Erie Pennsylvania to Princeton West (By God) Virginia

It was cool this morning. I woke up with my stomach churning, still feeling quite ill about hurting our RV. We made coffee and I went outside to take another look at the damage. I found some things to be grateful for. The damage was confined to the lower plastic panels and trim, so the large side panels were untouched. The rear corner trim stops just on top of the roof so repacement shouldn't be as big a job as I first thought. And while the bottom of the awning bracket was scratched, it was still solidly mounted and functional. All in all, it could have been a whole lot worse. Of course if I hadn't behaved like an idiot, it could also have been a whole lot better. I called Don's RV and spoke to Andrew. He said that from my description, they should be able to fix it so I booked an appointment for May 20th and agreed to email him photos so they could order some parts. I also saw many people commiserating with us based on my Facebook post.

We had cereal and blueberries for breakfast so we didn't need to fire up the generator. Then the fridge gave an error code S, which the manual told me indicated a problem with the controls and was not user serviceable. Our batting average wasn't very good but I tried Sandy's suggestion of turning it off and back on again. Voila, code gone.

We set out before 8:00 AM, starting up and down the rolling hills on I-79. I decided to keep it to 55 MPH again and didn't engage the tow/haul mode. That mode causes more aggressive shifting and I have been trying to figure out if it is costing me mileage.

Near Pittsburgh, we saw overhead signs saying "Share The Road With Motorcyles". It's nice to see them support Motorcycle Safety Month. In fairness, Ontario had a sign that said "Give Motorbikes Room". Motorbikes? Their heart was in the right place but I'm never quite sure where their heads are.

Ohio River near Pittsburgh

Am I supposed to exit here?

Canonsburg Pennsylvania

About 11:00 AM, I started to feel queasy and sweat profusely. Sandy got my glucose meter and it said my blood sugar was 3.8. That's 68 for my American friends and is very low for me. Sandy got me a couple of brownies and made me a sandwich. I started to feel better and by noon I was up to 6.8 (122). We stopped a while later at the West (BG) Virginia Welcome Center for a proper lunch.

Interesting rig at the WV Welcome Center

Sandy started to read a story from her Ann Rule true crime novel out loud. A live audio book. I stopped her once when a semi behind me changed lanes and forced a Dodge minivan onto the median. That was a major wreck that never happened because, as I watched in my mirror, the minivan driver floored it and managed to get back onto the pavement. Excellent recovery. We left I-79 for US 19 and, as we climbed Powell Mountain and descended to Summersville, we encountered five miles of heavy rain. From there, we were in and out of showers interspersed with sunshine.

Working at night near rainy Summersville West Virginia

We stopped at the New River Gorge Visitor Center to use the facilities. I had thought of calling Wrong Turn, who lives just south of here, but we can't take the RV to his place and we figured he would be busy with Katie having just arrived and the nuptials next week. We'll see them in a few days anyway.

At the New River Gorge Visitor Center

We stopped at a Sheetz station on the south side of Fayetteville for fuel.  I estimated $160 and came in at just over $158.  I'me getting better at this.  Running without Tow/Haul engaged, we got 8.7 MPUSG running at 55 MPH despite the headwind and big grades.

When we left US 19 for I-77, I remembered that the toll part of this road is the worst highway I know. It is worse than I-59 in Alabama by a long shot. Strangely, once you leave the toll booths behind, it gets better. Go figure.We arrived at the Walmart in Princeton at 5:30. We stayed here last November so I didn't go inside to ask permission. After parking, we went inside and bought some groceries.

We were out in the RV after having eaten supper when there was a knock on the door. Ted, traveling from Florida to upstate New York in his old Class B, had planned to spend the night but pointed out the "No Overnight Truck or RV Parking" signs. We both went inside and inquired at the Customer Service counter about the reason for the change. Apparently there is a new manager who felt the trucks were taking up too much of the parking lot, but the young lady said that if we parked way out in the corner and left early, no one should bother us. Hoping this was true, we moved as far away from the building as we could.

