May 19--Lethbridge, AB
I woke up very early again--like 4:45. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got dressed and walked over to the nearby Denny's and had breakfast. Then back to the room to watch a bit of TV. I didn't want to leave too early, as I wanted to avoid rush hour traffic (I had to drive smack through downtown Edmonton). I did nap a bit, and fed the cats (who weren't particularly happy to still be in the kennel). We got on the road around 9:15, and the traffic wasn't too bad. I do have to say, the air in Edmonton smelled wonderful: fresh and cool, with hints of pine.
The drive down wasn't bad either. There was quite a bit of wind between Edmonton and Red Deer, and again between Claresholm and Lethbridge, but otherwise the sky ranged from cloudy to almost full sun. I also had a great view of the mountains in the distance--don't worry, I'll get there! Other than a jam caused by a traffic accident in Calgary, I had pretty much no trouble.
I'm now at my parents' house, and will be here for about the next two weeks. The cats have adjusted well, although I'm not sure my parents' new dog will leave them alone. There's some barking and chasing, and after Nell hissed at Carly, Carly growled, but things have calmed down considerably. There's a barrier between my bedroom and bath and the rest of the house that the cats can jump easily, but the dog can't manage. Nell is spending most of her time in the bedroom, but Puck is following me around, as usual. He did spend a bit of time under the bed at the beginning, but now he's much braver. I think he's figured that he's not only faster than her, but he can jump much better. Not to mention they are pretty much the same size! I'm not worried; I'm sure they'll adapt.
I probably won't be posting again until I leave, which won't be until after June 1, so you may want to chack in then.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Changes
May 18--Edmonton, AB
I got up VERY early--the sun rises at 4:45am MDT in Saskatoon,and I was up with it. I fed the cats, decided to do another rinse of the water tanks, since the water there was really tasty, and got on the road about 7:15. I decided, since the weather was going to be really hot, and there is a possibility of thunderstorms, and the Edmonton campgrounds are fairly awful, to stay in a hotel. So I found a Comfort Inn that allowed pets, a mile or so from the West Edmonton Mall, and made a reservation.
Most of the drive today was very flat, although the Saskatchewan River carves a nice wooded valley through the area, and the highway tends to follow it on one side or another. I wanted to get started early because it was going to get near 90, and it did indeed warm up fast. It was sunny too, and luckily the wind was behind me, because it was whipping something fierce (I had to drive into it for a bit, and thought I'd blown the turbo in the engine again!).
There were intervals of woods, most notably a national park just to the east of Edmonton called Elk Island National Park, which is aspen forest. Supposedly it has lots of animals, but I didn't see any. I did see a couple of pronghorn earlier; luckily they were headed away from the road!
Edmonton traffic was awful. The road I was on had exits off both sides of the road, and I was in middle lane when with no warning my exit came up, and I almost came to a halt on the expressway before someone let me in. The same thing happened at the next intersection; luckily, it was a less-traveled area, and I could get in the correct lane to get to the hotel without much problem. The room I'm in is very nice and cool. The cats aren't sure they're happy, since they're back in the kennel, but I fed them and now they're asleep.
I decided to walk to the West Edmonton Mall. It's about a mile, and I had a bottle of water so I was fine, even though it was quite sunny. The mall is massive and has a huge number of things all under one roof, like miniature golf, a submarine ride around a copy of the Santa Maria, a sea lion show, a huge waterpark with slides and wave pool, an ice skating rink, an amusement park, an Imax theatre, and more stores and restaurants than you can believe. I walked around the whole thing, ate some sushi (from the Chinese grocery), and walked back. Luckily it was cloudier--I think it's raining outside, but it's too dry to reach the ground right now.
Well, as I said above, things change. I was looking at the Milepost last night, and realized that I'm only a bit over halfway to Alaska. I also realized that I really can't face driving another 8 days to get to Alaska, and then driving around there, and then driving back, and then driving to Ohio . . . the RV is just not fun or easy to drive, and I don't really trust it anymore. I drive in a state of fearful anticipation, worrying that something will go wrong. And I don't feel right about dragging the cats into possible danger in the wilds of Alaska in a vehicle I don't trust. So I'm going to put that trip on hold, and change mid-vacation (which isn't the first time!). I'm hoping to go visit my parents for a bit, and then explore southern BC and Washington State. That should be lots of pretty things to see, mountains and oceans and such, without having to drive another 1800 miles to get to it. It won't be Alaska, but it will hopefully be wonderful!
I got up VERY early--the sun rises at 4:45am MDT in Saskatoon,and I was up with it. I fed the cats, decided to do another rinse of the water tanks, since the water there was really tasty, and got on the road about 7:15. I decided, since the weather was going to be really hot, and there is a possibility of thunderstorms, and the Edmonton campgrounds are fairly awful, to stay in a hotel. So I found a Comfort Inn that allowed pets, a mile or so from the West Edmonton Mall, and made a reservation.
Most of the drive today was very flat, although the Saskatchewan River carves a nice wooded valley through the area, and the highway tends to follow it on one side or another. I wanted to get started early because it was going to get near 90, and it did indeed warm up fast. It was sunny too, and luckily the wind was behind me, because it was whipping something fierce (I had to drive into it for a bit, and thought I'd blown the turbo in the engine again!).
There were intervals of woods, most notably a national park just to the east of Edmonton called Elk Island National Park, which is aspen forest. Supposedly it has lots of animals, but I didn't see any. I did see a couple of pronghorn earlier; luckily they were headed away from the road!
Edmonton traffic was awful. The road I was on had exits off both sides of the road, and I was in middle lane when with no warning my exit came up, and I almost came to a halt on the expressway before someone let me in. The same thing happened at the next intersection; luckily, it was a less-traveled area, and I could get in the correct lane to get to the hotel without much problem. The room I'm in is very nice and cool. The cats aren't sure they're happy, since they're back in the kennel, but I fed them and now they're asleep.
