Donna and Jake's RV Trip » travel

My 2009-2010 RV Trip

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:28:49 +0000

Okay, I’m prepared to part with my blog until next winter. I love updating my blog and I love even more my followers and readers. This blog would be nothing if it weren’t for readers like yourself. So with 126 blog postings and 91 comments, I say adios, until next fall. And I’m more anxious than you to get see next fall!

Today we tarped the RV. Getting it settled in for the summer months. It’s not going to be moved for the summer but there is going to be plenty of things to do around the New England states to keep me busy.

I had a great time on my trip. It was definitely a successful trip and the incidences of the fifth wheel leg falling to the highway and being dragged in Massachusetts on 495 at 70 miles per hour last fall and the blow out tire we experienced in Texas was nothing compared to much worst events that could of happened and luckily didn’t.

Recently, I was asked by a couple of people what was different about this trip than last winter’s trip. This winter we went to Daytona Beach and their Bike Week which was a neat experience and Tombstone, Arizona which I would recommend to anyone traveling across I-10 in southern Arizona and it was neat to see Kennedy Space Center. I don’t care how many times you drive the same roads, the trip will always be different each time.

Las Vegas really hasn’t changed. Adding a new building every year really doesn’t change the true layout of what Las Vegas is really about. Gambling and food. I love Las Vegas, predictable and entertaining, and I’m a neon lights kind of girl! I think we will take a year or two off from returning there again. There are plenty of casinos between here and Arizona to explore.

My favorite city in last winter’s trip was San Antonio. We didn’t stop there this winter, so I would have to say my favorite city this year was Kissimmee and I think a big part of that is due to the RV park where we stayed. At Sherwood Forest RV park you can walk from the RV park to Dunkin Donuts, CVS, Ruby Tuesdays, two gift shops, and other little shops. The weather was beautiful and I like taking walks with Jake. There is plenty to do there and the temperature made sitting outside last forever.

As for Jake, I know he had a great time too, aside from the cat scratching him in the face in Kissimmee – Jake made a full recovery. He was sick in Arizona and now has new food and new treats and he acts half his age now. He’s doing great and this summer we are going to hit the beach and dig some holes like he likes to do and run around in the sand. Here in NH, Jake can go on the sand before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. Between those holidays we go to the park and we also participate in a Animal Rescue League Pet Step Walk.

As for my parents, they are doing very well. I can see that they are going to stay busy too this summer enjoying the New England activities and the beach. We all had a very good time and enjoyed each others company. They are teaching me young all about the retirement life.

We had no bad luck on this trip and no one got sick. It was a great trip and you know I’m counting down the days until we can do it again! If you would like to be notified of next winter’s RV blog, then submit your email address up on the right hand side of this webpage where it says “Subscribe Now”, so when I start my new adventure it will automatically notify you.

Thank you for following me thru this trip, YOU made it fun for me to do this blog!

I do have big ideas for next winter’s blog too, shhhhhhhh……stay tuned and have a great summer!!!!

Grantville, PA to Manchester, NH

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:07:35 +0000

Hello! Wow, we made it!! I am typing this blog from my home in Manchester, New Hampshire tonight. We left Hollywood Casino in Grantville Pennsylvania at around 9am and I-81 had massive pot holes in the highway. A very bumpy ride along the way. We decided to stop for breakfast at a Petro Truck Stop off Exit 178B. Simple place with a restaurant and when we pulled into the truck stop to get fuel the light and buzzer to our tire pressure monitoring system was alerting us that we were losing air from one of the trailer’s tires. Like losing air where we were watching the air pressure on the display monitor steadily drop….68….65….62….59….55….52 so when we got to a safe open parking spot at the truck stop, I hopped out of the pick up and went to the particular tire and sure enough, it was hissing quite noticeably. We dropped the spare and easily changed the tire right there on the spot. Then we went to the restaurant to eat breakfast. At this truck stop there is a huge truck repair center with bays, so after we ate we just drove next to the restaurant to inquire if they could fix the leak on the tire we had taken off the trailer. They declined us and I’m not sure why, but they weren’t going to help us for whatever reason. So (and I know this is a huge taboo with RVers and other travelers) we continued our journey home without a spare. Yes, I was nervous, but luck be with us, we made it the whole way home.
Once we parked the RV in it’s summer spot, we took just the necessity stuff to get us thru the night so we can come back up to clean the rest of the RV out. We are all exhausted from the trip home and it’s relaxing time….like a vacation from our vacation! Well, this blog is not done yet, so stay with me a little longer here and I’ll be sharing with you post snowbird trip happenings! It’s nice to go all thru the things that I have acquired thru the last 4 months. They are going to bring back some great memories as I sift thru postcards I picked up along the way and souvenir trinkets I collected. Jake is doing super good too! I thought I was tired, but I can see he is more tired than me as he snores away next to me. Sleep little puppy, because we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow! Have a great night! I’ll be back tomorrow!

