Finally!....In MI!!

I have made it into MI!  I started the night last night at the Menards in Ionia, MI...and ended up in at the Wally World across the street! They had the parking lot sweeper coming at Menards...hmmmm...think it was just a "polite way" to tell me I couldn't stay there all night!  LOL!  But spent a quiet night at Wally World.

 My favorite groc store is also right here!! ALDI! And this was the nicest one I've ever been in! It was just great! If you've not shopped ALDI, and have one close, you need to try them!!

It was a nice drive yesterday. Being on the back roads is so much more pleasant than on the Interstate Highways! And since Europa looks like she has a bit of age on her, and Sidekick is definitely not new, and carrying my propane & gas cans on a rack on Sidekick...and my "slow moving equipment" reflector on the back of Sidekick...I haven't been flipped off once yet!!!  LOL!  And yesterday I was driving thru small, old towns and LOTS of corn/maize/soy fields!!

And I do love seeing all the old courthouses! They are awesome!

Woke up this morning and talk about fog!  It was a pea-soup fog...kinda like we get down in AL! I mean really thick. When you walk outside and can feel it on you face...that is a fog!!  Took Abbie out at 0640...it is over 2 hours later...and it is still pretty doggone thick!  I had planned on being on the road by now, but I'm not getting out of this parking lot until I can see at least a 1/2 mile...would feel better if it gets to a mile!

I am very pleased with my BP this last night! Being on the road is very agreeable with my physical well being!!  LOL!!  Being back on my regimen is ver good for my "physical well-being"!

I'm still a bit cramped inside the house...but as I get pics scanned and get rid of a few more things...and re-pack/box more of the things that I will be keeping...it get better with each passing week. I would say "each passing day", but that would be a non-truth!!  Heheheheheh   But by the time I finish this circuit, I do believe that I will be in pretty good shape when it comes to room inside the house and what I've decided to keep.

Well, it's 0905 ET, and the sun is trying to cut thru the fog...not having a lot of success yet, but it's trying!  I'm about 60 miles from Brad's place...so once I finally get rolling, should be there by lunch!  And then going camping with them & a couple of their friends for a couple of nights. It will be a great visit...have not seen them in almost 4 years!!! How fast time passes by!!

Keep tuning in...C'ya out here!!!

Still ahead of Irma!! :-)

Spending the night in the Sherwin Williams parking lot!!

I've made it into "the Yankee lands"!!  Heheheh   Spending the night in Bedford, IN...and it was a good day's drive!  I think I'm about 382 miles out of Lake Isabella, MI. So will get within 120 mi of destination tomorrow, and make the rest of the run in on Wednesday.

Still watching the weather, and from the looks of it, I will make it to MI before the rains get there...or here!! But the winds are getting here first! It has gotten quite "breezy" here and on the road this afternoon!

Entering IN from Owensburg, KY...I almost missed it!!  I did miss the TN & Ga signs on the way up!!  But I have now been able to add three more states to my decal on Europa...up to 10 states since getting her on 1/31/2017!

Stay tuned...more pics and travels coming in the next few weeks!!

Staying ahead of Irma!!

We are on the road!! And so far so good!! That is looking out the front window at the exit from the Monteagel, TN rest area on I-24.  I'm deciding whether to park for the night or to drive for a few more hours...right now, I'm roughly 24-36 hours ahead of Irma...and I want to keep it that way.

Irma seems to have looked at my travel plans and decided to see just how well she could mess with me!!!  So this is why I'm so adamant about staying ahead of her and her "mess"!!!

So keep thinking good thoughts...Europa seems to be running well. MPG's are not quite as high as I would like, but I'm also running thru the southern end of the Appalachian Mtns...so when I think about it that way, I guess she is actually doing pretty well!!

More later...stay tuned!!! 

Gas Prices Dropping...Time to Roll!

I drove around Gadsden again the other day and stopped by the "new" river walk that they completed since the last time I was in town. It is on the east side of the river downtown and they did a really nice job with it. They put in some really nice "sitting areas" and the walk-ways are very well done. 

I've been watching the gas prices also the past few days. And during the past week, locally prices went from about $2.10 to as high as $2.49/gallon. And the run up to MI jumped over $40!  But this morning I got to looking at the prices and they have come down enough that the run is right now only about $23 more than a week ago. Sooo...that means that I will be heading out in the morning for MI. 

It's been a good stay here, but I have been here for a week longer than I had expected. So it is time to roll.  I'm going to just make a straight run up to MI. That way I'll be able to visit for 3-4 days, then back on the road to WI.

Today will be final packing/setup for travel. Have one thing to try to seal up well, base of the TV antenna on roof, then give Europa a bath, check air pressures & fluid levels, get rack mounted on Sidekick and set up for the road...then make sure that everything is put up so I'm not listening to things hit the floor while I'm driving!!  LOL!

So my next update should be from on the road!

C'ya out there!!

First Friday, Gadsden, AL

Today is "First Friday" here in Gadsden...I had forgotten about it! But the following pictures will be self-explanatory just what this evening is!!

