The fulltiming adventure begins

[azflycaster]

We will be Flagstaff the morning of the 32nd and meeting up with some fellow Airstreamers headed to Albuquerque. On plan is to meet up at Little America (truck stop) at the Butler Ave exit. If you have the opportunity it would be great to meet the both of you on your trip. We will be pulling out around 10am.

[Jim & Susan]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

Yea, the Duke's back. Appropriate for heading out west!

Dang Vaughn, you stole my thunder. Always nice to see The Duke around.

Terry, gas shortages are real up here in the Atlanta area and in many other parts of the Southeast. Gas is available, but stations are running out for a day or two before they are resupplied. Also, gas is averaging about $4.00 per gallon. About 50 cents above the national average. Susan was in Melbourne last week with the Scouts and actually paid much less for gas there than up here. In the 21st Century, I can't believe I just wrote this paragraph.

Good luck to y'all.

Jim

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

Dang Vaughn, you stole my thunder. Always nice to see The Duke around.

Terry, gas shortages are real up here in the Atlanta area and in many other parts of the Southeast. Gas is available, but stations are running out for a day or two before they are resupplied. Also, gas is averaging about $4.00 per gallon. About 50 cents above the national average. Susan was in Melbourne last week with the Scouts and actually paid much less for gas there than up here. In the 21st Century, I can't believe I just wrote this paragraph.

Good luck to y'all.

Jim

Hmm, maybe I should get a pair of 5 gallon cans, and fill 'em up when we fill up. If we run low, we can at least get another 50 miles down the road.

[HiHoAgRV]

If your lookin for good stoppin places, consider Palo Dura just south of Amarillo. Arriving from the east you can take state highways and divert before you get to town and slip into the park. we stayed there in May and posted photos in http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...8-a-41824.html
not too far out of the way and really scenic.

Good Luck to ya'll!

On edit- glad to see the Duke back!

[vswingfield]

As far as I know, there haven’t been any shortage problems in Arkansas except for the first couple of days. Mostly due to either panic (if you are a journalist) or rational expectations (if you are an economist.) Either way, no shortages now.

[sd90mac]

Good evening,

They made me cry at work today. The residents and staff gave Sophie and I a going away party and made us a vase and filled it with pens, pencils and pads to write on ( I keep writing on my hand when no paper available, like most nurses do) and put it in a basket with all kinds of snacks for the road, note pads, hand sanitizer, gift cards and all kinds of stuff, including kleenex for me to use when I think about them and cry.

Little miss Sophie got 2 large gift bags with toys, snacks, a travel colapsable water bowl/food bowl and a couple dozen chew bones. Oh yes,therapy staff got her a raincoat because she doesn't like it when they take her out in the rain. They wanted her to be dry!

The residents and the activity staff put together a collage of pictures and other memorabilia and presented it to me. All of the residents and staff signed it.

They also had a food spread that would make food network proud. They had beneful lamb and rice for Sophie, because some of the residents remembered it was her favorite.

Many of the families came in and all said how much they would miss us, especially Sophie.

See, good things do happen to us. I'm going to go take a nap and sleep off the food. I do think 4 cakes were a little much, but several residents had different ideas about my favorite.

God bless Hearthstone at Carrollwood in Tampa Fl.

Marie

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

If your lookin for good stoppin places, consider Palo Dura just south of Amarillo. Arriving from the east you can take state highways and divert before you get to town and slip into the park. we stayed there in May and posted photos in http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...8-a-41824.html
not too far out of the way and really scenic.

Good Luck to ya'll!

On edit- glad to see the Duke back!

I will second Palo Duro also the History? Museum in Canyon, TX is a must see. We stayed at the KOA Amarillo and it was pretty decent, the rabbits come by for hand outs

Aaron

[richinny]

awwwwwwwwwww, how nice!

i feel like i'm watching 60 minutes and watching the clock tick!

[sd90mac]

tick tick tick tick tick tick tick

Marie

[richinny]

i always wondered about those folks with Airstreams.......

[overlander63]

All the awnings are rigged in, the stabilizers raised, the tv antenna lowered, the odds and ends that accumulate over months of sitting in one spot have been found a home, or disposed of. The truck is hooked up to the airstream with care, in the hope Wally Byam would soon be there...
Anyway, the only thing attaching us to the outside world is the electric, water, and sewer lines and hoses, and the internet cable. Tomorrow morning, before dawn, I'll raise the tongue jack, unhook the water and internet, dump the holding tanks, and we'll be off.
I won't have time to post tomorrow before we leave, and out internet access will be spotty for the next several days. The next time I'm sure we'll have internet access is at our destination, roughly 5-7 days from now. I hope we will have a completely dull and uneventful trip, but y'all know us...