I decided to walk to the West Edmonton Mall. It's about a mile, and I had a bottle of water so I was fine, even though it was quite sunny. The mall is massive and has a huge number of things all under one roof, like miniature golf, a submarine ride around a copy of the Santa Maria, a sea lion show, a huge waterpark with slides and wave pool, an ice skating rink, an amusement park, an Imax theatre, and more stores and restaurants than you can believe. I walked around the whole thing, ate some sushi (from the Chinese grocery), and walked back. Luckily it was cloudier--I think it's raining outside, but it's too dry to reach the ground right now.
Well, as I said above, things change. I was looking at the Milepost last night, and realized that I'm only a bit over halfway to Alaska. I also realized that I really can't face driving another 8 days to get to Alaska, and then driving around there, and then driving back, and then driving to Ohio . . . the RV is just not fun or easy to drive, and I don't really trust it anymore. I drive in a state of fearful anticipation, worrying that something will go wrong. And I don't feel right about dragging the cats into possible danger in the wilds of Alaska in a vehicle I don't trust. So I'm going to put that trip on hold, and change mid-vacation (which isn't the first time!). I'm hoping to go visit my parents for a bit, and then explore southern BC and Washington State. That should be lots of pretty things to see, mountains and oceans and such, without having to drive another 1800 miles to get to it. It won't be Alaska, but it will hopefully be wonderful!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Oh, Canada!
May 17--Saskatoon, SK
I did indeed get a lot done: I organized everything, tidied up, swept and vacuumed, and sanitized the water tank. I also read for a while, and enjoyed the good weather. It really is a nice place, although I'll bet it gets hot in the summer.
I slept in just a bit, I suspect because the sun rose a bit later since I'm farther west, and also I found what diverts Puck when he's trying to wake me up: an open window. If you've seen the movie "Up", you know the deal: Puck comes and starts licking my hair/etc saying "I LOOOVE you Mom!" I open the window, he says "I LOOOOVE--BIRD!" and spends five minutes staring out the window. He remembers me, says "I love you Mom! I loooooove--" and I point him toward the window "y--BIRD!" and more staring. I'll have to try it again tonight.
We started out around 8:20 central time, and drove through relatively flat and empty country to the Canadian border at Portal. I did stop at Bowbells to fill up my tank, figuring that diesel would be more expensive north of the border (and it is, but it's less than regular gas, which blunts the sting a little). Crossing the border was relatively painless, although I couldn't really hear what the woman was saying, and I don't think she believed that I could be from Florida and not have any firearms. She also wanted to know why I kept going to Calgary, and I mentioned that I had relatives in Lethbridge and didn't like to fly the puddlejumper. She agreed, and waved me through; she did look at my passport, but not the cats' papers. I'm sure I'll need them to get back into the States.
In Canada, the scenery was incredibly repetitive, and a bit boring. Flat, gently rolling, very few trees. In NoDak at least I had begun to see a bit of badlands in the distance, but this was all flat farms. I did go through the town that recorded the record high temperature for Canada: 114 degrees, in July of 1937. Yep, that's warm. I also wonder what kids in these tiny towns without schools (or apparently without schools) do when the roads are closed in winter.
I don't have a very good Canada map (my atlas is lovely for the US but has zilch for Canada), and the tourist information station at the border was closed for the season. I'm winging it with a little atlas, which is fine except I didn't realize that Regina had a bypass road and wound up driving right through downtown. I stopped at McD's to get a couple of hamburgers, and then continued on up to Saskatoon.
I did have a sort of map for Saskatoon, provided in the brochure for the campground I'm in now. It's a bit dusty (there's construction going on across the road, and when the wind picks up it's a bit gritty), but otherwise it seems quite nice. The site is level enough without blocks, and now that I'm out of the US my non-digital TV is picking up two channels! Probably won't be anything to watch. I also bought myself an ice cream, since it's damn hot. I'd say the lower 80's, which is way too warm for this time of year. Two weeks ago it was snowing. This is better than snow, but I do wish it would cool down a bit.
The cats are fine; Puck's on the bed, napping, and Nell's on the dashboard looking at everything. I'm happy that we're not moving anymore today, that tomorrow will be a shorter day, and that I had ice cream! Also, that I caught that Visa had put a fraud hold on my card before it became an emergency, and fixed it! And ice cream! Yay!
I did indeed get a lot done: I organized everything, tidied up, swept and vacuumed, and sanitized the water tank. I also read for a while, and enjoyed the good weather. It really is a nice place, although I'll bet it gets hot in the summer.
I slept in just a bit, I suspect because the sun rose a bit later since I'm farther west, and also I found what diverts Puck when he's trying to wake me up: an open window. If you've seen the movie "Up", you know the deal: Puck comes and starts licking my hair/etc saying "I LOOOVE you Mom!" I open the window, he says "I LOOOOVE--BIRD!" and spends five minutes staring out the window. He remembers me, says "I love you Mom! I loooooove--" and I point him toward the window "y--BIRD!" and more staring. I'll have to try it again tonight.
We started out around 8:20 central time, and drove through relatively flat and empty country to the Canadian border at Portal. I did stop at Bowbells to fill up my tank, figuring that diesel would be more expensive north of the border (and it is, but it's less than regular gas, which blunts the sting a little). Crossing the border was relatively painless, although I couldn't really hear what the woman was saying, and I don't think she believed that I could be from Florida and not have any firearms. She also wanted to know why I kept going to Calgary, and I mentioned that I had relatives in Lethbridge and didn't like to fly the puddlejumper. She agreed, and waved me through; she did look at my passport, but not the cats' papers. I'm sure I'll need them to get back into the States.
In Canada, the scenery was incredibly repetitive, and a bit boring. Flat, gently rolling, very few trees. In NoDak at least I had begun to see a bit of badlands in the distance, but this was all flat farms. I did go through the town that recorded the record high temperature for Canada: 114 degrees, in July of 1937. Yep, that's warm. I also wonder what kids in these tiny towns without schools (or apparently without schools) do when the roads are closed in winter.
