Skunky and Fester – The Next Chapter

Sunday, November 6:  Considering we set out on Saturday, October 15, I’m a bit behind on my blog.  Therefore, here’s an update on our first three weeks of fun and adventures…

On Monday, October 31: We arrived at Florida SKP RV Resort in Wauchula. This 55+ park will be our home base for the next two months.  Fortunately, the south-central park was spared any significant damage from the heavy winds and floods of Hurricane Ian.  While the park is in a rural farming area, Wauchula has all the “basics” and we’re about 90 minutes or so from Tampa, Fort Myers and Sarasota. 

Since our arrival, the temperatures have been in the mid to high 80’s with days full of sunshine and light breezes.  It’s a quiet park, lined with palm trees and lots of green spaces, as well as a dog park and duck pond.  There’s a pasture behind the dog park, complete with grazing cattle and a few goats. There’s also nice size pool and patio, as well as a laundromat and clubhouse.  We look forward to meeting the community at an ice-cream social this afternoon. In between our must-do coach projects (we both have our own list), we’ll spend our free time visiting Florida’s coastal cities as well as hiking the nearby state parks and kayaking on the Peace River.

Florida by RV will be a new experience for us.  Because we had a blast last winter in the southwest, we plan to make our way back to Lake Havasu, AZ for another Xscapers RV Convergence (rally) in mid-January.  We’re also booked for a one-month visit to Mexico! As part of a convoy (50 RV’s) we will venture into Mexico, staying at two different beachfront campgrounds We’re excited to be back on the road and hope you’ll join us for our adventures.  Cheers!

On Monday, October 24, we left the family for an overnight stay at Elks Lodge #183 in Savannah, GA.   On Tuesday, we settled in at the Elks lodge in St. Augustine, FL, where we were able to hook up to electricity and water.  We stopped in the club and met the bartender, Donna, and several local Elks who gave us advice on local attractions and restaurants in the area.  Over the course of the next six days, we took in the sights of St. Augustine (which claims to being the oldest city in the U.S.) by Jeep, trolley and foot.  We started off by driving through St. Augustine’s narrow streets to immerse ourselves into the city’s history and its Spanish colonial architecture.  During an Old Town Trolley tour, we visited the Fountain of Youth, the Oldest School House, the Lightner Museum and Flagler college as well as Castillo de San Marcos, a 17^th-century Spanish stone fortress that was built to defend St. Augustine.  Our driver was very knowledgeable about St. Augustine’s history and landmarks and made the tour very interesting and informative.  In addition to the delicious seafood, another highlight of our visit was St. Augustine Beach.  Because part of the beach is open to 4×4 vehicles, we were able to drive the Jeep along the dunes where we could park and wade in the waves.  We enjoyed sunrise and sunset walks along the beach while experiencing the changing tides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Based on several local recommendations, we decided to tour the Lightner Museum.  Completed in 1888, this elite Spanish Renaissance Revival building occupies the former Alcazar Hotel (commissioned by railroad magnet Henry Flagler).  In 1948, publisher, collector and hobbyist Otto C. Lightner of Chicago founded the museum, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in art, architecture, history, and design while enjoying the museum’s historic building, eclectic collections, and exhibits.  We also visited St. Anastasia State Park, which was located close to the Elks lodge.

Thursday, October 20: Ken got to enjoy the view from Zephyr’s passenger seat as we made our way to Lumberton, NC, to spend some time with Fester’s brother, John and his lovely wife, Jennie.  Again, Jennie’s parents graciously allowed us to boondock in their driveway during this visit.  Ken stayed in John & Jennie’s newly renovated guest cottage, located right on a lake. With its excellent lake view, the cottage was a focal point for everyone as we gathered for meals, conversations and card games.  We enjoyed visiting with John’s three kids and Jennie’s son.  And, our visit was complete when Fester’s brother Jim, and his lovely wife, Cookie, joined us on Sunday.

Sunday, October 16: Our first official destination was Asheville, NC, to visit Fester’s dad, Ken. On our way, we spent our first night at Walmart in Wytheville, VA.   We’ve stayed at that Walmart several times in the past, so we knew it was a safe, comfortable place for one night.  We arrived at the East Asheville KOA on Sunday, and were delighted to see that the fall foliage was nearly at its peak.  As in the past, our site was next to the lake.  The trees and their reflection on the water was beautiful and Sadie and I enjoyed many walks around the lake.

