Keeping Up with the Jones RV 2017 Review

Happy New Year!  As we look forward to 2018, I thought I would recap the highlights from 2017.

Jan-Mar - We started our year as caretakers on a farm in Gurley, AL.  This was a time when we could get into a routine at a local gym, do some consulting work from The Bus, and take time to explore and hike in north central Alabama.

Apr-Jun - By April, we had hitch itch and headed to Red Bay, AL to upgrade The Bus headlights and the oven exhaust fan.  From there it was down to Ft Benning, GA where we visited our sons and watched our youngest son Chris in a play.  Business required a trip to Titusville, FL, so we drove down and camped at an RV resort in May.  Later that month, we were in Tuscaloosa, AL to help move my mother to my sister’s house.  In June, we serviced The Bus in Red Bay, AL and replaced the shock absorbers before heading north for the summer.  We spent a little time in Kentucky learning how they make Bourbon.  As we drove north through Illinois, the right front air bag failed and we had to spend a couple nights at a small truck repair shop replacing it. 

Titusville, FL Space Landing Facility

Jul-Sep - By late June, we were in Wisconsin Dells area where we had a wonderful dinner cruise on the river.  We crossed into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in time to find no campground vacancies over the Fourth of July holiday. We found a remote National Forest campground and boon docked there over the holiday.  It was 45 degrees and raining on the 4^th and we ran the heater.  We spent most of July exploring the Upper Peninsula along the shores of Lake Superior. The last week of July, we headed south stopping in Indiana to tour the Newmar Motorhome factory and in Dayton, OH to visit family.  We also stopped near Williamstown. KY to visit the Ark Encounter Park.  Early August found us back in Auburn, AL to celebrate our oldest son William’s graduation from college.  The Winegard Trav’ler antenna failed, so William and I put his new Mechanical Engineering degree to work and installed the replacement antenna the company sent. In late August, we spent time with family near Helen, GA to watch the solar eclipse.  From there we explored Ruby Falls and Rock City just south of Chattanooga, TN.  Early September found us back in Tuscaloosa, AL to spend time with mom while my sister traveled for business.  From there we headed south to check out Bella Terra RV Resort in Foley, AL.  By mid-September we were back in Auburn, AL to work on our boy’s trailer and David tore a muscle in his leg and had to watch the work rather than participate.  In late September, Pattie helped her sister move from Atlanta to New Hampshire. 

 

This is how we saw it

Oct-Dec - October found us in Elizabeth City, NC where we explored the area including the Wright Brother’s monument in Kitty Hawk, NC.  We cut a path south to Augusta, GA and learned the history of that city and met up with some old friends.  A death in the family required a quick trip south to Titusville, FL where we stayed in a different RV report.  We went back to Auburn, AL at the end of October to watch Chris in a lead role in a play.  In November, we headed to Tennessee to watch the leaves change and hiked many trails.  We stopped over for a week in Pigeon Forge, TN where we drove in an off-road park and hiked the local mountain trails.  We cut south through Georgia stopping a several Corp of Engineer parks on the way back to Auburn, AL where we celebrated Thanksgiving with our son William.

Kitty Hawk, NC

On 25 Nov 2017 Auburn beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl.  

Early December, we spent camping at Lake Guntersville State Park and reconnecting with some old friends.  We looked at property in the area for possible future investment. We spent Christmas in Tuscaloosa, AL with our family before heading to Auburn for New Years and annual doctor’s appointment.

On the River Near Tuscaloosa

 That is our recap of 2017.  Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

Thanksgiving and Football

Both antennas up and working

Pattie enjoys football season and will watch it and the commentaries all day making me a football widower.  Then she wants to talk about it with me.  So it is important that we have good TV reception this time of year.  We arrived at Uchee Creek Military FAMCAMP in Ft Mitchell, AL a few days before Thanksgiving and the annual Iron Bowl where rivals Auburn and Alabama play.  The campground was very full so we were not able to get one of the sites we prefer that has a clear sky view for satellite TV reception.  Our site had a line of trees close to it blocking the southwest view.  Since we have a permanently installed Winegard Trav’ler on the roof and no portable antenna, we must move The Bus to find a hole around obstacles.  This move/search dance takes about 30 minutes to perform each time.  After two hours searching in the multi-sat mode with no success, I put the antenna in manual mode and directed it to search the DISH Network eastern arc for satellite 61.5.  It locked on quickly and combined with the batwing over-the-air antenna gave us the football critical HD channels that we needed.  I was allowed to sleep inside The Bus.

