Carter Caves State Resort Park.....Kentucky

Surprisingly we are not far from the Kentucky border here in Huntington, WV.....just under an hour's drive on I-64.  Saturday's weather forecast looked good at sunny, and a high of 69, so our hosts, Richard and Rhonda suggested we drive to Carter Caves and spend the day hiking.

Our hosts picked us up around 10 am, we we were on our way.....well, as far as the local Starbucks where Richard purchased coffees for those interested, and then we were off!  The drive west on I-64 was beautiful, even though the trees have not begun to leaf out yet....Spring is a little late here in the east.  We arrived at our destination just after 11 am, donned our hiking gear, and set out on our 7.5 mile hiking loop through this beautifuly park.  There is a large limestone ridge that runs throughout this area, and it makes for some spectacular pictures.  

 Rhonda and TLE

 Richard

 Passing by a waterfall as we cross a suspension bridge

The 2nd suspension bridge was out

Around 2.5 hours in into our hike we decided to find a place to sit, and eat some snacks and enjoy the quiet of this wilderness area.   Of course as we walked there was rarely a lull in the conversation.  Richard is great story teller, and he did not disappoint this day.  Eventually we came to the 2nd of the two suspension bridges and found, as you can see above, that it was impassable due to damage from a winter storm.  It is obvious is is being repaired, and should be back in use within a week, or two.  Nevertheless, we had to find a way across this river that didn't involve getting wet......we moved up stream a couple hundred yards, and were able to find enough rocks close enough together to allow us to hop, skip and jump across the 50 foot wide flow.....no small animals were harmed, and we all made it without falling in the water....quite an accomplishment.  The last time I tried to "hop, skip and jump" across an even smaller body of water in Yosemite back in 2007 I fell injuring my right thumb quite severely.  This time I had hiking poles, which allowed me to keep my balance.

All in all we were out for almost 5 hours......as we came around a bend in the trail the parking lot was suddenly in sight....the time had flown by.  Both TLE and I were very happy at how well we did on our first long walk in a long time.  Carter Caves is a very nice resort....there is a lodge, a restaurant, a very nice RV park, miniature golf, a swimming pool, etc.  According to Richard this is pretty typical of Kentucky state parks.

We were home by 5 pm.  We agreed to meet our hosts at their home around 6:30 for Chicken Alfredo.....Richard is a wonderful chef, and makes his own pasta from scratch.  As he was working on the pasta we sipped Savignon Blanc and talked about meeting up again in June at the Newell Mini Rally in Spearfish, SD.

Another lovely evening spent with good friends.....we got home around 9 pm, and I watched most of the second NCAA final four game between Syracuse and Michigan, with Michigan advancing to the final where they will meet Louisville who prevailed over Wichita State in the first game.  Both games were right down to the wire....just like I like them.

Thanks for stopping by!

The King

It has been a long time since we have had a day where the two key ingredients we love are present at the same time......warm and sunny.  We have had very cold and sunny a lot.  Friday turned out to be one of those infrequently experienced days, although it did not start out like that at all.  In fact, when I opened the front curtains around 8 am it was very foggy, and very cold.  I thought, "oh well, here we go again"......but within 40 minutes the fog began to burn off.  Pretty soon we had clear blue skies, and it began to warm up quickly.  We actually had to put out the patio awning for the first time in a few weeks.

After posting yesterday's blog entry the first order of business was to dump the black tank, then work on replacing our front electric heater.  The 30 year old Square D electric heater gave up the ghost last weekend.  Square D is no longer in business so I had to find a suitable replacement heater that would fit the space, or at worst only require modest modification.

I needed to enlarge the opening by 2" and was able to borrow a jigsaw from my friend Richard, whom we are visiting here in Huntington, WV, to make the cut.  Once I finished enlarging the opening I was able to install the King Electric PAW heater in just a few minutes.  It actually runs much quieter than the old one, which was pretty quiet, and it puts out heat further into the living area than the old one.  It's so nice to have the time to do a project like this right....no rushing around.

After I was done with that project we headed into town so I could get a haircut at the local Fantastic Sam salon.  Linda Eddy cut my hair, and what a nice lady she was......and the haircut came out great, too!

