I was at the computer in the early morning hours yesterday when I heard a thump, then a few scratching type noises, then more thumps. If I had been alone at night and heard this it would have scared me out of my wits. As it was, I went outside and looked. No one around. Back inside. Thump, thump, thump. I thumped back on the ceiling from inside. Whatever it is, it is undeterred. WHAT THE HECK?....is something having an orgy up there? Back outside....a smiling, mischevious squirrel peeked out at me from the space between the awning and the slide. Having no one else to talk to, I shoo him off, admonishing him "bad boy, bad boy." Hope he didn't leave any acorns to mess up our slide.
I'd like to say we had a Merry Christmas but in reality, it was the most dismal ever. To celebrate, I put up our five ornaments and bought a wreath. Wahoo! I missed everyone, missed the house, missed Champers. Thought often of Ellie, especially when shopping. Had one card as we haven't had the rest of our mail forwarded yet.
North Carolina was pretty. It was interesting to see peanut roadside stands and cotton fields. Probably haven't seen a cotton field since I was a small child. I'd forgotten how low the cotton grows - that truly was back-breaking work. Although we enjoyed our spot under the towering sweetgum trees near Lake Norman, I was ecstatic to get back on the road.
Now we're in South Carolina, parked at the Oak Plantation Campground. Good to see the massive trees and sphagnum moss that I associate with the South. This site was an actual plantation - pretty place but I have a personal space problem when all the RVs are lined up 20-25 feet away from each other. Not really what I envisioned but understandable when you think about all of the electrical and plumbing facilities that have to be installed and, when you close your blinds - your neighbors are forgotten.
I sent a Freedom Of Information Act request to the FAA on our magnetic car case. Nicky tells me that the denial has come through. We also learned that the FAA Operations Manual has been amended to list BAASS (Bigleow Advanced Aerospace) as the first place to file a UFO report and provides the telephone no. and e-mail address. The new order also mentions another civilian organization that is reputable but it doesn't investigate. I guess MUFON, which is the largest civilian organization, comes in under the "etc." What this means is that pilots are directed to file their UFO sighting reports with a private company that will not share its information and will not be subject to FOIA requests. Even though Robert Bigelow's company has been a corporate sponsor to MUFON, I find this highly disturbing.
We have been working an extremely interesting, albeit old, case that has been under wraps since 1981. More on that later.
We wish you health and happiness in the coming year.
Vicki and Chuck
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
December 17, 2009
Chuck was deployed back up to New York to recheck the automobile (Mufon case 20706). Word is that it has lost its electrostatic charge but continues to display a magnetic charge on the Tri-Field Meter. Very interesting.
This gave me some alone time and the perfect opportunity to get in one of my practice tasks for Controlled Remote Viewing. I've been holding off, waiting for a time when I would have absolutely no distractions. I'm also always concerned about fear of failure - that perhaps what I experienced in my class with Paul Smith was a total fluke. For these practice sessions they give you a sealed envelope with the control number on the outside and a picture inside. Once you complete the session, you can open the envelope to see how well you did. After you say the control numbers out loud, you draw an ideogram (a small scribble). You then describe the movement you felt drawing the scribble (which doesn't look anything like the target) and decide whether the object is land, water or structure. You then write down descriptive words and start sketching. I said that it was structure, wrote: foreign (to me), high top, tapering, humid, near water, glass, grassy green and grey, pollution (by sight and smell). I drew a a tapering outline with windows at the top. When I opened the envelope, the target was the Old Loma Lighthouse in San Diego, California...... Only 9 more practice sessions and I'll be able to take the second level class - which I'm hoping to get in before we get to Texas.