I don't have a very good Canada map (my atlas is lovely for the US but has zilch for Canada), and the tourist information station at the border was closed for the season. I'm winging it with a little atlas, which is fine except I didn't realize that Regina had a bypass road and wound up driving right through downtown. I stopped at McD's to get a couple of hamburgers, and then continued on up to Saskatoon.
I did have a sort of map for Saskatoon, provided in the brochure for the campground I'm in now. It's a bit dusty (there's construction going on across the road, and when the wind picks up it's a bit gritty), but otherwise it seems quite nice. The site is level enough without blocks, and now that I'm out of the US my non-digital TV is picking up two channels! Probably won't be anything to watch. I also bought myself an ice cream, since it's damn hot. I'd say the lower 80's, which is way too warm for this time of year. Two weeks ago it was snowing. This is better than snow, but I do wish it would cool down a bit.
The cats are fine; Puck's on the bed, napping, and Nell's on the dashboard looking at everything. I'm happy that we're not moving anymore today, that tomorrow will be a shorter day, and that I had ice cream! Also, that I caught that Visa had put a fraud hold on my card before it became an emergency, and fixed it! And ice cream! Yay!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
An Oasis
May 15--Minot, ND
The shower was just about as bad as I thought. It wasn't very sulfur-y, but it was very iron-y. It was rather like taking a shower in liquid iron. And the water was so soft I don't think I got all the soap out of my hair, and could hardly tell when I was rinsed. But I did sleep well--or at least, well enough.
Puck woke me up before 5am, and I ignored him for a while before I got up to go to the toilet. When I got back, he bothered me a while longer before I finally locked him in the kennel. I got about another hour of sleep before Nell woke me very politely, and I got up and fed both of them. Before I left I checked the tires; they weren't as inflated as they could have been, which might be why I'm not getting the mileage I got last year. Things are looking better since.
I bounced out of the KOA and headed west. I got through Fargo and stopped at a truck stop to get an egg and cheese sandwich from Subway, which was quite tasty. I headed off-interstate at Jamestown and wound through lots of little prairie towns on the way to Minot. I do wonder what some of these very tiny towns do for schooling; do they send students to a consolidated school, and if so do what do they do when blizzards hit? There's not much shelter out here.
They've obviously gotten a lot of rain here; many of the fields are flooded, and the "seasonal lakes" are full. I saw a lot of ducks (including one that had been hit by a car, which I don't think I've ever seen before), and almost hit a mama duck with a train of ducklings who decided to cross the road. I missed them, and the road was empty long enough that I suspect they are fine. I also saw some birds that I would swear were loons, but I'll have to look them up to be sure. They were definitely diving birds, though. Plus lots of dead deer.
I got to Minot and hoped to stay at a campground that got lots of good press; unfortunately, they are now only renting long-term (a week or more), presumably to oil workers who can't find an apartment (North Dakota is I think the only state that was never in a recession, and it's so full of people wanting to work in/around the oil fields that there simply isn't enough housing for everyone, and maybe not even enough campgrounds, since people are living in their cars, weather permitting). I didn't want to go to the KOA, which didn't impress me when I drove past it. So I'm at the same campground I stayed at last year, and it's just as nice as I remember. I got a truly level site that's not flooded, the water tastes great, and the weather is perfect (warm with a cool breeze); it's just barely spring here, I guess, since the trees are just barely in leaf. Whatever it is, it's great.
I'll be here through Monday morning, when I expect to take on Canada. I probably won't post tomorrow, since I won't be doing anything exciting (bleaching the water tanks/reading/napping/eating/cleaning the rig), so tune in then!
The shower was just about as bad as I thought. It wasn't very sulfur-y, but it was very iron-y. It was rather like taking a shower in liquid iron. And the water was so soft I don't think I got all the soap out of my hair, and could hardly tell when I was rinsed. But I did sleep well--or at least, well enough.
Puck woke me up before 5am, and I ignored him for a while before I got up to go to the toilet. When I got back, he bothered me a while longer before I finally locked him in the kennel. I got about another hour of sleep before Nell woke me very politely, and I got up and fed both of them. Before I left I checked the tires; they weren't as inflated as they could have been, which might be why I'm not getting the mileage I got last year. Things are looking better since.
I bounced out of the KOA and headed west. I got through Fargo and stopped at a truck stop to get an egg and cheese sandwich from Subway, which was quite tasty. I headed off-interstate at Jamestown and wound through lots of little prairie towns on the way to Minot. I do wonder what some of these very tiny towns do for schooling; do they send students to a consolidated school, and if so do what do they do when blizzards hit? There's not much shelter out here.
They've obviously gotten a lot of rain here; many of the fields are flooded, and the "seasonal lakes" are full. I saw a lot of ducks (including one that had been hit by a car, which I don't think I've ever seen before), and almost hit a mama duck with a train of ducklings who decided to cross the road. I missed them, and the road was empty long enough that I suspect they are fine. I also saw some birds that I would swear were loons, but I'll have to look them up to be sure. They were definitely diving birds, though. Plus lots of dead deer.
I got to Minot and hoped to stay at a campground that got lots of good press; unfortunately, they are now only renting long-term (a week or more), presumably to oil workers who can't find an apartment (North Dakota is I think the only state that was never in a recession, and it's so full of people wanting to work in/around the oil fields that there simply isn't enough housing for everyone, and maybe not even enough campgrounds, since people are living in their cars, weather permitting). I didn't want to go to the KOA, which didn't impress me when I drove past it. So I'm at the same campground I stayed at last year, and it's just as nice as I remember. I got a truly level site that's not flooded, the water tastes great, and the weather is perfect (warm with a cool breeze); it's just barely spring here, I guess, since the trees are just barely in leaf. Whatever it is, it's great.
I'll be here through Monday morning, when I expect to take on Canada. I probably won't post tomorrow, since I won't be doing anything exciting (bleaching the water tanks/reading/napping/eating/cleaning the rig), so tune in then!
