What's up?

Friday, September 26, 2008

Just a quick note since I don't know when I will have time to blog next. Also wanted to answer a couple of reader questions (that left no email address for replies). We are currently back in Gettysburg after getting the RV service work done in Pottstown, PA. We stayed here at Stu's home park (thus FREE) due to the weather on the coast of MD as well as the late hour of departure. We'll head on to MD in another hour or so.

Tomorrow we have a motorcycle rider lunch in Prince Frederick at Red, Hot & Blue BBQ and Sunday we'll go to the local Renaissance Faire (something I've never done). Then every day the following week until Friday, there is something planned. Hopefully Friday will stay a RELAX day before doing the ride on Saturday.

On Sunday we head out to north central PA where I used to live where we will meet friends and view my ebay lot I bought. From there we head over to Ohio to meet my son, down to my old TN stomping grounds and on to friends in LA for a private bike gathering. Then we head off to FL where we will spend close to a month visiting family & friends, taking our flying vacation to Cancun and just generally enjoying. We'll be in the Atlanta area for Thanksgiving, spending it with more family. Phew! We'll be ready for the quiet of the SW when we are done with all this!

Okay, Joe asked about the three air conditioners. Yes, there are three. The third is for the garage and was an added option. There is a switch that lets you chose the bedroom or the garage A/C. You can only run two on 50 amp (and one on 30 amp).

Jeff wants some photos of the truck cab and we'll do that once we hit some decent weather. Promise!

So, will post when I can but no promises....might drop something in the SHOUT box here on the blog if it's too long before the next post, just so you know we're still having fun!

A New York kind of day.....

Thursday, September 25, 2008

While visiting family was first and foremost, we did manage to eke out one day of great riding (remember, even a bad day of riding is better than a day of no riding). We headed out about 8:30 am and had breakfast at a local diner. Great food, terrific service and easy on the pocketbook...what more could you ask for?

From there we headed over to the local Tractor Supply to pick up some of the straps that Stu forget to get the day before. He is changing the tie-down method after losing the two D-rings on the trip up here. I found a great pair of work gloves and he got some great boot socks. Gotta love Tractor Supply stores!

Our next planned stop was Fred's Trailer where we hoped actually see and touch some motorcycle camper trailers. Our thoughts are to park the rig for a week or two next summer and take the trike & a small bike camper off to sight-see for a few days. We plugged the address into the GPS and took off. Well, we ended up in a dead-end residential neighborhood. Hmmmm..... Since the Woodstock Harley-Davidson dealer wasn't too far away, we headed there next and planned to call Fred's to find out where we had gone wrong.



The Woodstock HD dealer was smaller than we anticipated but we did both manage to get a nice full-zip sweatshirt with their great logo on the back. We sat outside and tried to find out more about Fred's. Not much luck, the lady answering the phone gave us the impression it might be home based and the only trailers they had wouldn't be there until 'Fred' arrived home from a bike event the next day.

So we headed northerly on a general route, figuring we'd pick up lunch soon and then take a another look at where we would go. We stopped for gas just outside Catskill State Park and ended up grabbing a snack there. From there we rode through the park, following along side a large reservoir before heading south. The leaves were starting to change, the weather was perfect and once again I took too many photos. Here are a few from the day, you can see the rest in my SmugMug gallery.



The last photo was taken in the little town of Roscoe, NY where we stopped for dinner before heading home. We knew the sun would be setting and we had a ways to go. The rest of the ride was gorgeous and we finally made it back at around 8:30 that night. Can you say sore seat? LOL!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu

We made it to NY!

Monday, September 22, 2008

After spending all day Saturday on tracking & fixing the electrical issues, we were FINALLY able to hit the road on Sunday. We started the day off with a ride up to the closest Bob Evans for a great breakfast. Been a long time since I was able to do that...always splurge with the Fruit plate with yogurt, accompanied by their delicious banana nut bread. YUM!

