Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Thankful

As we head into our final two weeks in Russellville, AR we begin to think about what is next. Originally we had planned on hanging out down here until it warmed up and we could head north to see family and friends. Those plans changed a while back, and instead of "hanging" it became "hunkering-down" until it was safe to head north. Not sure when that will be.

Monday, March 30, 2020

Rock House Cave

Pat cooked bacon on the grill and I scrambled eggs inside to start off the day on Sunday.  We went back to Petit Jean State Park to take a short trail to Rock House Cave.  It was a very shallow cave. Inside the cave are pictographs done by native Americans nearly 2,000 years ago.  Mixed reviews on people that saw them, and those that didn't.  We fell into the latter category.  We definitely saw red areas, the most common color, but weren't able to discern any pictures.

Sunday, March 29, 2020

The journey began....

We began planning retirement--trading our home for an RV and traveling around the U.S., probably shortly after we were married, many, many years ago!  Creating our blog took several months, so once a week I will post a blog that works on catching us up to where we started blogging a few weeks ago.

March 16, 2019--an important day for us.  We flew to Texas and put our house on the market in the morning, and sold our house that evening!  Closing on the house would be May 16th and we had a lot of work to do!  Pat drove the RV back from Texas never having driven an RV that big before.

Saturday, March 28, 2020

April showers...

should be bringing lots of May flowers, based on the quantity of rain we've been having. Its 7 p.m. and the sun has finally popped out.  Pat worked on the blog page today, trying to make it more readable by phone.  You can only do so much for a small device, but I think he definitely improved it.  Anyone notice any differences?

We spent most of the morning, before it rained, staging our Covid-19 porch picture.  This was as close as we could come to a "porch."

Friday, March 27, 2020

More hiking...

We returned to Mt. Nebo Thursday to tackle the entire 4 mile Bench Road Trail.  We headed out at 10 a.m. to beat the 80° temperatures that were predicted.  We started at the opposite end of the trail from the other day.  There is a narrow bench that encircles the mountain, hence the name for the trail.

Right from the beginning we encountered trail construction.  It didn't affect the trail we were on that circled the top of Mt. Nebo, but rather many of the mountain bike trails.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Fixes and Fails - Safe-T-Plus Steering stabilizer

On our first drive of our 2019 Thor Palazzo 33.2 from Houston to KC, I noticed considerable control issues when being passed by a Semi or actually anything of any size.  It wasn't so much that they pushed me over when they approached and then sucked me in as they passed, as it was that it took a while to feel like I was in control again and not just swerving from one side of the road to the other. (Probably wasn't quite that bad, but this was my first time driving something of this size).

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

We hunkered down today!

It was cooler this morning but up to 70 by late afternoon.  We used our hard-boiled eggs and made deviled eggs for lunch, a departure from our usual lunch meat!  We stayed and walked around the campground today.  We did take a walk up the country road by us.  My french-kissing dog from the other day was busy with his family, lol!  As we headed up the hill, Pat commented someone was on the roof of a house weed-eatering.  We couldn't see the back side of the house from the front so it looked a little strange.  As we walked past, the person was indeed up on his earth-sheltered house trimming.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Phone tragedy, but in the scheme of life it will be okay!

We took advantage of another non-rainy day and a warm one on top of that.  We headed to Lake Dardanelle State Park, about 15 minutes from our campground, and near Russellville, AR.  On our way to the State Park we went past the Bona Dea Trails and Sanctuary.


Monday, March 23, 2020

A treasure near Russellville

Finally, a day with no rain!!  It was cloudy, but at least 60𝇈.  We set off for Mt. Nebo State Park, about 30 minutes from our campground near Russellville, AR.  We followed a very curvy (many sharp switchbacks) up the mountain.  Someone in our car wasn't too thrilled with the curvy road, but I survived!  Mt. Nebo is 1350 ft. tall and overlooks the Arkansas River Valley.  There were several couples and some families there getting out for some exercise and yet everyone kept their distance.  Even with the beauty of the park, COVID-19 was on everyone's mind.

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Bathroom storage...

