July 31 - August 9th - Fort Wayne, Indiana, Visit, Sterling, Michigan, Campout, RV Repairs

Fort Wayne, Indiana:

On the 31st we drove to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to visit friends, Jim and Marilyn Edds. Before leaving on Saturday the 29th I happened to check the tire pressures on Homer and found one of the rear duals totally flat. It was 11:00 a.m. I quickly got online and found that my tire place was open until 1:00 p.m. so I immediately called and asked that if I got the tire to them could they fix it. Ben told me they would work me in. I tried to get the tire off to take it in rather than driving Homer there with one dual tire flat but I was totally unable to break any of the lug nuts with my impact wrench. I drove Homer into town. They got on it right away and found a bad valve stem. If I hadn’t checked the tires on Saturday our trip north would have been delayed on Monday until after the tire was fixed. As it turned out we were able to leave early Monday as originally planned. We arrived in Fort Wayne around 5:00 p.m. Here is a picture of Homer mooch docking in Jim and Marilyn’s driveway.

I am happy to report an investment I made last year in Homer paid off in Indiana because was really hot. To run the AC in Homer you normally need 30-amp power. Most residential homes don’t have that. I installed a Softstart on Homer’s AC unit last year. It electronically cuts down the power draw when the AC compressor starts so you can run it on less amperage. We plugged it into an outlet in Jim’s garage and the AC worked fine. Yippee. Then, after ten minutes, it tripped the circuit breaker in the extension cord. Bummer. I thought about it then decided the problem was that the fridge was still on electric. When it kicked on, it, along with the AC unit, it was too much of a draw. I turned the fridge on gas, reset the breaker, and was well. Homer cooled down great.

I am always up early. Each morning at Jim and Marilyn’s I was able to sit out in the morning on their new porch and enjoy the view. Nothing but grass and corn behind their house.

Before I left home I thought the chassis battery was not fully charging. I pulled it out and load tested it. It tested just on the “weak” side, so I charged it up. It was holding 12.9 volts, so I put it back in. I checked my records and the battery was seven years old, put in just after we bought Homer. Once at Jim’s he said he thought the battery sounded a little weak so we pulled it out and headed to AutoZone for a replacement. I hope this one lasts seven years.

On Wednesday we decided to take a drive to Roanoke, Indiana, to check out the shops and maybe buy some Wagyu beef. Kelly has been wanting to try some for a long time. It is very expensive beef. The store clerk suggested we buy the burgers for our first experience. I think they were $30.00 per pound. We didn’t buy any then but walked down the street and visited a few other shops. Roanoke is about fifteen miles from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and they have done a wonderful job of developing their main street with lots of nice shops and businesses. Here are a couple of pictures.

It was time for lunch so we backtracked to the nearby TwoEE’s Winery. Here is a selfie of us as we arrived. We were looking directly into the sun so it was hard to see the picture and hard not to squint.

We had a complimentary tasting of two wines and ordered a charcuterie plate. It was quite good. We then headed back to Roanoke to pick up some Wagyu beef to take home. We bought frozen burgers to enjoy back home. Back at Jim and Marilyn’s we hung out in the comfort of air-conditioning.  We were going to go out for supper but a huge rainstorm moved in so we just feasted on leftovers.

When it was time to hit the sack that evening upon walking out to Homer we instantly realized that we had screwed up. We forgot that our canvas folding chairs were left sitting out. They were dripping wet. We unfolded them and set them up in the garage to dry overnight before traveling.

It is always great to see Jim and Marilyn and exchange stories about what we and our kids and grandkids have been doing since the last visit.

Sterling, Michigan:

Thursday morning we headed North to Sterling, Michigan. Our intent was to surprise some Michigan friends (who winter with us in Florida) at a campout they were having over the weekend. They have been going to this same campground each year to tube down the river. We learned about it from friend, Lee. After he told us there was room for us to join the group, Kelly and I decided to drive up and join them as a surprise. Only Lee was in on the surprise. On our way up Lee advised that David and Jean may not come due to David having gout in his knee. He panicked and called sister, Janet to tell her that we were coming. He asked her to convince David and Jean to come for the surprise. Soon after learning that that had transpired, I received a message from David. I misread the message to say that he knew we were coming. I asked how it leaked out but fortunately he didn't know what I was talking about, so he didn't respond.