South Of The Border to Grantville, Pennsylvania

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:56:17 +0000

(6:05pm) Hello! Yeah, from the title of this post you get how the majority of my day went. Wow, we made to a casino in Grantville, PA called Hollywood Casino (Ex 80, off I-81) and along our scenic journey the only thing negative (not bad, “bad” is not what you want to experience while RVing, so I’ll go with “negative”) thing that happened was that for some reason now our water pump stays on when the switch is activated and there’s no water coming out of the faucet. Hmmmmm, yeah, could be a couple of minor reasons, but not a big deal since we are a day from getting home then we will play around with it and fix it. No, no reason for a garage trip for something like that. I know it’s easy to fix, the inconvenience of not having running water….well, we will have to survive. But, it didn’t spoil our day. Oh, get this….we get started this morning and when we started the pick up truck, a buzzer sound and light came from our tire pressure monitoring system telling us that one of the Montana’s fifthwheel tires were low. One tire was sitting at 45 pounds via the display unit. Not sure why. Instead of not knowing about it and riding on the low pressured tire all day, we put air in it and we were good to go!! Neat huh!! Love that little device! It paid for itself already. Why was the tire low?? The tire sensor on the tire was loose and bleeding the air out. Not a big deal. Nothing a little teflon tape won’t fix later on. See these are all little things you repair and modify along the way. Our day could of been worse, but I will take this day over a flat tire on the side of the road anytime. Now, we are going in the casino and I’ll be back to tell you how much I won!
(9:15pm) Noooo, I didn’t win But this is a pretty nice casino a 1/2 mile off I-81. Plenty of parking and RVs are welcome. Well, it going to rain later tonight so we are pulling two of the four sliders on the fifthwheel in tonight we only have to deal with two sliders with water on top of them tomorrow. I hate (who doesn’t) when we pull the sliders in and the rug and floor and everything in the camper get wet. So I can’t say we will be home tomorrow, but we are sure shooting for it. We might have to suffer and dry camp at a casino in Connecticut for the night. Who knows! Have a great night and I’ll yap to you tomorrow!

South Of The Border

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:10:51 +0000

Hi! You read that right – we are at South Of The Border and you know where South Of The Border is, don’t ya?? It’s right on the border of South Carolina and North Carolina!! Yep, we left Florida this morning (sniff, sniff, cry, I miss Florida already) and flew right over Georgia (I saw Georgia because we ate lunch at a truck stop there), and we slid right thru South Carolina parking at the North Carolina border. Weren’t expecting that one, huh??
Well, we are slowly heading north bound (yeah, real slow, huh) Well, I guess this snowbird trip is getting to the end. I hate it just as much as you do. Well, this blog will continue to the very end, trust me, you’ll know when it’s the last blog post, it’s not yet. So, tomorrow, I’m not sure how far we will go but I have already figured that it’s 512 miles to the Hollywood Casino in Grantville, Pennsylvania. But we aren’t in a rush, so who knows where we will end up tomorrow night. But I will say that it will be nice to see family and friends again…nahhhh, I’ll just stay back in Florida and send everyone postcards! Haha! Hope you are enjoying your weekend! I’ll be back tomorrow!

Made it to Kissimmee!

