at the single tennis court this RV park has, and this year we headed over there again, hoping to shed at least a half pound or so after eating for 3 days.  We were confused once we started playing because something about the court just didn’t seem right.  Somehow it felt Way Too Small.  As it turns out, they turned the one tennis court into two pickle ball courts.  A pickle ball court is about 2/3 the size of a tennis court.  After a few minutes of accidently backing up into the fence, we gave it up and headed for the pool and hot tub.

   Once the rally was over, we headed down to Howe Indiana to the DRV factory, where our trailer was made. 

Since we were pretty close anyway, we wanted to take the factory tour and see what’s new. Some of the new things they are doing is putting garbage disposals and dishwashers in the new units. I guess that would be nice, but neither is on my Wish List.











Pretty much everyone who has met Paul knows he loves lights- especially LEDs.  He definitely gave the thumbs up to the new LED recessed lights that are being put in the new units.

But in the back of his mind was something he had seen in someone else’s trailer at the rally, and that’s what we were carrying when we walked out the door of DRV. Because nothing is too good for our trailer- Paul is in the process of installing a brand new electric toilet!   Ok, it’s not that exciting, but it will be (or better be, for the price we paid!)  less frustrating to use and maintain than the one we have. Having the positive feedback from current owners was the tipping point on this purchase.

So, that’s what he is working on today.  We’ll stay in the Howe Indiana area for a couple of days while he gets that installed and we do some other shopping.  After that, we’ll meander towards New Mexico, but we haven’t even discussed the route we’ll take, or what we want to see along the way. All I know is that after all this eating,  I want to do some hiking.

Moving right along… (09-09-12)

Not that I am an expert, but I would have to say that I really thought the “Suites” rally in MI was quite good.  There were 17 Suites 5th wheels in attendance. 

Some people have fancier set ups than others. 

The schedule was loosely planned, leaving plenty of time for simple visiting or other activities.  Paul and I played our version of tennis for the first time in a year.  Our version consists of trying to see how many times in a row we can hit the ball to each other.  Our record volley is 23 times and we didn’t come close the other day.  More practice required.


 
  We had one pot luck dinner, and one group dinner at a restaurant while attending the rally.  We also had breakfast cooked for us on two of the mornings. 

For the most part the weather was great, but the night of the pot luck it was chilly and rainy, so we used one of the barn type buildings. 

  We had several campfires and lots of “tours” of rigs. Its always great to get ideas from other people about what customizations can be done to the rig to make life easier, or more fun.

We lit up several “Chinese Lanterns”- miniature hot air balloons that you light, then let go.  They float way up into the air and we could watch them for a few minutes before they burned out.

 

Once we left the rally, we headed to Indiana to get some warranty work done on the trailer.  There weren’t too many issues but we wanted to get them fixed, since our full warranty is up now. DRV is great to work with and helped us get things fixed up to our (Paul’s) satisfaction. While there, we met up with some of our new friends from the rally, who were also getting their rigs worked on, and we all went out to dinner at Maria’s Mexican Restaurant, which has some of the best Margaritas and Mexican food we’ve had in a long time (or, did the great Margaritas make us think the food was good??) 

In any case, we had a great time, but getting work done on the trailer is always stressful. First of all, they start work at 6 am, which means getting up at 5:00, eating, and pulling the slides in by 6 am. Then you get to sit around all day, and in my case, worry about the cat, who is sitting on the kitchen table, in his carrier, all day.  When they are done working, we set up for the night, just to do it all over again the next day.  We thought (hahaha) we only had one day’s work to be done, but its been 3 already, and we have one last thing to do- check the alignment on the trailer axles.  Hopefully it’s ok and we can make our run up to Michigan tonight.
    The alignment is done at a different shop, and the trip getting to it was a lovely (that’s sarcasm, Sheldon) adventure.  Indiana doesn’t do detours.  They just close roads.  So we get to an intersection that has a sign that says “road closed”.  Fine.  We take a left, so we can loop back around and find another way there. Nope.  “NO OUTLET”.  Lovely.  We tried 5 roads before we found one that took us around the road construction.  Since the project is long term ( there is no asphalt at all) you would think they could take two minutes to post some detour signs. It wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t dragging a 38ft trailer behind us.  With the trailer attached, there are many roads we can’t use, either because they aren’t wide enough, can’t handle our weight, or don’t have the trees trimmed high enough to clear the top of our trailer.

