What The Heck Day Is This?

We lose time on these trips.  If it weren't for my laptop, I'd be totally lost.  But, ye ole laptop says it is Thursday, September the 3rd.  Coulda fooled me.

We left Versailles State Park yesterday morning about 11 am...or was it 10?  Dang time zone change along there somewhere.  Anyway, as we arrived at Versailles campground, we drove across (though?) another covered bridge.  It was getting late so I didn't get any pictures, but I stopped for a photo shoot on the way out yesterday morning.

I was surprised the bridge had enough clearance for Lil Pumpkin (abt 10'), but it actually was 13' 6".  I wonder why they would built a bridge that tall for horse drawn wagons?

The day or, at least, the route plan for the day went well until we got just past Washington Court House on Hwy 22.  Suddenly, Hwy 22 was totally closed and we were sent off on a detour.  Actually, this is not bad.  We like traveling "where no man has gone before" and when you subject the GPS to a route it does not prescribe, things can get interesting.  So, we zigged and we zagged through some interesting country.  We finally got back on Hwy 22 just before Zanesville and it was then the GPS really made the trip interesting.  Following "her" instructions, we took Hwy 60 south a ways from Zanesville then caught Hwy 78 at Malta over to Hwy 83 north.  My original campground goal was Barkcamp State Park just west of Wheeling, but the day was getting long and we had to cut it short.  I chose Wolf Run State Park just off I-77.  The GPS did not care for my choice.  So, it led us up Hwy 83 to Cumberland where we caught Hwy 340 south east to Wolf Run.  Now that, in itself, seems rather mundane, just rambling around the countryside, but Hwy 340 was not to be out done by any road.  The speed limit was 55 MPH and turns were generally mild enough to permit the use of the cruise control.  However, it was like a rollercoaster ride.  If any of you remember the old Hwy 65 between Nixa and Highlandville, Mo., you probably have some idea what Hwy 340 was like.  There were not just a few, but many hill toppings where I swear we would have left the ground if I had not slowed down.  It would have been a fun ride in my earlier days in my old '48 Plymouth, but in a RV full of "stuff", it was not so entertaining.  But, it was still fun to watch Joyce's reaction as she grabbed handles and the dash and anything else she could hang on to.

So, we're here in Wolf Run this morning.  Joyce is poking on her laptop and I on mine (today's camping is not quite the same as yesteryear).  Hey!  Where's breakfast?!!

We're not going to make it to Tom, Jr's today like my original route plan.  Naps in the middle of a day's journey do take their toll.  In fact, we have a couple of five driving hour days left which is a push for up.  But, I do want to get off the road before there is too much holiday traffic.  Next stop (planned) is a National campground called Twin Lakes near Kane, Pa.  That's about 50 miles south of the New York State line on Hwy 6.

Birthday Done!

Today was a bit different in that I usually settle on a campground for the next night and set a course for it.  Today, I opted to just point toward Cincinnati and then look for a campground when I start getting tired.  The problem came when I got tired way too soon.

We poked along Hwy 50 in the direction of Cincinnati.  My intention was to take it easy, but it seems the truckers had a different idea.  After all, with Labor Day looming, most would want to get home for the weekend.  Most of Hwy 50 in this area is two lane and the trucks began stacking up behind me and I just could not let myself be the bottleneck.  So, I stepped it up until I spied a sign about an old covered bridge off the highway a piece and I grabbed the opportunity to pull off.  It turned out to be a nice side trip.

About 4 miles off Hwy 50 is the little town of Medora and it's where the Medora covered bridge is...can you imagine that?  The bridge crosses the east fork of the White River just southeast of Medora.  And, they have a very nice quiet shady park and picnic ground there.  Hey!  Now that's what I'm talking about.  The bridge even has its own website.  We stopped and I took Ditto out for a walk and to take some photos.

Of course, the photos on the website are better, but these are mine.

After Ditto and I toured the bridge park, we ate a light lunch then I took a short nap...for about an hour and a half.

While I was napping, some guy came along and was telling some other visitors all about the history of the bridge and the bridge support group.  He wasn't talking to Joyce, but she said he may as well had as he was quite vocal.  The guy said the bridge had been set fire by vandals three times in the last five years so members of the support group volunteer their time to patrol the bridge.  They're hoping to get a surveillance system installed one day.  Be sure to check out the bridge website.

Here I am after my nap, listening to Joyce tell about the "tour guide" who had told the entire park about the bridge.

After the bridge break, I was much more conditioned to handle the stress of the truckers.  So, we worked our way back to Hwy 50 where I fueled up and jumped in line.  We made it to Versailles where there is a large State park with a large campground.  It was nearly empty, but nice.  The agent that came to collect the fee said the park, with over 225 campsites, was fully booked for next weekend (Labor Day).

Okay, it's time for Taps.

Good Morning

I'm sitting here in Ouabache Trails campground waiting for Joyce to get up and moving.  It was a nice sleeping night.  Once it got dark, it cooled off and we were able to sleep without the droning noise of the air conditioner (RV air conditioners are made purposely loud so you wake up early).