If you like to smell exhaust fumes and hear the throb of many, many cylinders...then this is the place that you might want to consider if you ever get over to this part of the world!!

Ten Tips to Surviving Life in an RV

This little short video is done in a way that makes a very good point. For those that ask/tell me that they would love to live my lifestyle, these 10 "points" are essential! I pretty well live by them. Except it is just me, so don't have much of a "personal space" issue. And the limiting what you have with you in the RV is an essential point! 

As for the miles driven each day...I'm in a slightly different category. I'm a "full-timer", so miles driven each day depends on what I find and see. I had some campers at Sunny Gulch last year that told me they were "2X2X2'ers"!  LOL!  200 miles, parked by 2pm, stay 2 days!  I love that! But, I'm more of a "1.5X2X2+'er"!  150 or less miles, always parked before 2pm & I try to spend 3+ days somewhere!!  But for me this is a way of living. If you are taking trips and vacations, it won't work very well for you!

That being said, I'm still in Alabama. I've almost gotten Europa back in "roading" condition. Have purged more stuff (and loaded in more stuff - temporarily ). But the top-end motor rebuild seems to have been a good one. Have gotten most of my "fix-it" list completed for Europa. Have repacked and rearranged things in the house so that everything has a place (actually still working some of that out) & have gotten into the habit again of putting things back when I get them out and I'm done with them.

And, yesterday, while cleaning/packing a storage pocket, I saw a "hose"...pulled it out and n the end of it was a valve stem cap...I thought..."Really!"...it goes to the suspension airbag on the passenger side of Europa! So...all this time that I thought I was airing up both airbags at one time (which is what I was told)...I had been airing up the driver's side airbag...I bet I have much better handling now!!!!  It is a learning experience having a motorhome without an Owner's Manual!!!  LOL!

Abbie has her two spots that she has pretty well gotten into the habit of getting into so that I will stop stepping on her!! She has the habit of being under my feet, just as close to me as she can get. Well, she is slowly outgrowing that! She has a spot on the sofa and the bed that she settles into where she knows that I won't be trying to step over her. Makes us both happy!!

Snickers...well, she just finds spots that are VERY out of the way...under the sofa, front dash when I'm parked, driver's floorboard when parked...wherever she feels like she can see things and escape quickly to another area when necessary!  LOL!

As for "my" space...well, it is limited for the next few months. I have a couple of projects that are taking up some of my space...such as part of the bed...and the passenger floorboard...in other words...my space is crunched for a while. Even poor little Sidekick is packed to the hilt!!  

But I can now honestly say that I have started this next chapter in my life...full time on the road and shooting video and pics of the backroads of the US!!!

I've been outside working on Europa, and decided to take a break and finish this update. Looking like tomorrow will be my day to go to Pell City.

Make sure you keep up with us...we are about to start our travels in earnest!!

C'ya later!!🐸👍⛺🚌

Watching Harvey!

I have been watching the coverage of Hurricane Harvey...it is just amazing! It is really doing some damage to the coast of Texas! It almost makes me glad that I'm still in Alabama!  But...it also means that the price of gas is about to make a temporary jump up!! Not good for my travel budget!

I've gotten just about my whole list of things to do to Europa done, taken care of most of my other list of things to do, so will be trying to head north by Tuesday...or Wednesday...or whenever!!!  I'm watching the price of fuel right now...that will determine my travel days for the next few weeks.

That about covers it for this week!  LOL!  Not a whole lot happens when I'm parked for over 72 hours!

C'ya later!

Getting Europa ready for the road

 I've been parked in AL all week, with a "To Do" list for Europa that I wanted to get done before we got back on the road for the rest of the year. And I only have about two or three things left to get done!

 On of the main things that HAD to be done was to reseal the roof. Had been doing "research" on the different types of roof paints, and believe me, there are a whole passel of different paints and sealers available out there! But I needed for it to be "elastomeric"...in another words, it has to stay flexible and I needed it to insulate somewhat. Well, settled on a certain brand, and so far I think it is going to do the job!

 You can tell from these first pics that the roof was in dire need of being painted. And I had just a couple of very tiny leaks...so whatever I used need to be able to seal the roof also. 

 I ended up with getting a paint that I am real happy with as of now...time will be the real test for it! But it went on very easily, covered real well & man, is it "cool". The rear part of the roof is in the sun from sunrise to about 2pm each day. Before getting the "first" coat on you could not put your hand on the roof for more than a couple of seconds. The first coat was probably much thicker than they say to do, but I was actually able to get a lighter second coat on with the roller, so it is much more uniform in coverage and color. And now you can put your hand on it and it actually feels cool!  

And I can already tell a difference inside! it is at least 4-6 degrees cooler in here, so it looks like it is going to do what I had been hoping for! Which is going to make warm weather travel much better!!

Also done this week...timing on the engine set, all new belts, the headlight switch replaced, think we got any vacuum leaks, aux batt issue taken care of (one of my batteries had gone bad, so one new battery)-left every light on last night for over 6 hours and the water pump, and still had strong 12v power.

And I still have two doors and one vent that I'm going to seal up with some styrofoam insulation and that will also help keep the cool/warm in Europa as we travel. Right now they are open to the outside to the point that I can see daylight when I open some of my storage doors...that will be fixed this afternoon and tomorrow!!

