Difficulties with GPS, Pull Throughs and Soap

Yesterday was quite a day. Terry does an excellent job of researching campgrounds, making our reservations and planning our route. We are very, very careful to never put ourselves in danger by driving under low bridges, or getting into a place where we can't turn around. However, after driving for 5 hours yesterday, our GPS gleefully told us that we had arrived at our destination, but Don Carter State Park (Gainesville, GA) was nowhere in sight. Yikes!  We were on a narrow 2 lane road near Lake Lanier with no place to stop or turn around. We continued to drive for miles -- passing under a barely high-enough bridge (which wasn't on our planned itinerary) before finding a place to safely stop. When we did, we discovered that our GPS had taken us to 5000 Browns Bridge Road instead of 5000 N. Browing Bridge Road. What?! Apparently, when Terry input our destination yesterday, the GPS helpfully offered the wrong address and Terry selected it without noticing the slight difference in the road name.

So, we drove another hour and finally reached Don Carter State Park. Don Carter is a brand new state park on Lake Lanier and it's beautiful. We selected a nice, paved pull through site with a view of the lake. The pull-though site we chose had a slight curve. Getting Betty perfectly positioned on the site took us another hour because the paved area was narrow and Betty's wheels went off the blacktop on the left side. Once off the blacktop, they sunk into the soft earth and driving forward and back created a ditch -- with a tree stump at one end.The campground host (a professional truck driver with 35 years of experience) helped direct Terry so that we did get out of the 'ditch'.

I headed inside to put out the slides and the first thing I discovered was that the hand soap dispenser in our kitchen hadn't been stowed properly (my fault!). During our drive, it bounced off the counter, landed on the carpet and soaked the carpet with soap. Cleaning that up took nearly another hour. Lesson Learned. "Stow soap dispenser" is now on our Exit Checklist.

Our day ended on a high note when sister Cheryl and Jeff stopped by and picked us up for dinner. We had a delicious dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant, and then went back to Cheryl and Jeff's where brother Steve Thompson joined us. Steve was driving from New Orleans to Wilmington, NC and planned his stop so he could see us!

 - Amanda (Gainesville, GA)

We have been asked several times about where we have been so is our route since we left in early August .... we did stay in Betty for the month of July at Riverside campground in Montgomery PA.

   

this map will change some as we progress south from Savannah, GA

First haircut in 3 months!

A couple of years ago, I decided to let my hair grow long so that I could have long hair one more time before I die. And, since most older women have short hair, I decided I'd go for the 'aging hippy' look. Then, we decided to go full time RVing, and I realized another benefit is that I don't have to wash and blow dry my hair every morning. I wash it every 3 days and let it air dry in it's natural curly state (saves time and energy). Not having short hair, also means I don't have to get it cut every six weeks (which saves money).  Also, I was a bit worried about finding a good sytlist and being able to book an appointment while we're traveling.

Before we left Williamsport, I asked Connie to highlight my hair in such a way that it wouldn't be too noticeable as it grows out. She did an excellent job, and I happily went 3 months without a haircut or highlight. This week, I decided it was time. I found a small salon about 3 miles away from our campground and booked an appointment online. Now, I have a fresh cut and I'm blonde again -- maybe a little too blonde. This time it may not look as nice as it grows out. We'll see.

- Amanda (Holly Ridge, NC with 4G Internet)

We're streaming now baby!

As mentioned in a previous post, we have been living with severe Internet data restrictions.  We've been getting 20 GB of data from Millenicom for $89.99/month, but Verizon just bought Millenicom and is shutting them down on October 31st. Millenicom uses the Verizon Network, but charges about 1/2 of Verizon's pricing. Since RVers depend upon Verizon for Internet, this news sent everyone on our Full Time RVers Forums into a tizzy.

Luckily, Verizon is running a 'Double Your Data' promotion this month. We took our Millenicom Jetpack into a Verizon store 2 days ago. The Verizon employee had never heard of Millenicom. She got the store manager - he had never heard of Millenicom either. He warned us that switching the SIM card in our Jetpack would not work if our Millenicom Jetpack was already in the Verizon system. But, the Verizon computers didn't have any record of our Millenicom Jetpack, and switching the SIM card did work. We upgraded to 40 GB/month for $150 and we walked out of the store with our Jetpack showing 40 GB/month. Switching the SIM card caused us to "lose" the last week of our October Millenicom pre-paid data -- approx 5 GB, but we didn't want to wait until the end of the month and risk missing the Verizon Double Your Data pricing.

With 41 GB of data (the 40 GB we purchased plus 1 GB of free data that came with Terry's new phone) to use in the next 12 days (the end of our billing period), we've been streaming videos like crazy. When we left home, we had been watching "The Good Wife", but had only reached Season 4. Now, we're ODing on "The Good Wife" and should be able to catch up to the current season before we hit 41 GB and the end of the billing period.  Life is good!

- Amanda (Holly Ridge, NC with 4G Internet)

The One Thing We Miss.....

What would you miss if you sold your home and nearly everything you own?  We are very happy and comfortable in our fifth wheel, except for one thing. What do you think it is?

