4_27_On the Road to Elks Lodge in Perry Florida

Ok, so we left the Elk’s Lodge in Ft Walton Beach early, 7:30 ish. Heading east on Hwy 98 to Perry FL. Why Hwy 98? Because it is off the beaten path, slow, well not as slow and easy until you get past Panama City, then it becomes a real easy 2 lane hwy.

We left Ft. Walton Beach (NOT DOGGIE FRIENDLY beaches) and the Elk’s mainly due to the road noise (in my mind). Hwy 98 in Ft Walton is a very busy Hwy and I can not even imagine how much busier it gets later.

So, off we went, in search of a new adventures with DaGirls Rv. What we found was a Doggie friendly beach in a town called Carrabelle Fl. As we were driving thru we spotted doggies on the beach,

Press Here for Link to Maps

Now how to get Della down to the water. Luck was with us as we spotted a drive off to a small park on the water side. That was all we needed for a water break and lunch.

 

 

 

 

Once we had our fix, we continued on our journey to Perry Fl. Total miles today was about 200, not bad for an easy drive. Along the way, we started thinking about refueling DaGirls, as we were driving we kept seeing prices for 2.20 to 2.39 per gallon. Whoa, what do we see? 2.09 per gallon at a Quick Stop. Quick pull in, trickie but not impossible for DaGirls.

So, when and where did we finally land? Elk’s Lodge in Perry Florida. Great location, easy access, 30/50 amp/water available on site.

And of Course what about a Photo Op

Della always knows what to say.

"That's my story and I'm sicking to it"

“SeeYa, Safe and Happy Journeys”

"DaGirls Rv, Me, Della, Susan & Tilly"

4_24_On the Road tto Florida----Again

We left early Sunday morning around 7:30 from the CG just north of Alex and headed down 49 to I-10. Most of the morning, greeted us with road noise.

Somewhere around 10 am near the Tiger Truck stop, west of Baton Rouge, we decided to switch out. Susan had been driving since we left and it was now my turn. As we were entering the truck stop, she experienced problems with the air system. Low air light, warning buzzer came on and as she went to pull the parking brake we just stopped. Meaning we lost the air pressure to keep the parking brake disengaged.

With that we came to a slow stop. At that point we took Della and Tilly outside for a walk and relax for a minute or to and then came back to DaGirls Rv. So with that, is was my turn. Well not to drive, of course, but to figure out what was going on.

Ok, here is what I did and found:
Started engine, when the air pressure built up, air bags came up and seemed to be ok,, until I pressed on the brake pedal. I heard the brakes come on and a bigger whoosh sound. At that point it was time to get on work clothes and with Susan's help I crawled under the rig and found a fitting had broken off and air was escaping.

So, with hat in hand off I went in search in parts to repair DaGirls Rv.


Once repairs were completed, we went to our next lay-over. Where was that you may ask? A campground near Waveland, Ms.  We ended up with a free night thanks to the Silver Slipper Casino.

Area was great except for the goat heads that, Tilly always finds, white beach sand, breeze blowing and just a good place chill out.

All in all Della really liked it:

What more does a girl what:

While we were there we visited the John C Stennis Space Center.

Press Here for Link 

Of course, while we were visiting could not resist in photo ops:

Our next stop would be at the Elk’s lodge in For Walton Beach Fl. We mosey on Hwy 90, until we had to re-route up to I-10 so we could get thru Mobile, AL. Once across and thru we transferred to Hwy 98, the Emerald Coast Hwy or Gulf Breeze Pkwy.

Of course we weren’t without our little problems, I mean come-on we own an Alfa. Just what did you expect, trouble-free driving.

While we were on the road the generator stopped, as we were at a visitors center, good time to see what was going on. Water and alot of it was coming out of the Dash AC vent and housing. Seems like with the Dash blower on low, the coils froze up and then next thing you know coils were defrosting – good – but maybe bad as it was flowing down over the generator.

Now, just to let you know water does not get into my controls boards as I used a sealant prior to installing the panel. But, hey, what happened? Now the generator starts and then quits when you release the start switch. Ok, we open a few windows and the air vents to cool down and Susan says honey, we lost 2 of our Max-Air Vents. WHAT, where, how? is all I could say.

Oh well, so off we went to our destination – Elks Lodge in Ft Walton Beach. Arrived, setup, laid back, had a cold one, paid for 2 nights and went to bed. As tomorrow would come and I would worry about the generator next morning.
Ok, morning arrived, so I am out early, grab my trusty trouble-shooting doc (created with Dick’s help) which by the way is on my Google Drive, and get to work. Checked, verified wrote down findings, did everything I could think of and then ended up calling Dick and talking to him. You see, Dad and I would do the same thing, problem, call and and talk about it, none of this emailing back and forth. Usually we come to a solution and everything is working.

Ok, went over everything again, called back, at this time we both agree, neither one of us new what was going on. So, I said I was going to check and make sure no water got in.

First thing, removed he front panel, after looking on the left side. Can you guess what I saw? I called Dick and swore him to secrecy. You see, the main thing (my father is laughing at me from up above right now), was the generator belt split and came off.

Now you may wonder why I am writing this, I don’t know except to give everyone a good laugh. And I think this is a good one, me, dale, a really good person in working on DaGirls Rv, forgot the one basic thing. Check the simple things.

You see, in Jan, I changed out the water pump belt, checked the generator belt and all looked good. So why change it out. There was no need to do anything to it.

