Mount Rushmore

We reached Rapid City, South Dakota today. Our first stop was the obligatory visit to Mount Rushmore to see the presidents carved into the side of the mountain. We drove up to the entrance to the parking area as if we knew what we were doing. We had no idea if they could accomodate a fifty foot rig consisting of a 36 foot motorhome with a car in tow. As we paid our fee the lady grabbed a walkie talkie and said, "I have a really long RV with a car in tow." Someone on the other end responded and she told us to take the left lane and somone would meet us in a golf cart. Sure enough as we pulled in right past the main entrance to the park a guy in a golf cart circled in front of us like those "Follow Me" trucks at airports for airplanes. He led us to a parking place and for a moment we were in a dilema as to which we to go. We relaxed for a few minutes with the generator running and the A/C on and prepared to depart on a long hike. As we stepped outside we looked behind us and there were the presidents on the mountain side. We then walked about a hundred yards under a covered parking area where we took an elevator up one level to find ourselves at the main entrance. The Mount Rushmore concession is really setup well as we only had to walk a short distance. We took our pictures including some pictures of a Canadian family who asked us to take a group shot with the sculptures in the background. They did the same for us. We returned to the camper where we relaxed some more and ate some sandwiches. We talked about how amazing it was to be in our own motorhome with Mount Rushmore right behind us.

Interior, SD

We slept last night with an electric blanket on, for Bob, and right now we are running the furnace to take the chill out. It is 51 degrees outside. What an amazing change for us.

Today we will continue our westward trek and hope to see Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Monument, and the Devils Tower. Remember "Close Encounters of the Third Kind?"

Badlands

We stopped for the night in the Badlands of South Dakota. The landscape is amazing. We talked about pushing on to Rapid City but are glad we stopped here. We are camped on the White River in the very heart of the Badlands. We are now in the Mountain Time Zone and are two hours earlier than Eastern Daylight Time. The small town that is closest to us is Interior, South Dakota. There are 69 residents in the town. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

Chill

There is a chill in the air this morning. It is in the 50s here in Sioux Falls. I was tempted to turn on the heat in the Mothership but I know that turning on lights and cooking breakfast will warm it up. I am going to make coffee and enjoy it outside on the picnic table at our site. Getting ready to be underway will be a breeze today in these cool temperatures. The hight is only suppose to be in the low 70s.

USGS Visit

Today I took a tour of the USGS EROS Data Center. It was an interesting tour and I saw many familiar tools and heard familiar terminology. In spite of my love of geography I did not get a pleasant feeling returning to that corporate environment of geography. This is not to belittle the magnificent tools and data processing that is done at this wonderful facility but rather an observation of my own journey away from that world. I am more comfortable being a customer now than being part of the world that processes and delivers these data. I have great admiration for those who carry on with this mission but I am no longer part of it.

Sea of Corn

Traveling in a motorhome for an extended distance is much like navigating a ship across the sea. Stopping in campgrounds is similar to docking a ship in a port. Both vehicles are independent when in motion and connect to shore power when stopped. Traveling, as we are, completely across the country requires some similar navigation as well. Tonight we are docked north of severe weather down south in Des Moines, Iowa due to a decision to turn north three or four days ago based on a weather forecast. We are now on the cooler side of a strong cold front that is generating tornado watches south of us. Some luck and some good processing of available data made this happen. The analogy could be carried further as pointed out by my cousin who used to live in Nebraska. He compared the rolling hills covered by corn and soy beans to waves on the sea. It is a good analogy.

USGS Data Center

As we often do, we drove around the local area as much as possible after setting up our campsite. Ten miles down the road from our campground we found the Holy Grail of geographic data. This was one of the organizations we often dealt with to obtain satellite or aerial imagery. Click here to visit their web site. A Google search on USGS Eros Data Center reveals a wealth of geographic data available from them. Click here for the results of that search.

We convinced a very professional guard to let us take some pictures. They have public tours and we are debating about taking one of the tours. Both of us are exhausted from staying up late last night talking to some Canadians about their country while doing laundry. We will have to see how we feel today. We may need a day of rest to catch up. It sounds appealing but since I am no longer working in the field and we are more interested in viewing landscapes than analyzing them we may just rest or make a short hop towards the west.

We went into Sioux Falls last night and looked up the brother of Daniel who runs the Mexican Restaurant near our home. Luis, his brother, was very hospitable and we got to meet the whole family who are also very nice. They have very beautiful kids including a one month old daughter. We had a wonderful visit with them talking about the restaurant, family and friends. What a small world. For those who do not know there is a Mexican Restaurant that is near our home that we love. We have gotten to know the owner Daniel rather well and discovered that he has a brother, Luis, who runs a restaurant here in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. On the off chance that we might come here we got his name and number. When we arrived at the Puerta Vallarta Restaurant here in Sioux Falls Luis was not working but he came in to meet with his and introduced us to his family. We had a delightful visit with them and, of course, a great meal.

Yogi

We are at the Yogi Bear Campground in Brandon, South Dakota near Sioux Falls. Here are some maps.

Position Update - Lunch Break

Iowa

Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields.












