Traveling with a second vehicle

     We sure do like driving the HHR. On the highways she averages 38-40 mpg. In town we are averaging 28-32 mpg. It is also a whole lot easier getting around in town with it, then with the big truck. Also the ride is a lot smoother. Although this truck is a lot smoother then our old truck. The truck does ride a lot smoother with the 5th wheel in tow. We find we are spending more time in one area then we did in the passed. We are doing a lot more touring with the car, traveling greater distances to tour an area.  If need be the car does offer use a little more storage. We are in contact with each other with walkie-talkies. We also both have cell phones should we get separated and out of walkie- talkie range. Linda is usually following. Many times she has helped me with lane changes in busy areas. She has also helped by going ahead and finding something we  have been looking for, like an RV park. Also when we get to an RV park we sometimes use the car to look for a site rather then drive around with the RV in tow. Another big thing is the 50,000 + miles on the car are not on the truck. Of course some of that is following the truck and RV to get to our destination. We also have the high clearance 4 wheel drive truck should we want to do some off road exploring.

    Our biggest dislike is not traveling together in the same vehicle. Linda especially dislikes this ever since we lost Blazer. She would tell him all the things I was doing wrong, now she tells me. So we may have to get her another traveling companion to talk to while traveling. But along these lines we are trying to travel shorter distances between stops. Another disadvantage is the extra cost shown in our last post.  Only once did we have to pay for an extra vehicle in an RV Park. Sometimes it is difficult to park both vehicles at our site in an RV park. But like I said above, everything is a trade off. In the passed we did own a class A motor home and towed a Jeep. But we like the livability of our 5th wheel more them the motor home we had. This is a topic that can be discussed longer then some of the debates in congress. One of the big decisions for us owing a 5th wheel is when we can't travel anymore, it is a better unit to leave on a permanent site somewhere to live in.. This is just our opinion, and there are as many opinions as there are RV's.


    Thanks for following along.

9-10-11-12-13 What do these number mean

    What were you doing at 9-hour,10- minute, 11-mouth, 12-day, 13-year.  So what were you doing at 10 after 9 on the 12th of November 2013, hence 9-10-11-12-13. It was a time to celebrate. Not sure if all the planets aligned at this  time but many folks thought it was a good time to get married. Well for us it was a special time, we sheared a kiss, because we won't be around for the next 9-10-11-12-13.

    That's all folks.

Super Super Video of God's creatures

Below is a super, super, super link. It is a video, about 4 minutes long. I hope I copied the link properly so it works. It was posted on another bloggers blog. That blog was   Travels with Emma   We had followed her blog for a number of years. And this summer we had the privilege of meeting her. She is Judy and Emma is her dog.


http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BUOQ_yPW_0s

Linda got a new Nook HD

      Linda wanted a new Nook HD. So we went to Barnes and Noble and checked them out. Very impressed with the Nook HD. So we priced them and the cover for it. We then decided to buy one. The total price was about $220. So we went home and ordered Barnes and Noble discounted gift cards for $225.  See yesterdays blog.  We order $225. in discount cards with a 12% discount. The cost was $198., a $27 discount. The cards arrived in 3 days. The following  day we went to Barnes and Noble and purchased a Nook with a cover. Linda is very happy with her Nook and has already subscribe to some magazines. She has also been sending some emails and getting use to using it. It is an amazing little device. All her books were transfer to her new Nook. Now she has to decide what to do with her old Nook. I'm for selling it, but someone else may have other thoughts. But the full timers policy is something in something out. So something has to go and I hope its nothing of mine.
     She can connect to the internet through our Jetpac/mifi or wherever we have Wifi.   Our Jetpac can handle up to 10 devices. O boy! we can now be like a modern family and both be on the internet at the same time. We can even email each other and not have to talk to one another.  I know there may be times when she doesn't want to speak to me, but can these devices give that "look". You know what I mean. The look is a lot more intimidating then the silence.
     Boy o boy are we becoming high tech or what. Last month new smart phones, and texting became a new word in are vocabulary. Now a new Nook HD which is a lot more then an electronic reader. , what's next. I see outer space as a possibility, but can we get there in our RV.

