Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Tomorrow Never Comes!
Baloney........
In about 15 hours we leave the drive of the Dutchy for the Illinois-Wisconsin area for our 1st long trip. Should be about a long two day drive, but we have planned three as it is our first road trip of consequence.
Several matters of interest or concern will be answered.......
How do we average (mph) over a day.....we go slower than when driving our car, but have less-frequent stops and eat aboard as well as sleep there.
How will the big 7.4 liter V-8 fare in the mountains leaving Chattanooga North on I-24? With our "Toad" behind us we are 22,000 pounds and 53 feet long.
How well will gears and brakes do coming back down out of the mountains?
Interesting and we'll drop you some words as we go and as wireless presents itself!
Duke
|
In about 15 hours we leave the drive of the Dutchy for the Illinois-Wisconsin area for our 1st long trip. Should be about a long two day drive, but we have planned three as it is our first road trip of consequence.
Several matters of interest or concern will be answered.......
How do we average (mph) over a day.....we go slower than when driving our car, but have less-frequent stops and eat aboard as well as sleep there.
How will the big 7.4 liter V-8 fare in the mountains leaving Chattanooga North on I-24? With our "Toad" behind us we are 22,000 pounds and 53 feet long.
How well will gears and brakes do coming back down out of the mountains?
Interesting and we'll drop you some words as we go and as wireless presents itself!
Duke
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Preparations are Underway!
Time for the 1st trip of any length/magnitude!
We leave Wednesday, May 31, for Illinois......Rockford, to be exact.
1250 miles.
More than 5 times our longest trip to date. & This one is with our cats, and with planning for stops in rest areas along the route.
We are preparing with a scrub-down of the coach, and much food/supply preparation. We think we are ready....the biggest thing will be "what we forgot".....The nice thing is....contrary to our boat (former means of weekend trips) we can simply hit a store off the nearest interstate exit, and score whatever we missed!
At least, that is the theory!
Let you know how it works....and hopefully provide some nice pics of Illinois....
Duke
|
We leave Wednesday, May 31, for Illinois......Rockford, to be exact.
1250 miles.
More than 5 times our longest trip to date. & This one is with our cats, and with planning for stops in rest areas along the route.
We are preparing with a scrub-down of the coach, and much food/supply preparation. We think we are ready....the biggest thing will be "what we forgot".....The nice thing is....contrary to our boat (former means of weekend trips) we can simply hit a store off the nearest interstate exit, and score whatever we missed!
At least, that is the theory!
Let you know how it works....and hopefully provide some nice pics of Illinois....
Duke
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Preparation!
This is the week of preparation. May 31st we head North for the long trip Tampa to Rockford, IL....our 1st major trip.
Having been boat owners, as oft mentioned herein, we are approaching RVing as we did boating. In baby-steps!
We have tried different configurations, decided upon new things to buy, and found what does and does not work...for the most part on a local basis. What happens when we "sail" from familiar waters to the rest of the USA is going to be a surprise. Are we prepared?
I'll blog more this week as we buy and prepare for the trip. Next weekend will be the time of loading, etc.
Duke
|
Having been boat owners, as oft mentioned herein, we are approaching RVing as we did boating. In baby-steps!
We have tried different configurations, decided upon new things to buy, and found what does and does not work...for the most part on a local basis. What happens when we "sail" from familiar waters to the rest of the USA is going to be a surprise. Are we prepared?
I'll blog more this week as we buy and prepare for the trip. Next weekend will be the time of loading, etc.
Duke
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Meow & How!
A bit of an aside from RVing, but on point for most we have met on the road....in our brief time RVing.
We have two cats (actually they own us and will be glad to tell you so). One is half manx and half siamese (Bandit). The other is mostly siamese (CJ).
When we began our travels in "Roadhouse" we knew we'd have to face the idea of cats aboard. Our 1st trip with them was from Tampa to Jacksonville and you can read about it here. The boys meowed ALL the way from Tampa to Jacksonville. They seemed quite unhappy whenever I stepped on the gas pedal and the engine roared to life.
On the return trip they were much more quiet.
Last weekend at Holiday Cove in Cortez, FL they went with us, and were much more at home.
CJ has decided to sleep through the trips....he crawls under our bucket chair behind the passenger seat and sleeps. Bandit roams about a bit but seems to like sleeping under the table in his small basket. He fills it and over flows as he is part Manx and quite large.
They seem to take to the trips OK at this point. We'll find out more in our 1st big trip North in June. We are heading for Rockford, IL to see daughter, son-in-law and three grands.....then back to central Illinois and my home town of Pekin for my 45th (yep 45th!) class reunion.
That will be their real test for traveling...and ours!
Duke
|
We have two cats (actually they own us and will be glad to tell you so). One is half manx and half siamese (Bandit). The other is mostly siamese (CJ).
When we began our travels in "Roadhouse" we knew we'd have to face the idea of cats aboard. Our 1st trip with them was from Tampa to Jacksonville and you can read about it here. The boys meowed ALL the way from Tampa to Jacksonville. They seemed quite unhappy whenever I stepped on the gas pedal and the engine roared to life.
On the return trip they were much more quiet.
Last weekend at Holiday Cove in Cortez, FL they went with us, and were much more at home.
CJ has decided to sleep through the trips....he crawls under our bucket chair behind the passenger seat and sleeps. Bandit roams about a bit but seems to like sleeping under the table in his small basket. He fills it and over flows as he is part Manx and quite large.
They seem to take to the trips OK at this point. We'll find out more in our 1st big trip North in June. We are heading for Rockford, IL to see daughter, son-in-law and three grands.....then back to central Illinois and my home town of Pekin for my 45th (yep 45th!) class reunion.