We arrived at the campout early Thursday afternoon. After checking in I wanted to dump because the campsites did not have sewer. I pulled the valve for the black tank and all came out well. I pulled the valve for the gray tank and water came out everywhere. When I looked it was plain to see that the pipe from the gray tank valve was broken.

I looked to see what could have caused this pipe to fracture and found fresh grass and mud in the strap holding the black water drain. The arrow points to the area.

The drain is much lower than the bumper and clearly someone had backed into a grass area and hit the black tank drain. It had to be someone at the repair shop because I had not had Homer off the pavement since our campout last month when I dumped with no issue. To get us through this trip I duct taped the pipe over the weekend.

Duct tape is not water tight so when I dumped upon leaving on Sunday, it leaked a little but no big deal. Gray water making a little mess is much better than black (poop) water doing it.

We set up Homer in a spot Lee suggested. George and Janet arrived next and set up their trailer. Then Chris and Marge arrived. While driving down the hill to the campground Chris recognized Homer and told Marge "That's Bullerdieck's motorhome - Homer". It was great fun to surprise them. They set up next to us. David and Jean did not arrive until the Friday and were surprised to see us as well. It was great fun knowing that at least two of the couples had no idea we would be there.

The sites they had at River View Campground & Canoe Livery overlooked the river which is busy, busy, busy with tubers and canoers all weekend. Here are a couple of pictures.

The Michigan clan had tubed this river for many years but now are content just watching the youngsters float by with their coolers of beer and music. 

Friday was David and Jean's 50th Anniversary. Marge set up a tent, a banner, a feast, and had Champaigne to celebrate. Here are pictures of the banner, the happy couple, and Marge making a toast to 50 years of wedded bliss.

Marge, as always, did a great job. It was really sweet of her to set this all up for her little sister.

Since the tent and banner were near the water, all day Friday and Saturday as tubers came by, they all wished Jean and David a Happy Anniversary. It was great fun to raise a drink to them as they went by.

Friday evening we had a fire and listened to music from our generation. The "Anniversary Couple" had a nice dance on the grass in the dark.

Some years back Jean had purchased gag gifts for all the attendees. Rick's was a hat that lit up. He had it with him and wore it as well as his apron on Friday night. He was feeling no pain.

Saturday was our 51st Anniversary and we enjoyed sharing it with this formerly raucous crowd. It was quite hot during the day so several of us waded across the river and sat in the water in our chairs watching the youngsters enjoy their float. I was pleasantly surprised at how well-behaved all the revelers were although clearly many of them had been drinking all day. 

I took some pictures of the couples we "partied" with this weekend. We know all of them, except Rick and Rose, from Florida and treasure their friendships.

David and Jean:

Chris and Marg:

Janet and George:

Lee and Sherrie:

Julie and Terry:

New acquaintances, Rose and Rick:

 

Saturday morning Chris made "Sausage Egg McMuffins" for all. They were fabulous. Sadly, this is the group's last year at this park after coming here for over 25 years. The park has been sold and new rules about reservations, etc., have been put in place that aren't conducive to how this group likes to camp. We were honored to have been with them for their last "Hurrah".

We left early Sunday morning headed for home some 700 miles South. In Indiana we started to look for a place to stop for the night. Kelly got online and found a private campground up the road. Just then a sign came up for Lieber State Recreation Area. We love state parks but often they are too far off the highway to drive to while on a mission to get somewhere. This park ended up only being about three miles off the Interstate. Perfect. It was a Sunday night and they had lots of spaces available. The attendant put us on a nicely shaded lot. It was hot but we still scrounged around for firewood. I rooted around in Homer to find some cardboard for kindling. We ended up having a nice fire.

As we were packing up Saturday night George had given us four Michigan hot dogs, buns, onions, and mustard packs, for a meal on the way home. Once the fire was roaring Kelly made dinner.

