A new time zone…..

 

Our Location:

Walmart, Franklin, Ky

A very cold night in Wapakoneta last night, we dipped a fair amount below that number we call freezing and a cold wind didn’t help. However the sun popped out and the rest of the day was sunny and warmer. Tonight will be cold but we will stay above the freezing mark by a few degrees.  The warmer temps are coming back and we are running south to find them.

Snow in the London, Ontario region on Wednesday.

All is well on The Rock in the waters of Lake Huron. The snow is melting and pretty much gone, the big brush pile in the pit is gone, and the folks are doing well.  Sister is off to Ottawa for a few days to visit her youngest daughter and family. They recently moved back from Newfoundland.

Yep, we made it into Kentucky.

Some other news to share, Riley and I couldn’t roll the wheels south any sooner because we were waiting….

Here.  For this…….

Meet Igloo 2.0

We decided the original Igloo was getting tired of the long drive and it was time for something different.  We opted for this newer, lighter, and a weeeee bit shorter Open Range Light.

It pulls well. 

We started moving things Tuesday afternoon, spent the night in the new rig in the yard outside the fence and resumed moving things again on Wednesday morning inside the fence. We were finished around 1 pm, hit the road by 2, pulled into Wapakoneta around 10. A few little issues but all is going well. We are stuffed to the rafters, unsure where anything is, winterized and happy. 

A bigger kitchen area.

I called Wayfarers Insurance to change the rig on my full timers policy and was informed that Orbit (new owners) have decided not to offer that service any longer. I have about 12 more days to find another company. I am not having any luck but I will think of something to get us thru the winter and back home and then delve into it more deeply. In a few days we will get into a park and do a number of things and I will hopefully have answers by then.

More seating.

Anyway, there you have it. We were delayed but are rolling along now. I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

We are settled for a few days.....

 

Our Location:

Mercer County Fairgrounds, Celina, Ohio

 

We left Carrolton, Ky around 7:30 am this morning. A heavy dew on the windshield but it wasn't cold. Today was an easy day and we took our time. We travelled approx 186 miles/299 km, the Big Dog ran well and we had a head wind yet again. The roads were again decent in places and some pretty big grooves and holes in other places. We need to find a better way of joining bridges to pavement!!! We arrived here at the fairgrounds and finally found our spot, put the feet down and called Dad at 12:30 pm, EDT of course. We have never been in this area before, about 20 miles from Wapaknoneta, it's a nice location, a bit confusing inside the grounds but we figured it out, or at least we think we did. Sunny, warm but breezy, we have no complaints. Tomorrow I will post a few pics of the fairgrounds. 

 

Welcome to Cincinnati rush hour this morning.

Dandelions are blooming.

Trees are in blossom and some are leafing out, the grass is brilliant green.

Spring is here in Ohio.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've had an excellent day. 

 

Until next time....

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

We are still in Carrolton.....

 

 

Our Location: 

Just Save Parking Lot, Carrolton, Kentucky

 

 

We had a little hiccup this morning and so we laid over another day. Nothing major, and so when we got the truck back around 1 pm, we decided to stay put until tomorrow morning. We have plans for tomorrow and will put them into play in the morning. 

The cleanest grocery store I've ever been in, Just Save. Everything shines.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a good day. 

 

Until next time...

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

We are back on Ontario time....

 

 

Our Location: 

Walmart, Carrolton, Kentucky

 

We left Jacksonville, Tennessee around 7:30 am CDT and a few hours later we crossed into EDT around Upton, Kentucky so we are back in our own time zone. We arrived here around 3 pm EDT. We travelled approx 352 miles/567 km, we used approx 30 gallons of diesel. 

 

 

Nashville's river.

Entering into Nashville, Tn.

We can see spring just starting to show buds on the trees and the grass is beautiful green.

The I-65 Corridor is breaking into light green of spring.

The roads were good and bad, the area between Elizabethtown and La Grange on I-65 N to I 71N was horrendous. It was a rough few hours and we are both tired from all of the thumping and bumping around. Fuel ranged from $3.79 - $4.80 per gallon. The Big Dog's drinking bowl was getting pretty low by the end of the day.

