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Day 13:The “Real” Promised Land

JamesW — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:14:37 +0000

After touring Holland, MI, we pressed hard north as we had a reservation at a RV Park, on Lake Leelanau, named, logically enough, Lake Leelanau RV Park, located about 15 miles West of Traverse City. We got a little lost, which ended up being OK, since we were privy to blossoming cherry trees, and beautiful rolling hills of green, green grass. We made it to the park late afternoon, and after paying, in my opinion, too much ($48 for a VIP site), we settled into a reasonably spacious site with a concrete slab, picnic table, and fire rim. Fortuneatly, the sites to the north of us didn’t fill up providing us with a nice and quite lovely view of Lake Leelanau. The folks were, once again, very friendly, and on eo fo our RV neighbors across the road noticed we were struggling to get our wood fire going with any conviction. He brought over some round objects, that kinda looked like SOS pads, and handed us a few. I assume he could see the question mark written all over my face, so proceeded to let us in an another “RV TIP”. Here’s what you do: When at home, in the comfort of your kitchen, and assuming you have a cloths drier, you take the lint from the dryer (when available), wad it up into charcoal size balls, and soak it with heated-up (i.e. liquified) parrafin wax. Once cooled and hardened, these little balls of wonder will light the most stubborn fire, even when tended by a couple of RV Rookies. Within no time, we had a nice fire blazing, and ready for cooking up the nights meal. By the way, another tip is heading your way, as us “Rookies” didn’t have the right gear or experience to rig up a reasonable grill on top of a wood fire rim. We used several metal bars left over from some repair work Max had done on his jeep, and overlayed it with a grill top borrowed from my conventional, portable charcoal grill. It worked, but only after several pieces of chicken slid into the ashes below (for that extra “natural” flavor!). The solution is on its way n a subsequent post.

Day 18: Captains Log

JamesW — Wed, 28 May 2008 12:24:03 +0000

Sirs. I am pleased to report that my troops have successfully achieved our mission by reaching the territory now referred to as the Straits of Northern Ohio. My troops are weary, to be sure, but in good spirits. We have scant provisions left, and the weather here remains cold, often accompanied by a dampness that penetrates the very soul, yet their is a beauty here unlike any other I have witnessed. We shall soon set up a base camp in an area called “East Harbor” by the natives, and will begin our secondary mission of protecting the bounteous fur trade that transpires here, and will use arms against rouge Injun tribes or any other parties that attempt to disturb this blossoming commerce (some of our elected officials also like to call this protective activity “ensuring democracy”). I will of course in subsequent correspondence provide you with an accounting of our expedition expenditures, to include provisions, cost of fossil fuels utilized, and other such expenses. At this time, as mentioned, our provisions run low, yet the locale is rich in fish and other meats (something they call “cows”, and of course “corn” which I am told you are quite fond), that surely will sustain us through the summer and with proper preparation, the winter should that become necessary. The natives are friendly, and will most likely provide us with help in these endeavors. I do, on occassion, notice some of the more hungry of the indiginous here eyeballing our plump mascot, Maggie, but she remains agile and would surely escape their grip should they get any unconventional ideas about diminishing their appetites.

I will, of course, keep you posted as our mission progresses. Additional details of our daily log will be forthcoming. A runner was sent towards your location several days past, and should be in your hands post haste. As always, I remain your humble servant and faithful subordinate -

Yours truly,

Captain James Rutherford Wilson

Route 66:Day 10 – Off the Beaten Path

JamesW — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:34:55 +0000

We crossed the line into Illinois on this day, and pushed as far North as possible. We decided to leave the comfort and safety of the interstate, and branched off onto route 54 at Springfield, IL and headed towards a little state campgrounds on Lake Clinton. Our luck was with us, and this little campsite gem turned out to be one of the nicest so far.

After a number of hours going through small farm towns, and mile after mile of newly planted fields, we arrived at Lake Clinton. They have “camp hosts” here to advise, take your money, etc. They were pleasant enough, but I guess “alcohol” is a big no-no, so we were asked if we had any on board. I said “I thought we might have a bottle of wine or two”. The camp host kinda winked and said to keep it under wraps. Judging from here demeanor, I think she welcomed any travelers that would/could leave her a bottle or two.

We had a lovely isolated spot on just up from the lake, with a path leading down to a small beach. In the morning, we made Maggie’s day by taking a short hike along the lake before departing for Chicago.

In Chicago, we looked up the birth place of Abby THe Design Goddess’s mother, Miriam. It was in Argo-Summit, IL, just southeast of downtown Chicago. Things have evidently changed since she grew up here, as it the area was pretty grubby. The grocery store that here family owned, with living upstairs, was now a TV repair shop, and by all appearances, a crack house up stairs. The whole area had a peculiar odor, kind of like slightly fermented tomato sauce. Anyway, we took many pictures for RV Mama’s Mama, and will report the sad news about her old digs.