DRV factory (10-11-11)

                                                                 Two weeks prior to our appointment at DRV, we emailed them a list of issues with the trailer, so they would have an idea of what would be required when we got there. We also requested that Scott work on our trailer, if possible.  He did the work the last time we were there and we were very impressed with his abilities, attitude and knowledge.  He worked hard to make sure we were satisfied with his work.  Sure enough, when we got there, Scott was waiting for us, with our list in his hand.  One of the things I like about DRV is that they let you hang out in your trailer all day while they work on it, as long as you don’t get in the way.  For us, that means that I sit around all day and Paul follows Scott around, helping him, making suggestions, and asking for scraps of wood etc. for future projects.
One of the problems with the trailer was an area that had apparently been fixed by the factory before we got the trailer, but the gel coat was missing on the fiberglass exterior, which meant that it would age and yellow at a different rate from the rest of the trailer.  Our brilliant idea was to add a new paint “swoosh” in a dark color (DRV calls them “eyebrows”), instead of trying to fix the gel coat.  So, now we can say our trailer has a custom paint job!

 

 

One of the other things we needed them to do was to find our speaker wires for our outdoor speakers.  It took Scott a while, but he did find them, so now we have our outdoor speakers!   

All in all, it didn’t take them as long as we thought to get all the fixes done.  It was a little frustrating that we had so many issues, but now we feel pretty good about the trailer.  I had to laugh at one point, as Paul told Scott that one of the creative solutions he had for a problem was fine with us, since we’re “easy going”.  Scott looked at me, and I looked at him and I give him credit that he didn’t laugh out loud.  I will say that Paul IS easy going in some ways although anyone who knows him knows how meticulous he is as well.

Anyway, we have left the factory and have made it as far as Missouri.  We are headed to Arkansas to spend a few days with some fellow fulltimers.

and so we enter into our last week in Muncie IN (8-27-11)

         Somehow the time in Muncie has flown by a lot faster than I thought it would. With shopping, wedding planning and exercising, the days filled up.
   The weather has been absolutely terrific, if a bit warm.  Jess and I have played tennis several times, getting better each time we try- although, in our version of tennis we try to hit the ball to each other.  We've been biking many times, so many, that we are getting a little bored with the bike trail here.  The last time we went, Jess was at work, so it was just Paul and I.  To counteract the monotony, we tried riding significantly faster than we had done before, so we averaged 13.5 mph, and therefore we at least got a better workout for our time.
    We’ve done as much for the wedding as we can at this point. The rest will have to wait until we get to Michigan next week.  Once we get there, we will have a whirlwind 3 weeks before the wedding.
    The biggest excitement we had this week was the arrival of David.  He drove across country with two of his buddies, and they dropped him off here so he could spend a day or so with Jess.  After two days, he left to go to Wisconsin to see his parents for a few days before heading to Michigan.

    Yesterday we started paying closer attention to Irene as she barreled towards New England. As it turned out, although it was a deadly storm, it could have been much worse. I guess that’s easy for me to  say, since it was sunny here all day today and temperatures were in the high 70s.  Oh, and I didn’t lose my electricity. 


Well, Jess has 3 more days of work before we leave Muncie for good on Thursday morning.  She doesn’t have too much time to relax in Michigan though, since she got a transfer and will start working at a Toys R Us in Michigan a few days after we get there!