 

The Kentucky Welcome Center.

We parked for a leg stretch.

It's a beautiful and well needed stop.

Just a hint of green in the trees.

 

No news today from my sister. Chatted with my Dad when we arrived, he hasn't heard anything new either.  

Pretty purple on the road sides.

Cutting grass.

Using a whipper snipper too.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've all had a good day. 

 

Until next time....

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

We are getting warmer....

 Our Location: Walmart, Franklin, Tennessee

First, hello there, I didn't forget about you but we've been busy. I'm going to put a number of posts together here, but no photos. 

Tuesday, Oct 11. 

Riley and I left our summer spot about 2 pm. We said our goodbyes and closed up everything until spring. The weather was sunny and coolish. Our first stop was just off the Island at Birch Island to fill up with diesel at about $1.70 per litre. Our second stop was in Espanola to grab some lunch to go. (It's approx 1 1/2 hours from our spot to Espanola). From there we motored on heading north for another 40 minutes before finally turning the Big Dog southward and we have been heading in the proper direction since then. We ended our first day (after a late start) around 4:30 - 5:00 pm just about 40 minutes south of Sudbury, Ontario at a truck pull off. We spent a quiet night, but the rain started before the night ended. 

Wednesday, Oct 12

We were up and on the road before 9, heading southward in the rain, wind and cold. The day didn't get any better until much, much later. The rain stopped around Barrie, Ontario and while things weren't sunny, they weren't dripping either. The 401 and Weston Rd was my first ever accident. The merge space was big, no one was there, I started over and looked ahead, looked back and I seen the little black car coming sideways across the lane and couldn't stop the Igloo from coming into the lane behind the Dogsled. It was a kiss but still not fun. The Igloo has a few scratches and we need a new cubbie panel and lock but everything still functions and works just fine. The nice lady cop arrived and we sorted things out. I swear those folks think every opening is their own personal invitation to get into it as fast as they can and say, "I was here first". In all my years of driving I've never had an accident. About an hour later, we were once again on our way heading through Toronto, Mississauga, Burlington and all the other little towns in the GTA before finally hitting the 403 and scooting on out to Brantford. We found the conservation park, got a nice little pull thru spot ( we were so lucky to leave early, the park closes on Oct 15 for the year, as does pretty much every park in southern Ontario). We headed off to Walmart to get a few last minute things we needed and then off to daughter Bradey's home. We visited with Bradey, David and grandson Auston, but new baby Lincoln was asleep already. The night was cold and the morning was wet with more rain. A few minor things around the Igloo and a bank visit before we headed off to visit with Bradey and boys again for the day. We had an enjoyable day with all of them and left shortly after dinner. It was nice to see them even though it wasn't a long visit. We just couldn't connect with daughter Courtney in Toronto but we will in the spring. Friday morning found me heading to Strickland's Chevy dealer in Brantford for a new air filter and a new bulb in the running light. Complicated thing to put in those pesky bulbs, took a couple of hours but by 11 I was on my way. Did I mention that the wind really, really picked up and the skies opened up, pouring down so much rain that it was unbelievable. It passed in 20 minutes, all while I was sitting at the dealership reading my book. Back to the Igloo at the Conservation area by 11:30, Riley and I hooked up and headed out even though it was a still a bit windy but nothing overly bad like it had been. A drink of fuel in Brantford had us paying $2.19 a litre but the onRoute at Dutton had us drinking at $2.29. I like to keep us on the upper side of half when we travel.  The border crossing was interesting, it was fast for what it was, very few cars at all in the lines but I was waved over to the truck lane. No idea why but it was interesting, never been in the truck lanes at Detroit before. Two nice lady border agents checked out the Igloo and seemed to be all smiles as to the fact that we could get away from the weather, wished us well and sent us on our merry way. We didn't have to pay a toll. How weird. We managed to make our way to Walmart, Wapakoneta, Ohio arriving about 5 pm. Sunny skies, warmer temps of about 55F/12C but still a wee bit cool as the sun went down, I was glad to have my sweater. Parked by the lawn and garden/automotive side, very quiet, excellent place to park.