Wind generator at Stuart, Iowa.

Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields. Corn fields, soy bean fields.

Power is Back

The power is back on. Our neighbor came over and gave us a "thumbs up." So, we are now cooling on shore power.

Heat

100 degrees. I think today was the first time I saw that on our car themometer. We stayed in Des Moines an extra day just to rest and run some errands. We drove downtown and explored the city but due to the heat we did not get out of our car except to shop. We are staying nice and cool in the Mothership but just a few minutes ago the power went off. We started out generator right away and are running it now to keep our A/C units going. The campground office reports that the power outage is for the entire area of Waukee, Iowa which is the small community we are in. They have no idea how long it will be but our generator is humming away happily. Glad I changed the fuel filters and checked it all out before we left.

Red Roads

We have been traveling the interstates for much of the trip. Blue roads on the map. We did take route 63 north from Columbia, Missouri to Des Moines, Iowa. A red road on the map. These roads offer a chance to drive through small towns and enjoy a more intimate view of the land. This sooner than planned turn to the north also started moving us away from the incredible heat that the area has been experiencing. It worked. Here are the temperatures yesterday of our departure point, Columbia, Missouri, and our destination Des Moines Iowa.

The area that we traveled consisted of rolling hills and beautifully maintained farms. We commented that we felt as though we were passing through an immaculately maintained park displaying farm life. Nothing was out of place. Everything was clean and meticulously maintained. There is a religious sect that live in the area of northern Missouri who, like the Amish, drive horse drawn carriges for transportation and we saw some of them traveling in the special lane reserved for them on highway 63. Click here for is the link to Wikipedia's overview of Missouri.

We departed from the planned route shown in the first graphic and took route 36 westward to pick up a part of the interstate leading into Des Moines since our destination campground was on the west side of the city. We had made reservations earlier using our cell phone. This slight change of plan was due to our first campground choice on the east side of the city being full. That one had 95 motorhomes coming in as a group which took all of the remaining sites.

We both needed to renew some prescription medicines and Missouri has no Walgreens but Iowa does. We called the prescriptions in on the cell phone and found the pharmacies to be unusually friendly and helpful. The store we called, the one closest to our campsite, didn't have all of the medicines that we needed and without asking they called the next closest store and coordinated getting the prescriptions filled for us.

Bob used his cellular connection and the laptop to locate the campground and the drug stores as well as directions to them. The trip went flawlessly and the pharmacies were extremely courteous and helpful. We have found this to be true of Walgreens no matter where we travel with one exception and that is the store closest to our home. We always have problems with that store and yet every other one we deal with on the road is an example of courtesy and helpfulness. We have talked a lot about that and think that it might be due to the very large customer load on that store.

We were both very tired and slept soundly here in Des Moines, Iowa. It is our first visit to Iowa and we will traverse it further today as we continue north. Click here for the Wikipedia link to Iowa. We were interested to read that western Iowa is an area of Loess hills that are hundreds of feet thick. What is Loess? Click here for the Wikipedia pages on that very interesting topic. Yes, wind does have something to do with it. That can be your assignment for today.

Northerly Course Change?

This map says it all. It is the forecasted high temperatures for the day. Our senior navigator, Bob, is considering a northerly course change to avoid the lighter colored areas which seem to be strung out along much of our route. We are also discussing the possibility of avoiding I-70 and Kansas City by taking an alternate route, 63, which is adjacent to our campground and leads to the north.

Africa Hot

Like a line in a movi e, "It is Africa hot." We left Perry, Missouri this morning and made the turn west at St. Louis onto Interstate 70. This entire area is suffering a severe heat wave. Traffic on I-70 was very heavy coming to a stop about three times. Rather than fight it we
decided to stop here at Columbia, Missouri. We needed a shopping stop anyway to replenish some of our food supplies and Bob needs to get a replacement for his nice Stanley pipe pliers that he accidentally left at the last campground.

Status Map

This is our progress so far. 1,990 miles to go. Today we hope to reach Columbia, Mo and after that make the big turn in Kansas City to the north. This is one big country. The true Great Plains do not really begin until one passes west of Kansas City so we will miss that as we turn north towards the Dakotas. The Great Plains that we will see will be up in Alberta, Canada.

Classic Diner

This morning we ate breakfast at the Classic Diner in Perryville, Missouri. The diner had been recommended by some campers at the campground as well as the campground manager. We were not disappointed. The setting was fun and the food was great. Here are some photos and if you look closely you can find Barbara in couple of them.

Perryville, Missouri

We left Red Bay, Alabama this morning at 8 am and started north. There are a surprisingly high number of new metal roofs in northern Alabama and western Tennesee. Large homes had them. Small homes had them. Huge commercial buildings had them and small commercial buildings had them. We debated the reasons this might be true but didn't come up with a satisfactory answer. My theory was that they were good protection against hail storms but that did not hold up either so we never really figured out why this was the case.

At noon we crossed the Mississippi River after traveling some astonishingly good roads out of Alabama and Tennesee. Crossing to the west the interstate, I-55, turned from a westerly course to a northerly one taking aim on St. Louis, Missouri. The land reflects its origins as river sediment and is as flat as the water surface that made it, the Mississippi. We traversed the river flood plain northward and after 580 miles called it a day.