This week’s activities (Muncie, IN 08-12-11)

      I have Hitch Itch.  Yeah, I know it sounds like an awful condition or something, and really, actually, it is.  My full-timing friends will know exactly what I mean when I say it.  I am ready to move. I want to ride off into the sunset, find someplace new to explore.  I want to find out what’s “over that hill”.  I guess Hitch Itch is one of the reasons we enjoy full timing so much.  After staying in one spot for a while, we love going someplace new. I am already trying to sneak in a 3 day stay in Muskegon on our way from here to Novi. I’m not sure we can do it, but I think I’d like to try.  There is a pair of Bald Eagles that make their home in Muskegon, and I’d love to try and find them.
           Anyway, that makes it sound like I’m not having any fun, and really, I am.  Now that the frantic craziness of moving into the new trailer, moving Jess into the new trailer, and getting  us all situated has abated, we are settling in to a routine that’s quite nice.  Jess and I are determined to fit exercise into our daily regime, and so far it’s working very well-so well that we had to take today off completely.  We have overexerted ourselves.  We’ve done workouts with weights, played tennis (hmmm, not great for my foot), and been biking several times. She is doing great on the bike.  She hasn’t ridden in years, but has already worked up to a 15 mile ride.
    In between all the workouts, we are working on wedding details.  We spent a couple of days building the invitations, staying up one night until 2 am to get them finished, and they have now gone out in the mail.  We’re going over all the details of what needs to be done, and when, so we can start knocking things off the “to do” list and into the  “DONE” pile.  Neither of us has much experience planning weddings, so I hope we don’t forget too many details. 
     Paul has been helping us with the the wedding, when we need him, and when we don’t, he is busy making his modifications to the trailer. He has added shelves, bought things like a quick disconnect outdoor shower faucet,  and piping to rearrange the water system, and has started researching things like water filtration systems, weather monitors, Wi-fi antennas, and bike racks. 
        All in all we are having a great time and enjoying the opportunity to be able to spend a significant amount of time with our daughter before she gets married in September.

Muncie, IN (08-06-11)

    Busy, Busy, Busy. 
        Paul and I hardly had time to settle into our new home before we moved our daughter into the trailer with us. We spent last weekend moving her out of her apartment and into the trailer.  I must say, we all did a great job of fitting all her stuff into every available nook and cranny!  We sorted through everything she owns and made separate piles for the trailer, Goodwill, and Storage.  Our original idea was to put her stuff to be stored in our storage unit in Michigan until the wedding, but in the end there was just a tad bit too much stuff to do that comfortably, so we got her a small unit of her own.  We had to scramble at the last minute because we were arriving in MI on Sunday and the office to the Storage place isn’t open.  They were nice enough to assign us a unit, unlock it, and let us fill out the paperwork for it on Monday morning.
    We dropped her belongings off and checked in to the hotel early Sunday evening.    Monday was doctor day.  Jess had her appointment in the morning, then we headed to my appointment in the afternoon.  After that we investigated florists and made a couple of appointments for early September, to make final decisions on flowers for the wedding.
     Tuesday was Jess’s dress fitting.  In the morning we went to the salon to get her make up done as she wants it done for the wedding, so when we went for the fitting, we had a better idea of the “whole picture”.   Marissa, one of her bridesmaids, was able to meet us at David’s Bridal, and Jess was really excited to have her girlfriend be there for the fun.  
       After another 4 hour drive, we were back in Muncie Tuesday evening, all of us pretty tired after a whirlwind 5 days.  Since then we’ve been getting settled, Jess has been working, and we are putting together the invitations, so they can go out in a few days.  

What's up?

    I've had several friends send me an email asking me what's up because I haven't posted in a week.  I have also missed some major happenings in friends lives in the last week or so.  So congratulations on the new rig, Jim and Sandie, and on the new grandbaby, Julie and Mike!

   One of the problems we've had is internet, or lack thereof.   Staying camped in the manufacturers and repair shop's parking lot has meant no real access to internet.  We're having a problem tethering to my phone, which is our back-up internet, so the only internet we've had is by tethering to Paul's phone which is so slow, it's hardly worth it, so we only do it for short periods for important stuff.   Once our daughter moves in on Sunday, we'll use her Iphone to create a hot spot and hopefully that will solve our issues for now.  I feel amazingly cut off from the world when I can't log on whenever my heart desires.  Meanwhile when we get good download speeds we'll reload the software for my phone and see if we can get that back up and running, but we've been so busy, its a low priority.