This will be our 7th night at Ivy's Cove RV Retreat in Russellville, AR.  Originally, this was to be a transitional spot for a few weeks until the weather warmed up in Missouri and Iowa, our next destinations.  Now, well, like every one else we aren't sure what things hold.  At any rate, we both appear healthy right now as we stay to ourselves here at the park. Other people are doing the same. We haven't been out for groceries since last Thurs. and don't have a need to for several weeks. We haven't even touched the canned goods we have stored in the basement. We had another cold day with a high of 47, which is also the low for tonight.  With that being the low, better days ahead???  The sun didn't come out but it hasn't rained since this morning either.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

We saw the sun today!!

It got quite chilly last night and stayed that way for at least the morning hours.  It did warm up in the 50's in the late afternoon and on our walk we saw the sun peak out.  What a much needed site!!  More rain for tomorrow and cooler, and then it starts to warm up.  Thursday looks like mid 80's and only a 20% chance of rain.  I predict lots of hiking this week.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Tornadoes, entertainment and ANTS!

Thursday night Arkansas had some severe storms. Some RV parks have storm shelters in place, and others just let you fend for yourselves.  The tornado sirens went off two times last night.  I'm not sure about others, but I'd rather be anywhere besides an RV if there would be a tornado!  At this park we had access to the laundry room, which had some windows, but several of us appeared to think it was still better than an RV.  Several people arrived with


Thursday, March 19, 2020

Fixes and Fails - Turn signal

On our way back from purchasing our 2019 Thor Palazzo 33.2 in Houston in March of 2019, I was merging onto I-435 in Kansas when one of the other drivers gave me a hand gesture.  No it wasn't just one finger, he was opening and closing his hand.  Interesting!

When we finally got to our RV park, we checked the lights and found out that the left rear turn signal did not work.  I tried a different bulb and that did not help. We had already scheduled a trip to Camping World of KC to work on a list of issues we had discovered, so we added this to the list...

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Settling in

It started out rainy, 10th day in a row for rain here.  They were heading toward a record of the most days of rain in a row.  Severe weather predicted for tomorrow so they still have a chance.  By afternoon it was in the 60's and we had a few hours of sun.  Pat moved to shorts and at 9 p.m. we still have the windows open.  Love hearing the bugs and birds, as well as the fresh air.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

A stunning water fall

We took a trip to Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas's first state park.  It was about an hour from Russellville, AR.  Pat said we came here when we lived in Arkansas about 16 years ago, but I don't remember it.  Don't know if we camped or just made a day trip of it back then. It is a beautiful park.  With temperatures in  the 50's it was a great day to explore.  You can read about the legend of the young girl, Petit Jean (means Little John), here https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/petit-jean-state-park/about/history

Monday, March 16, 2020

Ivy's Cove RV Retreat

A short, but rainy, drive today.  Krikkit was exceedingly happy to have the slides out and her bed in it's normal spot.  We are spending the night at Ivy's Cove RV Resort in Russellville, AR.  After we plugged in and got the slides out there was some major cleaning.  We had a lot of people in our coach working last week, as well as a lot of dust made with the repairs.

Sunday, March 15, 2020

no grass, cold, slow internet...

We saw a lot of water this morning between Cairo, IL and Sikeston, MO, near the Mississippi river.  Not sure if it was flooding or a lot of rain.

Saturday, March 14, 2020

???snow, that's not right!

We are in Effington, IL tonight at Camp Lakewood.  They actually have water turned on, although we didn't connect since we are leaving first thing in the morning.  A little pricey and bathrooms are older with shower/dressing areas kind of small.  Quite a few pulled in after us.  Some snowbirds heading home and one couple heading home from Arizona where spring training was cancelled.

The weatherman last night said their would be a wintry mix that wouldn't affect travel--so wrong!!


Friday, March 13, 2020

A positive experience

Our last day at Thor Factory Service.  A lot got done this week, but not everything.  It will take an entire week for them to replace the flooring, and we will have to be out of the coach.  Then there will also be a few other items that need repair. It will probably be several months before they can get us back in though.  Overall, I think we were very please with the service we got there and owe a big "thank you" to our technician Todd.  It was nice having the same person in charge of our coach for the whole week.  Here is a picture of our replaced Firefly panel--no more "blipping."

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Preparing to leave..

