Change in Plans - Houston, Here We Come

We're on our way to Houston. My VA appointment for December 3rd in Tennessee was cancelled and my Mom is really not doing well. So we said goodbye to Key West and we're making our way to Texas.

In the interest of making good time, we decided to overnight at rest stops instead of using campgrounds. In Florida, you can legally spend the night at any rest stop that has night-time security. Truckers take advantage of this and so do RVers.

Our first stop was Sumter County Rest Area off I-75 northbound, a few miles south of Bushnell. This stop is 455 miles from Key West, with slow going up and out of the keys and then west across the state through the Everglades. We stopped for lunch at a visitors center in the Everglades and then continued on. We finally got to the rest area around 7PM, after about 10 hours on the road.

We resumed our journey fairly early this morning, and we've made it to the Pensacola area. We're spending the night at another rest stop. We hope to make it to Houston by tomorrow (Sunday) night. This will be a drive of around 550 miles, but will be easy going all the way on I-10 with a steady pace of 60-65mph.

RV Fire Safety

RVs tend to be fairly high-risk for fire because many have heat-absorption refrigerators, use on-board liquid propane systems, and the electrical systems are prone to failure due to stress from vibration and temperature changes.

An RV on fire is like a burning Christmas tree: it goes up fast and burns incredibly hot. For many of us, the biggest concern regarding an RV fire is that we can get out as fast as possible. This means our lives may depend on the effectiveness of on-board warning devices such as smoke detectors, CO2 alarms, and LP detectors. Fire extinguishers also need to be accessible - not necessarily to put out the fire, but to help buy time so we can get out of the motor home.

Anyway, we've spent a fair amount of time over the past couple weeks working to improve our fire prevention and safety equipment.

We started by replacing the 11-year old Carbon Monoxide alarm and the Propane Gas detector. A lot of RV owners don't replace these units, although they are known to fail after 10 years. They won't save your life if they do not work! We test these units once a month.

We also installed three Dual Sensor Photoelectric and Ionization Smoke Alarms: one in the cockpit area, one in the kitchen area, and one in the bedroom. Compared to just an ionization- or photoelectric-based alarm, a dual sensor alarm can detect both flaming and smoldering fires, therefore providing better fire safety protection. We test these units once a month also.

We keep a Sodium Bicarbonate powder-type B-C Auto/Marine fire extinguisher mounted by the door to the RV. We turn and bounce this extinguisher on the floor once a month to prevent the powder from hardening in the cylinder, and we also check the pressure gauge to verify the charge is still sufficient.

We also keep two foam-type A:B:C Multiple Use Fire Suppressant extinguishers in the bedroom. In theory, we could spray ourselves with this foam and run through fire to get out of the RV. They can also be used to put out stove-top fires. We check the expiration dates each month and will replace at that time.

The leading cause of RV fires are malfunctions with heat-absorption refrigerators. With this in mind, I installed a Halon autorelease fire extinquisher in the refrigerator compartment. If the ambient temperature exceeds 155°F (indicating a fire has erupted), this extinguisher will spew Halon in a 360-degree pattern to put out the fire. I check this unit once a month when parked for extended periods of time. I also check that it is still securely attached every time we reach a new destination.

In total, we invested around $430 on the above equipment. I would have spent twice that amount if needed - and I sleep better at night knowing our fire safety equipment is up-to-date and effective.

Key West Cemetary

Lynda and I rode our bikes to the Key West Cemetery and spent a couple hours visiting graves and enjoying the serenity. We come here every time we are in Key West - it is one of our favorite places.

This cemetery was founded in 1847 following a hurricane the previous year that destroyed the earlier cemetery located near present day Higgs Beach. To protect from future flooding, the 19-acre cemetery was located on Solares Hill, the highest natural elevation in Key West (18 feet above sea level). 

An estimated 75,000 people are interred here, divided among parcels that reflect the cultural diversity that continues to characterize the city of Key West today. The cemetery contains a historic Catholic section, Jewish section, the USS Maine Plot dedicated in 1900, and the Los Martires de Cuba, a memorial for those who fought in the 1868 Cuban revolution.

In addition to these defined areas, African Americans, Cubans and Americans, rich and poor, are interred throughout. In-ground and crypt style graves range from simple concrete copings filled with soil to elaborate monuments. Plot enclosures of wrought iron, wood, or concrete were often used to mark family plots.

