Southlake, TX and the grandkids

The drive to Dallas was wet at times, which is becoming the norm, but uneventful. We really do not like driving the motor home through city congestion, but it is the only way to get across Dallas to Southlake where Chris and Lisa live.

Actually, there was a bit of a problem on the way. My cell phone died. That really pointed out how much I relay on it when traveling. I look up our next fuel stops and rest stops where we change drivers. I also use it to find campgrounds where we will spend the night. All that got more complicated without the phone working. We arrived mid-afternoon, backed in to Chris’ backyard, and got set up. Boy, do I wish I could park the coach in our backyard.

Once everything was set I drove over to the Verizon store and upgraded my phone. That is not as simple as it sounds. There is a lot of time spent trying to move data and apps to the new phone via the “cloud”, and as so often happens, several apps did not come across. Nor did their data, such as past fuel mileage information for the motor home. Well, that will keep me busy for a while as I try to get back to normal, phone wise at least.

We had a great visit with Chris’ family. The grandsons are growing like crazy and great to be around.

Ben's room. Cool graphics, Ben.

Just turned one and getting around on his own at the park.

Jack with his cousin Sidney.

Jack is very creative and has quite a workspace,

The end result is a homemade kazoo!

 

Natchitoches, LA

It was another driving day dominated by rain until early afternoon. We chose to top-off fuel prior to leaving I-10 for I-49 northbound. That would allow us to get close to Dallas before refueling again, thus having enough in the tank to not worry about finding fuel in the congested Dallas area.

The rain had the Flying J truck stop backed up so there was a long wait to get to the pump. I hoped that the wait would be long enough for the rain to stop, but no such luck. Soggy AND smelling like diesel. What fun.

The rain did stop as we turned north and things were nice and dry at the Nakatosh Campground. We found it better than we remembered. The site is nice and level and there are some shade trees, yet not so many that DirecTV could not get through. Wouldn’t you know that we found Steel Magnolias playing on the TV? It was filmed here.

We drove into the historic old town of Natchitoches and had dinner at Moma’s Oyster Bar. The Catfish Supreme was as good as we remembered, and we toasted our tenth wedding anniversary over an Abita Beer.   

We first had the catfish etouffe here at Moma’s on our way to California on our first post retirement trip. Good food and good memories. After dinner we had a nice walk along the Cane River before returning to the campground.

Shields RV Park, Gulfport, MS

We have finished our third day on the road, on this our first long haul trip in the Phaeton. Our first day saw us in rain for a great deal of the trip. We had just washed the coach and got it looking great for the trip. Now it has the usual grime from the road. So much for trying to look nice.

Speaking of nice, the rain had stopped as we approached Niceville to visit with Jim and Phyllis Kaiserski. Niceville was, well, very nice! Niceville is nestled in around Ft Walton Beach, Destin and Eglin AFB. It is a great area and Jim and Phyllis’ home is especially nice. It is on a short cul de sac with room for us to park the motor home while we visit.

We drove on to Gulfport this morning in perfect weather. We are staying in the campground of a Navy Sea Bee base. It is a well cared for campground with paved sites that are widely spaced and separated by lawn. While quiet as I write this, the afternoon was very noisy will trains and sirens.

Those of you that follow this blog know that RVing for us is “repairing our motor home in exotic places”, and today was no different. When we attempted to plug in shore power there was a very loud clattering sound coming from the electrical bay. The sound was coming from our Progressive Industries electrical management system, which is a device that acts as a surge protector, but also protects the coach from dangerous campground power conditions. The issue today was not with the campground’s power, although that was the first thing I checked. This system senses the quality of the power coming into the motor home. Once it finds the power acceptable it closes a relay allowing electricity into the coach. This afternoon, rather than closing, the relay was opening and closing quickly making the chattering sound.  After much discussion with the manufacturer we finally got the thing working properly without extensive dis-assembly or ordering new parts. The technical support folks at Progressive Industries are knowledgeable and very willing to help.

Progressive Industries EMS in background

Power enters through the cable on left, passes through the EMS to the transfer switch.

We will be off in the morning for Natchitoches, LA. We found this great little spot while driving out to California when we first retired. The small downtown riverfront is well maintained and sports a few nice restaurants. Our favorite has wonderful Cajun food, and I will report more on that later. Natchitoches is home to a small college, but was put on the map when the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed there. The campground is out near the interstate and is nothing special, but we go there for the food.

Friday we arrive in Dallas to see the grandsons, Ben and Jack. It will be wonderful to see them and their parents even if it is just for the weekend.

