May 15, 2023 - May 19, 2023 - Carry-Yals May Campout

Background Information:

Carri-Yals is the name of the Illinois-Missouri chapter of the RV Travel Club, which originally was the Carriage RV Travel Club. The Carriage RV Travel Club was established in the 1960s for those who liked to travel together in their Carriage RVs. Local chapters were established for local campouts. The national club would have a yearly national rally which was only open to those who owned Carriage RVs. These rallies would be held at different places throughout the U.S. and consisted of several days filled with seminars, vendors, activities, and entertainment. When Carriage went out of business about ten years ago the club expanded to include other brands of RVs but the national rallies ended. The local chapters throughout the country continue to have local campouts and rallies. Through attrition over the years the Carri-Yals chapter is now down to ten rigs. 

Campout:

Rain was predicted for most of the week of our campout. (Campers are used to this.) Everyone arrived in Perryville on Monday and were welcomed by sunshine and cool temperatures. Kelly made chicken salad sandwiches, salad, and banana cream pie for supper. All were delicious. We had a nice campfire Monday evening with a prediction of heavy rain during the night, and we got it. I had left my empty cup on the table and when I got up the next morning it had an inch and a half of water in it. We had quite a downpour.

As it worked out Monday night was the only rain we received all week even though it had earlier been predicted that we would get rain every day.

Tuesday we had a guided tour of the Vietnam Memorial here in Perryville. This memorial is an exact duplicate of the one in Washington, D.C.

 

Everyone was impressed with the wall and the entire facility.  There are 58,281 names on the wall which is made up of 140 granite panels. There were 67 panels of names just in the year 1968. The youngest person on the wall was fifteen years of age and the oldest sixty-two. There are 160 Medal of Honor recipients on the wall. Interestingly three of the soldiers on the wall were killed by tigers.  Don pointed to a friend's name on the wall which brought back a lot of memories for him.

We then went for lunch at Stonie's Sausage Shop. In addition to making lots of sausages and brats they make many different, delicious meat sandwiches. We all had a very filling lunch and then headed back to the campground for cards and visiting. For supper we had a potato bake over the open campfire. There were lots of fixings to stuff your potato with so that you didn't go hungry. We had another great night for a campfire.

Wednesday we went to the Perryville Tractor Museum. This is a special museum because it is dedicated to very unique, limited production tractors. I don't know how much the ladies enjoyed it, but the men were fascinated with all the unique tractor designs and engineering.  Here is a picture of the only known threshing machine built in Cape Girardeau that is known to exist.

This is a picture of a "one only" Avery steam tractor.

There were many brands of tractors of various designs and colors to view. All of the tractors displayed are in running condition.

After the tractor museum we headed to Mary Jane's on the square for lunch. Everyone enjoyed a filling meal at this bar and grill. 

We then headed back to the campground for an afternoon of card games and visiting. For supper we had "Mike's Famous Three-Bean Chili", salad, and dessert. I made two batches of chili: one with onions and one without. It must have been good because almost all was eaten. Supper was followed by another nice campfire and comradery.

Thursday we drove to Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Park, North of Chester, which has a fantastic overlook of the Mississippi River from the bluff, the old fort site, and a campground. Chester, Illinois is the home of E. C. Segar, who created the "Popeye" character as well as all of his friends. We stopped by the Popeye Statue for a group picture.

We then headed to lunch at the Landmark Restaurant in Chester, which is an historic restaurant overlooking the Mississippi River. We had a great lunch and headed back to the campground for a relaxing afternoon. For supper we made pie iron sandwiches on the hot coals. Many had never had pie iron sandwiches before so they particularly found it to be a treat. The ladies provided lots of fillings to choose from to make your sandwich. The final evening ended with another great campfire and goodbyes.

Friday morning everyone departed for home on their own schedule. Our next outing will be in Marshall, Illinois, in August.