Headed back and did the final close-up on the rig and headed out...perfect weather and a nice ride. Well, it was until we came to a full stop in southern NJ. Listening to the CB we learned there was an SUV on it's back. We also learned that the far left & far right lanes were closed...fortunately we were in one of the two center lanes and didn't need to move. We got to watch stupid motorcycle trips as one guy on a Harley decided to not only split lanes (scary in itself) but turn immediately in front of slowly moving vehicles (like our HUGE rig) to change lanes. Not once, not twice but over and over again. Those are the idiots that give bike riders a bad name....and will one day become a spot in the road.

We had two unmarked cars come charging up the shoulder as well as at least three road work sign trucks. When we got to the accident, everything was cleared except the two cars (one on each side of the road) and the police were trying to recreate what happened. Once past that the traffic was flowing nicely.

Our next incident was a little more traumatic....we hit a stretch of road in Jersey that about jarred our teeth out. The road looked like it had stitches taken in gashes and it had to have been the roughest road I've ever been on. Of course it was MUCH worse because we both had to pee so bad....me especially.

We knew there was a rest area ahead but when Stu saw a weigh station with an exit, he thought that might work and pulled over. The weigh station was closed and gated so we took the exit. Figures we'd find one with no re-entry but at least there was a wide spot to pull over so we could make our pit stop.

Due to the jarring roads, Stu thought he should check the trike. Good thing.....there were some major issues. One D-ring was pulled completely out of the mount. The other D-ring had one screw pulled out of the floor. The bike had rolled back out of the wheel chock several inches. But the topper was the wall hanger for the ladder & smaller accessories (like the portable DirecTV dish & vacuum hose) was pulled out of the side of the wall and things were on top of the bike. There were several marks on the tourpack that will have to get buffed out.

We made adjustments, got the bike tied down again and the fallen items relocated and hit the road. The GPS tried to turn us right at the T ahead of us but looking at the map, there seemed to be an entry ramp to the left. We figured the routing, set for trucks, was sending us the long way to avoid our crossing a smaller bridge. We opted for the left turn & the bridge and lo & behold...about 1/4 mile to the left was a LARGE exit with a truck stop. Oh well...and of course as soon as we got back onto the highway we saw the Rest Area exit sign. LOL!

We arrived in Highland, NY at my youngest stepdaughter's house. Everyone was out front waving....they had been working all day planting 14 trees. Phew....I was tired just looking at what they had accomplished! Hugs & introductions ensued, then the bike was pulled out and put in the garage and the trailer backed into the yard. We started our set up and then gave tours to the grandkids who were really in AWE at our living in the RV.

Some great chatting followed by a delicious dinner followed, the 4 grandkids headed to bed and we four adults sat and talked about Gettysburg, Mexico travel and lots more. Next thing we knew it was almost 1am. Eeeek! Good thing we're retired! LOL!


Looks like we'll be leaving here on Wednesday and head to Pottstown, PA for a service appointment for the trailer. Hopefully we'll be out of there Thursday night or Friday at the latest and head back to Maryland until 10/4. Got a lunch set on Saturday with some motorcycle friends and plan to go to the Renaissance Faire on Sunday (I've never been). Every day the following week is already booked with things to do and people to see. On Sunday the 5th we'll leave MD until next year.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu

Gettysburg to Harrisburg....and STUCK!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Just a quick post to make sure everyone has found the new blog. Stu and I are still in PA. We had a great time in Gettysburg with my getting to meet many of Stu's friends as well as getting out to see some of the local area. Great riding weather, visited the Harley dealer (big surprise), ate out too much, enjoyed too much ice cream (is there such a thing?) and finally hit the road yesterday to head to Highland, NY to meet up with my youngest stepdaughter and her family.

Thus the fun began...we knew we were having intermittent turn signal problems but thought it was corrected. This was the third time Stu had attempted to repair the issue so when it went out again and left us with no directionals we knew we needed to find a truck store in Harrisburg where we could get a new unit.