We are now in Perryville, Missouri at a nice KOA campground. Bob tried to setup our satellite tv system but the elevation of the dish at this latitude is 45 degrees and while we have a clear shot from this campsite there are some trees about a hundred yards away whose tops seem to be causing us just enough loss of signal that we have no tv. That is really nothing important to us as we are both enjoying two or three books each. We just came in from outside where the sound of crickets and frogs is deafening. Bob even saw a firefly pass overhead. It is still opressively warm outside though so we didn't stay outside very long.

The next stretch of the trip takes us into the ever widening spaces of the great plains. St. Louis was the staging area for the great covered wagon trains that traveled westward when the west was still unpopulated. I suppose back then it was almost like Cape Canaveral is to our present day explorers as the west was an unexplored and dangerous place. The number of campgrounds seems to be dwindling. Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas have few and they are very far apart. It is hard to look at a map and appreciate the vastness of this country. Just to get from our present location to the Dakotas is going to take us a few days if we drive only five hours a day. I might have to put in some more 500 mile days to get some distance covered.

We checked the weather in Banff, Alberta today and the high at 6pm their time was 72 degrees. That is quite a contrast to the temps here that are in the 90s with a heat index over 100. We are determined to continue north until the days cool down. That may take us a week or so and will take us across an area that sometimes has powerful thunderstorms. Fortunately, most of the tornado producing storms take place in the spring but the towering clouds can still contain hail and dangerous lightning. We will have a weather eye out at all times and will be using our cellular connection to check for storm warnings as we traverse that area.

West of The Mississippi

We crossed the Mississippi River at noon and are now traveling north towards St. Louis, Missouri. I-55 parallels the big river and is absolutely flat since it is on the floodplain. We are stopped for lunch at the Missouri Welcome Center which is about 3 miles from New Madrid, Missouri. That is where one of the greatest earthquakes in this country occurred. It was so powerful that it altered the course of the Mississippi River creating Reelfoot Lake. We hope the fault holds together until we get a little further down the road.

On The Road Again

Today we leave our new friends, Jim and Pat, Carol, and many others whose names we did not learn. We have heard stories about their travels and experiences. We also say goodbye to Kevin and Dwayne the two hard working young men who did our repairs. The windshield repairs were done under warranty with no questions asked and that amounted to almost seven hundred dollars. The support and service here at Tiffen Motorhomes is unbeatable. The camaradie in this campground is unlike any we have ever seen. Most likely it is because every motorhome in this location was made by Tiffen.

Yesterday, we drove over to Russelville, Alabama to visit the Super Walmart there. The drive was beautiful through rolling hills. We did our shopping and decided to eat lunch while there. We don't like the usual fast food establsihments but will use them if we have to. Yesterday, we were in luck. We spotted a place called "The Daily Bread Barbecue." That had to be it so we went inside and found Miss Emma Mae was a happy and friendly black lady and one look at the hamburgers on the grill and we knew we were in the right place. There are a lot of stereotypes about Alabama and racial problems but none of that existed here. Customers and employees were black and white and one felt instantly that it was a happy place. We ordered a couple of burgers and enjoyed them amidst the local lunch crowd. By crowd I mean about a dozen or so people. Barbara had boiled cabbage as a side dish and Bob had field peas. The crowd cleared out and as we finished our one slice of lemon ice box pie Miss Emma Mae started singing a gospel song quietly in a beautiful voice. As we paid we found she was seranading her grandson who was sitting next to the counter where the register is located. When we explained that we were from out of town and had driven all the way here to have one of her burgers, Miss Emma Mae explained that the young man sitting behind us was her grandson and that they had just come back from Florida where they had attended his graduation from college and where she had treated him with a trip to Disney World. We congratulated him and he thanked us. A most pleasant and courteous young man.

But, we must leave all of this and search for new adventures. I am typing this at 6AM and will begin breakfast while Barbara sleeps. If all goes well we will be on the road around 8 or 9 AM central time and I will have posted this by logging in on the office phone line. We are very grateful for having traveled far enough west to be in the Central Time Zone because we gained back that hour lost when the country insanely and blindly switched to Daylight Savings Time, a madness we have never subscribed to. Enough rambling. It is time to prepare the Mothership for another flight into unknown adventures as we travel north from Red Bay towards St. Louis, Missouri.

Fast Food Internet

We are in the local Mcdonalds reading our email and updating the blog. As we walked in to do our internet business we intended to order a couple of decaf coffees to sip on. On walking in we spotted a couple that was on the tour with us yesterday and ended up having an hour long conversation with them. They gave us some good tips on places to go in South Dakota and Wyoming. They also gave us some good tips on campgrounds in that area. We talked about a lot of subjects but I only have time for this short update right now. I will go offline when we get back in the camper and will add more in a future update. That's if for now. We hope to be finished and out of here today. We have seen everything to be seen in the Red Bay area and are ready to move on.