May 08, 2023 - May 15, 2023 - More Stuff in Homer, Selling the Truck, Repairing the Gas Grill, and Campout

Loading Homer:

The last two days I have been putting into Homer items we took out of Marge when we sold her. As I do this, I am taking similar items out of Homer to give to the thrift store. Homer's stock of drinking cups, electric frying pan, and campfire forks have all been updated. Electrical dog bone connectors have been added as well as a 50-amp surge protector to compliment the 30-amp protector already on board. If I run across someone needing a 50-amp surge protector, I will sell it reasonably. I really don't need two. 

I added the two heavy duty chocks I used for Marge. I had some cheap plastic chocks in Homer which I have never used. When parked Homer's transmission is in Park with the Parking Brake is engaged so I never worried about him moving. I think I may start using these heavier duty chocks as an added safety precaution. I added lots of disposable gloves for use when dumping the tanks and added another water hose and some connectors. Homer is well stocked for campground hookups. 

Sold the truck:

Last week I got a call from a Wisconsin car dealer wanting to buy our dually truck. He saw it on Facebook. We struck a deal and he forwarded all the paperwork by email. I completed my part and emailed it back. He immediately did a wire transfer to my bank account. He will send a transport company to pickup it up. I will mail the title once the truck is picked up. A slick transaction.

The sale of the truck is at a good time because Thursday, after a service call, we learned that our house furnace/AC is kaput. It is 29 years old and has been patched up several times over the years. We need a completely new unit. These are very expensive because we have a geothermal system. The basement unit is a giant heat pump for heating and cooling both. I signed the purchase order and made a deposit the next day so they could get a new unit ordered. There was only one in stock at the warehouse and it will be two weeks before the unit will arrive for installation. It is warm and very humid here now and will not get any better. If it gets too warm we can sleep in Homer in the driveway until the new unit is installed. (Mooch Docking in my own driveway.)

Fixing Our Gas Grill:

After grilling supper the other night, I noticed that two of the brackets which hold one end of the burners to the grill had rusted away. Upon examination it was clear there was no reusing the old burners so I ordered new ones. They arrived so I got busy putting them in. Since the inside lining of the grill where the brackets were spot welded is rusting out, I had to scrounge through my junk brackets to find something that would hold each burner in place. Here is a picture with the arrows pointing to the newly fashioned brackets I screwed into the rusty metal box. 

A big issue with this repair was getting the bolts out of the brackets at the other end of each burner which hold the ignitors. They were rusted tight and never coming out. I ground them off with my Dremel tool. With new bolts I could then attach the ignitors to the new burners at the manifold end. Here is a picture of the completed project with arrows pointing to the bolts holding the ignitor brackets.

The ignitors work as they should, and the gas burners fire right up. I'm hoping the grill will last another couple of years. Friday, after this installation was complete, another set of burners arrived. In looking at my Amazon orders I found that I accidentally ordered two sets. I sent one set back. Even though we have Amazon Prime I had to pay $6.99 to send them back.

Homer's Generator Switch:

Another repair part arrived, a replacement start switch for the generator in Homer which quit working last fall. I ordered the switch listed in the manual. Upon opening up the generator electrical panel to install it, it was clear this switch would never work. The switch I received is about three quarters of an inch wide by an inch long with five connectors sticking out the back. The switch on the generator is maybe 3/8 inch by 3/8 inch is actually part of the motherboard. The switch I bought was $10.00. A new motherboard is $250.00. I put it back together. I think I will do without this switch, at least for now.

Truck:

The truck was picked up this morning by the transporter and the title mailed. I must admit this is a sad end of a traveling era for us. We have been hauling a trailer around the U.S. and Canada sightseeing for over forty years.

Campout:

We are hosting a week-long club campout starting today here in Perryville. The hosts are usually responsible for campfire wood. I loaded the back end of Bart, now my little pickup truck until I get another, with old firewood I had here at the house. The weather has changed several times since we first picked the dates. It now appears that we may have some rain every day. At least the firewood will stay dry in the back of Bart. Periodic rain throughout the week will be better than it being so hot people can't enjoy the outing. It was that hot last year causing us to leave early. Kelly has several activities planned for the eight units attending and we have a pavilion to use nearby. We will deal with rainy weather.

