2015 Preparing for the next trip and the road to Maryland

2015 Great Adventure And Getting Ready

We had a non-stop winter with trips back to Baltimore for Thanksgiving

and Christmas and two wonderful cruises.

Also a special visit from Santa and to spend time with all our Grandkids this Christmas

Great Visit from Kristi, Matt, Taylor and Ryder

All the grandkids meet for the first time. 

Girl Talk!!! (Taylor and Abbie)

Horse Play!!!

The Bro's Aric and Ryder

Taylor helping PopPop make a cake

Play time

Wagon Ride

The Dance Off!!!

The Gang!!! (Allen, Taylor, Abbie, Aric and Ryder)

Also we had Lisa's Photo  shoot!!!

Now if she could just make lots of cash!!!

The drug company that made her experimental MS drug asked her to be a spokesperson of sorts, she spoke at a convention of doctors, nurses and others in Boston when the drug got final FDA approval. They sent a film crew from Paris to take photos of Lisa in he everyday life.

Wow time for our next summer trip, time sure is fast this year and actually the trip has started we are
in Maryland visiting and preparing for our trip to Aruba.

Playing with Taylor

Flying Lessons!!!

Hershey Park

Hershey Park

Hershey Park , Ryder just chillin!!!

Hershey Park

Taylor in her first dance recital(she was the Star!!!)

Now back to the Prep:

So we had some repairs and added a few new items to make the trip and our stay at our ranch in Rimrock Meadows a little better.

First up repairs:

New chassis battery and two new 6 volt coach batteries, new starter. Maggie as our RV is now named after Margret Thatcher the Iron Lady of the UK, was having issues starting when we were in Baltimore at Christmas. I added the new chassis battery thinking that would fix it, nope did not. So it must me the starter replaced that, nope not that well maybe I put the starter in wrong( so to prove to myself I had to remove and realign and reinstall the thing like 20 times) nope starter good. Oh hell no what!!! Thank you You-Tube and Eric the Car Guy!!! It was a loose ground strap. New spark plug and spark plug wires with high temp booties, transmission cooling fan and other minor things. Now Maggie is all fixed!!


Improvements:

2200 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter – more power and better usage of our battery power

New Natures Head Composite Toilet – no more black water sewage tank!!!

Cuisinart Portable Electric Oven and

Induction Cooktop



New Camping Stove.

Renogy Solar Panel Suitcase

Renogy LCD Solar Controller

Remote Tire Pressure Sensors and Monitor

Tow bar and tow chains.

Our DuroMax Propane Generator (Had no room to bring it last year)

RVbrake2 -- braking system for tow vehicle

Break-away system

Ok enough for now next up Part I of the trip.

Off We Go! By Lisa

Our Trek across the USA began yesterday, just before noon. After weeks of preparations, we were eager to finally pull away from our house in Tarpon Springs.

We purchased a used 30' Winnebago over a year ago, and after last summer's months-long trip, as well as many shorter excursions, we've affectionately named her Maggie, after Margaret Thatcher, who we believe was one tough lady. Here's a photo of Maggie towing our ancient Jeep:

Filling Maggie's tank at the Pilot station:

This what our home for the next six months looks like inside:

The photo was taken from where we sit while driving. A full size couch with storage underneath is to the left and a dinette with benches is to the right. Straight ahead is the kitchen with a refrigerator/freezer, microwave, sink, oven, and gas stove. Beyond the kitchen is a shower on the left and the toilet and sink through the door on the right. The bedroom is in the back.

It was quite a challenge for me to pack clothes that we'd need for the different types of weather, as well as the variety of activities we'll experience. I hope I didn't forget anything!

We stopped at a KOA in St. Mary, Georgia last night and we'll stop at the Enfield KOA in North Carolina tonight. On Saturday, we'll make it to Bill's parents' house, just outside of Baltimore. They're kind enough to let is park in their driveway, while Bill and I drive a rental car up to Brecksville, Ohio, where Bill will be attending work-related meetings, and I will be luxuriating at the Embassy Suites.

Our iPad's GPS system is awesome:

We've also got an App that keeps track of what we're spending on gas and calculates our miles per gallon. Pretty cool, huh?

That's all for now!

Happy Anniversary

Coming up on our 8^th Anniversary what a trip and what a wonderful life with my wife.
Music by Home Free who are just plain great!!!

 

 

Posting soon 2015 prep and plans.