Life Interrupts

Fran and John had to leave Key West unexpectedly. Fran is having some health issues and so they've gone up to Miami. They are great people and we'll miss them both; John promised to keep us updated on Fran's health, and we are sending prayers and positive thoughts her way.

And I need to go to Houston; my Mom's health has been poor and then she fell yesterday and broke her hip. I want to spend some time with her and my sisters could use some help. Not sure yet how this will unfold; we're still working it all out. Lynda is suggesting we leave Key West and go to Houston.

The irony is that we thought we would be in Key West for another four weeks and have been slow about doing the things on our To Do and See in Key West list. Oh well, I'm sure we will be back again sometime and we cannot control everything.

Having Fun, and Getting Things Done

View from site

We've been here in Key West for almost two weeks and we're really enjoying ourselves. We ended up spending only two nights in the Overflow area before rotating to a full hook-up site. We were lucky to get a site on the end of a row with a clear view of the ocean. Here is a photo of our sunset view.

Shortly after arriving in Key West, I decided to make up a batch of Bajan Rum Punch and introduce Fran and John to the merits of this libation. I do believe they enjoyed it, and I know Lynda certainly did!

The infamous annual Fantasy Fest kicked off right about the time we arrived in Key West. Despite the rainy weather, the festivities were in full swing and so we decided we should at least take a look. So we went into Old Town with Fran and John. I have to be honest and say this just isn't my thing, at least not anymore. 25 years ago, I might have participated (ha!) but now I'm of the opinion that most people should keep their clothes on at all times. In any event, it was still entertaining to watch the spectators' reactions to some of the more outrageous costumes and antics.

Lynda, Fran, John

As we were walking out of town, we went by the Schooner Wharf Bar and happened to hear Raven Cooper belting out a Janis Joplin song. Well that was it for us... we went in, ordered a beer and settled in for a while.

Raven Cooper

Turns out it was Woodstock night, and Raven did an amazing job singing songs by legends such as Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Joan Baez, Joe Cocker, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

Fran and John took us kayaking a few days ago at the Naval Air Station marina on Boca Chica. They have their own double kayak, and Lynda and I rented single kayaks from the marina. It was a fun afternoon, but very breezy and so we kept to sheltered areas. We plan to go again in a couple weeks.

Kayaking at Boca Chica

We wrapped up the afternoon with cold beer and hot food from the Navigator Bar and Grill, all to the sweet sound of Navy FA-18 Super Hornets launching and landing.

We've been enjoying taking the dogs for long walks around the campground, and just love the laid-back pace of the area. We've also been riding our bikes all over the place. For the past few months, both our bikes have been plagued by flat tires and then John showed me some tricks for easily replacing the inner tubes. Viola! No more flat tires!

A few nights ago, Fran and John taught us a complicated but intriguing card game called Hand & Foot. I partnered with Fran and we soundly thrashed John and Lynda! Hmmmm... maybe I shouldn't gloat; we might get destroyed next time.

Lynda and I were excited to make dinner reservations at Bliss Restaurant, just off Duvall Street. We had read excellent reviews that indicated this restaurant served Latin-Caribbean food, which I love love love. Long story short, our meals were OK but there was nothing particularly special on the menu in the way of Latin or Caribbean dishes. I will admit the Sangria was excellent, but would expect nothing less at $10 a glass. I doubt we'll go back to Bliss - there are so many other restaurants in Key West, why bother with just "OK"?

Now that we've been living in the motor home for a couple months, we've been fine-tuning where/how we store things and generally getting more settled in. And I've also been puttering with minor repairs and tweaks - for example, I replaced the bathroom vent's fan motor and blade assembly and it now spins so quietly we hardly notice when the vent fan is running.

We're Here! Key West, FL

We drove down from Marathon to Key West this morning, and made our way onto the Navy Base which occupies most of Dredgers Key. We're checked in at the campground and temporarily camping in the Overflow area, awaiting a spot with full hooks-ups. I think it will only be one or two nights before we rotate into a regular campsite.

Every winter, beginning in October and going until around April, hundreds of retired military snowbird RVers make their way to the Naval Air Station Key West Campground. At a cost of only $23 per day in one of the best winter locations in the Lower 48, Key West is the destination of choice for many of us. But it does get crowded.