We were hungry and enjoyed the dogs immensely. A great meal on the road home.

On Monday we had to stop in St. Louis to pick up my medicine at the Siteman Center. We took the opportunity to have lunch with our daughter. Alexa. After a nice visit with her, and an obligatory trip through Costco, we made the last leg of our journey arriving home at 3:00 p.m. As we arrived at the house a thunderstorm moved in. We were only able to empty the refrigerator before the rain hit.

It was another truly enjoyable RV trip. The Michigan bunch are like family. Hanging out with them in their native environment for several days was a blast. We look forward to seeing most of them in Florida again this winter. 

Finally, Homer issues this trip:

Homer averaged 8.1 mpg for 1450 miles at 65 mph. Can't complain although used a lot of fuel. I didn't add up the cost of fuel. LOL

The ignition on Homer was acting up before we left home. The inside cylinder wasn't always moving in sync with the lock you turn on the outside of the steering column. The key would stick in at times and a couple of times the cylinder didn't want to move forward enough to start the engine.  (A little scarry when you are on the road.) An ignition switch replacement is a pretty easy fix, so I called today and made an appointment for a new one to be installed on Monday. I could probably install it myself but I have other projects taking up my time and a visit to the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow for a look at my injured knee. 

Kelly and I went to Cape Girardeau this morning to retrieve the lawn mower that had been in the shop for warranty repairs for several weeks. While in Cape we looked for 1 1/2-inch ABS sewer pipe to fix the broken holding tank drain. We went to Lowes, a plumbing supply house, an RV sales and service center, and to Menard's. Only Menard's had the pipe. All but the plumbing supply house had the fittings. I found that interesting. Fittings but no pipe. Strangely the ABS pipe at Menard's did not fit the 1 1/2 fittings snuggly as it should. It was just smaller in diameter. Too small just for glue to fill in the space I'm afraid. I bought a piece of the pipe anyway and a rubber-metal sleeve to connect the new piece of pipe to the old piece of pipe. I'm hoping the new pipe fits into the old fitting on the tank snuggly. If it doesn't, I will have a problem. We got home and I decided to order another piece of ABS pipe and fitting from Amazon, hoping they will be better quality and a proper fit. If they are I will take the other pipe back to Menard's. The Menard's pipe is very cheap Chinese plastic crap and even the salesman could not believe that the pipe did not fit into the fittings snuggly. I have 1 1/2-inch PVC pipe but I have learned that it can only be connected to ABS with a rubber clamp. I have a connection in an elbow so that won't work. According to internet sources the two types of pipes cannot be glued together. I also learned that PVC fittings can be heated up to get broken pieces out, ABS cannot. I am going to have fun getting the old broken pieces out. It will be a few days before everything gets here. Our next campout is August 22nd so wish me luck!   

 

July 14th - July 23rd - California or Bust (and Back)

On the fourteenth we took off for California to deliver the car we bought for grandson, Kellen, for his 16th birthday. It is a 2014 Toyota Camry that had 158,000 miles on it when we left Perryville. The trip out is 2100 miles. In conjunction with the drive out we rented a house in Sacramento, California, where the entire family could meet and hang out for a week. While we were driving out our daughter, Alexa, from St. Louis flew out.

2100 miles is a long trip to do in a short time. I planned on 500 miles per day, about all I want to drive (or sit) anymore. Our first stop was in Lincoln, Nebraska. We got a decent hotel, rested up, and after a nice continental breakfast headed on down the road early the next day.