This gave me some alone time and the perfect opportunity to get in one of my practice tasks for Controlled Remote Viewing. I've been holding off, waiting for a time when I would have absolutely no distractions. I'm also always concerned about fear of failure - that perhaps what I experienced in my class with Paul Smith was a total fluke. For these practice sessions they give you a sealed envelope with the control number on the outside and a picture inside. Once you complete the session, you can open the envelope to see how well you did. After you say the control numbers out loud, you draw an ideogram (a small scribble). You then describe the movement you felt drawing the scribble (which doesn't look anything like the target) and decide whether the object is land, water or structure. You then write down descriptive words and start sketching. I said that it was structure, wrote: foreign (to me), high top, tapering, humid, near water, glass, grassy green and grey, pollution (by sight and smell). I drew a a tapering outline with windows at the top. When I opened the envelope, the target was the Old Loma Lighthouse in San Diego, California...... Only 9 more practice sessions and I'll be able to take the second level class - which I'm hoping to get in before we get to Texas.
Friday, December 4, 2009
December 4, 2009
My sister, Jessie, and her husand, Lloyd, gave us some good-bye gifts - reminders of home to take with us. The following poem was attached.
T rue, Vicki and Chuck just bought a convertible and an RV
R eturning home after a year on the road is the plan - we'll see!
A dventures lie ahead with hope for UFO sightings and an alien or two!
V isiting old friends and historical sights along the way will also do.
E ventually returning to the place we call home - Wisconsin.
L eave, knowing we will miss you, but wish you safe travels, and fun!
We have the note displayed in our kitchen, held in place by a magnetic sign which reads "Where's the Bubbler?" I'm not homesick yet, but do feel a bit out of touch. All e-mail welcome!
We arrived at Dam Neck, Virginia two nights ago (near Virginia Beach.) This base is right next to Oceana Naval Air Station which is the training site for all of the east coast. We often hear about F-16s chasing UFOs. The F-16s are up in the air here all of the time so I've had a chance to hear and see them. We also saw the E-3 Hawkeye with its prominent radar perched on top. The RV park has cement pads (yea!) and the ocean is at the other side of the sand dunes at our back. A sweetgum tree graces our space.....you know, the trees whose round fruit is surrounded by spikes...never met one in person before. We had driving rain and high winds the first night - which gently buffeted our little home. It also brought a steady stream of water in from the back side of our slide. We had the front of the slide fixed twice for this before we left. Figures. We mopped for awhile until Chuck stuffed a SHAM-WOW in the corner - outside and inside - which turned the tide. Get your SHAM-WOW today!
In the mornings, we hear cadence and the response of the troops in training; it warms my heart to frequently hear a woman's voice calling cadence. The Navy uniforms have changed a lot. We see the blue/dark grey camis. Neither Chuck nor Butch, the vet who helps manage the RV park, like the new uniforms at all. Per Butch "now how are you going to see a guy who's gone overboard in that outfit?"
Yesterday afternoon we went to a car dealer to locate the same year and model car that we examined in the New York case. The car dealers are always cooperative once they know that you won't harm their cars in any way and yes - there was very, very little in the way of a magnetic or electrostatic reading on the test car. This confirmed our feeling that our witness was definitely telling the truth. All of the pictures that we took of the area prior to checking the witness' car turned out. After that, we went back to the witness' home and took pictures of the Tri-Field readings on his car. Chuck took approximately 100 pictures - as his Nikon takes 9 frames per second. Only 12 of these pictures turned out - and of those, none of the pictures taken of the electrostatic force readings turned out. Both the camera's regular battery and the backup battery had become discharged. We had to use our little digital camera at the car dealers. We'll check out the Nikon today to see if it's been damaged. So now, Mareta, you know the rest of the story.
T rue, Vicki and Chuck just bought a convertible and an RV
R eturning home after a year on the road is the plan - we'll see!
A dventures lie ahead with hope for UFO sightings and an alien or two!
V isiting old friends and historical sights along the way will also do.
E ventually returning to the place we call home - Wisconsin.
L eave, knowing we will miss you, but wish you safe travels, and fun!
We have the note displayed in our kitchen, held in place by a magnetic sign which reads "Where's the Bubbler?" I'm not homesick yet, but do feel a bit out of touch. All e-mail welcome!