No RV's at  the Princeton West Virginia WalMart

Two outlaw vehicles parking anyway

Ted, who has a GL1500 trike in Florida and an 883 HD in new York (in addition to a pair of Piper J3 Cubs), showed me the damage done to his van when a rear tire blew. I showed him my scraped side.

I blogged off line while Sandy watched TV and then fell asleep on the couch. We were in bed shortly after 10 PM.

Today's Route (392 motorhome miles):


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Sudbury Ontario to Erie Pennsylvania

We got the motorhome back from Don's RV yesterday. They had fixed a loose signal booster on the TV antenna, the thing that had been clunking on the roof. They also checked the roof seals, cleaned it and applied UV protectant. Once home, we loaded or gear and I exercised the generator for an hour.

At Don's, when Sandy got in the van (2003 Dodge Caravan) to bring it home, the Check Engine light came on. The last time it did this, it was a very expensive Transmission Control Unit and, based on the current rough shifting, it is probably the same thing again. We'll get it checked out when we get home.

This morning was clear, sunny and +3C. I checked online and found that Maggie Valley was 34F. Strange that our destonation 1,000 miles south is colder than we are. I checked the tire pressures, hooked the trailer up and loaded the bike.

Ready to hit the road

We pulled out about 8:45 and then again about 8:55 after we went back for the jacket I forgot. We stopped at Timmy's for coffee and my breakfast and then headed south. Twenty miles south, we realized we had forgotten another critical piece of equipment and went back. By 10:30, we were on the road for good.

We are heading to Maggie Valley North Carolina for the South East VROC (SEVROC) gathering. This is one of the oldest events on the VROC calendar and the one held in the fall of 1999 was the first VROC rally Sandy and I attended. Since then, they have settled on a spring run and moved from Suches, Georgia to Lake Lure, North Carolina and now Maggie Valley. We'll be seeing a lot of old friends down there, meeting some new ones and someone will be getting hitched.

I need to ask our local Member of Provincial Parliament about any plans to resurface Highway 69 between the Magnetawan River Bridge and Pointe Au Baril. I am afraid they are letting it go because there is a new four lane divided highway being built. Unfortunately, this stretch referred won't be replaced for several years but it is disintegrating now. Anyway, it's an election year so pointed questions are in order.

The gas pumps at the PetroCan south of Parry Sound were being worked on and access was a problem so we got some food and then rolled on to Waubaushene for fuel. Approaching Toronto, I planned to take the 401 since you can't take a vehicle weighing more than 10,000 lbs on the ETR 407 toll road without a transponder. Since you have to pay a monthly fee for this device and I use the 407 maybe twice a year, the economics don't make sense and so I am banished to the public road. This plan started to look bad when I heard truckers talking about a construction tie-up at the 401. Then I saw a sign that said the 401 collector lanes would be down to one lane until November. I changed the route and we went across Highway 7, which was busy enough to make me wonder if I should have taken my chances with the construction zone, to the 427.

Luckily, traffic wasn't too bad once we got done with 7 and we covered the 427, 401 and 403 without too much trouble. Rush hour was building but the 403 has a diamond lane, requiring two people and not prohibiting RV's. It is amazing how many vehicles only have one occupant. We marveled at this as we drove past 99% of the traffic on the road. Then there was another diamond lane on the Queen Elizabeth Way through Oakville. The diamonds are a great thing except that Ontario, in its wisdom, won't allow solo motorcycles to use them. As far as I know, this is the only jurisdiction in North America to do this.

We arrived at the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo at 6:00 PM. After being held up for a couple of minutes while they brought a very Wide Load boat over, we crossed over into the USA and the border checkpoint. The RV/Bus lane was the farthest to the right. I presented our passports instead of the NEXUS cards hoping we might get better treatment but no, James L Robinson the wanted felon thwarted us again. The officer said we had been selected for a "random check" and would have to go inside. This is where the day got bad in a hurry.