Friday, May 14, 2010
It figures
May 14--Moorhead, MN
Puck woke me up at 5am, the rotten little creature. I got up myself at 5:30--it was 45 outside, and 54 inside! It's amazing how warm I am with my rather-thin comforter. Nell cuddles under it, but Puck just toughs it out--no wonder he woke me up! Actually, he was hungry. I fed them around 6, and we left at 7:15. I stopped at the local Lewis and Clark museum, which wasn't open, but I did get a look at a reproduction of the keel boat that they sailed up the Missouri to the Hidatsa/Mandan villages in NoDak. It sure seemed narrow!
Today was mostly a driving day, because I wanted to get to the KOA in Moorhead to relax and sanitize the water system. There were bluffs on either side of the Missouri river valley throughout Iowa, and once in South Dakota it got much flatter, and the wind picked up. It was hitting us broadside, and made driving a lot more tiring, as did all the road work and the general roughness of the road itself. Living in Florida without frosts has made me forget how badly winter beats up roads.
I set up my GPS, and it worked quite well, except that it died right before I got to the KOA (where I really could have used it). It won't turn on now, and I'm not sure what's up with it. I'll have to look online to see if it's something I can fix.
I got to Moorhead, finally, and began to follow the directions. This area is one of the few places that is still in a building boom, and the directions didn't work. I followed some signs, which ended in a one-lane dirt road, and I stopped and called the KOA. Yep, it was down the one-lane dirt road. And it didn't get better.
The KOA, once I got down the rutted dirt road, is also half-flooded. The first spot they gave me, the electric was being used by an adjacent site, so I moved to another site. Then I found that the water is cloudy and smells of sulfur, and so I'm not going to clean the system. Worse, I don't have any water to drink; I drank the last of my Panama City water last night, and I don't want to drink the sulfur water and I won't give it to the cats. So I bought a very expensive small bottle of water (no stores around here, and I'm not taking the rig back out until we leave) and gave it to the cats. I'm currently drinking a bottle of sparkling grape juice I'd been saving, but I'll probably finish the water before I go to bed tonight.
I'm not looking forward to showering in the egg water, but I really need a shower. Ick. At least the cats are entertained watching the neighbors--well, Puck is entertained; Nell thinks they're going to break in and eat her for dinner. She's a non-trusting soul. I haven't told them that we're moving on tomorrow; oh well. If the next place I'm in is nice, we'll stay two nights there, because I'm tired.
Puck woke me up at 5am, the rotten little creature. I got up myself at 5:30--it was 45 outside, and 54 inside! It's amazing how warm I am with my rather-thin comforter. Nell cuddles under it, but Puck just toughs it out--no wonder he woke me up! Actually, he was hungry. I fed them around 6, and we left at 7:15. I stopped at the local Lewis and Clark museum, which wasn't open, but I did get a look at a reproduction of the keel boat that they sailed up the Missouri to the Hidatsa/Mandan villages in NoDak. It sure seemed narrow!
Today was mostly a driving day, because I wanted to get to the KOA in Moorhead to relax and sanitize the water system. There were bluffs on either side of the Missouri river valley throughout Iowa, and once in South Dakota it got much flatter, and the wind picked up. It was hitting us broadside, and made driving a lot more tiring, as did all the road work and the general roughness of the road itself. Living in Florida without frosts has made me forget how badly winter beats up roads.
I set up my GPS, and it worked quite well, except that it died right before I got to the KOA (where I really could have used it). It won't turn on now, and I'm not sure what's up with it. I'll have to look online to see if it's something I can fix.
I got to Moorhead, finally, and began to follow the directions. This area is one of the few places that is still in a building boom, and the directions didn't work. I followed some signs, which ended in a one-lane dirt road, and I stopped and called the KOA. Yep, it was down the one-lane dirt road. And it didn't get better.
The KOA, once I got down the rutted dirt road, is also half-flooded. The first spot they gave me, the electric was being used by an adjacent site, so I moved to another site. Then I found that the water is cloudy and smells of sulfur, and so I'm not going to clean the system. Worse, I don't have any water to drink; I drank the last of my Panama City water last night, and I don't want to drink the sulfur water and I won't give it to the cats. So I bought a very expensive small bottle of water (no stores around here, and I'm not taking the rig back out until we leave) and gave it to the cats. I'm currently drinking a bottle of sparkling grape juice I'd been saving, but I'll probably finish the water before I go to bed tonight.
I'm not looking forward to showering in the egg water, but I really need a shower. Ick. At least the cats are entertained watching the neighbors--well, Puck is entertained; Nell thinks they're going to break in and eat her for dinner. She's a non-trusting soul. I haven't told them that we're moving on tomorrow; oh well. If the next place I'm in is nice, we'll stay two nights there, because I'm tired.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Discretion is the better part of valor
May 12--Springfield, MO
I slept OK last night; I thought it was going to rain so I had most of the windows closed, and it got stuffy. I did wake up for a while and open the top hatch, which helped. It was also very humid.
I knew I wasn't in a hurry, so I spent most of the morning reading and on the internet and cleaning and tidying the rig (it's amazing how much clutter can accumulate in just two days in such a small space). I also walked around the RV park, and found that many (if not most) of the 20 or so rigs were at least semi-permanent. I packed up and left around 10:30, and plodded to the Dodge dealer. I was told that the part had just come in, and as soon as the engine had cooled (they opened the hood) and there was space, they'd do the work.
So I sat in the parking lot with the windows open, and it was surprisingly comfortable. It was about 78 but cloudy with a VERY brisk wind, and the temperature never got above 80 in the rig, which was just fine. They pulled just the front end into the garage, changed out the part, then someone took the rig for a test drive (while I rode in the back, which was a new experience) and revved it the hell up various hills with the diagnostic computer attached, and all was well. So I thanked them (it was under warranty, so was free!) and headed north around noon.
I know I didn't want to get too far, because there was/is a severe weather outbreak predicted for all of north Missouri. I decided not to camp tonight; we haven't gone through a thunderstorm in the rig, and I didn't want to start with a storm that might require evacuation. So I figured I could go to Springfield and stay at the Motel 6. Once I decided that, I headed for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home in Mansfield, MO.
