On-a-Roll

Back in Polk City

2011-08-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

August 26, 2011 we are back and getting ready for the next adventure. Nice to be back after the hot weather up north! Carol will fly to Allentown on the 13th to see her dentist on the 14th, the Hershey RV show on 15th. and will be back in FL by the evening of the 18th! PHEW! Between June 1 and August 26, Bruce rode his scooter 3656 miles while the Motorcoach traveled 4700 miles while using 466 gallons of diesel (for $1902). This works out right at 10 MPG which includes using the diesel generator while driving and parked. Not bad for a 17 ton rig pulling 2- 600lb scooters on a trailer.

Chassa Oaks, Homosassa, FL

2011-08-25T19:45:00.001-07:00

We turned off interstate 10 about 20 miles east of Tallahassee onto route 19. A smooth divided highway, straight as an arrow. Very nice. Chassa Oaks is a small RV park with small lots for sale at pre-recession prices. Starting at $49,000 (no way). Nice pool. Located on route 19, 6 miles south of Homosassa and 12 miles north of Weeki-Wacki springs. We spent 2 nights here for $57. On Friday we continued on highway 98 thru Brooksville, to hwy 50 and south on hwy 33 at Groveland to Polk City.

The pool is enclosed and is nice.

Roads are narrow. It looks like it was planned in the 50s when trailers were 20 feet long. There are no pull thru sites, only back-ins. This meant that we had to unload both scooters, disconnect the trailer, and place it by hand.

The roads curve sharply and if you stop, all traffic will be blocked.

Defuniak Springs-Holley King Lakes Resort , Fl

2011-08-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

Arrived at Holley King Lakes Resort around 4 pm. Very few people here. Actually, we were the only ones. Check out our front window view. Remember to click on a picture to make it bigger. We plan 3 nights here, then two nights at Chassa Oaks in Homosassa and then back to Polk City.

Florida welcome station display on interstate 10.

Side trip to Destin was about 115 miles. Nice resort right on beach. Bring plenty of money. $189 per night in season.

Neat beach scene.

Look at this contraption at Holley King resort. Water outlet is above the 50 amp outlet which has NO off/on switch. Don't let the water gush down on the electric!

Wolf River Resort-Pass Christian, Ms

2011-08-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

We arrived on Thursday 8/18/2011 and stayed thru Saturday. Located on Freddie Frank road, off Menges road about 4.5 miles north of the beach. In the Coast-To_Coast network. 50amp and sewer available in this membership park. Some lots are for sale. About 20 miles west of the casinos in Biloxi. There are also casinos in Gulf Port and Bay St. Louis. Water temp at beach is 88. Air temp is 91, feels like 101. A friendly little park off the beaten track. Only a couple of miles south of interstate 10. Best price for diesel is at the Truck stop at the I-10 intersection.(Don't forget to click on pictures to enlarge.)

Carving in resort.

Nice, decent size sites.

No crowd at Beach at Pass Christian.

Boats at Pass Christian

Waveland pier-Very nice. Costs $1.00 to walk out and fish if you want.

Abita Springs RV resort

2011-08-16T04:01:00.000-07:00

We arrived in late afternoon on August 15th. Abita Springs RV resort, located at 24150 Highway 435 Abita Springs, LA 70420. This is located about 40 miles north of New Orleans across lake Ponchatrain. We are on a 50amp site with full hookups, however, the coach indicates only 30amp is available. I'll have to speak with them tomorrow. They have a nice swimming pool, hot tub, gym and pool table with fishing available on the private lake. This is a new member of the Coast-to-Coast network. (This means $10/day for facility)

Prentiss, Mississippi

2011-08-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

After one night at a Walmart in Hernando, Ms. a little south of Memphis, we arrived at my friends house near Prentiss. Prentiss is located about 60 miles south of Jackson. Jackson appears to be very prosperous and has a Nisson plant that is over a mile long next to interstate 55. Ken and Ann are two of the nicest people you will ever meet. I have known Ken since we were in the Air force at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Ms. in 1963.