Our time at Thor is coming to a close.  A lot got fixed, but not everything. There's still tomorrow (Friday).  We will send a new list into Thor so everything, some of which we may forego, is reported under warranty which runs out on Monday.  If we want anything else done we have to make another appt. and come back.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Krider's World's Fair Garden

More of the same Tues. and Weds.  Up at 6, coach taken at 7, and returned to us at 3.  Our tech, Todd, has accomplished a lot.  Of course, along with steps forward, sometimes come steps backwards.  Tonight we are without water!  No worries, a Dollar General in Wakarusa had water to get us through the night.  I have faith that Todd will correct that tomorrow!I

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Fixes and Fails - Cab/Dash A/C Heater issue

Within 5 minutes of driving off the Camping World Houston lot after purchasing our new 2019 Thor Palazzo 33.2 in March of 2019, the dash A/C started blowing hot air.  So, we spent Saturday night and Sunday at the RV park making a list of issues and took it back into Camping World on Monday morning, where they spent most of the day working on it only to tell us they could not fix it.

Monday, March 9, 2020

Flowers abloom!

Thor service was at our door by 7 this morning and we were off in the car to Nappanee, IN, about 7 miles south of Wakarusa.  I love this little town of 6,700.  They have a walking path around the golf course. First you walk through an arbor "The Art Path," and you come across "The Apple Orchard" with a variety of large (maybe 4' tallish) painted "apples", because as the plaques by the apples say, It's a-peeling around here. I hope you like them as much as I did.

Sunday, March 8, 2020

After a short 1 1/2 hour drive we arrived at Thor Service.  We're hooked up awaiting our early call tomorrow.  Supposedly they knock on your door at 7, go over the concerns you have, and take your coach in for the day.  Unless they would be in the middle of something that would prevent it, they return your coach in the middle of the afternoon.  If complete you are good to go, but if not you may need to stay another day....or longer.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

According to the Beach Boys there's a place called Kokomo....

The Beach Boys weren't referring to this Kokomo though.  We traveled around 230 miles from Cave City, KY to Kokomo, IN just north of Indianapolis.  Our first time to stay in a Lowe's parking lot.  Thank you Lowe's!  It got down to 26𝇈 last night and was pretty chilly this morning but SUNNY.  Since the water was off at the campground due to the subfreezing temperatures, and we didn't want to use our water or fill our waste tanks since we probably won't be able to fill with water for a while, we went up to the campground shower house.  It was super nice and we weren't the only ones taking advantage of it.

Friday, March 6, 2020

We hit the jackpot on our cave tour today!

It's going to be below freezing tonight so the RV park we are at turned off water at 5 p.m. Since we will be leaving tomorrow, Saturday, anyway Pat disconnect water and dumped tanks this morning.  It was very windy so we brought in the big slide so the slide topper didn't get damaged too.

We headed for Mammoth Cave after lunch to take the 1:30 Extended Historic Cave Tour.  This was the best cave tour we have ever taken!

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Mammoth Cave Sink Trail, Echo River Spring Tail, and Whites Cave Trail

A great day of hiking with perfect temperatures.  It was in the 50's and by the time we were done we had shed coats.  I need to start actually keeping track but I think we went 2 or 3 miles this morning. We need to slowly build up since it's been a while since we've done much hiking.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Hiking the River Styx Spring Trail in Mammoth Cave NP

Wow--nearly 70𝇈 today!  Mammoth Cave became a national park in 1941, a World Heritage Site in 1981, and and International Biosphere Reserve in 1990. It is the world's longest known cave system with about 400 miles having been mapped so far.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Mammoth Cave National Park--we have arrived!

We had a shorter drive to Mammoth Cave National Park today.  Last night Nashville had a tornado that caused serious damage and deaths.  We were staying only 30 miles south but only had rain.  As we went through Nashville this morning we only saw minor damage, none of the serious stuff.

Monday, March 2, 2020

Overnight in Columbia, TN

We left Meridian MS this morning around 9 and arrived in Columbia, TN at 3:30 for a drive of 320 miles. Some say etiquette in a store parking lot is to leave slides in unless necessary in order to be less obtrusive.  We leave ours in since we can live with them in and it makes for a quicker departure the next day.

Sunday, March 1, 2020

First Stop: Meridian, MS


We began our journey North today.  We went about 200 miles which is about our ideal distance,  otherwise, someone in our vehicle (Pat refers to her as "devil dog" at that time) gets a little nuts.  We are scheduled for warranty work (our warranty runs out middle of March) at Thor Service in Wakarusa, IN March 9th.