Off to the Northland



After Indianapolis we were up early on the 28th to make our appointment at Bradd and Hall in Elkhart. Again cool and rainy and part of that trip was on Indiana 19 a very small and interesting local farm road.

Yes this was the road to and through the town of Chili ... and the name perfectly matched the weather; about 45 and still rain on and off. Below is the road which didn't offer much of a shoulder and is about exactly two motorhomes or semis wide ... hold your breath.

Being a good crew we ended up at the Bradd and Hall repair facility exactly on time after about 150 miles, unhooked the Flying Scotsman from the car, parked the RV in their garage and roamed their showroom while Charles Casey and crew did their magic. If there is anything you need done to your machine from the smallest repair job to a complete nose to tail reno this is the place. These folks will give you the most honest answer and bend over backward to fit you into their busy schedule ... can't say enough.

In the bay next to ours a similar RV on the right was getting just that; they had removed every bit of original furnishings and were installing a whole new custom interior. We had been doing the same thing over several years but these folks were doing it all at once ... smart.

Once the front shade was fixed and reinstalled in less than an hour, we decided to press on for Monroe Michigan about 147 more miles still on Wednesday ... long day!

The Harbortown park is a nice facility wit long, however narrow, concrete pads and is open all year, an important consideration this early in the travel year.

On Thursday morning we were off at 9am and hit a Pilot truckstop for some $3.35 fuel; .90 a gallon more than when we left Texas. Then off to the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit along some of the worst pieces of road so far. The border crossing was super fast with us being the only ones at the Nexus both.

The total run from Monroe to our destination in Milton Ontario was 237 miles with a nice stop at one of the Onroute service plazas. Usually we get out and hit a Tim Horton's but it was so cold we just put the generator on and had soup at home.

Below one of the warning signs on the 401 heading east ... watch that inaptitude, eh.

And some remnants of the last snowfall ... hopefully not an indication of our future while here in March.

And as we were near Woodstock a fairly slow going and stopping traffic jam.

 

Let's see ... stranded on the freeway ... OK we have 4 bottles of wine, full tank of diesel for the generator for the stove and the furnace, full tank of water for toilet and shower, food in the fridge ... yup good for at least a week! Love that independent ability for sure. The wine was the important part.

Triple Cross

 

We'll get to that in a moment but first here is the blogster on the Navy base near Memphis rolling up the non-functioning front sun screen manually ... the reason we're going to Elkhart to get a new motor for the thing.

 



In spite of that we were off Monday north on 51 and 55 and then finally I-57 toward Mt Vernon Illinois. Below is the center console in the RV with our planning materials handy.

The last two days were the triple cross part of this blog. We first crossed the Mississippi from Arkansas into Tennessee, then back from Tennessee into Missouri as we headed north, and then finally back across the river again from Missouri into Illinois. The picture below is on the Al Gore bridge heading west on I-155 into Missouri.

After a 259 mile day in mostly rain we ended up in Mt Vernon Illinois at the Archway RV park which was a new one for us.

Mostly a flat open gravel place with long level pull-through spots. Easy to get into an out of but with the steady rain it was a mess. Fortunately the place was quite old and had really compacted gravel so the rain didn't make the ground mushy for our 20 ton machine.

On Tuesday heading up I-57 and then I-70 toward Indianapolis the rain and traffic was steady and the truck volume pretty heavy; these guys queuing up for a lane squeeze several miles ahead of them. We did an easy 227 miles at a still steady 9 MPG. Near Effingham we took on 60 gallons of diesel at $2.93 at a Mobile station while the Pilot and Flying J were up to $3.21 a gallon.

We all remember the "hippy" Volkswagen bus of the 60's so here is the 2018 version next to us in the Walmart parking lot near Effingham.

Off tomorrow early for Elkhart and our front screen repair job at the Bradd and Hall RV garage.

Movin' and a Groovin'

 

With the satellite radio tuned to the 50's we unhooked from Barksdale AFB and headed north. Below is the view out of the front window as we prepared to leave on Saturday.

 

North of Shreveport we hooked up with I-49 and boy was it smooth. This is a piece very new highway and it was smooth sailing ... set the cruise at about 65 in 6th gear and it purred along at about 9.2 MPG. Weather was 72 and very humid as we left Shreveport.

After transitioning to I-40 we stopped at Hope Arkansas for the Walmart break .... ooops ... no wine here as it is a dry county... just settled for toilet paper.

And then landed after a very smooth 235 mile trip at the KOA in North Little Rock. We had a fairly level concrete pad pull-thru which was quite nice with iron furniture, a BBQ grill, and a chiminea for 52 bucks; a bit steep.

The next morning we were off down I-40 toward Memphis. A little cooler  around 55 all day. We stopped at an off-brand Mapco gas station for a fill-up at $2.77 a gallon for 65 gallons. The normal Pilot and Flying J stops were $3.03 ... ouch.

After another 240 miles, we then landed at the Mid-South Naval Support Facility just northeast of Memphis proper where we have stopped before. In addition to naval aviation avionic support this is their personnel headquarters. Nice small base with all the normal shopping facilities, and yep they have wine.

