Ohio to Florida

(PART 2)

DAY 4

     Went to sleep with the temperature inside the RV at 77 F and woke up at 48 F, both of us did not want to get out of the bed. But, it was so cold that we had to use the bathroom and it forced us to get up. The campsite was on a pull through lot, but right under 4 different trees so we did not open the awning. However, during the night acorns was falling on the roof and kept waking me up. We stayed on the lot until 11:00 am at check out time. We then headed back to the welcome center. The wife had trouble posting to her blog in the campsite, and the connection was stronger in the welcome center. We pulled out our chairs and small table and ate lunch outside. The front parking lot was full so we had to park in overflow and there was no one, so we parked in the back and took up about 10 parking spots.

     We finally hit the road and put in a few hours. We pulled into a Flying J to get our propane tank full and then drove some more. We had a Pilot and Flying J gas station location and noticed that there was one in Tennessee and that they had RV parking so we set off to try and get there before sunset. When we arrived we are the only RV so far. The parking spot is a little small, but managed to park with only the front about two feet out of the parking line. We thought that this was better then the back of the car out two feet and in the way if someone else tried to park later tonight. We are at Flying J #720 in Fairview, TN off of I-40 & Hwy 96 Exit 182. There is a Denny's located on site and a Dunkin Donuts across the street at another gas station. 

DAY 5

     We departed from Flying J's and continued heading South to Memphis. As we passed by open fields on the highway the wife thought that she saw snow, it was only cotton filed.

         We stopped in Memphis at Graceland and took pictures of Elvis Presley Estate from the street.   

     We were close to the Mississippi boarder so we crossed over to see the casino and try to win some gas money. I showed my retired Military ID and the host who checks to see if you are over 21 shook my hand and thanked me for my service. He also ask what my secret was to look young. I told him I eat Asian food and he and my wife both laughed at the same time. We both started with $20.00. We could not get free play, because we already had a player card when we visited Las Vegas. After about three hours we profited $2.12 total. I won $.52 and the wife $1.60. I earned enough points on my slot card for a free buffet dinner, but the wife did not so I passed on the free meal. instead we ate dinner inside the RV in the casino parking lot. Then, hit the road once again.

We crossed over three state lines in less than one hour (Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas). We are spending the night at the Arkansas Welcome Center rest stop parking lot. I can now add Tennessee and Mississippi to state visited map. Before going to sleep we played UNO and I won 6 of 10 games with a score of 184 to 333. I told you I would win our next game night!

DAY 6

     NFL week 6 came to an end and I saw NO games for the first time all season. I did however make my picks before starting our trip and I did not do well. I was 5-9 and my season total is now 37-38-2.

     Headed West to little Rock, AR with a stop at Little Rock AFB. The base was big, but I was not impressed with the exchange. The commissary was closed on Monday's so was unable to see inside. However, there was lots of planes all over the base in open lots to display their History. we took pictures from the RV hoping not to get pulled over for taking pictures on a Military base.

 We then,headed South to hot Springs National Park. We had to find the parks campsite first. Did not want to drive the RV all over downtown with narrow streets. Pulled into our lot with no hook-up for $10 a night ($5 if over 65 years old). They also have full hook-up for $24 a night ($12 if over 65 years old). There is no staff in the office, but have one on site if you need help checking in. You have to pay for your site by a machine. We took the no hook-up site and will stay 3 days. There is a free dump station and fresh water, so there is no real reason to get full hook-up for only a few days. Besides, we have not watched TV so far and if we got a full hook-up site we might just turn the heater on and stay inside and watch TV all day. We are on the road to see America and a little cold in the morning just makes you get dressed and get out side faster. Our view from the site is mountain and water stream. I even cooked dinner.

DAY 7

     Today, we visited the national Park Welcome Center were I got the National Park stamp and sticker. By luck we arrived a few minutes before a tour started and jumped in line to see a free guided tour of Historical Bath House on Bath House Row. We then drove the car up Ouachita Mountain to Mountain Tower. The tower is 216 feet tall and has a panoramic view of Hot Spring, AR. The coast is $7 Regular, $6 55+years old and $5 special for military. There are coupon all over downtown and in Hot Springs Visitor book for $1 off (except for special rates). We had a few empty jugs so we filled them up with local spring water. We labeled them so we would not get mixed with the spring water we got from Ohio.

