Catching Up around Home

Friday

Was up early.  I must say the house bed is not as comfortable as the one in the coach, plus I missed the air conditioning.  I did hear it rain some during the night and that was nice and soothing.  This area needs some nice gentle rain for a good long day.

After some coffee and breakfast I started to go through all the mail and bills to make sure I had remembered them all and paid them on line.  Around noon I took a break and headed to court to start to catch up on all the work up there also.  Spent a couple hours there until about 3 and then came home.  I had to put some air in the tires first time ever, must be from sitting.  They just needed a couple pounds but the warning light was on.

Bonnie got home after a little shopping and made Tacos and then we took it easy this evening.  I did start and finish a little of the wash from the month I was gone.

Still no word from the warranty company about how much they will pay.  They said check back on Monday.

Saturday

Slept in a little today and then had my coffee ( I did miss my Keurg) and oatmeal.  Read a few blogs and then headed up to court late in the morning.  I was up there until around 3pm.  Lots of paperwork to catch up on.  But our Court Clerk had it all nicely organized and I was able to go through it quite nicely.  About 30 minutes before I left I got quite warm and light headed.  I had not eaten so got a fiber bar I had in the truck and ate it.  By the time I got home I did not feel good at all.  Elizabeth and Alexus were there and they were about to have lunch so I ate.  Still did not feel good.  Checked my blood sugar it was good.  Bonnie checked my blood pressure and said it was very high.  This is the first time this has happened to me so I took a pill she gave me and took a little nap.  Felt much better after that but still not real good.  So we canceled our plans to attend a concert tonight and stayed home.  As I write this I feel back to normal.  Not sure what happened just adjusting back to my normal routine I guess.

I did have a little surprise when I woke up this morning.  Something got to the bird feeder on the rear deck and destroyed it.  Neither of us heard it so not sure what it was.

It looked like this

Now its like this

We got this when we lived in Virginia in the early 90's so it is old.  I have not located it on the internet.  The metal parts are ok but the brittle plastic is shot.  If you see it on line or in your travels let me know.

Thats about it for Saturday.

Sunday

We were up and out the door on time for church this morning.  It was good to see everyone after a month of being gone.  I feel good this morning and back to normal.  After church Bonnie headed out to the Holland Farmers market to take a few blood pressures.  Her sister has a booth there every Sunday and today was health day.  Then she went shopping with Elizabeth.  Alexus is at Kingdom Bound this week until Thursday when I need to remember to pick her up at noon.

I took it easy and even got a nap until about 4:30.  Then I headed over to see what was wrong with the Gator.  I started it and it was running wide open.  A quick check showed the throttle cable broken and jammed wide open.  I got it to idle and now need to order a new one tomorrow.  I then went up to visit my sister-in-law Carol and Jackson her grandson, my grand nephew.  He is two and today is the first day he warmed up to me and we had a good time together.  Carol made salmon and cauliflower for supper and we all had a popsicle for dessert on the deck.  Bonnie's folks were home now and I stopped down to explain what was wrong with the Gator.  We talked for a while and I headed home with a nice apple pie, Bonnie's mom had made for me.  Hers are the only apple pies I eat, one taste and you would know why.
Thats about it from here for tonight.

Thanks for checking in.

Home at last

Thursday

Left Ohio about 9am this morning and backed into the yard at 2:30pm.

Just backed in good to be Home

Lots of construction delays.  But it was a good drive and the coach seems better than ever.  It is cooler here but very humid.  I was soaked by the time I unloaded a few things form the MH.  Once I cooled down I took a nice long shower.  Then sorted through a month of my mail.  About when I finished Bonnie got home and it was great to get a big hug and kiss.  She made spaghetti for supper and I hope to have a bowl of ice cream later.  Lots to do around here the next few days.  This is waiting in the yard for me.

Bonnie is not sure when this broke off.

Well its great to be home.  Thank you all for your prayers.  God gave me a great trip home.
I was gone right at 30 days and can truly say I enjoyed at least 20 of the days I was gone.  I got to see family and visit a lot of new things.

This was one of my favorite times.

Thats it for tonight, it may be a couple days until I post again, back to Sunday, Wednesday posts I think.

Thanks for checking in.

Enroute to Buffalo

Wednesday

Yesterday I left Huntsville at about 7am and after changing time zones arrived in Knoxville at noon.  I had been told the bill would be prepared and submitted first thing in the morning.  When I checked the bill could not be found and had not been submitted.  They worked on it right away and faxed it in.  Interstate rejected it be cause it did not guarantee 90 days parts and labor.  This was a new requirement to me.  So after about 3 hours of back and forth between Freightliner and Interstate, FL finally submitted a bill that said 90 days.  Now we had to wait to see what they would agree to pay.  I said I had to leave and I paid with my credit card.  Once it all gets sorted out they will credit my card.

