Back in Polk City

August 26, 2011 we are back and getting ready for the next adventure. Nice to be back after the hot weather up north! Carol will fly to Allentown on the 13th to see her dentist on the 14th, the Hershey RV show on 15th. and will be back in FL by the evening of the 18th!  PHEW! Between June 1 and August 26, Bruce rode his scooter 3656 miles while the Motorcoach traveled 4700 miles while using 466 gallons of diesel (for $1902). This works out right at 10 MPG which includes using the diesel generator while driving and parked. Not bad for a 17 ton rig pulling 2- 600lb scooters on a trailer.

Chassa Oaks, Homosassa, FL

We turned off interstate 10 about 20 miles east of Tallahassee onto route 19. A smooth divided highway, straight as an arrow. Very nice. Chassa Oaks is a small RV park with small lots for sale at pre-recession prices. Starting at $49,000 (no way).  Nice pool. Located on route 19, 6 miles south of Homosassa and 12 miles north of Weeki-Wacki springs. We spent 2 nights here for $57. On Friday we continued on highway 98 thru Brooksville, to hwy 50 and south on hwy 33 at Groveland to Polk City.









The pool is enclosed and is nice.

Roads are narrow. It looks like it was planned in the 50s when trailers were 20 feet long. There are no pull thru sites, only back-ins. This meant that we had to unload both scooters, disconnect the trailer, and place it by hand.

The roads curve sharply and if you stop, all traffic will be blocked.

Defuniak Springs-Holley King Lakes Resort , Fl

Arrived at Holley King Lakes Resort around 4 pm. Very few people here. Actually, we were the only ones. Check out our front window view. Remember to click on a picture to make it bigger. We plan 3 nights here, then two nights at Chassa Oaks in Homosassa and then back to Polk City.

Florida welcome station display on interstate 10.

Side trip to Destin was about 115 miles. Nice resort right on beach. Bring plenty of money. $189 per night in season.

Neat beach scene.

Look at this contraption at Holley King resort. Water outlet is above the 50 amp outlet which has NO off/on switch. Don't let the water gush down on the electric!

Wolf River Resort-Pass Christian, Ms

We arrived on Thursday 8/18/2011 and stayed thru Saturday.  Located on Freddie Frank road, off Menges road about 4.5 miles north of the beach. In the Coast-To_Coast network. 50amp and sewer available in this membership park. Some lots are for sale.  About 20 miles west of the casinos in Biloxi. There are also casinos in Gulf Port and Bay St. Louis. Water temp at beach is 88. Air temp is 91, feels like 101. A friendly little park off the beaten track. Only a couple of miles south of interstate 10. Best price for diesel is at the Truck stop at the I-10 intersection.(Don't forget to click on pictures to enlarge.)                                             

Carving in resort.

 Nice, decent size sites.

No crowd at Beach at Pass Christian.

Boats at Pass Christian

Waveland pier-Very nice. Costs $1.00 to walk out and fish if you want.

Abita Springs RV resort

We arrived in late afternoon on August 15th. Abita Springs RV resort, located at 24150 Highway 435 Abita Springs, LA 70420. This is located about 40 miles north of New Orleans across lake Ponchatrain. We are on a 50amp site with full hookups, however, the coach indicates only 30amp is available. I'll have to speak with them tomorrow. They have a nice swimming pool, hot tub, gym and pool table with fishing available on the private lake. This is a new member of the Coast-to-Coast network. (This means $10/day for facility) 

Prentiss, Mississippi

After one night at a Walmart in Hernando, Ms. a little south of Memphis, we arrived at my friends house near Prentiss.  Prentiss is located about 60 miles south of Jackson. Jackson appears to be very prosperous and has a Nisson plant that is over a mile long next to interstate 55. Ken and Ann are two of the nicest people you will ever meet. I have known Ken since we were in the Air force at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Ms. in 1963.

 

Ken made a spot next to his home for us to park. We plugged in and hooked up the (well) water. Later we tested the water with our meter and found it to be about as pure as bottled spring water. We sure did miss the floride though. (not). Nearby there were several donkeys or mules that made occassional outbursts of a very strange and (loud) sound. Ken is a licensed short wave radio operator and has a very nice computer controlled station. Ann is a fabulous cook and fed us well.   

It was mostly hot in the sun (low 90s) but cooled off
nicely at night and we didn't require air conditioning.

One night Ken took us to Berrys all you can eat seafood.
Home of the Cajun pickle.
I bought a jar. Very good, I wish they were available in stores.

On Sunday we went to Hattiesburg and ate the best
Mexican food anywhere. Very authenic. 
A very pleasant stay.

Cable cam extreme downhill mountain bike

Cable cam extreme downhill mountain bike

Sikeston, Mo

Arrived at Town & Country RV park in Sikeston, Mo 8/9/2011

A 50amp pull thru site with cable, sewer and WIFI.
There is a Lambert's Cafe here-famous for Hot Throwed Rolls.
We visited their other location in Foley, Alabama last year.
Wed., Thurs., Fri. and Sat  nights are rodeo. Yahoo!
There are 600 rodeos in the US and Sikeston is in the top 20.
After the rodeo there was a concert with Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, etc.