   Having our home parked in the repair facilities/manufacturers parking lot really takes a toll on daily life.  At one place, they took the 5th wheel inside and we weren't allowed in the building.  That didn't make Paul very happy.  The cat has had to spend all day, every day, in his carrier, on the bed.  I'd say he hasn't been happy, but really I think he just slept through the day anyway.  Once we got back to DRV, the manufacturer, they pulled the rig in the building but they allowed us to stay in it.  Much better, but we can't do much because they need full access to inside and out.  I read books all day, and Paul followed the workers around, either learning from them, or showing them stuff.  At least he was happier there- felt like he was part of the process, and that the trailer was getting fixed properly.

     This trailer had/has quite a few issues with it.  Most of the important ones have been fixed at this point, and we have an appointment in October to fix the rest.  Paul ended up fixing some things himself, partly for something to do, partly because he wanted it done his way.  It was funny to see that by the time we left DRV,  "they" trusted Paul's knowledge enough that they asked for his opinion and input. 
     After our initial few days at DRV, we moved to the other repair place,which was almost a waste of time.  Several small issues got taken care of, but the two major things they tried to fix, were in worse shape when they were done, causing another two days of work to be needed.  The original caulking on the roof was a "bad batch" and didn't cure, remaining completely wet to the touch.  DRV knew there had been a problem and the caulking was supposed to be completely replaced.  But the repair guys didn't take out all of the old caulking.  In a lot of spots they put the good stuff over the old stuff and in the process tracked the wet stuff all over the roof, creating an absolute mess.  They were also supposed to fix the mechanism that brings the slide room in and out, but they adjusted it in the wrong direction, causing an issue that actually would void our warranty on the slide.  So, DRV had to have the manufacturer of that part come out to look at it and fix it.
     After a few days at the repair place (notice I am not mentioning any names), we decided we were done with them, and went back to DRV first thing Monday morning.  They then spent the next few days fixing and re-fixing the trailer.  The refrigerator has been fixed twice already- we think it's all set now.  The caulking issue has been fixed twice, the slides have been fixed twice and still aren't right.  Our Keyless door entry has had all the parts replaced twice, and finally works (turns out the instructions were wrong?). One of our cabinets couldn't be opened because it hits the light fixture.  They are custom cabinets, so DRV didn't realize that would happen. Paul created a new light fixture, using  parts from 3 different ones.   The rest of the issues were more minor, and for the most part, we are satisfied, or Paul has decided he'll do it himself.


traffic jam!

     So, it hasn't been a ball of fun for the last two weeks, but really, in the scheme of life, it's not that big a deal. We did manage to do some sightseeing.  Not too much since the temperature hovered at 100 during the day.  We went shopping in Shipshewana.  I've never been there so it was new for me.  There are a lot of Amish who live in this area.  I found it interesting the differences between here and Lancaster, PA, another area with a large Amish population.  In the Lancaster area, it seems that the Amish are the tourist attraction, and much is made of things being "Amish made", "Amish grown".  Here, it feels less like a tourist attraction and more like just an area where the Amish and the English both happen to live, somewhat intermingling in their everyday lives.
  We have now left DRV and arrived in Muncie Indiana!  We had dinner with our daughter last night for the first time in 2 months.  Over the next few days we'll move her out of her apartment and into the trailer for the next couple of months.

Zipping around the Midwest (7-20-11)