Managed that fairly easily, a TA service store headed us to a local spot to pick up the switch. Got it installed and proceeded to blow another fuse. Okay, so that was the tip of the iceberg. More troubleshooting, several fuses blown, umbilical cord to the trailer seemed like it might be an issue so we headed to the closest RV shop to pick up a new one. Of course by this time it's 4 pm and we know we aren't going to make it to NY today.

After getting the parts we head to Harrisburg East Campground and get settled for the night. Several more hours, cord is rebuilt and the problem now appears to be on the Freightliner side. A badly crimped wiring harness may be the issue (a factory defect) but it will take work to release it to see. Hmmmmm.....time to call it a night.




Next morning Stu gets up early and starts backtracking the issue once more. He managed to get the wiring harness out of the area where it was crimped but the troubleshooting continued. By 11:30 we knew we had to extend another night. Sigh....

As I write this, Stu is still troubleshooting. I'll post updates in the next blog...someday we may finally make it to NY!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna

Froggi Hops to a New Blog

Well, now that Stu and I are together we have decided to start a new blog together and leave our current blogs as history. I have already copied some of my later blog entries to the new blog and shortly will be posting an update of the last week or so.

Soooooo, change your bookmarks, adjust your blog readers to 2 Taking a 5th and join in our adventures as we travel the country!

Keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Backing up....

Monday, September 15, 2008

Taking a step back to last week, Sunday the 14th to be exact. We were in Gettysburg and had a lunch planned with some of my riding sisters from the Rumble Sisters Biker Sisterhood. We met at a Perkins, exchanged introductions and hugs, had a great breakfast, met two other riding friends of mine (Bill & Dona) and just generally had a great time. Everyone had to head in different directions but we took time for a group photo.


We decided to take a ride to Emmitsburg, MD to visit the National Fire Academy where the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial is hosted. The ride was great even though the day was the warmest yet. Since this is all new to me, I won't try to pass along any historical information, those that are interested can visit the linked websites or ask Stu any questions.



On October 4th we'll be taking part in the 27th National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend motorcycle ride. I expect it to be quite a moving day and look forward to being a part of honoring those who have given their lives to serve others.



As we walked back to the bike we saw the largest mushroom either of us had ever seen. That's Stu's foot beside it, just for a little comparison.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu
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Catching Up....

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Things are a bit hectic here but I know everyone is wondering what's up so here's the short version.
  • Drove from White Sulfur Springs, MT to Colorado Springs, CO with only one teensy little defugalty. Hadn't towed in a while (almost 2 months) and forgot to turn off the key at night. Ended up in northern CO with a dead battery in the car. Got that taken care of at the Longmont Camping World where I stopped to get tire covers.
  • Spent a quiet night in the campground, got gas, argued with the bottle of Sta-bil that didn't want to transfer to the gas tank, moved the RV to the storage lot.
  • Unloaded the rest of the stuff out of the RV into daughter's car, stored my bicycle in the RV, then got the winterization done.
  • Went to visit some old friends who stored my rifel & handgun and took possession of the spare set of keys (in case I need something shipped to me) and had a great lunch at a local Chinese restaurant (best Chinese food in years).
  • Went to the airport to pick up the rental car (daughter took possession of my old car), found out their lot was off-site, finally got the car, headed to the hotel for a rest before dinner.
  • Nice dinner with some other friends, almost closed the restaurant while we chatted (daughter & grandson there as well), headed back to the hotel to find about 30 kids in the lobby registering.
  • Woke up realizing that 1) I had forgotten some food in the pantry and 2) the generator never got serviced. Called the RV folks to get the generator done and headed back to the storage lot. Had hoped to meet some friends in Colorado Springs but by the time this was all done it was too close to time to turn in the rental car (2pm deadline).
  • Plane took off for Chicago on time, not full so I got to move to an empty seat with no one beside me. Flight attendant gave me the wrong gate, fortunately I checked the monitor. Walked - LONG walk - to the next concourse.
  • Half hour late out of Chicago to Baltimore (BWI) and full...cramped flying but finished reading my book. Arrived close to on time, met Stu in the baggage claim.
  • Since then it has been a whirlwind of sorting my stuff into his stuff, finding spots for everything, mailing another box of stuff back to my daughter, tossing a few things topped with meeting a TON of family & friends. Been eating out WAY too much. Tonight? Out to meet more friends for dinner....LOL!
  • Tomorrow we load everything up and head to Gettysburg. We'll be meeting up with other retired firefighter friends for a weekend of fun as well as a lunch with some of my motorcycle friends on Sunday. Monday we move to a different park in Gettysburg and relax a bit before heading to Highland NY to meet with my late husband's youngest daughter & her family (Micki, Eric & the kids - Matthew, Abbi, Zoe & Luke). After that we'll wander somewhere in eastern PA till the 24th when we get the RV serviced in Pottstown, PA.
  • Back to Stevensville where we have another motorcycle friend lunch in Prince Frederick on the 27th, will attend the Renaissance Faire on the 28th (something I've never done but always wanted to), do the Red Hats ride in honor of Fallen Firefighters on 10/4 and somewhere in the middle of all that have a homemade pizza night for the family (Stu makes it from scratch....).

