Travel Journal

March 2005

Shortly before 2 PM on March 1^st, we left Fort Wayne. A snow storm was hot (?) on our trail and we decided to take a more southerly route rather than driving East through Northern Ohio, as planned. In Van Wert, OH we left US 30 towards I-75 to head for Washington, DC by way of Dayton, Columbus, Wheeling, WV, Morgantown, WV and Hagerstown, MD. Unfortunately, we only made it to Troy, OH, a few miles north of Dayton because the blizzard caught up with us, despite our evasive maneuver. We got lost on our way to I-75 because we could not see the road signs in the blizzard’s white out. The southern route did not give us any reprieve from the storm and the snow drifts made driving very difficult. Before reaching Dayton, we spotted a Wal-Mart sign beside the Interstate and decided to spend the night in their parking lot. It was an extremely cold night and our heater was on most of the time. Since we didn’t have the generator running our two medium size deep-cycle batteries were depleted by morning. Chuck tried to find larger deep-cycle batteries at Wal-Mart but returned empty handed. On the brighter side, the sun was shining and we departed in high spirits. Heading East we did encounter more snow flurries and the temperatures were still frigid. Renée spotted a sign for an RV dealer and we pulled off and bought two of the large deep-cycle batteries. After passing through Wheeling, WV we made a stop at Cabela’s (http://www.cabelas.com ) enormous factory store and bought a pair of snow shoes so we could take Lobo for walks without sinking over knee-deep in the snow. It was already dark when we arrived in Morgantown, WV and tried to find a Wal-Mart to spend the night. That night (March 2-3) was very cold, but the larger batteries kept the furnace running all night without problems, so we didn’t have to run the generator, which can be noisy at night. All of the water lines were frozen so we had to fill our water bottles at the Wal-Mart drinking fountain. It appears that the insulation near the entry steps is not that good and the water lines at this location are freezing at about 25° F, causing us the not have running water in the bath/commode/shower area. When the weather gets warmer, we will add a little more insulation in that area, although we have no intention of spending next winter in such a cold climate.

After breakfast we bought a few necessities at Wal-Mart then left around 9:50. It was still snowing in the mountains of WV and MD but it became a little warmer as we drove eastward on I-68. In Hagerstown, MD it was 39° F and as we arrived in Gaithersburg, MD it was 59° F. We spent the night near the satellite dealer in an industrial area and the following morning the technician located the short circuit in his earlier installation. After a long walk with Lobo and the Sat TV repair, we left in the early afternoon on the way to VA. We arrived at Lunga Reservoir, Quantico at around 3 PM encrusted with road salt on the truck and RV. After unhitching and cleaning the windows, we drove to Stafford to have a look at our former home. The new owner had removed the window boxes causing the house to appear quite different. Afterwards we ate at a new Mexican Restaurant that opened only a few weeks after we had left in October. The food was good but the prices were hefty.

The weekend of March 5-6 was spent shopping and walking with Lobo enjoying the beautiful weather on the lake. Monday morning we had to get up at 4:30 AM to make it to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in DC for Chuck’s eye appointment at 8 AM. Afterwards Renée took a long walk with Lobo in Woodbridge while Chuck made some necessary purchases. In 2002, we had discovered a camp in the overgrown brush where a homeless person had lived. We never met the person but on Christmas Eve we left him (her?) warm clothes, food, and useful items. No one lives there now and the camp has been burnt to the ground.

The night of March 8^th was cold and the following morning it began to snow. The ground was too warm for it to stick but the temperature began to drop and soon it looked like powdered sugar sprinkled here and there. It was the perfect time for the electricity to go out, so it did for several hours, until the electric company replaced a transformer. In a building this would have been a problem, but since we also have our own power via generator and batteries, we weren’t affected. In the afternoon the sun came out and we took a long walk with Lobo.

The next week (March 9-15) was filled with housework, errands, vet appointments, prescription refills at the health clinic, etc. On March 12^th the Laptop went on the blink again. After several days of creating and re-creating from backups, we were quite disgusted and about to give up. On March 15^th we visited the International Spy Museum in Washington (http://www.spymuseum.org/index.asp) and on the way back we bought a “backup” laptop and the following day sent the other one in for repair. We are quite happy that we bought the three year extended warranty and did the same with its new “little brother”. He isn’t powerful enough for Renée’s graphic programs so this journal won’t have as many graphics but he can get the email/internet job done.

Renée has been complaining for quite a while about a noise the brakes are making, although Chuck can’t hear it because of his hearing loss. With that in mind, Renée took the pickup in for a checkup. According to the service technician, the brakes are glazed, caused by hauling the heavy load of the

RV. There’s nothing to worry about. That evening Renée had her meeting with the former neighbors.

The next few days were spent getting ready to leave and on Saturday, March 19^th we left for Tarrytown, New York to pick up Gabriele Michel (Renée’s former co-worker at Abbott) who was visiting from Wiesbaden and wanted to travel with us for a few weeks. In Elkton, MD we spent the night at Wal-Mart and the following day we drove in a torrential rain, stopping at a truck stop near Suffern, NY (northwest of NYC). As we ran out the sides, we discovered we had been flooded with water coming from underneath through the edges of the slide seals. Fortunately we had a wet-dry Vac and we sucked up about 3 quarts of water.

In Tarrytown we picked up Gabriele and then headed south to find an open campground where we could park to dry out the carpet. Although we had planned to go to Niagara Falls, we had to put it off since the campgrounds delayed their opening date because of heavy snow fall. Strasburg, PA has a campground open year-round so we headed there, arriving at around 6:30 PM. It was a bit crowded inside since we had to move stuff around to dry out the carpet. Gabriele chose to sleep in the dinette-turned bed instead of the pull-out couch. She claims it is quite comfortable.

Strasburg is in Lancaster County which is Amish country. The next morning we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and spent the day in the factory outlets and the Amish Museum http://800padutch.com/avillage.html. We had supper in a half-dry RV and the next day it was non-stop rain so we stayed home. The following day we went to the Hershey Chocolate World http://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/chocolate_tour.shtml. Our camping spot had been reserved for Easter weekend so we had to move. We found a campground in Carlisle, PA and drove there (about 70 miles) since the weather report for Niagara Falls was still not favorable. After unhooking and setting up everything we went to the “Gingerbread Man” http://www.dickinson.edu/carlisle/gman.html for supper. Renée was coming down with Bronchitis and wanted to stay home so Gabriele and Chuck went shopping. On the following day (Easter Sunday) Renée was still under the weather so Gabriele, Chuck and Lobo went to the flea market. Gabriele wanted a brass door knocker which we had priced for $32 at Home Depot. We found a very unusual solid brass knocker with ringing bell for a dollar at the flea market. In the evening we went to the Deer Lodge in Mount Holly Springs where Gabriele had invited us for dinner.

The weather continued to be a problem. It had been raining non-stop for several days and on the morning following Easter, Renée discovered that Chuck’s bed covers were wet. Water drops were coming from the air conditioner in the ceiling! After this minor problem was corrected Renée went back to bed because she was still sick and Gabriele, Chuck and Lobo went sightseeing to the Capitol in Harrisburg and the surrounding area. The weather forecast caused us to eliminate any consideration for a trip to Niagara and we had to find somewhere that we could see something besides rain. We decided to head toward to the Atlantic and chose Dover, DE since Dover Air Force Base had a campground that is open year round. We were able to see the ocean and the beach, but before long the rain caught up with us again!

To be continued ………………………..

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