    After spending a week in Muskegon MI getting settled into the new home, we have moved to Indiana.   Before accepting the trailer, we got agreement from the factory that we could go directly there to get all our issues resolved.  Of course, after we left our dealer and called to make arrangements with the factory, they told us they couldn't fit us into their schedule.  HA.  A bunch of phone calls later, they agreed again to do the work, with the understanding that we might have to stay a day or two so they could work on the trailer in the afternoons.  
         We stopped first in Canton, to put some things in storage and go "shopping".  We pulled out about 8 feet of stuff in our storage unit, to see what we could get rid of, and what we might want to have with us.  We need to make room so that Jess will have some space for her stuff.  We did get rid of a lot!  While we were there we had some friends over for dinner to show off the new trailer, but we were only there for 2 nights, so not too much socializing for us. Before we left Canton,  the refrigerator stopped working.  Paul got it going again and first thing this morning the technician reset it.  Unfortunately, by this afternoon it wasn't working again and Paul had to reset the thermostat again. 
      After sitting at the DRV factory all day today, they told us they didn't have time to work on our unit, and that we would probably need to be there for a week in order for them to have time to fix everything on our list.  We went to speak with the customer service manager, who came out to look at the trailer and seemed to be appalled with the way we were given the run-around, and with the issues we have with the trailer.  So, he has sent us to a nearby repair facility that does have the time to fix all of the problems this week.  Some things are pretty minor- buffing of fibreglass and caulking the shower, but there are a couple of bigger issues too.   It's a little discouraging but overall we're still happy with the quality of the trailer.  It's hard to sit around for too many days though.  With temperatures soaring we can't leave the cat in the truck at all, and if he is in the trailer he has to be in his carrier so the workers can go in and out.  Poor Dozer!
Paul's new saying:  "How do you know a salesman is lying?  His lips are moving."

Are we having fun yet? or.......

A Day From Hell. 
That was yesterday.  Seemed like everything we touched turned to you know what.
     We left Indiana early in the morning because we had to make it to the RV park in Michigan 260 miles away, park the trailer and drive 65 miles to pick up a part for the truck, before the place closed at 3 pm.
The ride was uneventful, except when we pulled over to take a quick break, we saw that the globe to the ceiling fan light had fallen and smashed into a bazillion little shards of glass.  Ugh.  There was nothing we could do at that point so we waited until we got to the RV park.  Problem number 2 happened when we tried to get in the trailer when we arrived in MI.  The door wouldn't open.  We have keyless entry, which we tried, then we tried the key, etc etc.  It took Paul 20 minutes and a pair of pliers to get the door open.  Once he did, he told me I wouldn't want to look inside.  Apparently the refrigerator in this trailer has a touchy clasp that is difficult to close and yup, it wasn't closed, so as we were driving down the road the refrigerator was spewing its contents all over the floor and carpet.  I think the eggs and the pickle juice were the worst.
  It was about 87 degrees inside the trailer, so Paul got the AC going as soon as he could.  It couldn't keep up though, because I was running the vacuum, creating a lot of heat.  Do you know how long it takes to make sure you vacuum up every single little piece of glass, so that the cat won't cut himself?  A long time!  So long, that we were very close to not being able to get the truck part.   When we realized how late it was, we dropped everything, didn't take time to eat, and just drove off to go get the part.  Luckily they knew we were coming, so they waited for us.   That's when the day took a turn for the better.  We did have trouble getting in the trailer again when we got back, but Paul made some adjustments to the lock and he thinks its OK now.
   We have some stuff to drop off at our storage locker and a few things to get from it, as well.   We'll stick around here until Sunday morning, then take off for Pennsylvania.

Happy Mother's Day!

     So far, it's been a pretty good one for me!  Paul cooked breakfast (as usual) and then we went for a 4 mile walk.  Afterwards, I spoke to my son on the phone for almost an hour.  Can't wait to get to Boston to see him! My daughter and her fiance came over for a late lunch.  David is leaving Muncie today.  He has finished school and after stopping at his parents in Wisconsin for a bit, will be headed to California for an internship in the film industry.

David and Jess

   Paul made it back from Texas with no car issues, after spending a week with his mom. The day he arrived home happened to be Cinco De Mayo, so of course we picked up the kids (in their Lincoln) and headed to the nearest Mexican restaurant for dinner.  The Lincoln he brought back with him is an early (very generous!) wedding present for the kids, from Paul's mother-her 2000 Lincoln LS.  The kids were tremendously excited about their wedding gift, and I admit, its nice peace of mind for me to know Jess has something reliable to drive!  So, thank you Gerry!  

