Between Holidays

Before leaving the Atlanta area, Pattie and I spent a night outside Southland Motorhome Service in Buford, GA while they outfitted our Jeep Grand Cherokee and The Bus for flat towing.  The technicians at Southland are experts at installing the SMI Air Force One brake system, which is the most complex part of the equipment needed to tow safely.  The Air Force One brake system uses air pressure from The Bus’s brake system to apply the Jeep’s brakes.  We had a similar system on the Wrangler, but it was model specific and could not be swapped over to the new Grand Cherokee.  The SMI Air Force One can be swapped over if we ever need to do that.

To attach the tow bar, we had them install Blue Ox base plates that take the place of the factory tow hooks.  Without the tow hooks, I am not sure how we will get pulled out when we get stuck off-road, but I will figure out some way to use these heavy steel base plates for recovery. 

The final piece was wiring the taillights to come on with The Bus’s lights.  We used a very simple wiring harness that added an extra bulb to the taillight assemblies without interfacing with any of the Jeep’s electrical system.  This method creates an Air Gap between the two vehicles that I prefer considering the complexities in modern automotive electrical architecture.

With all components in place, we hooked up and headed to Ft Benning’s Uchee Creek Campground.  This is one of our favorite places when we want to be central to our family members scatted between Alabama and Georgia and our legal residence in Auburn, AL.  Located on Ft Mitchell (the Alabama side of Ft Benning), the campground is on a flat peninsula along the Chattahoochee River. It is quiet except for the sounds of military training that I find comforting.  On this trip, we visited our doctor in Auburn for  annual physical check-ups.  We are blessed with good health; but, need to alter our diet and add more exercise in 2017.  Our old cat Katy did not get such a good report from her doctor.  At 15 years old, we did what we could to help her cope with several physical issues. She suddenly stopped eating and became disoriented forcing us to make the hard decision to let her go.  It was a sad day and just about a year after we lost her nemesis Sparky the beagle.  We have decided to continue our journey without any pets.  Most RV'ers seem to have pets and make it work, but it does add some restrictions to the lifestyle.  We will just settle for enjoying everyone else’s pets.

While at Uchee Creek, we were able to bike along the Chatahochee River scenic trail.  This 15 mile paved biking and walking path goes from old town Columbus, GA to the Ft Benning Infantry Museum.  It has a convenient entry point at the Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus and we took a few minutes to stop by and see the gift store and historic warships. 

We also took a day trip over to Tuskegee, AL to drop Katy's things off at an animal rescue center.  While we were there, we toured the Tuskegee Airman Museum at Moton Field.  It is really amazing to watch and listen to the video displays where surviving Tuskegee Airmen tell their stories. You are able to hear in their words what they felt and why they were doing what they were doing.  Capturing those interviews for future generations was a brilliant idea and makes you proud to be an American. 

Pattie's mom decided she no longer needed her piano and offered to give it to Chris, our youngest son.  We rented a U-Haul trailer and some dollies in Auburn and made the round trip to Atlanta in one day.  Even a small upright piano deserves some respect due to its weight and balance.  It took three young men, Pattie and I to wrestle the 400 lb. piano in place.  If it ever needs to be moved again, I hope Chris calls me afterwards to let me know how it goes.

While at Uchee Creek, I was also able to make use of another military benefit known as the Auto Crafts Center.  Many military installations have a fully equipped automotive shop that members can rent to perform work on their own automobiles.  The one at Ft Benning has hydraulic lifts, power tools, and state of the art equipment with technicians to assist you in their proper use.  I used these facilities for years when I was on active duty to save a few dollars on repairs and routine maintenance.  This visit, I installed five skid plates under the Grand Cherokee to protect it when going off-road.  

Tomorrow, we will depart and go to Tuscaloosa, AL to spend Christmas with my mom and sister's family.  Our sons will join us there.  Pattie and I hope each of you have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and a great New Year!

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

Thanksgiving 2016 – Driving in Circles

If I were to show you a map of our travels since our last entry, it would just be overlapping lines between Alabama and Georgia.  We camped at Ft Benning’s FAMCAMP after we assisted Pattie’s mom with her eye surgery.  This allowed us to complete some follow-up doctor’s appointments.  It is also an easy 30-minute drive over to Auburn, AL (our home of record or legal domicile) so we could vote.

After a week, we relocated to Auburn RV Park in Auburn for a week.  We did this to visit with our sons and go see Chris (my youngest son, Theatre Major) in a play at the Auburn University Theatre. It was a wonderful evening and we are excited to see him perform. I also went to a local rifle range with my son William (Mechanical Engineering Major) and helped him troubleshoot a problem he was having with a firearm he recently built. 

Christopher Holton right foreground

Will shooing time

From Auburn, we went to Lake Lurleen State Park near Tuscaloosa, AL.  We were able to visit with my mom and see our nephew Nathan who was home on leave from the USAF.  I spent several hours fishing with absolutely no luck.  The drought has hit this area hard, which may be a factor.  After a few days, we departed for Fort Payne, AL home of the country music group Alabama.  I have only driven through this area once in my life and always wanted to go back and explore it.  We camped at Little River Campground near Little River Canyon National Preserve.  Most people don’t associate the word canyon with Alabama.  This small area in the northeast corner of the state is the exception.  Pattie and I were able to do several day hikes in the area and sample the local restaurants.  It is definitely a place we would like to visit again when the water is running.

