Back To North Georgia, Ellijay

We had to move sites for our last week in Cartersville and when we did after parking we noticed a leak under the steps, yeah another leak:-(  The hydraulic pump, tank and manifold that operate 3 of our 4 slides lives under the steps.  Sure enough we found the leak, tried to tighten the fitting and when we did we found out it wasn't loose, but that the fitting was failing instead.

So after much research and talking to various hydraulic repair companies, then contacting the manufacturer, HWH, we found out that virtually all hydraulic hose repairers and fabricators are happy to replace the hose, not just add a new end.  What complicates this somewhat is there are perhaps 8 hydraulic hoses, numerous air lines, and tons of electrical wires that are all tied up in a huge bundle that goes rearward, over and through the wheel well and into the coach itself, so to try to find one hose and track it to its end is more than we want to do.  So our new plan now it to visit an HWH specialty shop in Elkhart, IN in August where they say they can put a new end on it.  It means limping along with this leak until then, but it is only under pressure when actually activating the slide outs. 

We tried a new to us sushi place, Sushiology in Kennesaw that we enjoyed.

Awesome Korean pork belly Bao buns

A shrimp roll and a soft shell crab roll

Masago on top, a chopped California roll and interesting tuna poke "tacos"

Then as if we didn't have enough issues with our leaks, we woke up on a 35 degree morning and it was absolutely freezing in the front of our coach!  I switched the heat source over to our front heat pump which did okay, but at 35 degrees it really can't do too much until we could take a look when the sun came up.  I figured it had to be a stuck check valve on our AquaHot.  So after it warmed up to 45 and the sun was up, out I went to take a look.  Amazingly the circulation pump for the forward area wasn't working, so to make sure it wasn't the board I took the electrical plug out of an operating pump and stuck in it in the offending pump and still nothing.  So at least it is a pump and not a much more expensive board.  But what is really irritating us is we replaced all of our pumps in December of 2023, and already one is dead!!  You can review if you want HERE.

I have the offending pump circled

So we ordered a new pump to be delivered to Ellijay and as soon as it gets there we will install it as we are anticipating more 30 degree weather in the upcoming weeks.

On one of our many house and land searches we found a new restaurant, Downtown Eats in Dallas, GA, that was excellent, in fact we even went back a second time.

Incredible shrimp and crawfish hushpuppies,
and Korean BBQ

Fried green tomatoes with whipped goat cheese and onion jam

Pork belly tacos with blue cheese slaw

So now we have moved north to Talona Ridge, one of our favorites for a month.

We did make one decision though.  We decided to have the microwave/convection oven installed and the old one taken away.  We learned Lowes and Home Depot won't do it, seems odd, but they use third party installers and for liability reasons, I guess they will not install an over the range microwave unless there is at least 30 inches of clearance.  Our coach and I would venture to say any other coach doesn't have that much room and never has.  Seems weird, but they wouldn't budge.  So we made numerous calls to see if someone would deliver and install here in Ellijay, price isn't an issue because it is fair traded so everyone charges the same for the unit.  Finally we found a place in Blairsville, about 40 miles away that could do it and thought we had it all set up until they called back and said, whoops, we thought you were closer, we'll still do it but we'll have to add another $175 to the deal.  We compromised and we have it set up to drive the coach over to them and they will install the new one and take the old one in their parking lot.  So that's happening in a week or so.  That's all for now:-)

Unfortunately, Not Much to Report

We're all settled into our new digs here in Cartersville, and we are really enjoying the convenience of the location, although we are pretty well fed up with all the lights around.  The park itself has a rural feel to it right along the Etowah River, but in actuality it is in the midst of an industrial area with their associated, brilliant lights.  We have to move sites here tomorrow and are hoping the slightly different angle will protect us from some of the most offending lights.

We have been really beating the roads and internet along with some help from our realtor, and have looked at a lot of property with no luck.  We did have one peculiar experience though.  We actually thought we had found a likely lot to buy.  It was in a good location, a little over an acre, decent price, nice and level, and we let our hopes soar.  It was the last lot in a row of lots along the road, and next to the last house in the row.  We drove out to walk it, before we planned to move on it, parked the truck, and were walking around when a guy comes out of the house next door to ask if he could help us out.  I said, "Are you the owner of this property?".  He replied, "Yes".  Awesome we thought.  But then he asked why, and when we told him we were interested in buying it, he gave us quite the look, and told us it was definitely not for sale as it was part of his lot!  We showed him the listing, he was shocked, as it was the exact lot even with pictures.  Turned out to be a completely bogus listing, who ever heard of such a thing?  So on with our search.