Tiffin Rally - Orlando

Our first RV rally! The Tiffin Allegro Club was holding a rally in Orlando and it seemed a good way to learn more about our coach and meet other RVers with similar coaches. When we found out that a new friend we met last month in Gaffney, SC was attended we elected to sign up and join him. What the heck, it was being held fifteen minutes away at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. I could even keep my dentist appointment!

We have never been to an event like this and the logistics amazed me. Two hundred and sixty coaches were to arrive and needed to be parked in the same day. Volunteers arrived ahead of time, had everything set up, and guided the coaches into position with little trouble. We were in the block designated to arrive between 1:00 and 3:00. Coaches wishing to be parked together had to arrive together, so we coordinated with Jerry to pull up at the fairgrounds at the same time. We both arrived at 12:55 and as it turned out we were very fortunate to get parked in the very last row of the main group of coaches. I say fortunate because we ended up with a very nice lake view instead of looking at neighbors across the way.

 

Getting in was not entirely without issue. Water hookups were scarce, and people were running hoses great distances to get to a faucet. We heeded instructions in the pre-rally packet and filled our water tank before arriving, so it was not an issue for us. Electrical power, however, was crazy. We knew to bring a 50 to 30 amp adapter and an extension cord, but for the group of about eight coaches in our section the outlets were typical household 20 amp outlets! Half of the outlet boxes on the pole were charred black and not functioning. It was a scramble as everyone juggled for a place on the pole with a working outlet. Those that did not have adapters for the three prong household outlet had the additional burden of finding one. Once everyone was settled in that pole looked like something out of a “What Were They Thinking” YouTube video. In the end the power was adequate thanks to cooler weather reducing the draw of multiple air conditioners.

Days were spent in seminars and checking the wares of the vendors that had come. I managed to get a few things like a flagpole holder and LED bulbs to change out the majority of the bulbs in the coach that were not already LEDs. Some of the seminars were just vendor sales pitches, but others provided good information. One of the best was a pet first aid class.

Meals were busy events as you can imagine since there were close to six hundred mouths to feed. The caterer had plenty of food, so no one went hungry even if they arrived a little late.

Barbara was unable to stay the last night since she was leaving at 4:00 AM to travel with her grandniece on a school trip to Washington, DC. Our current golden retriever foster and I were left to spent the last night together and break camp the following morning.

Bella crept out of the bedroom and found her own space

All coaches were required to leave by noon, and I thought that it would be a madhouse as 260 coaches headed to the exit at the same time. Reality was much different. I never noticed more than a half dozen coaches lined up at the exit at any one time.

I was impressed with how well the entire event was handled. I was also pleased to find so many friendly people. Everyone seemed to be enjoying him or herself, particularly the Le Mesa RV sales staff. Each evening at dinner they announced the couples that bought coaches that day. Over the course of the rally nearly twenty coaches were sold!

The Tiffin Motor Home Company provided another nice benefit. Technicians worked long hours every day of the rally providing up to three minor repairs on each coach – FREE! Thank you Tiffin!

Would we attend another such rally? Perhaps, but it would be dependent on the location and ease of access. Driving out of our way to one will most likely not happen. Not that we did not enjoy the rally, or that the rally was not run well, but because we prefer our gatherings to be much smaller in size, or focused on a specific activity of interest such as May’s rally in Moab with the FMCA 4Wheelers.

Bill and Barbara with new friends and solo travelers Jerry and Linda

We would like to thank the Tiffin Allegro Club and Tiffin Motor Homes for putting on a wonderful, well-run event.

Flat Rock, NC

We did finally make it up to Lakewood RV Park in Flat Rock, NC. While it is much dryer, clumps of snow abound. As the snow continues to melt the non-paved areas are soft and puddles are the norm.

Trying to stay warm inside

View from inside. Come on spring!

The temps continued to avoid reaching forty degrees during the day and they retreated into the twenties at night. The sun continued to allude us.

Still, it is a nice park with a high number of nice park models on the higher elevations. The flat lower section is a 100-year flood plain and no semi-permanent structures are in that area. While this park is open all year, only the bathhouse and common room are open and they see limited use. I am sure this is a very popular park in the warmer months, and we intend to return in late June. We hope to get out and see more of this area on that trip since there will be better weather and longer daylight. This park sits just off the Eastern Continental Divide where the elevation is just 2130 feet. Only knowing of the Great Divide, we did not know that other Continental Divides existed, so there will be lots to explore and learn next time.

The day of our departure turned out to be sunny and warm (er). Wouldn’t you know it? We had an uneventful drive down to Hardeeville, and subsequently home.