I was to go out of the booth, turn right and park where another officer directed me. The cars from the other booths were turning hard right and coming across in front of us so I pulled out of the booth and tried to execute a right turn. It was then I heard a crunch. I had not seen a concrete abutment about two feet high that extended about eight feet out from the last visible post. So far, not too much damage but I got no help from the officer as I tried to back clear. My next attempt still connected with the abutment and I guess I panicked because I kept going and managed to scrape the back half of the right side of the RV all the way. Once parked, I looked and realized I had really done some damage. Nothing structural but a whole lot of cosmetic scraping. Feeling sick, we went inside with our documents.

Inside, a pleasant young man confirmed there was nothing random about our being referred to secondary inspection. He asked if I had ever been fingerprinted and I said only for the NEXUS application. He said they could do it, confirm I wasn't wanted and add that information to my NEXUS and passport information in their database. He couldn't guarantee this would solve the problem but said it might. I agreed and went into a back room where all of my prints were scanned and I was photographed. Back at the counter, word came through that nobody wanted me and, assuring me he would make the entries in the database, he sent us on our way.

Rerunning the contact with concrete over and over in my head, we took the New York Thruway west to Erie, Pennsylvania where we fueled at a Travel Center of America (running 55 MPH got us all the way to 8.9 MPUSG) and then set up in the lot at the Peach St Walmart. I was quite depressed about mangling our rolling home and wasn't sure what options would be available to fix it. We watched some TV (which I switched to 12V so we could watch it without running the generator)and I managed to get on line using an unknown open WiFi source to share our sad tale on Facebook. We turned in about 10:30.

Area of damage

Ahead of the rear wheel

Behind the wheel

Small basement door and awning bracket

Large basement door (won't open) and rear corner

Today's Route (483 motorhome miles):


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RIP Ace Eakley

I met Ace Eakley in Coos Bay, Oregon when I went to Sherm's club to join him in his morning pool exercise program. Ace was one of the group and was a very good guy. Sherm told me he used to follow this blog. I was saddened to find the message below on the VROC newsgroup today.

Several of you have met my friend Ace that I see at the Swimming hole 3 or 4 times a week. He drives 65 miles round trip up from Bandon. Yesterday they had a little reunion for my first day back in the pool after 6 months. Ace was in a rare good mood all morning. On the way home, his Cadillac stopped running. Someone gave him a ride the last 10 miles home. He called a tow truck and left in his wife's new Toyota to meet them at the car. It was picked up, and he was on his way home. Heart attack while driving, and ran into a building. He had no pulse at the scene and they weren't able to revive him. He was in his early 80's, but seemed pretty healthy. You just
never know....

R.I.P. Ace Eakley.
Sherm v363

Easter Weekend

The reason we came back north for Easter was because Kim and Mike had asked if they could bring the kids to Sudbury for Easter. They were supposed to head up Good Friday morning but came later in the day because they had been sick the day before. We had planned to take the kids to see the Easter exhibits at Science North on Saturday but changed our plans and went on Sunday instead. They headed home on Monday morning.

Grandkids are great. Jolene isn't 2 1/2 yet but she is talking a blue streak and making complete sentences. Robyn, at six months, is getting her first tooth and was fussy at night, but was a happy baby when she was awake.

I did some investigating to find out the rules for legally caring young children in RV's due to the Ontario child seat requirements. It looks like there isn't one despite the fact that they can ride in taxis for hire with only a regular seatbelt and don't use any restraint in a school bus. Chalk another case of infringing on lifestyles up to the McGuinty nanny government.