Around 5:45 we drove over to Richard and Rhonda's for a Fish Taco dinner and more great conversation.  We sat out side for a while just enjoying the warm evening, then retired inside for Margaritas, and then the main course.  Richard makes a mean fish taco.

We arrived back home around 9, and watched a couple of recorded shows.....Person of Interest and Elementary.  All the while being warmed by the new King Electric heater!  Tomorrow we are off to hike in Kentucky!

Thanks for stopping by!

For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Rocky Roads....

Thursday daylight revealed heavy overcast skies....of course, as is often the case with cloud cover, you get slightly warmer temps.  Our goal for Thursday was Huntington, WV....about 189 miles distant, so we wanted to get an earlier start than the past couple of days.  As the DD pushed us toward the I-77 access road I saw it was 10:05 am......only five minutes past our desired departure time....not bad!

As I was turning on to the access road I did not notice how big an edge there was from the gravel road to the pavement of the street.....the result was the coach rocked severely from left to right, and then back again ejecting a 1 gallon water bottle like a missile from the pantry to the floor where it exploded sending its entire contents throughout the kitchen area and back into the hall that separates the bathroom from the shower.  Not exactly the way TLE planned to start our drive.  There was no where to pull over so as I crept slowly toward the Interestate on ramp she pulled out towels, quickly mopping up the water.  By the time we were a mile down the Interstate she had things under control.  Of course, apologies were in order....I usually see those bumps.

This was our first time in West Virginia, and while I was mentally prepared for the mountain driving, I was not prepared for how windy the Interestate was.....often the speed limit dropped to 55 mph on some of the very tight turns.....sometimes one after the other.  In some cases there were 1 mile long tunnels just cut through the mountain in front of us. We spent most of our drive in 3rd and 4th gear.  On a continuing positive note the coach continues to perform well on long climbs, running just at 190 degrees, and in most cases I have been able to maintain 40 mph in 3rd gear on 6% grades....something I was not able to do prior to using Howe's diesel conditioner.

When I-77 merged with I-64 the toll road began....$3.25 every 10, or 15 miles.....those narrow isles leading up to the toll booths leave just inches on each side of the coach and trailer.  As we have experienced in other states with toll roads, the road surface is usually horrible making one wonder where all that toll money goes.....it is certainly not being put into road maintenance.  The road surface was concrete, and very uneven.......even if the speed limit had been higher there is no way we could have gone faster....it was just too rough.  

One of the features of this toll road section was that the Rest Areas were called Travel Centers, and included several fast food options as well as fuel.....that wasn't enough to make up for the horrible road.....not by a long shot.  We just used them to get off the "rocky road" and let our nerves calm before proceeding.

Finally we came out of the mountains, leaving the toll road behind and the road surface improved immediately....what a surprise.....thank goodness we had that last 50 miles of decent road into Huntington.

There is a Passport America park just outside Huntington called Robert Newlon Airpark RV Park.....it is right on the edge of a small airport with a grass runway.  They do a lot of sky diving here, so maybe this weekend we'll get to see some jumpers landing near where we are parked.  There is nothing 5 star about this park, but we have strong 50 amp service, good water pressure, and a sewer connection for $15/day, and only a few miles from our friends Richard and Rhonda whom we met through the Newell forum 5 years ago.  They own a 1995 Newell, which is actually stored right here at the park.

Richard and Rhonda's 1995 Newell

As you can see from the above picture taken just minutes ago (Friday morning) it is overcast, and a little foggy here at 1,000' elevation. 

We arrived at the RV park around 3 pm, and Richard, who works just a block from where we are staying stopped by around 4:30 to see how we were doing, and to ferry us to his home for dinner.  We were treated to wonderfully cooked roast beef (locally grown), asparagus, roasted red potatoes, and some pie alamode for dessert.....all of it delicious.......we talked, and ate for a couple of hours.  

Richard delivered us back to our "home" just before 9......a very nice evening....tomorrow I will replace the electric heater that failed, and find a place to get a haircut.....looks like there is a Fantastic Sams in town.

Thanks for stopping by!

Virginia is for Lovers....

"Virginia is for Lovers" ......that's got to be one of the most interesting state mottos since "Pure" Michigan.  