Saturday, Oct 15

After a quiet night, which I didn't sleep much we woke up and made tentative plans for the day. Cold this morning, around 43F/6.1C but at least there was no frost. We headed out around 9 am after stopping for fuel at the Murphy's, diesel was $5.49 per US gallon. Pointing the Big Dog's nose southward we just let him run and run he did. We stopped a few times but not until we reached Kentucky, we stopped at two different rest areas that we would certainly consider to be prime spots to overnight in the future. The first is just north of the I-71 cut off, lots of space there, very clean and welcoming. The second was along 1-71 around Bowling Green, KY, also nice and welcoming, good for overnight, very big lots. We crossed into central time right around that same area, it went from 1:30 to 12:30 and we were still letting the big boy go. We debated about Franklin, Ky, White House, Tn or Franklin, Tn for the night. Each Walmart offers overnight parking. We were happy to be through Nashville today and so we pushed on arriving here around 4:30 pm. We've never stayed here before and I wouldn't recommend it for these reasons: it's an exit only, we will need to find a way to get back to the interstate in the morning:, the lot is big but chopped up and not very well suited for anything our size or bigger. Smaller vans, even maybe small motorhomes but we had to angle the truck to get the back end of the trailer in out of the lane.  It's a very busy store. Very warm as the day progressed, our high temp reached 78F/25.5C. No wind and sunny skies. We are happy campers. Tomorrow we plan on arriving at a destination of our choosing to rest up for a number of days.

Some notes for those coming behind us via I-75, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. First the I-75 in Michigan is greatly improved, or at least southbound it is but there is still an ugly stretch near Monroe, not as bad as before but still plenty ugly. Our first sighting of fuel in Michigan (diesel of course) was $5.99. Ohio roads are fair with some rough areas, lots of scored pavement with the top smooth layers gone and just the grooves remaining. Not as good as in years past. Cincinnati is still under lots of construction of course but it's getting better too. Fuel in Ohio (diesel only) ranged from $5.98 to about 5.39. You need to really watch. Kentucky, was well, Kentucky, roads were decent overall with some long rough areas and fuel was running a little less than Ohio with around $5.60 to $5.35. Tennessee roads have quite a few rough patches but Nashville was a breeze with little construction. Fuel was in the low $5's, less than $5.50 but we did sight off in the distance a $4.98 (credit), $4.68 cash (or something like that, with a big difference). Overall there is lots of construction in all states but it being Saturday, we didn't have any troubles. Of course the lanes are narrow, uneven and always squeezing by the big cement barriers with only a hair to spare. The leaves are barely turning yet, a few hints of colour here and there but nothing to speak of once you get past mid Ohio. 

As always when we travel I've been calling my dad to let him know we've arrived safely and where we are. Always nice to chat with him. Today was the gender reveal for nephew Jesse and wife Claudia, a baby girl is expected in March. Congratulations to all. Condolences to the Bowerman family in the passing of Andy on the evening of Tuesday Oct 11. 

So now I think you are up to date and I'll be blogging on a more regular basis now. No photos today as I can't get the computer to recognize the sim card from the camera. I'll work on that another day. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Until next time... take care, be safe, stay healthy,

Deb

Arrived in Mississippi....

Our Location: Roosevelt State Park, Morton, MS

I didn’t forget about you folks, honest. I have just been struggling for the past few days trying to find enough time to sit down and write. When we last left you we were waiting for an appointment in the morning at Midway Trailers. I can assure you we aren’t waiting any longer and have journeyed a number of miles since that morning. 

 

 

Sunrise as we are leaving Pyett's not far from Binbrook, Ontario.