Ken made a spot next to his home for us to park. We plugged in and hooked up the (well) water. Later we tested the water with our meter and found it to be about as pure as bottled spring water. We sure did miss the floride though. (not). Nearby there were several donkeys or mules that made occassional outbursts of a very strange and (loud) sound. Ken is a licensed short wave radio operator and has a very nice computer controlled station. Ann is a fabulous cook and fed us well.

It was mostly hot in the sun (low 90s) but cooled off
nicely at night and we didn't require air conditioning.

One night Ken took us to Berrys all you can eat seafood.
Home of the Cajun pickle.
I bought a jar. Very good, I wish they were available in stores.

On Sunday we went to Hattiesburg and ate the best
Mexican food anywhere. Very authenic.
A very pleasant stay.

Cable cam extreme downhill mountain bike

2011-08-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Cable cam extreme downhill mountain bike

Sikeston, Mo

2011-08-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

Arrived at Town & Country RV park in Sikeston, Mo 8/9/2011

A 50amp pull thru site with cable, sewer and WIFI.
There is a Lambert's Cafe here-famous for Hot Throwed Rolls.
We visited their other location in Foley, Alabama last year.
Wed., Thurs., Fri. and Sat nights are rodeo. Yahoo!
There are 600 rodeos in the US and Sikeston is in the top 20.
After the rodeo there was a concert with Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, etc.

Litchfield, Illnois

2011-08-05T21:03:00.001-07:00

We stayed for a week at Honey Bend about 6 miles north of Litchfield, Illinois.
It has about a dozen pull thrus with some 50 amp but mostly 30 amps, no sewer.

It has a dump station near the entrance. Some back-in sites are wooded.

There are 2 lakes with fishing and some pedal boats.

Joliet, Illinois

2011-08-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

The Hollywood Casino is in Joliet, Illinois. It has a RV resort for $20-$30 per night.

The Casino has a "Eat the Beast" challenge. A 2 pound cheeseburger with a pound of frys. If you can eat it in one hour it's frre and you get a T shirt. Otherwise, it's a $25 hamburger. Mark did the burger in 47 minutes but couldn't do the fries. The record is 22 minutes.

While in Chicago we visited the Navy pier. There is a free stained glass museum, a huge ferris wheel and a swing thing. (which I went on, of course)

As seen from the ferris wheel.

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

2011-08-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Harbour Village Resort, located about 8 miles north of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
There is an art festival at Egg harbor about 20 miles north with an auction of about 40 paintings done in an hour or so. One day we rode our scooters with our friends Dick and Jo to a ferry and went to Washington island in Lake Michigan.

Wisconsin Dells

2011-07-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is the water park capitol of the world. Many are indoors. There also is a 6000' zip line and many roller coaster type rides. We are staying at the Greenblue resort. It is a membership timeshare resort with 2 golf courses and a chair lift for skying. There are lots of very nice cabins and also RV parking sites. We went to a sales presentation where we found out that we could buy for only $30,000. Then there is annual maintenance, taxes, etc. Since we are members of Coast-To-Coast Rvs, we stay for $10 per night. To the left is one of the indoor pools at Greenblue.

Lots of "duck" rides.(World War II amphibious craft)

Upside down White House.

Trojan Horse

Moosejaw.

As I was loading Carols scooter, the wheels went off the rail and it landed upside down, but fortunately I was not underneath it. I guess my dirt bike experience helped. But I estimate at least $3000 in tupperware damage. The windshield shattered of course.

Walworth, Wisconsin

2011-07-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

This is in Walworth, Wisconsin at Miles Hass and Carolyn Caldwell's home. Our rig is on the left. Jim & Marilyn Felts (friends from Bay Bayou in Tampa, Florida) are on right. Hardly anyone has room for 1 motorcoach in their driveway, much less two!! Miles installed 2-50 amp outlets for our rigs. Very nice!