When we arrived at the Lowe's Tuesday evening we took a walk around the shopping center parking lot.  We discovered a Goodwill store on the other end of the lot.....at the time it was about 7:30 pm, and the store was closing at 8, so we decided we would revisit it after 8 am the next morning.  This store appeared to have a large clothing selection.  Well around 9 am we walked over to the store to see what we could see.  TLE says she could have spent hours there...as it was we were there about 90 minutes and both came away with some things we could use.

I came away with a new pair of cargo shorts....almost new for $3.50, a braided leather belt for $1, an almost new burgundy long sleeve t-shirt for $3.50, and a pair of black pants (for our job at the Indy 500) for $4.50....$12.50 for a new outfit....I think that beats Burlington Coat Factory.....:D  The last time I bought some cargo shorts was in Homa, LA at $18/pair for two pairs.  TLE's haul included 2 pairs of shorts and 2 sleeveless shirts, bringing our total shopping bill to $26.  Yes, your're right.....a few articles of worn out clothing will be leaving our coach at our next stop.

When we got back to the coach TLE made breakfast, then we readied the inside of the coach for departure.  We rolled out of the lovely Lowe's parking lot around 11:30 am.  Our goal for the day?  Ft. Chiswell, VA.  When I had initially checked the distance it came out to  99 miles, however, when I plugged it into the GPS it came out to 89 miles.....as it turned out that distance was just about right.

It was about 54 miles to the Virginia border, and the Virginia Welcome Center rest area.  The Interstate was mostly smooth surface, and gradual elevation gain and loss.  We arrived at the Virginia Welcome Center just shy of 1 pm, and spent some time walking around the paved trails.....trying to get in a half mile of walking.

Virginia Welcome Center

We had no idea when we merged back on to I-77 we would gain 1800 feet in elevation over the next 15 miles bringing us almost to 3,000....that was one of the longest 5-6% grades I have climbed since the Continental Divide back in Wyoming.  Ultimately we settled down to about 2,200' by the time we exited the Interstate at Fort Chiswell, VA.  Grinding uphill in 3rd gear at 40 mph wears on me....I'm constantly checking the engine, oil, and tranny temps to be sure nothing gets too hot, so the sort driving day ended up being fortuitous.

Since the temperatures were forecast to get into the high 20's we opted for an electrical connection this night at Ft. Chiswell RV Park and Campground.  This RV park is just .4 miles off the Interstate, and, we found out a little later, is a popular overnight stop for many RVers....when we parked in our pull through spot around 2:30 there were about a dozen RV's in this park....within 30 minutes the parade of RV's coming in for the night began.....within a couple of hours every site was full...that's close to 100 sites!

Our view yesterday at Ft. Chiswell RV Park

Once we got set up, and I was able to take care of some insurance work we went out for a walk around the park...we managed to log about 1.2 miles of brisk walking....the park is right on the edge of cattle grazing land.

As the sun set behind the local hills the temperatures began to drop so we began to turn on our heaters....all except the front electric heater (see below).  We spent the evening reading, and then watched Survivor at 8 pm (we have cable here).

I don't remember if I mentioned in a previous blog entry that our front Square D electric heater bit the dust a few days ago.  This is a well documented problem with these heaters....we have three of them.  Eventually the fan bushing (plastic) deteriorates, and the fan freezes up....well it lasted 30 years, so we can't complain too much.  Square D is out of business, so we went on the  Newell Gurus user group website and found that a few others had had this issue and found a replacement heater that would fit in the spot where our failed heater is mounted.  I found the King Electric PAW replacement heater on Amazon Prime.  I ordered it Monday afternoon, and it arrived at the home of our upcoming hosts Tuesday afternoon....amazing!  When we arrive at our next destination Thursday it will be there for me to install.  

Time to get ready for our drive up to Huntington, WV....189 miles distant.

Thanks for stopping by!

What a day!

What a day Tuesday was.....sweet!  It's feelin' like Spring has finally sprung!

Originally we had planned to take I-26 north out of Asheville up to I-81 and over to I-77, but the weather forecast for the I-81 corridor was ominously cold and rainy, so instead we took I-40 east of out Asheville, and what a fortuitous choice it was, and will continue to be based on weather forecasts.....looks like we're missing the worst of the cold and rain.  The sky was crystal clear deep blue, and the temperatures, although cool, warmed up quickly.