Little River Canyon National Preserve

Sallie Howard Memorial Chapel

Cornwall Furnace produced metal ingots during and after the Civil War

Next, it was back to Stone Mountain State Park to enjoy Thanksgiving with family in the Atlanta area.  Driving through Atlanta two days before a major holiday has never been fun.  This year seemed especially bad.  We are glad we only pass through these major metropolitan areas and do not have to live in one.  The campground at Stone Mountain State Park is a bit pricier than we like and you must make reservations a year in advance if you want to have a space during the holidays. You pay for the location near Atlanta and the resort amenities.  Pattie and I enjoyed hiking the various trails in the park and watching the families who gather there each year to share Thanksgiving. 

Phil and his wife Nancy (my brother and sister-in-law) are gracious hosts for the family in Atlanta each year and we enjoy fellowship with them during major holidays.  Phil and I were able to slip away and do a bit of shooting at a local pistol range that we both enjoyed between various eating events.  The crowd gathered at a local Japanese steak house the night before we departed.    

Before leaving the Atlanta area, we called the dealer who sold us the Grand Cherokee. I made a condition of the purchase that their mechanics install a Blue Ox base plate and SMI braking system so we can tow it behind The Bus.  I purchased the hardware on-line and suggested in my call that they consider subcontracting the work to a local RV service center that is familiar with these components.  I gave them the installation instructions and a quote from Southland Motorhome Service in Buford, GA.  They quickly agreed to pay the experts to do the installation, which gives me greater confidence it will be done correctly.  We scheduled a day at the end of our stay in Atlanta to have this work performed.  Pattie has been driving “chase” in the Jeep since we bought it and it will be good to have her back in The Bus to help navigate (she is an expert Nagigator!). 

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

Fall in the South

“When did we last update the blog?  Let’s look.”  Wow, time got away from us.  Here are the highlights:

The end of September, we took a Disaster Relief Incident Commander Training Course near Rockville, VA.  We have been taking the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) on-line courses to better understand how the government and non-governmental agencies coordinate disaster relief efforts.  This formal training will prepare us to lead relief efforts in the future. 

From Virginia, we headed south knowing we had a family wedding in Mobile, AL mid-Oct.  We came in from the north and went to Red Bay, AL to the Tiffin Service Center to get a few issues addressed.  It was just some small stuff, but we figured we would see if they could squeeze us in.  They did and we were able to get the generator serviced at Bay Diesel while in town.  We did take time to find the Coondog Cemetery and pay our respects.  

From Red Bay, we decided to go straight to Auburn, AL and paid for two weeks at Auburn RV Park (You must check the college football schedule when camping near a college in the fall.  Auburn had an away game followed by an off week, so it worked out. Home game weekends are booked a year in advance.).  They are really nice people there and they put us right on the creek.  We did fall cleanup and maintenance on the mobile home our sons live in there as well as feeding them and their friends, as is our custom. 

We left The Bus hooked-up at Auburn RV Park for the wedding weekend and left our old cat Katy with our sons. We drove the Jeep to my mother’s house in Tuscaloosa, AL so we could pick her up and drive her Cadillac to the wedding in Mobile. For the first time in over a year, we did not sleep in our own bed. We also discussed how uncomfortable the Jeep Wrangler was to drive long distances as compared to mom’s Cadillac. 

We passed through Greenville, AL (where I grew up) to visit my Father’s grave and do some advanced funeral planning for my Mom.  In Mobile, we stayed a couple nights in a nice hotel and enjoyed celebrating my first cousin’s wedding.  We spent another night back at Mom’s house before returning to Auburn to retrieve the cat and take care of some doctor’s appointments. 

 Late October found us at the Ft Benning FAMCAMP for their annual Oktoberfest.  It was pretty fun and I was able to get some rifle range time to try out a new two-stage trigger.  From there, we headed to Atlanta, GA to help Pattie’s Mom with some surgery.  We spent a week in Stone Mountain Heights RV Park.  It is a private park about 2 miles from the Stone Mountain State Park.  Since we are usually visiting family in the area and not utilizing the State Park Resort activities, we decided to stay here and save some money.  It was a quiet park with a mix of RVs and mobile homes. 