They really know how to make a bonfire in Wisconsin. Just get one dumptruck of firewood, a Kubota to unload it and then an all night fire. The bonfire was in honor of our friend Ken Caldwell who lost his battle with cancer in March of this year.

We couldn't get very close due to the heat!

Below is the tail end of the pool party - bathing suits optional - at 5:30 AM-the next morning, still going strong. This is after all night partying (the younger generation!) with long rides cross-country in golf carts and real fireworks. (Not the sissy city fireworks) Real big bangs! Just behind the fire you see a metal grill cover against the plywood. With a large firecracker (said to be a 1/4 stick of dynamite), it would fly about 100 feet straight up! We won't mention the blood involved in all the good fun. In the background is a milk cattle farm with 350 head on active duty. There is a new dairy moving here from California with 5000 milkers plus 30,000 cows in the rotation. That's a lot of milk and you know......

I took a ride (golf cart) about half a mile with Miles to see about a dozen Elk in a double fenced area.

Sunday morning on our way to Menards in Beloit, WI., we saw this amazing sight! A pickup in a tree! Wow! These Wisconsin folks have a lot of tricks up their sleeves! .

2011 Summer trip

2011-05-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

June 1 is the start. We had planned on 18 months on the road, but with the price of diesel, we have cut back to only 4000 miles. We will pull the trailer with 2 scooters to Anderson, SC. Then Bruce (red line) will ride his scooter via the Tail of the Dragon (312 turns in 11 miles), then 6 days in Chaplin, KY with Dennis Hall and then on to Ada,OH. (about 700 miles total) Carol will continue to Pennsylvania for several weeks with friends. We will meet up in Loudenville Ohio at Wallyworld, then to Columbus, OH and then go to Wisconson.

Hope to hit Memphis and New Orleans on the trip back.

This hill climber was on display at the National races in Lima, Ohio

This is the 1/2 mile National race in Lima Ohio which I enjoyed. Note they go over 100mph and have no brakes. (end of June)

Loudonville, home of Charles Kettering who founded Delco, and was head of research

for General Motors for 27 years from 1920 to 1947. There are several campgrounds in the area and a car show the last week of June. Also lots of river rafting and Mohican state park.

Our rig at Wally World, just south of Loudonville.

Look below where they wanted to put us. Maybe space for a tent!

On Thursday, June 31 we rode the scooters to Sandusky and to Cedar Point. We didn't go in as it was late in the day. In the first month of our travels, I have put 2000 miles on my scooter!

A fifth wheel camper?

Don't try this at home kids!

Back in Florida, Polk City

2011-04-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Polk City in November. This is not an RV park. It is a community of "port" homes and some pads for Motorcoaches. It does have all of the activities of an RV park. We were on a pad at first but moved to this small port home.
What is a "Port home?"

Sunrise

Here are 2 examples of larger port homes.

Our pool

Trip to Key West & Fantasy Fest

2010-11-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

We left Tampa on Oct 25th and spent 2 nights at our new winter home in Polk City, FL and then went to Sunshine Key RV on Ohio Key mile marker 39. This is an Oncore park and thru our network we got a great rate for a week. We rode the scooters to Key West many times.

The parade went from about 7:45 until after 10PM. Lots of floats.

Sunshine Key RV at Ohio Key

We went on a fun boat for the day that had everything all inclusive and it was a perfect day. The boat holds just over a hundred, but there were only 24 of us so it was really good. Unlimited use of jetskis, kayaks, etc.

September-Back in Tampa

2010-09-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

After a one night stop in Apopka, we arrived back in Tampa on Wednesday 9/1.

Next stop: Beaufort, SC

2010-08-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

We stopped north of Charleston, SC and took the Smart car into Charleston and looked around. We then planned to stop for a brief visit with a friend in Beaufort, SC and then go on to Skidaway Isle State Park near Savannah, GA. Well the brief visit turned into an overnight and then another.