Ken took us on drive curvy, mountainous drive to Hot Springs, which allowed us to really appreciate the fall colors along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Ken made sure we visited the tiny St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope along the Appalachian Medley Scenic Byway. Built in 1991 by cancer survivor Beverly Barutio and her husband as a shrine to St. Jude, the 12’ x 14’ chapel is always open to the public and features stained-glass windows, pews and even a bell tower.  Visitors leave notes, trinkets and pictures in memory of their loved ones. Because Hot Springs was one of our stops while hiking the Appalachian Trail back in 2001, it was a nostalgic visit and brought back many good memories.

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• Escapade – Nashville, TN 6/2022
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Monday, April 4:  Be it ever so humble, there really is no place like home. It is hard to believe that our time on the road has come to an end. We spent our last night on the road at Little Beaver State Park in Beaver, West Virginia, and arrived home last Wednesday evening (March 30). 

During the final leg of our journey, we reminisced about the places we’ve been and the people we’ve met along the way. What an adventure!  Looking through our photos, I realize that there are some really great stories that I didn’t include in the blog.  I hope to write about them as I take the time to catalog and organize our photos. For now, today’s brief blog will simply wrap up our journey with final stats. I hope you’ll check in periodically to check on new posts.  Thanks for sharing our journey.     

• Nights: 153
• Months: 5 (November, December, January, February & March)
• Miles:  7,885
• Time Zones: 4 (Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific & Eastern Daylight Savings)
• States:  11 (Ohio, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and West Virginia) Note:  We do not count states that we pass thru or overnight stays

Greetings from Asheville, North Carolina! We’ll be here for a week, visiting Mark’s dad, Ken. Mark’s brothers and their lovely wives will join us on Friday and we’re looking forward to spending time with everyone over the weekend.

Zephyr has been running great and we’re confident that mechanical issues are behind us (fingers crossed). Of course the ridiculous fuel prices have put a damper on our travels, and it seems like we made a timely decision when we started to head towards home.

Unless something really exciting happens, this will be my last blog for this trip. Once we’re back home, I’ll do a final update that captures some memorable moments and photos that didn’t get posted along the way. Thanks for tuning in. Ciao!

Sunday, February 27:  We made it to Fort Stockton, Texas, after Fester put in 9 hours of driving.  We broke our rule of NOT arriving at a campground in the dark. Let’s just say we are still talking, and leave it at that. 

Monday, February 28:   As of today, we’ve been traveling for four months. Unfortunately, our recent bout of mechanical issues has put a bit of a damper on our attitudes and Fester is determined to put more Texas miles behind us today.  Once we get to Louisiana, we hope to slow down and enjoy our travels again. We are now in Central time zone, so we’re making adjustments to our internal clocks as we go. 

As (bad) luck would have it, while pulled over at a rest area, I noticed anti-freeze leaking from one of the below compartments. Upon inspection and some troubleshooting, Fester determined there was a leak in the diesel fired heater circuit.  Since the leak was significate, we checked the radiator level and added anti-freeze to top it off (the diesel engine and the hot water heating system share the same coolant). Thanks to our last radiator issue, we had a few gallons of anti-freeze with us – just in case.  Fester wasn’t able to make a repair without the necessary hose connections, we decided to back-track about 10 miles to a campground in Kerrville for the night.  When we arrive at our campsite at “By the River RV Park”, we disconnected the Jeep and checked out the diesel heater.  Rather than replacing the diesel heater at this time, Fester decided to re-route the hose and by-pass the heater altogether.  He’ll fix or buy a new diesel heater when we return home. After a trip to an auto parts store, we found the parts we needed and hurried back to the campground to make the repairs before dark.    

Tuesday, March 1: Tonight, we’re dry camping at a Walmart in Beaumont, Texas. 

Wednesday, March 2:  As we said goodbye to Texas this morning, we set our sights on New Orleans.  But, because of yesterday’s Mardi Gras celebrations, we couldn’t find a decent campground in the area.  Since we’ve been to New Orleans on another trip, so we didn’t mind skipping it, especially considering our travel blues.  We were making good time and decided our next stop would be Escapees Rainbow Plantation RV Park in Summerdale, Alabama.  Amazingly, we have been in four states today – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Pretty much an interstate blur.

Thursday, March 3 – Sunday, March 6:  Although we took a few day trips to explore the beaches of Gulf Shores and visit the charming nearby towns of Foley and Fairhope, we really enjoyed just hanging around the campground and meeting fellow RVers (and ,of course, their dogs). As a matter of fact, while on a morning walk with Sadie, we ran into a couple and their dog, Skipper, that we met way back in Branson, MO. They’ve been at this park since January and we compared notes of where we’ve been since we last met.