So the next two days is for getting stuff put back up in Europa to be ready to roll. Still purging some stuff, it's amazing just how much crap you accrue even with you live in a "very tiny" tiny house on wheels!!  LOL! But I keep purging and clearing out stuff. Getting closer to done each day!!

Be sure to keep up with us (Me, Abbie & Snickers) as we are finally getting ready to really start our travels!! Between now and Nov 15th we are going to be covering close to 3,000 miles! 

My two little companions are good travelers, they settle in pretty quickly and almost act like they enjoy the ride!

And don't forget to check out my FB page "America, you need to see it" and my YouTube channel of the same name. I hope to be getting short videos of our travels up load soon and on a weekly basis.

Take Care and C'ya out here!!

In Bama

Made it to AL. Europa made the run just fine. Still need to do some tweaking on her, but she's doing pretty well. I'll be in AL a week or so, then on the road in a northerly direction! ⛺🚐👍🐸

Back in my house!

Back in Europa! She's running...still will need some tweaking, but that is going to happen in AL. But I'm a happy camper! She seems to be running well, she's back in one piece...& the critters &I are back in our house! 👍🐸🍻  It's almost 11pm & I've almost got everything out of the U-Haul. That will be done in the morning after I get, rather, try to get everything out back up tonite & I get some sleep. I'm trying to remember where all this stuff went! LOL! Too much stuff for so small a space! I feel a purge coming on! More in a couple of days! 😉👍🐸🤓

COFFEE!!! The Elixir of Life!! 😉🐸

https://www.warriorcoffee.com/news/2/12-health-benefits-and-6-disadvantages-of-coffee-smashing-it

Doing the Waiting Game thing!!!

Still in Longview, TX at my daughter's place. They are putting up with me and my "children"....LOL!....Abbie & Snickers!

                               

I will say...it has been just so hot lately! The heat indexes have been hitting 105°-110° on a fairly regular, if not daily, basis! I just don't do well with all the humidity that seems to be in the area! 

But it has given me time to go thru the stuff I have with me that came out of Europa and from my storage locker...and get rid of a few more items!  LOL!  I just keep thinning out what I have to have for my lifestyle!!

 I got a pic from Tim & Steve yesterday, they are the brothers that are doing the top rebuild on Europa, that showed the heads off!!!  Europa looks SO sad from this view!  LOL!  But the good news is that outside of the head gasket blowing, just from eye looking, it does not look like there are any other major issues! Won't know for sure if either head warped any until next week when the shop is able to get to them. But for now things are looking good.

Europa is getting a full top-end rebuild...new head, intake, exhaust gaskets, head bolts, valve guides, new water pump, thermostat, hoses,  belts, etc....she should be good for 200K miles when I get her back on the road again.

Had new tires put on in Charlotte, NC and Dean rebuilt the front brakes in Gadsden, AL.  So most of what is left to do is just "cosmetic" and normal "home" upkeep. 

So I am feeling very good about the rest of the year...I just have to weather this little setback!! It has definitely changed my travel plans for the rest of the year, mainly due to the summer temps and weather in general...not to mention it has rather screwed up my budget!!!  LOL!

Also spent a couple of days with the kids in NRH,TX. They are doing fine and the g'kids are just growing up WAY too fast! LOL!

And of course...some of the kids never grow up!!  LOL!

 Like Daddy....like Daughter!!!  LOL

Either these kids are growing up too fast...OR...I'm getting old too fast!!

That about brings things up to date here! I'll post some more early next week, going to run down to Round Rock next week to see the folks and take pictures on the way down and there and back!!!

C'ya Later!!

👍🐸🚐🚐⛺⛺🍻🍻🌞🌞👍🐸

State of emergency issued for Ocracoke Island due to power outage

A very good reason to be prepared....if we are not ready to take care of our own families and selves...who is going to??  They might have "limited power in 3 hour increments", but that will take it's toll on fridges, etc.



How ready are you???????

Brazilian pianist, Eliane Rodrigues, LITERALLY taking the performance be...

This is one of those "you gotta watch this"!  She is a TRUE PROFESSIONAL!!!!!  Awesome!!

NRH - Quick visit!

Had a good drive to NRH this morning...it was overcast all the way! Heavenly!! LOL! Came by to see the kids, empty my U-Haul locker & visit with Cary before he heads it to his new rig.

These grandkids are growing like weeds! I do believe I will put bricks on their heads to slow them down!

Hot here as usual. Going to check on Europa tomorrow & see how she's coming along. Expect it will be 10-14 more days before she's ready to roll.

Texas - Thursday? -Better Be! LOL!

Got Europa running & cranking...and as I started out...a cloud of white!! Steam!! Europa has blown a head gasket! 

So I made it a mile from the interstate to a closed down filling station & have been here 36 hrs. Now waiting for the tow truck to show up. 9:30pm tonite.

Tera has driven over from Longview to help me pack out my stuff...it will be 10-14 days before Europa will be ready. 

So the"Saga of Frog" continues!