DAY 8

     At 7:30 am, received a cell phone wake up call from my mom. She wanted to check in with me to see how things were going. Went outside and noticed something tried to eat our green onion last night. Today is a relax day to update our blogs and take a break from moving all day from sun rise to sun set. We drove up the West mountain to see the view. The view was the same as mountain Tower, but we have time and did it anyways. We ate dinner at McClard's Bar-B-Q. When i first walked in, it looked like a time in the past of stories I only heard of. You seat yourself and the waitress arrives with the menu. The service is great. They greet you when you arrive in the door and always polite. We did not know what something was on the menu and they could not explain what it was, so they gave us a sample. This was not a small sample as in big name dinners, it was a good size. We ordered a pound of ribs and fries with drinks and was under $20. I'm not a big rib fan, but this is one of the best I have tasted. It's fall off the bone meat and sauce was excellent  McClard's is were President Clinton ate when he returned home while visiting from the White House and sometimes ordered to deliver to the the White House. There are pictures and a small library of books on him on display. There are also pictures of other famous people who visited just to taste their Bar-B-Q Rib. Some that I can remember was Aerosmith (Band) and  Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys Owner). There were more but can't remember them all.... SORRY!
I searched the internet and found their homepage: http://www.mcclards.com/

 Ohio to Florida

(PART 1)

DAY 1

   You know the saying, "Bad things happen in threes" that's what happened to us. Stay tune for the story.


     Today, is the start of our Full-time on the road. we woke up at 6:30 am with anticipation on what the day will hold for us. However, the excitement lasted less than ten feet. After packing and ready to start, we got stuck in mud right in front of our site. It was so bad we spun the wheels until we were a good foot or more deep. We tried putting the gravel from the site into to hole, we placed wood and towels under the wheels and nothing worked. I wanted to prove I could get things done even when they did not go as planned  I had to pull an ace out of my hat. I did what any smart man would do to save face in front of his wife ....I called my RV insurance with free road side service. After about one hour they showed up and we were freed from the mud. By the time we got the tow and car hooked up, dumped the tanks and hit the road to meet the parents one last time for our fair-well meal, we were already three hours behind our time table. The up side to the story is we can change the time table to our liking at any time.

     We met my parents at iHop and had our last meal together. After saying our goodbye we final got on the road. With the trusty GPS working we were finally off. After a few hour of jesters the nerves of driving the RV went away and felt normal, with the exception of the wind blowing. The rig would sway left and right on the road and our car that we tow started to sway too, I just let off the gas and regain control. In the past on our road trips with a car, I had a lead foot and passed everyone, now I drive the speed limit and other pass me like I'm standing still. The hill or slopes on the highway is something else I have to get use to. As soon as the upward hill or slopes the rig loses it's torque and I have to press the gas peddle harder just to get up the hill.

     Now, time for the last two bad things. They are not major, but never the less bad. After the sun set I plugged a car light in the power outlet and it blew a fuse. I hooked the GPS back in and I could not receive any power. I searched for the fuse box, but with no light I could not see. I would have to replace the fuse in the morning. Lastly, with the highway roads not having lights we did not see the road hazard until we were right on top of it. A truck must have lost some of it load and I hit it straight on. Soon, cars was driving up to us flashing their lights and pointing to the rear of our rig. I pulled over on the dark highway with flashlight in hand and searched for damages. I found two things. One, there was a wire strap that more than likely secured down what the driver was towing stuck under the car bumper and two, one of our outside storage doors was slightly bent. Probable from hitting whatever was in the road. I can still open, close and lock the door hatch. I will see if  can bend it back and hope not to snap it off in the process.

     We finally called it a day. Around 8:00 pm we pulled into a rest stop and parked next to semi-trucks.

                                                             Sun setting on Day 1 on I-71S.

DAY 2

     We hit the road around 9:00 am, with the sun behind us and open road in front we set off hoping for better luck than the day before.