Anyway, one of the first things we did was go to a favorite seafood restaurant to get a New England type meal to ease the desire before getting to Maine:-)  Maine Coastal is very good and has a varied menu with mostly northeastern fare.

We both had haddock, Jan's was grilled with a caper butter sauce.

My grilled haddock sandwich was one the best ever, to say nothing of
the awesome homemade chips

The weather has been quite cool, interspersed with a few warm days.  We got some errands done and one doctor appointment and stopped in for some Mexican at Huey Lueys, also quite good.  It was taco day so we made the most of it:-)

My steak fajita, chicken fajita, and brisket tacos

Jan's Korean BBQ and fish tacos

We also celebrated St Patty's day in our own way, after a corned beef dinner, the star of the show being our awesome homemade Reubens the next day, with a Guinness of course.

Then Murphy decided to strike again.  After we got here and settled in we noticed we had a little leak under the engine, never a good thing, it was especially troubling as if you remember we just had it serviced as we left Florida not long ago.  Since we had driven over 1500 miles we didn't think it could possibly a loose drain plug, but if it was leaking then why didn't they say something?  So we crawled under, but with the mess of the oil and road dirt everywhere we couldn't ascertain where the leak was, so decided to try to find either a mobile mechanic or a shop nearby that could take a look and let us know, and fix it if possible.  Amazingly we found a tractor trailer repair center 3 miles away from our campground!  I stopped in and they said to bring the coach over and they would take a look.  We did and they told us it was a leak on the oil pan gasket, and they could fix it.  We set up an appointment for what was expected to be an easy project, although we would lose the brand new oil we had put in for our service.  So as it turned out they didn't carry our regular brand of oil so after I backed it into their shop we took off to Walmart to purchase new oil.

The rainy morning of our repair

It ended up taking 6 hours of work as they also had to drop our whole towing framework as the pan would not quite slide by a crossmember.  Anyway, they finally called and pronounced it complete.  So hopefully we won't have any more issue with that.

And on top of all that our microwave/convection oven died, our only oven:-(  So we are making plans to take care of that, unfortunately this park will not accept deliveries, so we have to put it off at least 10 days until we move north to Ellijay.  We are going back and forth as to have someone install it or do it ourselves again.  We replaced it 9 years ago, not a bad run I guess, but I have a memory that it was quite heavy and unwieldy, and I am just not as strong anymore.  So we are going back and forth with it figuring in the added challenge of getting rid of the old one if we do it ourselves.  More on this to follow.

Georgia, We Made It!

After the baseplate install and checking the lights and brake for proper operation we headed over to Weatherford, TX near our daughter Kelly and Brian's new place.  Jan found out on the way driving from Florida to Texas she had a stowaway.

 

He must have come inside the truck with her plants, he would say hello in the am then disappear until the next morning, but when we got parked in Weatherford, he decided his travels had taken hime far enough so he got out.  

We met Kelly the next day, Brian had to work, for lunch and since it is crawfish season, we had to partake.

Had some very good shrimp and crawfish ceviche

We went over for a tour of the house, very nice, enjoyed the evening with drinks and cigars, and a great dinner.  No, hardly any pictures again.  I think I'm starting to fall down with this, I have great expectations, but then get caught up in the moment and forget:-)  Anyway, Brian and I had many interesting conversations.

We had a nice visit and got a feel for the area, it is much more rolling, forested and open, very nice countryside.

So one of us is VERY fond of crawfish, kind of how Jan and I are fond of lobster, Kelly loves crawfish, while Jan and I like it, but once or twice a year is enough.  So we went back to the crawfish place where Kelly devoured 4 more pounds of the mud bugs:-)

So then it was time to head east, 3 fairly long days, and when we started off, we looked like newbies again.  Of course the truck is new and not quite the same as the last one.  I pulled the coach out of site and we hooked up the truck, our second time.  Jan hopped in to set it up to tow, but the truck wouldn't shut off, after reviewing the procedure, redoing it, she finally got it to work. And then the lights didn't work!  We bought a new coiled wire for the new truck and it is very short and very coiled, so it was pulling a bit at the sockets, so with a little stretching and wiggling all was well with the lights.  Then we always when we hook up check to be sure all is well, so I will pull the coach forward very slowly and Jan back by the truck ensures all is well, it wasn't, as we drug the locked rear wheels!  Turned out this truck has an auto emergency brake and under various conditions it will automatically apply the parking brake, not good in our situation.  Finally we got it squared away and off we went, up and around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to Texarkana for the night.  Then early the next morning we got ready to go, and when checking the truck as we moved, sure enough the parking brake had applied itself again and we drug.  What?  So we got to thinking, after we had arrived, we ran the truck for several minutes as directed so it can adjust the air suspension, and somehow we activated the failsafe that applied the e-brake.  This time we went through the pages and pages of customer settings and found we had disabled the auto feature, so we cycled it on and off again.  Off we finally went to Batesville, MS to a cool little campground behind the civic center there and had a nice evening.