Carpe Diem!

April 19th - May 5th, 2023 - Homer Out of Storage; Work at the Lake Lot; House Batteries Installed in Homer; Chest Project

April 19th:

Upon getting home from the Outer Banks we both contracted killer head colds. We did nothing but sit around and take over-the-counter medicine for a week. I checked and I did not have Covid. I still have a little residual cough and Kelly still has a stuffed head and cannot hear or smell.

May 1st:

Monday morning I started back walking at 5:00 a.m. with friends at the Perry Park Center. My Silver Sneakers card (which gets me in free) worked fine on Monday. Tuesday I was told the card was expired. I came home and got in touch with United HealthCare and learned that the first of the year they changed over to the "Renew Active" program. The lady gave me a Renew Active ID number. I took the number in the next day to the Park Center personnel and they made me a card to use to check in. I'm good until the next program change. 

After an afternoon trip to the recycling center, John and I got Homer out of storage. I keep Homer's three batteries on trickle chargers all winter in the garage. I loaded up the chassis battery and a few tools for the battery installation. With the battery installed he fired right up. We are hosting a campout out for our RV club here in Perryville the week of May 15th, so I need to get him in shape. The old boy looks pretty good, even without a bath. One of the great advantages of having an enclosed storage shed is keeping him clean.

May 2nd:

Tuesday we went out to the lake to cut the grass and mulch the leaves. In addition to the riding mower, I took out the push mower, which had been in the shop almost a year waiting for a back-ordered needle valve and for us to return from Florida to pick it up. There were a lot of large and small branches down on the lot from high winds over the winter. They all had to be picked up before I could mow. After mowing the golf cart fired right up so we took it for a ride before heading home.

May 3rd:

Kelly tested positive for Covid. It explains why she wasn't feeling well and couldn't smell anything. She called her doctor who called in the prescription for the medicine for it. The doctor said it may have been too late for the medicine to do its job. Anyway, Kelly is quarantined for five days. She is busy inside painting her current "paint by number" project.

May 4th:

We have several patches of dead grass in the lawn. It has been that way for two years and I was promised by a guy three times that he would reseed, etc. but he never did it. I decided to work on it myself. I scraped up the areas removing the dead grass, seeded with newly purchased seed, covered the areas with peat moss, and watered. I put down fescue seed so it will be three weeks before we see any grass. Seeding at this time of year means I will have to regularly water all spring and summer.

My "good" sprinkler worked fine Thursday night for an hour of watering. There was a lot of pressure in the hose so I had steady it with a rock to keep it in place.

May 5th:

Friday I turned the water on to the sprinkler and NOTHING. Water just barely drizzled out. I took the hose connection lose and found a little dark decayed matter at the fitting but not much. I looked inside, didn't see anything, so I thought I had the problem fixed. Upon turning the water back on - nothing. I checked the hose and it wasn't blocked. The problem had to be inside the sprinkler. I took it apart and found that it was totally blocked with decayed matter in the tube leading from the hose connection to the sprinkler head. After about twenty minutes fishing around with a piece of wire, I got it all cleaned out. I reinstalled the sprinkler and it worked like new. How could it work for an hour one day and not the next? 

After fixing the sprinkler I got Homer's house batteries are out of the garage to install. For much more battery capacity for our trip to Alaska years ago I purchased two six-volt golf cart batteries. Unfortunately, golf cart batteries are taller than a normal deep cycle 12-volt battery. Homer wasn't made for these large batteries. These batteries are a real pain to install because there is only a quarter inch of clearance at the top of the battery box and about a half inch of clearance on the side to slide them in. They each weigh about 75 lbs. I keep them cabled together to install because I cannot get to the back terminals to make connections once I start to slide them into the battery box. 