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:37:22 +0000

Hi! Well, we made the 68 mile trek from the Tampa area to Kissimmee! Everything is great and I’m super happy to be staying here a whole month! Yep, a whole month!! Surprised you too, huh?
You want to laugh?? We exited the highway here in Kissimmee at exit 64 (the exit to the RV park here) and we pulled over on the side of the road in a completely safe area and we all looked at each other and we all said the same thing “We are here, now how long are we staying??” We are 4 miles from the RV park parked on the side of the road trying to decide if we are staying a day, a week, or a month. Now That’s the lifestyle of an RVer!!
So, I called up the RV park here and they had an opening (whew!) and I asked how much it would cost to stay at their RV park. They told us the price and we checked in and we got a great site with a great monthly rate and we are staying a whole month!!! A whole month here in central Florida! I’m so excited! My cousin and her husband is flying in tomorrow and my aunt is 45 minutes away!
But it was a last second decision on how long we were staying here and I’m not sure what that’s going to do to the rest of this snowbird trip….will we hit Key West? Will be go to Miami? Will we visit other areas of Florida or just head north in a month?? I’m not sure….all I’m sure of now is that we paid for one month to sit 4 miles from Disney World!! Andddd (no I’m not done yettt) ….and, we took the bicycles down off the RV and there’s a Dunkin Donuts across the street (a bike ride away!) and we are sitting right on US 192 where all the action is!!
The only thing that is super lousy right now is the internet connection here at the RV park. Soooo terrible, I’m going to try to shop around for a wireless signal boost adapter of some sort. But, I’m hoping to fix the internet problem sometime this week.
So, that’s the update for now….I’ll be taking picture around and hopefully can post pictures later this week. I’ll be back tomorrow! Have a super night!!

Tampa To Kissimmee

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:08:28 +0000

Hello! Well, we decided to leave tomorrow morning for Kissimmee. Not too early in the morning as it’s only a whopping 68 mile trip. Today was a nice day spending time with our friends here. We spent some time at the Hard Rock Casino and I won some money, and I was sure surprised I won money at a casino on a weekend, but there were a lot of winners today, even a jackpot of $6000 was paid out on a dollar machine by the front door (of course not my jackpot). After that we came back to the RV and since Jake had been inside all day, we took him for a walk down the street to the next intersection where Checker’s Restaurant is. I ordered an ice tea, Mom got a Pepsi, and Jake got ice water. We walked back to the RV and after I fed Jake, he fell asleep on the couch as I watched the Olympics.
It was a nice day today, beautiful weather. I have a cousin from Oklahoma who will be in Kissimmee next week with her husband and I can’t wait to see them! We will be spending time with her and my aunt that lives in Groveland (I think it’s Groveland, I’ll have to check on that town name again). So as we make our way around Florida visiting friends and family, visiting friends and family is the highlight of this trip for me. I have always loved visiting others that we hardly see, spending time with them as we go along. I’m not sure how long we will be in Kissimmee, but I think it will be for at least a week.
So, that’s what I did today and I hope you all had a nice weekend also. I’ll be back tomorrow night blogging from Kissimmee!

Florida: Bradenton

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 01:24:33 +0000

Hello! Wow, what a day of traveling. We stayed over night at an RV park in Lake City and woke up to 29 degrees – very cold. We left Lake City very early and landed in Bradenton at around 2pm. We got settled in and couldn’t wait to visit our friends here in Bradenton. All 7 of us went to dinner at the Golden Corral – not a bad place either. After dinner we headed back to the RV and fed Jake and relaxed. I’m a tad tired of all the traveling today, so I’m going to call it an early night tonight. We have a lot to do this weekend (including a visit to the Hard Rock Casino near here). I will have internet service here and I will bring my camera with me tomorrow. Check on me tomorrow as I will be posting pictures of beautiful Florida. Oh, the temperature here today was 59 degrees. Nite Nite. *yawn*