I'm not sure where we're heading today.  Probably somewhere up around Cincinnati...or not.

Ah.  We're parked right across from the shower house and I just finished spiffying myself up.  Nice clean shower house, it was.

Oh, hey!  Today is my birthday!  Happy birthday to me.

Good morning, Joyce (she finally got up).

Nothing more for now.  After all, it is only 10:30 am.  Maybe I'll amend this post when we stop this evening.

Amendment #1 - Our neighbor at the campground has set out several hummingbird feeders and it is migration time.

As for further amendments, I think I'll just create a new post.

Wabash Cannon Ball

We got away from home just before noon on Sunday.  We made our "drop dead" time somehow.  Christian and Laura arrived a little later than we expected, but Laura had breakfast all ready with a delicious spinach quiche (I think that's what it's called).  I had finished loading most everything and Joyce was putting the finishing touches on putting the groceries and "stuff" away when they arrived.  We ate, turned over the house keys and hit the road.

We made an intended-to-be quick stop at Joyce's mom's in Rogersville.  I say it that way because she stayed a little longer than planned, but she needed to say "bye" to her mom.  Traveling on, we grabbed a McDonald's at Mt. Grove and continued on east on Hwy 60.

Our first night was going to be Trail of Tears State Park on the river near Cape Girardeau, but a family crisis required good cell phone service, so we opted for a campground in Cape Girardeau.  It was a nice and convenient place to land, although a little more expensive than we normally shoot for.  But, the crisis abated somewhat and this morning we hit the road, crossing the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau, angling across the extreme southern end of Illinois and into Indiana.  It was a nice quiet drive, although we still were concerned with the family crisis.  Eventually though, news indicated we could continue our trip.  But, the stress had played on us somewhat, so we opted to stop a little sooner than we had planned.  After a couple of mis-steps for a campground, we settled on Ouabache (Wabash) Trails Park on the outskirts of Vincennes, In., right on the Wabash River (well, on the banks of the river).  However, the GPS, as usual, chose it's own path there.  It was a fun path, though.  It took us through St, Francisville, Il and onto the Wabash Cannon Ball Rd which crosses the Wabash into Indiana.  We didn't expect it, but it turned out to be a toll bridge.  But, it was only $1.25.  What we really didn't expect was that the Wabash Cannon Ball Rd was built on the old Wabash railroad bed - including the railroad bridge across the river (thus the name of the road).  There were two bridges, one crossing a swampy area leading up to the main bridge over the river.  Both were one-lane bridges as they were the original railroad bridges.  The main bridge was a heavy looking steel bridge and the smaller one built on huge piles driven into the swamp - after all, they used to handle freight trains.  We had to stop and wait for oncoming cars at both bridges, so I took that opportunity to take some photos.

Just crossed the swamp bridge.

Approaching the main bridge.

Because the Wabash Cannon Ball Rd ran on the old railroad bed, the road on the Indiana side was like a Taney County backroad.  Running through the tall ready-to-harvest cornfields made it difficult to figure where we were going.  The GPS wanted to send me back home, but I endeavored to persevere, and here we are at the campground...somehow.

Joyce is fixin' some supper.  Ummm.  Brisket, baked potato and fresh tomatoes.

Oh.  We passed the Indiana Military Museum on the outskirts of Vincennes.  Here's a couple of shots.  I would have liked to have toured it, but it was after hours.

Leaving tomorrow

Here's the "plan".

But, plans are made to be altered.  We might decide to go get some fried clams in Delaware and we might decide to tour the USS Midway in San Diego.  We hit the far NE, SE and NW corners of the lower 48 last year.  I'd like to show Pumpkin the SW corner on this trip, however that's a long ways.  But, the price of diesel is probably as good as it's going to get.  So, we expect to log anywhere from 6000 - 9000 miles...if Pumpkin's wheels stay on and our butts hold up.  One thing...no, two things that will likely determine our direction out west, the weather and the forest fire smoke.  Either one could send us further south and the later it gets in the mountainous areas, the fewer campgrounds remain open.  Mid October is about their limit. some even sooner.

Laura and Christian will be holding down the fort at home.  They needed a landing spot for a while and we needed someone to watch the house.  So, all our backs get scratched.  Ahhh!

Aloha!

Bug Out!

We made a screen for the rear doors last year.  We used fiberglass window screening.  It worked fairly well, but still wasn't quite what we were looking for.  It was heavy and also blocked access to the rear doors from the inside and was just too bulky to use for a sliding curtain screen on the side door.  So, we began searching for another option.  Screens were a must for traveling up near the Canada border.  Mosquitoes there are notorious monsters.

There are some commercially produced screens out there, but due to the unique nature of the sliding side door, they are EXPENSIVE!  Joyce happened across some white tulle (a LOT of white tulle, actually).  At first it seemed almost ideal as it was light and flexible and fairly strong.  She made a screen for the rear using the old fiberglass screen as a pattern.  It came out okay.  Then we tackled the side door.

