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Travel
Journal
April 2005
Travel Route:
April began for us in Delaware.
Gabriele was still with us and we had managed to elude the bad weather
that had followed us to Pennsylvania. On the first of April we visited the Capitol
in Dover, then went to the Victrola Museum (http://www.destatemuseums.org/jvm/museum.html ), where there was quite a collection of old
gramophones. In the afternoon we took
Lobo to the beach for a walk, which we all enjoyed. Gabriele invited us to a seafood restaurant
for supper where the food was great. On the following morning we were to head
toward New York with the RV and drop off
Gabriele at a train station where she would catch a train to Manhattan.
However, when we awoke, it was raining so hard that we decided to wait
for a while until the weather cleared.
It was April 2nd (our 37th Wedding Anniversary)
and the heavens burst forth with a torrential rain that refused to stop. We waited the entire day for it to stop
raining. By early afternoon most of the
area around us was under water (photos
here). To make
things worse, the satellite internet connection began to fail, but having
nothing to do with the weather. Late in
the afternoon we decided that we would extend our stay, leave the RV in Dover and the following morning, drive to New York, drop off Gabriele, then drive back to Dover in the
evening. The adventure of driving a
dually truck through the Holland Tunnel ($12) and around downtown Manhattan was something
everyone needs to experience! On Monday
morning, the sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky, but wind in the 40-50
mph range. Chuck tried the entire day to
get an Internet connection and Renée was busy with the laundry. Imagine hanging out the laundry in that
weather. It sure dried fast! Chuck called the satellite firm in Maryland and got an
appointment to have them troubleshoot our problem and concurrently upgrade to a
faster service. As we arrived in Gaithersburg, we parked
at the end of the street, spent the night and the following morning the
technician arrived. As usual, things
didn’t go as they should and we had to spend another night. The following morning we were awoken by loud
knocking on the door. It was the police,
advising us that it was illegal to remain longer than 24 hours (we were being
watched) parked on the street. After
explaining that we would rather be somewhere else but technical problems were
keeping us there, he asked us to pull forward to allow an easier access for
delivery trucks to the firm that had obviously complained. As the day wore on, it was obvious that the
work was going to take longer so the technician took the system to his workshop
and we decided to take a short trip to Camping World in Manassas, VA. On the way, Chuck had the opportunity to
test his skill in turning around a fifth wheel on a narrow back road. A poorly marked Maryland road directed us to the back road,
when in fact the sign intended to say that the back road had a railroad bridge
where the clearance was 12’ (we are 13’ 2”).
Renée had to stand in the rain and direct traffic during this feat. One of the drivers offered the piece of
advice that we could have turned around on the other side of bridge where there
was much more room to do so! 
After this experience, we bought a Laser device to
estimate distance that we now use for all unmarked bridges and service stations
where the clearance is in question.
As we arrived in Manassas,
the carpet was soaking wet and it was clear that the gasket under the slide out
was not sealing properly. We called the
dealer in Maryland
where we bought the RV and obtained an appointment for the following
Monday. Late that afternoon Tommy (the
technician and owner’s son of the satellite firm) called with the news that the
system was ready to be re-installed.
Since it was Friday and he had already left the firm, he suggested we
come to his 48 acre farm where he had a warehouse and after he finished, we
could spend the night there. It was
quite nice. Renée and Lobo had a nice
walk through the fields and forest.
We could have stayed on the farm until our Monday
appointment, but after several days of camping without hookups, we decided to
find a campground where we could empty the tanks, fill up the fresh water tank,
wash and dry clothes, etc. After all of
this had been accomplished, we drove to Frederick
to the dealer on Sunday and spent the night amidst hundreds of other RVs, none
of which were occupied.
The dealer found the problem with the gasket seal and
made temporary repairs. Since we were to
be back in Indiana
a few weeks later, we decided to go to the manufacturer and have a permanent
repair made there, as well as having other minor problems corrected.
It was April 11th and we had to get our
taxes finished and filed by the 15th, so we needed to park for a few
days. When we bought our RV we were
approached by an RV resort in Gettysburg,
PA to buy a “timeshare”
spot. After listening to their spiel and
declining, we were given a certificate for 40 free days. We were only a few miles from there so we
took advantage of the free rent and spent the time getting the taxes done and
filed.