Milton, Florida

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:38:16 +0000

Hi! I am writing this blog posting on my Blackberry in our friend’s van as we all travel back to Milton, Florida from the Wind Creek Casino in Atmore, Alabama.
I won’t have any internet service to do a post on my laptop for a few days as we travel around Florida. But have no fear, you get to hear me yap from my Blackberry!
Today we got to Milton, Florida at around 1pm. Not a bad ride over here from Mississippi, but it was cold out, don’t think it got over 40 degrees today….
We set the RV up in the driveway and it didn’t take us long to decide to hit a casino tonight (there’s five of us). Wind Creek Casino is easy to get to and is exactly an hour away from Milton. It’s a nice casino and yes, I did see many RVs dry camping in the parking lot, so come on over! I made out with a $60 dollar profit and we enjoyed the buffet there for 11.99. We are on our way back home now. All in all, everything is pretty darn good!
I took some pictures, but you’ll have to wait a few days to see them. So, I’m just checking in telling you it’s been a simple day of traveling and we are with great company. Oh, and if you are wondering about Jake….I’ve never seen a little dog more healthy and happy in my life! Have a good night!

Relaxing and Pictures of Damage

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:17:18 +0000

Hi! We made it to Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. Wow, what a long trip in these last few days and I just haven’t been sleeping that well. I just don’t sleep that good in parking lots. Jake is up all night wondering what the revving is next to us, the starting and parking of big rigs, that puppy was wide awake in protective mode all night long. I paid the price as he wanted to get off the bed, he wanted to get back on the bed, he wanted to get off the bed again. He’s only 8 pounds and I have steps for him to use, but when he’s nervous, he get disoriented easily. Other than those nights in nowhere land, he’s perfect and gets a good night sleep right here next to me. As for me, tonight I will get a good night sleep, I can already feel it. We are at Hollywood Casino RV park for two nights. We are relaxing now and it should be easy going from here on out. Texas is such a big state and took two days and a half days just to get thru thanks to the delay of our tire blow out. Here’s your pictures….

Well, other than that, everything is good. Everything should be good compared to that! I see Jake is out cold next to me and I would love to be in my own little dream world too. I’m exhausted so I will be back tomorrow. Have a good night and I hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day.

Rough Day Today

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:45:47 +0000

Hello! I don’t know how else to explain it. One moment we are carrying on a conversation as we travel across Texas on I-10 and the next moment there are shredded tire scraps all over the highway, half the fender trim is gone on the right side of our camper, and the panel right next to the lower part of the door is crunched beyond recognition. Yes, welcome to the world of an RV trailer tire blow out and it has no mercy on anything in it’s way.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the flat tire that is the big deal, who cares, change it and you are good to go (which is exactly what we did), it’s the damage it does to the camper you just want to cover your eyes and peek between two fingers.
Well, we pulled over to the side of the highway (not even an exit in sight), and out came the jacks and power tools. We used two jacks to lift the Montana to make it more secure as trucks and cars whizzed by us in an 80 mile per hour zone. Sure was glad to see a member of the Texas Highway Patrol pull in behind us. He hopped out of his car and peeked at the damage, and the first words out of his mouth was, “I promise I won’t laugh because I got a fifth wheel just like this at home”. He was nice to check on us and told us to flag him down if we needed anything as he drove away.
On with the spare and immediately to the local tire shop to replace the damaged tire. Campers World was out of our size tire (that tells you a lot about the highway here, doesn’t it?). So they sent us 10 miles down the street to a “Discount Tire” store only to be told by Discount Tire, “Yeah, we got your size tire right here, but it will be a two hour wait for us to get around to installing it for you.” Choice less, we walked right next door to a Denny’s restaurant. Nice outside today, right around 58 degrees.
Sooooo, we obviously didn’t pack on the miles today and we are sleeping at a Flying J in Baytown, Texas. Pretty decent place with pretty decent food. We are next to two other fifth wheels here and it’s not too loud around us at all.
Ohhhh, I know what you are thinking…..You Betcha’ I got pictures of the flat tire and the damage to the RV. I went crazy with the camera on the side of the highway and I’ll be posting those pictures as soon as I catch an internet signal. Have a good night and I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully at a cozy RV park with a casino next door! Nite Nite!