So finally at approximately 4:30pm I got on the road.  I fueled up at Flying J and jumped on I-75 hammer down.  By 7:30 I was 150 miles up the road and out of Tennessee and into Kentucky near a city called Berea.  I pulled into the OH-KY Campground for the night.  They told me when I got there the water had to be turned off as a camper pulled a faucet out of the ground.  No problem I had plenty of water on board.
Here was my site.

The tree was nice shade last night.  My neighbors were already gone when I looked outside.

It was hot and humid but the AC in the MH worked great and it kept me nice and cool.  My mirrors were all out of wack from being folded in when it was towed.  I adjusted them some but did not finish before dark, so finished it up in the morning.

I took it easy this morning and did not pull out until 10:30am.  I took my time and stopped for a stretch about 4 times and about 45 minutes for lunch in a rest area.  Wow the traffic was heavy heavy and most of it was trucks.  I try to drive about 62 even though the speed limit down here is 70.  I drove around Lexington, KY, Cincinnati, OH, and right through Columbus, OH.  Finally arriving in Seville, OH about 40 miles south of Cleveland at 5:30pm.  I am set up at the Maplelakes Recreation Park and it is much cooler here but still hot enough for the A/C.

My site is full hook up and nice and level

A shot of the neighbors, its nice and quiet here.

So my GPS shows 251 miles to home, so if all goes well I will head past Cleveland after the rush hour in the morning and be home in the afternoon.

I am thankful for all that have written to let me know they are praying for a safe trip, all is going well.  The coach is driving better than ever, makes me wonder if there was a problem for quite a while.

Thats about it for tonight.

Thanks for checking in.

Escape from Knoxville

I am having internet issues.  I just will say for tonight that I am out of Tennessee and spending the night south of Lexington KY.  Coach drove great but did not leave until about 4:30pm.  More tomorrow

Monday-What news will today bring?

Monday

Up this morning and after breakfast Robby is cleaning up the house getting ready for the rest of the family to return home.  I think we are also going to make a trip to Home depot.

I am hoping that the inspector will show up at Freightliner today and I can get headed home tomorrow.  I feel like I need to head home no later than Wednesday, I need RX medicine and I need to take care of my obligations at court.

I called Freightliner around 2:30 and she told me that the inspector had been there and that she, the service writer would be putting the paperwork together as soon as she could.  I waited about an hour and called the Service Manger and told him I really needed to get headed home tomorrow.  He said he would get involved and would call me back before he left for the day.  He called back in less than an hour and said they would get the bill to the warranty company in the morning and they would get me out of there tomorrow.  Great news.  I plan to leave Huntsville in the morning and hope to be headed home early in the afternoon.

Robby decided to go out and work on his car before everyone got home, hoping to get the spark plugs changed and the fan belt tightened before the family all got home from the beach.

Changing the spark plugs

Trying to get to the belt

Well the family got home before we finished.  Boy was it hot out.

Well the car got unloaded and Robby wrapped up his work on the car.

We ordered pizza to be delivered and then I will call it a night.

Thanks for checking in

Sunday in Alabama

Sunday

Up a little later than normal this morning.  Had our breakfast and then got ready for church.  It was nice to worship at Robby's Church Capshaw Baptist.

Then back home and Robby grilled some sausage on the grill, along with salsa and chips we had a good lunch.

Now just a lazy afternoon.  Looking forward to the rest of Robby's family coming home from vacation tomorrow.

We just hung around the house all day.  I worked on learning more of the features of LION on my Mac and playing with Reagan.  I also caught up on some phone calls that I needed to make and even got a short nap.

We spent the evening watching a little TV.  So not even any pictures to share from today.

Thats about it not really much to report today.

Thanks for checking in.

Quiet Saturday in Huntsville

Saturday

Since nothing will happen with the MH over the weekend I am staying in Huntsville to wait out the decision by the extended warranty company.

Another hot day here in the South.  We stayed in most of the day and then mid afternoon we left here to check out some campgrounds and then on to eat supper.

We went up to the US Space and Rocket center first.  The sites there were pretty short and not very level.

Then we headed to Monte Sano State Park which is on a 1600 foot high hill.  They have nice sites and some have full hook ups.

Then over to Decatur to look at the cities camp ground.  Wow did it look crowded, but lots to do there.