On the 14th we started to leave for Rhode Island (because it
was the only east coast state where we had never been). As we ran through our checklist we noticed a
marked weakness in braking power of the RV.
We immediately went back to the dealer.
As the mechanic adjusted the brakes, first on the driver’s side, we saw
and heard the trailer drop when he lowered the jacks. A lot of the stuff in the RV was thrown
around but nothing was broken that we noticed (a little more on this subject
later, though).
The trip to Rhode Island
was sunny and cold through Pennsylvania on
I-81 to Scranton and then I-84 to New York State.
We spent the night at a truck stop in Newfoundland,
PA and then the following day we drove through New York
to Connecticut,
spending the night at a Wal-Mart in Willimantic. It is remarkable that one can find such a
quiet parking place and a beautiful forest nearby, yet be in a Wal-Mart parking
lot!
We then headed toward Rhode Island on the back roads
toward Hope Valley to “Whispering Pines RV Camp“ where we managed, with extreme
difficulty to park a 32 foot RV in a spot designed for something like 25 feet
or less.
Our time in Rhode Island was spent driving along the
coast. At the Hammerhead Grill in Black
Point we had a fantastic meal of egg-battered filet of sole served on a bed of
angel hair pasta. Rhode Island has a lot more forest than we
had imagined and the coast line is rocky with little sand, at least where we
were. Nevertheless, it was quite nice
with good weather and mild temperatures, a very pleasant experience.
Rhode Island photos:
The
return trip to Fort Wayne began in Hope Valley,
RI then New Haven, Connecticut
to Danbury and in the direction of Wilkes-Barre, PA. We spent the first night at a Truck stop on
I-80 in Milton, PA where, for the first time, Renée tried
her hand at backing up into a truck parking space. She did quite a good job! On the following day, whenever she drove, it
began to rain!
Near
DuBois, PA we
passed the highest point in the US
east of the Mississippi
(2250 ft). In Youngstown, OH we stopped
at a Flying J Truck stop where, not only was the fuel the cheapest to be found in
the area, but they also had free dumping stations and fresh water
fill-ups. Their propane was also the
cheapest we have ever paid. We spent the
night behind Vanson’s Restaurant in Monroeville,
OH where we were joined by
several trucks. Since we wanted to first
go to Topeka, IN
to the RV manufacturer, we took US-6 into Indiana.
As we passed thru Butler,
IN we saw one of the most unusual
things yet—A Fly In-Drive In Flea Market!
Behind the Flea Market building was a landing strip.
Flea
Market photos (Unfortunately the Flea Market was not open on that day):
We
arrived in Topeka, IN (Click here
for photo) at
the Crossroads factory on Wednesday. We couldn’t
get an appointment until Friday morning at 5:30 AM. They have very strange work hours since most
of the workers are farmers (many of them Amish). After putting in a day’s work at the factory,
they go home and work on their farms. We
drove to Goshen, IN and spent the night and most of Thursday
at the Wal-Mart parking lot. Thursday
evening we drove back to Topeka
and spent the night next to the Crossroads factory. At 5:30 AM we unhooked and they took the RV
in for repair. We left, had breakfast at
a nearby restaurant, took a walk in the rain with Lobo and then returned in
early afternoon to pick up our home and head for Fort Wayne.
It rained most of the way and as we arrived around 3 PM we backed in,
ran out the slide-outs and were pleasantly surprised to find that the carpets
were still dry! The following day when
the driveway was dry enough to crawl under and see their work, Chuck discovered
something even worse! Apparently as the
mechanic in Frederick, MD dropped the trailer after adjusting the brakes, he
had broken both shock absorbers on the driver’s side. One of the broken pieces had worn against and
severely damaged one of the tires. We
were quite lucky that nothing had happened on the way to and from Rhode Island.
The
next few days in Fort Wayne
were filled with cleaning, washing, babysitting and the like. Michael’s court appointment went quite well
where the judge ruled that he would remain the custodial parent until the
entire case is resolved. Chuck and
Michael took a short trip to Elkhart
while Renée babysat. They discovered a
German store on the way with imported German meats and lots of goodies. During the last week of April it snowed one
more time in Fort Wayne!
It
might sound as if our Vagabond lifestyle is full of nothing but troubles and a
long line of new and varying problems.
But the value of the new experiences and sights along the way far
exceeds these little mishaps. We both
agree that we still don’t regret our choice of lifestyle!
To be continued ………………………..
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