The usual Data and Statistics

I like numbers...so we try to keep decent records for each trip we take.

Our total trip was almost 4700 miles, 4691 to be precise. We used 267 gallons of diesel fuel for an average of 17.6 mpg. We drove the speed limit when we could, average of 65mph.  The price of fuel is significantly less in the south, the cheapest being $2.57 in Florida, with the most expensive being $3.11 in good ole Vermont.

We covered a good portion of the east coast.  Did you know Google tracks your every move...kind of scary, but it can be kind of neat.  You can export your archive into a huge KML file, then edit it down to something google maps can handle. In my case I had to break it into  three files and then import them as layers...but it gives a good map of where you have been. Pretty cool..IMHO.

Here are the detailed Stats:

Day 20 - Enough Fretz'n around...heading for Home.

Friday we, I mean June, made a good breakfast in the RV and then made our way to Fretz, which is just west of Philly.











Fretz is an interesting place. RV dealers today are all about presentation, fancy show rooms and camping stores. I give Camping world and Pete's RV as examples. Fretz on the the other hand is like the place has not changed in 30 years. It is kind of dumpy, the store is pretty disorganized, they even have a section in the store where they sell cowboy boots.  The service area is across the street and is just an office with desks for the service attendants and three or four service bays attached to the office. That being said, it was a positive experience.  They jumped in our RV and took it away, they must have more service areas off site. We were there 3.5 hours in all, but they took care of the bad sofa switch and cleaned the orifice on the propane stove so both work as designed now.   Since the tank sensors were working again when we came in for service, it was hard for them to diagnose, so they checked and tightened all the connections, but I suspect I will see this problem again. Overall, I give them good marks for customer service so far and their inventory and pricing is the best in the northeast, in my opinion.

We departed Fretz about 13:30 for home, traffic in the Philly, NJ, NYC area is what it is...it sucks.  We hit two traffic jams, one for construction and one for an accident. Despite what my buddy George says, given a choice...I will take I81/I88 versus I95/I287, it is farther, but just less stressful.

After all that traffic and driving, we were thinking we would be hungry, so we called June's cuzs Keith and Deb to get some pizza lined up...gawd we are good at this...another free meal. We stopped and had a nice visit and dinner in Hudson Falls around 7PM.

After dinner with the Pattisons, it was an uneventful drive home on familiar roads with almost no traffic. Our traffic is something we don't think about day to day but after driving up and down the east coast, one gains an appreciation of where we live. We arrived home about 23:30, it was just about 32F, but after this trip we are kind of used to the cold.

Overall it was a good trip, the weather could have been better but we still enjoyed getting away for a bit and getting a bit of sun.

It is always nice to come home after a long trip.

Day 19 - Pointed North

Today we drove from just south of Roanoke, VA to Souderton, PA, roughly 450 miles.

We stopped in Fairfax, VA and had lunch with the Malloys, always good to see them.  They got about 6 inches of snow and Bob was sliding in the back yard with their friend's 6 year old son.  Bob will never grow up, and that is why the Malloys are so much fun.

We like Cracker Barrels for stop overs and that is where we are tonight.  We always buy either dinner or breakfast, it just seems like the right thing to do for allowing RVers to park overnight.  We got dinner this time, the place was crowded, we ordered and waited almost an hour before our dinners came.  The manager eventually brought out our meal. Our waitress was a pistol, she came over and said "what did he say?", I said not much...she was miffed and said, "he may not know it but he is buying your meal", and she refused to give us a bill.  We put down a good tip and left, and we still like CB, other than they don't serve adult beverages.

We are here because I have an appointment with the service department at Fretz RV where we bought our RV. This was the first big trip in the new unit and there are a few things that need attention.  One of the electrical switches for the fold out bed works some of the time, only one burner on the propane stove works and the tank level gauges have been intermittently throwing error codes. I am certain I could fix the switch and stove, but the gauges might need replacing..so we are taking the time to get it looked at.  I called Fretz this afternoon and explained that we are passing thru, they were very accommodating and got us in for 10AM tomorrow. Frankly, I was surprised, the RV industry has a reputation for very poor after sale service....so far so good with Fretz. We will see.

We hope to get home tomorrow afternoon.

Day 18 - Lazy morning..then drive North

Today we were lazy, slept in, showers and a late breakfast. We were staying in a KOA, but never left the Falcon, it seems we just have everything we need in the unit.

We hit rain almost immediately after we left and as we headed east we climbed to about 2500ft and yes..snow and high winds...again.








While fueling up in Wytheville, VA our cell phones lit up with high wind warnings...well they were not kidding, some 18 wheelers slowed and put on their flashers...we were getting rocked... We went another 40 miles to the next Cracker Barrel in Christainsburg, VA.  We got in about 400 miles today, considering our departure time and the weather that is reasonable.