• Family?  Nope. We didn't have any family members near our home in Central Pennsylvania.  As a matter of fact, we've seen our family more in the past 4 months, than in the past 4 years!
• The House? Nope. I've only missed the house once. It was a rainy day and I remember how we used to go out on our covered back porch and watch the rain storms move across the mountains. 
• The Land? We had 1.5 acres with awesome views of the mountains near the Susquehanna River Valley. I though I might miss the privacy offered by 1.5 acres, but I haven't so far. Our fifth wheel is designed for full time living and is very well insulated. When the windows are shut, we don't hear anything going on in nearby campsites.
• Our Friends?  Our friends, like our family, live all over the USA. We are enjoying seeing them as we travel. We do miss the new friends we made in Williamsport. But, we are keeping in touch via Facebook and we hope to see them again during our travels.
• Our Stuff? No.We have exactly what we need with us -- and not a bit more. We don't miss all of the stuff we sold and donated. As a matter of fact, life is a lot simpler and freer without all of that stuff.
• Two cars? Full time RVing means sharing one car (or in our case, a truck). I've had my own wheels since I was 18. And, like everyone, I value the convenience and freedom of having my own car. But, sharing one vehicle has been really painless for us. No problem!
• Cable TV? Not really. Many campgrounds have cable TV and if not, we have been picking up excellent quality digital TV with our antennae (free) or watching some of the 300+ movies Terry brought with us.

Any other guesses?

The answer is unlimited high-speed Internet. When you live in a sticks-and-bricks home, your cable connection provides limitless high-speed Internet. We used to stream NetFlix movies or TV series nearly every evening at home. We can't do that anymore! Streaming one movie can chew up 3 to 5 GB of data. We are living with a severe data limit of only 24 GB per month -- shared between our two smart phones, our two laptops and our tablet.We're making it work so far. Verizon just purchased our data provider (Millenicom) so we will probably be switching data plans before the end of the month when Verizon's double data offer expires.

-  Amanda (struggling slow Internet on the edge of a Verizon coverage area and a very weak campground wifi) near Holly Springs, NC

Where am I? What day is it?

During the past week, I slept in my own bed every night, but woke up in four different States: Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia and North Carolina.

Our new traveling RV life, combined with Terry's retirement and me working part time means that our old routine of waking up in the same place every day, and moving through a regular Monday through Friday work week is gone.

Now, I'm trying to make a game of it. Upon first awakening I thank God for another day and try to remember where I am (City and State) and what our campsite looks like -- before I open my eyes. So far, so good.  Terry and I are both having a bit harder time remembering the date and the day of the week. It just doesn't matter so much anymore.

We may need to get one of these clocks. Thanks Chris Wallace for the suggestion!

- Amanda (Holly Springs, NC)

Off to see our family

In order to see most of our family this year, we will be driving 5,000 miles! It's crazy. We have family from coast to coast. And, from Florida to Wisconsin. It's really nice to travel with our home, but it is slow. We probably won't see our Florida and Wisconsin family members until sometime next year.

We left Pennsylvania in July and we hope to be in San Diego by late January or February 2015.

- Posted by Amanda, Litchfield, IL (Near Catherine, Tom & Lincoln)

ON THE ROAD TO TEXAS

Wow what a time! We finally left Michigan. Here are a few things that have happened in the last few days .....

Before we left Grand Rapids we bought 2 chairs and picked them up a couple days later in Novi  ....

From this                          

To these                            

Of course it took a couple of hours to assemble both chairs and ottomans, but it was well worth it. 

When we left Wednesday morning there were 15 to 20 mph winds from the west so we were a little apprehensive about leaving.  However I watched a couple of rigs pull out so, I thought "ok what the hell".  It was not so bad on the road, the winds were not as high as we'd expected.

We spent our first night outside Joliet Illinois in a Casino RV park Called Hollywood Casino. It is a nice place with great water pressure. 

We're currently in Litchfield, IL -- half way between St Louis and Springfield at a nice little RV park. To our surprise, we found out there is a bull riding competition scheduled for Saturday. This is a point ride so it should be a good.  More on that later

Friday ----- Drove up to President Lincoln's tomb in Springfield Illinois

             Lincolns Tomb

                               

Funny thing: it has rained since we arrived, except for the time we spent at the tomb. After we left the tomb, it starting raining again.  

Tomorrow we are off to see my brother's daughter Catherine, her husband Tom and their 6 month old son Lincoln.

Our adventure continues .........

My first central vacuum

Our new fifth wheel came with a central vacuum and I was excited. My very first central vacuum! No more lugging and pushing a vacuum cleaner around. No more avoiding the electrical cord while vacuuming. Just the simplicity of plugging the hose directly into the wall and vacuuming.

Unfortunately, the reality of the central vac didn't live up to my dreams. The central vac has a pretty strong motor and it does a passable job of picking up dirt. But, since it is just a hose with attachments, I had to lean over and push down. Also, there is no beater-bar in the attachment. So, even after I vacuumed, the carpet was still matted down.

Fortunately, we spend the last month in west Michigan near our storage unit (more about that later) and I was able to grab our Oreck vacuum.  Sure, it's one more thing to store and lug around with us, but it's worth it! It's actually easier to pull the vacuum out of the closet, than it was to pull out the central vac hoses and attachments. I can vacuum our entire home in about 3 minutes and it looks great. The carpets are clean -- and fluffy!

- Amanda (New Hudson, MI)