We invited our sons over to The Bus for Thanksgiving and one accepted while the other celebrated with his girlfriend’s family.  We purchased a cooked turkey and ham from the local Honey Baked Ham Company and Pattie made the side dishes.  We were stuffed and thankful for the blessings God has given us this year. 

Plates loaded and chowing down!

The outside LG TV had a critical failure and I was able to buy a new Samsung during the Black Friday sales.  My son William and I modified the exterior cabinet to accept the Samsung and we were able to watch our Auburn Tigers soundly beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl inside and outside The Bus.  My youngest son Chris attended the Iron Bowl and was one of the crazies running on the field after the game.  It was a great day! 

How sweet it is!

More tire problems appeared, this time on our Grand Cherokee.  We installed new Cooper AT3 tires 10 months ago and had it aligned.  Now with 10,000 miles on the tires, they are wearing poorly and making a lot of noise.  When we had the alignment checked all four corners were out of alignment.  I believe the place where we bought the tires did not know that you must put the QuadraLift Air Suspension in “alignment mode” before you do an alignment.  This probably caused the uneven wear.  We had it properly aligned and then had the tires trued (shaved) back to round hoping to get another year out of them.  Shortly after all this, we discovered a cut in one of the tire’s sidewalls that probably occurred during an off-road adventure.  Frustrated, I used the FMCA Michelin Advantage Program to buy a set of BFG All Terrain KO2 tires and had them installed.  I have had good luck with this tire in the past and found them durable enough for off-road travel. 

Next we headed to Lake Guntersville State Park about 45 minutes from Huntsville, AL.  Lake Guntersville is know for its bass fishing with many tournaments held there each year.  I tried my luck and caught a few bass from the pier.  We met some new friends and reunited with some old ones.  My son William came up to see the area and get some tips on jobs in the area. 

From Lake Guntersville, we traveled west to Colbert County Alloys Park on the Tennessee River near Muscle Shoals, AL.  We wanted to explore this area and we were close enough to Red Bay, AL to take a broken cabinet drawer down to Chris Berry’s woodworking for repair.  Chris made a new drawer out of solid wood materials while we waited.  It fit perfectly when we reinstalled it.
 
In the next few days, we will work our way south to Tuscaloosa to celebrate Christmas with my mother and sister.  We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.  
Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

Chasing Fall Colors

We made reservations at Auburn’s Leisure Time RV Park and the great folks there parked us down along the creek side.   Just off I-85, the terrain provides a quiet peaceful campsite we have come to enjoy. We were able to spend time with our sons and attended the Auburn Theatre’s production of “God of Carnage.”  Our youngest son had a lead role and it was fun to watch him perform. 

Next, we decided we wanted to see some good fall colors and headed north to the Tennessee and Kentucky border.  Based on some Internet research, we selected Bandy Creek – Big South Fork National River Recreation Area Campground west of Oneida, TN.  The National Park campground offers 50/30 amp electric and water with a central dump station.  Sites were level and paved, with fire rings and a picnic table.  The temperatures were perfect and we did not need the A/C or heat.

We met with the park rangers and they suggested some day hikes for us.  We also used the Jeep to explore some of the back roads and trailheads further from camp.  The fall peak colors were beautiful in this area with about two weeks of viewing before they are gone. Of course some of our favorite Fall colors are Orange and Blue as we like to watch Auburn Tigers football on Saturdays.

Each day we selected trails based on weather conditions.  Some days we did 5 miles and others 2-3 miles between fall showers.  We normally select easy to moderate trails.  There were many trails in all categories in this area to choose from.  The ones we experienced were well marked with ladders or steps over major obstacles.  This is an excellent area for hikers with many trails at all levels of difficulty nearby. 

 We watched the wind strip the leaves and carry them to the ground…and on top of The Bus.  To remove the leaves before pulling in the slides, we purchased a cordless blower.  I use our folding ladder to get up there and the blower does a good job of getting the debris off the toppers.  Once packed up, we used the central dump station to clean our holding tanks and were on our way back south.

Our next stop was Pigeon Forge, TN Creekside Campground.  Neither of us have been to this area in 40 years and it has changed drastically.  The entertainment commercialization is extensive with amusement activities, restaurants, and souvenir shops covering all but National and State Park lands.  We took it all in, but spent most of our time exploring the mountain hiking trails.  We made some new friends, compared stories, and broke bread together.  It was a good stop that we will keep in mind if we have grandchildren to entertain one day.