     I'm not sure where the time went when Paul was gone, but it sure did fly by.   I did go for a bike ride the day I planned to, but it was a long short bike ride.  It wasn't that many miles but the first half  I had a tail wind and on the way back I had a head wind that was so strong and tough to battle that when I put my leg down to stop for a minute, it didn't hold my weight, I was that tired!  Ugh.    Since that day I've gone walking several times and I am hoping to go for another bike ride tomorrow, IF the weather cooperates, which it really hasn't been doing lately.  I must say, after being back in the Midwest for a while, the deserts of the west are growing on me. The constant sunshine, lack of humidity and milder temperatures are fond memories. A lot of my full timing friends are still in the western states, and I admit I am somewhat jealous and can't wait to get back there.  All in good time though.  I wouldn't give up spending time with the kids for anything.
    One of the ways I have kept busy for the last week was by finalizing the specifications for our new Mobile Suite 5th wheel.  Call us spoiled, but we have decided to go forward with the purchase of our "new" new trailer, for a lot of reasons, actually (that I am not going to get into here).  We ordered it last Tuesday and it should be built by mid-June or so.  We'll know the timing better next week.  We went back to the factory to look at interior colors and make those choices, and also to discuss some of the customizations we have ordered.  I can't even post pictures of existing units and say that's what we are getting because some of the changes we're making are changing the look of the interior.  We sort of took one floor plan and substituted in parts that we liked from other floor plans, and then put in some of our own ideas as well.
   Now that we've ordered the 5th wheel, we need to buy a new truck to pull it. Ours won't tow that much weight, so we are looking to get a 2011 F450.  We've gone round and round on this one- debating 350 vs. 450 and 2011 vs. 2012.  It's too late to order one and have it be a 2011, and Paul, after talking to his buddies at Ford, has decided he doesn't want a 2012. They are downsizing the brakes, apparently.  Plus, because of the Tsunami in Japan, you can't order one with a navigation system until further notice.
So, we have been searching dealer lots trying to find one that will fit our needs.  We finally found one in Pennsylvania, and we're hoping its still there when we head that way next week.

Just checking in...

        It sure is quiet around here.  I find myself talking to the cat (its better than talking to myself, I guess!).  Paul flew to Texas a few days ago, and it wasn't the most pleasant day for him.  In fact he was pretty exhausted by the time he got to  El Paso.  His original flight was supposed to leave Indianapolis at 2:40 pm, but we got a phone call from American Airlines, saying it was canceled due to bad storms along the flight path.
         On our way to Indy, we stopped to test drive an F450, which is one of the trucks we are considering buying to pull our "new" home (no decision yet). Our daughter Jess came with us to Indy because she and I were going to do some wedding errands after we dropped Paul off at the airport.  Well, lucky Paul got to do all the wedding shopping with us since he didn't have to be at the airport until 4:15. We registered for tuxes for the groomsmen, checked out the new bridesmaid colors  and  started buying the supplies to make the centerpieces for the tables.
After multiple delays, Paul finally got to El Paso at 11:30 pm, which is 1:30 am EDT.  A long day for him.
   I am tired too, but its because it's hard to sleep at night when there are tornado watches and warnings. Its so spooky to see all the killer tornados there have been.  I feel so badly for the people who have been affected.  Tornados are particularly scary when you live in a trailer.  It's one of the few times that I don't like that my home has wheels, and therefore, nothing anchoring it to the ground.  Last night I had the weather radio on all night, and kept the TV on the weather station, with the sound off.  I had a bag packed and the cat's carrier by the door.  We were under a Warning briefly, but I could see by the radar that the storm had actually passed our town by the time the warning came out.  I did wake up to an incredible wind at about 3 am, but thankfully it didn't last long. 
    After spending yesterday getting caught up on paperwork...well, not totally caught up, but at least I made some great inroads....today was spent doing errands all day.  I didn't buy much, but I was getting ideas for decorations and such for the reception.  Plus, I always seem to need food! I am not sure how I managed to fit more into this tiny little refrigerator, but I did.  I stopped by to see my daughter at work for a few minutes because that's a perk of being here!!  I love that I can see her on a regular basis, if only for a few minutes. 
      I am really hoping that the weather forecast for tomorrow is accurate, because I am looking forward to going for a long bike ride. It's supposed to be really nice out, although pretty windy.  At this point, I'll suffer through the wind.  I need to get outside for a bit!

And now, the rest of the story...

