We returned from our last cross-country journey on June 1st, staying home just long enough to check a few items off our to-do list. On July 1st I underwent a cardiac ablation procedure to remedy an issue I've had much of my adult life with PVCs. It was an experience. 3 hours and 40 minutes in length, lots of impressive, futuristic looking equipment and a crew of around 8 medical professionals. General anesthesia tends to silence PVCs so they want you to remain conscious during the procedure. Needless to say I would have preferred to have been asleep and unaware of what was going on... but I got through it just fine and though I'm not completely PVC free, I'm feeling way better than I was prior to the ablation.
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The HVAC system in our townhouse finally gave up the ghost. Its replacement, an unexpected addition to the to-do list - but given its age, not completely unanticipated.
Both the coach and the SUV we tow behind it were overdue for their Virginia safety inspections so we took care of that. Although it passed inspection the tires on the SUV were about to 'age out' so I replaced them with four new Firestones. Suzanne had a doctors appointment and we both had dentist appointments. The dogs visited the vet and had their yearly vaccines.
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In August we took the coach for a three week trip to Newport, Rhode Island by way of Phillipston, Massachusetts, where we paused just long enough to pick up a passenger, my mother. We had a great time in Newport made even more so with the arrival of Andy, Allie & Henry. They rented an apartment in Newport for a week.
We hadn't seen my mom since she came to visit during Thanksgiving last year. We all had a wonderful time in Newport... and the weather couldn't have been better.
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Spending time with our kids, kids-in-law and grandkid was #1 on our to-do list and we were able to do plenty of that. In fact, after checking off all the to-do list items we loaded the coach for long-term departure and spent three weeks boondocking on a sizeable chunk of land my daughter and son-in-law purchased earlier this year. During our stay we were paid visits by family and friends on several occasions and had a great time enjoying 'the good life' at our own private RV resort!
The property Andy & Allie own used to be a golf course. We parked the coach next to the old club house and were able to plug into a new 50 amp service installed a few days prior to our arrival (thanks to the best son-in-law in the world!) and connect to an outside water bibb. There was a 4" pvc septic tank cleanout 70' away - a distance far exceeding the length of my sewer hose. In addition, the pipe opening was at an elevation approximately 3' higher than the coach's waste tank outlet. Even if I had 70' of hose, gravity being what it is... it wouldn't have worked.
For a while I've considered purchasing an RV waste water macerating pump for just such a scenario. The time had finally come to take the plunge... so to speak. The pump connects to the coach's waste outlet and propels the tanks contents, via an ordinary garden hose, to a point as far away as necessary provided that point is no more than 15' higher than the RV waste tank connection.
Order placed...
... problem solved.
"The Farm" as it is now referred to was a great place to spend a few weeks while making final departure preparations. And because it is in such close proximity to Allie & Andy's home, we were able to spend a lot of quality time with them and our grandson, Henry. However, with cold weather fast approaching it was time to point the coach toward the Southwest. So on Saturday 10/17 we retracted the landing gear, rolled out of Frederick, Maryland and out onto I-15 north to the I-70 interchange where we made a hard left-hand turn... thus beginning our five week journey to Napa, California where we will spend Thanksgiving with Suzanne's sister and her family. From there, we'll continue south to Indio, California where we will wile away a good portion of the winter before returning home in March. My daughter is expecting grandchild #2 on April 15... so we'll be home in plenty of time for HIS (yep, it's a boy!) arrival.
We spent our first night on the road at the Madison/Pittsburg SE KOA , a pleasant little RV park about 180 miles west of where we began our day. In fact, we spent the next day (Sunday) there as well so Suzanne could watch football. She loves her NFL.
Two hundred miles further west on I-70 is the town of Galloway, Ohio - home of Alton RV Park - a very nice, well maintained little park not far off the Interstate and where we spent our third night on the road.
Day 4 saw us another 170 miles further west and arriving at another KOA in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Not a bad park... but not a great one. Things were a little muddy from a couple days of heavy rain and two fellows on riding lawn mowers busied themselves for what seemed like hours "mowing" fallen leaves into smaller leaf bits. And then smaller bits. And smaller. Over and over the same ground they rode. Mowing & mulching. Mowing & mulching. You get the idea.
There was a very cool local attraction in Crawfordsville however and we made sure to allow enough time to pay it a visit before the 1:00pm KOA checkout time.
After exiting the museum we did the .6 mile walk to the Lincoln Home and restored neighborhood followed by an al fresco lunch at Obed & Isaacs, a lovely local restaurant.
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