It was a quick awakening this morning.....and soon, after hot Fr Roast coffee for this sagging hulk of me.....and a cup of hot tea for the 1st Lady.......we were unhooked from the power post by the umbilical cords and slowly pulling out of this beautiful, green grass covered rv park. I drove slowly, looking over the acres of green grass, the beautiful fields for activities, the great swimming pool, and the wonderful small ponds/lakes......all of this part of this great place. All of this in top of rolling hills......and it looks and reminds me of the farmlands of Prince Edward Island......sooooo neat, sooooo prim.......soooooo picturesque!! Just a fabulous rv park!!!!
We were on the road by 9:30.....one drawback to this place is that only a few of the 200+ sites have sewer outlets......so, I had to dump at the park's dumping place....and that took more time than I had anticipated because it was not level(another drawback)....and when I first opened the black water valve....NOTHING came out. I just about had a damned stroke!!!!!!! My first thought was ...."OH SHIT"......and that was exactly what was NOT exiting TheHowserHouse. Checking the levels on the outside of THH....I soon realized that it was not level from side to side, nor was it level from front to back. Soooo, I pulled THH forward a foot or two....and then put the front landing gear jacks down to raise up the front of it......and soon, all of that lovely black crap was running out and through the hose to the proper resting place for such lovely black crap.......in the underground tank! Sooooo, it was 9:30 by the time I pulled out and then had a couple of paved farm roads to drive down before reaching the interstate.
We began making phone calls to cg's in western Indiana....and NO LUCK.....all were reserved. So, we made a decision to drive farther west into Illinois and I called my great friend Pete Brandon in Las Cruces, NM......and got the name of the cg he had stayed in going both ways while on the Rally trip and the trip to Nova Scotia. I gave this place a call....and yep......we had a place for the night....however, it meant driving an extra 100 miles of so......and.....remember, I said a day or so ago that we only drive 350 miles or less each day. Well.......we went ahead and committed ourselves to doing this.....and...by the time we arrived, I was really tired.
DUMB...isn't it????? Who CAN'T drive 430 miles in one day????? Well, it is one hell of a lot easier to drive a car for that small distance than to drive and tow this 38 foot HowserHouse......it just takes soooo much concentration in heavy traffic...looking ahead, looking to the sides, checking the side mirrors, check the rpm's to see if a different gear will be needed with the upcoming hill(s), should I change gears for the steep downhill that is approaching, etc., etc., etc. There is a bit more to doing this than one realizes!!!! And, it does create a bit of tension in the neck after several hours.....
Approaching Indianapolis, without warning the semi's ahead of me hit their brakes.....and luckily I had enough room in front of me to bring this 14,000 lbs of HowserHouse and the truck...both rolling at 65 mph.... to a stop! Seems there was road construction somewhere ahead...but at that time no one knew what the hell was happening ahead. Soooo, we inched forward...literally inches at a time...and then would sit.....and then a few more inches....and finally after 50 minutes of doing this we managed to get the two lanes of traffic merged into one and we all began to move along at a steady 30 mph pace. It was very, very frustrating.......almost all of this time just to get the two lanes of cars and trucks and rv's into one lane!!!!!!
We reached Effingham, IL, where we had the reservations by 5:00pm CDT.....gaining an hour when we left Indiana and went into Illlinois. It only took about 20 minutes to set up and then we headed back into town to get a bite to eat. Then.....returning to THH, we noticed many other motorhomes and 5'ers......all from Missouri. So, the guy next to us was outside when we parked....and I struck up a conversation with him.....and he was from about 30 miles from F'town.....and he told me that this was a camping club....all from the same area we live in!!! Small world.....!!!!!
And sooo, another day of going down the road is finished.....and within three hours plus in the morning and we will be home, with a bit of luck. Another journey......fini!!! My creative thoughts are brain dead tonight.....so more on these past 8 weeks in the next day or two......but, you can be certain that I will, and ALWAYS will feel that..............
LIFE IS JUST INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment