Trash Day 02

Consistency is a virtue i never achieved. I begin some task or other and struggle to keep to it until the end. Well, so far i have gotten through day 2 of my walking. Some sort of record i'd say.
I have, as a goal, to exercise and lose the 5 pounds that i have gained over the winter. Yes, to some, 5 pounds is nothing but i don't like it! I might even go for an extra 3 pounds to get down to an even number. i want  my fighting weight to come in around 193 or 190, which ever is easiest.
Fortunately, i have the street trash to give me motivation and distraction. When i look down(or up) the road i lose interest in the walk. Mainly because i see the end so far away that i just don't want to walk it. However, looking for trash diverts my mind from the walk and i can go as far as my empty bag will let me. This day i walked a full mile and filled my bag on the uphill stroll. If i had found another bag i would have switched sides of the road and started the other side going downhill.
As it turns out, i saw a bag on the other side and know that i will have my little section of road pristine come summer.
My collection this trip included many beer and pop cans and the tiny airline type liquor bottles. In my professional trash picker-upper consideration, these items have lain on the road for quite a while. Soon I will begin documenting the "new" trash left by the current citizens of this side of town.

Trash day 01

I am going to Alaska! To Denali byway of the Yukon to be more accurate. To that end, i have to get in shape to walk up to the summit! So i started walking up the hill on my frontage road.
You will note that the summit of Denali is about 25,000 feet while my road is 300 feet however a  climb begins with but one step. This morning i managed to get about 3/4 of the way up, a matter of 1/4 mile.
As i strolled up the hill i noticed bits and pieces of life all about the road side. I passed a plastic bag and about 50 yards beyond it i return to pick it up. If i want to get in shape i need the whole workout and not just legs and my perfectly shaped Glutts. If i fill the bag with the road side human debris, the bending and picking will exercise the entire body. I figure, in the early going, when i fill the bag i can return home. So it only took 1/4 mile this trip. That is my excuse and i stick by it!

Day 2 begins tomorrow!

February 11, 2018 Second day in Terciera

 We traveled the other end off the island today. First driving to a cave with volcanic activity in it only to find it wasn;t open on the days we are here. Pretty drive though.
After we passed the cave we drove the perimeter of the island. I don't have a direction because i got turned around and don'tknow north from south or east from west. I can look on google but why? I am on vacation.
Our entire drive was 100 kilometers. When we looked at the google maps we found that we were passed the won we thought we were driving towardds. That is a small distance that looks large on the map.
Not much to report on our trip. Many small towns. Lots of farms with milk cows. Milk is deleivered by pickup truck. We did see on horse drawn milk wagon but no music. (If i were a rich man...).Today(the 12th) we plan to retrace our steps and just hangout. I am sure there is much we have missed.
Bom Dia 

February 10, 2018 Angra de Hermoismo, Ilha Terceira

Today we arrived in sleepy, tiny, natural Terciera. Wait an minute not so fast. Angra de Hermoismo is anything but sleepy. With a busy shopping area and harbor you can't really call this sleepy or tiny. They, even, have a Disco that started the beat at 10pm and lasted til 7:00am! I was tired just listening.
We drove the west end of the island geting lost many times. Seems Google Maps can find us but the roads and not quite where "G" tinks they are. Therefore, when she wants us to turn usually the turn is coming or has passed. The roads are one way affairs little more than paved cow paths. Not meant to insult the area just that the roads were built before modern designs. They were made for work.
We drove to an outlook 3200ft high stacked with transmission and cell towers. Clouds rolled in and out. Views came and went. i have pictures.
Mostly just drove. We hope find find so nice walks to day and other attractions.
Oh, i almost forgot. We, when i say we i mena i, keep "G" as a woman so i won't get lost following instructions from a guy.