I have to use the two-wheeler to move them to the battery box. I put them on a milk crate with two layers of 2 x 4s under them to get them close to the correct height to slide them into the box. It is a very tight fit in width and height. Here is a picture of the width issue. There is a piece of angle iron welded on the bottom to keep the batteries from moving toward the electrical components. There is less than a half inch of clearance as you can see by the arrow.

The top is an even tighter fit. There is no way to tie them down so that they don't bounce going down the road. This was a concern since the terminals are so close to the metal top of the battery box. A couple of years ago I fabricated insulators out of plastic cut from a milk jug to go over each terminal to keep them from touching the metal top of the battery box. These "insulators" did not do the job. I noticed when taking the batteries out last fall that at some point one insulator burned through and the terminal did in fact touch the metal battery cabinet and spark, leaving a burnt mark. I fabricated heavier insulators out of clear rubber hose and installed them on all four terminals. They all worked fine but the front positive post is extremely tight. You can see in the picture the lack of space and the thicker rubber insulators I made. Hopefully they will do the job.

I still need to de-winterize Homer's plumbing before we start loading him up for the season. We have lots of stuff to put in Homer which we took out of the fifth wheel upon selling it. Most of the items are an upgrade of what is already in Homer. We will send lots of stuff to the thrift store I'm sure. This is all the stuff out of the fifth wheel laid out in the garage. The brown table and tubs will not go in for sure. Toolboxes, hoses, etc. will all find a home.

One known issue with Homer is that at the end of last season the generator would not start from the outside switch. I'm assuming the switch went bad because it did start from inside. The exact replacement switch from Onan is $39.95. Another Onan switch for newer models is available for $12.00. I ordered it to give it a try first. I don't see why it won't work because it has the same number of terminals. I'll get John to help me with that in a week or so. He's my "go to" guy for everything electronic.

Much of my time since coming home has been taken up remodeling a chest project for two-year-old grandson, Free, in California. I built a toy (possession) box for his older brother, Kellen, when he was about two. This box is a remodel of a cedar chest Kelly bought from a friend last year. It has been more time consuming to remodel this box than to make a new one. Once it is completed, I will post a picture. We will then need to make a road trip to California to deliver it. It will give us a chance to see the kids and grandkids out there. LOL

April 11th - April 18th, 2023 - TRIP TO THE OUTER BANKS

 Before I begin this blog: 

You will notice that the layout of the blog has changed. I have been playing with it for several days trying to make changes. Blogger is very complicated to use in my opinion. There are so many options for how to set up the page that it becomes very confusing. I have saved dozens of changes and will stay with this one for now. I may end up moving away from Blogger to something easier to use. I even bought a "Google Blogger for Dummies" book, which hasn't helped.

TRIP TO THE OUTER BANKS:

Kelly's youngest sister. Alexa, who lives in Durham, North Carolina, celebrated her 60th birthday by renting a house for a week on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and inviting all of her siblings and spouses to come and enjoy. The week started on Tuesday April 11th and ended on Monday April 17th. Three couples from Missouri drove out, one couple flew in from Indiana, one couple flew in from San Antonio, and one couple couldn't make it.

We were one of the couples who drove from Missouri. It was a little over 1,000 miles from Perryville to the rented house. I had never been to the Outer Banks so I was looking forward to it. Kelly loaded the car with lots of groceries and spices to cook a couple of meals for everyone. She also packed a box of games for all to enjoy.  After adding two suitcases, my CPAP, Kelly's pillow, a swim bag, a small cooler, and an overnight bag for the motel stops, the car was full. It was a two-day road trip with our first stop in Sevierville, Tennessee, for the night. The trip out was fine, good driving weather, but long. We got to the house about 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 12th. 

The couples who drove out all arrived on Tuesday. The couple who flew in from San Antonio arrived on Thursday, and the couple who flew in from Indiana arrived in Norfolk at midnight on Friday. Due to work commitments they couldn't come any earlier in the week. They opted to stay in a motel in Norfolk Friday night before making the three-hour car trip to the Outer Banks on Saturday.