A new way to shop -- discounted Gift Cards

   Thanks to our daughter in law Dawn we have discovered discount gift cards. We heard of these cards but never paid any attention about them. These are cards sold to a discount gift card buying site at a discount from folks who do not want them for various reasons. The number one reason is they receive them as a gift and do not want them. They sell them at a lesser discount then they are resold  to buyers like us.Then the discount site resells them at a discount price. The discounts range from 1 to 15%.  The site I like best is cardpool . There are many more sites.
     We signed up and purchased several different cards so far. We have purchased a Darden Restaurants card (Red Lobster - Olive Garden + several others) at a 12% discount. So upon using the card we saved 12% on the total bill. Plus we used a credit card when we purchased the discounted card, were we received a 1% rebate, so our total savings was 13%  . We also purchased and used a Wal-Mart card, 2% discount, Barnes and Noble card, 12% discount,  Lowe's, 10%, plus several others. So now we are hooked.
     The only disadvantage to these cards is you have to buy them in advance. So you need to plan ahead. But if you know sometime in the future you are going to eat at Red lobster or shop at Kohl's you have to buy  the card ahead of time. Some cards you can get electronically, so you can use them instantly. The cards change daily or quicker. The discounts vary. Not every store or restaurant is available. But by buying the cards that we use, we hope we can safe 3 to 5% overall on our spending for the year. That doesn't sound like much, but figure how much you spend in a year and discount it by 3-5% all see how much you can save. That's 2 or 3 times the interest you receive on bank CD's.
   A PS, if you sign up with cardpool give them our email address and we will receive a $5.  credit on our account the first time you order something from them.
   Thanks for following along. I know I used the word discount so many times that this blog may be a little confusing.

How to plan were to go and were to stay

     A couple of question we are often ask as full time RVer's are, "how do you plan were to travel' and "how do you plan on were to stay". Also how do you find some of the neat places and events in your travels. These questions are usually from part time RVer's, but many times from none RVer's.  Well the short answers are, travel to a warn climate in winter and a cool climate in summer. We try to stay in membership parks along our travel route and at our destination. But and that's a large but there is a lot of planning on our part to make those simple answers work.
    For example in the summer we choose a place were we plan on spending the winter. Take last winter, we planned on being in Florida for our winter destination. We had a rally schedule in Myrtle Beach SC. So we planned our time to arrive there a week before the rally started. On the way we stopped at a Passport America membership park. Then before the rally started we stayed at a Coast To Coast membership park for a week in North Myrtle Beach. After the rally we wanted to visit the cities of Charleston and Savannah. We choose two Passport America membership parks by each city and stayed a week in each.  Then we went to Florida and stayed at two other membership parks. In between we stopped at a few non membership parks. The reason we try to stay at membership parks is because of a reduced rate.
   The routes we usually travel on have become more interstates highway then in the pass.  In the passed we usually choose secondary routes, to see more small towns and interesting things.  But since we have purchased our larger RV we are traveling larger roads.  Also since we now travel with a car, we use the car to do a lot more touring of the areas we are traveling through. Another note about our route. If we have no firm schedule we seek out other interesting things along the way, even if it is a slight detour. We also try to travel without reservations. This is difficult in the summertime. We like the shoulder seasons, Spring and Fall, but even these seasons are getting crowed. One spring season we found out a new word in our travel vocabulary, "spring break". In Texas we found all schools from elementary school to college have spring break. We had to scramble to get a site at a Corp of Engineers Park.
      Another note about were we stay. We have pretty much gave up a lot of boondocking. For our none RVing friends, that is RVing without hookups to water, electric and sewage. These locations are usually in super areas in National parks or forests etc. Then there is "blacktop camping". These are places like Wal-Mart's or Home depots that allow overnight stays. We don't do Wal-Mart's or other similar stores unless in an emergency. We will do Casino's, as they do have good security overall. Many casino's also have RV parking area's or RV parks. This is especially true of Indian Casino's in the Midwest and West. Boondocking is roughing it.  For us anymore, roughing it is 30 amp electric without sewer hook ups. Our RVing friends will know what I'm talking about.
    This sure got a lot longer then I thought. But if you were here I could sit down with you and go over all this in more detail.  If anyone has any question about how we get from point A to point B just email us and we will try to give you our answers to your question. Many RVer's have many different way to travel. We also welcome their comments.
   On another blog, and I can't find the blog again, I guess you should put things like this in your favorites, there was information about a mosquitoes alert site.  The site is found on the Weather Channel web site. You can put in the date and area your are traveling through and get the mosquito forecast. Now if they only had something like that for "stink bugs".
   