From there it was time to eat and we went to McCollum's for catfish.  It was ok but not like I have had in Arkansas.

And of course some new pictures of Reagan from dinner

On the way home we drove through more of the areas where the tornados went through.  Sad to see all the trees gone and a lot of missing houses and heavily damaged houses.  Some are living in RV in their yards while they repair their homes.  Lots of work left to do here to get things cleaned up.

Now home playing with Reagan.  The rest of the family will be home on Monday.

Bonnie was busy at home today and got her car inspected, checked in at court for me, started my truck, and is working on some project that she is keeping a secret from me.

Thats it for today.

Thanks for checking in.

Friday--The Plot Thickens

Friday


Freightliner called this morning and now the warranty company is sending an inspector to document all the broken and leaking parts.  I called the warranty people to see whats going on and the ETA for the inspector is next Tuesday.  Hopefully I can stay in Huntsville until its all taken care of.

Its hot here so we stayed in the house and soaked up the AC today.  Nothing to do now but wait on the warranty company to settle up.  It appears the MH is repaired but FL did not get all of the pre-authorizations that I reminded them several times that they needed.  So lets see what happens.

I am getting back to normal here as its great to be in a house with people you love.  I am enjoying watching Reagan develop and amuse herself.  Robby has pretty fast internet and I took the time to upgrade my MacBook Pro to Lion the new operating system.  It installed easily and I have not had a single glitch with it all day.  It was an easy upgrade.  Now to learn all the nuances of it.

We ventured out into the heat to go to Harbor Freight to look for a big 12 point socket, a Super Target with a grocery store in it to pick up some food, and then Little Caesar's drive thru to pick up pizza for dinner.  Reagan liked the pizza she ate a whole slice herself.

Shopping at Target for some fruits and vegetables

She really likes the rocking horse

Thats about it for today just to hot to do much.

Thanks for checking in.

If itsThursday I must be in Huntsville, Al

Thursday

I checked out of the motel this morning and loaded all my stuff into the car.  I headed over to Freightliner expecting to leave today.  Not to be.  They told me they were waiting on a brake hose and not expecting it until late in the day, and then they probably would not be able to square things up with the warranty company.  I called my son in Huntsville and headed the 200 plus miles to his house, just outside Huntsville in Harvest, AL  His wife and two of the kids are down at Santa Rosa beach on the gulf, but he and Reagan are here.  Took me about 4 hours and I lost an hour as this is the central time zone.  So I am hoping again for good news tomorrow.  If not I will stay here until its finished I hope.  Getting here I started in Tennessee, entered Georgia, back to Tennessee, and finally Alabama.  I also drove through and then out drove some severe Thunderstorms, the warn showed up on my phone after I was out of the rain.

Robby took us out for dinner to the Greenbrier Restaurant.

Here's Reagan:

Enjoying her Hush Puppy

Robby checking his phone

My small pulled pork dinner

We drove around a little and looked at the damage still evident from the tornado and winds that went through here on April 27th.  Lots and lots of damage and not that far from his house.

Well I am here and safe.  Thats about it here for the tonight.

Thanks for checking in.

Wednesday a day for sightseeing, but reassembly is taking place

Wednesday

I was in hopes of being on the road today heading but it was not to be.  I called about 9am and they said they had parts if they were all correct they estimated Thursday afternoon for completion.  I could not stand sitting around the motel another whole day so I took off for the Nantahala Gorge.

Back in the mid 80's when we lived in Arkansas we had come over here as a church group of men and rafted this river and the Chattooga.   So I headed for Pigeon Forge.

Busy Pigeon Forge

I have to cross these Mountains

One thru Pigeon Forge I took the Gatlinburg bypass and climbed up into Great Smokey Mountains National Park again.  I stopped at one of the visitors centers and got some stamps for my passport book.

got my stamps here

I stopped at an old Grist Mill but it was not operating, just another photo op.

Mingus Mill

This brings the water to the mill

Scenic creek below the mill

Then it was on to the Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City, NC, yes I started in TN but its just over the border.

This is the public take out sign the commercial take outs are huge this spot is tiny.

These buses take you up river loaded with people and rafts on top.

Here are a bunch of pictures of people and family,s having fun at near the end of their run on the river.

After a good burger for lunch along the side of the river I headed for home and inadvertently ended up on highway 129 on a section that is called the Tail of the Dragon.  Motorcycles and sport cars come from all over the country to run this road.  The speed limit is set at 30mph and that is too fast for some of the turns.  Over 300 curves in 11 miles.  Check out the link.  I always wanted to bring the Mini we had over here.  I did get a nice view of one of the lakes near the end of the run.