The RV park is very nice with concrete pads and totally paved infrastructure. You can see the Flying Scotsman in the picture below as we parked it. We had no reservation, just like Barksdale AFB, so you just drive on base, pick the spot you like, get all hooked up, then go over to the rec center and pay your $20, then go back and have that hard earned glass of wine. 52 degrees and a slight north breeze but very nice so far ... actually looking more wintery now than through Texas and Louisiana.

Checked the tires and added air from the on-board compressor to get them back up to 115psi ... then scraped the bugs off the new windshield so we can get good pictures tomorrow ...

...  and when there is something that needs attention ... give it the tape!!!

Bugscuffle

 

I'll get to the title of this blog much later, but, yes, it is a place in east Texas. Below is our favorite view of the highway anywhere in North America ... two lane, trees, flowers, farms, livestock, and no interstate highway.

 

We left Bryan and headed northeast up Highway 21 toward Shreveport. It was about a 235 mile run at about 9 miles per gallon ... quarter tank used, not bad.

 



Around lunch time we look for a place to land the Flying Scotsman to have a bite and saw a picnic area on the road near Crockett. The navigator said where the F*** is Crockett and I don't see a place to stop anywhere near.

Actually there was a nice, and very quiet, old style Texas roadside park area near Crockett and we stopped and had a nice lunch there. These are the 1940's style parks and still well cared for on all the older secondary roads.

As I said we love the two lane roads across this country and yet the pic below shows some of the problems you might encounter on them. However, a short break while we watched the crew remove the fallen tree was great. The guy sitting in the bed of the truck is controlling an arm to grasp the limb and hoist it off the road to be cut up ... modern solution to an old problem.

Our destination ended up to be Barksdale Air Force Base just east of Shreveport. The reason for Barksdale is the Strategic Command and it's B-52 bomber fleet. Pretty impressive display of nuclear bombers sitting on the ramp on alert and ready for takeoff at a moment's notice.

The Famcamp on base was convenient and for $16 a deal ... concrete pad and 50 amp power ... can't ask for more ... well ... we had to counsel Bandit not to stray too near the bayou ...

OK the Bugscuffle part. On highway 84 shortly after Crockett we passed through the place with the name above. It is a real place in eastern Texas but I really need to do some research to find our the history of the name ... again, you wouldn't see this on the Interstate.

Tomorrow we'll try to make Memphis and the Navy base there. It's about 335 miles which would press our humor limit so we'll see but the base is nice and we have stayed there many times before.

Springtime in Texas

or

The Ides of March

 

 

While we have had a super time with all of our new friends in the Overture place we have adopted, we must migrate north again with the geese to lend assistance to family in Canada and this year will be about  month earlier than normal with the additional problems of weather.

 

The Preferred Storage place on Justen Road has worked out well and we will park the RV there next winter. Here's the blogger making sure all six of the feet have at least 115psi for smooth running. 

 

On the 19th we took the Flying Scotsman over to the Twin Coves RV park in Flower Mound for the final run-up and before flight checks. Because of the hard freeze this winter one filter under the sink and had broken (water in the pic below) and the washer drain stopped up. Not major problems but time consuming plumbing ... my favorite line of work. With imagination you can see us on the patio enjoying a peaceful evening at the lake ... hah!

With a pause here we have had a busy February and March: Bruce cataract surgery and colonoscopy, garage sale at the kids' place, Jo-Anne back pain shots, cleaning out our garage at Overture, and moving what we need for the summer into the bus. Busy.

With all that done, on the 25th, after our now regular Sunday afternoon Mexican Train domino session, our wonderful new friends gave us a dinner farewell that we won't forget. This bunch of original residents I think will always have a special connection and it is great.

Jo-Anne has been enjoying art class on Tuesday morning so we arranged for me to get the RV and pick her up at the Overture after class and have some final goodbyes with our new friends.

The first destination after leaving was to head down I-35W to the Burleson area and the Camping World for much needed supplies and stop for lunch. Then off again to Waco, turn left and head down Highway 6 toward Bryan. Below is the air horn salute to the Jimmy Dean sausage truck slamming by us at 85.

Then a couple of days at the Aggieland RV park in Bryan to visit with Mom. During the visit she fell and broke her hip, went to emergency and then back home to her room at the St Joseph facility in Bryan.

Brother Richard is still working with the doctors and nurses to decide whether surgery is the best course at this stage of life so more will follow. Below is the outside of the assisted living place she has been in for several years now.

And with the warm weather come the flowers and the wild ones are what Texas roadways are famous for. Here's a shot today of the bluebonnets along Highway 6 and the paintbrush are just as plentiful. About 80 and very windy today.

 

Filled up with 70 gallons of fuel at $2.48 a gallon at Kroger, filled the propane tank with 20 gallons at $3.50 a gallon, and restocked the fridge. Repaired the black water outlet, filled all six batteries with water ... and, jeez I almost forgot. Last night the automatic window shade ceased to be automatic and refused to go up ... this is the one over the windshield ... hard to see out ... Velcro in place.

Because of the window failure we have altered plans from going to New Orleans to heading up to Elkhart to fix the shade with our friends at Bradd and Hall. Next planned stop tomorrow is at Barksdale AFB near Shreveport for the night and then on north. We are still planning on being in Milton Ontario by April first.