04/01 Jacksonville, FL - Ortega River Boat Yard (30.17N 81.43W) - A lot has happened in the last
four months. Let me bring you up to date.
Andi is still in Chattanooga fixing up the house. Her
youngest daughter had a fire at there place, so she and her family moved
in at the house. The good thing is it helped, they paid all of the bills. So
all I had to buy was things for the
house.
04/16 Jacksonville, FL I'm back at DNA, I got
the house just about done. Don had called and said we have a date to pull DNA
out on May 3, 04. So I packed up got the RV ready. My Son Steven and his wife
and a friend took the weekend off so they could drive down with me. And it's a
good thing they did, because your not going to believe
this. I had another flat going back to Jacksonville. I called Good Sam's Club.
They got there in one hour fixed it and we were on our way. All this happened
at 12:00AM. At 2:00AM we decided to pull into a rest area and sleep for 2
hours. At 4:00AM we were on our way again. Got to Jacksonville at
7:30AM.
04/22 Don and I worked on the motor mounts and we got them off and put the new ones on. Also we have been loading up the RV with things we think we'll need.
04/25 We have decided to put our 4-D glass-matt battery in the RV, the two batteries that was there was not holding a charge.
04/28 Finally got the motor all put back together, but didn't start. come to find out the starter is broken.
05/01 Called Green Cove Springs to let them know we can't get the boat started. They said not to worry, that when we get there they well pull us out.
05/05 We got a friend to help us out of our slip and
tow us though Ortega river bridge.
After we got our dingy and we tied it up next to DNA and towed our selves the
20+ miles to
Green Cove. The day went really well until about 9:30PM as we were making the
last turn, the wind picked up hard and the boat just started to go in circles.
So we dropped anchor and spent the last night on DNA.
05/06 Started early this morning . Going into Green Cove we grounded twice. Don was in the dingy pulling side to side to get us loose. Got there at 9:30AM. They pulled us out at 1:30pm washed and put on the hard.
05/07 We got the RV and car at Green Cove. We are now living full time on the RV, which a fiend has named, DNA on Wheels.
05/15 Green Cove Springs were still here waiting on a net that goes over the boat to protect it from the sun. Don put the link 10 on RV so he can monitor the batteries.
05/17 The net came and we put it on. We put the car in the lot and covered it up. So now we're ready to go.
05/18 We are now on a new adventure. We spent all day at Lowe's parking lot. Tonight we're in Publics parking lot, because Don works tomorrow at West Marine.
05/19 We left and drove west on I-10 to a Rest Area and stayed there.
05/20 Today we had brake problems again. The brake hose on the left front collapsed and froze the brake in the on position. We got off the interstate and found a small brake shop (W&L Tire & Wheel) in Quincy FL. They were super nice and put us at the top of the list. Three hours and $216 later we were ready to go. They apologized because they could not locate a hose to replace the right side hose while they were at it. When we got underway we decided to stay on US 90 and head for Three River State Park near Snead FL. We found out about the park from some cruising friends who also travel around in a fifth-wheeler. There 2 night.
05/22 We stayed 2 days to recharge the batteries, then left to visit Walter F. George Lock and Dam near by. But it was close to the public (9-11). There was a park there, the Chattahoochee. We got talking to a Ranger there, and she asked us if we were interest in being a Host. Don and I had talk about it before. She had a spot open and said that we can try it and see if we like it. So we did, and so far it has been real nice. Our own big Forest backyard. All we need to do is, check that all vehicles with trailers has a yellow receipt on their rear view mirror. And check for any problems.
05/23 Today we moved to a different and smaller
park across the river. We
decided to do this for a week. We are at Snead State Park. Here it is better
because we can see a lot better than the view at the other park we take care of. We took a walk
today guess what we saw? An Alligator not 30ft. from us, just wading by.
06/03 Panama City FL - We stayed at Snead through the Memorial Day weekend. When we arrived in Panama City the right break line decided to collapse. We recognized the sound. After spending the night in a shopping center parking lot near Wayne's RV, we headed to Ronnie's Auto to fix the problem. They were nice, 4 hours and $133 later we were ready to roll again. From there we went back to Wayne's to check our water heater thermostat that had stopped working. A new w/heater computer, plus some (I want this) stuff and another $155 we were ready to travel.
06/06 Gulfport MS - From Panama City we went by the marina in Pensacola FL where we had stopped in DNA years before. From there we stopped by Fort Morgan before taking the ferry to Dauphin Island. The ferry ride cost $33. When you are in an RV, the price of poker goes up. We worked our way up to I-10 where we spent the night in a rest area before driving to a Flying-J Truck Stop in Gulfport. we spent a couple of days visiting Andi's family and re-visiting the casinos. I was surprised that non had RV parking.
06/08 New Orleans LA - We arrived around noon and found a overnight parking spot in the Convention Center Truck lot. It was secure and within walking distance of everything. We spent the day exploring the French Quarter. The next morning we headed north on I-59 and spent the night at a Pilot and run a fuel test. When we arrived we filed up the RV and pulled to the back of the lot. We ran the generator and air conditioner constantly and filled up again the next morning. It appears the generator runs about 1.6 hours on a gallon of gas. At the current price of gas, it would cost about the same to stay in an RV park as stay in a truck stop and run the generator. Nether is within our budget so the plan now is to get where it's cooler and not run the generator and air.
06/10 Birmingham AL - Andi's son is an instructor in Tae-Kwon-Do and was coming to Birmingham to receive his 6th Degree Black Belt on 13th. There were black belts from all over US. It was quite a show. We spent the nights at truck stop near the testing sight. While exploring, we found a Sears, Sam's, and Lowe's to by supplies. Andi is working on replacing all the wall paper with some more to her liking. I worked on staying out of her way. I did fix one problem. Apparently the bolts holding the generator tray were missing. The Generator was slowly vibrating itself out of the RV. It had gotten to the point that the compartment door wouldn't lock. Once we figured out the problem, it was an easy fix.
06/13 Chattanooga TN - After the event we headed to Chattanooga where we spent a few days visiting and worked on some much needed repairs to the house. We kept the RV in the driveway hooked up to shore power.
06/23 Fort Campbell KY - We headed for Nashville for a quick visit with my kin and on to Andi's daughter home ,where her son-in-law is in the service. They were going on vacation and we volunteered to house sit while they were away. They have cable, several TV's (where Andi could watch HER programs), a pool, and a fast internet connection. It's best we not stay here long. The RV stayed in the driveway hooked to shore power.
07/13 Nashville TN - Back to Nashville to spend some time with friends and family. One friend (like family) is Dr James Fussell DDS, and also my dentist. I was the first patient when he started and will hopefully be the last, when he retires. Without Jim's help and support over the years we would probably not be living "The Adventure". Jim is also an avid boater, licensed caption, and commodore, so if you're ever in Nashville with a dental problem give him a call and tell him we sent you. Regrettably my checkup prompted some new caps and a scolding. I WILL do better next time!
07/28 Chattanooga TN - On to Chattanooga to visit Andi's kids, work on my house, and visit old friends I haven't seen for a while.
08/18 Nashville TN - Back to Nashville to have my new caps seated. One problem occurred when we got underway. We stopped on the way out of town for a pump out and noticed the outside cover for the hot water heater connections was missing. When we completed the pump out, we returned to the house and retraced our steps. Within a couple of miles we found the cover on the side of the freeway. It had been ran over several times. After an hour of pounding and reshaping with a hammer and a couple of blocks of wood, it was functional again.
09/14 Louisville KY to Rising Sun IN - Grand
Victoria Casino. (More_To_Follow) --- Main Menu
--- Ship's Log 2003 ---
Ship's Log 2005
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09/17 Kingsville OH- Hwy I-90 . (M_T_F)
09/18 Erie PA to Buffalo NY. (M_T_F)
09/20 Niagara Falls Canada. (M_T_F)
09/22 Cayuga Lake NY. (M_T_F)
09/24 Syracuse NY to Turning Stone Casino. (M_T_F)
09/25 Fitchville CT to Foxwoods Casino. (M_T_F)
09/27 Old Saybrook CT. (M_T_F)
09/28 Long Island NY (& New York City). (M_T_F)
10/05 Atlantic City NJ to near Elkton MD. (M_T_F)
10/06 Reading PA. (M_T_F)
10/07 Hershey PA to Annapolis MD. (M_T_F)
10/09 Roanoke VA by way of Skyland Drive and
Blue Ridge Parkway. (M_T_F)
10/10 Cherokee NC - Harrah Casino. (M_T_F)
10/11 Cleveland TN. (M_T_F)
10/15 Chattanooga TN with a broken transmission. (M_T_F)
11/02 Nashville TN. (M_T_F)
11/21 Fort Campbell KY. (M_T_F)
12/31 Fort Campbell KY. (Continue)