February 9, 2018 The Azores

I guess i should tell you that we are on the island of Sao Miguel. The largest of the archipelago known as The Azores. We landed in the capital, Ponta Delgada. Our Quinta is in Santana and apply named Quinta De Santana. Santana is on the north shore about 8 miles from Ponta DelGada.
Today we traveled the east end of the island. We found a "restaurant" on the eastern most tip of the island and upon arrival bought our beers from a small trailer. Good enough weather to sit on the outdoor furniture and enjoy the view. I thought i saw a whale but that turned out to be wishful thinking. Only  a sunken rock formation that spouted when the waves were right.
We did make it to Furnas. This town is famous for the hot springs. It reminds us of the hot springs in Yellowstone. Not as big but just as hot and stinky.
Our total drive was 184 Km today. Just about the same as yesterday.
Our last stop was a walk on Ponta Delgada's esplanade. The waterfront. One British cruise ship was in town. It looked pretty old But then who am i to talk?
Tomorrow we leave for island number 2,Terciero. Some 150 miles to the west. It is more of a nature preserve than a habitat for humans. Should be restful.
Bom Noite.

February 8, 2018 The Azores.

We woke early this morning. I went back to sleep. Deb stayed up. Finally, at 7:30am, i opened my baby blueish-greens and started my day.
At 8:00am we feasted on eggs and coffee and other breakfast goodies then jumped in the pueguot and off to the sightseeing.
The roads are mostly two lanes and very thin two lanes at that. The cars are all sub-compact models. Speed limits are around 80km/hr. If you don't keep up the residents will hang on your tail until they can pass you. Oh yes, they do not keep the speed limit either.
You, really, can't get lost on this island because, well, it is an island. One road runs around the perimeter of the island and then you have side roads going to the interior.  Tomorrow i will have some specifics but we must have traveled 150 to 200 km today. Quick math, half the KM distance and add a little for good luck, then you have miles. 100km = 60 miles, etc.
we drove the western half of the island and saw the extinct volcano caldera, the extinct 5 star hotel, the not so extinct ocean side and many little towns. I have some nice photos that will post later in the week.
We found a restaurant/bar/spa on Mosteriouso. The spa refers to hot springs which they have captured and piped to a swimming pool. Also, at this site was a lava field. Old and black. At one spot the lava had been hollowed out by the ocean and opened a hot spring. Swimmers come to this spot and swim in the warm water all the while hanging on to ropes. The surge from the ocean can draw the unsuspecting out to sea.
We lunched in a little town at Chico's restaurant. good food. good service. The menu was in Portuguese and English. Nothing special about the food. Tasted good and looked good. Just a restaurant!
If you have ever been in a mountainous area you know that the road is never straight. The rule applies here. On the west end, the one we drove today, you could not find a half kilometer of straight road. Try that with the natives barking at your back bumper! I have seen motor scooters but no big motorbikes. Too bad 'cause this would be paradise.
 We visited a 5 star hotel that never opened. It was built on a bluff with fantastic views of the island's caldera. Unfortunately, the owner thought he would have many sunny days. Seems the island receives 200 days of rain. oops. The shell of the hotel is amazing to walk through. Ignore the sign at the entrance saying, "DANGER". It is just dirty.
Tomorrow, we drive the eastern half and take a dip in a volcanic pool.
Bom Noite.

February 7, 2018 - Azores

Today, we flew from Traverse City to The Azores. It did not go as originally Planned.
The first leg of our journey started with wheels up at 5:20am. We had signed up to get bumped since we had a layover of 12 hours in Boston and hoped to collect $300 dollars for our efforts. Since we arrived at 4:30am to check a bag we had a headstart on our day. Turns out, our flight crew had a scheduled flight arrive time of 5:30am.  We lost our $300 when we rebooked for later in the day.
I can't report any more issues for the remainder of the trip, save it was a long trip. It would have been longer if we had the layover in Boston for those 12 hours.
After arriving in Punta DelGado, we got our car and spent 2 hours driving to our hotel which was only 1/2 hour away. We got lost! The people here are very nice and the ones we met spoke some English. My lessons in Portueguese haven't gotten to directions yet.
The Quinta is very nice. Many apartments spread over a well manicured estate. Newer construction.  Very comfortable. Tomorrow we will see the volcanic crater and (maybe) take a dip in a volcanic pool.
The rest is up in the air.