Then off early and in the dark for our last day to Atlanta, and yes this time the truck didn't give us any fits, we must of finally found the correct combination.  We went into a new campground for us, Winding Waters, a very nice resort type place, huge concrete sites, some with patios, all paved, tons of amenities, but best of all the location is perfect for us, close to friends, doctors, the area we are looking for a place in, winner, winner, chicken dinner:-)

Pretty nice digs!

Truly On The Move

With our change of plans, we zeroed in on the itinerary and made the appropriate reservations for our trip to Texas.  Then of course a few last minute errands to include several cases of bourbon and Canadian whiskey to offset some of the really high prices in the northeast.  After all we'll be in Maine for 3 months:-)  We had several nice lunches and visits with Karen and Tom.  A very nice final lunch followed by a longer visit with Ray and Linda.

Our dear friend Ray

Later we had a wonderful lunch and visit with Debbie and Harold, and their son, Scott. to say good bye for the season.

Jan, Moi, Harold, Scott, and Deb

Jan played her last Mahjong, and then a last get together with Karen and Tom until we see them later in Maine.

Then we tore down our site, Jan washed and waxed the truck, and then we packed up the truck which was no easy feat as in addition to all the stuff that fills the bed, we were also carrying 10 gallons of oil for our upcoming oil change, the baseplate, numerous new plants, and perhaps a case of booze that we couldn't fit in the coach:-)

We even got a good bye from an eagle that landed right behind our site.

Anyway with everything done we left Sunday afternoon and went to Detroit Diesel in Ocala to spend the night for our service the next morning.  It was a nice evening so we made the most of it.

They jumped right on us first thing in the morning and we took off for an exceptional breakfast at Waffle House, killed a bit time running around, and came back.  After a while once they finished, they started it up, and it idled beautifully for 2 minutes, shuddered several times and then died, they lost the prime again!  This had happened to us 3 years ago and we sure thought it was behind us.  I'm sure they hoped the same thing.  The first time it happened I only had about a quarter tank of fuel so we thought that was the problem.  They run it into their garage up a big slope so it is easy to get underneath, but with the fuel tank way, way up front, it is asking for a long pull from the tank to the engine in the back.  So fast forward, 2 1/2 hours later, priming the filter, and putting air pressure on the tank, they finally got it started.  So our quick and easy oil service turned into 4 hours.  Good we were only going 125 miles down the road to Madison, FL.

Getting ready to put air pressure on the tank

Priming

We can absolutely say we will never let them put the coach in the back on the slope again!

After a pleasant evening in Madison, FL, we had 2 long days, about 430 miles each day to get to Athens, TX, made even longer as we had to drive separately.  We stopped the first night in Hattiesburg, MS, and arrived just before that huge weather system moved through, thankfully it wasn't too bad right where we were.  Then on to Chandler, TX to a not so nice campground that got us within 25 miles of M&G Braking Systems for our appointment.  Right now we are sitting outside in the coach while they are installing our baseplate hoping it will warm up from the 34 degrees we woke up to.  After the baseplate and making sure everything works we will head over to Weatherford, TX on the west side of Fort Worth to get in position to visit our daughter Kelly and Brian for a few days before we head back east.

One hour and the baseplate is done!  Amazing service, made sure everything worked well and it did so we are now on the road.

Disappointing, New Plans, and Good News

As I said we had one more big project ahead of us, and that was installing the baseplate on our new truck.  The baseplate is what the tow bar connects to so you are able to tow it.  Jan and I reflected and found that we have installed at least 10 of these before, so no big deal.  We got the truck raised up as much as the suspension allowed and ran it up on blocks to have access.  We mapped out our plan and arranged the tools needed for the install.

First step was removing the wheel well liner, no problem.

Next step was to remove the bumper, and that's where it all came to a halt.  Without the truck up on a lift we had no way that we could get a tool on the 3 big nuts on each side to remove the bumper.  A very disappointing situation, and totally unexpected, so we buttoned it all up and threw in the towel.  But before we put the tools away we replaced the air cleaner on the coach, so at least one thing was accomplished.

