Upto April 19th

Well we arrived in Virginia the other day. Started off at Aquia Pines Camp Resort. When we made the reservations we specifically asked about the internet and the answer was yes we do and it is real good. Well first off it is considered off season so half the campgrounds things are not open but they are still charging full price of over $50 a night. The internet only worked if you were at the office no matter what they tried to say about it. There was no manager to be found and no way to contact them. Needless to say we did not stay past one night. We moved on down the road to Prince William Forest RV Campground. Price is almost $20 less a night. Granted it is only 30 amp but they are putting in a row with 50 amp. Getting in and out is WAY easier than Aquia. They not only try to cram you in an over priced piece of crap campground but they make you think there is nothing better. Prince William we will stay at anytime again. Everything is much better there. The internet works, the people working there are more friendly and well it is also cheaper. How much more do you want?
We got to see the oldest son (Joshua) and his wife (Erin), the granddaughter (Lisa) and the youngest son (Justin). We have not seen Justin since he graduated Basic about 6 yrs or so ago. He had been in Alaska, Iraq and then Korea.
We are leaving in the morning to head back to Michigan. It is supposed to take anywhere from 10 to 13 hrs to get there. 10 hrs if we want to try taking all the toll roads and 13 if we don't. Since some tolls charge by the axle including all the axles on a trailer we will not be taking toll roads. We will be in Michigan for a week and then heading back to California. No stops to see anyone this time so no way for anyone else to get mad at us when we just can't fit or just can't spend more than 2 days trying to hook up with anyone.
Thom will be happy to get back out there since he will be able to ride his motorcycle every day. He likes riding for several reasons including the one that when he rides then I have the truck to drive. Neither one of us can understand why people get a bike and then don't ride it. We see that all over.

April 10th thru April 14th

Well we seen some and could not go see others. We are now in South Carolina. We will be here till Sunday, pulling out in the morning.We have made alot mad since we could not take the next 12 days off to see everyone that we know. Sorry we have tried to make it easy to see people but it seems that some just can not grasp that this thing is just a little longer than a semi and the pivot point is no where near like a semi. If you think a semi would have a problem then we can NOT take this thing there. Thats why we have put the call out on texts and Thom's facebook when we are in town so that we could maybe meet up close to the highway. Sorry that we could not stay a week with everyone and have to leave most of the time just a few hours after we see you but we have a very long trip still to go yet. One more set of people to see and then up to Michigan. One week there to clear the house out and one week to drive back to California. We have done nothing so far except drive to see who we could. If that seems to upset people I am sorry we just do not have the money or time to be where you all want us to be all the time. It is not just one person that is mad it seems we have made people made in lots of states.
And by the way you do not have to offer us a "real bed" when we do stop for the night cause this thing does have a real bed and is quite comfortable. We have gotten that in alot of places.

April 9th

Well we finally left Troll and Michelle's at about 2:30am and got back to the MH to get some sleep. Got up at around 9am. We had some oatmeal for breakfast and got the day started. We went to go to Lowe's and realized that our brokerage company was right next door so we stopped over there first to take care of some paperwork, over an hr later we made it to Lowe's. Picked up so hex head bolts for the wheel chock that we are putting on the front of the trailer. This way he can drive the bike onto the trailer, steady the bike with it in the chock thing and then manuver the back easier. Then we will put the 4Runner on the trailer. It should be easier to take them on and off from now on. It's a learning experience so we will see how this set up goes.
Then we went and had a quick snack and went over to my dad's place again to pick up Thom's present from him. We then went over to the Eagles club to meet up with him and talked with him for a few. Decided at that point that we are going to stay in Bradenton/Sarasota one more day to take care of some other stuff. We then met up with another friend for some wings, beer and a cigar. Finally got back home again after 1 am, lol.
It's been fun seeing some friends and my dad for this stop. Bradenton and Sarasota both have changed alot in the 7 years that we have been gone. Some places are gone and some new ones opened up but that happens sometimes.