Factory Tour

The mechanics worked another full day on The Mothership and would have finished except that a part did not arrive in time. So, one more night here at the Tiffin Campground with an expected completion of work in the morning. The main slide out is semi assembled, quite liveable, but we cannot run it out. That is no problem at all and we are happy to be back in our home on wheels.

While The Mothership was being worked on we took advantage of the time and took the factory assembly line tour. It was conducted by a very nice gentleman named "Red" with a great sense of humor. The guy was amazing. His knowledge was encyclopedic and he had to be in his 80's. He told us he had open heart surgery a couple of months ago and was back at work conducting tours a month later. It was pretty warm and it was all we could do to keep up with "Red."

Here are a few photos we took on the tour. We got to see the assembly from the raw chassis to the finished motorhomes. Tiffen uses some pretty sophisticated materials and techniques but very little is automated so it is skilled handwork. Most of the tour participants were owners and agreed that a skilled craftsman produced a better product, when motivated, than a robot assembly line. Enjoy the photos.

Red Bay

Today is July 17, 2005. We plan on having lunch at the most popular local restaurant, Oh!Bryans. It is always packed so we are going to have lunch there today. After that we plan on doing some photography to capture some of the highlights of Red Bay.

There is not much to do in Red Bay. There seem to be few historical sites or geological features of interest. Or, more likely, we have not discovered them yet. The streets are all named after numbers. Fourth St. is the main street and is crossed by numbered streets. I am not sure what this means but small towns usually have streets named after local events or personalities. We did drive around a bit and saw some things we would like to photograph today. One, in particular, is a house with the front yard full of statues of various kinds.



There is wireless internet available at the local Mcdonalds restaurant. So, we have been making trips there to download email since the campground office is not open on the weekends. They have a phone line for campers to use in the campground office. Yesterday, while downloading email we parked next to a really nice Harley Davidson motorcycle. This was not the usual chopper type but looked more like a Honda Gold Wing. A comfortable looking cruiser. A couple came out strapping on their helmets and we knew that the bike belonged to them. Barbara rolled down her window and said, "We really like your bike." The couple turned out to be very friendly and we had a long conversation with them. They even invited us to park our camper in their yard which they said was a large house with big a big paved parking area. She said she was a school teacher and told us, "I don't dress like this except on the weekends." She was referring to her leather jacket and blue jeans. Compared to a lot of bikers they were pretty conservative. They told us that they were going to the big Bike gathering in Sturgis, South Dakota at the end of the month. They asked where our motorhome was parked and told us they knew we were in a motorhome because of the tow bars on our car. It turns out they own a motorhome too and trailer their motorcycle to various locations and then use it to explore.

We met a lady yesterday here in the campground who told us that her husband is a retired nuclear engineer. They are here in a fifth wheel trailer waiting on their new Q40 Allegro Bus. I mention her because of a very interesting thing she told me. They have a full theatre organ in their trailer. Her husband plays it. They instructed the factory to build their new 40 foot bus without a sleeper couch to accomodate the theatre organ. I won't go into the details but will say that she told us their entire life story. This seems to happen to us more and more. It is significant enough that both Barbara and I have noticed that in the last two or three months people have been telling us every detail about their lives. Is it the fact that we have aged to the point that we appear more grandfatherly and grandmotherly? Is it the fact that we are retired and are subliminal signals that we have time to listen?

We have been here four days and we are getting itchy to travel. We are here for a reason though and are going to stay to take full advantage of being at the factory. I have a couple of more things that have been added to the list to be done. Slight modifications to make our home on wheels more functional for us. I would like to have two of our electrical outlets added to the inverter that converts DC to AC to allow us to run the laptop and cell phone chargers without having to turn on the generator when we are stopped without a shore power connection.

We are quite happy with this motorhome. If you ever travel this way you will understand why people love it so much. We have talked a lot with people who are "full timers" meaning that they do not own a house and live completely in their motorhomes. Barbara and I have discussed that and luckily we both agree that even though we love being on the road for months at a time we still need our home base to go back to. We consider ourselves lucky that we can both own a home and a beautiful motorhome like this one. Many of the "full timers" sold their homes and used the proceeds to buy a super motorhome. They are also pretty involved in campground activities and live in one location for a large part of the year. We are not particularly interested in group activies such as line dancing and shuffleboard prefering instead to move about exploring different areas.

Mothership Service

Click on the small thumbnail at the left for a panoramic view of the service area. This was taken from just in front of our RV while it was being worked on. This facility is only a couple of weeks old.


We arose early, fixed breakfast and dressed to be ready for the service call. Sure enough, a little after 8 am central time, a polite young man showed up and asked us to report to service bay 29 as soon as possible even offering to drive our coach over to the service area.

The service facility is impressive with about 40 service bays. Everyone is very nice and as soon as we pulled into Bay 29 the young man met us and reviewed our list of service requests. At the same time they plugged our main electricity in and we remain in the coach with all services such as AC and lights running. So far we are very impressed with the enthusiasm and skill of the workers here. We now understand why people travel here to have work done on their coaches. If we are in this area again and need maintenance done we will surely call on the Tiffin folks to do it for us.