Monday, March 7:  Looks like we’ll spend the day driving across northern Florida, hoping to camp past Jacksonville. While at Rainbow Plantation, we spent time mapping out the next few weeks of travel which will focus on stops in Charleston, South Carolina, and Lumberton, Asheville and Gastonia in North Carolina. We’re looking forward to visiting my longtime friend, Renee, and her husband, Rudy in Charleston. Then we’ll spend some time with family in North Carolina.

Friday, February 18:  We were all set to leave Bill’s truck yard this morning, but decided to take a quick test run before hooking up the jeep.   We headed up Old Womans Spring Road and as we were moving along, Fester noticed white smoke coming from the tailpipe again.  He thought it was residual oil from the turbo issue and wasn’t too concerned.  However, when the smoke didn’t stop after a few more miles, Fester pulled over to check things out.  Another Good Samaritan was following behind and pulled over too, saying she noticed the smoke and was concerned. After checking the engine compartment, Fester assured her that we were okay and it was just oil burn-off.  We headed back to Bill’s and shortly after turning around, Fester said there was no more smoke.  Back at the shop, John checked the engine and confirmed that it was oil burn-off, which was to be expected. The back of Zephyr was covered in oil residue, so we grabbed a bucket, Dawn detergent and rags and spent the next 40 minutes or so cleaning off the oil.  Fortunately, Bill’s water hose reached and we were able to spray everything down and rinse off.  After hooking up the Jeep, we were on our way.

We were headed to Palm Springs/Joshua Tree KOA for the night, since it was close by and we considered it a “practice run” before setting off toward Phoenix and beyond.  We needed fuel, but wanted to wait until we reached Arizona so we wouldn’t have to pay the ridiculous California fuel prices.  It was wonderful being out of the truck yard.  We took advantage of the KOA’s pool and hot tub, which were fed by mineral wells/hot springs – lovely!

Saturday, February 19:  When we were back in Arizona, we pulled into a truck stop to fuel up and Fester saw radiator fluid gushing out of the tank onto the ground.  We quickly moved from the fuel pumps to a parking place among the trucks while Fester tried to figure out the problem.  Apparently, when John put the coach back together after repairing the turbo, he may not have mounted the radiator tank securely.  The tank had dropped from its mount and in doing so, the radiator hose rubbed up against a moving belt and was sliced, almost in two.  We were fortunate that we were at a truck stop, with a parts store next door.  Unfortunately, the parts store was getting ready to close, adding to Fester’s anxiety.  We spent the next three hour or so at the truck stop while Fester jury-rigged a way to remount the radiator tank and clamp the hose.  After filling the radiator with about 7 gallons of antifreeze, we took off for Quartzsite – a familiar safe haven.  We ended up camping on Plomosa Road again. Very few campers here compared to mid-January.

Sunday, February 20 – Tuesday, February 22:  Quartzsite has little in the way of shopping, and the hardware & auto parts stores were closed on Sunday. After putting a parts list together, we drove the jeep to a Phoenix suburb to get the parts we needed for the repairs.

By early afternoon on Tuesday, Fester was able to make and install a bracket to hold the radiator in a secured position and reinforce the repaired hose. We topped off the radiator fluid too. We are good to go and will head out tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we took the jeep off-road for some fun.

Wednesday, February 23:  After stopping to fill our propane tank this morning, we were on the road by 8:15, heading east on I-10 towards Phoenix (and eventually, Benson, Arizona).  After about 45 minutes on the road, Fester noticed the amber Check Engine light came on.  The light was intermittent, so we continued on our way, keeping an eye on the gauges.  A red flashing error message showed up on the computer, which I wrote down. We stopped at the next Rest Area to check things out.  Everything in the engine compartment looked good so we started off again, heading into a steady rain.  Although it was nice to see the continuous rain, the temperature had dropped 10 degrees from 52 to 42 in just the last few hours. In addition to the Check Engine light, the coach wouldn’t accelerate above 55 mph. Rather than pushing on to Benson, we decided to stop at Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson to investigate the engine issue, since we are familiar with the campground and the area.  We ended up parked in an area with mostly permanent and semi-permanent residents and our site was much smaller than we would have liked, especially since Fester needs to work on the coach.