We arrived at Dam Neck, Virginia two nights ago (near Virginia Beach.) This base is right next to Oceana Naval Air Station which is the training site for all of the east coast. We often hear about F-16s chasing UFOs. The F-16s are up in the air here all of the time so I've had a chance to hear and see them. We also saw the E-3 Hawkeye with its prominent radar perched on top. The RV park has cement pads (yea!) and the ocean is at the other side of the sand dunes at our back. A sweetgum tree graces our space.....you know, the trees whose round fruit is surrounded by spikes...never met one in person before. We had driving rain and high winds the first night - which gently buffeted our little home. It also brought a steady stream of water in from the back side of our slide. We had the front of the slide fixed twice for this before we left. Figures. We mopped for awhile until Chuck stuffed a SHAM-WOW in the corner - outside and inside - which turned the tide. Get your SHAM-WOW today!
In the mornings, we hear cadence and the response of the troops in training; it warms my heart to frequently hear a woman's voice calling cadence. The Navy uniforms have changed a lot. We see the blue/dark grey camis. Neither Chuck nor Butch, the vet who helps manage the RV park, like the new uniforms at all. Per Butch "now how are you going to see a guy who's gone overboard in that outfit?"
Yesterday afternoon we went to a car dealer to locate the same year and model car that we examined in the New York case. The car dealers are always cooperative once they know that you won't harm their cars in any way and yes - there was very, very little in the way of a magnetic or electrostatic reading on the test car. This confirmed our feeling that our witness was definitely telling the truth. All of the pictures that we took of the area prior to checking the witness' car turned out. After that, we went back to the witness' home and took pictures of the Tri-Field readings on his car. Chuck took approximately 100 pictures - as his Nikon takes 9 frames per second. Only 12 of these pictures turned out - and of those, none of the pictures taken of the electrostatic force readings turned out. Both the camera's regular battery and the backup battery had become discharged. We had to use our little digital camera at the car dealers. We'll check out the Nikon today to see if it's been damaged. So now, Mareta, you know the rest of the story.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
December 2, 2009
Sometimes Chuck seems to have precognition abilities - particularly relating to dangerous situations. This gift has served him in good stead, especially when he was in the military. It's one of the reasons that I thought he might do well with remote viewing.
When Chuck was trying to rush me through Gettysburg I knew he was worried about the RV. He commented that he didn't want to get back and find the RV burnt down which seemed pretty bogus to me.
We had an interesting discovery yesterday. Each one of our lower compartments in "the basement" has a light. We did not realize that there is a master switch for all of the lights near our door. That switch somehow got turned on after we set up here so the lights have been on continuously. There is a carpet in the basement that we haven't used yet. We were planning on using it in the screen porch when it's hot outside. The carpet got jammed up against the compartment light causing the plastic light cover to melt and burning a good size hole in the carpet. Thank heavens he found this before we went to bed. He says that the smoke detector would have awoken us but it seemed pretty scary to me. Yikes...What next?
Chuck fixed our washer but it seems easier to use a laundromat and do everything at once. Many of them have discarded books so that you have something to do while you wait. I recently scored what appears to be a hard-cover, first edition of Communion by Whitley Strieber. We hadn't realized that Whitley had worked with Budd Hopkins, which gives it more credibility to us. It was a great find as we haven't had much else to do here. So - we're easily entertained and when we got this URL from Sylvia and Henry LeBlanc, it seemed pretty funny and helped get us into the Holiday Spirit. Check it out, enter the name of any Christmas Carol or other well known song and see what happens. http://www.sundog.net/carolofthechins/flash/card.swf
When Chuck was trying to rush me through Gettysburg I knew he was worried about the RV. He commented that he didn't want to get back and find the RV burnt down which seemed pretty bogus to me.
We had an interesting discovery yesterday. Each one of our lower compartments in "the basement" has a light. We did not realize that there is a master switch for all of the lights near our door. That switch somehow got turned on after we set up here so the lights have been on continuously. There is a carpet in the basement that we haven't used yet. We were planning on using it in the screen porch when it's hot outside. The carpet got jammed up against the compartment light causing the plastic light cover to melt and burning a good size hole in the carpet. Thank heavens he found this before we went to bed. He says that the smoke detector would have awoken us but it seemed pretty scary to me. Yikes...What next?