Aug 3, 2017

Today promises a long drive. We have made a pact that the driver drives for 2 hours or when the gas gauge hits one half. We have found this to ease arguments and more that 2 hours driving can cause quite the argument! In practice this works. Today, however, it will not.

Today, we will visit Deb's family roots in South Dakota. I decided that she will navigate and look for lost memories. I didn't want her to drive and look for lost anything! No nice guy here just a preservationist.

The route we took led us onto gravel roads and endless fields of corn. Not to mention, we, also, traveled the entire state of Minnesota and half of South Dakota with endless fields of corn. When not corn, of course, we saw low green stuff. Couldn't tell what green stuff we saw but it did not have the appearance of corn.

We drove through Pickering, Webster, Watertown, Pierpont, and Grenville. Some towns had populations in the 10's. Some had no populations listed on their town sign. All these towns supported the farms that surround them. In Bristol, We stopped at a cemetery that had many of Deb's relatives headstones. She took many, many pictures.

On to the campsite and beer!

I had driven the entire trip, way over my two hour allotment and way over the ½ tank limit. At least a two beer compensation evening coming my way!

Aug 2,2017

We began our day as we always have, we woke up! Hahaha. Well, we did!

Breakfast, pack the vehicle and off to Granite Falls to see Brad Lershen if he is in town. He works for the Prairie Edge Casino which just happens to hold our reservations for this evening. Go figure!

On the way we passed by a road sign announcing "Chaska, Mn). I visited family there sixty years ago. (oh my gosh, did i write that?). We stopped, had lunch and had memories. Then on to Granite Falls. 

The Falls

We had no surprises in our journey and arrived in good time to the casino. We unpacked in a “normal” RV camping area with electric and wireless internet. The casino must have just put this park in because the trees did not reach high enough to block the sun, We counter with a beer. Touche'.

After said beer we took the people mover golf cart to the casino in search of Brad. Finally, a phone call from security found him and back to the campground to drive for a visit. I got directions from Brad, however, I can't read my writing so we got lost right away! Another call to Brad, a request for an address and Google led us to his doorstep. We use Google a lot on this trip. We had a nice visit and back to the campground we went. Our weather, up until now consisted of sun and more sun. The forecast for the evening called for rain. I packed everything into the road box for protection and had another beer.

Night ensued and so did the rain. Not van shaking rain but a good soaking rain. We slept to the tune of(sing along)  “raindrops keep falling on our van”.

August 1, 2017

We may never have slept last night but, right on time, we left the house at 6am this morning. Two hours to Ludington and we boarded the "Badger" with Brittany in tow. We bought a vest for Brittany so she could be a Service Dog and accompany us on the boat. Otherwise, we had to leave her in the van for the crossing. Not an option.

We had great weather for our crossing, clear, two foot waves. The crossing took 4 hours. When we made our reservations we found out that they didn't have much room left for vehicles. We watched car after car load on the ferry and several tanker trucks load as well. Thankfully, we had arrived early, had our van loaded early and had it offloaded as, maybe, the 10th vehicle! Super!!! When we climbed aboard our van for the remainder of the trip, we found the heat inside overwhelming. We suppose the dog would not have made it if we hadn't gotten her service dog designation.

Our short drive to Onieda casino campground took a detour when we saw the National Railroad Museum. We stopped! I walked, Deb did too. We saw many trains, steamers and electric, hand carts and parts of trains. The high point may have been "Big Boy", a steam engine built to haul coal over a 55 mile mountain pass. The biggest steam engine ever built or should i say 23 of the biggest!

Another notable engine came from England. General Eisenhower used it when he campaigned(war II) in Europe. I may have a picture of the commode he "pooped" in! 

Our trip to the casino campground included a stop to photograph the "Nutmobile". Planters version of the "Oscar Mayer Wiener Wagon.

Onieda campground has 10 sites. Call them large parking spaces for a better description. The sites, though spartan, had power so we had enough for the night. Cost of the site came in at $5. We paid $15 and received a $10 players card. I spent an extra $10 to find out i don't like slot machines.

