& Then I Bought an RV!

We drove the last hours of our trip to Brantley Lake State Park w/o AC as the generator once again died. Dash air worked, but have you ever tried to cool a 33 ft. motor home with dash air?...We got there and plugged in and 9 hours later it is cool! Here are our next door neighbors, Daughter Teri, Son-in-law Lance and grands new camper and monster truck.
Here are Roadhouse and Brutus seemingly in conversation on our desert campsite. The temps have dropped near 70 now, but back to 106 tomorrow.
Despite the heat as the sun moved lower in the West, beside our motor home we spotted these two bunnies. Soon there were four cavorting about....Neat stuff.
Tomorrow, Carlsbad Caverns. Kids headed to tour. We are exploring handicapped tour as Duchess cannot walk the caverns. We'll enjoy and hopefully be cool....

Nite all.....
Duke

This morning Grand kids Robert and Lauren announced they wished to accompany Pa Pa & Grandma for the day! Next came seating. After a short discussion/revision, Lauren was my co-pilot. She and I sang, smiled, etc. for about 20 miles and then she slept. She awoke 3 times to ask how far we had driven, then went back to sleep!
Robert abandoned the front seat for this bucket seat (yes it has a seat belt!) where he played games for 3 hours without a break.....Kids!
At our gas/food stop as we turned onto Rt. 285 they went back to Mom and Pop as the AC was not working in "Roadhouse!"

Grand kids everywhere are a trip!

Duke

I-10 from Junction, TX West to Rt. 285 N. to NM....The Hill Country gives way to larger hills, open areas, and little traffic/to see/etc. Here, however, is a sign you'll not see in Florida/Illinois, or most other states. NO, I did not. I am in a motor home pulling a 4,600 lb. Wrangler!
Here is a typical shot of our 1st 200 miles until our turn. REALLLLLY Exciting, huh folks?
Then we turned North on Rt. 285....following it through a section of nearly-abandoned Texas North to New Mexico and Carlsbad. It Got H-O-T & our AC Generator quit again. Dash Air to cool a 33 foot motor home? NOT! It was a trying final 2.5 hours!
We are working on a plan to fix the generator. More in newer posts.

Duke

Ah the open road.....Time for some Big Sky Country, Texas Style....The view on I-10 leaving Houston Westbound.
The Hill Country of Texas....& our 1st cactus.
Spent last night in Junction at the KOA....today we depart for Brantley Lakes State Park, in New Mexico. I'll send pics of some truly OPEN/DESERTED country. We last drove this stretch the opposite way in June of 2009. You can drive 20-30 miles on the two lane leading N. to NM without ever seeing or passing another vehicle.

Duke

We are still in Dickinson, TX.....Not a lot to post as we are a) readying for trip West with daughter/son-in-law/grands...... & b) storms/etc. have left us without much in pics.

IF we get the new breaker for the gen set (GENERATOR) we will depart tomorrow morning with kids. If not, we will stay until replaced; then catch up to kids.

Will know today!

Awaiting phone call.

Duke

Springfield, MO. & Fantastic Caverns. The only caverns in the USA where you actually ride through the cave in a wagon pulled by a jeep. This was the entrance.

Long ago and far away.....The Branson equivalent of American Bandstand. Note the dirty window from a storm through which the picture was shot.
King Kong lives again atop the Empire State Building at the Wax Museum in Branson.
We saw the Pierce Arrow Theater show on Tuesday evening, and the Yakov Dinner show on Wednesday....plus some drives in the mountains nearby and lots of tours of the tens of theaters in Branson.

Tomorrow morning we begin a two-day tour S. through Wet Willie Clinton country (Arkansas), into Texas headed to Dickinson, TX & Daughter Teri & family.

Duke

Rockford, IL to Eureka, MO....The Arch!
Take me out to the ballgame, take me out with the crowd....Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO.

Illinois roads under repair......everywhere. Actually, there are signs about work...there are yellow/orange barrels for miles. What is missing is a) Equipment and b) Workers. Illinois!

