Dead End Kids

A short 255 mile drive took us to Marti’s sister Anne’s house.  We’re here for a couple of days before we head to New Jersey. 

We started out in eastern Indiana and discovered the last 25 miles of I-70 were designed to shake everything possible loose inside the Journey, I was even worried about the fillings in my teeth.  We have to say it’s the worse stretch of road we’ve ever driven on in our travels since I-40 in Oklahoma (2002).

It’s a nice place to visit because they live on the very end of a dead end street, so we can park the Journey there and “Moochdock”.   :c)

                  

There are no full hook ups, but we are able to snake an extension cord to the house to get some 110v electricity, enough to keep the fridge running and use a few lights.  Can’t beat the price, though.

                 

Of course, it didn’t take Marti long to contribute to the delinquency of a minor by teaching her sister’s little grandson, EJ, how to play games on an iPhone.

                  

We’ll be pulling out Saturday morning for a two day, 450 mile drive to New Jersey.  We’re already getting rumblings from our NJ granddaughters that they can’t wait to see us.  I have a feeling the campground pool will be getting quite a workout.  Good thing we have lots of experience in that, courtesy of the Missouri grands!   :c)

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

                       

Maybe I’m Losing My Touch

We pulled out of the Pin Oak Creek Campground around 10 am with lumps in our throats.  With the campground disappearing in our mirror as we headed east, we realized how much we miss the girls already.

As usual, the alarm on our instrument panel sounded off, and the gauges worked intermittently.  The wiring harness issue is still waiting to be fixed by Freightliner in Gaffney, SC, whenever we can get there, should be September.  In the mean time, I can monitor my speed via the GPS and my information bar on the dashboard.  I also have the resettable odometer, so I know when I need to fuel up.  Thank goodness for a CD player with music to help drown out the alarm a bit.

After driving with a wind hitting us broadside, and many construction zones, as well as rush hour traffic around Indianapolis, we still managed to see fuel mileage bounce between 7.7 to 8.2 mpg.  Not complaining, if I did, I’d probably find myself saddled with a headwind the rest of the way to New Jersey and mpg in the mid sizes.

We stopped for the night at a Flying J in Indiana.  Can’t beat the price and we’ll be able to fuel up in the morning.  We start the generator, close the curtains and we could be anywhere, the a/c is keeping us cool and we hardly notice the noise outside as the blowing air gives us a nice white noise.

              

Our distance covered for the day was only 333.7 miles, I might be losing my PDD driving talent.  Tomorrow, we’ll be driving even less as we’re stopping for a couple of days at Marti’s sister’s house in Ohio.  A little “Moochdocking” in front of her house on a dead end street.

We made reservations for our NJ stay at the Navy Base campground in Earle, NJ.  We’re planning on being there for about sixty five days. Along with spending a bunch of time with our granddaughters Anabelle and Lizzie, we have many friends from our old stomping grounds to visit, a several day motorcycle trip with two of my brothers, a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas with my dad and Marti’s sister Gail, plus some necessary maintenance projects on the Journey.  It might not be enough time… 

As I walked around the Journey tonight, I noticed the front of it is looking really bad.

                

It’s not bug splatter, but mold growing under the clear plastic protective coating on the front.  It’s really bad in some places.

              

Many folks that have had this problem have removed the plastic.  Some have paid to have it done, while others made it a DIY project.  I’ve heard horror stories that some people have had removing it, others saying it peels right off.

I tried a little spot on one edge and it peeled pretty easily.

              

Yep, another project to add to this summer’s list.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

                   

Conflicted

It was the our last day here in Missouri, visiting with our four granddaughters.

                

We had a wonderful six weeks, spending hours many days at the campground, especially the pool.  I’m surprised the girls don’t look as wrinkled as prunes.

Beka got a new bike while we were here.

                 

Mimi Marti gave her lessons on how to ride correctly.  She learned quickly.

                     

For Independence Day, we had a great campfire at Ryan’s house followed by some fun fireworks.

                

It was so hard to say “Goodbye”, there were lots of tears shed.  We feel so bad to have to leave and not see them for six or more months, but when we pull out from the campground tomorrow, we’ll be heading to see our New Jersey granddaughters, Anabelle and Lizzie (Elizabeth).  We’re conflicted.  :c( 

Thankfully we have wheels under our house and the ability to visit our grands again and again.  :c)

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.