Easter Morning

Easter presents

Happy Robyn

Not so happy Jolene

Robyn is getting her first tooth

Matching jammies

Robyn and a bunny

Happier Jolene

Science North

Petting a huge bunny

Girls should be able to use tools

A hug for the Easter Bunny

In the Butterfly Conservatory

Dad and daughter looking good

Butterflies snacking

Jolene liked this seat

Massasauga rattlesnake (our only venomous creature)

Horny old man

Look at that rack

Mike and Jolene studying drainage patterns

Trip Summary

Days on the road - 45

Motorhome

Distance traveled - 9,624 Kms (5,980 miles)
Fuel fill ups - 20
US Gallons consumed - 747
MP(US)G - 8.01
Mileage at end of trip - 112,519 Kms (69,919 miles)

Motorcycle

Distance traveled - 3,286 Kms (2,042 miles)
Fuel fill ups - 11
US Gallons consumed - 55
MP(US)G - 37.0
Mileage at end of trip - 229,337 Kms (142,510 miles)

Home Again, Alas

You would think that we would be glad to be home after over a month and a half on the road, but we were getting used to living in our home on wheels and the winter storm warning for later today put a damper on our enthusiasm for being back in the Frozen North.

One good thing right off the bat was a six pound drop in my weight from the time we left according to our digital scale. Hard to believe, given all the eating we did while away. Another plus was that the DVR managed to capture all our programs, albeit in standard definition, with 15% of the disk space to spare. We have a lot of TV watching ahead of us.

As we were getting ready to go out and get the vehicles squared away, the street sweeper came along for its spring pass. It went around the RV/trailer so we had to manually sweep the accumulation of sand off the street in front of our place after we were done.

First, I unloaded the bike. Then I unhooked the trailer and moved the motorhome forward. After putting the bike in the garage (behind the snowblower because I maintain an optimist is just a pessimist with no experience), I went to move the van out and found the rear drum brakes were seized up. They sometimes stick after it sits for a while, but the right rear was really frozen. I finally managed to break it free by rocking the van, but the price was a deep rut in the crusher dust driveway which we raked back to level. I hooked the van to the trailer and backed it into its spot in the back of the driveway. I do this because the trailer is so narrow I can't see it when backing the motorhome up and something as precise as hitting the driveway would be very difficult. Then I backed the RV in and put the van in front of it.

The outside of the motorhome was a mess from all the salt and slush yesterday. It will need a wash and wax as soon as the weather improves, as well as getting the antenna checked out and the roof checked, cleaned and treated with UV protection. I have an idea with the rear camera. The light overload mainly comes from the sun reflecting off the road and I believe that pointing the very wide-angle camera down is a mistake. It is billed as a "rear view camera" and, based on the photos on the Camping World website, it shows a view as if the camera was pointed straight back. It will be easy to give this a try.

As promised, the winter storm hit and the temperature dropped. The RV stayed warm inside because the furnace was running but it better warm up in the next few days because I only have a limited amount of propane.

Our first trip in the motorhome was a positive one. It is now set up pretty much the way we want it and we're looking forward to our next trip in a few weeks to North Carolina.

Van Buren Ohio to Sudbury Ontario

We were up before 5:00 AM anticipating a long day on the road. The Internet showed it was -6C at home and snowing while it was 42F here. After a quick breakfast, I disconnected in the dark knowing that at least I had no surge protector to forget today. We rolled out in the still dark morning before 6:00 AM.

Things were fine as we watched the sun come up and drove around Toledo, taking US 23 north and sparing ourselves the I-75 stretch through Detroit. Unfortunately, as we approached Ann Arbor, the snow started to fall. By the time we were north of the city, it was coming down heavily and limiting our visibility. One trucker on the CB suggested that Mother Nature had PMS this week. At least our side was moving but the southbound into Ann Arbor was backed up at a crawl or slower for almost twenty miles. I stopped for fuel in Michigan, paying $3.999 per USG, and then continued on. It eased a bit but then picked up again near Saginaw. Finally, north of Saginaw, it cleared up for good although the ice buildup on the RV stayed with us for quite a while.