Apparently some campers have fed the ducks

We stopped for two nights at a James H. Floyd Georgia State Park then three nights at Whitetail Ridge Army Corp campground on West Point Lake.  We did some more light hiking and fishing.  However, when we went to put the front driver’s side slide out, I noticed one end went out faster than the other and immediately stopped.  We examined it and used the Tiffin FB page members to help us diagnose the problem.  It was a broken sheer pin on the main shaft.  I found a local hardware store and bought several Grade 8 bolts to make repairs.  Pattie and I worked together to adjust the slide on both sides and then used a bolt to replace the broken pin.  The slide works fine, but it is not flush at the top when fully closed.  We will need to adjust it some more for a proper fit.

Next stop Auburn to celebrate Thanksgiving with our sons.

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

RV Tip:  Preplanning your route together will make the trip go smoother and in some cases is critical.  The most direct route from Auburn to the Bandy Creek campground would have taken us through Oneida, TN.  However when we planned our course (we call it “Chair Flying” the route), we saw the multiple switchback turns between Oneida and the campground and elected to enter from Jamestown to the west instead.  During our exploring, we drove the Jeep through those switchbacks and were thankful we did not try to bring The Bus though them. 

You Got to Move it Move it

Sunrise at Bella Terra

We skirted the edge of Hurricane Irma and arrived at Bella Terra RV resort in Foley, AL.  We signed up for their three-night stay and play marketing event.  We wanted to see what the amenities are like and evaluate the property for a possible investment.  The facilities were fantastic and people were very friendly.  However, we don’t think it is the right investment for us at this time.  We enjoyed the area and were able to visit with my cousin in Mobile and some new friends staying at Bella Terra before departing.

From there we headed to Ft Benning, GA to Uchee Creek Campground.  This has become our safe haven for helping family in the area.  This time, it was Pattie’s sister that needed help moving from Atlanta to New Hampshire.  If I had to pick a theme for The Jones RV in 2017, it would be moving.  Here’s the run down:

April 2017	Moved son’s friend to Delaware
May 2017	Moved Mom to live with my sister
	Moved some stuff to my bother-in-law’s house
	Moved some stuff to our storage unit in Auburn, AL
Sept 2017	Moved Pattie’s sister to New Hampshire
	Moved stuff to brother-in-law’s cabin
	Moved stuff to niece’s house
Pending	Move son to new post college home
	Move Pattie’s Mom to retirement community

We don’t mind helping family and friends move.  We moved 12 times in the 24 years I served in the USAF and have learned a few tricks.  Pattie is quite the trooper helping out. 

 

Pattie is an expert packer

While Pattie traveled up to new Hampshire, I spent time doing maintenance on our son’s place in Auburn and practicing some firearm skills at the Ft Benning range. 

Once she returned, we headed north to Gaffney, SC to have service perform at the Freightliner Oasis near when The Bus’ chassis was built.  We have heard nothing but good reviews and many people just make an annual visit here to have their motorhome serviced.  We were able to stay at the service area campground overnight before and after our service.  I showed them what I have had done to The Bus and they filled in the worksheet with everything else we needed for the 60K mile check-up.  I asked them to perform corner weights and recommend tire pressures based on actual values.  They came back with a recommendation that I replace the front tires with H rated tires since we are over weight on the front axle for the G rated tires.  Ugggh!  I put new tires on in 2015 and assumed the place was replacing the originals with like rated tires.  Since a steer tire blowout is something I would rather avoid, we arranged for two new tires to be installed on the front axle. The tire place gave us credit for the ones they took off which helped a little.

Onward to Elizabeth Island, NC where we were able to sit still for a week and get caught up on cleaning and rest.  We drove over to the Outer Banks and visited Kitty Hawk, NC where the Wright Brothers first demonstrated controlled powered flight.  It was great to be standing on the very spot of this historic event. 

We decided to head south to Savannah and spend a few days visiting the old city.  However, the campgrounds were full for some reason so we diverted west to Augusta, GA and made camp.  We toured Augusta and took a historic ride on the canal boats.  We learned about the industrial development associated with the canal that made Augusta an important manufacturing center for the south before, during and after the Civil War. 

Civil War gunpowder plant

When we leave Augusta, we plan to head west to see a play put on at the Auburn University Theatre where our son Chris has earned a lead role.

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

RV Tip:  Keep a large container of ant spray with you and spray across the entire parking area before you park on dirt, rocks, pine straw.  This will help keep the ants from entering your rig.  In certain times of the year down south, the ants are very aggressive and repeat applications of the pesticide will be necessary everywhere the RV contacts the ground (sewer hose, water hose, power cord, etc.).