We plan on 400 to 600 miles today and should be home Friday afternoon, unless we find another reason to stop.

Day 17 - JD and GOO

After Monday night, a cloudy Tuesday morning seemed quite pleasant.  The weather improved, no storms but not really warm either and the forecast continued to forecast rain by noonish.

We surveyed the damage from the storm and to our surprise the Falcon had no visible damage, apparently the damage from hail was very localized. We went into the Cracker Barrel for a good breakfast and one of the workers said that her husband's car windshield was smashed. We were lucky, 4 miles away at Mitch Smith Chevrolet an entire lot of cars was pelleted by golf ball size hail and they got it on surveillance video. 

Car Dealer lot getting hail

After breakfast we headed just about 100 miles north to drop in on Jack Daniels.

When we arrived there the parking lot was completely empty, when we came out to leave about 12N, it was full, it is quite an attraction for the small 'dry' town of Lynchburg, TN.

The JD story is quite interesting. A very interesting account of how the business started is told by Mike Rowe in a podcast, it is episode #93, I highly recommend you listen to it.

http://thewayiheardit.rsvmedia.com/episode-93-as-long-as-its-legal

We took the tour and learned a bit about making Whiskey, JD is not bourbon because it is made in TN and uses a bit of a different process.

They have several tours, we took the basic walking tour of about an hour and a half, the guide was very entertaining. Much of the tour walking from building to building of that actual operation, we noticed the trees were all black. Apparently the distilling vapors combine with air pollutants that feed a fungi that sticks to just about anything. During prohibition, moonshiners had to keep moving their operations due to this tell tale sign of their business.

On the grounds there are wild turkeys everywhere, they smell the grains and come to try to get some...the guide said "they are spies from Wild Turkey".

Jack himself was about 5' 2" tall and had a size 4 shoe, the statues are a bit taller...funny how that happens.

The tour includes the original office building that Jack used, including the original furnishings. It even has the safe that is said to have caused his death. He came to work early one day and when unable to get the combo right for the safe, he kicked it.  He did not tell anyone his toe was broke and got infected.  For the next six years he had toes, then leg etc. amputated to try to stop the infection. Eventually the infection killed him at 61, but not before he turned the business over to his nephew, he had no children.

We ended the tour in the factory and then the tasting room, that was fun! That is an Indian behind the table, there were several custom Indians in the visitor center.  We later found a Harley in their gift shop in the market square, but I think Harley needs to step up their presence.


We then walked to the town square in Lynchburg, it really is a small town, and had lunch at one of the local BBQ places. We never had BBQ brisket pizza, but it was pretty good.

From JD's we drove a few hours north to Nashville, we debated on what to do since the weather was forecast to rain, and it did. We drove downtown and found a place to park, it took some looking but we did find a place the Falcon fit into, I guess it is not that big.

The visitor center is in the Predators Arena space, kind of weird but they were nice and told us what we could do in the few hours we had, which is basically walk the strip with all the Honky Tonks and listen to some live music.









We asked about seeing a show at the Grand Ole Opry (GOO) and were directed to go to the Ryman Theater (former location of GOO) and see if there were any left.  When we asked the woman at the window was not optimistic, but to our and her surprise, we got great seats due to a cancellation.

So after strolling the strip we headed for GOO with tickets in hand, we even found a KOA about 3 miles from GOO, so we secured a parking spot for the night before going to the show.

GOO is definitely a bucket list kind of place, it was very cool to be part of the on air broadcast and the performances are run like a fine tuned clock. The big event for the night was the induction of Chris Janson into the GOO, the presentation was done by Garth Brooks.  All I can say is that boy is talented, especially on a harmonica (Bob Kitchin). The only bummer was Charlie Daniels was on the billing but apparently became ill.




After the show we walked over to the Gaylord Opryland Resort Gardens, the lady at the visitor center had told us about this.

The place is worth the walk, I would say it is a combination of what you see in Vegas and the botanical gardens in Montreal. It is huge and free if you park in the mall and walk over.

The gardens have canals with boats and several water falls, pretty cool.












It was a pretty good day despite the cold temps and rain.

Today we really don't have a plan, it is 10AM and we are still sitting in the van having breakfast, so it will be a late start to say the
least.










We do know we are headed north..so let's hope it warms up.

Day 16 - Rain, Wind, Thunder, Lightening, Hail and Tornado Warnings

After enduring Sunday night's storms we had hoped we could get to the Emerald Coast and enjoy walking on the beach in the sun....well that was not to be.