I must admit I was a little disappointed that from the house we could barely see the ocean over the sand dune. Here is a picture of the view from the upper deck.

It was about an eighth of a mile walk out to the beach but once there it was quite nice. Here I am stretched out all by myself enjoying the view one day. The rollers were constant.

Here is a picture of the rented house from atop the dune. It is the gray one in the middle. It has four levels, seven bedrooms, and six bathrooms. All of these houses are rentals. Four levels meant LOTS of steps. The bedrooms were on the second floor, the kitchen and living area on the third floor, and a master suite on the fourth floor.

On Wednesday we made a day trip to Kitty Hawk to see the Wright Brothers Museum and Monument. It was well worth the trip. Here is picture of a reproduction of the first airplane to fly.

It is a reproduction because on the day they flew they made four flights. After the fourth flight they were in their cabin warming up and relaxing when a wind came up and rolled the plane across the dunes damaging it beyond repair.  This is a picture with stone markers showing the end of each flight. The marker way to the right, where the people are gathered, was the longest at 813 feet.

Kitty Hawk was picked as a launch location because it was one of the six windiest places in the U.S., it had large dunes to help with takeoff, and there were the least number of people around. The Wright brothers did not have a runway, so they made "takeoff gear" out of rollers on the plane that rolled on a rail made out of 2 x 4s with a metal band on top. To balance the plane as it took off there was a person on each side who held up the wing. Here is a section of the rail.

This is a picture looking up at the takeoff point high on the dune. There is a large monument to the Wright Brothers at the top now. The path where the people are walking is the path the plane took.

This is a photo from the top where the takeoff began. Those holding the wing up while careening down this hill in the cold December weather had to be dedicated and agile.

We were all very glad we made this day trip. It was informative and memorable. Of course, the area has totally built up since then. Here are a couple of pictures of the surrounding area taken from the monument plateau.

The next day we just hung out around the house. I bought a couple of long sleeve "tourist" shirts because the weather was cooler than I expected when I packed. Kelly thought she would get in the pool, but it was unheated and way too cold to get in this time of the year. We just laid around and enjoyed the sun.

There was a hot tub on the deck which many of the group enjoyed several times throughout the week.

On Saturday we drove to catch the ferry to Ocracoke Island. The ferry was busy and we had to wait our turn to take the one-hour ferry ride to the island. The ferry system is run by the State of North Carolina. It is very well run and free.

Kelly and I were a little disappointed with the island. The Visitor Center and many other places were not yet open for the season. The place is now basically a tourist trap. After driving around, we stopped for lunch at SmacNally's Waterfront Bar & Grill.

There was a 45-minute wait so we walked around the area to kill time. I took these pictures. The first is of the docks between boats. They went from three feet wide at one end down to eight inches wide at the other. I had never seen this before. I guess it is to accommodate wider boats.

This is a picture of the inlet looking out to sea. Very calm and picturesque.

With a forty-five-minute wait in the off season we wondered what the wait time would be during the season.

The claim to fame of Ocracoke Island is the "Lost Colony of Ocracoke". The colony consisted of about one hundred people and soldiers. It was an established colony. At one point a ship went back to England for supplies. Due to a war with the Spanish, they were not able to obtain a boat to go back to the colony with supplies for three years. Upon returning they found the settlement gone. The settlers had no boat, the houses were gone, the people were gone, and there was no evidence of violence by the Indians. The only thing left were a few sections of the fort palisades. To this day they have no idea what happened to the people. The theory I liked was that they moved inland and assimilated into the various Indian tribes. 

At the Fort Raleigh Visitor Center we listened to a wonderful talk by a docent. 

Here are pictures of the re-created dugout fort. I couldn't believe how small it was in height and width for the number of people it had to accommodate. I assume there were originally palisades on top.

We stopped at the island lighthouse. It is the oldest lighthouse still standing in North Carolina and the second oldest in the U.S. standing at 75 feet. Unfortunately, you cannot go up in it. 