We decided to do a quick loop through Chicago, so headed straight East and hopped on the famous Shore LIne Drive. Chicago is another one of those places we wished we could explore more – a beautiful looking downtown, art museums, etc., but it’s not easy parking a 35 foot RV towing a jeep in a busy, crowded, metropolitan area! Again, maybe “next time”.

Route 66: Day 9 – St. Louis is a Cool City

JamesW — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:08:21 +0000

I’m into “vibs”, and even though we stopped in St. Louis for a few hours, I could tell this town had soul. Max took mucho pictures, so be sure to visit our Gallery. The center attraction is, of course, the Arch, which is way bigger than I had anticipated. The “Design Godess” will be bringing you interesting historic tidbits about the Arch, and St. Louis in general. All I can say is St. Louis looked very “liveable”, not anything I could or would say about very many American cities.

What can I say, I can see why KOAs stay in business and do reasonably well – they are everywhere, and always convenient to the weary traveler. This one was just south of St. Louis. Again, pleasant, clean, curtious employees, and relatively attractive sites. No grief about our dog Maggie here – laissez faire.

Route 66:Day 8 – Oklahoma City to Joplin, MO

JamesW — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:04:13 +0000

Not a whole lot to report here (thankfully?). We stayed on Interstate 44 (having left 40 in Oklahoma City). The view from the highway was attractive, but I had this nagging feeling that the true Ozark Mountains to the south of us would be quite lovely. Another trip someday, I guess, when gas is cheaper (“dream on”, right?). We stayed in one of the nicer KOAs just south of St. Louis for the night.

Route 66:Day 8 – Tip #43 for the RV Rookie

JamesW — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:06:51 +0000

Always remember to close your black tank valve before you disengage the sewer hose. Otherwise you will end up looking like the fool shown below. Nobody will like you, not even your dog!

Route 66: Day 2 – Needles,CA to Flagstaff, AZ

JamesW — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:59:39 +0000

The RV Park in Needles was a welcome respite after blowing a spark plug on a busy freeway. LA did not want us to go, and ran some of its best defensive block plays in it’s playbook, until we were almost at route 15. We finally escaped her gravitational pull, and had relatively clear sailing, arriving in Needles about 9pm. We were exhaused, so had a quick bite to eat then to sleep. In the morning, we found we were within a few yards of the RV Park’s pool, so took a refreshing dip. We then packed up the Beastie, and hit the road.

The drive to Flagstaff was relatively uneventful, except for some high winds now and then. It was odd to see the pavement become so much nicer once out of CA (has Arnie been dipping into the highway funds again?). With some high-tech research, we ID’d a RV Park that looked secluded, relatively inexpensive, and would spar us from going all the way into Flagstaff. We called ahead, then checked into the Ponderosa Pines RV park. Our spot was pretty secluded, without any neighbors to the immediate right and left of us. We decided to fire up a charcoal roasted chicken for the Mom that was aboard (it was “Mothers Day” after all – see image gallery). We went to sleep with the wind wispering through the pines, and the sounds of a distant freight train (about every 20 minutes – but far enough away not to be annoying).

Route 66: Day 1 – Spark Plugs Flying

MaxW — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:06:06 +0000

With a late start we headed to the freeways to get out of Los Angeles, but as soon as we got on the 10 freeway we came to a dead stop.

According to Google Maps it was bad traffic for the next 35 miles.

Right as we are preparing to merge into the 5 north from the 10, one of the dirtiest, congested, graffitied areas in Los Angeles, probably the world, we hear a loud explosion and rumbling noise we thought we had a blown tire, about 2 miles down we find a pullout large enough for our rig and look around to find all the tires intact.

After looking around more we discover there is air rushing from the engine and it is misfiring, when we open the engine hatch i immediatly see the problem. We saw a gapping hole, and a spark plug dangling precariously by a thin wire!

At first not knowing what to do about it we tried calling a tow truck but they don’t do road side repairs anymore and all the shops in the are where closed for the weekend.

So with that bad news and being stuck on the side of the 5 South with traffic blasting past us i tried to see if we can get the plug back in.

After looking at the engine and the spark plug i realized that the engine and parts are intact. After putting it back in and torquing it by hand i put the Coil back together, it was then i noticed that the bracket for the Coil was broken and it would have nothing holding it there. But we where sitting on the side of the 5 freeway so we had to get it moving, with the Coil jury rigged in place i started the engine and it sounded better then before.

After calls to RV Dealers to try to get a new Coil we where told that spark plugs shooting out is a common issue, most the time ripping the threads from the engine block.

We then found the next Ford dealer that was on our way and purchased a new Coil for a whopping $106.09, remember we have a V10 so it would cost over $1000 to replace them all. Probably would be cheaper to buy a reconditioned engine!