Chuck fixed our washer but it seems easier to use a laundromat and do everything at once. Many of them have discarded books so that you have something to do while you wait. I recently scored what appears to be a hard-cover, first edition of Communion by Whitley Strieber. We hadn't realized that Whitley had worked with Budd Hopkins, which gives it more credibility to us. It was a great find as we haven't had much else to do here. So - we're easily entertained and when we got this URL from Sylvia and Henry LeBlanc, it seemed pretty funny and helped get us into the Holiday Spirit. Check it out, enter the name of any Christmas Carol or other well known song and see what happens. http://www.sundog.net/carolofthechins/flash/card.swf
Sunday, November 29, 2009
November 29, 2009
The day before Thanksgiving, we drove into Fredericksburg to scout out a potential Turkey Dinner site. The traffic was so terrible that we decided to cook our own dinner - picking up shrimp, fresh fruit and steaks. Then that evening, an interesting report came in on a New York sighting....could we go? Into the freezer with the steaks; the shrimp and fruit went into a cooler. We decided to leave the RV at the base and to drive the convertible - both to make time and to avoid any potential cold weather problems. Thanksgiving Day found us on the road to New York, singing Christmas Carols along with the radio.
We met our witness on Friday. It was clear that he was still very shaken by his experience. A native of England, he fears that his report will make him appear unstable and affect his visa. He works second shift and his route home takes him through some fairly isolated property. Interestingly, this area is in the Hudson Valley - the site of a lot of paranormal activity. As he drove, a rotating, cigar-shaped craft with five lights - blue, white red, white, and blue - flew over. He estimated the size of the craft at 200 feet. His car stopped and his cell phone wouldn't work. He thought about getting out of the car and then thought better of it (good thinking). The lights on the craft then went out and his car started again. There is no damage to his phone, which he says he always keeps charged, but Chuck scanned the car and it appeared to be magnetized. We will need to find the same model of car in the next couple of days to compare our findings to.
On the way home, we stopped at Gettysburg. This was one of the spots I had on my "to do" list and there was almost another war as I wanted to spend a leisurely day there taking it all in and Chuck was in a hurry to get back to the RV. I wanted to eat at a historic site and he wanted a quick breakfast. When we looked over the menu at the little diner we stopped at, we found that they served "scrapple." Our waitress said that the only nice way to explain "scrapple" is that it's whatever is left over after butchering a pig. Chuck claimed that they would never have had "scrapple" on a fine-dining menu - thus this was a far more authentic experience.
Gettysburg has a great new visitor center that was completed in 2008. We watched a film narrated by Morgan Freeman. Next, we viewed a presentation in the Cyclorama which was first shown in 1884. The history of the Cyclorama and its extensive restoration is very interesting in itself. http://www.nps.gov/gett/historyculture/gettysburg-cyclorama.htm
We also took in a short part of the Auto Tour which winds through the various battlefields. Then it was off to Virginia.
En route, we encountered 40 - FORTY - miles of stop and go traffic around the Washington Beltline. The only highlight of our return was a stop for gas at the Quantico military base. I wanted to drive around and see where all the secret spook stuff happens but all we had time for was a quick trip to the Commissary.
Now we're back to our little home on wheels ("shoebox" per Jack Weigel) waiting for our next adventure (Chuck's retort "remember "I wear size 15 shoes")
We met our witness on Friday. It was clear that he was still very shaken by his experience. A native of England, he fears that his report will make him appear unstable and affect his visa. He works second shift and his route home takes him through some fairly isolated property. Interestingly, this area is in the Hudson Valley - the site of a lot of paranormal activity. As he drove, a rotating, cigar-shaped craft with five lights - blue, white red, white, and blue - flew over. He estimated the size of the craft at 200 feet. His car stopped and his cell phone wouldn't work. He thought about getting out of the car and then thought better of it (good thinking). The lights on the craft then went out and his car started again. There is no damage to his phone, which he says he always keeps charged, but Chuck scanned the car and it appeared to be magnetized. We will need to find the same model of car in the next couple of days to compare our findings to.