We lazed around Wilson RV Park slowly putting away what little we had out, and finally pulled out near Noon time.  We decided to drive down to the CITGO gas station, where we had turned around the other day, to put the car in the trailer, and also fuel up the car.  We had to use the station to turn around anyway, because the on ramp for the I-240 (took us to I-40) is a hair pin turn coming out of the park, and there is no way we could make that turn.  It all worked out smoothly, and we were on eastbound I-40 quickly.  

The pavement was smooth, and the cruise control did its job, even with numerous ups and downs....we are in mountain country after all.  Ever since I started using the Howe's diesel conditioner I have noticed more power, and still much cooler operating temperatures, especially in the mountain driving we have been doing since we entered North Carolina.

Our tentative destination for the day was Statesville, NC.....right at the intersection of the I-40 and I-77, and just about 105 miles.....our kind of driving day.  There were two rest areas spaced perfectly along the drive, and we took advantage of both of them.  At the second we took a walk, and had lunch consisting of left over Jambalaya  and some fruit.

As you know we strive for uneventful, and that is exactly what we got Tuesday.  Uneventful meaning no accidents, no malfunctioning equipment, no blowouts, etc.  We just floated down the Interstate listening to 60's music enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery, and life in general.

We chose Stateseville for several reasons.....one, it would only get into the high 30's Tuesday night; two, there was a Lowe's, Cracker Barrel, & Walmart all in close proximity, perfect for dry camping,  and just of the Interstate; three, driving distance from Asheville.  Our first choice was Walmart so we could do some minor shopping (butter, eggs, etc), but the parking lot was very congested, and the entrance was not user friendly, so we continued up the street to Lowe's, which just happened to be next to a grocery store.  We found a good spot to park, and went shopping.  We still weren't positive we would stay at Lowe's, but when I was able to easily connect to their free WiFi that settled the deal!

TLE prepared a very good chicken salad for dinner, after which we both read until about 10 pm when it was time to watch the season finale for "Justified".  Just like all the previous episodes over the past few years we were surprised at every turn by the plot and resolution. 

We hit the sack around midnight......when we dry camp I set the middle heater, which heats the bathroom, and water bay, at about 55....that keeps the interior from getting too cold, and it worked perfectly last night.  When I got up this morning we were only down to 85% on the house batteries, even with 2 hours of TV watching.....as I write the solar panels are already doing their job replacing the energy we used overnight.

Our goal for the day is Wytheville, VA....another 100 miles, or so.  The forecast there is clear skies, but down into the high 20's tonight....we may find a place to plug in tonight.

Thanks for stopping by!

"Sunny, one so true, I love you...."

Monday made me think of the 1966 hit song by Bobby Hebb....Sunny.  It starts off  "Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain.  Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain. Now the dark days are done, and the bright days are here....".  Monday, for me, felt like the first day of Spring....a cloudless, balmy sort of day....a great day for a bike ride!  We haven't ridden any bike since our 2nd day in St. Augustine, FL, and even then it was cold, and blustery.  Monday was the first day since then that we have even gotten close to riding our bikes.

I had a little work to do first thing, but around 11 we got out our Cannondales and headed east on the French Broad Greenway bikepath toward the Biltmore Villages.  TLE wanted to see the Cathedral of All Souls, which was about 4 miles distant.....riding into Asheville would have meant an uphill ride to start, and since we are a little out of shape we opted for a flater ride.  The one thing about the east, is there are not a lot of bike paths, or even bike lanes....we are often just happy to find a narrow road with a 12" shoulder to ride on.....most of the time we are riding roads right in traffic, which can be a little disconcerting.  We knew the bike path only went 1.5 miles to the east, so we were prepared for a few miles of sketchy riding.....what we were not prepared for was the level of traffic on the narrow 2 lane roads we were riding, but we survived.

We arrived at the Cathedral of All Souls around 11:30, or so, and took a few pictures, then initially rode a few blocks over to what we thought would be our lunch stop, French Broad Brewery, but as luck would have it they were closed for a few days for remodeling.  

We went immediately to plan "B"....Moe's Original BBQ just back across the RR tracks on Sweeten Road.....as it turned out this place has a 4 star rating on Yelp, and it lived up to its billing....we would definitely stick with the 4 star rating.  TLE and I split the Smoked Turkey sandwhich with sides of potato salad, and broccoli cheese casserole.   They have a few brews on tap so we got a couple of stouts.  The food was excellent.  We would definitely give this place our business again.  Moes is a chain with locations all over the south as well as all over Colorado.

