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.