On the Road with Rosie

Surprise! Yesterday, we woke up behind Cracker Barrel in West Virginia and made an unplanned diversion from our unplanned route. Instead of our southwesterly direction we went southeast to Raleigh, NC, our longest day on the road. We wanted warmer and by golly we got it. Daffodils are in bloom here and that is one of the treats we were looking for.    We have family here and that makes a difference as we address the need to solve some of the challenges the road and the cold have provided. Rosie's headed to a shop that can fix a valve that cracked in a water line. I'm looking for a place that will provide a battery box strap and an extension mirror strap. I also want a back up set of camper keys. Celine has a tooth that needs review and that will be addressed this afternoon. In the meantime we get to visit!    We spent a good deal of time traveling through WV, the mountain state. Yes it is. We climbed and descended all day! Who knew? All the hillsides were ha...

Still Movin' In Barboursville, WV. Temp is 38 heading down into the 20s.  The last two nights were a challenge at a county campground that was wet from rain and snow melt. No cell connection made posting impossible and we have a growing list of little repairs that require attention.    The first is the latching mechanism on the exit window that was designed to hold the awning style window open. It is , quite  simply, gone. Duct tape is the new latch. Next up is a small plumbing leak (Actually there are no small leaks are there?) in a gate valve near the water heater. Low temps are to blame for this one. A strap on the extension mirror failed from rubber fatigue and a buckle on the battery box strap has also failed. Minor in isolation, irritants as a group, they need fixing so Rosie can smile again.    Last night the campground lost electricity in a wind storm so there was no hot water for showers, nor lighting in the restrooms. That sponsore...

Friday 2/22: Still at Fort Frederick. This fort was built in the 1700s to protect the western border as the native Americans were not happy to see their land invaded. It was built of stone (see below) which was unusual and may be the reason it was never attacked. The fort was used during the Civil War also. Now the state owns it and it is shared with agricultural uses. There are several places with bee hives, and small environments for Monarch butterflies. I saw my first sycamore tree and look what else I saw This was a pleasant surprise. We're moving further south today as some lousy weather is approaching and maybe south will look better. Thanks for tuning in!

Landed in Maryland beside the Potomac River within spitting disdance of West Virginia. at Fort Frederick SP. They got 8" of snow last night so all the sites were not available but they put us in the parking lot! We're here alone listening to the trains pass by. This morning I filled the water tank only to discover it really wasn't full. Did some research and have a view leads on where I can try that again.    During our research I saw the town of Falling Water and that reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright. We got all excited when we learned it was West of us and it was a short day drive from where we are. 🙄 Doesn't open until March 9th. Boogers!    So now well journey into VA to buy replacement propane hoses to replace the ones I bought this morning which had the wrong size fitting, and to find a replacement for the window latch which turned up missing somehow. Presently duct tape is holding the window closed.    This is a fun way to travel because we can ...

Last night we watched Elahn's karate class. I know very little about karate and watching was informative. There were eight kids in his class and each got personal attention from the instructor (sensei) while that practiced kicks, jabs, forward rolls and side rolls. At the end of class the kids bowed to him and he bowed to them, then, they all bowed to us.    Today was a snowy day and we traveled into the city on unplowed roads. We lucked out finding a parking spot at Emily's house where we had a city treat; we ordered food from a middle eastern restaurant and it was delivered!    Our last city adventure was to a park with a big sledding hill. There must have been 200 people laughing and sledding even when the snow turned to rain. Imagine, kids - outdoors -  having fun.    We're "home" now as we pour over our camping resources for tomorrow night's location. We want to try dispersed camping at a primitive site without water or electric. It is our ...

Departed Fishkill NY after a fine diner breakfast and traveled beneath a blue sky. Our path was down the western side of the Hudson River with views of the NYC skyline and all the real estate that is packed into ride. We past a huge place where they unload cargo containers and hadn't realized how many cranes are deployed for that chore.    We got onto the NJ turnpike and cruised south until departing for the campground which is really in NJ. We we arrived at 2pm we we're pleased to see that garbage that gatherd on Rosie during yesterday's ride through snow had melted off. Unfortunately it left behind the salt and sand so she looks pretty raunchy. Would have washed her up but the storm traveling through on Wednesday promised to redecorate her again.    We drove into Philly to spend time with Emily and Elahn and went to his karate class. Fascinating! Then to another cool diner for dinner. Back to camp at 10:30 to rest and see if tomorrow brings significant snow amoun...

And we're off! It snowed from Effingham to Worcester before it mostly stopped. We drove slow enough to make it a safe journey. A couple of tricky spots, mostly solved and we're out behind Cracker Barrell in Fishkill NY. Our goal was to off the road by 4:00 but we didn't meet that goal today.    Packing and loading up and shutting down the house all took longer than planned but tomorrow there's none of that on the list🙂 Perhaps we'll write again from the Philly area. Nite 💤💤💤

It's Wednesday before departure and we have this. Clean up begins shortly. We will be enjoying some family company then the packing begins! We will worry that we've remembered everything and learn later that we didn't. We suspect that by this time next week we will be out of the snow.

Rosie sits in prime parking, her cover off, her stabilizers on pads that will freeze in puddles overnight. Her batteries that have wintered in the warm barn will be installed soon and she'll be plugged in to support lights and heat.    The forecast for the coming Tuesday is for snow. That will provide another workout but it might be the last one before departure.    Our goal is relatively short daily drives settling in well before dark when traveling. Night one behind Cracker Barrell, nights two and three at a KOA. After that there are no plans! Exciting isn't it? Departure Date: February 18th