Home Again

I am back in Rochester, NY.
It was a very breezy drive from PA; a stiff west wind the whole way
made it a little tiring keeping my Sunrader straight on the highway.

I started this trip the morning of 23rd of August and returned the
evening of October 21. My main destination was the Escapee Fall Escapade
in Sedalia, MO. Boy that seems ages ago! I've traveled through 17
states and driven 5,215 miles. Had an assortment of problems like the
mystery of the alternator light (which never actually caused a problem),
the temperature gauge that appears to read a little higher every other
day (but it never overheated), the sudden transmission leak in Galveston
(which seems to come and go and the fluid level never seems to drop)
and the one real problem: the rear tire blow out. That was my fault; I
should have gotten new tires before I left. The long drives, rough roads
and the temperature hanging about 90 until I got into Georgia just
added too much stress to the old tires.

So now it's time to change the oil & filter, winterize the water systems
and put it into storage until next Spring.

Next year's destination: who knows!?

Hershey Highway

I left Laura's at Yorktown after an eventful 6 days... Had fun playing
with the kids. I managed to wash my poor motorhome for the 1st time in
almost 2 months. The black marks the tire blowout caused were tough.
Tried various cleaners, brushes and scrubbies but NG. Finally got some
gasoline and a rag which washed it right off (along with the Poli-Glow
polish). Looks a lot better, though.

Traveled up towards Hershey, PA then to Palmyra, PA where my daughter
Angela lives. I did not stay long but I played with little Samantha, Angela
made a pineapple upside down cake and Saturday night we watched "The
Avengers"! Next day Nelson grabbed his chain saw and cut down some
arborvitae trees so the old, broken hot tub could be removed.

Next stop: H O M E!

The Alabama to Virginia EXPRESS!

Well I drove 925 miles from Alabama to Yorktown, Virginia in 24 hours.
I am back at my daughter's house.

I left Alabama 9:00AM Saturday for Georgia's biggest state park,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park. It's Georgia's biggest & Columbus
Day has past so I unhooked and headed up there. Got there: they were
totally full. Evidently Georgia has some kind of celebrate the leaves
weekend at their state parks AFTER Columbus Day. I also think all the
sites are reservable so none for "walk-ins". I asked the lady if she
could put me anywhere in the 10,000 acres for the night with no
hookups. Georgia also doesn't believe in overflow camping. She said no.
Seems to be a dearth of even private campgrounds in that area so I
though I'd drive up a few miles to the next state park. I called; they
were full, too. Now it is around 4 because I advanced an hour coming
back to EST.

I was pretty tired of GA and though maybe I'd just drive through to
Laura's in Yorktown. I drove through Atlanta & Charlotte, then stopped
at a Walmart in Kannapolis, NC to grab some shuteye. I slept until
3:40AM when 2 guys yelling at each other woke me up. Maybe the bars
closed. Tried to get back to sleep but couldn't. I felt pretty good so
decided to grab a cup of coffee and get moving.

The darn alternator light came on in the middle of nowhere, in the dark
at 4:30AM!? I think I figure out why it happens. IF I use the coach
battery for lights, etc., when I start the motorhome the charge system
notices the battery is low and calls for the motohome alternator to
charge the battery. That must send the Chinese remanufactured
alternator over it's capacity. That's why most times it doesn't come on
if I've been at electric sites. I think.

Anyway I pulled over, shut the engine off, restarted and it was fine.
The engine temp stayed at the high side most of the way which surprised
me because it was in the upper 40's. Have to check that out.

Got to Laura's at 10:00AM Sunday morning, 925 miles later, so 25
hours-3 sleeping time= 22 hours. I made pretty good time; not
much traffic at 3AM Sunday morning.

Laura has the house decorated for Halloween. The lemons are larger on
her little tree but still green. The pool is down and gone. Nice, 76
degree, sunny day today but I spent 3 hours napping!!

Aboard the USS Alabama

Headed back to Mobile Bay to tour the battleship Alabama and the
submarine Drum. Drove along some cotton fields on the way there.
Another sunny, gorgeous day. Not too busy and a lot to see. The
battleship is the main attraction but there is also the USS Drum, a
Gato Class WWII sub, a B-52, an SR-71 Blackbird, F-16, F-15, F-18 and
many other planes. I'd seen all the planes before when I visited the US
Airforce Museum in Dayton. They also had a life size replica of the CSS
Hunley submarine down by the Drum.

Amazing how big the inside of those 16" gun turrets are on the Alabama.
A nice view of the Mobile skyline.

Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Summerdale, Alabama

Left Lousiana 7:30 this morning. Uneventful 275 mile drive. Interesting
going over some of the swamps and wetlands near Baton Rouge. Bridges 6
or 7 miles long and swamps as far as you can see. A few big high
bridges over rivers and one long tunnel under Mobile Bay. Drove by the
Battleship Alabama in Mobile 30 miles before I got here. This is another
Escapees Club park, a newer one than Rainbow's End in Texas. The sites
are much bigger with lots of big old trees; they put me under one. All
the sites have full hookups: electric, water and sewer. Big fields
around for expansion. Has a clubhouse with pool and a laundry. I picked
up a couple of paperbacks at the library in the clubhouse.