Fueling at $3.999 in southern Michigan

Driving US 23 in Michigan in a snowstorm

Someone forgot how to drive in snow

More snow and no one doing the speed limit

Salt truck

Another driver loses it

Finally, clear roads

Ice on the mirrors

The KOA in Kentucky called to say they had found my surge protector. They confirmed the address and I made arrangements to cover the mailing costs plus a $5.00 charge for packing and mailing it. Cheap at five times the price. I guess they do this quite regularly. In any case, thanks to the fine folks at the Renfro Valley KOA for their help.

Driving through the Lower Peninsula of Michigan was quite relaxing. No big winds and almost no traffic as we headed for the Mackinac Bridge. One concern was a new clunking sound when we hit certain kinds of bumps in the road. Sandy got up and tried to pinpoint the source, indicating it was coming from the roof. My suspicion was that the TV antenna, which felt loose when I cranked it down last night, was bouncing on the roof. This isn't good because the chance of damaging the antenna or the rubber roof is possible. This elevated the priority of checking it out when we get home.

Northern Michigan highway traffic (or lack thereof)

As we approached the Big Mac, signs warned of construction ahead and that one lane was closed on the bridge. Wow, what a surprise. I can only think of one crossing in the last five years where both lanes were open. Luckily, there were no wind warnings and the crossing was easy. I paid a toll of $4.50 per axle for a total of $13.50, compared to $3.50 for a car.

Construction sign for the Mackinac Bridge

Lane closed? So what else is new?

Starting across the five mile Big Mac

The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island (see Somewhere in Time)

The closed lane

Welcome to the U.P.

There was a heavy layer of salt or brine on I-75 as we approached the Soo indicating that they have had their share of the late snow. I stopped and fueled on the US side and then headed over the International Bridge. For once, we got to Canadian Customs and there were no vehicles lined up. I told the Border Services officer that we had $3,400 to declare and he sent us inside with a piece of paper. The lady at the counter was training a young man and they were very pleasant. After converting to Canadian (a reduction for a change) and deducting our $750 each in exemptions, we ended up paying the cashier $233 in HST on what they classed as Auto Parts.

The International Bridge - Sault Ste Marie

Empty Customs booths

Back in Canada, we drove up to my brother Dave's house. I called Rick, someone I know through the STOP Program, and he offered to come over to the house. Rick has Multiple Sclerosis and just underwent the Liberation Treatment in Rhode Island with very positive results. Sandy was eager to hear the take first hand. Rick arrived and gave us a very positive story about both the facility and his improvement so we will seriously consider pursuing it. It is a shame that not only won't the government fund the procedure, which I understand, they have prohibited OHIP facilities from doing it even if the patient is willing to foot the bill.

Dave gave us several boxes with some of Mom's things, all labeled, that he thought we or the girls might be interested in. There were some old photos, underscoring the need to get one of the dedicated photo scanners so they can be digitized and put on discs to share with everyone.

We left the Soo headed for Sudbury about 4:30. The rest of the trip was uneventful. I waved to a Mennonite buggy driver near Sowerby and he actually waved back. The only stop was in Spanish where I took a moment to clean the crud off the rear view camera. The stretch of highway the last forty miles from the Espanola turnoff into Sudbury was as bad as we have seen anywhere. Sandy pointed out it was pretty pathetic for the Trans-Canada Highway.  I'll remember how well our northern roads have been maintained when the Provincial election rolls around in the fall.

Mennonite wave

Huron Central motive power

Northern Ontario roads

Sundown in Sudbury

We arrived home just as the sun was going down and parked the whole unit out in front of the house. Unloading, unhooking and getting everything in the driveway could wait until morning. I took the thermostat off it's vacation setting, turned the water on and we settled into our permanent home for the night the first time in almost seven weeks.

Today's Route (630 motorhome miles):


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