So now what?  When we bought the truck we went up to M&G Braking in Athens, TX to have them install the braking system and the wiring harness, and had planned to have them do the baseplate as well, but the baseplate hadn't been developed yet for our new model truck.  So we are now heading back to Athens, TX to have them install it. It will mean we will have to leave earlier than we had planned, no big deal.  And since we will be close to our daughter Kelly's new house, we will have an opportunity to visit she and Brian after the baseplate.  New plans make the world go round:-)

We had a nice get together lunch with Ray and Linda, and Karen and Tom joined us.

Karen, Tom, Linda, Ray, and Jan

Jan and I drove up to St Pete for a very good lunch at Crabby Bill's, Jason and Joanne had given us a gift certificate for Christmas we wanted to use, thank you!  It was a little cool and windy so we ate inside but still had a nice view of the gulf.

We had a veritable feast to include what we think might be the best onion rings outside of New England.

Grouper bites

And the amazing onion rings!

The good news.  As I mentioned we have been talking to people and getting some rough estimates on repairing the clear coat in several places on our coach, 17 years sitting in the sun and weather has taken its toll.  We thought we would maybe have to make a sortie to the west coast to a paint shop we had used previously.  And after a very high estimate from a shop in Utah, we almost committed to Oregon, but decided to try one more highly recommended place outside of Elkhart, IN, and they hit the mark.  We are planning to see them after we leave Maine and New England in mid August to have them take care of us.  There will be much more on this subject to follow.  Now we just have to figure out what to do for the 10 days or so while we have to stay out of the coach.

So now we are down to just a bit more than a week, a few more visits, a few more lunches, docs are all done and good, almost time to go.

About 2 Weeks To Go

The heat returned to Florida, 80's most days, but it's been really nice in the evenings.  Jan and I got another doctor done with good reports and another year, leaves me 1 more next week.  

We did get a few projects done in between eating lunch out:-)  First on the list was replacing our water accumulator tank, it takes the bumps and cycling out of the system particularly when we are using our on board pump.  And looking back in our records the tanks seem to only last about 4 years, maybe it's because we hook up to so many different sources for water across the country.  The bladder inside fails and the tank just fills with water.

The new tank ready to go in

And the heavy, filled with water, tank coming out

Then the biggy, our coolant leak.  It is one of the few times we have ever called in an outside mechanic but we just couldn't get to with enough strength to turn the fitting.  Turned out it was a good thing as it turned out one fitting actually had cracked.  After a bit of a communication challenge, Ty came over right at dark to get in there and see what was what and drain off 2 five gallon buckets of coolant, 40 quarts or so, of course because of where the fitting was way over his head, he also had to wear about a gallon or so himself.

The broken fitting on top

The new part

He brought the new part back the next night, got it installed, quite a job, then he needed to pump the drained coolant back into the coach which worked really well until the battery for pump died with no spare.  We took it from there, and the next day Jan and I using our pump put the rest of the coolant in along with another gallon, remember the coolant he was wearing?  We did get enough in to start it up and check for leaks, none so far.

Checking the level

His cool pump

We made a stop at one of our favorite Thai places for lunch, Thai Seed, and had something new.

Jan had Tom Yum noodle soup

I had duck noodle soup,
both were delicious!

We came down to Venice for lunch with Ray and Linda again and on the way back stopped at a great Italian market and restaurant, Angelo's, and picked up a new to us, Braciole.  After researching many recipes for this rolled and stuffed beef, we chose one and gave it a go.  Wonderful!

Braising in tomato sauce

Sliced

Served

One more project was completed.  I had years ago made a plywood box to hold our folding chairs, it looks a little funny, but it needed to have a removable top for things to ride on, and it needed to breathe so if the chairs were put away wet they would dry.  We had been using it for a long time, well, we had one of 4 chairs break, it happens from time to time, and when we reordered it, we found that the manufacturer made the chair wider.  Well that meant I had to modify the box which I did.

We had several highlights to our time recently, firstly we had great lunch and visit with dear friends from RCR where we stayed for so long, Debbie and Harold.  While we like where we are staying now, it is pretty far away from where we were.

Then another highlight was to see our old friend Harvey, we had a great time catching up with him.

So now we have just over two weeks to go, we have renewed our reservation for next winter at only 2 months, and have one big project to go.  We have to install the baseplate on the new truck so we can tow it.  Much more on that later.  So lots more lunches, lots more visits, several errands, and we'll be off.