Our next stop was Laramie, Wyoming. Laramie was quite a different experience. There were four hotels near the Interstate. Unfortunately, one was worse than the other. We spotted a Travel Lodge and headed there. It was so bad looking from the outside that I wouldn't even drive on to the parking lot. The entire place looked like a poorly maintained homeless shelter. Behind it was a Motel 6. It didn't look much better but I went in anyway. It was $130.00 per night. I passed. We crossed the Interstate and stopped at the "Budget Inn". The lobby seemed "okay", so we got a room. We drove around the back to where our room was located and the area looked like an abandoned warehouse grounds. We opened the outside door to the hall and found a nasty, dirty, long, hallway. Our room was the first one inside the door. Hopefully, the room would be better than the hallway. It wasn't. The carpeting was all stained and the bathroom looked like it hadn't seen any maintenance in decades. There were no trash cans, no nothing but two crappy beds. But we were beat and there was no other place around to go so we stayed. We were hungry so we drove around looking for a place to eat. Nearby there was an old, barn-shaped building called "Buffalo Indian Restaurant". There were no cars on the parking lot, which isn't usually a good sign. Kelly loves Indian food and I'm okay with it, so we stopped. Here is a picture of Kelly going in. Not very appealing from the outside.

At 4:00 p.m. we were the only customers but it was clear that a lot of their business was take-out. The place was immaculately clean and well-maintained although the decor was quite outdated. The menu was great. Here is a picture of the food, which was outstanding, and way more than we could eat. It ended up being a great choice.

We got up early the next day to check out of this hell hole of a motel. We went to the front desk, checked out, and inquired about any continental breakfast. The lady pointed to a bowl on the counter with "Cheerios Bars" in it and then to a coffee pot. This was their "breakfast". Why was I surprised.

Our next stop was in Coalville, Utah, where we found a wonderful "Best Western" motel. It was pretty new, very clean and well-maintained. We were on the third floor and had a view toward the mountains, rather than of the RV park behind the motel. Here is a picture.

The next morning we got up and had a great continental breakfast before heading West once again. We had time so we stopped to tour "Fort Bridger State Historic Site" in Fort Bridger, Wyoming. It was really quite interesting. It started out as a trading post in 1843 established by Jim Bridger on the Blacks Fork of the Green River. It became a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail, and Mormon Trail, and for the Pony Express. It was a military post until 1890. 

Here is a picture of Kelly by one of the "freight" covered wagons. They were quite large in comparison to family wagons.

Pony Express horses were stabled here. This is a picture of the stable from the outside and a picture of the windows that they threw the food through from the outside. I had never seen that before.

Bridger built a school house for his children, which was the first school in Wyoming. Here is a picture. The school was the taller portion of the building in the picture.

Today Fort Bridger State Park contains 37 acres and 27 historic structures, all accessible on a self-guided tour. Here is a picture of the "Guard House" and the "Commissary".  It was all quite interesting.

Just in front of the fort there is a set of buildings that were a motel in the 1930s with garages to get your car out of the sun. The accommodations were quite sparse. Here are a few pictures. 

From Fort Bridger we headed to Virginia City, Nevada. We looked online and there weren't many motel options so we immediately booked a room at the "Sugarloaf Mountain Motel". (Good thing we did because it filled up.) On the website there was only a picture of the motel sign, not the motel itself. When we drove up, we found the place to be an old, one-story motel like you saw in the 1940s along all the highways. Here are a couple of pictures.

When we walked up to the office a lady was sitting outside. She said it was her day off and told us to push the button and someone would respond. A nice gentleman came from the house next door and opened the office and checked us in. We were in Room 10 (out of 12). Despite being old-style, it was really well-maintained, and the rooms had clearly been recently updated. The room was very clean and quite small yet had everything we needed - a nice bed, a room air-conditioner, Wi-Fi, a nice TV, microwave, refrigerator, and an extremely nice, updated bathroom.  

Upon inquiring we were told of a nice place to eat within walking distance. It was early so before supper we decided to take a drive to check out the town. It is a typical tourist town with buildings on both sides of the street on the side of a mountain. The town plays up its old, miner town heritage and has a lot of Victorian buildings from the 19th century. There is a mine tour and a train ride. We didn't have interest in doing either. Here is Kelly walking along the boardwalk. Lots of places to drink, eat and buy souvenirs.

The mines in the town were owned by the Comstock Mining Company. Back in the day the miners were mostly Irish so the town has a huge, Catholic church - "St. Mary in the Mountains". Here is a picture of the outside.