Route 17 Bridge to Charleston, SC.

We went on a boat ride all afternoon to Hilton Head and back.

Doug's place.

Beaufort from the air.

On the way to Myrtle Beach, SC

2010-08-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Behind a welcome center in North Carolina, on route 17, we found two sail boats with aluminum hulls. The owners were from France and said that this type of hull was not built in the US. They sailed across the Atlantic! They sail here in the summer and fly back to France for the winter, leaving the sailboats in Chesapeake bay.
We had planned to stay in the lot at Walmart on Marine st. in Jacksonville but it is one of 300 that don't permit it. So we drove on to Myrtle Beach, SC arriving at Briarcliff about 9:45pm. Note: Rt 17 is one of the best, smoothest roads and runs all the way down the coast.
The sites are nice and large with water, electric, sewer and 66 channels on cable. Wifi is $2/hr so we'll use Verizon.

Flying down the road at 55, I went back to make popcorn (listen to it pop).
Bruce's sister Paulette and her husband Tommy live in nearby Conway. We all went to the Carolina Opry and a show called Good Vibrations which has songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Highly recommended.

Virginia Beach, VA

2010-08-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

Carol drove straight through to Virginia beach on Friday. Traffic was terrible south of Washington. Bruce thought he was back in California.

Washington traffic

Virginia Beach has a wide concrete boardwalk and bike path between the beach and the wall to wall hotels for about 3 miles. Tons of people were at beach. We stopped at "Neptune's Park" and listened to live music. There were rocking chairs in the shade, and the breeze was great!
<><>

Here's Bruce with Neptune! Awsome!

27th street entrance to beach

.There are public entrances at all of the streets, benches to relax on every so far. Parking is $1.50 per hour on the street, the beach is very clean, and there's a great inflatable waterslide that looked like a lot of fun! All in all very nice, if you don't mind crowds!

Looking north

This double deck Carousel was at a mall in Virginia Beach. Very unusual!

GETTYSBURG Pennsylvania

2010-08-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

We spent just two nights and one full day in the Allentown area, where we only had time to see a couple of friends between Carol's doc appointments before we were off to Gettysburg Battlefield Resort Campground. We stopped on the way in York, PA to go on a factory tour of Harley Davidson.


Harley Davidson Factory in York, PA This was an interesting free tour.

Gettysburg's Pennsylvania Monument
This has a spiral staircase inside the monument and at the top there is a good view of the battleground with plaques that show distances to various places such as Washington (69 miles), little round top mountain, etc.

We took time to see the movie and something called a "Cyclodrama" which neither of us had ever heard of! It's an incredible 360 degree canvas painting used with lighting, narrative and extreme sound effects to make the battlefield come alive! It is over 300' long and about 40' high. Created in the late 1800s, it originally toured many places in the country before being purchased by the organization at Gettysburg. It has been fully restored and is amazingly realistic! (they don't allow any pictures to be taken)


The campground itself is quite picturesque, but our site resulted in some big leveling challenges! Very low front, and sitting high in the back - and this was the better of the two choices we had! It also had only 30 am service, no sewer, no cable....We are SO spoiled! Yes, we know this is not "camping"! .

Niagara Lazy Lakes camping resort

2010-08-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

August 8, 2001 Arrived at Lazy Lakes after taking a "short cut" across Canada from Sarnia, Mi. Canada's roads were nice and smooth after the pounding of Michigan roads around Detroit. (Possibly some of the worst in the nation! - although Birmingham/Louisville/Cincinatti all provide some close competition!) This park has nice large spaces with 30 amp service (50 amp-$4.00 more) for only $9.00/day. No sewer connection or cable. But we get about 10 stations on the antenna. Will leave this Friday to join friends of Carol's (Deb and Joe) at a state park campground up on Lake Ontario - about 10 miles from here.