Sleep. 

Travel eve

Oh boy! The night before we leave on an epic journey to Portland, Oregon. We have packed as much as we thought we should. We have washed clothes and packed again. We have not thought that we will travel highways for most of the trip. We didn't look at the fact that we will not leave civilization yet we seem to have packed as though we had a Conestoga wagon and will challenge the Oregon trail.
The Oregon trail stretches from St. Louis to Oregon City, Oregon. The web tells me it measures 2,100 miles, or so. By looking at the map, i think we will cover that and a little more. We expect to take 11 days to reach Portland. Then to visit with my daughter and , hopefully, My new grandchild. Then, off to Gunnison, Colorado for a visit with my son and his family. After that a short hope to either Grand Island, Nebraska or Carbondale, Illnois to Witness the eclipse. Why "either", you may ask? Weather!
Then home by the 23rd to 25th.
The plan says we will see Yellowstone Park, Jackson Hole, Devil's Mountain(dah dee dah doe doo), Sturgis, Mt. Rushmore, and more, much, much, more. WE have learned from other trips that you schedule a day at a location then drive a day then sightsee again. That way we actually see something rather than the road passing by.
Oops, see how the time flies? I have to check my packing again and the snack larder and whatever else i have checked several hundred times before!

Portland, Here we come.

Never look directly at the sun!

Many months ago, I made plans to drive to Portland, Oregon to visit my daughter and view the eclipse of the sun on August 21, 2017. Deb would come along if she agreed but i had the need to go.
Deb agreed to go after some discussion. We hatched a plan to drive, visiting family homesteads, national monuments and arriving in time to visit with Sara then to the viewing sight  and drive home.
My daughter, true to form, wanted to give Deb a better reason for driving the thousands of miles than just seeing some "dumb 'ol moon blocking the sun". She announced she would deliver a new individual to this earth around August 11th. Now we had buy-in from Deb to visit Portland!
The Trial Begins.
I have a particular travel style. The day of travel, i stuff clothes in a bag and go! Deb has a completely different idea about travel. She plans!!!
Soon after Sara's announcement, we had lists upon lists of things to do to the camper, items to pack in the camper, clothes to take on the camper, meal plans, and more! I think it appropriate to have a general idea of the trip. I like to know the destination. I like to have a good idea of the route, subject to change at a whim's notice. I even think packing a cooler with munchies will help ease the travel but detailed lists do not sit well with me. It seems to me that serendipity gets lost with too much regimentation.
Thus i cannot participate fully with Deb in list preparation. Also, i become passive/aggressive when asked to participate. I know some people need to have the road laid out for them. I know that a trip of this length, we plan to travel the better part of  the month of August, i had better get some sort of cooperative attitude going or someone will walk home. So i will do my best to smile and look interested. Is this what growing up means?

August 4, 2016

As i left my train i wondered where i would find my family. I had a missed call but no voice mail from my son. He had a 3.5 hour drive from Gunnison, CO with two young passengers, 7 and 5. He and they have traveled this route before so it shouldn't have been a hardship save the 5am wakeup to meet me. I didn't think about it much because i had arrived and would wait for the next scene in the adventure, regardless.It came rather quickly.
Walking down track side towards Union Station i had three familiar creatures jump out at me. One rather tall and good-looking and two miniatures of him short and cute. We hugged and hugged some more then off to the car and Estes Park, Co. We did sightsee in Denver a bit but you can make up the play by play on your own.
Nice cabin at Colorado Cottages in Estes, Co. Small but room enough to work as a base of Operations. We got up at dawn or slightly after to an overcast sky. Temperatures not expected to rise above 70 and cloudy all day. No rain in the forecast, though. I walked to the local gas station for fresh coffee. During my return, I passed a bakery advertising fresh coffee. You know i will visit said bakery tomorrow for coffee and. Dad may not like it but i will play the grandpa card.
After breakfast we packed to visit  Rocky Mountain National Park. I love my grand kids. I do. So i walked away when the tantrums started. I only need to see them in the good times. When the hubbub settled my grandson wore his 'jammies to the park, a fashion statement of the first order!
We packed in the car and drove to the park. I forgot my Senior National Park Pass so had to pay the $20 entrance fee. I didn't, actually forget, i never thought about going so just didn't bring it.
We walked mountain paths and up stream beds to delicate waterfalls. Fortunately for my son, we loaded more popcorn in our mouths than on the floor of his car. We took pictures. Two tired kids and adults later we left the park.
As i finish this entry, the kids have given us a much needed rest by taking a nap. Wait!! head fake, they are in the bedroom plotting. More later.