April 7th and 8th

April 7th
We got up early and went on our way, determined to make it to Bradenton/Sarasota FL before we stopped. We pulled into Encore RV Park at about 10:30 pm and hooked up. Nice enough place but when we went to go online we found out that they not only use Tengo Internet but you pay for it which would be about $9 a day for each of us to go online. So we just went to bed and in the morning left. April 7th was Thoms BDay too, I was upset that he did not get to do anything but drive but he was ok with it since we made it our first stop with family.April 8th
Got up at about 9 am and immediatly unhooked and went to pay as we left the park. Just can not stay where there is no free internet right now. We went over to the Eagles club on old 301 and saw my dad whom we have not seen in about 7 yrs when we left FL. We spent some time with him and then decided to park over at Sun N Fun Resort and Campground for 2 nights. It's about $50 a night but they do have free wi-fi at the sites. They do reset it so you have to relog in over hr but since we are not going to be spending that much time on it we will take the little free over paying. Just checking games resources right now, lol.
We have the 4Runner on the trailer first and then the bike but we have decided to reverse that so that it's easier to take either one off the trailer. As Thom was working on getting a wheel chock on the front of the trailer to make it more stable holding the bike we got a call from our friends - Troll and Michelle. Needless to say we finished the part we were on and went over to see them. After talking at their house we went up to The Roo until they closed and then went back to their place. We finally left there and came back to the MH at about 3 am. We will spend another 1 1/2 days or so here and see as many friends as possible then we will be headed north.

April 6th

We spent the night outside at a friends house and got up about 7:30am. Had coffee and breakfast with Toni, Tom and Brant. Had a last chat with them and then took off about 10 am or so. Stayed driving all day this time.
We did stop for some diesel at found it for $3.85 gal. We got 77.74 gals and it came out to 9.36 mpg this time. There was some driving thru towns and stuff with stop and go with lights so thats why the lowered milage. We think that the gage is off by alot cause at needing the 77 gals it says we have between 1/4 and 1/2 tank. We will have to check into that but thats not high on the list cause at that we still go over 700 miles before getting fuel. Besides we found it at $3.85, we would have gotten it at that price at a half tank, lol.
We made a decision that even if we would not make it all the 1100 miles down to Bradenton that we would at least make Florida before we stopped and well shortly after we hit the border we stopped at Pelican Palms RV Park. It's ok. We stopped at about 2 or 3 am so we had to find a spot and the 'map' was not marked about what was were so the spot we picked just had 30 amp service. The water spigot itself leaks - alot. Thom will be going up here shortly to pay and let them know.
EDIT - they gave us a discount on the price since we could not use the water.
We are just going to make coffee, oatmeal for breakfast, checking some game stuff and then getting back on the road. We will be down in Bradenton tonight.

April 5

Sorta short day driving yesterday.
We went from Junction, TX to Taylor, TX to see some friends on the way to the rest of the trip. Of course with seeing people you always end up spending more time and that's fine, lol. We stayed for dinner and then had a TX PD Fest on the porch last night. Relaxed and had fun with Toni, Tom, Thom, Brant and me. Small party as they go but we still had fun catching up and enjoying time with everyone.
We are now (again) playing Travian. Oh well, just one account with Thom and I on it so that should be ok, lol.
Going to be taking off fairly compared to all the other days.

April 4th

April 4 – We stopped off the night of the 3^rd over at Ft Stockton, TX at Hilltop RV Park. The price when we stopped was $25 for the night. The sites were big and long enough to handle our rather long rig. The sites were very clean and well maintained. The wi-fi was free when we stopped and worked fairly decently. Some parks charge for using the wi-fi so if they do or don't while we are on the road I will post it so that if any stop by you know what you might expect.

Oh FYI to anyone traveling thru Texas - Most if not all their rest stops have FREE wi-fi. Yes I said FREE. Depending on how many are trying to connect it's not bad for speed.