It's a damn good thing that I stopped to get the rig fixed in West Plains, because I would never have made it much farther. Lots of hills, heavily wooded, with streams and houses--really quite a lovely area. I stopped just before Mansfield to eat (McDonalds!), since I'd had almost nothing for breakfast.
Mansfield is a little midwestern town, with a tiny downtown fixated around the Wilders (I spotted Ma and Pa's Kettle, for instance, and the Little House Motel, among others). The house itself is about a mile outside of town, and the parking lot actually had a bit of shade. I headed up the hill to the museum, which was full of really interesting memorabilia, from original drafts of the books (she wrote in longhand in pencil on tablets) to Pa's fiddle! Plus lots of information about both Laura's and Almanzo's families.
The house itself was great. Almanzo built most of it himself, when they had enough money they'd add a room. Everything was rather low, the counters and the ceilings, possibly because both of them were short (Laura was 4 foot 11 inches, and Almanzo was only 5 foot 4 inches--watching that TV show with the REALLY tall actor playing Almanzo is deceptive!). It eventually was seven rooms downstairs (including a small library, a music room, and a writing room) with a guest bedroom and Rose's loft (reached by a very steep, very narrow "ladder stairway") upstairs. It's built on the edge of a ravine, and just would be a lovely place to live.
After buying a T-shirt and a couple of postcards, I headed back to the rig. All was well with the cats so I drove to the cemetery, which is NOT labeled very well at all. My little map said it was on Lincoln Street, but I turned on Lincoln Avenue, which turned out to be the correct choice. The cemetery is right next to the middle school, and Almanzo, Laura, and Rose are all buried there with nice headstones. I then headed back to the highway.
The hills started leveling out a bit west of Mansfield, and we went through an Amish area (complete with signs showing a horse-and-buggy and saying "Share the road"), and I did pass a man in his buggy, trotting the horse down the edge of the highway (I pulled over to the other lane to give him plenty of room). The hills continued to die down; I'm not sure why Springfield says that it's part of the Ozarks, as there aren't many hills here at all--unless they've been torn down and paved over, which given what I've seen of the town so far is likely.
We then headed to the Motel 6, which is off the highway with lots of other motels. The lady at the desk was really nice, and gave me the last single room on the first floor, complete with parking for the RV across the way; It's nice to be able to see the RV from my window. Apparently other people also wanted the first floor; if we do have a tornado (which at this point seems unlikely, but who knows) we're headed into the bathroom, and should be OK. The cats were not happy to go into the large mesh kennel in the room. Nell in particular was meowing piteously, and I felt very sorry for her, until I fed her and she shut up completely. Now they're both sleeping; Nell has her whole body on the small bed in there, while Puck can only fit his front half. It'll be very interesting to see if they actually begin to curl up together, but it's not happening yet. They have water and a litter box, and seem fine.
I did laundry (might as well take advantage of being here--and I don't think I'll be needing the tank tops much for a while) and then went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner--salad bar and two "slider" hamburgers, and I'm very full. I just took a shower and I'm going to watch "Mythbusters"--this is the life! I do miss my RV, because it's mine and I'm used to the bed and like the fresh air, but we're definitely safer here--another BIG fifth-wheel trailer has pulled in front of me, and there are semi trucks without trailers everywhere--I think everyone's holing up. There are severe storms to the west and north, and I suspect we'll get hammered between midnight and tomorrow morning. Well, checkout time isn't until noon and I have plenty of books to read--I traded in three books I'd read and/or lost interest in and got two new nice light and fluffy novels just right for stormy mornings.
May 13--Nebraska City, Nebraska
I slept OK, although I did wake up at 3am to watch the weather for a while. Then I slept until 6:40am (the cats were caged and couldn't wake me up!) just in time for the severe thunderstorms. We also had a tornado warning, although the possible tornadoes all were south of where we were (yay TV stations with good radar!), so I didn't hide in the bathroom. I was VERY glad that I was in the Motel 6 and not the RV, though! It all died down around 8:30am, and I went next door to the Bob Evans and had a bit of breakfast before leaving around 9:20.
It wasn't raining, although it was cloudy for most of the day. I headed north and stopped in Osceola at the Cheese store, and tried lots of cheeses (the cheese with sausage already in it was quite tasty, although if I had bought even the smallest amount I suspect I would have gotten sick on it). I did buy some cheese curds.
I wanted to go to Butler, where the author Robert Heinlein was born, but the "major" road I took west was still quite narrow and not level and then there was a detour onto a road that was even less level and more narrow. Meanwhile, the weather had deteriorated; I saw a "shelf" cloud, which I had seen described on the Weather Channel, which means a wind shift. And they were right: as soon as I got under the cloud the wind shifted from south to north (thus blowing the rig in a different, equally difficult direction) and the temperature dropped 10 degrees almost immediately. It also began to rain lightly, which it did off and on for most of the afternoon.
I did eventually get to Butler, and I followed a sign, but never did find the house. I aborted the mission early when I found that tree limbs were rubbing the top of the RV, which can't be good. I did drive through "downtown" Butler, and found my favorite shop: a combination pet/live bait store. If you want to buy a goldfish, guppy, rat, or mouse, they don't care if it's as a pet or as a meal--it was called "Pet ur Bait". I took a picture, and will post it sometime.
I then headed north, through Kansas City, past St. Joseph. Here the land really started to flatten out; Butler had been the last of what I'd call "hilly" country, but much of I-29 here is down a river valley between two bluffs far apart. I wanted to stop at the KOA in Rock Port, but it was under renovation/construction and didn't have water. So I drove on a bit more and stopped at a campground here. Very nice, even if their definition of "level" again isn't mine. Everyone must travel with automatic levelers or something, because I had a hell of a time leveling the thing. I think it's OK now. And then I found that I had forgotten the frozen berry mix in my freezer, which had thawed and was now flowing all over the freezer. So I cleaned that up (I don't think I got any juice on my white T-shirt, which will be a miracle if true). I just fed the cats (who are grateful to not be confined in the carrier), and I'm going to eat some cheese curds and salsa and corn chips for dinner. Not very nutritious, but very tasty!