Aug 3, 2016

At 9am, eastern, my 18 passenger, turbo prop lifted off the tarmac at Blacker airport. I arrived in Chicago Midway at 9am central, just like the airline promised. A short 15 minute walk to the "L" train and my "Chicago" segment began.

I wanted to take the “L” to Wrigleyville and purchase a Cubs jersey however, the train ran slow due to ongoing construction both on the track and off. I had imagined(the ony word i can think of here) that my Denver bound train left Union Station at 5pm. When reality struck and my departure time moved up to 2pm, I lost 3 whole leisurely sightseeing hours. I felt I won't have enough time to lunch with my brother, Ben, so cut my "L" ride short. After I returned downtown, I found that two stores on State street had the jersey I wanted(Go Cubs). Unfortunately, for me, the cost of $125 fell outside my team support budget. So I bought a cheaper style jersey(go cubs) and went to Ebay. $60 later, I had my Ernie Banks, #14, old school jersey(Go CUBS).

Lunch with my brother, Ben, at The Berghoff Bar. (old school) came next on the itinerary. Thence to Union Station to board my train west. My heart fluttered, briefly, as I searched for my ticket. I had securely stowed the ticket in a pocket in my backpack. Naturally, I missed that "special" pocket several times until I unloaded the entire “pack” and found said pocket. Phew, I travel disaster avoided!

At precisely 2pm, my Iron Horse left Union Station bound for Denver, Colorado and points in-between and beyond. I found my window side, coach seat comfortable. My 15 hour trip demanded comfort. Comfort, shmufort... 15 hours 

We galloped through Illinois watching the corn grow, literally, more corn then i thought ever existed, just miles and miles and miles of corn. I have thought about all the boxes of cereal in the grocery store aisles and wondered how we could grow so much corn. Now I know.

We made several stops in Illinois and finally reached the 'Ol Man River, himself. Brown, wide and just keeping rolling along. On into Iowa and more corn. Occasionally, a break for cattle and some low growing green stuff but mostly corn.

Our train had this configuration, Two diesel engines. one baggage car, one sleeper car for the crew. It occurred to me when I saw this that the crew embarked in Chicago and served for the whole trip unlike airlines that can trade out staff after their shift time expires. Following the sleeper,three coach cars, the observation car which had the snack commissary in it, a dining car and three sleeper cars. I passed my time with ebooks, and movies, sometimes walking to the observation car crammed full of  travelers passing time like myself.

After we left Osceola, Iowa I felt a bump and we stopped. Dead! 2 hours later we heard that someone had abandoned a pick-up truck on the railroad crossing. I think i heard that while they tried to remove it someone got hurt. Bad enough to go to the hospital. Two hours lost messed up our timetable big time!

On to Omaha which I assumed would be a larger station. Not so much. I expected a grand station and got a track siding. Oh well. We arrived in Omaha at 1:30 am.

The train is quiet and comfortable. Cooler in the evening hours when the sun doesn't warm the car.  Sweaters and blankets for all to ward off the cool and to sleep if sleep can come. Sleep comes in fits and starts for me. I don't sleep well in a halfway reclining position. I expected this and got it.

Dawn appeared on the eastern horizon. Not a spectacle from a moving train with nothing but Colorado scrub to give it texture. The corn fields we left behind in Nebraska. We entertained ourselves with  viewing cattle farming, feed lots and gas wells. Soon we saw small towns growing in frequency on track side. Then the towns connected and soon the The Mile High City appeared on the horizon. Two hours late and excited with anticipations, i disembarked to hunt down my son and grand kids for our two day adventure.

