Summer Winding Down

Summer is going by fast does seem like it is the end of August already. We have not posted a lot this summer due to our poor internet connection. Hope we have fixed that problem for now. Time will tell.

We are still waiting for a surgery date for Gwen, they have cancelled it 3 times now. Hopefully we will know something the first of next week so we can finish up our travel plan for this coming winter. They have told her that it will be a 2 month recovery. Hoping we can still be on the road the first week of November. We have a few things that we would like to due to the Motor Home before we leave.

As always I have been looling for a hobby a do on my spare time and now I think I have found one. I tried making a wood sign a few days ago and it did not turn to bad. Used a small trim router and a fine detail router bit.


Turned out better than I had hoped. There are a few little mistakes in it but you have to look close. Hope to work on anouther one soon. 

We are working on getting things ready in the camp ground for this Labor Day weekend along with the other camp host here at Janes Island. Going the be a busy weekend as the camp ground is completely booked. Now time for a nap.

Skyline Drive VA

Day two on the drive and we are having great weather and the leaves on the trees have stated to change already. The campground is full so we where lucky tp get a site for the week. We will be leaving next Friday. We have seen 3 bears already a mom and 2 baby cubs. Phone service on the mountain is spotty at best so will update as often as possible. For the next week it is just going to a lot of what we do best, eating and relaxing, and take lots of naps.

Summer Almost Over

Summer is almost over and our time here at Jane's Island State Park ( Camp Hosting ) is coming to a end. As always we have enjoyed our time here and will miss the staff and our good friends doing the winter months. Not a lot new to report on over the summer things have for the most part been the same. As with every summer we spend here at Jame's Island we have meet some good friends that we will be following their travels and maybe meeting up with doing the winter months. We have a few small projects to finish before we leave but should have them all done in the next few weeks.

We had a great Labor Day Weekend and had plenty of things to keep us busy. On Sat the kids had a great time at the Crab Derby that is held every weekend . The kids always have a great time and for some it is the first time they have ever been crabbing.

On Sunday we had a cook out with all our friends, Family and Jane's Island staff. We had a good time and best of all some amazing food. Glad we know some good cooks. For those who could not make it we are sorry because you missed out on some good eating.

We had planned on going back to Lake Corpus Christi in Texas but had to change our plans, more on the later. Looks like we will be headed to Skyline Drive VA. for about a week and then to Camp Mack in Lake Wales FL. for the winter months and then to Hamburg State Park Georgia. Having to stay on East Coast this year.  We are looking for to Hosting in Georgia it will be the first time we have spend more than a few days in the state. We have not set a departure date yet but we should have one set in a week or so. Can not wait to spend some time in the mountains of Skyline Drive VA. We will post any updates as soon as we have them.

Back in Maryland

We have been back in Maryland now for a few days after a long and fast 3 day trip back from Texas. For the most part it was a good trip other than a major traffic jam on I20 in Louisiana, Not sure why but we where in a rolling backup for about a hour or more . The one thing that I have learn is that a lot of  States need to spend some money on the interstate road system. Most of the highways we traveled where in bad shape and they seemed to be worst the more South we where. Hopefully they will improve in the next few years.

The second thing that we noticed was the price of diesel fuel has gone back up again and it is crazy as to how much difference there is from station to station. The truck stops on the interstates seem to be always higher than the rest of the smaller stations, I guess that is because they know the big rigs do not have a lot of choice and have to use the truck stops. Is diesel not cheaper to make then gas?

When we are traveling across country we sometime like to pull into a Walmart or Cracker Barrel or some other places overnight for a little rest and some sleep before driving on. We always ask permission and try to park in a will lit area. However we had our first bad experience in Newton Mississippi. We where parked at the far end of the lot at about 12pm when heard a truck running outside of our camper , I looked ousidet the bedroom window and saw a pickup parked next to ours with 2 guys in side looking at our truck. They sat there for a 5 minutes and then pulled off and 15 minutes later they where back sitting there again . Not sure what they where up to but at this point we where not comfortable staying there so we pulled out and just decided to drive through the night. That is why we made the trip back so fast.

Now we are back in Maryland I think the man upstairs is messing with us, it is COLD and the wind is blowing and they are calling for snow, ugh!!!! This is a shock to our system after being in Texas and having 70 and 80 degree weather. Maybe it will not last to long and get warm soon, we are looking forward to summer.

As most of you know there is always something that goes wrong when you travel a lot in a RV . We had a great trip until with where setting up at our camp site in Maryland. As we where getting ready to unhook form the truck one of the front landing gear was not going down. After doing a little looking we found that  a shear pin had broke and came out. After a easy repair we had the gear fixed and where all set up. Now we are ready for some fun.

Water Pressure

For those of you that own a camper and use full hook-ups at campgrounds you should have a water pressure regulator on your must have list. These regulators reduces the water pressure going into your camper to 40 - 50 psi. There all types of regulators on the market from $8.00 to over $100.00. and some are adjustable. The basic ones sell for around $10.00 and can save you a lot of problem and head aches. High water pressure can break water lines and cause leaks. They are easy to use and hook up and go between your faucet and water hose. Most will last a full camping season unless you are a full time RVer like us and them you may have to change then about every 6 months. If you do not use one you might want to think about getting on, We where recently at a park and checked the water pressure and it was 105 psi.  This high of pressure would cause all kinds of problems. The pressure regulator below is about $10.00 at Walmart and other RV shops and is all you need to feel safe when you hook up to a water supply.