To ensure everyone gets a fair shot at enjoying the facilities, this campground has a 14-day rotation policy. This means a camper occupies a full hook-up site for 14 days and then rotates out to the Overflow area until space becomes available so they can rotate back in for another 14 days. This early in the winter, campers usually wait in Overflow for only 2-3 nights before a full hook-up site becomes available. In the peak of the winter, January and February, campers can wait in Overflow as long as 30 days.

The Overflow area is a large meadow on the north side of Dredgers Key, overlooking the ocean. It's nice out here and the fact that we don't have any hook-ups is no big deal. We have plenty of fresh water and holding tank space and two generators at our disposal: the on-board Onan, a 7KW generator that uses close to a gallon of gas per hour, and a portable Honda eu2000i generator that can run on a gallon of gas for up to 8 hours. The Honda generator provides enough power for everything except the AC unit. But, we don't need air conditioning as the temperature is around 75F and it's very breezy. Our Honda eu2000i generator is brand new and so I had to get it ready for first time use. She runs like a boss!

After getting settled in, we went over to the full hook-up area and found Fran and John. They've been here for 3 or 4 days and rotated into a full hook-up site yesterday. We have plans to get together with them tomorrow.

Turtle Hospital and Dolphin Research Center - Marathon, FL

Despite the stressful drive through downtown Miami, we made it safe and sound to Marathon yesterday afternoon.

For several years, we've been interested in visiting the Turtle Hospital and the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon but always managed to miss them because we were either on our way to Key West or making our way back north from Key West. So this time around we decided to stop over in Marathon for a couple nights on our way to Key West.

We've been staying at the Marathon Coast Guard Station and it's OK, but not great. With the clarity of hindsight, it would have made more sense to go on to Key West and then drive back up to Marathon in the car. However to approach it, the bottom line is that we really enjoyed both the the Turtle Hospital and the Dolphin Research Center.

We went to the Turtle Hospital this morning and spent a couple hours there. They did an excellent job taking our group around the facility to visit various sick and recovering turtles, and educating us about various turtle species and man-made environmental impacts that threaten these marine animals.

It was also fascinating to learn how they nurse the turtles back to health, and the various types of tricky surgeries veterinarians and medical technicians routinely perform to save lives.

After the Turtle Hospital, we drove about 15 minutes to the Dolphin Research Center (DRC) on Grassy Key. We enjoyed this experience also. The Center is larger and more commercialized than the Turtle Hospital, but is still very focused on its mission as an education and research facility. In addition to Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins (of Flipper fame), the Center is also home to several California sea lions. These sea lions were either born at the facility, or were rescued and then deemed unreleasable and now have a forever home at the Center.

The Dolphin Research Center is the only state and federal government authorized Manatee Rescue Team in the Florida Keys. In this role, the facility may provide short-term (48 hour) rehabilitation or holding for manatees but they more typically transport injured and distressed manatees to designated rehabilitation facilities.

Visitors to the Dolphin Research Center can sign up for various tours in addition to general admission. We just went with the general admission and still found lots of interesting things to see, such as trainers working with the dolphins and demonstrating their intelligence.

How to Get Through Miami to the Florida Keys

We left Patrick Air Force Base this morning and made our way south to Marathon, Florida.

Since being in Florida, we've been avoiding the Florida Turnpike (toll roads) because they can get expensive when traveling with a motor home pulling a car. Also, the Turnpike can be a hassle since several sections are no longer manned and you must have exact change or a Sunpass. And I find it confusing that some (but not all) parts of the Turnpike allow Toll-by-Plate, whereby you can just drive through without a Sunpass and you'll get a bill in the mail for the tolls you incurred.

Anyway, avoiding the toll roads is generally very easy to do and does not add significant driving time. Except driving though Miami on the way to the Florida Keys. What happens is that I-95 ends and dumps you onto a 15-mile stretch in the middle of Miami. Driving in Miami is not much fun under the best of circumstances, and it is certainly no fun at all in a motor home pulling a car.

In past trips to Key West, we remembered to get onto the Turnpike at Ft Peirce and avoid the madness of Miami. But this time I somehow forgot - what a mistake! I won't let that happen again next time.

Magnets and Norcold Refrigerators

While we were staying at Manatee Cove Campground (Patrick Air Force Base),  it started raining one afternoon. If you've ever spent time in Florida, you know the rain comes down with a vengeance! After a couple hours of this downpour, I noticed our Norcold refrigerator was no longer working. By this time, it was after 7PM.