The morning started nice enough. We got on the road at about 10:30 am on our way to Austin to see some friends. About 25 miles from Ft Stockton on I-10E Thom was on the phone with his sister when the call got lost and he looked in the mirror and noticed one of the trailer tires start to come apart. Immediately we pulled over and changed out to the spare, which was the wrong size by the way. So on the phone we got to see where we might get a replacement. Someone happened along to let us know that the closest was back the way we came and not forward. Appearently if we had been on I-20 we would have had lots of truck stops to choose from but not the section of I-10 that we were on. Thats the way it goes sometimes, lol. So we called several places and found that most places did not carry tires like the Walmart there. Which I spent 10 mins on ignore before they told me that they don't carry tires. We finally did find a place that had them thou. So we got not only that one tire but the other 3 replaced on it just in case. Because if one goes then who knows when the others may go. At the same time we also replaced the 2 outside on the rear of the RV. Trust me they were needing to be replaced we just had to wait for a few days. Now we are back on the road and it is after 4 pm.

Ok we filled up yesterday and the miles on the RV were 97,321. We just filled up in Ozona, TX at $3.99 a gallon for diesel. The tank is supposed to be a 200 gallon tank and it only needed 64.01 gal to fill it up. The miles then were 97,969. That means that with a fully loaded RV and pulling a trailer with a 4Runner and fully dressed bike we are getting 10.123418 mpg. Wow is all we both can say. We did not think it was going to be that, we thought maybe 6 or 8 mpg but we will take 10. For those that want to know how fast we are going with this rig set up well we are going an avg speed of 62 or so.

We have stopped for the night at about 8 pm. We hooked up at Junction North Llano River RV Park. They used to be a KOA and are now a Good Sam park. They do have a rather large, clean area for a playground for kids with some stuff. There is a pool and a net for things like volleyball too. There is a liquor store right next door that is open Monday - Saturday until 9 pm. Sites are wide and long for even a rig like ours that is about 65 ft total.
So far we have been in and/or thru:
California
Arizona
New Mexico (which we went thru a border stop section that had everyone stopping)
Texas
Still to hit (might change depending on things):
Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virgina, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan
After Michigan we will be headed back to California. Thom has taken a new job out there. Not sure when we might be out to the east coast again so we will see as many family and friends as we can in the time we have before we have to be back in Cali.

Our first few days of the LONG trip

Well, we started our trip a little later than what we wanted but thats what happens sometimes, lol.

We spent the night of March 31 at the storage lot. We had to clean the apartment finish packing and loading up and it took a little longer than we had anticipated. Then April 1^st we finished loading the 4Runner and the bike on the 20ft Big Tex trailer. We had to leave the smaller trailer that we had towed the bike on when we had gone out to California months ago, storing it at the same lot. Drove about 300 miles the first day. We stopped at Desert Gold RV Resort in Salome, AZ. It is about $33 a night with no discounts but we did use the AAA discount for about $28 total. This place is a definate resort. It has a spa that is open 24 hrs a day along with game rooms, crafts, bingo nights, etc. If we had more time to spend we would have spent a few days there but alas nope the road and trip is calling.

April 2 – We fried eggs on our stove (thanks Thom for fixing it!!) for the first time. Then we got started back on the road about 11:30 am and stopped a few places along the way like Cycle Gear in Touson, AZ for something for the bike. Not a good idea to take a 40 ft MH and a 20 ft trailer into downtown Touson, lol. We made it back out and on the road without too many problems thou so thats a good thing. We then stopped at about 9 pm at the border of AZ and NM at the visitors center. Logged onto their free wi-fi and took care of our plants in the Wizard101 game, lol, then hit the hay by 9:30 pm.

April 3 - At some point there was a refidgerator truck that stopped in and of course had the cooling units going so at about 6 am we got up and started our generator and made coffee. Did some waking up then drove over to the Love's truck stop and got breakfast and added air to the tires. Just passed into TX and stopped at that visitor center at about 11 am. Got on their free wi-fi and took care of the plants again, lol. Did a geocache while there. We are going to try to find at least one in every state that we pass thru. Www.geocaching.com is the site for that. Something to do just about anywhere, they have caches all over the world. There is even a cache on the space station :).

The connections have not been that strong most places, going in and out so have not had time to write this up and upload so I am writing it on the way and will upload when I get the chance. I have taken pics and video and will upload all that when I can.

PS - for those that are wondering about our list of places to visit. We are planning on seeing everyone that we can in lots of states LOL - Jeff P we should see you in about 3 or 4 days.