Our New Verizon Smart Phones

      Sometime this week we hope to have a class on our new "smart phones".  There are so many features on these phones we can do other then make a call.  We have to go to school to learn some of them. Friends Dianna and Jerry from our Carriage club also purchased new smart phones and mentioned how useful the class was for  them. No longer is it a phone. It is a mini computer, it is so smart. This is my second smart phone, but this one went to college. When Linda turned in her flip phone the girls helping us just laughed. I think the old flip phone was older then one of the girls.
   There is a new word in our vocabulary, "texting". Wow, now you don't have to talk to your family and friends, just "text" them. We are a little old fashion on some things and it may take a while to get use to texting. I know there are some cases when you would rather not to talk to someone and texting may be an option.
    Well after two cancellations for a "class" on our new cell phones we finally had our day of learning. We did learn a lot about the phone itself. There is still a lot to learn. We can make a call, take a photo, download the photo's to our computer, or is that a upload, check our plan usage, etc., etc., etc.. our heads are spinning.  But little by little we are getting use to our new phones.
     Linda already blinged her phone, making it her own. Now be patient with us if we don't get back to you in a timely fashion if you text us.


Thanks for following along.

Classic 5th wheel hauler, Mack Truck

Saw this neat 5th wheel hauler in Milford PA. Has a Mack Truck emblem and the iconic Bulldog cap. But it is like a big pickup.

Bethlehem Pennsylvania, our home town

     Here are a few pictures of our home town, Bethlehem Pennsylvania. The first three were taken from the "lookout" at Lehigh University. The pictures show South Bethlehem in the foreground and toward the top of the pictures is North Bethlehem. The city was founded by Moravians. Bethlehem covers large areas in the counties of Northampton and Lehigh. According to the 2010 census Bethlehem is the 7th largest city in the state with 74,982 residents. Its is part of the third largest metropolitan area in the state. Two other cities, Allentown and Easton make up the other part of the metro area with many other  little towns. This area is know as the Lehigh Valley.

Steep hills are not only in San Francisco. Note all the wires. That is the remains of Bethlehem Steel in the background. There are many roads to the left and right of this one that are just as steep. In the passed before every family had  a car,  these hills were home to many steel workers. A short walk to work.

Many of these remaining skeletons of a passed super industry were to become part of a museum supported by the Smithsonian Institute. Bethlehem Steel started in 1857 and lasted until 2003. It ceased operations in 1995. During World Wars 1 and 2 it supplied steel for 1,100 warships.

The heyday of the steel industry is long gone, but our town built by the steel industry is still a very vibrant town.