I slept OK last night; I thought it was going to rain so I had most of the windows closed, and it got stuffy. I did wake up for a while and open the top hatch, which helped. It was also very humid.
I knew I wasn't in a hurry, so I spent most of the morning reading and on the internet and cleaning and tidying the rig (it's amazing how much clutter can accumulate in just two days in such a small space). I also walked around the RV park, and found that many (if not most) of the 20 or so rigs were at least semi-permanent. I packed up and left around 10:30, and plodded to the Dodge dealer. I was told that the part had just come in, and as soon as the engine had cooled (they opened the hood) and there was space, they'd do the work.
So I sat in the parking lot with the windows open, and it was surprisingly comfortable. It was about 78 but cloudy with a VERY brisk wind, and the temperature never got above 80 in the rig, which was just fine. They pulled just the front end into the garage, changed out the part, then someone took the rig for a test drive (while I rode in the back, which was a new experience) and revved it the hell up various hills with the diagnostic computer attached, and all was well. So I thanked them (it was under warranty, so was free!) and headed north around noon.
I know I didn't want to get too far, because there was/is a severe weather outbreak predicted for all of north Missouri. I decided not to camp tonight; we haven't gone through a thunderstorm in the rig, and I didn't want to start with a storm that might require evacuation. So I figured I could go to Springfield and stay at the Motel 6. Once I decided that, I headed for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home in Mansfield, MO.
It's a damn good thing that I stopped to get the rig fixed in West Plains, because I would never have made it much farther. Lots of hills, heavily wooded, with streams and houses--really quite a lovely area. I stopped just before Mansfield to eat (McDonalds!), since I'd had almost nothing for breakfast.
Mansfield is a little midwestern town, with a tiny downtown fixated around the Wilders (I spotted Ma and Pa's Kettle, for instance, and the Little House Motel, among others). The house itself is about a mile outside of town, and the parking lot actually had a bit of shade. I headed up the hill to the museum, which was full of really interesting memorabilia, from original drafts of the books (she wrote in longhand in pencil on tablets) to Pa's fiddle! Plus lots of information about both Laura's and Almanzo's families.
The house itself was great. Almanzo built most of it himself, when they had enough money they'd add a room. Everything was rather low, the counters and the ceilings, possibly because both of them were short (Laura was 4 foot 11 inches, and Almanzo was only 5 foot 4 inches--watching that TV show with the REALLY tall actor playing Almanzo is deceptive!). It eventually was seven rooms downstairs (including a small library, a music room, and a writing room) with a guest bedroom and Rose's loft (reached by a very steep, very narrow "ladder stairway") upstairs. It's built on the edge of a ravine, and just would be a lovely place to live.
After buying a T-shirt and a couple of postcards, I headed back to the rig. All was well with the cats so I drove to the cemetery, which is NOT labeled very well at all. My little map said it was on Lincoln Street, but I turned on Lincoln Avenue, which turned out to be the correct choice. The cemetery is right next to the middle school, and Almanzo, Laura, and Rose are all buried there with nice headstones. I then headed back to the highway.
The hills started leveling out a bit west of Mansfield, and we went through an Amish area (complete with signs showing a horse-and-buggy and saying "Share the road"), and I did pass a man in his buggy, trotting the horse down the edge of the highway (I pulled over to the other lane to give him plenty of room). The hills continued to die down; I'm not sure why Springfield says that it's part of the Ozarks, as there aren't many hills here at all--unless they've been torn down and paved over, which given what I've seen of the town so far is likely.
We then headed to the Motel 6, which is off the highway with lots of other motels. The lady at the desk was really nice, and gave me the last single room on the first floor, complete with parking for the RV across the way; It's nice to be able to see the RV from my window. Apparently other people also wanted the first floor; if we do have a tornado (which at this point seems unlikely, but who knows) we're headed into the bathroom, and should be OK. The cats were not happy to go into the large mesh kennel in the room. Nell in particular was meowing piteously, and I felt very sorry for her, until I fed her and she shut up completely. Now they're both sleeping; Nell has her whole body on the small bed in there, while Puck can only fit his front half. It'll be very interesting to see if they actually begin to curl up together, but it's not happening yet. They have water and a litter box, and seem fine.
I did laundry (might as well take advantage of being here--and I don't think I'll be needing the tank tops much for a while) and then went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner--salad bar and two "slider" hamburgers, and I'm very full. I just took a shower and I'm going to watch "Mythbusters"--this is the life! I do miss my RV, because it's mine and I'm used to the bed and like the fresh air, but we're definitely safer here--another BIG fifth-wheel trailer has pulled in front of me, and there are semi trucks without trailers everywhere--I think everyone's holing up. There are severe storms to the west and north, and I suspect we'll get hammered between midnight and tomorrow morning. Well, checkout time isn't until noon and I have plenty of books to read--I traded in three books I'd read and/or lost interest in and got two new nice light and fluffy novels just right for stormy mornings.
May 13--Nebraska City, Nebraska
I slept OK, although I did wake up at 3am to watch the weather for a while. Then I slept until 6:40am (the cats were caged and couldn't wake me up!) just in time for the severe thunderstorms. We also had a tornado warning, although the possible tornadoes all were south of where we were (yay TV stations with good radar!), so I didn't hide in the bathroom. I was VERY glad that I was in the Motel 6 and not the RV, though! It all died down around 8:30am, and I went next door to the Bob Evans and had a bit of breakfast before leaving around 9:20.
It wasn't raining, although it was cloudy for most of the day. I headed north and stopped in Osceola at the Cheese store, and tried lots of cheeses (the cheese with sausage already in it was quite tasty, although if I had bought even the smallest amount I suspect I would have gotten sick on it). I did buy some cheese curds.