I will blog when I can but for a while things will stay pretty hectic...as you can see! Having an absolute blast....LIFE IS GOOD!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Catching Up....

Things are a bit hectic here but I know everyone is wondering what's up so here's the short version.
  • Drove from White Sulfur Springs, MT to Colorado Springs, CO with only one teensy little defugalty. Hadn't towed in a while (almost 2 months) and forgot to turn off the key at night. Ended up in northern CO with a dead battery in the car. Got that taken care of at the Longmont Camping World where I stopped to get tire covers.
  • Spent a quiet night in the campground, got gas, argued with the bottle of Sta-bil that didn't want to transfer to the gas tank, moved the RV to the storage lot.
  • Unloaded the rest of the stuff out of the RV into daughter's car, stored my bicycle in the RV, then got the winterization done.
  • Went to visit some old friends who stored my rifel & handgun and took possession of the spare set of keys (in case I need something shipped to me) and had a great lunch at a local Chinese restaurant (best Chinese food in years).
  • Went to the airport to pick up the rental car (daughter took possession of my old car), found out their lot was off-site, finally got the car, headed to the hotel for a rest before dinner.
  • Nice dinner with some other friends, almost closed the restaurant while we chatted (daughter & grandson there as well), headed back to the hotel to find about 30 kids in the lobby registering.
  • Woke up realizing that 1) I had forgotten some food in the pantry and 2) the generator never got serviced. Called the RV folks to get the generator done and headed back to the storage lot. Had hoped to meet some friends in Colorado Springs but by the time this was all done it was too close to time to turn in the rental car (2pm deadline).
  • Plane took off for Chicago on time, not full so I got to move to an empty seat with no one beside me. Flight attendant gave me the wrong gate, fortunately I checked the monitor. Walked - LONG walk - to the next concourse.
  • Half hour late out of Chicago to Baltimore (BWI) and full...cramped flying but finished reading my book. Arrived close to on time, met Stu in the baggage claim.
  • Since then it has been a whirlwind of sorting my stuff into his stuff, finding spots for everything, mailing another box of stuff back to my daughter, tossing a few things topped with meeting a TON of family & friends. Been eating out WAY too much. Tonight? Out to meet more friends for dinner....LOL!
  • Tomorrow we load everything up and head to Gettysburg. We'll be meeting up with other retired firefighter friends for a weekend of fun as well as a lunch with some of my motorcycle friends on Sunday. Monday we move to a different park in Gettysburg and relax a bit before heading to Highland NY to meet with my late husband's youngest daughter & her family (Micki, Eric & the kids - Matthew, Abbi, Zoe & Luke). After that we'll wander somewhere in eastern PA till the 24th when we get the RV serviced in Pottstown, PA.
  • Back to Stevensville where we have another motorcycle friend lunch in Prince Frederick on the 27th, will attend the Renaissance Faire on the 28th (something I've never done but always wanted to), do the Red Hats ride in honor of Fallen Firefighters on 10/4 and somewhere in the middle of all that have a homemade pizza night for the family (Stu makes it from scratch....).