On the way home, we stopped at Gettysburg. This was one of the spots I had on my "to do" list and there was almost another war as I wanted to spend a leisurely day there taking it all in and Chuck was in a hurry to get back to the RV. I wanted to eat at a historic site and he wanted a quick breakfast. When we looked over the menu at the little diner we stopped at, we found that they served "scrapple." Our waitress said that the only nice way to explain "scrapple" is that it's whatever is left over after butchering a pig. Chuck claimed that they would never have had "scrapple" on a fine-dining menu - thus this was a far more authentic experience.
Gettysburg has a great new visitor center that was completed in 2008. We watched a film narrated by Morgan Freeman. Next, we viewed a presentation in the Cyclorama which was first shown in 1884. The history of the Cyclorama and its extensive restoration is very interesting in itself. http://www.nps.gov/gett/historyculture/gettysburg-cyclorama.htm
We also took in a short part of the Auto Tour which winds through the various battlefields. Then it was off to Virginia.
En route, we encountered 40 - FORTY - miles of stop and go traffic around the Washington Beltline. The only highlight of our return was a stop for gas at the Quantico military base. I wanted to drive around and see where all the secret spook stuff happens but all we had time for was a quick trip to the Commissary.
Now we're back to our little home on wheels ("shoebox" per Jack Weigel) waiting for our next adventure (Chuck's retort "remember "I wear size 15 shoes")
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
November 25, 2009
Greetings from Virginia.
On Monday, we had lunch and toured the Bunker at the Greenbrier Hotel in WV. The Bunker, which was built under the Virginia wing of the hotel, served as a secret government facility for over 30 years until it was exposed by a newsreporter in 1993. According to our tour guide, there were 100s of these facilities established by the Eisenhower administration but this particular one was designed to be used as a temporary US Capitol, large enough to hold the entire Congress and support staff. The hotel itself had been used for internment of diplomats and hospital during WWII.
We're currently parked at an army base, Fort A.P. Hill. Nice RV site but pretty far from better restaurants and other conveniences. Hope we can find someplace other than Pizza Hut to have our Thanksgiving dinner. We're going to stay here for several days so that we can hook up with Chuck's good friend, Dan Lang, and his wife Carmen next week.
Will seem kind of lonely without all of you tomorrow. Gobble, gobble.
On Monday, we had lunch and toured the Bunker at the Greenbrier Hotel in WV. The Bunker, which was built under the Virginia wing of the hotel, served as a secret government facility for over 30 years until it was exposed by a newsreporter in 1993. According to our tour guide, there were 100s of these facilities established by the Eisenhower administration but this particular one was designed to be used as a temporary US Capitol, large enough to hold the entire Congress and support staff. The hotel itself had been used for internment of diplomats and hospital during WWII.
We're currently parked at an army base, Fort A.P. Hill. Nice RV site but pretty far from better restaurants and other conveniences. Hope we can find someplace other than Pizza Hut to have our Thanksgiving dinner. We're going to stay here for several days so that we can hook up with Chuck's good friend, Dan Lang, and his wife Carmen next week.
Will seem kind of lonely without all of you tomorrow. Gobble, gobble.
Monday, November 23, 2009
November 23, 2009
We've been poking along....in West Virginia now. Our last RV Park was called "Shady Rest." Oh boy, I knew it would come to this. We'll do some sight seeing today but I find that I have all the time in the world to do stuff that I didn't do at home. Time to put 2-3 lotions on my face in the morning, time to work on my (chewed and spit out my acrylics before we left) nails, time to work on my age spots. Who needs spa dermabrasion when you've got a Dremel tool? My hands and feet are actually looking much smoother and the tiny little scabs are healing nicely.
We also have time for games. Years ago, Chuck taught me the version of Backgammon that he learned in the Navy. He calls it Acey-Deucy. We've had various tournaments over the years but hadn't played for a long time. So - yesterday we started the "RV Grand Tour Tournament." I lost the first game. He messed with my mind by continually throwing up the fact that I owe him $3,686.00 from the "Bali Tour." So?