After that stop we made the obligatory stop at a souvenir shop and then headed back to the ferry. When we arrived at the ferry there was a long line of cars. We doubted we would make this ferry, which runs every hour. Luckily, we were the last three cars to get on. 

On the drive back to the house we stopped at a beautiful beach. Most walked the beach looking for shells.

I didn't stray far and got this picture of everyone walking back. A motley crew of old beachcombers!

Arriving back at the house, Kelly cooked a wonderful meal of Crab Imperial for all to enjoy. It was a meal requested by the birthday girl. An ice cream cake had been purchased earlier, along with candles to be blown out.

Here is a picture of the group enjoying one of several great meals prepared during the week-long visit.

Monday morning was hectic. Those flying home had a three-hour drive to the Norfolk airport, which meant they had to leave early. We had to be out of the house by 10 a.m. Those of us driving left about 8:00 a.m. for the two-day drive back to Missouri.

The weather was wonderful on the drive home. We arrived in Knoxville during rush hour, so we got a motel room there rather than trudging on. The next day there were no traffic issues except for a major slowdown getting through Nashville. After that it was clear sailing. We got home about 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, which was much earlier than I anticipated. It left me time after unpacking to cut the grass, which had grown quite a bit in a week.

A beautiful sunrise one morning as seen from the deck.

 

All in all, it was a very nice trip and a great opportunity to see all of Kelly's siblings and their spouses, who are scattered around the country.

April 1, 2023 - April 5, 2023 - We Are Home Dealing With Issues

There is always lots to do when you get home after a winter away. Sunday, after getting the grass, cut I was able to get all the tax information together to take to the accountant. It is always a challenge to assemble all the 1099s when you have a temporary Florida address during the winter. I took the paperwork to the accountant Monday morning. We will be gone to the Outer Banks all next week and won’t be home in time to sign and file so he is getting an extension for us. This is the first time I ever sought an extension in my life.

Vehicles:

The license on the Chevrolet HHR (Bart) comes due in February. This is a terrible time for us since we are in Florida then. Due to his mileage he has to be inspected every odd numbered year. Because of this I can’t renew the license online. Knowing this, before leaving Florida, I made an appointment to get him inspected and for a much-needed oil change on Monday morning. I also made an appointment for an oil change on Kelly’s car for Monday afternoon. The license on Kelly’s car is always up in March, again not a good time but we can usually get her quickly licensed once home in April.

We dropped the HHR off and headed to the Post Office to pick up our mail, which they had been holding since we left Avon Park on March 1st. We had a lot of mail to go through. I was most concerned about getting the titles to the Florida mobile home. Thankfully they were in the mail, along with two Florida bills for going through tolls. Twice, as we drove through on toll roads, they did not give us an option to pau. They sent us a bill for each and each had a $2.50 handling fee. When we get back to Florida in the fall we are going to look into getting a Sunpass for tolls.

In the afternoon we switched out the cars at the shop and headed to the DMV to renew the plates on both cars. When I sat down I told the clerk that we are always in Florida until April first. I asked her if there was any way I could get the February plates changed to April. She said “no problem”. She then asked if I wanted to change Kelly’s plates, which were due in March, to April as well. That would be great. We got new plates for both vehicles and that problem is solved forever. I really appreciated her help.

When delivering Marge to the new owners I had to put the truck in 4-low and back up pushing the trailer uphill in sand. The hard turning of the wheels at times screwed up the front-end alignment. It wasn’t too bad when I left Florida but by the time I got home I had to hold the steering wheel a quarter turn to the left to stay straight. Monday morning I called for an appointment to get an alignment. They had an opening on Tuesday. Yippee!

Chair Repairs:

The porch chairs in Florida had plastic rollers on them. Several rollers were falling apart and several wheels fell off if you lifted the chair. (I hate plastic.) These are what I am talking about.

I didn’t have the tools in Florida to get the old roller stems off to install replacements, so I brought them all home to work on. I ordered one set of steel replacement rollers to see how they worked out. I installed them yesterday and they worked out perfectly.