I verified that power was running, etc., and then checked the outside compartment. This is when I noticed an LED was illuminated on the Norcold  high temperature sensor retrofit, which is intended to prevent fires (it does not).

LED on Retrofit box

After doing some research, I learned this is a common problem. That is, moisture can trigger an error state in the retrofit box, and shut down the 12VDC power to the refrigerator. Regardless of whether the refrigerator is running in the LP or the AC mode, 12VDC must be available for the system to work.

Fortunately, the error can usually be cleared by holding a strong magnet on the retrofit box, to the right of the LED. After 10-30 seconds, the magnet will cause the circuit board relay to reset and clear the error.

But I did not have a magnet and the one I borrowed from a neighbor was not strong enough. So I made a jumper to bypass the retrofit box and get us through the night. This was only a very short term fix, and I do NOT recommend this approach. If a fire does start, the insurance company would likely deny the claim because the Norcold retrofit was bypassed.

The following afternoon, after getting back from boating with our friends, I went to the nearest Ace Hardware and got a magnet. Worked like a charm!

Fun Times on the Florida Spacecoast

After just one night at the Escapees Sumter Oaks RV Park, we made our way east to the Manatee Cove Campground at Patrick Air Force Base.

When I was a young airman, fresh out of technical training in June 1982, my first duty station was Patrick Air Force Base. I really enjoyed the two-plus years I spent in the Cocoa Beach area... what 22-year old would not? I still have friends in the area and whenever we're in Florida we stop and visit.

Sunset from our campsite

Manatee Cove Campground is a nice campground. Depending on what site you get, you may be on the water or not. Worse case, you'll be within a 3-minute walk and so it's all good. This time around we got a site right on the water, two spots away from our friends Fran and John. They are also heading to Key West and we've been trailing a few days behind them since Jacksonville. They got back on the road to continue south the day after we got to Patrick Air Force Base.

Once we were settled in at the campground, we went with Fran and John to eat in one of the base Dining Halls. The food was pretty good and you can't beat the price - $5.00 for a full meal with drink.

The next day, Tuesday, we caught up on chores such as laundry. It rained buckets that afternoon and this is when we experienced the Norcold refrigerator retrofit moisture issue. I explain this in the post Magnets and Norcold Refrigerators.

Raye, Paulie, Denise, Consuelo, Lynda

On Wednesday morning, we met up with friends Raye, Denise and  Paulie to go fishing. Paulie is Denise's 18-year old son and he is an avid fisherman and very competent boater. We had a really good time and it was so nice to be out on the water! Paulie took us out to sea via Sebastian Inlet but the water was a little rougher than we liked, so we headed back to the more sheltered waters of the Indian River. We tooled along and caught and released a few small fish. It was very relaxing, and I am so impressed with the man that Paulie is becoming. Denise has done a great job raising him!

That same evening, we all met up at Tammy and Debbie's house which is on the river in Grant, FL. They recently bought this property and renovations are underway. It will be a lovely home when they're finished. We all went to dinner at the Old Fish House Bar & Grill and enjoyed some good food and great company! I've known Denise and Tammy for over 32 years and we are still the girls we used to be! Life is good.

Next stop: Marathon, FL.

Weighed the Motor Home

We left Jacksonville yesterday and made our way to the Escapees Sumter Oaks RV Park in Bushnell, Florida. We had an appointment to have the Dolphin weighed this morning, through the Escapees Smart Weigh program.

Weighmaster Gaylord Coston did a fine job weighing our Dolphin and car, and going over the information with me. He also measured the height of the motor home, which is good to know.

It turns out that we are 400 pounds under max weight, which is almost exactly what I had calculated! And our tire pressure is right on the money as well, according to Michelin's Load and Inflation chart.

So we're in good shape providing we keep an eye on items we bring on board. We'll probably weigh the coach again in 6 months or so... weight can sneak up on you!

When we first arrived at the Oaks RV Park, we were perplexed by the layout of the campground. Turns out this used to be a mobile home (trailer) park before being converted to an RV park. Anyway, there is plenty of shade around the perimeter but the pull-through sites in the middle of the campground are open to the sun and heat. We would consider staying here for an extended period, provided we could get a shaded site.