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by overlander63

All the awnings are rigged in, the stabilizers raised, the tv antenna lowered, the odds and ends that accumulate over months of sitting in one spot have been found a home, or disposed of. The truck is hooked up to the airstream with care, in the hope Wally Byam would soon be there...
Anyway, the only thing attaching us to the outside world is the electric, water, and sewer lines and hoses, and the internet cable. Tomorrow morning, before dawn, I'll raise the tongue jack, unhook the water and internet, dump the holding tanks, and we'll be off.
I won't have time to post tomorrow before we leave, and out internet access will be spotty for the next several days. The next time I'm sure we'll have internet access is at our destination, roughly 5-7 days from now. I hope we will have a completely dull and uneventful trip, but y'all know us...

Terry,

Keep the shiny side up and the dirty side down. You and Marie have a safe and wonderful tour of the Southern US.

Bill

[Alumatube]

You will have Internet access Sunday night in Arkansas!

Susan

[carnegie1935]

As you begin this new aadventure, just know that you have many friends in the background wishing you a safe and enjoyable trip. we would be on the roadway to cheer you on lf we could. Our thought and prayers will be for a great trip and new job. Keep us informed as you can. Just don't loose Marie and Sophie in traffic.

Kay

[Jim & Susan]

And don't forget there are lots of us along the way if you get in a bind. Good luck and safe travels.

Jim

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by carnegie1935

As you begin this new aadventure, just know that you have many friends in the background wishing you a safe and enjoyable trip. we would be on the roadway to cheer you on lf we could. Our thought and prayers will be for a great trip and new job. Keep us informed as you can. Just don't loose Marie and Sophie in traffic.

Kay

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

And don't forget there are lots of us along the way if you get in a bind. Good luck and safe travels.

Jim

Thanks, Marie will have both Sophie and our Rand-McNally 2D nav system backup in the van with her. I'll just have Estella, the haughty voice of the Garmin GPS to keep me company...

[sd90mac]

How hard can it be? Drive north to I-40 then west until you run into California.

The dog may have to run in front of the van and sniff a trail to Terry but get there we will.

Thanks everyone for your good wishes and kind offers.

Hey, a year of fulltiming and we actually get to go somewhere!!!!!

Marie

[overlander63]

We are at the RV park we intended to stay tonight, at Opelika, Alabama. That's the good news.
The bad news is, one of the brand-new brake magnets shorted out, causing the trailer brakes to be completely inoperative. This at a truck stop on I-75 in Tifton Georgia. After some quality time checking wires, and teaching anyone within earshot a few new words, I finally located the bad magnet, and isolated it from the rest of the brake system. We now have brakes on 3 wheels, much better than 0 wheels. I utilized the jungle telegraph, and reserved a new loaded backing plate assembly from Airstream of Arkansas. Monday morning I'll be lurking at the front door when they open, and Gene has graciously given me permission to perform the replacement on his lot. They open at 8, and with any luck we'll be back on the road by 9:30, unless we get waylaid looking at the new Airstreams on the lot.
The truck did something goofy late this afternoon. The temp gauge swept way up toward "hot" 3 or 4 times, even though the cooling system was full. I'm thinking it is either an electrical issue (gauge or sender) or a thermostat that is at the beginning stages of failing. Most people wouldn't have even noticed it, but I watch the gauges like a hawk.
Something the truck doesn't have is cruise control, I found I have to keep throttling back...
Photo submitted for your amusement, just to prove I don't always practice what I preach...:

[azflycaster]

Looks like you went a little over 400 miles today. Pretty good for day one. I ran with 3 brakes for a while myself. I discovered a broken wire when I was changing a tire. You should be fine. Thanks for the update.

[Crusty]

Man I bet that rig looked like Halley's comet shooting by at 80 with smoke boiling out the back from that bad magnet.


One sneaky gotcha that's worth mentioning is a soft radiator hose on the suction side sucking flat after it gets hot and blocking the flow of engine coolant, and then everything goes back to normal when you pull over to take a look.