Security in blogging

    I received an email from a  friend that asked me why I don't usually use the last names of people in our blogs. I do this as a security measure. Not everybody I blog about wants the world to know where they are. Anything posted online is open to everybody, and they are not always good people. I also try to talk about things that happened in the passed, not today or where we or someone is going to be traveling to.
    Let me give you a good example and a lesson to me. We were in Alaska sitting in the lounge of a boat when a stranger approached and ask if we were Bob and Linda. What a shock. Who was this guy and how did he know our names. Turns out he was following our blog. Dummy me blog about what we were going to do that day. The boat had only about 15 other people on at the time. Of course our picture was on our blog so he had no problem identifying us. Turns our he was a fellow RVer,  but was staying at a different RV park then we were. But I learned a lesson, don't be to specific on things you are doing today or tomorrow.

       Note Again several albums and photo's have disappeared from our blog. Don't know why or how to find them and restore them to my blog.

     Thanks for following along.

Dish network Outdoor Channel featured 3 places we visited.

        Really neat to see on TV some place you had visited. This has happened before, but not three shows in a row that have places we visited. Especially one this year and one last year.
   I was watching the Outdoor channel on a Dish TV the other day and they featured several places we visited. What a shock to see the town of  Regent and  the scrap metal art that we featured in our blog in September. We really enjoyed visiting the town and the sculptures. The story was featured on a program called "Flush". It was about flushing pheasants out of cover using some great hunting dogs. Here are a few of the sculptures. You can see more pictures under our label North Dakota. July 2013.

The game they were hunting, was the pheasant,  as North Dakota is one of the best states to hunt pheasants.

A family revisited.

      The very next program featured The Savannah National Wildlife Refuge we visited in early autumn last year while visiting Savannah. The refuge is part of the very important Atlantic flyway.

It was in our blog titled Savannah part 2  September 2012. Here are the photos from that blog.

 

 The very next story on the same channel was about hunting some of the exotic game in Junction Texas. An area we spent about 4 months at in 2007. We drove the area looking through their high fences. We did spot some exotic game several times. There is a very large game ranch there of 100,000 plus acres.  I believe it is called San Benito range. Can't remember for sure. I'll try to find some photo's.  

Stink Bugs

        Stink bugs are a stinky topic. Just when we thought we wouldn't see any stink bugs this year here in the Pocono's, bang there they are .So far we saw just  a few, but that's a few to many. Last years plague when we were in Hershey Pa was unbelievable. It was probably six months till we rid ourselves of theses stinky critters.  Don't know were they hide. We emptyed compartments and looked for them with no luck. We found them in our slide out seals, but like I said it took about six months till we rid ourselves of them. Now here in the Pocono's we found a few trying to hitch a ride. How do they know we are heading for a warmer climate.
     We only captured one of these stinky bugs inside and about 6 outside walking on our rig. I believe these are scouts. When you kill them the stink attracts the colony. We heard there now is a spray to kill them. Hope there is a spray to keep them away. We hope the few we saw and eliminated are all we get.

The story of the electric mattress pad

         About six years ago we purchased an electric mattress pad. Works like and electric blanket except this is put on the mattress under the sheet and you sleep on it. When we purchased this pad we were in an area that was chilly. The model we purchase has duel controls. It worked great to warm the sheets. We would turn it on an hour or so before we would go to bed. It warned the sheets but wasn't hot. It felt good to crawl into a warn bed. Well we put this pad away about six years ago. Here in the Pocono's it is getting cooler then we like. But because of all the medical things going on with us we are still  here. So we got out the electric pad.  Hoped it worked after all this time. Plugged it in and presto, it worked. I put it on high and about a half hour later crawl into a warn bed.  It works great and because we donated all our flannel sheets was a god sent. . Didn't think we needed the flannel sheets again. Remember we live in an RV and don't keep unnecessary items. But fortunately we kept the electric mattress pad.
     Unfortunately we didn't keep any heavy jackets. We did donate a couple of heavy jackets and a brand new parka. Also didn't think we would every need them again. Hopefully our sweatshirts and light weigh jackets will keep us warn and we will  be able to head south before it get much  colder. Had a few nights in the low 40's and high 30's. It is warning up during the day to the 60's and 70's  and is making for a beautiful Fall day.  But we know after Fall comes winter, and for us this is not were we want to be much longer.