That will be their real test for traveling...and ours!
Duke
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Holiday Cove was Great!
We spent this weekend at a quite nice RV Resort in Cortez, Florida....Just a mile from the bridge across the Intracoastal waterway to Anna Maria Island, a barrier island filled with fine food, great beaches, etc.
This was our first time at Holiday Cove RV Resort.
It will NOT be our last.
Though we are in the dry time of year in Florida, we are also in the fine time when Floridians find lots of campgrounds less-than-crowded, as was Holiday Cove. We here love this time as the "Snowbirds" have returned home, and the Summer crowd is not yet here. & The weather was perfect! Sun, just warm enough....Even a sojourn to the beach was wonderful.
This place had the finest small pool I have seen. Everything about the office/pool/recreation area was spotless and maintained quite well. The secret is a few folks the owners have about who literally stay there, and earn their spot by yeoman efforts to keep the place sparkling!
Here we are at our site, all set up with the "Roadhouse", and little "Sideroad Suzie" in front of her.
It was truly a nice place with people who tried real hard to please us at all times. They did a nice job of "locating" us.....The site was great, and they take you to it, and then guide you into exactly the right placement with no hassle. Loved it!
We ate most of our meals at the Weber "Baby Q" grill outside the Roadhouse (note it in the picture above).....But had a fine Sunday breakfast across the road at a small cafe whose claim to fame, beyond their quite nice breakfast generally, may be as the 1st place cooking hash browns as crispy as the Duchess and I love them....
You'll not go wrong at Holiday Cove.
Thanks folks for a fine weekend.....We'll be back soon!
Duke
|
This was our first time at Holiday Cove RV Resort.
It will NOT be our last.
Though we are in the dry time of year in Florida, we are also in the fine time when Floridians find lots of campgrounds less-than-crowded, as was Holiday Cove. We here love this time as the "Snowbirds" have returned home, and the Summer crowd is not yet here. & The weather was perfect! Sun, just warm enough....Even a sojourn to the beach was wonderful.
This place had the finest small pool I have seen. Everything about the office/pool/recreation area was spotless and maintained quite well. The secret is a few folks the owners have about who literally stay there, and earn their spot by yeoman efforts to keep the place sparkling!
Here we are at our site, all set up with the "Roadhouse", and little "Sideroad Suzie" in front of her.
It was truly a nice place with people who tried real hard to please us at all times. They did a nice job of "locating" us.....The site was great, and they take you to it, and then guide you into exactly the right placement with no hassle. Loved it!
We ate most of our meals at the Weber "Baby Q" grill outside the Roadhouse (note it in the picture above).....But had a fine Sunday breakfast across the road at a small cafe whose claim to fame, beyond their quite nice breakfast generally, may be as the 1st place cooking hash browns as crispy as the Duchess and I love them....
You'll not go wrong at Holiday Cove.
Thanks folks for a fine weekend.....We'll be back soon!
Duke
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Retirement....She, Not Me!
We begin our new lifestyle.
The Duchess and I both retire this year.
She retired with much fanfare, and lots of goodies after 30 plus years at her job for a major Tampa hospital last Friday.
We were off at noon for our 1st nice vacation of three (3) days?Yep, I had to be back at work until August.
We went to Disney's Fort Wilderness. Nice place. Costly, but well set-up, except for one MAJORLY annoying thing. NO WIRELESS!Parks all across the country now have wireless. Not Disney. I could see a wireless system at the Contemporary from our site, but it was down half of most days, and cost $9.95 per day.Disney, usually the frontrunner in things for parks is WAY behind on this one and I shall let them know my feelings by email!
Our stay was grand.
We did the Ultimate!!!!!!
I booked us into the Victoria and Alberts Restaurant in the Grand Floridian Resort for Friday night. A 9:15pm seating. We ate:we drank...... 7 Courses, 8 wines, and way too much.... Wonderful, wonderful food and drink. We finished about midnight!I crossed the $400 mark for a meal for the very 1st time......It was, afterall her retirement, and we enjoyed!
The campground was marvelous. We walked, we rode our little Schwinn electric cruisers...with seats, and we visited EPCOT and Animal Kingdom, and yes, we rode Everest, the roller coaster...She cause she loves em; me cause I love her!
Great weekend.
Duke
|
The Duchess and I both retire this year.
She retired with much fanfare, and lots of goodies after 30 plus years at her job for a major Tampa hospital last Friday.
We were off at noon for our 1st nice vacation of three (3) days?Yep, I had to be back at work until August.
We went to Disney's Fort Wilderness. Nice place. Costly, but well set-up, except for one MAJORLY annoying thing. NO WIRELESS!Parks all across the country now have wireless. Not Disney. I could see a wireless system at the Contemporary from our site, but it was down half of most days, and cost $9.95 per day.Disney, usually the frontrunner in things for parks is WAY behind on this one and I shall let them know my feelings by email!
Our stay was grand.
We did the Ultimate!!!!!!
I booked us into the Victoria and Alberts Restaurant in the Grand Floridian Resort for Friday night. A 9:15pm seating. We ate:we drank...... 7 Courses, 8 wines, and way too much.... Wonderful, wonderful food and drink. We finished about midnight!I crossed the $400 mark for a meal for the very 1st time......It was, afterall her retirement, and we enjoyed!
The campground was marvelous. We walked, we rode our little Schwinn electric cruisers...with seats, and we visited EPCOT and Animal Kingdom, and yes, we rode Everest, the roller coaster...She cause she loves em; me cause I love her!
Great weekend.
Duke