There are many permanent residents here, too. You can buy a site for
$16,000 plus a $700 yearly fee. They offer wi-fi for $3 a day but my
cell phone booster gets me a pretty strong signal so I use that to
connect my mac to the internet. I may stay here a couple of days and
see that battleship. There's also a WWII submarine up on blocks there
that you can tour. The sites here are $15/day + electric.

It's sunny and 82 here now.

6 NEW TIRES!!!!!

I set my alarm and got to Delta Tire at 7:30 to have the (6) tires I'd ordered and had delivered there from TireRack.com installed. They took me right in;
very nice people. The manager was an rver and so were 2 of the
installers. They admired my little motorhome especially when I said it
got 15 mpg. They get 8 mpg. There was free coffee and wi-fi. In 2 hours it was
finished, the bill was $175 which was what was estimated on their
website for installing, balancing, etc. 6 tires.

I left and decided to check out Acadania Village, an old southern
mansion and farm about 4 miles away. On the way it seemed like the
motorhome was wagging with the new tires. The installer had asked me
what pressure and I told him 65 pounds. When I got to the place I
checked and they all read 69 (because I'd been driving in the sun)
except the R/R outside which read T E N POUNDS!!?? I sprayed some water
on it and the old valve extension was leaking. I called Delta back and
asked if they sold extensions; they didn't. Went to Advance Auto; they
didn't. Called 2 RV places; they didn't. Called a truck place; they
didn't but said Bumper 2 Bumper Auto Parts did.

So I drove there. They had ONE type for $36/2. I bought them and they
weren't what was on there but I made it work. Evidently the ones on my
Sunrader are the 1987 originals. The outside rear tires are installed
backwards so it is impossible to check or add air without some kind of
hose extension. I took off the inside rear (and replaced it with one of
the new ones) to try to make it work on the outside rear. NG. So took
another look and decided maybe the one remaining new extension WOULD go
on after all even if it was short. It did but it wasn't fun; I roasted. After 2 days of 70's it's sunny
and 88. But I got it on (I hope). I took a pic of the original
extensions and the new ones I put on. Then I crawled around underneath
and remounted the spare. WHEW!!!

Saw this big 2 1/2" spider down by the canal yesterday, then saw 4 more of the
same kind. The webs are 3 ft across! This campground area was settled a long time ago by a Mr. Dugat.

I may break into the gin & tonic now.

Acadiana Campground, Lafayette, LA

Left Lake Fausse this morning for this city campground in Lafayette
where I have cell service. There's a view of the Levee Road where I had my blow out. Hard to see but there are no shoulders; it slopes down on both sides. Also a picture of the carts they use to haul the harvested sugar cane.
 When I set up here i logged on to TireRack.com using my phone
cabled to my mac and ordered (6) new tires to be shipped to Delta World
Tire 2 miles from me here. Since the main TireRack warehouse is in
Shreveport, LA, they will arrive tomorrow. Shipping was $70. When they
come, Delta World Tire will call me and I'll go have them installed.

Nice little park, only $13/day including electric and water. There is a
nature center and lots of trails and boardwalks. About 10 campers here
now.

BLOWOUT!!!!

I had left the restaurant  and was on my way back to the campground when I felt a vibration that was unusual. It began to be more of a thumping and I guessed I had a bad tire. No place to turn off on the Levee Road and no shoulder. I only had 5 miles to go so crossed my fingers then B A M!!! The outside right rear tire exploded and pieces of it started whipping against the motorhome banging like crazy.  Left black marks around the wheel well.

I stopped in the middle of the road. Couldn't change it here. I got my hunting knife and cut away the strips that were hanging out and decided to try and make the campground on the single tire left. I added air to that tire and set off at 12mph for 3 miles.  Luckily I made it. Pulled in, jacked up and put on the new spare I'd bought last trip in Minnesota.

So now I have no spare and have 1,500 miles to get home. Don't even have cell service here so I can't call around.  I'll decide tomorrow; I'm pretty worn out,.

Oh, the puddle in the photo is water from the cab a/c. I kept checking the tranny leak and saw nothing all day?

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Visit the Tabasco Plant and Jungle Island on Avery Island

This morning I left for Avery Island home of Tabasco Sauce. On the way I drove past miles of sugar cane. Don't know if it's for sugar or ethanol. Got to the plant; it was not running. There really wasn't that much to see, it was pretty small. One room with a giant bottle of Tabasco, a movie room, the plant and then a small display room.

The creator of the sauce, Edward McIlhenny was a collector and bird lover. He created a huge sanctuary for egrets which were near to extinction. He gathered many exotic plants, trees & flowers. Plus a 1,000 year old Buddha sitting on a lotus flower! Saw a couple of gators in the ponds but NO birds! There are 20,000 in the Spring. This big park is now called Jungle Island.

I left and headed for Bon Creole Seafood in New Iberia, a place I saw on Google Maps which got good reviews. Sure looks like a dive from outside. I ordered a 1/2 Crawfish Po Boy sandwich, seafood gumbo and a Miller Lite. It came with some potato salad and rice. The sandwich was HUGE but I managed to eat everything. Probably not real healthy but it tasted good!

I left for the campground and then things got nasty...

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