We're starting to get a bit more comfortable. Until I learn more, my jobs are: opening and closing the blinds, placement and removal of the leveling blocks, pin-girl and hose-girl. I forgot to mention one of our earliest disasters - when I was first appointed hose-girl. RVs contain holding tanks - one for black water (sewage), gray water (from sink and bath drains) and drinking water. Our dashboard controls indicate how full each of these tanks are and whenever the opportunity arises, we dump the black and gray water. This is done by attaching a large hose to a connection on the RV which then runs into a little hole in the ground at the dump site (most RV parks and other select locations). You then pull out a lever on the RV - either black or gray - to allow the chosen fluid to run. Chuck, acting as the lever man, instructed me to put my foot on top of the hose to keep it in place...but HE let the black lever out too quickly and the hose went rogue. We've now purchased a fail-safe connection for the end of the dump hose; he's just lucky I have a lifetime of experience with "it" and I'm not talking Michael Jackson here.
A couple of other products have made our life easier. Contact makes a fantastic liner that we bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Really, really keeps things from sliding. It can be cut up into any shape - so, we've pretty much got it plastered all over. We also bought a tiny Flex vacuum cleaner made by Black and Decker. It's just great for clean ups and is superior for bug collection. I really don't like killing anything but it seems a bit less direct using the vacuum. Before we left, the RV got infested with those miserable asian beetles that masquerade as the lovely ladybug. Chuck loves to "zap 'em with the vacuum." We thought we were gaining ground on them but have seen some little ones recently.....The other product I'm loving is our new floor mat made by Gold's Gym. My job as pin-girl involves getting under the car to insert a pin which holds the ramps of the car dolly up when in motion. I have to do it as it is too hard on Chuck's knees to get up and down. A couple of days of doing this on pokey gravel were enough. The folding floor mat works great when I have to insert the pin or the leveling blocks under the RV and is easy to store...geez, maybe it would work for doing exercises too. Nahh.
Love to you all -
We also have time for games. Years ago, Chuck taught me the version of Backgammon that he learned in the Navy. He calls it Acey-Deucy. We've had various tournaments over the years but hadn't played for a long time. So - yesterday we started the "RV Grand Tour Tournament." I lost the first game. He messed with my mind by continually throwing up the fact that I owe him $3,686.00 from the "Bali Tour." So?
We're starting to get a bit more comfortable. Until I learn more, my jobs are: opening and closing the blinds, placement and removal of the leveling blocks, pin-girl and hose-girl. I forgot to mention one of our earliest disasters - when I was first appointed hose-girl. RVs contain holding tanks - one for black water (sewage), gray water (from sink and bath drains) and drinking water. Our dashboard controls indicate how full each of these tanks are and whenever the opportunity arises, we dump the black and gray water. This is done by attaching a large hose to a connection on the RV which then runs into a little hole in the ground at the dump site (most RV parks and other select locations). You then pull out a lever on the RV - either black or gray - to allow the chosen fluid to run. Chuck, acting as the lever man, instructed me to put my foot on top of the hose to keep it in place...but HE let the black lever out too quickly and the hose went rogue. We've now purchased a fail-safe connection for the end of the dump hose; he's just lucky I have a lifetime of experience with "it" and I'm not talking Michael Jackson here.
A couple of other products have made our life easier. Contact makes a fantastic liner that we bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Really, really keeps things from sliding. It can be cut up into any shape - so, we've pretty much got it plastered all over. We also bought a tiny Flex vacuum cleaner made by Black and Decker. It's just great for clean ups and is superior for bug collection. I really don't like killing anything but it seems a bit less direct using the vacuum. Before we left, the RV got infested with those miserable asian beetles that masquerade as the lovely ladybug. Chuck loves to "zap 'em with the vacuum." We thought we were gaining ground on them but have seen some little ones recently.....The other product I'm loving is our new floor mat made by Gold's Gym. My job as pin-girl involves getting under the car to insert a pin which holds the ramps of the car dolly up when in motion. I have to do it as it is too hard on Chuck's knees to get up and down. A couple of days of doing this on pokey gravel were enough. The folding floor mat works great when I have to insert the pin or the leveling blocks under the RV and is easy to store...geez, maybe it would work for doing exercises too. Nahh.