One of many lakes and dams that produce electric power

Once I got back I went to FL to check on the coach and found that the trailing arms were installed and the axle and brakes are partially complete.  So once again I am hoping tomorrow is the day I can head home.

Cell phone picture, the black part is the new trailing arm.

It was 90 this morning in Pigeon Forge, 75 on top of the mountain as I crossed over.  Then 97 when I got back to Lenoir City where the motel is.  Still 89 at 10pm.

Thats about it for today.

Thanks for checking in

Tuesday-I saw the FedEx truck deliver the trailing arms!!!

Tuesday

Well I was up at my normal time I am running out of things to stay distracted and occupied.  Its been well over a week now and until the parts show up no end in sight.  The temperature is back in the mid 90s and humid.  I am waiting to call around 10:30 to see if my parts came in then hopefully get an estimate of when they will get installed.  Then I can decide if I need to pay for another night at the motel and see if I need to extend my car rental.  Thats pretty much how my day will go.

Well I was on the phone with Bonnie when FedEx delivered the trailing arms at about 3:30PM.  Since they work until midnight maybe they will install them tonight.  The service manager told me he was sure they would find the parts for the brakes and axle seal today also.  So I am praying that I will be able to head north tomorrow.  Right now I am planning to check out of the motel tomorrow morning, I think I can always come back.

I wanted to get a couple pictures to post today so I drove down to Teleco Dam.  I diverts the Little Tennessee River into Loudon lake to provide more water for power generation.  It is an earthen dam so not much to photograph.  I took a few shots at the Loudon Locks.  Looks like a pretty long barge would fit into the lock (360 X 80 feet) and can be lifted 80 feet.

80 foot lift in this lock

Up to a 360 foot long vessel

Nice spot for the fishermen

Nice view down river

Tried a self photo from the roof of the car

This was the good news of the day

Well I think I will walk over and pick up a little food chinese to go.

Hope to be posting from on the road tomorrow

Thanks for checking in.
Bob

Latest estimate is now Thursday afternoon.

Another Monday near Knoxville

Monday

I came over here to Freightliner hoping to hear that my parts had come in early, but no luck yet today.  So I am hanging out here for a while to try to get my laundry done as there seem to be no laundromats near the motel.  Got a washer finally, now to snag a dryer.

I decided to visit Buddy Gregg RV.  They are a large Monaco/Holiday Rambler dealer.  What a zoo that was.  They are large and lots of coaches and people.  But they do not work on chassis and said Freightliner was the best place in the area to be at. I was disappointed in their store also.

I talked to the shop foreman and he was nice enough to let me plug in the MH to keep the batteries charged up.  Here is a picture sorry taken with my cell phone in dim light, of the rear wheel torn down to replace the leaking seal.

Guess I will head back toward the motel once I get the laundry done.

I finished the laundry and headed back for the motel room to keep cool. It was hot and humid today so I hid out in the room.  I did call to check on the part this evening but no part yet.  Hopefully tomorrow.  I did not even go out for dinner, but did head out after dark to TCBY for a little dessert.  I did look at campgrounds that are closer than I planned in case I can get a late start tomorrow or the next day.

Thats about it for today.

Thanks for checking in.

Sunday in Lenoir City, TN

Sunday

Got up this morning and had my breakfast.  Then got dressed and headed to the First Baptist Church of Lenoir City.  I went to the 10:45 service they had one at 8am also.  It was a really good service and I really enjoyed it.  Then I did a little food shopping at Walmart and came back to the room and made a sandwich.
Then some cottage cheese and some very good cherries that Bonnie had bought before she left.
I plan to take it easy today and watch the race and soccer final game from the World Cup.  Hope to get a bit of a nap in there also.
Got my nap and decided I needed to get out for a bit and then get some dinner.  There are a lot of rivers and dams around here so I headed up to take a look at the Melton Hill Dam.

This is a view from the overlook of the dam

Besides the dam which is run by the TVA there are lots of recreation opportunities.  Access for fishermen below and above the dam.  Also boat launches, picnic tables and pavilions.  They also have a campground with hook ups for 20 bucks a night.

This is the pool above the dam

The bottom pool and the power house

These solar panels provide power for......

This recharge station for electric cars

So after the drive I stopped at Cinco Amigos for dinner.  It had good reviews and the food was good.  I hoped to have left overs for tomorrow but I guess I was to hungry.  I had chicken enchiladas and chile relleno.

It was a big chile and very good.

Thats about it for Sunday wow its already 10pm, tomorrow I will check on the part and maybe do some laundry.

Thanks for checking in.