On the bright side, it gave me a chance to practice what I wrote up in the Trouble_Shooting_ Doc for the generator, and I will be making improvements down the road on it. You see it really is easy to trouble_Shoot the generator with just a little bit of knowledge and reading up on the operation of equipment.

Della always knows what to say.

"That's my story and I'm sicking to it"

“SeeYa, Safe and Happy Journeys”

"DaGirls Rv, Me, Della, Susan & Tilly"

Apr 23, 2016_ Pop is Laid to Rest

On Saturday, at 12:00 O’clock, we laid my father to rest next to Bea, his wife and our mother. The cemetery is located inside the city of Ball, just outside the city of Pineville, La, where his parents were laid to rest.

I am taking the time now to thank everyone for being there. Especially my sister and her family who drove up from Lake Worth, Fl.  It was her and dad’s sister (Joy Atwood), who helped arrange the services and the luncheon. And a special thanks to all of the Atwoods who attended and helped with dinner.

One special note, I wish to thank the US Navy for the Burial Honor Guard.

You see my dad spent 3 tours in the US Navy, WW II and the Korea War. 

I want to give a special thanks to Bill and Mary Nelson, dad’s long time friend and co-worker, who created a memory book for Carolann and me. Thanks to him I got photos of him retired from work

Bill is Second from the Right (Minus 90 lbs)

Dad is the one in the center standing, hat on

A few words about my dad from a friend of his:
“His electronics career began while he was in the Navy during WWII, when he worked on and later trained others on the early radar systems. He worked for Philco which was later purchased by Ford, for quite a while before going to work for Sentrol, an early competitor of Industrial Nucleonics/AccuRay/CE/ABB.

They didn't have a very large service organization, so his area ranged from Eastern Canada to Florida. He'd bought the Blue Runner with a Ford discount and ran up the first 600,000-miles while working for Sentrol. He had a spare parts van and would rebuild transmissions, engines, etc. as needed. While he worked with us, he was based in Camden, AR and Bastrop, LA. His wife, Bea, was unable to get around very well unless she was in a wheel chair. He made a seat lift out of a tractor seat, a Johnson outboard starting motor, and a slew of AccuRay parts.

It worked and I was the first to try it. (He didn't want to risk her falling off, if it didn't work. He'd swing it into the side door and transfer her to a rearward facing bucket seat. Bea died before he left Bastrop. He's stayed in touch with a group of guys in the Bastrop area since his retirement. While they still lived there, they'd meet at the restaurant of the Bastrop motel every Saturday. We sat in on a couple of those meetings and those guys could lie as well as any ABB guy!

The last time we saw Errett, was at the home of one of those guys during the time he was moving from AZ to FL. He already looked pretty frail, but still insisted on doing his own driving most of the time. He was sounding pretty frail the last couple of times we talked on the phone. He said he couldn't get around very well anymore and had to get into a "three-point stance" to feel secure. I can only imagine how that went, but have balance issues myself, so know about hanging onto stuff to stay upright. He's had  skin cancer problems as a result of too much FL sun earlier in his life and has been having numerous small surgeries to remove elisions for the past several years. He had a heart attack several years ago and drove himself in the Blue Runner to and from the VA Hospital in Little Rock. We think his body just wore out. Hope he's comfortable now.”

At the time of this writing I did not have all the photos that were taken. I will be updating it with additional photos and the names of everyone who attended at a later date.

On the Road for Pop

Let’s start, but where? How about in Yuma. Yuma, Az, Roadrunner / AOC rally, held April 7 to the 11 (Spring Rally), 11 to the 17 (AOC rally). So, what do we have to show for all this time?

Wonderful friends, and good times.

Plus look what we won:

Thank you Kathy and Wayne for helping us to win this gift.

Oh before I forget, we are no longer officers in the roadrunners chapter. It was our time to after 2, 3 years? Can’t remember, but we had a great time. Sometimes I made have said something not right, but I always mean well.

So, it was a bon farewell to all, on Saturday night and then we left early Sunday morning. Our journey would take us 3 days to cover close to 1500 miles to Alexandria, La. Where we will laid my father to rest, next to mom.

Along the way we stopped in El Paso, met Josh, had lunch at the Circle M BBQ, out side of Eastland Tx. Found a small camp-ground outside a small lake ($10 night).

Dropped off some extra weight (Atwood Electric Levelers) for Will and Mo. Saw a mayor traffic accident east of El Paso where a border patrol agent was killed (sad).

We landed outside Alex on Tuesday evening around 7:30 pm, and are staying in Boyce in River City CG.

Stopped in on the prichard family plots both old and new where everyone is resting.

Della is as usual, has continued to amaze us. She keeps on trucking, may not eat as much or walk for miles, but she smiles, is happy, lays next to us and keeps loving us. What more can you expect from DaGirls.

So where do I/we go from here… See the rest of relatives and Pop’s friends who are coming in. Laid him o rest, well he is already at rest, but plant him? That doesn’t right. How about bring him home to mom. Yep, that sound good. And after that, we’ll head east to clean up his small room and then get out of Florida and head north.

But we’ll get back to blogging, as Della has many other places to see, things to do and places to go on her bucket list. We’ll keep taking photos for her, as she has always had trouble taking photos, and we don’t mind.

Della always knows what to say.

"That's my story and I'm sicking to it"

“SeeYa, Safe and Happy Journeys”

"DaGirls Rv, Me, Della, Susan & Tilly"