We were waiting for the doors to open at Midway Trailer before 8 AM as our appointment was made for when the doors opened. The folks at Midway Trailer couldn’t have been nicer. Brian, Cody, Jesse and a number of other folks all made our wait much easier. Brian explained that what they thought would be a bracket replacement wasn’t actually going to be a replacement but a straightening. They adjusted/straightened the bracket, added a steel brace with support struts to ensure it won’t bend again and we were happy to be on our way. The wait was long but we didn’t mind, we just wanted this issue fixed. By 2 pm we were on the road again having settled what I think was a very reasonable bill. We came in right around the $400 mark. Most of the bill was labour. I would definitely recommend these fine folks at Midway Trailers in Dayton, Ohio. 

Interesting building, I think it's in Cincinnati, but maybe not.

 

We opted to boogie on down the road even though we were just getting started about the time we are usually stopping. We decided we wanted to get someplace much warmer even though the weather wasn’t terribly cold the forecast was looking frosty. We pointed the Big Dog south on to I-75 through the remainder of Ohio, hung a right onto I-71 toward Louisville, KY and just kept going. We managed to catch rush hour of course, but just the tail end and so before long we were steaming along again but this time on I-65 SOUTH. We crossed a time zone here of course and when we landed in Franklin, KY we had gained yet another hour in a few short days. (Daylight Savings having just ended).

 

 

Leaving Ohio behind, entering Kentucky.

 

We had a few ideas about staying in Alabama but silly me I had forgotten about college football. Everything was full until after the weekend in the locations we wanted to stay, so we continued along on our way and headed for our current location of Roosevelt State Park in Morton, MS. We are familiar with Mississippi having visited many times but usually we are further south along the gulf coast and so this area is new to us. We are looking forward to exploring the park’s walking trails and perhaps taking a drive or two around the area to check it out. Or we may just sit and enjoy the stationary part of this lifestyle again for a few days.

You have to appreciate the interstates here in the USA.

 

I have a few little things to take care of before we head out again next week but nothing major. Having installed new bathroom faucets I checked them first thing when we hooked up, everything looked dry but after an hour or so when I checked again I noticed a small leak under my bathroom sink. No problems, we just shut off the water and I dealt with it this morning. Yeah, we’re all fixed and now we can enjoy the rest of the day. 

Interesting, don't you think?

 

The photos are a mishmash and I don’t really know where they were taken other than Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi.

 

We travelled through some rain on our way to Mississippi.

 

Thanks for stopping by, until  next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

Travel day....Quincy, Ohio....

Our Location: Oakdale Campground, Quincy, OHIO

 

 

A cold night over night with rain and ice pellets and a wee bit of snow as well. When we woke up it was trying to snow and tiny white flakes were coming down but nothing was sticking. The temperature read 28F/-2 C and believe me it was definitely pretty accurate. We were up at 7 am CDT and on the road by 8 am CDT. I was a bit concerned about the roads to the interstate as it was down a pretty steep incline and I noticed where others had been sliding and slipping but I kept everything slow and easy and the one time I touched the brakes it was just wet pavement. We were good to go. 

 

Started out a bit misty but turned out fine....

 

Within minutes we were on I-65N with just some wetness coming off the roadway. I have no idea where we cross the time line but by 9:19 am CDT I mentioned to Riley to check the phones and sure enough we had crossed the line somewhere and we were once again back in our own time zone, EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME. Yeah us. 

 

Not much snow on the sides of the road either. See Ohio is beautifying their ramps as well. Great roads, dry, and sunny, what else could you ask for?

 

We had absolutely no issues at all and things ran along just fantastic. We iced up pretty good and at one point had a pretty thick coating of ice on the front of everything and sprayed along down the sides of the Dogsled but at no time was the roads ever slippery or even snow covered. All just stop splashing up and freezing on. We were those people that you see at the rest area with ice hanging everywhere and you say to yourself," Glad we didn't go through that." Honestly though, we didn't hit any weather at all.  We eventually reached a high today of 37F/2.7C and that was all we could wring out of the sunshine. On I-71N between Louisville, KY and Cincinnati, OH the sun came out and the road was dry. We enjoyed a wiper free drive the rest of the way. 