After lunch we had a hankerin' to rummage through some more of other people's stuff, so we rode our bikes down Sweeten Road to Sweeten Creek Antiques.  This place is enormous inside.  We spent the good part of an hour walking the isles....I found a couple of old license plates for my trailer collection (New York and North Carolina) for $6 and $7 respectively, and a porcelain sign from the New Orleans PD that reads "Beware - Pick Pockets and Loose Women" for $17.....no, the loose women do not cost $17, that is what the sign cost.......shame on you!  TLE found 4 Agatha Christy books for $2.....hmmmm....where are they going to fit?

 My new treasures

We got back "home" around 4 pm.....the ride home was a little more harrowing than the ride out.....we got into early rush hour traffic....plus the clouds started moving back in, and there was a strong, cold headwind.  I am looking so forward to being back west of the Mississippi where it is a little more conducive to bicycling.

Since we have cable TV here at Wilson RV Park we decided to watch prime time at 8 pm for a change....we started off with Bones, then, for the first time, watched "The Voice".....interesting concept, and ended with "Revolution".  Castle recorded later that evening, and we will pick that up Tuesday evening.

Tuesday is moving day.....we've had a lovely 4 days here in Asheville, even if it rained a good portion of the time we were here.  We'll move about 100 miles east on I-40 to Statesville for the night, then north on I-77 toward Huntington, WV

14 Months On The Road

I wake up some days feeling like we have always been on the road.  Today begins our 15th month of living continuously on the road.  It seems like much longer since we have packed so much into the 14 months. Over the past 6 months we have settled into a more comfortable style of travel that works better for us.  Since we left Cedar Key February 4th we have only driven around 1664 miles.  As of our stop here in Asheville we have driven 14,064 miles total, or just over 1,000 miles per month.  However, since we arrived in Campbellsville, KY to work at Amazon October 3rd we have only traveled 2,327 miles, or about 388 miles per month.

I cannot remember a time in my life when I have been absent from California for more than a few months at a time when I was in college back in the 60's, and here we are gone 14 months without once setting foot in California.  We have spent most of our time east of the Mississippi River, which is not what we set out to do, but how our journey has evolved.

Sunday morning it was still very wet from our all night deluge....I don't think it stopped raining until around 5 am.  Once the clouds began to break up we headed out for a 3 mile walk the opposite direction on the bike path from Saturday.  The total length of this bike path is around 2.5 miles from end to end.  It is about 1.5 miles to French Broad Park walking the French Broad Greenway bike path from our RV park.  

We had planned to take a couple of walks Sunday, but the rain came back and continued on and off the rest of the afternoon.  Well, there is always NCAA March Madness basketball.....there were two more Elite 8 games to watch.......Witchita and Louisville moved on to the Final Four to be played down in Atlanta.  A Louisville player suffered a horrific compound fracture in his right leg  below the knee in the first half....the kind of break you have to turn away from....you just cannot look at it....that is what every single player did on the floor....some of the Louisville players were crying....that is how awful it looked.  I've seen a few really back broken ankles, legs during my years as a soccer referee, but that was the worst I have ever seen.  Thank God the network only replayed it one time.....we learned later on one of the broken bones protruded 6" through the skin.......man oh man....I don't even like to think about it.  Amazingly the Louisville players recovered their composure and basically annihilated Duke in the 2nd half, winning by 22 points.  

Late afternoon we got a call from Richard and Rhonda, Newell friends, who live up in Huntington, WV whom we are heading up to visit on starting Tuesday.  We talked for about 15 minutes about plans for the weekend, and the park we're going to stay in for four, or five days.  We'll take 3 days to drive the 400 miles up there arriving Thursday afternoon.

Well, we've got just 5 weeks until we arrive in Indianapolis for the Indy 500 workamping gig.  The weather is finally beginning to warm up....by the time we get to Maryland and the D.C. area the temps will be up in the 60's and 70's....at least that is the forecast.....yay!! in less than 60 days we'll be crossing the Mississippi again going west....hard to believe!

Getting out the bicycles to ride into Asheville today....the sun is out, and the clouds are gone...."talk" to you later!

Thanks for stopping by!