Love to you all -
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
11/16/09
After a series of disasters, we finally left on Friday the 13th ....hmm. Prior to that we had: made too sharp a turn on Government Hills Drive, causing one wheel to drop into the ditch, a small dent in a lower compartment, a sprung door on another compartment and a crack in the windshield! Guess what that cost? Fortunately, we have Good Sam RV insurance which will cover most of it. We also accidentally took out the TV antenna with a low hanging branch...oops, that's why they sell those little signs which remind you to lower it before you drive. Let's see, then we hit a huge pothole in Minnesota with our tow car - which damaged the oil pan. The RV awning was giving us fits so we had that replaced the same day the tow car was fixed. When we went to leave the RV repair center, we encountered additional difficulties with the strapping mechanism for the tow car. Chuck took off the tie down ratchet and straighted everything out but when he went to put it back on, the special nut he had taken off was nowhere to be found. We searched and searched. Fortunately, the guys from the repair place saw us as they were leaving, and opened up the shop again to sell us another tie-down ratchet. By this time, we were exhausted and really looking forward to getting back on the road. Chuck proceeded to put the tow car up on the dolly but somehow - no doubt aided by the extra oil on the dolly from the broken oil pan - overshot the dolly with the result that the car was now hung up - suspended on top of the dolly. AAA time. Note to self: we need to buy a jack for the rig. We had decided that didn't want to risk any further damage from low-hanging branches so pulled into the year-round RV park located in Wisconsin State Fair. That's where we were when I found the missing nut in my pocket. :-P. We stayed there for several days while we continued to clean and move from Govt. Hill Drive. UGH. It was during this time that Chuck discovered a broken seal clamp for our gray water. He promised me that there could be no leakage during the repair......uh huh. Jessie and Lloyd helped lift our spirits one night by showing up with Jimmy Sundaes from Gilles.
On Friday, I went in for a cortisone injection in my spine while Chuck and Nate repacked the entire rig, trying for equal weight distribution and some semblance of order. Nicky snapped pictures as, on the brink of departure, we sought a few additional spaces for the remaining liquor. Then, as Ellie would say, we were off like a herd of turtles. Our first stop was at the Great Naval base, where we did a bit of food shopping including an extended visit to the package store. We had thought that we would park there but they didn't have any "pull-through" sites - only "back into" slots. Uh, uh, no, no - not for these newbies. So - we spent the night at the RVers' friend - Walmart. It's just amazing how you can be in the middle of a busy urban area and once you close all of the curtains, feel safe, secure and isolated in your own little mobile home...kick back, have a drink and watch TV. The next morning, it was back to the base to get military decals for the cars which will allow us access to military facilities.
On 11/14/09, we faced death as we drove through the heart of Chicago. At one point, a super-wide truck was inches - INCHES - away from the RV. Very, very scary but Chuck handled it all beautifully. We then entered the Indiana/Ohio toll roads. Yikes - $$$ for our 4 axle rate. Good thing we saved money at Walmart. We made our first "dump stop" at one of the stations that are provided at some of the rest stops...who ever noticed that before? Unfortunately, midway through this process we realized that the drain wasn't draining - requiring a hasty, no look back departure. What could we do? Back on the road, we confirmed a dinner meeting with the fabulous trace evidence expert who occasionally donates her talents to MUFON.
We had looked for RV parks to stay at but there was nothing close and the nearest Walmart did not allow overnight parking. Luckily, we were able to park at our expert's house. Not only did we save money again that night - she and her husband provided breakfast the next morning! Super people.
When we left, we decided to make it a short day and drove to southern Ohio. As one drives, you occasionally hear a thump or bump and realize that something wasn't secured properly. It might be a pen, is often the computer mouse or worse. I usually get up and look to see if I can see what happened. When the mirrored closet door jumped off the tracks because of the heavy laundry bag I stowed in there...I didn't have to look very far. Happily, it was unbroken. We heard another crack too though that I couldn't find the cause for....well, until I opened our liquor cabinet and found that the neck of the Cabo Wabo bottle had snapped right off. My mother definitely would have said to throw it out but Chuck ran it through one of my coffee filters and declared it safe....just saying in case we incur unusual internal injuries.