I found some curtain track that I mounted on the inside.  It has free-rolling hooks to hang a curtain (or screen) from and would easily roll back to open.  Joyce, then began trying to construct a curtain from the tulle.  Not pretty...

She sewed elastic along the top.  The elastic had small holes along the length which were perfect to hook the screen on the track.  That part worked well.  Next was how to secure the screen to the perimeter of the door opening.

I chose Velcro and magnets.  First, I glued a long strip of Velcro "fuzz side" all down the front of the doorframe and Joyce sewed Velcro "hooks" to match on the front edge of the screen.  That was when the trouble began.  The Velcro hooks on the screen would grab the tulle any time it touched it.  It was like trying to put down a feather with sticky fingers.  We would have to swap and put the hooks on the doorframe and the fuzz on the screen.  But, before we made that change, we realized the tulle was so light and flimsy that the slightest breeze would billow it out and it would require some method of securing, not only to the rear of the doorframe, but to the bottom as well.  This was becoming a big chore.  We decided we probably needed "for real" mosquito netting instead of trying to make do with fiberglass screening or tulle.  Since we were going to St. Louis to have Pumpkin checked out, we planned on hitting the fabric stores there to find some proper screening.

Dusty to the rescue!  As we discussed with Dusty what we were trying to do, he remembered he had a large portable screen room stored in the attic that he hadn't used in years.  He offered it as a possible source of screening.  We could cut sections out of the sides if they were big enough and it appeared they were.

I hated to cut up a perfectly good screen room, but...Joyce cut the heck out of it.  Guess this makes her a real "cut up".

She did a fantastic job.  It's amazing what a few well chosen cuss words can do to help.  Of course, her skills as a seamstress helped some, too.  The results were almost perfect.

  

Mosquitoes have met their match, I think.  The side door curtain/screen is easy to close and easy to store.  The rear door screen will be stationary, but has a zipper down the center so we can access the doors from the inside.  We are both very pleased with the outcome.  Thanks again for the screen room, Dusty.

Clean Bill Of Health

Took Lil Pumpkin to the doctor this last Friday.  The closest Mercedes service centers are Fayetteville, AR and Creve Coeur, MO up very near Dusty's.  Even though Fayetteville is closer than Creve Coeur, we chose Creve Coeur so we could visit the grandkids and have a place to stay.  I paid for the room and board by upgrading three computers to Windows 10.

I drove over to the Mercedes dealer and was told it wouldn't take long.  So, I opted to wait.  But, they found Pumpkin had a recall for the on-board computer software and that would take longer than originally thought.  So, I called Traci for a ride back to her house.  I, then, settled in to upgrading computers.  The dealer called about 2 hours later and Pumpkin was ready.  Traci ran me back to the dealer and $432 later I drove Pumpkin back to Dusty's.  The bill wasn't all that bad, actually.  Besides a 30,000 mile checkup, they changed the oil (13.5 qts of synthetic oil) and filter, flushed the brake fluid, topped off the DEF and updated the computer (that part was no cost, however).  All that AND it is a Mercedes, so $432 was expected.

So, I got the generator problem (LP regulator) fixed earlier last week and a 30,000 mile checkup on Friday and Pumpkin is ready for another trip...so are we!  And what a trip we have planned!  We plan of leaving this Sunday, heading east.  Our destination is Tom, Jr's in upstate New York.  We want to get there before the Labor Day weekend rush begins - target date Thursday, Sept. 3rd.  Well, we're slow.  Five days is about right for 1100 miles.

We plan to stay at Tom's for about a week.  Whitney is there with Pepper, Kade and her new girl, Emree.  We haven't met Emree yet.

Once we get our visit out, we're heading west toward Skyler's in Idaho.  But, we're taking the scenic route from the lower end of Lake Erie up through the "thumb" of Michigan.  We'll probably take a jog over to Lake Huron.  We haven't visited it yet, so it's pretty much a "have to".  We'll cross the Mackinac Bridge over to the Upper Peninsula.  We've been to the UP before and wasn't particularly impressed.  We'll give it another chance then slide on down to mid Wisconsin and all points west...well, sort of.  We plan to cross about mid Minnesota and North Dakota.  I want to visit the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and while we're in the area, maybe pass through Stanley in the middle of the Balkin Shale oil boom area.  Have to hit it at the right time of day, though, because campsites are few and far between and very expensive.

Eventually, we'll get to Skyler's in Ashton, ID.  There's another new great granddaughter there we haven't met.  Penelope Joyce, most call her Pennie, I like PJ, however.  And then there is Rosie.

From Skyler's, we'll continue west.  Joyce wants to see eastern Oregon and, if the forest fires aren't smoking up everything, I guess she will...see eastern Oregon, that is.

Right now, the plan is to drop down to Nevada then across Utah to northern Colorado.  By then it will be deep into October and no telling what kind of weather we might encounter.  But, if we're not snowed in, we'll cut across the top of Colorado and across the middle of Nebraska.  Luckily, by the time we hit Nebraska, Joyce will have smelled the barn and we'll scoot right on across.

Overall, we will have put another 7,000 miles plus on Lil Pumpkin.  But, that's what we bought it for.