I ordered three more sets. I will take all rollers and fittings back in the fall and reinstall them.

Another trip:

Next Monday we leave for a week on the beach on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Kelly’s sister, Alexa, rented a place for all of us to gather to celebrate her retirement. More driving, about nine hundred miles each way, but we will have a great time. I've never been to the Outer Banks so I'm looking forward to it.

When I get back I will have a lot of yard work to do. Also, I will need to get busy cleaning up the truck and putting it up for sale, as well as the fifth wheel hitch. After over thirty years of owning fifth wheels, it will be weird to never tow one again, nor have a need for a big truck.

Really bad weather around here during the night and today. Last night a tornado virtually wiped out the town of Glen Allen, about 30 miles from here. Several were killed, not much on the news yet. Too close for comfort. We are under a tornado watch until 4:00 p.m. Hopefully it will pass without damage or injuries.

March 31, 2023 - April 1, 2023 - The Trip Home

NOTE: I tried to change the header to include both RVs and the new home in Florida. I haven't figured out how to do it and accidentally deleted the photo of Marge. I will work to correct that. Designing the layout for blogspot is quite confusing.

Well, the trip home is never fun. This year with not hauling a fifth wheel home, we thought it would be better. WE WERE SO WRONG. 

We left Golden Gate at 7:00 a.m. on Friday with our goal of getting to Atlanta the first night. Everything was fine until about forty miles South of Atlanta. The traffic slowed to a crawl with no end in sight. We had been in the traffic jam for an hour or more when we decided to pull off and find a room in McDonough, Georgia. Once settled in the room Kelly broke out the sandwiches she had made for the trip. We went to bed early with the intention of leaving early in the morning. The drive from Atlanta to Perryville is about eight hours. We were up at six and hit the breakfast buffet before taking off. Our plan was to leave by 7:00 a.m. expecting traffic to be a breeze on Saturday.

Upon watching the weather we learned that very severe thunderstorms were coming into our area and the Atlanta area. We decided to let them pass through before heading North. After three boring hours sitting in the room, we left at 10:00 a.m. Upon getting back on I-24 we found the traffic immediately backed up almost the entire thirty-five miles from McDonough to Atlanta.

We assumed the backup was due to hard rains at the time. Finally, we made it to Atlanta and sailed right through downtown on a Saturday morning. Then the trouble began.

For whatever reason, the traffic was “stop and go” from North of Atlanta all the way until about ten miles North of Chattanooga. Over 130 miles! We couldn’t believe it. I doubt that we averaged thirty miles per hour the entire time. This was a Saturday. What was going on? We never did find out.

We never saw a cause for a traffic backup anywhere. There were no construction zones nor any accidents. It appeared just to be a volume issue. It took us over five hours to get from South of Atlanta to North of Chattanooga. Normally this is a two-hour trip.

North of Chattanooga the traffic started to move near the speed limit, yet there were still areas where traffic slowed down for unknown reasons. It was crazy bad driving the entire day.

Due to the traffic backups, we did not arrive in Perryville until 8:00 p.m. We had gained an hour so we actually drove eleven hours on the second leg of the trip. We have been taking this route for over ten years and always experienced slowdowns in Atlanta and Chattanooga. This trip the slowdown was over a hundred and thirty miles long between the two cities. This was the absolute worst traffic we had ever seen. We don’t know if this was a fluke, or if this is what is to be expected on I-24 from now on.  We are going to look at other possible routes for our trip back in the fall.

Arriving home, we found everything to be in order except the guest restroom toilet kept leaking every five minutes and filling the tank back up.  It was the flapper. I bought a new flapper after church on Sunday and installed it. Problem corrected.

Sunday after church we unpacked the car and truck. We now have lots of items to dispose of out the fifth wheel. Most will go to the thrift store. Sunday was a beautiful day - sunny and in the 60s. I mowed the grass and then grilled some pork steaks while sitting on the deck with an adult beverage. It is good to be home. Now I have to get everything together to get my taxes prepared. ARGH!