Still in Gaffney

Well the amount of expected snow did not materialize here in Gaffney, but things are a slushy mess. 

After. Not as bad as predicted.

We took the jeep up the interstate to Flat Rock, NC for Barbara’s first day of class at the dog training session. While she was in class I entertained myself at the laundromat, checked out the condition of the campsite we still hope to get into, and wandered around the very large Camping World in Flat Rock.

Our intended spot at Lakewood RV Park, Flat Rock, NC.

We will give the roads another day to clear in the campground, then drive the coach up Saturday. That will save Barbara the one-hour commute she is doing from here in Gaffney.

Temperatures remain in the thirties during the day and mid-twenties at night. The service bay seems to be staying in the low forties with the rear furnace ducting some warm air its way. I have also rigged a 60-watt lamp in the bay that is powered through a thermostatic switch that activates at, or about, thirty-two degrees.

Lamp in service bay. Lowest bay temp at night so far is 42*.

Thermostatic switch in unheated bay controls power to lamp.

Since the furnace vent is right next to Barbara’s side of the bed it is disrupting her sleep. If the temperature looks like it will avoid the twenties tonight I will leave that furnace off. The forward furnace should keep things from getting uncomfortable inside. It looks like we have burned half of our supply of propane already.

We certainly need to get back south where we can at least use the electric heat pumps.

Gaffney, SC and Freightliner Custom Chassis

I have been remiss. We have been on the road for five days and I have not spoken up.

We spent my seventieth birthday on the road to Hardeeville, SC which was our intermediate stop enroute to our annual maintenance service with Freightliner in Gaffney, SC. Barbara has a dog training session near Asheville, NC this week so we combined the two events to create our first out of state trip in the new-to-us motorhome.

The trip was uneventful, though we had anticipated traffic in Daytona Beach due to it being race week. It turned out to be a non-issue and we made it to Hardeeville in good time. The Hardeeville RV Park is a no-frills campground. There are no amenities. It is close to downtown Savannah, though, and close enough to I-95 to be a good stopover point.

Sunday morning the adventure began. As we tried to depart the campground it was evident that the engine had de-rated and the “Check Engine” light was on. For those unfamiliar with modern diesel engines, de-rating means that the engine is protecting itself from damage by restricting the power available. The computer does this when certain parameters are exceeded, but unfortunately the driver does not always get a clue to what is happening by looking at the gauges. Such was the case here. We limped back to our campsite and pondered. We pondered some more. All the while the engine was idling, but would not accept throttle input. The coolant temperature gauge was reading low and it seemed to be taking considerable time warming up, so I thought perhaps the thermostat had failed open not allowing the engine to reach operating temperature. Eventually the engine got over what ever was troubling it and off we went not knowing what had happened, but thinking it might be the thermostat. We added that to our list of things for Freightliner to look at and marched onward.

Just short of our destination we left the highway at a truck stop and topped off the fuel in preparation for having the coach weighed. As we re-entered the interstate the engine de-rated again and would not allow more than idle RPM. There was a lot of traffic, but we managed to get to the narrow shoulder and stop. There was not a check engine light or any other indication of what the problem might be. After a few moments we had power again and I limped to the next exit, which thankfully, was where we were to get off anyway.

The great folks at Freightliner managed to get everything done that we came for, but they could not duplicate the power issues we encountered. The diagnostic computer did find codes that indicated that the Throttle Position Sensor had been having issues since before we bought the coach, so we ordered a new throttle assembly in the hope that the problem will be solved. If the problem was a clogged fuel filter, that would have been cured by the replacement which was done as part of the annual. Time will tell, but I am going to be a bit nervous until we have some miles on the coach. We had to wait a day for the part to be shipped, but it is now installed and we are ready to go. Which brings us to the weather.

Gaffney is lower pin. Flat Rock is the upper.

The local area is now under a winter storm warning and eight to ten inches of snow is expected tonight. We originally were going to Flat Rock, NC for the dog training class, but it is in the mountains nearly fifteen hundred feet higher than here. We have elected to forgo the fun of 6-7% grades in ice and snow, and will keep the coach here in the Freightliner lot and commute the hour to the classes. If the roads clear enough over the next few days we will move up the mountain and hope that the weekend weather will be nice enough to not create a problem for coming back down the mountain for our return to Hardeeville Monday. Meanwhile, we are tucked in here with the slides drawn in to prevent snow/ice damaging the slide seals or canvas covers.

20 years in Florida. Never thought I would buy one of these again.

The before shot. Ready as we will ever be.