I wanted to go to Butler, where the author Robert Heinlein was born, but the "major" road I took west was still quite narrow and not level and then there was a detour onto a road that was even less level and more narrow. Meanwhile, the weather had deteriorated; I saw a "shelf" cloud, which I had seen described on the Weather Channel, which means a wind shift. And they were right: as soon as I got under the cloud the wind shifted from south to north (thus blowing the rig in a different, equally difficult direction) and the temperature dropped 10 degrees almost immediately. It also began to rain lightly, which it did off and on for most of the afternoon.
I did eventually get to Butler, and I followed a sign, but never did find the house. I aborted the mission early when I found that tree limbs were rubbing the top of the RV, which can't be good. I did drive through "downtown" Butler, and found my favorite shop: a combination pet/live bait store. If you want to buy a goldfish, guppy, rat, or mouse, they don't care if it's as a pet or as a meal--it was called "Pet ur Bait". I took a picture, and will post it sometime.
I then headed north, through Kansas City, past St. Joseph. Here the land really started to flatten out; Butler had been the last of what I'd call "hilly" country, but much of I-29 here is down a river valley between two bluffs far apart. I wanted to stop at the KOA in Rock Port, but it was under renovation/construction and didn't have water. So I drove on a bit more and stopped at a campground here. Very nice, even if their definition of "level" again isn't mine. Everyone must travel with automatic levelers or something, because I had a hell of a time leveling the thing. I think it's OK now. And then I found that I had forgotten the frozen berry mix in my freezer, which had thawed and was now flowing all over the freezer. So I cleaned that up (I don't think I got any juice on my white T-shirt, which will be a miracle if true). I just fed the cats (who are grateful to not be confined in the carrier), and I'm going to eat some cheese curds and salsa and corn chips for dinner. Not very nutritious, but very tasty!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Well, it could be worse.
May 11--West Plains, MO
I neglected to mention that last night, while trying to connect my electric and water, I scratched the hell out of my left shoulderblade with a corner of the panel cover. I thought it was just a welt, but I found this morning that I had broken the skin and that it looked rather nasty. Given the copious amount of dirt on the cover, and that I hadn't had a tetanus booster in 10 years, I decided to take care of that. So I packed up early (I had actually slept quite well; I didn't have the 3am wakeup I usually have) and tried to find an urgent care that I had looked up on the Internet. Which wasn't where the map said it would be, but I saw a billboard for another place and got the shot (plus a suggestion I put some Neosporin on the scrape) in about 50 minutes. And found my blood pressure, even though I was about to get a shot, was in the "high normal" range, which is pretty good for me under stress. Yay not teaching!
I got back in the RV and drove for about 40 minutes before stopping at a WalMart to get supplies (condiments, tortilla chips and salsa, a sandwich for brunch). The rig was running fine, so I headed out.
Right before I got to Memphis, we hit the Delta. Flat as a pancake, which continued through much of Arkansas. The weather was cloudy and only about 75, so quite comfortable. Until the hills came back.
The rig had been a trooper, but about 2:30 we hit the same wall: the damn thing just didn't want to go up hills. This was more of a problem than it had been yesterday, because I was on a two-lane road with little room for passing. At one point I was relatively sure that I was going to wind up not only not being able to climb the hill, but actually going backwards!
I stopped for a few minutes, to see if this would help. It did for a bit, but then not only did I lose power, but the "Check Engine" light came on. I kept on driving, mostly because I was in the middle of nowhere and I figured I probably wasn't hurting the engine too badly. While passing through West Plains I saw a Dodge dealership and stopped.
The mechanics pulled it in, did a lot of head scratching, revved the engine like crazy (I have no idea, by the way, what the cats in their carriers in the back thought of this), then said my turbo booster was bad. This is a not-uncommon thing in Dodge Sprinters, like mine; I'm just glad it decided to give out now and not, say, in the Yukon. They ordered the part, and it should be in tomorrow.
I drove the rig a couple of miles down the road to a very nice campground, even if it is just off the busy road and by a railroad track. There's a pool, which is very cold, a nice common room off the office with books, and a storm shelter right up the hill, which everyone apparently used two days ago when the tornadoes came through. We may have storms tonight; I do hope we don't need to evacuate to the shelter.
I'm going to take the rig back tomorrow; the part should be in about noon, and I'd like the engine to be nice and cold so they can transfer it right away. I'm not sure if I'll go any farther tomorrow; there is a big tornado outbreak predicted just north of here, and I'm in no hurry to get into that. I'll just play it by ear and check the storm prediction tomorrow.
But I'm well (not even a welt where the shot was--the Benadryl I took apparently worked), the rig is fine even if it can't climb hills (and I'm in the middle of the Ozarks--there are hills everywhere), and the cats are quite happy. Lots of eating, no more barfing, although Puck needs to realize he can't sharpen his claws on the carpet-covered walls above my bed. For a day that began in an emergency room and ended in a car repair center, it really could have been much worse.
I neglected to mention that last night, while trying to connect my electric and water, I scratched the hell out of my left shoulderblade with a corner of the panel cover. I thought it was just a welt, but I found this morning that I had broken the skin and that it looked rather nasty. Given the copious amount of dirt on the cover, and that I hadn't had a tetanus booster in 10 years, I decided to take care of that. So I packed up early (I had actually slept quite well; I didn't have the 3am wakeup I usually have) and tried to find an urgent care that I had looked up on the Internet. Which wasn't where the map said it would be, but I saw a billboard for another place and got the shot (plus a suggestion I put some Neosporin on the scrape) in about 50 minutes. And found my blood pressure, even though I was about to get a shot, was in the "high normal" range, which is pretty good for me under stress. Yay not teaching!
I got back in the RV and drove for about 40 minutes before stopping at a WalMart to get supplies (condiments, tortilla chips and salsa, a sandwich for brunch). The rig was running fine, so I headed out.
Right before I got to Memphis, we hit the Delta. Flat as a pancake, which continued through much of Arkansas. The weather was cloudy and only about 75, so quite comfortable. Until the hills came back.
The rig had been a trooper, but about 2:30 we hit the same wall: the damn thing just didn't want to go up hills. This was more of a problem than it had been yesterday, because I was on a two-lane road with little room for passing. At one point I was relatively sure that I was going to wind up not only not being able to climb the hill, but actually going backwards!