Jacksonville and St Augustine, FL

After our brief stop in Charleston, we drove down to Jacksonville, Florida and we're staying at the Naval Air Station's Jacksonville RV Park.

We caught up with friends Fran and John, who were staying at another Naval Air Station campground, Osprey Cove RV Park.

Back in 2009, Lynda and I discovered Beach Road Chicken when we were visiting the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic. They claim to be the oldest restaurant in Jacksonville, and have been at the same location since 1939. Beach Road Chicken serves up very generous portions of family-style dinners of good ole' southern cookin', such as fried chicken, catfish, creamed peas, biscuits... etc. Everything is heart-stoppin' good, and we were determined to go back there again. Anyway, we picked up Fran and John and went to Beach Road Chicken for lunch - it was as good as we remembered!

Fran and John

After lunch, we drove to a so-called historic district which was supposed to offer an interesting area to park and walk around. We could not find it, and  ended up driving around. We came upon some beautiful old homes and so it turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon despite the false start.

Fran and John left the next day for Patrick Air Force Base... we will be just a few days behind them.

Before arriving in Jacksonville, I contacted a long-time friend, Kevin, who had moved to St Augustine about a year ago. We arranged to spend Saturday afternoon and evening with him in St Augustine, and I was really looking forward to seeing him!

Knowing that we would not be home from St Augustine until at least 10PM, we decided to board Sydney and Barley rather than leave them alone for 12 hours in the motor home. We dropped them off Saturday morning at the Jacksonville Airport Pet Paradise boarding kennel. Pet Paradise has facilities around the country at major airports. What makes them so useful is that you can drop off and/or pick up your pets on Sundays... most kennels do not offer Sunday service.

As it turned out, another friend, Bridget, had recently moved to Ponte Vedra Beach and so we met her for brunch at Beach Diner Saturday morning before driving south to St Augustine. We became friends with Bridget online several years ago when we were looking for a housesitter, but had never met her in person. We were so glad to have that time with her!

We met up with Kevin at his apartment in the old part of town around 1:30PM. We met his little dog, Walter, and then spent the next eight hours walking all over St Augustine, seeing both the touristy stuff and the off-the-beaten path things. Kevin's enthusiasm and love for St Augustine is so contagious! And he knows so much about this beautiful old town.

The weather was perfect. We ate a late lunch, popped into taverns for a beer every so often, got some pizza, walked around cemeteries, smoked cigars, visited Flagler College, etc. It was just an amazing time with my dear ole' friend. And, as you can see, Kevin and Lynda hit it off just fine!

We left St Augustine around 10PM and drove back to our Jacksonville campground  - we were exhausted and our feet were sore, but what a fun day we had!

We left Jacksonville this morning, after picking  Sydney and Barley up from Pet Paradise. They were happy to see us. Woof!

Charleston, SC - Angel Oak Tree and Crab Legs

After our week-long stop at Dreher Island State park, we made our way to the Joint Base Charleston RV Park.

As planned, we went to see the Angel Oak Tree, one of the oldest living trees in North America.
According to the web site, The Angel Oak is a Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) that is a native species found throughout the Lowcountry (Coastal Carolina). Believed to be in excess of 1500 years old, its massive, draping limbs and wide spreading canopy present the aura of an angel but the naming of this tree was acquired from the tree's previous owners, Martha and Justin Angel.

I have to admit that the Angel Oak was very impressive!

And we also enjoyed the drive from the base to Johns Island. I had forgotten how pretty the Oaks are in that part of South Carolina, with their scarves of Spanish Moss.

After visiting the Angel Oak Tree, we drove back to the campground and spent some time with the grrr-animals before going out to eat.



We both enjoy low country cooking and found a restaurant not too far from the base that served up some pretty good food!

 


We leave tomorrow for Jacksonville, Florida. We hope to visit an old friend in St Augustine, and catch up with RVing friends, Fran and John Kurz

Dreher Island State Park, SC - Fun with Friends!

We left Cove Lake State Park on September 30th and made our way to Dreher Island State Park, a few miles north of Columbia, South Carolina.

This was our first drive of significant distance in the motor home, and I was very pleased to see how well the Dolphin handled going through the Appalachian mountains between Tennessee and North Carolina. She hauled us and the car up and over with barely a shrug.

We lived in Columbia for many years before moving to Tennessee, and have stayed in touch with several  South Carolina friends who we were hoping to see. As it turned out, this has been a busy and fun-filled week!