After a series of disasters, we finally left on Friday the 13th ....hmm. Prior to that we had: made too sharp a turn on Government Hills Drive, causing one wheel to drop into the ditch, a small dent in a lower compartment, a sprung door on another compartment and a crack in the windshield! Guess what that cost? Fortunately, we have Good Sam RV insurance which will cover most of it. We also accidentally took out the TV antenna with a low hanging branch...oops, that's why they sell those little signs which remind you to lower it before you drive. Let's see, then we hit a huge pothole in Minnesota with our tow car - which damaged the oil pan. The RV awning was giving us fits so we had that replaced the same day the tow car was fixed. When we went to leave the RV repair center, we encountered additional difficulties with the strapping mechanism for the tow car. Chuck took off the tie down ratchet and straighted everything out but when he went to put it back on, the special nut he had taken off was nowhere to be found. We searched and searched. Fortunately, the guys from the repair place saw us as they were leaving, and opened up the shop again to sell us another tie-down ratchet. By this time, we were exhausted and really looking forward to getting back on the road. Chuck proceeded to put the tow car up on the dolly but somehow - no doubt aided by the extra oil on the dolly from the broken oil pan - overshot the dolly with the result that the car was now hung up - suspended on top of the dolly. AAA time. Note to self: we need to buy a jack for the rig. We had decided that didn't want to risk any further damage from low-hanging branches so pulled into the year-round RV park located in Wisconsin State Fair. That's where we were when I found the missing nut in my pocket. :-P. We stayed there for several days while we continued to clean and move from Govt. Hill Drive. UGH. It was during this time that Chuck discovered a broken seal clamp for our gray water. He promised me that there could be no leakage during the repair......uh huh. Jessie and Lloyd helped lift our spirits one night by showing up with Jimmy Sundaes from Gilles.
On Friday, I went in for a cortisone injection in my spine while Chuck and Nate repacked the entire rig, trying for equal weight distribution and some semblance of order. Nicky snapped pictures as, on the brink of departure, we sought a few additional spaces for the remaining liquor. Then, as Ellie would say, we were off like a herd of turtles. Our first stop was at the Great Naval base, where we did a bit of food shopping including an extended visit to the package store. We had thought that we would park there but they didn't have any "pull-through" sites - only "back into" slots. Uh, uh, no, no - not for these newbies. So - we spent the night at the RVers' friend - Walmart. It's just amazing how you can be in the middle of a busy urban area and once you close all of the curtains, feel safe, secure and isolated in your own little mobile home...kick back, have a drink and watch TV. The next morning, it was back to the base to get military decals for the cars which will allow us access to military facilities.
On 11/14/09, we faced death as we drove through the heart of Chicago. At one point, a super-wide truck was inches - INCHES - away from the RV. Very, very scary but Chuck handled it all beautifully. We then entered the Indiana/Ohio toll roads. Yikes - $$$ for our 4 axle rate. Good thing we saved money at Walmart. We made our first "dump stop" at one of the stations that are provided at some of the rest stops...who ever noticed that before? Unfortunately, midway through this process we realized that the drain wasn't draining - requiring a hasty, no look back departure. What could we do? Back on the road, we confirmed a dinner meeting with the fabulous trace evidence expert who occasionally donates her talents to MUFON.
We had looked for RV parks to stay at but there was nothing close and the nearest Walmart did not allow overnight parking. Luckily, we were able to park at our expert's house. Not only did we save money again that night - she and her husband provided breakfast the next morning! Super people.
When we left, we decided to make it a short day and drove to southern Ohio. As one drives, you occasionally hear a thump or bump and realize that something wasn't secured properly. It might be a pen, is often the computer mouse or worse. I usually get up and look to see if I can see what happened. When the mirrored closet door jumped off the tracks because of the heavy laundry bag I stowed in there...I didn't have to look very far. Happily, it was unbroken. We heard another crack too though that I couldn't find the cause for....well, until I opened our liquor cabinet and found that the neck of the Cabo Wabo bottle had snapped right off. My mother definitely would have said to throw it out but Chuck ran it through one of my coffee filters and declared it safe....just saying in case we incur unusual internal injuries.
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