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).

CAR MAINTENANCE & HISTORICAL SITE 

Dropped the car off to fix the air pump on the heater and A/C unit. Since we are still in Ohio, I took it to the dealer where I bought it. To my surprise, the car is still insured. I guess I'm still under the max mileage. I thought that I would be over by now, driving to South Carolina (2 times), DC and numerous 100 mile round trips to see my parents. I just had to pay the deductible and the rest was covered. 

We got hungry waiting and remember seeing a McDonald's a few blocks away, so we walk to eat lunch. On our way we had to cross over a round-a-bout. In the middle of the loop stands a historical site, The Old Town Hall. Since they could not demolish the building they built the road around the site. I must have drove around the loop at least five time in the last two years and never notice it before. I guess, when I step out of my normal I see thing in a different view. This is one of the main reasons I'm looking forward to my new lifestyle, to see and enjoy the United States at a slow and steady pace then in a lighting speed with horse glasses on.  

    

LAST COUPLE OF DAYS

22 September 2012 (Saturday)

Woke up at Midnight to rain falling on the RV. When I woke up my wife wished me a happy birthday. That's right for the last sixteen years I have been 25. The rain was so loud I had to use a trick I used when I was stationed on the USS Kitty Hawk (aircraft carrier), I put ear plugs in my ears and fell asleep like a baby.

                  My Parents treated me and my wife to a birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  

This is weekend one of two for trick or treat at the campground. We got five bags of candy and was looking forward to handing them out to the kids as they passed our RV. However, Mother Nature had her hand in not letting that happen... at least for this weekend. I hope she is kinder next weekend or the wife and I will have to eat the five bags of candy.

The owners of the campground have gone all out in celebrating Halloween. As soon as you enter the parking lot all the way to my site there is something with Halloween theme.

   

There is also a Haunted House (tent). Hope to walk through on weekend two of Halloween. 

23 September 2012 (Sunday)

NFL week 3 picks with Vegas odds... my first week under .500 with the worst week so far this season. Some of the teams I picked won the game, but did cover the spread. Lot of upsets by the underdogs too. Week 3 I went 5-10-1. My season total record is  22-24-2. I have to do some better research for my week 4 picks. 

24 September 2012 (Monday)

The rain has stopped and trying to get better internet I went outside the RV and have not lots connection (as often as I did inside the RV). When I want to post to this blog or even surf the net for places to visit next I go outside, but I have to wear a jacket to keep somewhat warm.

The last couple of nights I would wake up with no blanket on, because the wife took them all. I'm taking this as a sign to move South and towards warmer weather.  We have decided to move our departure day ahead by 11 days and leave on the morning of 3 October 2012. That means we have a week to get the car and RV checked and one last push to get everything in order before hitting the road.   

We still have some firewood and likely to have one last BIG campfire on Wednesday or Thursday (if weather permits).    

SECOND BLOG IN ONE DAY.... WHAT!

After working all week in getting the RV ready to hit the road in a few weeks, I took the afternoon off to go fishing. I started with fishing lures, with no luck. I went to the campground store and night crawlers just arrived so I got a dozen. I had better luck, but if we had to rely on my fishing to survive .... lets just say good think there is a Giant Eagle grocery store close by.

                                                        This is what I saw in the Lake.

This is what I caught!

                                                   A baby Bluegill. Better luck next time!

There was a little girl (I would say around 10 years old) beside me catching one fish after another using raw hot-dogs. I had to pack up my fishing pole and call it a day.

You can tell it's the start of the weekend. Around 2:00pm - 5:00pm the seasonal campers started to arrive. It was so quite with just us in our area all week. All I hear now are kids screaming, dogs barking and owners cutting their grass. That's a good thing, I can hang out with my fellow campers. Besides, in a few days everyone will be going back to their homes and we will have the campground and Mother Nature to ourselves once more.

                                                  

   

CAMPFIRE AND GENERATOR UPDATE

Last night we stayed warm by the campfire and made our version of the double stuff Oreo.

Worked on the generator some more today. Still could not get it to turnover. I'm no expert on RV's by far, but the way it sounds the generator is not getting the power it needs to turn on. I think it might be a battery issue. I made an appointment for next week to take it in to get looked at and fixed before we hit the road in the coming weeks.

I could have gotten upset by these little things, but in the long run I accept that this as part of the learning process and that all good things come with a price.  RV's are complex and occasionally things will happen. I can only take the bad things in stride and enjoy the good things.

                                         COUNTRY ACRES CAMPGROUND
                                                            Ravenna, Ohio

                                           http://countryacrescamping.com/

This is our first campsite, so I have nothing to compare it to except for personal preference.   

We choice this campsite, because it was close to our apartment. We knew that we would have to drive back and forth to move everything we wanted to take with us. We wanted to take small steps in the transformation of our new lifestyle and not jump into it and find ourselves overwhelmed from day one. 

We got lucky, they had two seasonal site left. We took the bigger site with grass over a smaller one with only gravel rocks. The site has water and electric, but no sewer. With a small fee we have it pumped once a week by the campground. If we need to we can pump into our tote tanks and dump it. The overall fee for single use once a week for five moths was more than the fee to have someone else do it for us, so we went with the lesser cost. 

                   The main office is also a small store, DVD rental and a one-for-one book exchange.

The entrance is secure with a key-card gate. There is a $10.00 fee, but when you checkout you will get refunded. This is done to replace any key-cards that visitors might take with them when they leave. Also, when you first enter the road split in three different ways with lots of one way roads. After entering a few times it pretty easy.

Activities: During the week, there is none scheduled. Friday and Saturday, there is lots to do. Friday nights are movie night. This is a family campground so the movies are rated G-PG and are newer releases. Saturday is full of activities to do. There is arts and craft, kids BINGO followed by Adult BINGO, hayride the goes around the park and tops off the night with entertainment either live band, talent show, karaoke, or special event like Christmas in July or Halloween in September.  

                  The is a gym, basketball court, pool, jump pillow and a water balloon launcher.   

For dog lovers there is a dog park. There is a large lake for fishing. However, there is a catch and release policy and NO night fishing allowed.

If you are young or old, with children or not and like a small town quite campsite this place is for you.