 

This is mostly OH 235 North. A very nice road, with a few small towns, a few lights and few slow downs but nice, quiet, not too busy at all. Great road if you aren't in a hurry.

 

As we reached Covington, KY (just across the river from Cincinnati, OH) the traffic slowed down, seeming to back up for a while, but we managed to keep rolling, it cleared up for 5 minutes but once again slowed down and crept along. This was the norm until we were actually out of Cincinnati. I was surprised, there was no reason for any slow downs at all, no construction, lane changes, accidents, etc. Just some mystical reason I guess. 

 

Cincinnati area.....

 

I will say the construction in Cincinnati has been on going for as long as I can remember but I will tell you that they have vastly improved the over all interstate, both surface conditions and width of lanes, not to mention taking out some of the very sharp turns. A bit more work is needed in a few places but over all, the best experience I've ever had moving through Cincinnati. Congrats to the city for doing such a wonderful job. 

 

The big pic on the top left is coming down the hill in Covington, KY toward Cincinnati straight ahead. The others are Louisville, KY,  Florence, KY,  and Dayton, Ohio.

 

Instead of following the GPS and taking 4N out of Dayton we stayed on I-75N until we came to I-70 East toward Columbus. We followed that for a bit and then took the exit for OH 235N. From there it was straight sailing and we managed to pull into the campground just before 3 pm EDT. 

 

I've never seen a Field & Stream store before but I'm sure they're around.  I believe these pictures are Cincinnati, Dayton, and New Carlisle, all in Ohio.

 

The campground is nice with pretty decent sized spaces, and we are parked literally on the Miami River. We can see it out the door. However I will say that I doubt we'll be back due to the state of the office. It is a small, cramped space, that is seems very junky and reeks of cigarette smoke. In fact they smoke as evident by the half full ashtrays that litter the desk area. The folks are friendly enough, helpful, and accommodating but the smell of the office is too much for us. A nice black lab greeted us at the door and continued to stand and lay at my feet making it difficult to move.  

Some road signs along the way....

A nice fellow named Roger brought us to our spot which is high and dry on a gravel driveway which suits us fine. We have electric and water is available but I won't hook up until after the chance for freeze is over. They have a dump station as well. We are back off the roadway by a long distance and I think we'll enjoy the time here as we're close to a few little towns and villages. So hopefully we find some interesting things to keep us amused for a bit. 

A few water towers, road signs and of course the welcome sight of TIMS!!!!

The overall drive was fantastic, a bit sloppy this morning but nothing that required constant wipers, only occasional. The temperatures aren't too bad either, all things considered. They told us they had 6" of snow when I called earlier in the week, and since then they've had a flood and more snow but today there is nothing but bare ground and a very high river. Kentucky needs to work on I-75 North as it's pretty rough in a few spots but still a decent drive. Ohio also needs to work on a few rough spots but again, nothing too serious. 

Still in Kentucky coming down the Covington Hill toward Cincinnati, OH so you know spring is coming...

We traveled about 280 miles/ 450 km today, it took us approx 6 hours with 2 stops along the way. We used around 25- 27 gallons of diesel through all those hills, so I'm pretty happy about that. I noticed $2.76 for diesel a bit back down the road so I'm hoping the prices in the area are all about the same, a fill up will run us into the $70 -75 US dollar mark. We will be here until Saturday when we will pack up and head for Ontario. 

 

I'm not sure but I think this is the Miami River in Dayton, OH.

So there you have it, thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the trip. Feel free to drop a comment. 

 

Welcome to Quincy, Ohio.

Until next time.... take care, be safe, 

Deb

A quiet day here in Cave City, and some campground notes.........

Our Location: Singing Hills Campground, Cave City, Kentucky

(4110 Mammoth Cave Road)

 

A coolish night last night for sure. We needed the heater this morning for a bit but it warmed up nicely through the day and the sun made an appearance for the most part until late this afternoon. 

 

Couldn't get the building without the pole...