We caught up with Sheila and Teresa over lunch at the Mediterranean Tea Room. And we spent a lot of time with Rhonda - she took us out on her boat at sunset, fed us several wonderful meals (and lots of wine), accompanied us to Octoberfest in Newberry, and hosted a dinner get-together with Sylvia  and Jeanie. We also got to visit with Catherine, and have a delicious brunch with Mimi.



Dreher Island State Park is on Lake Murray, and has two campground sections - A and B. We're staying in section A, in a site on the water. This is a lovely setting and we hope to camp here again sometime. The dogs have enjoyed it also - we took them swimming, which they love.

We also put Ursa's ashes into Lake Murray. Ursa, our much loved dog for 18 years, loved to swim in Lake Murray. And so it seemed fitting that her ashes become part of the lake. She passed away in 2009 and we've waited since then to go to Lake Murray.

This week has flown by... We're leaving tomorrow for Charleston, where we'll stay two nights so we can visit the Angel Oak Tree and enjoy some low country food.

Heading South for a Few Months

We returned to Cove Lake State Park campground for 10 days after visiting Cades Cove. We spent that time puttering around and fine-tuning a few things on the motor home. Now we're ready to head south for a few months. This means we're finally getting on the road!

Our final destination is Key West, Florida but we'll be making several stops along the way to visit friends and see some points of interest.

Our first stop will be Dreher Island State Park, a few miles north of Columbia, South Carolina. We're looking forward to visiting friends and expect to spend a week here - it will be fun!

Then we'll make our way to Joint Base Charleston RV Park and stay for just a couple nights... we want to visit the Angel Oak Tree, one of the oldest living trees in North America, and eat some delicious Charlestonion "low country" cooking.

After Charleston, we'll continue to Jacksonville, Florida and stay at the Naval Air Station's Jacksonville RV Park. We are looking forward to catching up with our friends, Fran and John, who are also heading to Key West for the winter. And we also hope to visit my longtime friend, Kevin, in St Augustine.

Then it's on to Bushnell, Florida for just one night; we have an appointment at the Escapees Sumter Oaks RV Park in Bushnell, Florida to have the Dolphin weighed.  I *think* we are under the manufacturer's recommended maximum weight by approximately 400 pounds but we need to make sure we're not overloaded as this would stress the engine, transmission, and braking system, and pose a safety risk.

After Bushnell, we will head to the Cocoa Beach area and stay at Manatee Cove Campground at Patrick Air Force Base. A loooong time ago, when I was a young airman new to the Air Force, this was my first duty station. I still have friends in the area and we always stop at Patrick Air Force base when we are in Florida.

Then it's on to Marathon, Florida where we'll stay a couple nights at the Marathon Coast Guard Station. We want to visit the Turtle Hospital and the Dolphin Research Center.

After stopping in Marathon, we'll drive about another hour south to the Naval Air Station Key West Campground (Sigsbee). This will be our third visit to Key West in an RV and we just love it down there! Tropical weather and foliage, great old architecture, lots of interesting history, fabulous food, and plenty of partying opportunities! Friends Fran and John will be there also and it's always fun to spend time with them.

We expect to stay in Key West until the end of November, at which point we'll head back to Tennessee for about a week (I have a medical appointment at the VA) before going to Houston, Texas to spend Christmas with my family.

Stay tuned!

There is Always Something That Needs Doin'

Anyone who has owned a boat or an RV knows that there is always something that needs doin'.  Even a well-maintained motor home has at least a short list of maintenance and repair items at any given time, and our Dolphin is no exception.

I do as much of the maintenance and repair work as I can... partly to save money, but mostly because if I do the work, then I know exactly what was done and how. Over the past several years, I've learned a lot about RV systems and have become pretty adept at taking care of most things myself. Online forums are a great resource for learning about troubleshooting and repairing RVs. In particular, I really like iRV2 which offers a collection of forums based on subject and RV type, and provides a wealth of information.

All that said, however, the first thing I did when we picked up the Dolphin was to arrange for a professional RV technician to inspect the liquid propane (LP) system. I wanted to be completely sure there were no leaks, and that the LP was going to the appliances at the correct pressure. In our Dolphin motor home, the 3-burner stove top, refrigerator, furnace, and hot water heater run off LP.

