2018 Grand Finale

  As you may recall my last post had us dealing with a broken hot water tank and my lumbar ridiculosis back. We arrived at Scotrun Campground Sep. 12 after leaving Mercer and my bud Tc's house. He was a gracious host as usual even though he is no longer up to par physically. I really appreciate the fact that friendships begun in grammar school are still going strong between several of us. I also appreciate all of my cousins, aunts, and sister taking time to get together in Pittsburgh for a couple of nice visits.

                                          The plan was to stay at Scotrun for two weeks.

After checking in we took a closer look at the water that was still dripping from the newly repaired tank and this is what I did:

I bought a tube of Flex Seal and squirted it into the gap between the tank and the foam case as this is where the water was coming from. We let the goop cure for almost 48 hours before turning the water back on. After close monitoring we discovered water seeping from underneath the tank but not at the sealed area. The water was also rusty indicating the tank was cracked. There was not going to be any hot water the rest of the trip. At least I was able to figure out how to bypass the water tank to have normal water flow for the sinks and toilet.

  The lack of hot water is really not an issue if you want to do dishes is cold water and if you can use the campground's bathhouse to take showers. This was not a problem for myself but would prove to be more difficult for Doreen. First, I had to determine the best way to get her to the shower building, second if there is an accessible shower stall, and third what would be her means of entry? The scooter? The walker? All of these obstacles would be different at any campground we would be staying at the rest of the way. 

  After weighing all of the factors we decided to return to Florida as soon as possible. Thus we only stayed a week in PA. We squeezed in family time as much as possible at the expense of not seeing any of our old friends, sorry Dan, Barry, Glenn, Deneen. I also decided that shorter trips were better for my back, so on the homeward trip we would make stops in Front Royal, VA; Mt. Airy, NC; Yemassee, SC; and Flagler Beach, FL. The longest of these was 300 miles.

  Our first stop was a nice campground with many amenities. Skyline Ranch had riding stables, a cafe', pool, fitness room, large event hall, and a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We also happened to catch the Brews and Blues festival in downtown Front Royal:

All locally brewed beers from Virginia, food trucks, and live music. A nice surprise.

  Next up was Mayberry Campground in Mt. Airy, NC.

 

Of course Mt. Airy was the inspiration for the fictional town of Mayberry on the Andy Griffith show and the town capitalizes on that.

For 40 bucks you can take a ride in a squad car: 

All of the establishments from the show are represented even though none of the show was filmed here:

 

There is an Andy Griffith Museum:

  

Next up was a two night stop at the Oaks at Point South in Yemassee, SC. This is our usual stop on the way home and there is nothing around but convenience stores and fast food. It is easy off, easy on to I-95 and home, which under normal circumstances I do, but I was not going to drive 360 miles straight through so we stopped off at Bulow Plantation in Flagler Beach, FL. From there we would be about 130 miles from home.

It felt good to be back in the Sunshine State and feel the warm sun.

Did I say "sun"? Uh-oh. Of course we decided to check out the beach town on a day it stormed. As the clouds rolled in and the rain started we found refuge at the nearest watering hole:

We had some cold ones and a bite to eat while waiting out the rain.

  So that brings our 2018 road trip to a close. We should be home tomorrow, Wednesday October 3. That will conclude what has been, at times, a very trying experience and, at others very enjoyable.

  So lets look at some facts and numbers about this journey:

14,273- total miles driven

9,214- miles from stop to stop (see maps above)

1,023- gallons of diesel fuel

146- nights camping

36- campsites

19- states visited (11 new ones)

14- blog posts

9- national parks visited

6- time zone changes

4- doctors office visits (dermatologist)

4- repairs or repairs needed

    1 power tongue jack

    3 new trailer tires and damage from a blown tire

    3 times needed to repair front end of trailer

    1 broken hot water tank

3- credit card fraud alerts

3- national monuments visited

2- E.R. visits

1- police report filed

1- HELLUVA GOOD TIME!!

We hope everyone has safe winter and we will be back next year for another adventure- we still have seven states to put on the map (excluding Alaska & Hawaii): Missouri, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island 

HAPPY TRAILS

;

Heart of the Midwest and a mess in PA

  Next we were off for the heart of the Midwest: Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio. We stayed at Blackhawk Campground in Milton Wisconsin about an hour and fifteen minutes west of Milwaukee. We rested the first day and took a trip to Milwaukee the second day.

I was pleasantly surprised how picturesque and cultural this rust belt city is. We strolled along the Riverwalk and had a late lunch and posed with the bronze Fonz.

Beer is an integral part of Milwaukee so a visit to the Beer Museum was in order.

They have a collection of brewery artifacts from the era of big name breweries. Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz, Miller.

 After a long drive back to the campground I came to the conclusion my back was going to be an issue. The next day as I was leaning over the sink to wash my hands I almost could not stand straight up. As the day progressed I felt a pain radiating down my leg and I could not sit or stand without immense pain. I tried to lay down and struggled to achieve a position without pain. I would have to go to the emergency room.

As you can see I have a pinched nerve and I was given a steroid injection and prescribed steroids and muscle relaxers along with the doctors orders not to drive for a few days. That was going to be a problem. We were scheduled to leave the next day, Friday of Labor Day weekend and go to Indiana. We checked with the campground and there was no opening to extend our stay there so I had to soldier on. J don't think I could have driven 10 miles without the cruise control. I used it at every chance. We made it and I really had to evaluate my condition to determine if I was going to make it through the rest of our planned trip. We had 1900 miles planned ahead of us. If we went straight back to Florida from Indian it would be less than 1000.

  We arrived in Clinton Indiana at Horseshoe Lakes Campground where I was just going to rest my back and take the medication then we would decide.

 I had to test my back so we took a ride into town for the Italian Festival in Clinton.

We walked around the festival and my back felt better. We made a trip to Walmart about 20 minutes away and I still felt okay. We would continue on to PA and the planned trip.

  Our next stop was a two nighter in Wilmington Ohio and other than numbness in my right foot I was able to drive fairly pain free. I think my back had been working towards a major acute attack since California. With that attack finally coming it has caused me to slow down and decrease miles between trips if possible along with the long side trips. That is why our sightseeing has decreased considerably. If the campground we choose is more than an hour from an attraction I will not go to it. 

  That wraps up our travels through new states and experiences. Now we will be entering old familiar territory and encountering all too new problems as usual. Our arrival in Pennsylvania was greeted with a problem just as last year. This year it is a  broken hot water tank. We arrived at my pal TC's house in Mercer again and set up in the front yard. As I was extending the slides I noticed a large puddle of water on the floor. I removed the panel in front of the water tank and saw the tank's supports had collapsed causing the PVC tubing to crack and leak water.

Great! What a fine mess! Thank you Ohio highways. After quickly draining out any remaining water I had to evaluate the damage. There was cheap, flimsy wood holding the tank about 6 inches off the floor above the pipes and that had cracked and the tank just collapsed to the floor pulling it out of the frame outside.

With the help of my pal Ron, who was visiting we eventually got the tank propped up on wood blocks and straightened out into the opening. Now it was nightfall. No water tonight but we had the availability of TC's house.

The next day brought futile attempts to repair the thing. It was time to call a professional. The Roto-Rooter man came and seemed to quickly restore the working functions of the tank. After he had departed I noticed small droplets of water under the fittings he installed. I had been running a portable heater to dry the carpet and was not sure if the new fittings were merely sweating (they are brass) or had a leak. Now a full day and-a-half later the water is still dripping. We called Roto-Rooter and the tech will return on Monday.