Mor/ryde super service.

    I sent the below email to the president of the Carriage Club to be read or posted at the Grand National Rally this pass September held in Goshen IN. Many of you where not at that rally, so I though I post it hear.

     Earlier this month we were on emergency medical trip on our way back to PA from the state of WA. At a rest stop in SD I did my routine check of the truck, RV and car when I noticed a problem with a rear tire on the 5er. The edge of the tire was worn very badly. The tire was ruined. Darn, we just had the IS and disc brakes installed. We only had maybe 1500 miles since the installation. Must be out of alignment. I didn't want to put on the spare and ruin that tire also. The tire was still safe to drive on, but we would stop more often to keep checking on it. Of course this happened on Friday evening. I called Mor/ryde and left a message for Gary Wheeler telling him we would be at their shop on Monday. We changed our route to Elkhart. On Monday morning we got a call from Gary saying they were very busy and couldn't work us in this week. I told him we were on our way and would be there by 2 in the afternoon and can they at least take a look at the problem.

   We arrived at Mor/ryde about 1:45. Gary comes out and takes a look at the tire. He believes its a broken belt in the tire. Gary goes and get Ben(I believe that's his name) the plant manager. He agrees with Gary that's it a tire problem. Here we go the "big shuffle". BUT, Ben says since your here we will check the alignment. Back into one of our sites and spend the night and we'll see you in the morning. We will work you in between jobs tomorrow. So 8 o'clock there is a knock on our door. "We are ready for you". We get back into a bay and they go to work on checking the alignment. Everything is right on with the alignment. They said they would put on the spare. I ask since you are taking the tire off can I take it to a Goodyear dealer and get a replacement. So they put in in our truck and off we go. Goodyear gives us 50% off on a new tire. Back to Mor/ryde and they put it on and pull us our of the service bay.  I go in to pay the bill, and they say sign here to show the work was completed. The charge is 0 dollar's. Wow! We tied up a service bay for about 6 hours and a service teck for about 3 hours. How is that for customer service?  They even offer to buy us lunch. By far the very best customer service we received in years. This is going above and beyond. A VERY BIG TUMBS UP TO GARY WHEELER AND MOR/RYDE

Nothing to post about.

    Even with all the pasted weeks excitement I find little to post about. We have this blog to post about our travel adventures. The thing is we have been sitting still in one spot now for two months. I admire some of the other blogs I follow and how they find something to blog about every day.
    Our sons are very concerned about us. Thank you for your concerns. . They have concerns because of our life style.  They  would feel a lot better if we were stationary near them. But and this is  a big but, we are not ready for the rocking chair. There are to many places for us to explore. If we get an ok from our doctors we will continue our gypsy lifestyle. We are not ready to hang up the keys. We look at the passed  couple of months as just a bump in the road.  I do believe our lifestyle helps keep us young. We feel young in both mind and body. We can't do some of the things we used to do, but we want to keep moving.  Linda pushes and I pull and we get things done. As a matter of fact when I was in the hospital one of the nurses ask me if I was Robert, because she said she was looking for someone 70 years old and didn't think it was me. Well after my head swelling settled down I told her it was "I". The next day the head nurse on my floor said there was a note in their computer that said "Bob doesn't look his age" and probably doesn't act it. After that they had to take me back to emergency to combat my severe case of "head swelling".  Then a physical therapist came in to see if I could walk. I had to walk down the hall to prove I could walk. I asked "how was that", he didn't reply. I know there are a lot of folks my age that are in better shape then I am.  But we are not ready to stop traveling. We don't know how many more tomorrows we have left, and we are hoping that last sunset is a long way off.  Wow was that a rant.
      This week we have very little scheduled.  I, Bob have a appointment with the neurologist and Linda has an appointment for a mammogram.  I do have to get blood work done on Monday, then depending on the results may need to get it tested later in the week. We do have other doctor appointments later in the month and into next month. Till then not to much to update. I am feeling ok with no pain.
      Wow and I said I have nothing to blog about.

Pierogies and potato pancakes(bleenie's), our soul food

     Growing up in eastern Pennsylvania and being of Slovak and Hungarian decent Bob and Linda Pennsylvania Dutch,  pierogies were part of our weekly menu. These are an ethnic food that has captured many nationalities. Many of the catholic church's in our area would have pierogies sales for a fund raiser. During Lent these sales were weekly in many of the local churches. Unfortunately    many of the elderly ladies of the churches no longer make these food treats. There are still some limited sales but not as many as there use to be. While shopping at a local food store in the Pocono's who were celebrating their 25th anniversary and had many samples of food items they sold. One of these was T and L pierogies.  One taste and we were hooked. They make 8 different type pierogies. You can see more here www.tlpierogie.com  The biggest differences between these and the homemade church pierogies is these are frozen. But they are great and are almost as good as the church pierogies we grew up with
     The store was also giving samples of their T and L's homemade potato pancakes or bleenie's. We did buy a 2lb container. The pancakes also come as large as 4 gallon containers.  Linda did make the potato pancakes and they were just ok. Not near as good as hers or our daughter-in-law Dawn's. Oh by the way Dawn, I could go for some of your good homemade potato pancakes. If I get them, she reads our blog. I'll let you know.

A black Labrador comes a calling, getting our puppy fix.

     While at Outdoor World/Thousand Trails Timothy Lake RV Park a couple aside of us had four dogs. Of course being dog lovers we got to talking with them and getting our puppy fix. . One of the dogs, a yellow lab was a foster dog. . They were keeping her for one year to do basic training for dogs for CCI, Canine Companions for Independence. Three others were their pets.   One of their dogs was a black Labrador, about 12 years old.  She was a double of our departed Lilly. So while they were packing up to leave they brought her over for us to watch. See for yourself the look alike.

This is our Lilly

This is Lilly's look a like

Bob getting his puppy fix. The similarities are unbelievable. Lilly also liked her belly rubbed. Who is having the best time here.

A wonderful visit from a few friends.

   What a wonderful surprise. Two couples from our Carriage Club stopped by for a visit. They were both at the Grand National Carriage Rally in Goshen Indiana. Friends Diane and Jerry J. from New York stopped by on their way home for a few days. Also Pat and Dave H., full timers stopped by for a three week stay. We reminisced and learned a new card game Diane and Gerry taught us. It was called "Canadian Salad". We had a lot of laughs for  two nights playing it. Bob is working on a new version of the game he hopes to reveal in Florida this winter. We'll see. Some people are never happy leaving well enough alone. But then where would we be if we just accept what wonderful folks showed us. So in the pursuit of gamesmanship Bob will toil on for a new and improved game of "Canadian Salad" call ___________, to be announced in Florida this winter.   But all kidding aside we had a great visit.

Unblievable wildlife photos

While camping at Thousand Trails/Outdoor World Timothy Lake we captured this photo. We believe it to be Punxsutawney Phil of Pennsylvania fame and celebrity  status. He is the best know groundhog  in these parts, and maybe in the whole U.S. He is sunning himself on a large boulder behind our RV. It was a beautiful fall day and he is making the best of it. I just wonder does he use sun screen and what number.

You can see he is just relaxing. We tried to get an autograph, but he took off saying something about paparazzi's being a pain in the butt. These photo's show just how smart wildlife really is. Is this considered a animal using a tool? He is using the rock to warn his soul, kind of like a tool. In some areas he is also know as a woodchuck or whistle pig.

Tragedy at Timothy Lake RV Park

A fire last night (9/15/13) at Timothy Lake RV Park. The couple and their dog and one cat got out ok. Unfortunately they lost another cat and all their possessions.

Note the tree limbs burning.

Taken the following morning. Took about 20 minutes to go from the above photo's to this below.