Fort Parker State Park

It is hard to believe that we have been at Fort Parker State Park for more than two week now. Time is going by fast and we have been having such a good time and staying busy that I have been a little slow updating the blog. Fort Parker is a small park with only 35 camp sites and 10 mini cabins. The site are setup so there is lots of room between sites and easy to get into. Some of the sites might be a little short for bigger rigs. We are on a host site on the top of the hill is the shelter area and have a great view of the campground.

  

The mini cabins are just a basic cabin with only a picnic table inside so campers must bring their own camping gear, cots, sleeping bags and whatever else you might need. The cabins do have electric and there is plenty of room inside. They also have a outside table and fire ring and room for parking. These are nice for people that like basic camping and gives you a nice place to get out of the weather.

  

The T pier is a great spot for fishing or watching the sunsets in the evenings. There is also a fish clean station for cleaning any fish you might catch.

  

In the day use area the is a nice nature center , boat ramp and the park rents kayak and canoes. There is also a shelter for picnics.

  

We are told what we are going to be really busy in the coming weeks with a Trout Clinic being held for the kids, there will be fishing, games and food. The local Bass Club is also giving the kids free fishing rods so this should be a good time. I will try to get lots of pictures if I get some free time. It is on the weekend of Jan 29th both Sat and Sun.

As soon as I have time I will be posting more pictures of the park so keep check back on the blog.

Oak Forest RV Park

Yesterday we pulled out of Lake Corpus Christi State Park  for what we thought was going to be a short trip to our next stop. Boy where we wrong, 6 1/2  hours later we stopped into Oak Forest RV Park. The day started out  with our puppy  getting sick all over me in the truck. It went down hill after that . We where getting ready to pull in for something to eat when we blow a tire on the  camper.

To make a long story short we called road side service  to find someone to change a tire. In the mean time a nice guy stopped  to see if we needed any help. So him and I got to work changing the tire that turned out to be not that hard.  I did learn that I need some better blocks in case this happens again.

Now we are just relaxing and enjoying the day the weather has turn out great 73 and sunny. First time we have seen any sun in about a week. Pulling out tomorrow for what we hope.will be a short 2 hour trip to Fort Parket State Park  where we will be camp hosting for the next two months .

Flame Genie Product Review

The Flame Genie portable fire pit uses wood pellets instead of fire wood. At only 12 pounds it is easy the store and transport. It comes with a nice carrying case. There is little to no smoke or sparks once the pellets start to burn. This is a nice little fire pit to carry and use when campgrounds do not have fire rings on site. Would also be great to use at home. We have only used ours about 4 times but so far we are happy with it. The flame pattern is nice to look at once it get going and it does put out plenty of heat. The pellets are readily available at stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart and Tractor Supply. We got ours at Tractor Supply  $2.99  for a 40 pound bag. What we have found that most times we burn about 20 pounds a night and you do have to keep adding pellets to keep the fire burning. But at 20 pounds a night and only $2.99 a bag it is still cheaper than having to buy fire wood. This fire pit may not be for everyone but it is nice to have when no fire ring is available. Clean up is easy and there is very little ash to deal with. I would recommend this pellet fire pit to anyone that want something easy to use and it comes in two parts so it is small and easy to carry with you.

Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi

Having a little spare time on our hands yesterday we decided to take a ride to Ocean Drive in Corpus Christi. It is a nice area with some nice homes and great views of the Gulf Coast. We where able to send a little time just driving up and down the drive and taking in all the sights. There is just to much to do in the Corpus Christi area it is impossible to do it all in one day. One of the things on our list is the tour of the Air Craft Carrier the USS Lexington. You can see it in the pictures below that we took from about a mile away, I had the lens on my camera lens maxed out so you can see just how big it is. We are hoping to do the tour sometime soon.

Sevierville, Tennessee

We made it to our second stop ( Sevierville TN. ) after a long 6 hour drive. The trip was a easy one for the most part, traffic was not bad at all and we where able to make good time. We did stop to Cracker Barrel for lunch. Sorry I did not get any pictures along the way just didn’t think about it. We are in Ripplin Waters Campground. I will be posting a review at the end of our stay. It is jammed pack full as are all the other campgrounds in the area. We are planning on being here until Monday. Hoping to get to see some of the things we did not get to see last year when we where in the area. Who knows we might even do the Mooonshine tour again!! Going to keep this one short, will be posting again in a day or some with updates.

Under water again

For the last year it seems like all we have done is run from bad weather and flooding. Last night heavy wind and rain came through the area and the campground again had some flooding. Our pad is dry but we are surrounded by 3 to 4 inches of water.The front side of our loop is high and dry guess we are in the wrong spot. And now we find out that there a hurricane that may be coming up the coast. Guess we will need some pontoons on the RV. Hope thing get a little before we leave for Texas Oct 12. If the weather get to bad here we may just pull out of here a little earlier.