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Our refrigerator and hot water heater can also be operated using 110 VAC, and our Air Conditioning unit includes a heat pump we can use if the outside temperature is above 45F

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Anyway, Mike Richert from Onward RV Mobile Repair Service verified the LP system is in good shape and he also looked over the rest of the motor home... he was impressed by how nice it is and how well it has been maintained.

We've done some maintenance and repair work on the Dolphin since we've been here at Cove Lake, including:

• Added a Marshall Gas Controls MER472 Stay-Longer Propane Adapter Kit so we can use an external tank when parked for extended periods of time. This will save us from having to pack up to take the motor home to have the on-board propane tank re-filled
• Cleaned the roof and checked all the seals
• Lubricated the roof-mounted TV antenna
• Resealed the run-off gutters along the length of the coach
• Lubricated the steps, doors, locks, hinges
• Lubricated the awnings
• Tightened the screws and other fasteners inside the motor home 
• Sanitized the fresh water system
• Flushed the hot water heater and replaced the drain plug
• Lubricated the slides' rails and motors
• Put a brace under the bedroom slide to prevent the roller from wearing a groove in the fiberglass

There's more work to be done, but it can wait until we are settled in one place for a while over the winter.

Great Smoky Mountains - Cades Cove, TN

We've been in east Tennessee since 2001 and have thoroughly enjoyed living in this area. One of the biggest benefits for us was that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) was just an hour away from our house, including our much-loved Cades Cove.

The GSMNP is absolutely beautiful and spans the Smoky Mountains running through North Carolina and Tennessee. I highly recommend a visit to this national park, and Cades Cove in particular (although it can be very crowded during family vacation times).

We've camped at Cades Cove campground in our previous RV (Safari Trek) and now we're here in the Dolphin for four nights. We love it here!  But a word of caution, a lot of the campsites are on an incline and campers with larger RVs may not be able to level their rigs properly. This was this case with us, but we stayed anyway - just did not extend our slides-outs. Even a somewhat cramped visit to Cades Cove is still fabulous!

We drove around the Cades Cove loop today and went for a short hike at one point. As always, it is beautiful and peaceful up here. 

We Begin at Cove Lake State Park, TN

Because we ended up buying the RV so close to Labor Day, we decided to avoid the campground crowds
and wait until September 2nd to officially move into the Dolphin. 

One of our favorite campgrounds in east Tennessee is at Cove Lake State Park... we just love this place! We decided this would be the perfect setting for our "burn-in" period before we hit the road.

We are staying here for two weeks, going to Cades Cove for a few days, then back to Cove Lake for another week or so before we start making our way to Key West, Florida.

We are also using this time at Cove Lake Campground to host some get-togethers with friends before we get on the road. We expect to be gone from Tennessee for a year or so, and so we have a little sadness mixed in with our excitement.

Our Dinghy is Ready to Roll!

After considerable research, we confirmed that we would get a Honda CR-V as our "dinghy" or towed car. Even before we did the research, we knew this was what we wanted but it's always good to validate with information. We decided to focus on finding a 2005 model but, as it turns out, we bought a 2003.

We found this car at a local Knoxville dealer and only went to look at it because we were bored. But the car was in such great shape we decided to buy it!

The next step was to get the car configured to be towed - that is, install a base plate and wiring for independent lighting (brake lights, etc. powered by the motor home instead of the car battery). We decided to use an authorized Blue Ox dealer to take care of this for us. We ended up going to 1-Stop Automotive in Crossville, TN - the owner gave us a very competitive price on all the towing equipment (baseplate, wiring kit, towbar, cables, etc) and the installation. They did a great job!

We also needed a braking system for the car. Well, that was checked off the list when some friends of ours, out of the blue, gave us their gently used Brake Buddy Vantage Select system. What a generous gift!

Our New Home: 2004 National Dolphin LX

We picked up our new-to-us 2004 National RV Dolphin LX motor home yesterday!

This is a Class A-type RV that offers a very comfortable living space - complete with all the comforts of home: air conditioning, heating, hot water, 2-door fridge with freezers and icemaker, 3-burner stove top, convection oven/microwave combination unit, double sink, ceramic tile, Corian counter tops, entertainment system, etc. This motor home also has two slide-outs - one in the lounge/living area and one in bedroom.

Over the next two weeks, we'll be moving stuff into the RV and doing minor things to make her ours. Click here for more information about our new home.