So, here's whats been happening behind the scenes for the last few weeks:
      Paul and I decided about a month or so ago that we are enjoying this lifestyle enough to invest in a new trailer. When we bought our Everest, it was our first 5th wheel. I think we did a pretty good job picking it out, given our options in the state of Michigan, but there are definately things we would have done differently had we known more.  So for the last few weeks, we have been touring the factories of the brands of 5th wheels that we are interested in this time around.  We went to Kansas to tour the NuWa factory, looking at a HitchHiker Champagne, and from there went to Howe IN to tour the DRV factory, looking at a Mobile Suites.  It was after that visit that we went to Keystone to get our trailer fixed.  We left it with them and went to go take a tour of the Carriage factory to look at Carri-lites (of course we didn't tell Keystone that!). After that tour, Keystone told us they would be replacing our trailer for us, but by then we had already narrowed down our choices and gone about 85% down the pathway towards purchasing a Mobile Suites. We had quotes, trade in values for our Everest, and  a list of modifications we wanted to make on a new unit.
   We spent an afternoon looking at Keystone products to pick a replacement, and briefly debated trying to work out a deal where we hand over the brand new trailer to a dealer as a trade in for a new Mobile Suite, but that was trying to get too much done in a very short time frame, so we abandoned that idea pretty quickly.
    Thursday and Friday were spent moving in to our new Keystone Alpine and on Friday morning, after switching our G series tires over to the Alpine,  Keystone hauled the Everest away.  We have no idea what they'll do with it, nor does the customer service rep we've been dealing with.   We checked out all the systems on the Alpine and had a few things looked at before everyone left for the holiday weekend.
   We thought we were all set to get on the road to Muncie, but we were wrong. If it's not one thing, its another, as they say.  5 miles after leaving Goshen with the trailer, the "water in fuel" light came on in the truck.  Luckily Paul knows a lot about trucks. We drove back to the Keystone "campground",  and he drained the water out of the fuel tank through a valve underneath the truck.  We drove around the block a few times, the light came back on,  and he drained it again.  We went back to the station where we bought the diesel, and they of course insisted that no one has had any issues with their fuel.  In all, he drained the water about 7 times and we came close to having to have the tank totally drained and the fuel replaced, but we kept going further and further without the light coming on, and eventually he got all the water out.  It was a frustrating day but at least there was no lasting damage to the truck.
     Once we finally got to Muncie on Saturday, we took a deep breath and got settled in.  The Alpine is a nice trailer, definately bigger and nicer than our Everest!  Is it what we want though? Not really.  I could list all the things we don't like about it, like that the refrigerator is about half the size of the one we had before,  and it lacks the cabinet space we need to be comfortable. There are many reasons, actually, that we have decided to move forward with the purchase of a Mobile Suite.  We are able to customize a Mobile Suite to a great extent and make it a more personal home.  I also loved the HitchHiker, but there are other reasons why we don't think it's the best choice for us.
    Today we spent some time figuring out what options we want, and finalizing what customizations we'll ask for.  We did take a 2nd tour of the factory last week to speak to a rep about some of the things we want to do.  We're hoping to put it out to bid next week and have another new trailer in a couple of months.
   Because of the heaviness of the Mobile Suite, we're going to have to purchase a new truck.  That's not a hardship for Paul- he test drove the 2011 F350 and has had stars in his eyes ever since.  We may end up with an F450 this time though, since it has a better turning radius.  We are going for a test drive on Tuesday morning, before Paul flies out to spend a week or so with his mom.  He can order the truck from anywhere, so he'll probably place the order while in Texas.  For the trailer, we'll get our final quotes, then make a decision when he gets back from Texas.
     As if we don't have enough going on, we have also decided to start the process of changing our domicile to Texas.  We got our new address last Monday and we'll start switching vehicle registrations as we go along.  Paul will hopefully get his Texas driver's license while he is visiting his mom.
  While Paul is gone, Jess and I will try to get a few more things done for the wedding. Since we got here, we've already had Jess and David over for dinner, and tonight Jess came over by herself.  I could get used to that!
Meantime, here are some pictures of our new home (there are more on the right hand side of the page under "our home")!  It's really quite nice!

    
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