We drove thru more rain getting to Okaloosa Island and when we drove across the bridge to Mirimar Beach, the fog was so thick you could not see anything. None the less, we pressed on..when we arrived at Okaloosa Island, the rain was coming in sporadic down pours. 

We decided to have lunch and hope the weather would pass, and chose a place on the boardwalk called, Angler's Beachside Grill.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves, but the food and beer was satisfying. 

The weather did not improve, but I did walk the beach for a bit but June stayed on the board walk. 

I have never seen better sand, it is absolutely white, without rocks, shells or anything else..just perfect.

We will comeback sometime when the weather is better. 

From Okaloosa Island, we headed north towards Alabama...well that was pretty stupid.  June and I listen to podcasts when we drive, had we had the radio tuned in, we might not have driven into the path of a Tornado. 

We had picked Cullman, Alabama as a stopping point, a Cracker Barrel restaurant. It had started to rain before we got to the CB, but we had barely parked when the town Tornado sirens started.  It was pretty much Mayhem, it turned dark, the wind rocked us, rain came in sheets, our cell phones were blowing up with tornado alerts, etc...we are in an RV..what do you do.  We decided to make a run for the CB.  We got in the CB and they hustled us into the kitchen with about 50 of our new friends. What was funny is the staff never stopped cooking, I can't say I always wanted to see a CB kitchen in action..but I did. 

In all honestly, it was not fun, but we learned a few things...like new words.. Tornadic and that you really don't want to be in the Polygon...we were. 

Eventually, it was declared that that Tornadic part of the storm passed, there was still rain, wind and hail, but no danger of Tornado.  June and I made a run for the RV, we might as well jumped in a lake we were so wet when we got in the RV.  The storm was not over, and the hail came, I think we were lucky, no sky lights broke and I think it was generally pea sized. It was deafening and June retreated to the bathroom, but I don't think there was any damage, I will verify tomorrow in the daylight. 

We finally got to cook our dinner about 9PM and have a drink!  Glad it was over.

We will drive to Tennessee tomorrow, maybe look in on Jack Daniels and a few others. 

Day 15 - Manatee Springs

Sunday morning we took the short drive to Manatee State Park.

Driving into the park, there were deer grazing by the road, they clearly are comfortable with people.

They have some pretty extensive elevated walks that follow the Spring with observation points along the way.

At the end of the walkway it comes out onto a pier that reaches out into the Suwannee River. When we arrived it was guarded buy a flock of Black Vultures.


They are the size of chickens or bigger and really did not want to move.

We walked the boardwalks in the morning but did not see any Manatees, but we did come by the spring where there were scuba divers. I vaguely remember this from 1979 when Aunt Joyce took us here, or some place very close, I will have to verify from pictures when I get home.







We decided to take a nature hike of about 4 miles, all flat.

We came by this guy, a black racer snake, he was good sized, over 3ft in length. June did not initially see him and when I pointed out she was about to step on him, she let out quite a squeak.. :-).  I tried to move him with a stick and he struck, so I felt it prudent to get a bigger stick.  Once I flipped him off the trail, he zipped off into the brush...it is obvious why they are called racer snakes...pretty fast.

The hiking trail has 19 markers that identify different things of interest, #7 was the state tree, a Sabal palm or cabbage palm. It has a heart like an artichoke that is edible, but once harvested the palm will die.

After our hike we decided to walk the board walk one more time, just to see if there were any Manatees about.  I talked to a ranger and he said there were some sleeping near the pier where the Spring feeds into the Suwannee.  We were lucky, there were 7 Manatees just loafing about.  One of them swam over to the pier like he was saying good morning and then returned to the others.  There was a couple in a canoe and they had to be careful not to hit them with their paddles.

It was cool.

We saw this unit in the parking lot, all the way from Germany. I also spoke with a couple from Ontario that were full timing in a 1975 Toyota class C, amazing what you see on the road.










We returned to the Falcon and both took showers, with only a 6 gallon hot water tank, amazingly there seemed to be plenty of hot water.

Our next destination was planned to be Okaloosa Island, so we headed that way, stopped at Walmart again to get a few things and to park in the shade to make lunch.  As we made our way west we ran into very very heavy rain, driving visibility was very bad, so we decided to find a place to get off of I10. We found the Hitching Post Corral and RV Park with our Passport America card (from Fretz), it was only $25 for the night...so we took it. It was a pretty awful night, it was raining hard most of the night, deafeningly loud, with thunder and lightening, not much sleep. We even had branches falling on the RV, I just hope my antenna and solar panels did not get damaged.

Looking at the weather, we will probably not see much sun on Okaloosa Island, but it looks worse inland, so I think we will make the visit to the coast anyway and hope the weather passes before we start back towards Tennessee.