2008 RV Adventures

February 11, 2008 we are enjoying the easy life and planning a summer expedition to Maine.

March 7, 2008 bonjour. We are getting very tired of the ill mannered, inbred French-Canadians. Mark noted they all look alike and dress alike, both men and women. LOL. there is a meeting Monday at the clubhouse to discuss future plans for the RV park. It should be noted here, that this meeting was held in French. And I thought America was English speaking.

April 13, 2008 the RV park is now nearly empty and we are planning a trip to Titusville with Sue and Wayne in their Prevost. After a weekend of fun, we will go to Giant for repairs.

April 17, 2008 we are prepping for Titusville and there're lots of things to pack up but it's good practice for our Maine trip. Last minute, Sue and Wayne can't go. Their bus is still in the body shop. We have decided to go because everything is set up already and we need to service done in Orlando.

We had three nights at a campground called The Great Outdoors. It was posh. Mark enjoyed bike riding around the trail where he saw wild turkey rabbits and deer. We dined two nights at the clubhouse and another at a Mexican restaurant, but the first night we barbecued steaks.

Monday we dropped the rig off at Giant for warranty repairs which took longer than anticipated. 11 days later, we hauled the RV to our cottage where we reloaded it for a return to Fort Lauderdale. My washer was not fixed, as it has the same problem. We hauled 65 to 70 mph and it was five hours to Fort Lauderdale.

June 16, 2008 we are double checking our Maine vacation plans. Diesel fuel is now five dollars a gallon but reservations are already made so we're going.

July 10, 2008 9:38 PM Mark says we won't sleep anyhow so let's just get started. Maybe drive to Orlando tonight and stop for a rest enroute. Our neighbor Fritz thought it would be 12 hours to Savannah. We drove two hours and 15 minutes and stopped at a rest area for a three hour nap. Our generator worked great. We were back on the road at 4 AM

Friday, July 11, 2008 we arrived at Rivers End at 10:37 AM. Site 139 was ready, we barbecued steaks and walked to the Savannah River Beach three blocks away. It was very hot and muggy. Early to bed as tomorrow is a tour day. It was an 8 Hour Dr. from Fort Lauderdale to Savannah.

Saturday, July 12, 2008 the doggies came along and we went to see the crab shack and Tybee lighthouse. We dropped Shiloh and Maggie at the RV and went for a Savannah tour. The White Trolley city tour reminded us a bit of London as it was designed by Oglethorpe from England in the 1700s. There was lots to see and do there. Lunch at the Crab Shack was great. Following lunch, we picked up the dogs and drove to Tybee Island Beach and bought a tiki bar sign. We will pack up tonight for our trip north to Virginia.

Sunday, July 13, 2008 we left the site at 6:30 AM, our alarm did not ring. We missed our turn onto Presidents and relied on Garmin, a U-turn on heavily treed Victory Street was nicely done and we got back to Islands Expressway then over a huge steep bridge to South Carolina on number 17. We joined I-95 about 15 miles up. En route to Emporia Virginia, South Carolina roads were very rough. We were airborne over one small overpass. Yikes. Yogi Bears in Emporia Virginia is a nice place. We chose shady site number 19 with lots of tall trees and dappled sun. We enjoyed cooking over an open fire and swimming in the pool. It was very peaceful except for the hourly train.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 we left at 5:20 AM en route to Freehold, New Jersey. We arrived at Pinecone resort, a nice area, but the manager had to trim trees to get us into our spot. We drove to Pleasant City, New Jersey and Jenkinson's boardwalk with the dogs. After a nice day in New Jersey, we decided to leave at 7 PM for the Tappan Zee bridge going north on the Garden State Parkway. We never found it. Roads merge and disappear frequently. Tolls are outrageous. Our Garman was set and check before we left freehold, got us onto the Garden State Parkway alright but somehow ended up on the George Washington Bridge right into Park Avenue, Manhattan. Garmin started saying recalculating, get off at Park Avenue, U-turn if possible. Mark said screw it, I'm not getting off. The underpasses were not marked with height restrictions, so I sang it's up to you New York New York. LOL. We managed to get through there and arrived back on I 95 somehow. We phoned Randy and then Wayne to share our story. Wayne said the same thing happened to him years ago when towing a boat.

We stopped at the first rest area that said welcome to Connecticut. It's now 10:12 PM and we're on I-95 passing Bridgeport. A good Samaritan honked at us, and waved as he passed. We thought he was just being friendly, but at 1582 miles, we had chewed up the left rear axle tire on the RV. We limped off the highway and found the Marriott with the well lit parking lot. Mark changed the tire and we were on the road again by 12:10 PM. We pulled over and slept at a Walmart for a few hours and then at 8:23 AM saw a sign we were only 11 miles to Wells Beach, Maine. Since we arrive too early, we were sent to a holding area where we waited a nap with the AC going until 3 PM. It's a very nice resort, we set up and met the neighbors, and went to Billy's Chowder House for a dinner of lobster and linguine. Yummy.

Friday, July 18, 2008 we made calls about the damaged tire and drove north to Saco Maine and back along US 1 We stopped at Lighthouse Depot for trinkets. We arrived back at the RV for a severe thunder storm with tornado warnings. In the evening we did grocery shopping and found a great Dollar Tree store.