Litchfield, Illnois

We stayed for a week at Honey Bend about 6 miles north of Litchfield, Illinois.
It has about a dozen pull thrus with some 50 amp but mostly 30 amps, no sewer.

It has a dump station near the entrance. Some back-in sites are wooded.

There are 2 lakes with fishing and some pedal boats.

Joliet, Illinois

The Hollywood Casino is in Joliet, Illinois. It has a RV resort for $20-$30 per night.

The Casino has a "Eat the Beast" challenge. A 2 pound cheeseburger with a pound of frys. If you can eat it in one hour it's frre and you get a T shirt. Otherwise, it's a $25 hamburger. Mark did the burger in 47 minutes but couldn't do the fries. The record is 22 minutes.

While in Chicago we visited the Navy pier. There is a free stained glass museum, a huge ferris wheel and a swing thing. (which I went on, of course)

As seen from the ferris wheel.

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

Harbour Village Resort, located about 8 miles north of  Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
There is an art festival at Egg harbor about 20 miles north with an auction of about 40 paintings done in an hour or so. One day we rode our scooters with our friends Dick and Jo to a ferry and went to Washington island in Lake Michigan.

Wisconsin Dells

This is the water park capitol of the world. Many are indoors. There also is a 6000' zip line and many roller coaster type rides. We are staying at the Greenblue resort. It is a membership timeshare resort with 2 golf courses and a chair lift for skying.  There are lots of very nice cabins and also RV parking sites. We went to a sales presentation where we found out that we could buy for only $30,000. Then there is annual maintenance, taxes, etc. Since we are members of Coast-To-Coast Rvs, we stay for $10 per night. To the left is one of the indoor pools at Greenblue.

Lots of "duck" rides.(World War II amphibious craft)

Upside down White House.

Trojan Horse

Moosejaw.

As I was loading Carols scooter, the wheels went off the rail and it landed upside down, but fortunately I was not underneath it. I guess my dirt bike experience helped. But I estimate at least $3000 in tupperware damage. The windshield shattered of course.

Walworth, Wisconsin

This is in Walworth, Wisconsin at Miles Hass and Carolyn Caldwell's home. Our rig is on the left. Jim & Marilyn Felts (friends from Bay Bayou in Tampa, Florida) are on right. Hardly anyone has room for 1 motorcoach in their driveway, much less two!!  Miles installed 2-50 amp outlets for our rigs. Very nice!

 They really know how to make a bonfire in Wisconsin. Just get one dumptruck of firewood, a Kubota to unload it and then an all night fire.  The bonfire was in honor of our friend Ken Caldwell who lost his battle with cancer in March of this year. 

We couldn't get very close due to the heat!

                                                                    

Below is the tail end of the pool party - bathing suits optional - at 5:30 AM-the next morning, still going strong.  This is after all night partying (the younger generation!) with long rides cross-country in golf carts and real fireworks. (Not the sissy city fireworks) Real big bangs! Just behind the fire you see a metal grill cover against the plywood. With a large firecracker (said to be a 1/4 stick of dynamite), it would fly about 100 feet straight up! We won't mention the blood involved in all the good fun.  In the background is a milk cattle farm with 350 head on active duty. There is a new dairy moving here from California with 5000 milkers plus 30,000 cows in the rotation. That's a lot of milk and you know......

I took a ride (golf cart) about half a mile with Miles to see about a dozen Elk in a double fenced area.

                                                                      

Sunday morning on our way to Menards in Beloit, WI., we saw this amazing sight! A pickup in a tree!  Wow!  These Wisconsin folks have a lot of tricks up their sleeves!                                            . 

2011 Summer trip

June 1 is the start. We had planned on 18 months on the road, but with the price of diesel, we have cut back to only 4000 miles. We will pull the trailer with 2 scooters to Anderson, SC. Then Bruce (red line) will ride his scooter via the Tail of the Dragon (312 turns in 11 miles), then 6 days in Chaplin, KY with Dennis Hall and then on to Ada,OH. (about 700 miles total) Carol will continue to Pennsylvania for several weeks with friends. We will meet up in Loudenville Ohio at Wallyworld, then to Columbus, OH and then go to Wisconson.

 

Hope to hit Memphis and New Orleans on the trip back.





This hill climber was on display at the National races in Lima, Ohio

This is the 1/2 mile National race in Lima Ohio which I enjoyed. Note they go over 100mph and have no brakes. (end of June)

Loudonville, home of Charles Kettering who founded Delco, and was head of research

for General Motors for 27 years from 1920 to 1947.  There are several campgrounds in the area and a car show the last week of June.  Also lots of river rafting and Mohican state park.

Our rig at Wally World, just south of Loudonville.

Look below where they wanted to put us. Maybe space for a tent!

On Thursday, June 31 we rode the scooters to Sandusky and to Cedar Point. We didn't go in as it was late in the day. In the first month of our travels, I have put 2000 miles on my scooter!

A fifth wheel camper?

Don't try this at home kids!