It was built in 1857 and all but the brick walls burned in a huge town fire a few years later. It was quickly rebuilt. You can see why it burned so badly since the roof and all structure inside are wood. Here are some pictures. It is a beautiful church still being used.

After our little tour we had a nice meal at a Mexican/American restaurant and turned in for the night. 

The last leg of our trip was into Sacramento, California.  While we were driving the day before the "Required Maintenance" light came on in the car. A quick look in the manual indicated it was time for an oil change. We arrived in Sacramento before we could get in the house so to kill time, we went to get the oil changed. $116.00 for an oil and filter change on a four-cylinder car. 

We arrived at the rental house at the same time as the Wiseman Clan (Adam, Annie, Violet and Wren). Erin, Larry, Kellen and Free arrived about an hour later because they didn't want to wake Free up from his nap. We all chose bedrooms and hauled everything in. Erin brought a bushel basket of snacks. We brought beer, wine, whiskey, and Margurita mix. Adam and Annie brought breakfast food. We ordered pizza one night, Chinese another night.  Alexa made Tacos and re-fried beans one night, and Adam made home-made pasta and salad another night. All were delicious. 

We had a great time visiting with the kids and grandkids all week. The pool was small but the grandkids couldn't get enough of it. Being in a pool was a first for Free and after a while he warmed up to the idea. Here is a picture of Kelly keeping him entertained.

The girls absolutely loved the water. Violet, age 5, learned to dive in and to swim to Alexa in the middle of the pool. Here are a couple of pictures of Violet diving in.

With the help of Alexa Wren learned how to put her face in the water. She was a hoot. She would put her face in, get out, and walk over to me, and tell me what she did "all by myself". She did that over and over again. Lots of energy.

Kelly and our girls enjoyed the water as well.  Here is a picture of Erin's clan in the water.

The week passed quickly and Friday morning we headed to Tracy, California to get the car registered in California and to spend the night at Erin's before flying back to Missouri on Saturday. We went to the DMV in Tracy, which Erin said was the quickest one she has been to in California. We spent three hours waiting to get the car gifted over and registered. We had everything we needed except a smog test. Online it said you didn't need a smog test if the car was a gift but that ended up only applying to California cars. Monday Erin will have to get it smog tested and then wait in line again to pick up the plates. It cost $263.00 for plates, which I thought was high, but everything is high in California. Gas was $6.35 per gallon. August 8th she will go back there again to take Kellen to get his driving permit. There is only one DMV office in Tracy, a town of 100,000. Fortunately, once registered renewals can be done online.

Heading Home: 

We got up early Saturday and Erin drove us to the Oakland airport for the flight home. We flew Spirit Airlines and paid $40.00 in advance to check one bag. Upon arriving we had to weigh our bag and it was overweight, so we had to pay another $75.00! Crazy - $115.00 just for one bag. Spirit also charges for carry-on bags so you can't beat them. It is very difficult now to fly non-stop from California to St. Louis. We had to fly to Las Vegas for a two-hour layover then on to St. Louis. This was our first time flying Spirit Airlines and we found out that Spirit provides nothing - no water, no snacks, nothing. If you want a water or something else, you have to pay for it. We also found the seats to be totally awful. They looked nice but were basically leather stretched over a wooden board. By the time we arrived in St. Louis my butt was absolutely killing me. 

Kelly's sister, Joan, had our car at her house and came to pick us up at the airport. She had great sandwiches ready for us. It was 8:30 p.m. and we hadn't eaten since noon. We enjoyed sandwiches and then drove home. The entire trip flying was seventeen hours from the time we left Erin's at 7:00 a.m. until we got into Perryville at midnight. The drive from Perryville to the bay area is thirty hours. We could have driven over halfway home in that amount of time. I hate the hassle of flying but it is cheaper and easier than four, five-hundred-mile days by car. 

We will see the Wiseman Clan (Adam, Annie, Violet, and Wren) when they fly into St. Louis for a wedding in October. We don't know when we will see Erin's Clan next. Thank goodness for video calls so we can see our California kids and grandkids on a regular basis.