The only difficult repair is the main slideout. It had started binding on us as it extended so we added it to the list of things to be done. After a few attempts at adjustment they guys said that we would have to bring it back on Monday for more work.


They are going to have to actually remove the slide out box and repair the rollers. These guys are the experts so we will stay in Red Bay for the weekend and be back in the service area on Monday first thing. We could never get this kind of expertise on this particular coach without coming to the factory.

Mothership Land

The rhythm of the road is kicking in. We left Atlanta and headed west on Interstate 20 towards Birmingham. First stop was a Flying J Truck Stop for refuleling. These stops are great. Even though setup for truckers they have a set of pumps for cars and RVs. We noticedd that the price of gas is a bit cheaper there than other locations. For me, their wireless internet access is frosting on the cake. This Flying J was just across the Alabama border traveling from Atlanta towards Birmingham.

I-20 was our path through the Taledega National Forest. A paved trail through very dense forest growth. A thousand Bigfoots, (Bigfeet?), could live in there and no one would ever see them. Thank goodness none of them ran across the road in front of us.

Passing through Birmingham we could see the industrial heritage of this city. We could see huge plants that must have been for steelmaking or fabrication. The names of the surrounding towns reflected the history of the area. Names like Bessemer and Carbon Hill.

Just west of Birmingham we turned north and started our final leg towards Red Bay, the birthplace of The Mothership. The countryside is very beautiful in this area with green rolling hills. Turning for final approach to Red Bay we changed to a small county road and arrived in Red Bay about 3pm Central Time just as the afternoon thunderstorms began. Bob was in the campground office checking in when a bolt of lightning hit nearby. Everyone in the office gasped and almost dove for cover. It was like a direct hit from heavy artillery. Barbara who was waiting in the Mothership said she almost had a heart attack it was so loud.

We were assigned a campsite and a service number and settled in for the night. Full hookups and 50 amp power. My kind of place. Best of all it is only $10 a night. The down side is that there is no internet available. There is a phone line in the office and we may take advantage of that in the morning. We turned in early expecting to be called early for service. Conversations with people around us revealed that the work load is light this time of year and we should expect to be called right away.

Storms and Traffic

What started out as a routine travel day ended a bit stressfully. After a normal departure and smooth traveling we approached Atlanta from the south only to encounter strong thunderstorms and rain. The rain can only be described as torrential. We decided that rather than fight the rain we should settle in for the night. This was about 4:30 pm. We saw a campground sign on the interstate and decided to go for it. Following the sparse directions on the signs we ended up on a back road that was not even paved where we asked a guy if there was a campground in the area. He said, "No." We asked if the road was passible and he said, "Yes, the section that is unpaved is very short and it leads to a shopping mall." He was right but once we got to the mall we really got turned around and it took us a while to get back to the interstate.

As we approached Atlanta the traffic got heavier and heavier. Since we were approaching the big city from the south we took the beltway around to the west and ran into the worst traffic gridlock we have ever seen. We crawled for an hour or so only to arrive at our exit to find it was blocked off due to an accident. Fortunately the GPS software was able to reroute us to I-20 west but once there we started checking for campgrounds only to find hardly any on that side of Atlanta. We pulled into a parking lot and did a broader search and found a nice campground up at Marietta, Ga. The mapping software routed us to it and showed it was only 13.2 miles away. We started out for it while calling on the cell phone to hold a campsite. By now it was late in the day for us, around 7 pm and they had one site left which they held for us. This campground is nice because it has free wireless internet.

The down side is that things are a bit soggy after all the rain. Our car looks like it is the color of red clay since that covers everything in this part of the country. Click here for the web site of the campground. I took some photos of the gridlock traffic with my cell phone. I'll add them to the post later. Anyway, we are settled in for the night and hope to make Red Bay, Al tomorrow. 250 miles to go.

Bye Bye Florida

FINALLY crossed the Florida/Georgia state line. We are at a refueling stop at a Flying J Truck Stop. It is a cool place to stop because they have high speed wireless internet. We stopped for lunch after refueling and hope to get past the Atlanta Metro Area today. That's it for now from the Flying J.

Rhythm of the Road

The first day always seems to be the hardest. Getting an RV on the road is like getting a ship underway. The crew is rusty and it takes a while to get things in the right place and to get in synch with the rhythm of travel. When on the road each day has a definite cadence. Today will be better and tomorrow even better as far as that goes.

We both slept extremely well last night. I think it is something about breaking that connection to routine duties and patterns at home. On the road each day is different and holds new adventures. We enjoy seeing new sights and meeting new people.

Today we hope to get past Atlanta and have that major metropolitan area behind us. Neither of us enjoys the congestion and traffic so it will feel good to take that south bypass and the big turn to the west.