Herschells Carousel in Lakeview, NY It was originally built in this area and then toured around the country for many years. After about 20 years in storage, it was restored and set up in this quaint little town on the shore of Lake Ontario

Deb and Joe along with Bruce and Carol took a great ride - tickets are only 25 cents!!! The little town is about 20 minutes from Fourmile Creek State Park where we had side by side campsites and picnics dinners together and campfires both nights (yea Joe!) We were excited to see each other's coaches and spend some great time together!

This is a video of a unique music machine that uses air to create the notes! It can be heard all around the little amusement park (which by the way has only rides for kids, other than the carosel!)

We spent a great afternoon in Niagara Falls - much of the time at the US Falls


In the evening we crossed into Canada and had dinner on a balcony looking out at the Canadian Horseshoe Falls The four of us took the 2 hour boat cruise on the Erie Canal- Lockport, NY. During the cruise you go up and back down through 2 locks. Carol says it was a lot less scary doing it on the commercial boat than when she and her family did it on their personal boat when she was 14!

Lake Short resort-Davison Michigan (East of Flint)

2010-08-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

July 31st, visited my cousin Judy and her husband Ray in Belleville, Mi. She should be off the crutches soon. (Be careful of those bicycles!)

That evening we went to a surprise retirement party for Carol's long time friend Lin Selby. She was shocked to see Carol walk in, having no idea she was anywhere in the area. Lin and Carol's mutual friends Doris and Bill Knuth were also there. (They were all friends in Detroit nearly 30 years ago!)

We moved to Lake Shore Resort on August 1. This is the largest RV park we've ever seen and along with Day Use folks, there must have been nearly a thousand people enjoying the beach, boats, minigolf, pool, tennis and basketball courts, etc!

We visited Frankenmuth, Mi, 25 miles to the north. It's a German and Christmas oriented town all year.

And we had a visit from some friends of Carol's from Detroit, Vince and MaryEllen Hylton who now live in Rochester, Mi.

It had been about 20 years since getting together, so we had a lot of catching up to do!

Side trip-Carol goes to Dominican Republic

2010-07-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

Carol and Megan visit the DR for 8 days and Bruce got the honey do list!

Megan began her 1 month "intermission" between working in LA and starting Law School in Austin, Tx. the first of July. After trecking across the US visiting folks, she wanted to spend some time in the DR where she had studied as an undergrad. If was a great opportunity for a "gal trip", so Carol went along!

We spent the first 4 nights in Santo Domingo (inner city). It's a good thing she went on her own originally - Carol says she would have needed a tranquilizer daily for the 4 months Meg was there if she'd seen where she lived and her "transportation" options for getting to school and around the area! First trips to 3rd world counties are eye openers! The question seems to be "why is the electricity working?" Not, why isn't it when it doesn't!

Yikes!

We were fortunate to be invited for a lovely home made dinner and evening with the family of a friend of Megan's from her time in the DR. And, one day we visited the Botanical Gardens, out near Meg's school. Very Beautiful!

We then spent 3 days at a resort on the East end of the island - great! The weather which had been rainy and keeping things cool in Santo Domingo, turned beautiful and perfect for the beach and pool!!

Finally, back to Santo Domingo to a lovely "tourist" hotel and some final shopping before heading back to the States the next day!

Wapakoneta, Ohio Lakewood Village

2010-07-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

Lakewood Village has 2 lakes and an indoor pool with 2 hot tubs. Some sites have 50 amp but are tight lengthwise. Located off I-75 at exit 111.

Crown Equipment Corporation is a private company categorized under Lift Trucks, Industrial: Fork, Platform, Straddle, Etc. and located in New Bremen, OH. Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of 1,821,459,000 and employs a staff of approximately 7,456.
The owner bought many of the old brick buildings in town and restored them like new. He also likes bicycles, so he owns the museum. Admission is $2.00 and well worth it!

Click here to see bicycle museum pictures.

We ate a very good lunch next door to the museum at La Piazza.