Duke

O.K., Son Paul, III came to Jax campground for a cookout about a month ago. He took one look at me trying to clean my "Baby-Q" Weber grill and commented on how I could "afford" a new brush....I had to respond with my usual flair and tell him I was having the brush "refurbished"....
On our return to Jax 10 days ago he came to visit and presented me with a nice bag & components to "refurbish" my brush....It contained wire, tweezers and a small knife. PLUS INSTRUCTIONS!
Here is the accompanying instruction sheet!
This is, of course, the actual new brush he brought to the campground for me. Thanks Son! Guess I'll keep the refurbishing kit for next time!
See, I am not afraid to post a story making fun of myself.

Duke

O.K., I promised more frequent posts......Sorry. Rockford Campground had small mice running web power-driver. I could not get online most of the time and when on, it was overloaded by a 10 word post...no pics!

Now I am beginning posting several nice things for you all.

Duke

Located 35 mi. from Rockford, IL we came upon this accident. Semi rear-ended parked RV with trailer on back. Drove them off highway into ditch. Lots of ambulances, stretchers, etc. Never got close enough to see much. RV & semi are at right of picture.
Truck also ended up in ditch, and cab and rt. front damage was considerable.
If you have to stop GET OFF THE INTERSTATE.....not alongside it.

Duke

Arrived after another in a series of hot days. The campsites have been upgraded at the KOA. Nice patio, table, chairs, umbrella, fire pit, and all under tall shady trees.
Our trip in saw us crossing the Ohio River between Kentucky and Indiana. Water still lays on the fields, some 14 feet above the current river. Also to note in the picture are the large bug splatters from some creature which attacked us as we drove across Kentucky. I will be busy tomorrow morning for an hour or more scrubbing them off the front of the coach.Our friends Dick and Norma are coming over and we are all off to Red Lobster for a nice meal. Tomorrow we'll be with them all day exploring and talking over times long past.

Duke

Cartersville, GA to Clarksville, TN...Nice trip here is the pic of I-24 leaving Chattanooga and heading to long climb up and then down mountains....Our 1st test of Roadhouse pulling Brutus and Brutus' brake assist helping stop the parade on a big downhill. Both passed with flying colors. ALSO.....A/C functioned normally all day!
After landing Roadhouse at Clarksville RV Resort, we took Brutus for a spin and visited Beachaven Winery and bought a bunch of their stuff. Wine Larder restocked from devastating visit to Jacksonville and Son Paul, III. This is a pic of the grape-laden vines outside their front door.
Tomorrow, off to Terre Haute, IN to see friends Dick and Norma who stood up with us those 17 years ago. Now living in the little town of Brazil, IN, we still love our visits with them.

Monday.....Off to Rockford,to see Daughter Nancy, Son-in-law Jeff, and 4 grandkids. Eldest, Jacalyn, is celebrating high school graduation, and Paul, III will join us next weekend for her party. Fun, fun, fun!

Plus some needed-RV work.

Duke

This day was pretty much either a fiasco or a warm up to a good trip.....The results are not in!!!1st off, the coach was hot by the time we did the 1st-ever hook up of our brake assist system, so on the road we added the dash air to the generator/central air operation. EXCEPT: The dash air blew HOT air! O.K., add that to the list of things to do in Rockford, our next serious stop.

Then, in downtown Atlanta...amid the 5pm traffic snarl, moving at 3 mph and with NO POSSIBLE way to stop...the MAIN A/C stopped...

The coach quickly went from comfortable to 90s and rising. We drove for 90 minutes to the campground in Carterville....there, flipping a switch the A/C again fired OK!

Check in....nice shaded site. Parked, leveled the coach, and then plugged into "shore power".....no A/C. I flipped switches on the one-unit/two-unit setup and soon the A/C was humming again. Now we wonder what's next.....will the A/C continue....is there a problem???? We are headed to SW USA where it is going to H-O-T!!! Las Vegas in July will be 110-117 from people who have been there.

Much to do in Illinois!
This is our location currently with me writing from inside the double windows by the dinette. Brutus hooked to Roadhouse....this is a simple sleep over unless the A/C fails again.

Ah the road life!

Duke

1st stop was to visit Son, Paul, III.....in Jacksonville. Beautiful Flamingo Lake Resort...on the lake in shade.

Saw a Suns minor league game with 20 folks from son's business.

Drank and ate well.....way too well......Today off for 1st serious driving day to Carterville, GA.

Duke