The Mothership Has Landed

It sure takes a long time to get out of Florida. We passed Orlando and got into the rolling hills of the Clermont area and started seeing dark clouds and lightning ahead. Pulled into a rest stop on I-75 and studied our maps and GPS display and decided it was time to begin looking for a place to park for the night. We passed a KOA Campground in Ocala, Fl and started looking for signs on the Interstate indicating "Camping." Here in Ocala we saw one for the Ocala RV Ranch and that is where we are for the night. It is nice with good paved roads and 50 amp hookups. So, here we are spending the first night on the road still in Florida. Oh well, it is a long state and we got a late start. It has been a while since we have been on the road so it took us a lot longer than we had planned to round up all of those little last minute items like CDs, keys, glasses, medicines, etc. So, here we are at 5:46 pm in a really nice place with wireless internet, all hooked up for the night and a nice gentle rain is making those sleepy sounds on the roof. What a great way to travel and what a great life. I am sure the rest of the trips will hold many adventures but for now this is quite nice and pleasant. Click here for the campground web site.


Here is a screenshot of the GPS display after we parked.

Lunch Break

We are at the Fort Drum rest area on the Florida Turnpike taking a break for a sandwich. Got a late start this morning. More about that later. Feels good to be "On the Road Again."

Final Preparations

It is 6:30 AM and I am starting to shut down computers and other systems such as our Tivos. I have two doors to shutter but one of them must be left until the last minute. Today is the day. Some last minute packing to be done and then we are off for our adventure. I am really excited about getting started after one delay due to Hurricane Dennis. Of course, we must keep an eye on Tropical Storm Emily that is cranking up out there and following a similar path to Dennis. If she follows her big brother up towards Alabama we will just bail out and head on north. Gotta go. Things to do. See you on the road.

Departure Update

We will be leaving tomorrow. Dennis has been downgraded to a tropical depression and is moving out of northern Alabama, our first destination.

A new storm is brewing down in the Carribean and will likely be somewhere near the US by this coming weekend. That gives us a window of departure that we are going to take advantage of by leaving tomorrow.

We will have our laptop and satellite tv while on the road and will be watching the new storm so that we can stay out of its way. The new one will be called Emily.

I am anxious to turn this back into a travel Blog instead of a weather Blog.

Here is an interesting radar loop of Dennis making land fall. Click here to view it.

The Wunderground site is my favorite site for tracking storms. Clikc here for the latest info on the new storm brewing in the Carribean as well as Dennis.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Calmer Weather

The weather here in West Palm Beach has calmed down to more of a normal state. We are worried about my uncle Bill who lives in Fort Walton Beach. None of us have heard from him yet. We do know that he is equipped with one of those big automatic generators that turns on when the power goes out.

As far as our trip goes, we will wait one more day. We plan on calling the RV plant up in Red Bay, Al to determine the extent of their damages. The forecast for that area calls for possible tornadoes and very heavy rains. No need to drive into an area until they have fully recovered. We figure it will take us 2 - 3 days to get there so if we leave early on Tuesday morning it should all work out about right. That will also give us time to double check our provisioning and packing. Stay tuned. We will be underway soon.

A Second Power Outage

We had another power outage during the night when another spiral band from Dennis came through. I didn't get to my main computer in time to shut it down but Barbara's was still running on the battery in the UPS so I shut it down more gracefully. The rain and wind woke me up but I don't remember the time. I am guessing it was around 2am though which would coincide with this special weather statement that came in while we were sleeping.

At 2 am EDT...Doppler radar indicated bands of heavy showers
affecting Palm Beach County. The activity was most concentrated
across northern and eastern sections of the County. The heaviest
showers will affect areas between Royal Palm Beach and caloosa.
Gusty winds to 50 mph and torrential rainfall will accompany the
heavier showers across these areas. Mainly light showers will affect
the coast...but even these light showers could contain gusty winds
to 40 mph.

Rain Bands

Here's a shot of the rain and wind as one of the feeder bands swept through the West Palm Beach area.

Click Here for Overall Route Map.

Google Earth

This image shows a weather satellite image overlain on Google Earth along with the projected path of the storm. Google Earth is an incredibly powerful geographic display tool. If you do not have it on your PC you MUST get it as soon as possible.


Click Here for Overall Route Map.

Weather

Looks like my travel blog has turned into a weather blog. We just had a power outage but it is back on now. Bands of rain and wind continue to sweep through as the effects of Dennis are being felt here in West Palm Beach. Here is a snap of the weather radar from Miami grabbed from Wunderground.com


Click Here for Overall Route Map.

Dennis

Bands of heavy rain are sweeping through our area. They are connected with the feeder bands for Dennis. We lost power about thirty minutes ago and I am posting this using my laptop connected through my cell phone. The forecast for Red Bay, Al does not look good. I think we made the right decision to stay put. Here is the forecast for them:

LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-LINCOLN-MADISON-MARSHALL-MOORE-MORGAN- 500 AM CDT SAT JUL 9 2005 ...IMPACTS FROM HURRICANE DENNIS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS TENNESSEE VALLEY SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY... HURRICANE DENNIS WILL APPROACH THE GULF COAST ON SUNDAY. DENNIS IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL SOMEWHERE ALONG THE ALABAMA GULF COAST OR WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THE CURRENT FORECAST TRACK THEN MOVES DENNIS NORTHWEST ALONG THE ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI BORDER ON MONDAY MORNING AND INTO NORTH MISSISSIPPI BY BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE FIRST RAIN BANDS FROM DENNIS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE TENNESSEE VALLEY BY LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON. HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY AS THE SYSTEM MOVES NORTHWARD. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN THE RANGE OF ONE INCH ACROSS SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE TO UP TO THREE INCHES ACROSS CULLMAN COUNTY WILL BE POSSIBLE SUNDAY NIGHT. NORTHEAST ALABAMA MAY ALSO SEE HEAVIER RAINFALL DUE TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED DURING THE DAY MONDAY...WITH FLASH FLOODING AND RIVER FLOODING BECOMING POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION TO THE HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WINDS WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THE SYSTEM. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND SUNDAY NIGHT WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH EXPECTED. WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY MONDAY. STRONGER WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHEST TERRAIN OF NORTHEAST ALABAMA AND SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE...WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE. AS WITH ALL LAND FALLING TROPICAL SYSTEMS...ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY. CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY STILL EXISTS WITH THE EXACT TRACK OF HURRICANE DENNIS. ANY SHIFT TO THE PATH WILL RESULT IN VARYING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND RESULTANT WEATHER THREATS.

Click Here for Overall Route Map.

Definite Delay

Look at the model projections from the National Hurricane Center. Click on the small image at the left to make it larger. These projections along with the fact that Dennis is growing into a major hurricane and the forecast is for him to strengthen further, we are delaying the start of our trip. We think it prudent to give Dennis the right of way here. Since our first stop is in Red Bay, Alabama to visit the factory that built the Mothership this makes sense to us. We doubt that they would be working on our RV in the middle of a major hurricane. We don't like camping in hurricanes either. We decided to give it a day or so to make sure that it does not deviate drastically to the right. We would not like to be up in Northern Florida and then have it turn to the right.

Now we have time to review our check lists. Do some more detailed preparations. Bob also needs to rest from the two days of intense work he has done packing the RV, putting up hurricane shutters, and doing last minute yard work. Maybe this is a good thing to let us take deep breath and fine tune our preparations.


Click Here for Overall Route Map.

Complications

Tropical Storm Dennis, soon to be a hurricane, looks like he also wants to go to Red Bay, Alabama. Hmmm, what to do? We sure do not want to arrive there and then have a hurricane hit. The discussion from the NHC is forecasting that Dennis will become a major hurricane and strike the central Gulf of Mexico. We may have to wait until he goes through. We can always start up that way and get within a couple of days drive and then see what happens. It is always interesting this time of year in Florida and the Gulf Coast.

Click Here for Overall Route Map.

Continued Preparations

Well, we have two tropical storms brewing in the Carribean. One, Cindy,
appears to be headed for Louisiana and is expected to make landfall in
that area. The other, still tropical depression 4 I think, is also
forecast to head into the Gulf of Mexico. I have ten of the nineteen
windows in our house shuttered. Our plan, since we are in hurricane
season, is to have all of the shutters up when we leave. It looks like
the hurricane guessing game has already begun. This might be a good
time to head out of Florida. We are still looking at a Thursday
departure with Red Bay, Alabama our first goal.

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Preparations Continue

We continue our preparations for the trip. Many people think it is just a matter of hopping in the RV and going when you feel like it. For a short trip this might be about right but for an extended one there are many things that have to be taken care of prior to departure. Prescription medications must be ordered, bills payed, laundry must be done, and then there is an entire category of things relating to the RV. It must be fueled with both gasoline, propane, and water. Tire pressures must be checked. Oil levels and engine fluids must be checked. We even took the car, the Escape Pod (PT Cruiser), in for servicing last week just to be sure it is up to speed. Also, all those little things from the last trip that should have been worked on while in port must be taken care of. A loose towel rack, installation of sun shades, various adjustments and tweaks; all of those must be done before departure. Finally, hurricane shutters must be put in place on the house just in case one of those bad boys blows through town. Now that we are retired doing these things is almost fun since it can be done a little at a time. The trip is really beginning to seem like a reality now. The last few days before departure are always a time of increased excitement, anticipation, and a bit of anxiety thrown in for good measure.

Click Here for Overall Route Map.

Travel Maps

I am going to maintain this blog as much as possible while we are on our vacation trip. Right now it looks as though next Thursday is our departure date. Our first goal is Red Bay, Alabama where we will get some repairs done on the motorhome. While on the road I plan on posting location maps like this one to let everyone know exactly where we are. You can click on the small map to the left to view a larger one or use this link to view the map in a version that will allow you to zoom in or out.

Vacation Preparation

We are planning a trip right after the Fourth of July holiday. There is a surge of vacationers on the road at that time and so we will delay our departure until they are done with their vacation thrashing. Our planning right now consists of a known stop in Red Bay, Alabama for some warranty repairs to the Mothership windshield. Other than that all I can say is that we have our Canada Inter Province Insurance Cards and all safety equipment required in Canada. We both have always wanted to see the Canadian Rockies and that is one of our goals. We have been watching the temperatures in Banff, Alberta daily and they are still pretty chilly there. I think we are both a little tired of the constant rain and heat and just need a change of scenery. All we know at this time is that we plan on being back home in August sometime. It could be sooner or it could be later depending on how we feel. We both enjoy being on the road in the Mothership as anyone who reads this Blog knows. So, in the weeks to come stay tuned for updates on our adventures on the road. We will be posting links as we have above to our present locations using http://maps.google.com/ . As you can see from this link, overall route, this is quite an ambitious voyage but with six weeks it should be doable. Also, if we don't get to cover the total distance we will still have had a great time.

