maiden voyage - Page 2

express1 · 07-08-2012, 01:51 AM

[ATTACH][/ATTACH]kinda like this[ATTACH][/ATTACH]![ATTACH][/ATTACH]

encantotom · 07-08-2012, 02:02 AM

matt, the newell looks as georgeous as usual.

tom

encantotom · 07-08-2012, 02:20 AM

we are in dayton ohio. still hot but supposed to cool down twenty degrees by monday.

today we went to the air force museum at wright patterson air force base. it is huge and amazing. being former air force it was really interesting to me. i worked on F111 fighter bombers and they had three of them. this is one of them. it brought back many memories. they have retired them all now but not in my mind.

afterwards we went to lunch at a nearby restaurant. as we approached it an animal started across the road slowly. it was way too big to be a squirrel, and too big for a possum or anything like that. as it started ans topped a few times i swirved in the car to avoid hitting it. low and behold, it was a beaver. yea, a beaver.

when we were in the restaurant we noticed the name of the town was beaver creek. we asked the waitress if there were beavers running around and she looked at me like we were crazy. but it was a beaver.

tonite there was fireflys and the grandkids were fascinated by them.

and yea, it really was a beaver.

we are watching transformers in 3D in the coach. good stuff

later

tom and darlene

express1 · 07-08-2012, 04:09 AM

Sounds like real camping fun!

encantotom · 07-10-2012, 03:04 AM

today another rig pulled in next to us. i was taking a nap and heard a famiilar engine sound. when i went outside there was a semi adapted to pull a 5th whell that was in turn pulling an enclosed trailer with motorcycles in it.

i talked to the guy and he was a full timer. he was 75 feet long and said when he pulled his car he was over 80 feet long. he knew what states he was legal in but said he didnt pay attention to it.

he bought the semi with 750k miles on it (series 60 1999) and has put another 100k on it. he said not a lick of trouble on it

this was one big rig. he had a sleeper on the tractor and another sleeper mounted behind it backwards he uses as a storage shed.

he pumps his black tank from the 5th wheel to a 100 gallon tank on the rig with a macerator to give him alot more time between dumping.

he said he made the setup including moving axles, making the 5th wheel mount mounting the sleepers etc himself.

tom

encantotom · 07-12-2012, 12:54 PM

toady we are finishing up a week here in the dayton ohio area. we are headed after lunch to huntington wv to see richard and rhonda and family. it has been great to sit still for a week and enjoy the weather now that it is not so hot. sitting outside enjoying the cool morning breeze (and because tethering off of my phone works better outside).

it has also been great to spend a week with our son who is a 2nd lt at wright patterson AFB. we spend a couple of days at the air force museum and that is amazing. a must see for anyone who loves airplanes. yesterday we went to the presidential and research hangers on base. went through 4 old ari force ones. saw the only surviving xb70 and more.

i had to chuckle as the couple next to us drove off to leave. he had checked something under the small hood under the front windshield and forgot to close it and was driving off to leave with it open. i walked around to the back of our spot and caught them as they looped around. i am sure he felt dorky, but not as dorky as i have for goofier things than that in the past.

yesterday morning my daughter said there was something wrong in the mid bathroom. it was extremely hot in there. when she sat on the toilet her feet were getting almost burned. our grandson is s switch turner oner.we had run the aquahot for evening showers and the water in the system was hot. he had turned the thermostat up to max in the bathroom and i am glad to report that the system works great in the bathroom. we were running the air conditioners in the rest of the coach to keep it at 70 (yes, 70, darlene likes it cold) and the bathroom was like a sauna.

one of the days we were driving he turned on the fantastic fan so i drove along ways with the vent open on the roof. i had just put a new dome on it. but it didnt damage it.

i dont let him sit in the drivers seat or the coach would have probably rolled off by now.....ha

it has been really fun to have our daughter and her two kids with us.

the 5 of us fit just fine. the two grandkids on the couch bed and my daughter sleeps on a high quality airbed on the floor.

and darlene and i in the almost cal king bed we made.

later

tom

encantotom · 07-13-2012, 02:37 AM

we drove the 180 miles from dayton to huntington and had dinner with the Entrekins. they were outstanding hosts and richard was his usual self and fixed his neighbors air conditioner after dinner.

we are at the koa in milton. they are super friendly but....we came in from the wrong side to enter into the park and couldnt make the turn and had to stop and block traffic on the highway and the road into the park till we unhooked the car and darlene and laura stopped traffic so i could back the newell up to finish the turn. once in the park we were ok.

coach ran great and we drove quite a ways on narrow state highways with no shoulders. lots of trucks so had to be very careful...

love the coach.

later

tom and darlene

express1 · 07-13-2012, 03:33 AM

Guess you're not invited to the nightly camp fire.

encantotom · 07-15-2012, 11:49 PM

what does one newell guy do to show another new guy the local area? load up the newell and go touring.

we all pilled into richards newell and he drove us up to the mountains of west virginia and we spent the afternoon touring. it was nice.

richard is a great tour guide and driver.....

we went to new river goarge, a humongo bridge tall enough that they basejump off of it. we hiked down to an observation point and richard started practicing being a grandma as he carried my 4 year old grandson out on his shoulders....

tom

folivier · 07-16-2012, 12:30 AM

What no coffee cup????

encantotom · 07-25-2012, 02:09 AM

we are on the last day of our nearly 4 week trip. we are staying in a park in gallup new mexico after driving 600 miles today. will get home tomorrow. it is in the 70's here in gallup so will be hot when we get home. things have worked well. i have a list of things to fix or modify but nothing major. it will be about 4200 miles i think for this trip. thanks to all who helped me and the list is long.

folivier · 07-25-2012, 02:53 AM

Which park in Gallup?

encantotom · 07-25-2012, 03:26 AM

USA RV Park. great wifi, cable, and actual pull through spots big enough to get in and out with the car hooked up. the kids swam in the pool and played miniature golf.
not fancy, but nice and clean.

chockwald · 07-25-2012, 02:16 PM

That is one of our favorite overnight parks...we have stayed there 4 times going east and west on I-40, but usually when it has been much colder....certainly too cold to swim....lol. Glad your trip has gone pretty smoother, and that you have finally gotten to put some serious mileage on the 2002.