I stopped for a few minutes, to see if this would help. It did for a bit, but then not only did I lose power, but the "Check Engine" light came on. I kept on driving, mostly because I was in the middle of nowhere and I figured I probably wasn't hurting the engine too badly. While passing through West Plains I saw a Dodge dealership and stopped.
The mechanics pulled it in, did a lot of head scratching, revved the engine like crazy (I have no idea, by the way, what the cats in their carriers in the back thought of this), then said my turbo booster was bad. This is a not-uncommon thing in Dodge Sprinters, like mine; I'm just glad it decided to give out now and not, say, in the Yukon. They ordered the part, and it should be in tomorrow.
I drove the rig a couple of miles down the road to a very nice campground, even if it is just off the busy road and by a railroad track. There's a pool, which is very cold, a nice common room off the office with books, and a storm shelter right up the hill, which everyone apparently used two days ago when the tornadoes came through. We may have storms tonight; I do hope we don't need to evacuate to the shelter.
I'm going to take the rig back tomorrow; the part should be in about noon, and I'd like the engine to be nice and cold so they can transfer it right away. I'm not sure if I'll go any farther tomorrow; there is a big tornado outbreak predicted just north of here, and I'm in no hurry to get into that. I'll just play it by ear and check the storm prediction tomorrow.
But I'm well (not even a welt where the shot was--the Benadryl I took apparently worked), the rig is fine even if it can't climb hills (and I'm in the middle of the Ozarks--there are hills everywhere), and the cats are quite happy. Lots of eating, no more barfing, although Puck needs to realize he can't sharpen his claws on the carpet-covered walls above my bed. For a day that began in an emergency room and ended in a car repair center, it really could have been much worse.
And they're off!
May 10--Tupelo, MS
I got started a bit later than I thought; I drove the RV to my apartment last night around six, got most everything loaded (but not put away), and this morning I had to clean and finish the loading. I was up by 6am, and at work by 6:30, but I still hadn't finished and dropped the last of the stuff off at the storage unit until 9:20. So I headed north.
The RV was driving fine, but Nell decided to christen the trip by vomiting her breakfast all over the carrier. I discovered this in Dothan, when I stopped for lunch. So I moved her to Puck's pen (they got along fine), dumped the worst of the vomit off in the bushes (sorry, Dothan Taco Bell!) and got my lunch.
The weather was fine: sunny and a bit windy. However, it changed completely between Montgomery and Birmingham, which is only about 90 miles. In Montgomery it was 82 and sunny; in Birmingham it was 52 and raining. I got diesel just past Birmingham and nearly froze standing outside the rig in my tank top and shorts, but I didn't want to dig through the stuff to get a coat.
The Birmingham roads weren't too bad, by the way; there's been construction and many of the bumps have been smoothed out.
Unfortunately, I think I got a bad batch of diesel; the RV lost most of the power it has at speeds above 40 mph. We'd be cruising at 65mph down the hill, and then struggle to make it up the hill. I'm going to get new gas today, and hopefully that will fix it.
I stopped at a campground in Tupelo. It's nearly full, which is surprising to me, but I got the "only here for one night" spot right next to the pet walking area, without a picnic table or other amenities. Oh well, it's cold and damp. I got the electric hooked up, let the cats out, then had to put them back to put out the slide (I don't want to catch a cat in the slide!). They recovered fast; both ate like maniacs about an hour after we parked, and seem to be in good shape. We'll see how well they travel today.
I also unfortunately got dirt into my water tank from a dirty hose, because I'm an idiot. I'll be cleaning that out later anyway, and I do know where the filter is. Then I put everything away, watched some of the tornado destruction in Oklahoma on the cable TV, and then went to bed and slept quite well, considering. I sure did bring a lot less stuff on this trip, or else I'm just better at putting it away.
Cloudy but a bit warmer this morning; we'll see what the day brings!
I got started a bit later than I thought; I drove the RV to my apartment last night around six, got most everything loaded (but not put away), and this morning I had to clean and finish the loading. I was up by 6am, and at work by 6:30, but I still hadn't finished and dropped the last of the stuff off at the storage unit until 9:20. So I headed north.
The RV was driving fine, but Nell decided to christen the trip by vomiting her breakfast all over the carrier. I discovered this in Dothan, when I stopped for lunch. So I moved her to Puck's pen (they got along fine), dumped the worst of the vomit off in the bushes (sorry, Dothan Taco Bell!) and got my lunch.
The weather was fine: sunny and a bit windy. However, it changed completely between Montgomery and Birmingham, which is only about 90 miles. In Montgomery it was 82 and sunny; in Birmingham it was 52 and raining. I got diesel just past Birmingham and nearly froze standing outside the rig in my tank top and shorts, but I didn't want to dig through the stuff to get a coat.
The Birmingham roads weren't too bad, by the way; there's been construction and many of the bumps have been smoothed out.
Unfortunately, I think I got a bad batch of diesel; the RV lost most of the power it has at speeds above 40 mph. We'd be cruising at 65mph down the hill, and then struggle to make it up the hill. I'm going to get new gas today, and hopefully that will fix it.
I stopped at a campground in Tupelo. It's nearly full, which is surprising to me, but I got the "only here for one night" spot right next to the pet walking area, without a picnic table or other amenities. Oh well, it's cold and damp. I got the electric hooked up, let the cats out, then had to put them back to put out the slide (I don't want to catch a cat in the slide!). They recovered fast; both ate like maniacs about an hour after we parked, and seem to be in good shape. We'll see how well they travel today.
I also unfortunately got dirt into my water tank from a dirty hose, because I'm an idiot. I'll be cleaning that out later anyway, and I do know where the filter is. Then I put everything away, watched some of the tornado destruction in Oklahoma on the cable TV, and then went to bed and slept quite well, considering. I sure did bring a lot less stuff on this trip, or else I'm just better at putting it away.
Cloudy but a bit warmer this morning; we'll see what the day brings!
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