     First, on our list was to stop by Jungle Jim's. This is an international food market place in a 6 acres
building. If any Country has it, so does Jungle Jim's. We spent about two hours shopping and looking at everything they had. Besides all the food, they have entertainment too. There is a movie theater that tell the story of Jungle Jim's starting as a outside corner market to what it is today. Their restroom are known as the "America's Best Restroom".  It was all over the news and If I find a link I will post it here, along with their homepage. If you are ever in Cincinnati, OH you have to check it out.

home page: http://www.junglejims.com/

Restroom Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLdJ9yOqSCU (good link as of 04 Oct 12)



     After a long day shopping and stuffing our face with sushi, we had to take a nap before getting back on the road. We processed South to a small place in Kentucky called Hodgenville to visit the National Historical Site of Abraham Lincoln Birthplace. However, we arrive around 8:00 pm about 10 minutes away at a small shopping plaza where we have stopped for the night. I walked into two of the stores that was still open and asked if it would be OK if we spent the night. I was told as long as we are parked away from where the truck deliver in the morning there should be no problem. Two hours have passed and I can hear police siren going off to pull over car speeding on the main road but, no sign of the police knocking on our door... YET!

     Since we will spend the night and sightseeing in Kentucky, I will add it to the states we have visited.

DAY 3

     Woke up with no problems from the police or business. We soon arrived at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Park. We watched the 15 minute video and when we walked out the theater there was a table with  lincoln logs. I have not built a log cabin since I was a little boy. There was a pile of logs and in a few second I build one. I felt like a kid again. Even though there was not a lot of pieces it still brought back memories of my boyhood. We then walked to the the monument where it housed a replica of the wood cabin house Abraham Lincoln was born in. There was 56 steps leading up to the door that represented Abraham Lincoln age when he was assassinated. The monument was built in 1909 to celebrate Abraham Lincoln 100th birthday. Also, for the National Passport to American's National Parks stamp was released in 2009 to celebrate his 200th birthday.

     After close to two hours, we left and got on the road for our next stop. We arrived at Mammoth Cave National Park. There we took the tour of Frozen Niagara Cave.  I was able to put two stamps in my National Park Stamp book today. The cost was $14 for two with retire Military discount.

With a timezone change where we gained a hour and had two hours before our tour started, so we drove around and soon found the campgrounds. There was no hook-ups at $17 a night. The campground is 1/4 mile from the visitor center and if you need to showers are $2 for 10 minutes. There is also free tank dumping and we will take advantage of that when we leave tomorrow. We'll dump our tanks and refill our travel water before taking off.
   
     When our tour finished, we charged our laptops and cell phone in the welcome center. Then we returned to our RV where we walked the campgrounds to see everyone setting up their tent or pop-up camper. We saw only a few other RV's or trailers. Since there is internet connection, I will try to update this blog and post before we depart tomorrow.  Sorry for the delay!

     We have looked up some ideas on where to go next, so stay tune to this blog and find out what's next!

BUSY WEEK

Since my last post we have been busy. Update on the RV generator, GOOD NEWS, after I filled the RV tank with gas it turn over. I was right that the generator was not getting power, I was wrong that I said it way the battery. Found out that if the RV is at less than 1/4 tank the generator no longer pulls gas. This allows the driver enough gas to drive and get more. I guess that's a good thing.

Spent the last Sunday in Ohio with the parents. There was lost of little things we had to take care of and got them all done. The best news is NFL week 5. I lived up to my word and turned out to be a lot better week. I was 10-5 and pushed me back over .500 for the season and currently stand at 32-29-2 going into week 6.

The last two days at the campground was busy as well. We paid the last electric bill for our site, stacked the refrigerator with food, sent out some letters in the mail, the wife got her cut, packed everything away, filled the travel water tank, closed the awning and said our goodbyes to our friends and family. Now the only thing we have to do in the morning is close the slide-out and attacked the tow dolly with the car and hit the road.  

Last weekend was part one of two for Halloween, this weekend Mother Nature allowed good weather and there was lots of fun to have. The Haunted House (tent) was better that I thought. It was a large Army tent and was divided in half with a "S" type walk way on both sides. At every turn there was something or someone jumping out. 

The highlight for my wife was the kids dressed up to hand candy out to. There is no Halloween in Japan and watched how the kids dressed up they looked so cute to her. Our first trick-or-treat was a seasonal camper. His father drove him in their gulf cart and he jumped out and ran to get the free candy. I just had to take the picture and it turned out pretty good. 

                 There was also a seasonal who went all out to win the best campsite decoration.

After dinner (if the weather permits) we walk around the campground and lake. Tonight was our last walk and we went back in time to 1985!

Unfortunately, I did not see Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) or Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd).