Elkhart, IN

Thursday - We are staying at the RV/MH Hall of Fame & Museums. We have 30amp power as it’s in the upper 80s (°F) today. We had the generator running until after 9pm yesterday and it was still pretty warm and muggy. 

There are only a handful of power outlets available and there is some sort of event scheduled for this weekend so the parking lot could get pretty busy tomorrow. 

This RV is built on a Ford model “T” chassis. They had several including one with small slide outs. 

This 1929 model was described as the first American travel trailer. It’s essentially a covered wagon. The museum was pretty packed with old RVs both towable and drivable. 

Friday - I spent part of the morning wandering through the museum again and it was pouring when I came out. They have a nice seating area with WiFi. Plus, it’s air conditioned! I turned off the RV A/C around 6am but it was back on by 9. Not for the temperature but the humidity. And we did pay a hefty premium for power. 

Canadian, OK - SP

Sunday - A short travel day from Ada, OK, to a state park near Canadian, OK. We stopped here to visit family, about an hour or so away. The campground is pretty empty. The water level of the lake is really high, with the picnic area completely flooded, but the campground is located on a ridge overlooking the lake. We met Bridget’s niece for dinner in Eufaula, a small town north of the state park. A decent Mexican restaurant with the best carnitas I’ve had in a long time. 

Monday - The state park is on a large lake. I'm not sure of the name of the lake. The water appears really brown due to the runoff from the recent rain. The water level is really high though the campground is located on a ridge overlooking the lake. This picture is taken from what I believe may be the camp host site, as the site is chained off from the road.

We head out tomorrow morning, heading into Missouri.

Day 44, 45 - Chapel Hill, TN - SP

Wednesday (44) - We are still at the state park campground. This is an owl as part of a display near the campground office. Bridget’s brother will be picking us up later to visit her niece at their farm a short distance northwest of here. It’s only 45°F right now and I should probably disconnect our water hose tonight in case it drops below freezing. I’ll wait until the washer is done. Even though we don’t have a sewer connection at the site, we can still run the washing machine as it’s water consumption is modest. Something like 8-10 gallons per load. The heat pump is still doing a reasonable job of keeping us warm though I did switch to the furnaces around 5 this morning as the heat pump was running in defrost mode quite often. 

Today’s Jeep update:

I am showing all of the materials needed to start the build process have been received. The vehicle should be entering the build process shortly.

Pretty similar to last week’s update except for two words.  “Gathered” is now “received” and “very soon” is now “shortly”. Still no build sheet so not a lot of faith in the 11-8-2021 ship date.

Thursday (45) - Yesterday afternoon was spent with some of Bridget’s family on their farm not too far from here. They have a beautiful home with a lot of handmade features and furniture. This is the barn/garage that they built. 

Tomorrow, we are heading back to the TT park where we were last week

Day 42, 43 - Henry Horton SP - SP

Monday (42) - Today was a short travel day if measured by distance. Only xyz miles. But if measured by time, it was about average. We stopped at a Walgreens to get a prescription refill and we went down the street to a Krogers. But due to construction and people parking randomly in the lot, there wasn’t anywhere we fit. We didn’t need groceries at this time.

We also filled up at a Love’s truck stop. Not the cheapest but we still were able to use the TSD Logistics fuel card. The state campground was only about 12 miles from the Love’s. We arrived several hours early but our site was empty so they let us in. Nice place though the site is tail end low. Not optimal as we don’t have enough blocks to drive the rear tires on and place under the jacks. So we are slightly low in the back but level side to side. 

Tuesday (43) - I just made an appointment at a truck shop to get the tie rod ends replaced. The rubber boots on three of them are missing and the fourth one is torn. I haven’t looked at the drag link yet but they are probably in similar poor condition. The hint of a problem came last week when we left Sullivan, MO, and there would be an occasional vibration when light steering input was needed to counter a crosswind from the right. The shop ordered the parts and they should arrive on Friday. We scheduled the repair for next Tuesday. 

Day 6, 7 - Ogden, UT

Sunday - A shorter travel day at a bit over 300 miles. No ridiculous grades though we did spend much of the day between 3500 and 5500 ft elevation. You could see smoke during much of the drive though it doesn’t smell smoky here at the Cottonwood Campground - Willard Lake State Park. 

I think this is the first time we’ve stayed at a state park. They are usually full and the sites tend to be smaller. But this is pretty nice. Full hookups with 30amp power. It was really warm in the RV this afternoon. One A/C struggles to keep up. This state park is just off of I-15 so there’s a fair amount of traffic noise. 

After the last two travel days, we are stopped here for two nights to relax. Then we have a bit over 500 miles to a Colorado state park. 

Monday - I participated in a test session this morning using the new hotspot. It seemed to work fine though there was some occasional stuttering. I have the hotspot located right next to the cell booster antenna in the cabinet behind the front TV. So far, we have used 12GB of our 100GB limit but that includes all of the throughput tests in Fairbanks. There is an afternoon session as well that I had signed up for but as of this morning, there weren't any candidates. But by the afternoon, someone signed up.

Our travel plans changed a bit. We were originally thinking of stopping at a Walmart in Rock Springs, WY, but the weather doesn't look very good. Some friends offered us an RV space in Fort Collins, CO. So tomorrow will be another long driving day through the entire state of Wyoming. I believe the Garmin says 7½ hours.