Closure

Feb 28
We returned to Traverse City by January 21. Here's why...
The last entry noted that we had a campsite in the Animal Kingdom which we enjoyed much. The next morning we left the camp ground and drove to the Kingdom parking lot. Then board a tram for the front gate to the Kingdom. It all seemed De'ja' Vu. We spent several hours walking around in 55 degree weather with no sun feeling like we were here before and not enjoying a thing. We constantly asked each other if we had been here but couldn't remember when it might have been. Finally, we gave up the uncomfortable weather and the cold and the familiarity and drove south to Key West. A matter of 5 hours.
We arrived on a key short of Key West in hopes of finding a reasonably priced campsite for the evening. "When you are in the Keys, there is no reasonable", said our host for that evening. $102. We got a bargain sinc e we were firt put in a site with no electric. When we moved to the other availabel site it backed on tot he water and we should have paid for the "view" at $125. But is was her mistake.
From the to Key West and a walk around the town plus a hot dog i couldn't eat.. Did i tell you i got ill right out of St. Petersburg and couldn't eat a thing? Well the hot dog didn't work either and that was three days after i developed symptoms. Brittany wore her uniform and enjoyed the visit to the Sloppy Joe's.

  We left Key West after a two hour walk. Then drove to Ocalla, Fla. home to Nancy's brother and, hoped for, warmer weather. No such luck! Still no sun and cold. I continued to cough and hack up stuff and not want to do a thing 'cept sleep... and cough, etc. We met up with Nancy.

Her Brother's place is beautiful with 5 Acres or Oak hung with Spanish Moss, which we found out kills the oak eventually. Pretty but lethal. Again, no sun and cool temps. Great hospitality but i was fading fast. We spent two nights there than saw a break in the weather and headed for home as fast as our vehicle could take us. We drove, as we had done from the beginning two hours on, two hours off. We stopped in hotels for the trip. It just made it more comfortable. We were on a mission. 

During our drive home the worst weather we encountered was rain. Cold rain. Otherwise, an uneventful trip until Cadillac, Mi. 45 minutes, in good weather to home and a soft bed to recoup.

Two hours later we arrived home and i slept. The doctor said i might have had viral pneumonia and i still feel the effects today. Though i feel a million times better  after medication.

We didn't find what we expected but had a good time finding what we got. Pictures here

Jan 8th...
Starting over. I had a post ready to go and lost the internet connection. I hoped my save of the file would make it a draft and i would have it once internet returned. No such luck. So i will start with today and catch up this evening.
We awoke in Fort Myers with a decision to make. We could head south for 5  hours and visit Key West or head north 3 hours and visit Animal Kingdom. We have a Christmas gift for the Kingdom. Deb, checked the weather and the Keys' had a forecast of Thundershowers for the next three days. Not so Orlando.
Due to my infirmity, revealed in the next post, i opted for Orlando and, more importantly, Deb decided Orlando too. I fell asleep in the master bedroom only to wake upon approach to the campgrounds.
Fort Wilderness offers 2600 campsites with electric, water and cable hookups. I did not see but one or two empty sites in our 300 level sit but i did not see any vacant levels.
In our camp level i saw pricey, i mean pricey, motorhomes. I can only guess but we certainly can guess $150K for some of the larger models. They seem permanently placed on their sites. I think that they must purchase the site or at least lease the site for the winter. At $102 a day, i don't see them staying long term. Though if you can afford a $150k motorhome...
We settled in for the night taking comfort in the knowledge that we may have a small home, but we could look down our haughty noses at the ones in tent! ha!
We had dinner at Davey Crockett's place where i had my first meal of substance in three days.It stayed down.
sleep tight.

Jan 2...
Another day of rest but we ain't complaining. Our hostess, Chris, drove us to some of the tourist sites around here. I have pictures but haven't downloaded them to my computer to post here so that will wait another post. I, usually, post the day after, thus today is Sunday...football day. While i watch the Detroit Tigers go down in flames to my Chicago Bears I will post photos. We plan to leave on Tuesday for parts south.
But today...(Sunday) football
D&D

Jan 1, 2016….