Saturday, July 19, 2008, Mark got us up early and we drove to Kennebunkport for a morning of retail therapy. We are doing our part to boost the economy. We bought a cast-iron Scottie dog, sitting up like Shiloh does, a travel bag in Old Salt, the oldest store, and a couple of neat T-shirts. It was fun. Now for lunch out.

Sunday, July 20, 2008 we are going to Portsmouth New Hampshire with the dogs. We walked around the harbor area, hazy today, nice downtown area with pretty gardens and flowers. We had lunch at a Burger King as we have the dogs with.

Monday, July 21, 2008, our new tire arrived at VIP in Arundle. Later, went to York Beach for shopping and lunch at Sandy's Purple Palace. We sat at Long Sands beach and enjoyed the gulls, four times the regular size. We had a campfire night with no bugs.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 we went to Kittery Trading Post and Ogunquit beach where we saw Perkins Cove, a quaint lobster town from the 1600s. That evening, we had dinner at Fisherman's Catch near the Wells Harbor. There was a cool breeze from the salt marshes and the ocean. We love this place and enjoyed hot New England clam chowder, crabcakes and shrimp cakes. Back at the RV we had a Scrabble challenge and Mark trounced me 640 to 454.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 we got an early start and brought the new tire rim to Arundel's VIP. Mark dealt with Dick, the service manager, who was well named. Enough said. I sat in the truck and caught up on our log. Then we were off to Portland head light, and it was just as inspiring on our second visit. The wild roses smelt heavenly mixed with the salt air. We collected a few rocks, one slightly large one, and watched the lobster boats while we ate a picnic lunch at a table. There was a lady crocheting and a man playing fiddle. Awesome day.

Thursday, July 24, 2008 was a rainy day, perfect for drive north to Belfast. We stopped at Fort point State Park and saw a bear, and Deer tracks. The dogs loved the soft grass. We had a picnic on the tailgate. On the drive back to Wells we stopped in Lincolnville and bought a lighthouse bell. We took pictures in Camden and would visit that area again. It was picturesque. Now at 3 PM, we are still cruising down number one highway with an overcast sky but 74°. There are beautiful wildflowers everywhere. Mark wonders aloud about a lobster boat license. Ha ha. Wiscasset has nice views off number one, and saw a realty sign $93,900 for a three bedroom two bath.

Speaking of bath, we saw historic Bath on a large port ... no billboards, no graffiti, just beautiful scenery. We saw amazing modular homes. In Freeport, the Mac Donald's restaurant is an old house, the same with the Gap and LLBean. At Portland, we got on I-95.

Sunday, July 27, 2008, Mark is checking our tires for a return drive to Florida. The Dodge odometer is 2384 miles. We left wells beach at 10:05 AM and by 11:57 AM we were on exit 22 to the Massachusetts Turnpike. We're now driving in the Poconos, and have found a place for the night. We played gin rummy until 10 o'clock, and I was the big winner.

Monday, July 28, 2008 we had a fuel stop at a Citgo just before I 84 at 8:15 AM. We're going to try for Emporia Virginia tonight.

On I 81 just north of Harrisburg, at a restaurant, Mark discovered the inner driver side dually tire was flat. Apparently, the valve stem extender had been torn off by road debris. We wonder where is the Jack? Will certainly know our vehicle after this trip. It is a beautiful sunny 81° in Pennsylvania.

It is now 12:38 PM and we were on the road again. Harrisburg on the Susquehanna is very pretty. We are driving through the Appalachian mountains at 3:10 PM. We decided to go another 194 miles to Emporia, Yogi Bears Jellystone and stay 2 nights.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 was a lazy morning. We got the truck tire repaired at Firestone for eight dollars and made a quick trip to Walmart for supplies. We made plans for Myrtle Beach tomorrow

Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 7:15 AM Mark is finishing up his chores. We talked to an RVer who spent five days stuck in South Carolina waiting for a part. He was en route to Lake George. He was mad at Pres. Bush and filled us in on Bush removing the ban on fuel speculation. This is why fuel prices have gone skyhigh. At 7:33 AM, we are underway.

12:40 PM we are 11 miles to Myrtle Beach. Nice enough roads and there seems to be plenty to do here. We got a great campsite on the beach, number six. The dogs walked on the beach and we went to camping world.

July 31, 2008, we enjoyed Myrtle Beach and meeting Donna and Darrell Singo, also grand junction owners.

Friday, August 1, 2008, we are on route to our home to cut grass, water plants, get mail and wash the RV. 418 miles to go

At 11:48 AM, we fueled up and we're listening to Sirius outlaw country. A funny song called butt ugly slut was on. We had a half hour stop trying to pump gas at Brunswick Georgia at a Flying J. It is now 330 and we're at exit 366 near Jacksonville Florida and it's 94°

We had the first rain of the entire trip in Florida just 133 miles from home. At 3:50 PM, we were splashed with concrete sludge going under an overpass construction on I 95.

We took I95 to Highway 92 which was very rough to 44, then to 19. 4013 miles so far.

Sunday, August 2, 2008 at 8:30 AM we left our home for Fort Lauderdale. At noon we stop for a break for the dogs and we were just north of Jupiter. At 1:15 we arrived back in Fort Lauderdale 4292 miles. We got set up and then went to the pool and saw Fritz and Debbie and got caught up on neighborhood antics.