New Project

I have been heavily involved in a flight simulator scenery development project lately. It has been great fun and involves a lot of what I learned working in both the IT field and in Geography. I am working with a virtual team to develop accurate flight simulator scenery for the State of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico coast over to New Orleans. You can read more at the website I created at http://fs-freeflow.com . The interesting things is that we received an unexpected bonus from a benefactor in Tasmania who donated a server to our project. He manages a website called http://FS-Shipyards.com/ that specializes in marine craft and scenery for flight simulator. To add an additional international flavor to the mix, the server is located in Denmark. Very interesting. So, if you want to learn more about the project just visit the site http://fs-freeflow.com/ .

We are using two software packages on the site, both of them freeware, SMF, Simple Machines Forum, and MKPortal, an interesting package that wraps itself around the forum. It is very configurable and I am strongly considering switching this site over to that configuration as well.

Cute Photo

This is the cutest photo of Kaitlyn our granddaughter. I took it during her visit on Jaunary 20, 2005. She had the best time playing with this cardboard box. Her favorite thing was to get in it and pull the flaps down closing herself up inside and then popping up like a Jack-In-The-Box.

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Aerosoft DHC-2

Misty Fjords Fly By
Originally uploaded by rbrown3rd.

This is a screen shot of my De Havilland DHC-2, Beaver, in Flight Simulator 2004. This is one of the most famous bush planes ever built. The civilian version DHC-2 Beaver was was manufactured by de Havilland Aircraft of Canada, Ltd. from 1948 to 1969. The MKI is the mostly spread version witha 450 SHP Pratt & Whitney R985. Alternatively a MKII was developed with 550 SHP Alvis Leonides 502/4 engine. Later the less common PT6A6 turboprop powerd Beaver was built between 1964 to 1969. In total almost 1700 plans were built and many of them are beautifully restored and service for tourist flights,transportation and fun all around the world. If you have seen the movie, "Never Cry Wolf," you will remember a very decrepit old Beaver that was used to carry the main character Tyler into the wilderness for his wolf studies. That one was patched with bailing wire and plywood and was still flying. It is a tough and reliable airplane that Aerosoft has modelled very well for FS2004.

Project Warn

The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation
It is ironic that Sir Arthur C. Clarke through his foundation has been involved in Project Warn for some time. The Project was planning a simulation test of a warning and disaster response system relating to a major Tsunami in 2005. Clearly, Sir Arthur Clarke is using his intellect and the wealth he has acquired through his books to approach major humanitarian issues using technology.

Tsunami news from Sir Arthur C. Clarke

The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation

Tsunami Help Site

The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami

Tsunami Blog

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here

Tsunami blogs

Sumankumar's yak pad

Tsunami Blogs

Extra Extra

Plasma TVs on the way out?

News The subject line says it all. Read this article about Sony's plans to withdraw from plasma tv manufacturing.

Neat technology combination

This is pretty neat. A digital recorder that you can speak into and then hook to your computer where your recorded lectures or stories are converted to text files. Very neat.

RIT SUN GUARD

RIT SUN GUARD
Just heard about this product from a neighbor who was told about it by his dermatologist. For those of us here in Florida this sounds like a great way to get extra protection from the sun. The manufacturer, Rit Dye, says, "Just add one package to your regular wash cycle to give clothing a UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) of 30 that will last for up to 20 launderings." Sounds pretty good to me. We are going to give it a try.

WirelessTrips.com

WirelessTrips.com
This is an excellent summary of the different options for staying connected on the road. These guys also have a really nicely formatted and written Blog about life on the road. Hope they don't mind this plug in Musings.

This is a post from my laptop using my GPRS cell phone as a modem. I have finally gotten this connection working as it should. With my unlimited T-Zones internet on my cell phone this will be the method of choice for email and internet while on the road. I know I am a slow learner but it took me a long time to get this figured out. The solution was two fold. The first was to pair the phone with the laptop as a Bluetooth device. After Microsoft released Windows XP Service Pack 2 the Bluetooth pairing capability was simplified and improved. Once the laptop and the Nokia 3650 were "paired" the connection was assured anytime the phone is within range of the laptop. The second part of the solution was when I finally abandoned the Nokia modem software and setup a dialup connection using the Standard Modem over Bluetooth device rather than the Nokia Bluetooth modem. Now the dialup connection has been working flawlessly. The connection is not too bad in terms of speed either. I connect consistently at about 33 kbps. This Blog post is being done using my Nokia 3650 cell phone modem wirelessly using Bluetooth radio. Looks like many of our "on the road" connectivity problems have been solved.