At last, a day free from travel. Our hosts. Mark and Christine, started their day by dressing in orange and driving into Tampa to watch Tennessee win… big! Mark hails from Memphis.

We, Nancy, Deb, Don and Brittany walked the white beach and drank beer...

Saw some wondrous creatures...

Let Nancy introduce us to a unique motel. It actually lets weekly efficiency apartments!

Then we drank more beer and watched teams that showed up to play(just sayin')....

D&D

Dec 31….

The day started before day break, 6AM. After the repair we took off to make up for a lost travel day. We hit rain and road flooding and pressed probably too far into the night before we, finally, pulled into a rest area on I10 and packed it in.

During the ride to our rest stop, Deb drove through two(2) states all by herself! She traverse the southern end of Mississippi and Alabama. Make sure you congratulate her on such a masterful feat. She thinks very highly of herself for this accomplishment.

As we passed through Mobile, Alabama we drove through The George Wallace tunnel. Very cool.

This morning off we shot with a goal of Treasure Island, FL. So far so good.

Short story short. We drove I10 to I75 to Treasure Island, encountered traffic as befits a large town, parked at our destination on Treasure Island, drank the offered beer, walked to Wa-ti-ki bar, drank beer, watched the first half of “the game” and never felt my head hit the pillow all before 10:30pm, local.

Happy New Year!

D&D

Dec 29 ---

 Today we awoke in the shed of Skelly’s Auto and truck repair. Our adventure began last night.

We tried to find diamonds to cover the cost of our trip and came up short…way short. When we attempted to leave the parking lot and head for our campsite the Roadtrek(hence named “Thang”) had a hard time starting. Finally, white smoke and a little cajoling, Thang started and we camped.

The next morning Thang started without incident and we motored to Shreveport, La.  Shreveport has nothing of interest if you ask Google but I saw many cool buildings so I asked Deb to drive around town before heading south. During our city tour Thang coughed and wheezed through town. It almost stalled several times and just didn’t “feel” right. We turned on to 47 south and off to Baton Rouge, La.

Thang ran good on the flat road but given a little incline felt like it worked a little too hard. 2 miles north of Opelousas, La we lost power and got off, turned into a parking lot before Thang gave up the ghost. Deb called AAA and two hours later our tow truck arrived.

I have a picture of Thang on the hook but I wish I had a picture of this tow truck interior. The steering wheel had no cover just the metal wheel. The door panels hung on the door… no screws or attachments inside the vehicle and the dashboard had holes where grills, radios and other items should reside. The dash lights didn’t work  so I don’t know if the instruments worked and the headlights glowed like parking lights rather than running lights. However, with all that said, the tow truck dragged Thang and not vice-versa.

20 miles south of Opelousas, in Lafayette, we unhooked and set up camp for the night at Stelley’s truck and auto repair. We had a covered car port with electricity…all the comforts of home. 7am awaits us to determine the damage and repair to get back on the road.

Dec. 30…7:00am. We told our story to the proper personnel and, now, await the verdict. This place has several motorhomes of various descriptions, including one late model Roadtrek.

It took 3 hours to free up a mechanic to work on Thang. I would have preferred an earlier assault on our vehicle but we didn’t have a reservation. Who knew? The mechanic attached a computer to the 23 year old diagnostic port and found nothing! With such an old vehicle he did not expect much. So it came down to knowledge and problem solving. Eventually he found a failed coolant sensor that indicated an operation temp of 33 below zero. To help correct the problem the sensor told the carburetor to dump fuel  to the engine and heat up. When our mechanic pulled the spark plugs they looked as black and sooted as Santa after Christmas deliveries down the chimney.  A total of 8 hours at the shop and $425 later we drove on down the road, cheap if you consider a burned up engine or spending the New Year’s weekend in Lafayette.

Drive on!

More pictures later.

D&D