I will blog when I can but for a while things will stay pretty hectic...as you can see! Having an absolute blast....LIFE IS GOOD!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Stu: A new adventure - Donna has arrived

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Donna has arrived and we are starting a new adventure together
Sep 6, 2008

Donna Yeaw has arrived and we have set up light housekeeping in my rig. Our next few months will be filled with travel to see all out family and friends on the east coast. NY, MD, PA, OH, TN, LA and FL. Then winter between Fl and TX returning to MD in April for Melissa and Mike's wedding in April. Be sure to visit our new BLOG, I will not be using this journal after this post.

The new blog will not automatically send out update notices. However, I will send out an email from time to time when we update it significantly. Donna will add things almost everyday we are on the move or when we see something worthwhile..check in often, add comments or just email us from time to time...we will answer as soon as we can.


Thanks for caring and travel safe...we will.

Stu & Donna

Halfway.....

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Just a quick travel note....I left White Sulfur Springs at 3:30 pm on Tuesday afternoon. I spent Tuesday night at the Old West RV Park in Reed Point as planned. I got an early start (for me) and hit the road at 7:45 am.

Traffic was light, skies clear for most of the day, comfortable temperatures and I made good time. I ended up in Wheatland, WY for the night at Mountain View RV Park (after my GPS lied to me...LOL!).

This put me about 80 miles ahead of my planned stop for the night so I can sleep in a little tomorrow. I'll stop at Camping World in Longmont, CO to pick up tire cover for the rig. Then will meet with my daughter at the Park and Ride north of Denver and close to her house. We'll load up the car with refrig/pantry/cleaning goods and take them to her house. She'll take me back to the RV and I will head to Colorado Springs. She'll arrive later in the day after picking up my grandson from his 4H meeting.

Friday and Saturday will be FULL-FULL-FULL days so I doubt I will be posting again before Monday (at the earliest). I don't arrive in Baltimore until almost midnight on Saturday. In the meantime, just know that I'm having FUN-FUN-FUN!!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Wild, Wacky, Wonderful, Weird Weather

Monday, September 1, 2008

The weather has decided to show its true Montana colors the last week or two. One day we have a high of 97, the next it's 65. Then back to averages in low 80s....nice. Followed by a dramatic change yesterday. Severe storm warnings....thunder, rain, hail....and we got it all. Made for an interesting sky.



The rain and hail didn't hit until the sun starting peeking out again.



Within 10 minutes the temperature dropped from 65 to 48. The low last night was forecast in the mid-30's. I have no idea what it finally was, my outside thermometer came in yesterday morning as I packed up all my outside gear in preparation for leaving tomorrow afternoon. It then rained most of the night and off & on early this morning.

The topper of the day, I thought, was discovering on a the Sunday before Labor Day that my propane tank read empty. Glad I have the electric space heater!

But the REAL topper was this morning as I ran last minute errands and enjoyed breakfast out. Snow....yup, you heard me, SNOW. For the last couple of hours it's been snowing off & on. Too warm to stick, still fun to watch....from inside.

I work this afternoon till 7 pm but don't expect to be very busy. Tomorrow is a morning shift but I hope to take the RV out for propane & gas before hitting work at 10 am. I get off at 2:30 and hope to be on the road by 3:30. Will spend the night in Reed Point, MT at the Old West RV Park where Stu & I stayed twice. Will be in Colorado Springs late afternoon, early evening on Thursday. Winterizing the rig on Friday as well as seeing family & friends. Flight out of the Springs on Saturday, headed to Baltimore and my sweetie...the start of a wonderful new adventure!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

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