 

Over our hot chocolate we discussed plans and  while it would have been nice to actually do something in the 'attraction' area we opted instead for a few things of a  more practical nature. We needed fuel as the big Dog was showing at only a 1/4 bowl full, so that was first on the agenda. Next we needed a couple of grocery items, nothing major just a thing or two.

 

Thought this was an interesting looking trailer....

 

Those things off of our list we proceeded to at least tour the village of Cave City and have a look at what we might see for another time. We found some interesting sights and even managed to stop for a walk around in a couple of locations. 

 

Notice the handle for GASOLINE is green, and the DIESEL is black. If one weren't paying attention it would be easy to make a mistake. Prices weren't too bad. Loved the big chicken in the ad.

 

We headed out to the Mammoth Cavern but didn't actually go into the building as the lot was pretty full and we already knew from the lady in the office that the tours were full. We did however want to have an idea of what to look for in our future visits. 

 

The Old General Store is more just a junk place but the prices are outrageous.

We did stop at an interesting amusement type area. Their activities included ziplines, a chair lift, a mountain slide, bumper cars, go-karts, a trampoline with harness, mini golf, and horse back riding and something called Outlaw Cave. We didn't partake in any of the activities although I offered Riley a chance to do them, she had no interest. We did manage to see off in the distance a few people coming down the slide on the mountain. You take the chair lift up to the mountain top for either the slide ride or the zip line ride, or you come back down in the chair lift. Interesting place. 

 

Some of the 'goods' outside on the front porch.

 

Back home at the Igloo I parked the big Dog and proceeded to clean him up. He's been dirty for a while and I truly couldn't take any more. I pulled out the wipes, vacuum, etc and gave him a pretty good cleaning. He's not perfect but he's better. It took me about an hour to do the clean up, then we had a nice relaxing lunch and I continued doing a few chores. It took about a  half hour to do the chores and tidy a bit in the cubbies. After that a quick walk to the main office with a bag of books to exchange worked out great. I left a complete bag and came home with not quiet a complete bag. Fair trade in my opinion. After that I settled down to read one of the new books. 

 

I'm not sure who painted the Indian but I've never seen ANYONE with a face like that....

 

The day has slipped past and it's already 5:30 pm CST. I was sure we would cross into a new time zone yesterday but apparently not yet. We must be pretty close to the change and tomorrow we will definitely be back to Ontario time. The skies have darkened some and the weather was calling for rain to change to flurries over night. I hope that doesn't actually happen but we'll see how things look in the morning and go from there. No use worrying about it tonight, nothing we can do anyway. 

 

More of the Old General Store merchandise.

 

So there you have it, our pretty quiet day here in Cave City, Kentucky. With a few things accomplished I feel better now. Just a few notes about the park for my own future reference or if you're interested. Sorry I didn't take any pictures. Singing Hills Campground is a nice park, but very tight spaces, hard getting into back in spaces. Drive thru's don't look much bigger but might be okay. Hook ups on the back in spaces are too far from the actually place they need to be. They are located at the front of the site, not in the middle or back. So we couldn't park all the way to the back of the site and still reach the electric. Therefore that makes it difficult to park the truck and be off the road due to not being able to park fully back and also because of the facilities locations, parking is very difficult, they make backing into the spot also very difficult. These back in sites don't have sewer but the pull thru's do. We didn't check out the bath house but it is a cement block building that is the strongest building on the property in case of a storm. Not all roads in the park are 'thru' roads, and don't have an extra lane for exiting, so if all of the spots are full, you are in trouble and need to back out. The office staff is very helpful, supplying directions to grocery store, Walmart, restaurants, attractions, cave tours, etc. Also supply directions to laundry, hospital, police, etc. Advise putting a card in your wallet in case you get lost or forget the name of the place. Great book exchange. Would stay again but get a pull through and be prepared for tight, noisy spaces. 

 

You ride this sled down the mountain slide....

 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate hearing from you. 

 

Can you see the white line down the mountain, that's what you ride the sled on. The chair lift takes you to the top to get on the slide.

 

Until next time.... take care, be safe, 

 

I think the carpenter wasn't having a good day when he put these windows together.

 

 

Deb