While Pattie tended to her Mom, I did some maintenance items around her house.  I got bored and decided to look at alternatives to the Jeep Wrangler we tow (TOAD).  After full-timing for a year with a two door Wrangler, we learned that we drive the TOAD quite a bit exploring with only occasional off-roading.  The two door Wranglers have limited space so we have removed the back seat.  This prevents us from giving other people a ride, which we need occasionally.  In addition, the Wrangler is 7 years old with almost 100,000 miles on it.  Well, guess what?  If you go looking for cars to buy, you find them.  We found a loaded Jeep Grand Cherokee 4X4 Overland edition on 31 Oct.  Yes, the last day of the month and the dealer REALLY wanted to sell it that day.  They made us a good offer on the Wrangler and agreed to install all the equipment needed to make the Grand Cherokee tow (TOAD) ready.  It was sad to see the Wrangler go, but it is time to move on to something more comfortable even if it is less capable off-road.  Hmmm, well maybe if I add a winch, some skid plates, and bigger tires…

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Riding the Storm Out

The Bus at Aberdeen Proving Grounds

After we finished our work in Ellicott City, MD helping the flood recovery effort, we headed over to Maryland’s Eastern Shore to the Assateague National Seashore.  We actually stayed at the Maryland State Park that is adjacent to the National Park.  The State Park has a few campsites with 30-amp power and with temperatures hitting 90 degrees, we wanted to run at least one of the rooftop air conditioners.  The park’s attractions are the beautiful undeveloped soft sand beach and wild horses that roam free on Assateague Island.  Rangers caution everyone not to get within 10 feet of the horses, don’t feed them, and don’t leave food out.  It did not take long before we spotted small groups of wild horses.  

They were in much better shape than I had expected and they were not afraid of humans at all.  We saw a family sitting down to dinner at their picnic table and four horses trotted right over and just pushed their way around the table taking the food.  It was kind of funny to watch the folks jumping all around and yelling trying to get the horses to back off to no avail.  Since we were on the Eastern Shore, we woke-up early and took our chairs to the beach to watch the sunrise while we sipped coffee. It was not very spectacular as leading edge clouds from Hurricane Hermine moved in rapidly obscuring our view. It was nice to sit and ponder our next move as we watched the horses walk along the beach.

We had planned to move north to Delaware for a visit, but all the campgrounds were booked for the Labor Day weekend. It was going to be hot, so we wanted 50-amp electricity to run both rooftop air conditioners. I went on-line and found an open spot at the Navy Recreation Area Solomon’s Island.  This is the campground that we used when we were selling our home last year.  It has a good weekly rate and full hook-up with 50-amp service.  This turned out to be a great place to hide out for Labor Day and we avoided the evacuation of the campgrounds at Assateague Island and Delaware where we had planned to stay.  I was able to bike around Solomon’s Island, but Pattie is still not able to bike due to her knee injury.  We were able to visit our home church in Dunkirk, MD and we spoke about our disaster relief efforts.

 After Labor Day, we received an email that we were accepted to attend the Disaster Relief Incident Commander Training Course near Rockville, VA in late September.  We have been taking the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) on-line courses to better understand how the government and non-governmental agencies coordinate disaster relief efforts.  This formal training will prepare us to lead relief efforts in the future. 

With the training on the schedule, we decided to camp close by and enjoy Virginia a bit.  The Cheatham Navy Annex campground has good reviews, so we booked a week to check it out.  The campground is modern with flat concrete pads and plenty of space around each campsite.  I purchased a Virginia fishing license and a base permit to try my luck in the surrounding ponds.  Over a week I was able to catch one small bass but lost three lures.  I guess I’m “down two” as they say in Vegas.  

On a better note, Pattie’s knee was feeling better and we took a longt hike along the trails surrounding the lake.  The Navy was setting up obstacles along the route for an upcoming fitness competition.  We tried our hand at a few but thought we should not push our luck as we are not “outdoors sports people.”

We got restless after a week and noticed the Hershey, PA RV show was in a few days.  This is the largest show in the world and we attended it several years ago before we bought The Bus.  We thought it would be fun to go back and see it now through the lens of a full-timer.  A neighbor in a nice 5’er said they recently stayed at Aberdeen Proving Ground campground and that it was nice.  I made reservations and we took off braving the D.C and Baltimore traffic once again.  The Aberdeen Proving Ground campground has two sections and we stayed in the new section that is more open allowing a better satellite TV shot (football season ya know!).  Our plan was to get to the Hershey show early the first day and take our Blue Ox tow bar to the technicians there for inspection and routine maintenance.  However, when I went to pull it out of the motorhome receiver, it was rusted and stuck.  We worked up a sweat beating on it with a hammer and finally used a strap and the Jeep to pull it free.  We took it to the Blue Ox booth for inspection. They said it was worn out, not repairable!  

I don’t know how old the tow bar is or its history since I made the guy throw it in the deal when I bought The Bus two years ago.  The Blue Ox folks said they would give me $150 on trade in and a military discount on a new one.  So yeah, we bought a new one.  What option did we have really?  I don’t want to look over one day and say “Hey, honey that Jeep passing us looks just like ours…”

We enjoyed our day at the show and saw many features on the new motorhomes that we like.  No one rig really jumped out as a better fit for us than The Bus, so we escaped without the temptation to trade up.  We did have a chance to talk with Bob Tiffin the owner of Tiffin Motorhomes who made our coach.  We told him how much we enjoy The Bus and hope he will add some orange and blue paint schemes in next year’s model. 

Above is our trip map for August to mid-Sept 2016 with Hurricane Hermine's track superimposed. Why ride out the storm when you can dodge it all together!

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