Once again, Fester called John Krauss, our good friend and excellent Mechanic, to see if he could help troubleshoot our problem.  John threw out some ideas and later in the day, John called us back with his friend Kevin on the line.  Kevin, who is a diesel mechanic, suggested it might be an issue with the fuel sensor, but said it would be helpful to have the Cummins’ error code (vs. the computer’s error code).

Thursday, February 24:  Fester contacted the software company and was able to obtain the Cummins error code and after speaking to Kevin again, we had a fix in mind. It was cold and windy and we were both a bit discouraged and feeling blue because of the recent mechanical problems. 

Friday, February 25:  As Kevin suggested, Fester cleaned the fuel injection connections and we took Zephyr out for a test run.  Unfortunately, once on the freeway, we experienced the same error message and couldn’t accelerate past 55 mph.  Discouraged, we returned to our campsite to try another approach.  John had suggested we change out the fuel filters.  While changing the first filter, Fester noticed black “gunk” around the top, which we assumed was algae (not a good discovery). When tipped over and shaken, bits of black gunk dropped into the bucket.  The second filter was clean.  After both new filters were in place, we took a second test drive and didn’t get any error messages and acceleration was normal. These good signs seemed to indicate that there was a block in the fuel filter causing the problem.  Fester felt confident we were in good shape to continue our travels.

Saturday, February 26: Since we had pre-paid for the night, we decided to bop around town today and lucked out by finding a wonderful Italian restaurant, which helped put us in a good mood for moving on.

Sunday, February 27: After fueling up, we set off down I-10E toward El Paso, Texas (about 300 miles).  We decided to skip Benson and instead try to make up some distance and leave Arizona behind.  It’s now 2:30, and we’ve already passed Las Cruces, New Mexico and El Paso, so we’re making good time to wherever we’re going.    

Sunday, February 13:   We eventually escaped the truck yard and headed back to JTNP for a 4-wheel adventure. We took the Geology Tour Road to the 11.5-mile Berdoo Canyon Road, which was mostly downhill (some pretty darn steep).  At one point we came upon a warning sign, designed to create fear and uncertainty. Of course we ignored it and pushed on. Before we head off on any unknown 4-wheel road, we always make sure to have a full tank of gas, plenty of water and snacks, in case we get stranded. We took turns driving through the rocky desert landscape, which included a lot of very sandy roads that were tough to navigate. Fester took over when we reached a particularly difficult descent, lined with boulders and sharp rocks. Near the end of the canyon, we drove past the ruins of the Berdoo Camp, which was established in the 1930s by the builders of the California Aqueduct.  The trail came out at Dillon Road, towards Rt. 10. Sadly, it was obvious where JTNP land ended and BLM property began. We started passing homemade shooting ranges, strewn with trash, broken bottles, torn plastic bags, abandoned targets and empty shotgun shells. We saw mini-dumpsites with tires, junk and even furniture. Litter was scattered all along the roadside.  Seeing the total disregard for the land really pissed me off and makes me want to scream. As we headed toward home on Route 10, we passed several cities including Coachella, Indio, Palm Desert and Palm Springs. It is amazing how we went from desert to oasis, in just a matter of miles, with the mountains remaining constant.

Monday, February 14:  Maureen, a friend back home, suggested we visit Pioneertown while we’re here.  Her daughter lives in the area and shared the info. We passed the Pioneertown sign several times already, but decided to make it today’s destination.   According to the official website https://visitpioneertown.com, Pioneertown was established in 1946 by Dick Curtis and seventeen investors (many from the film industry) to create a “Living Breathing Movie Set.”. Within its’s 32,000 acres of desert and mountains, Pioneertown became an 1880’s themed town with fully functional businesses including a grocery store, motel, saloon, restaurant, newspaper and post office.  More than 5o films & serials were filmed in Pioneertown during the 194o’s and 195o’s. There have been over 2oo productions in town and all of the Gene Autry Flying A television productions through the 195o’s were shot here. Pioneertown is still a fully functioning production set where movies, independent films, music videos and commercials are filmed every month.  Although there were quite a few people touring Pioneertown, it really comes alive on the weekend, when most of the shops and restaurants/saloons are open for business and tourists come in droves. We did see a few privately-owned homes on the property and wonder how those folks put up with all the tourists tromping thru town.

Tuesday, February 15:  We woke to a chilly, windy morning and the wind continued to pick up throughout the day, with gusts up to 50mph!  Being in the high desert, we saw a lot of blowing dust all day long.  We’ve been at Bill’s Diesel for a week now, and today we’re supposed to find out the turbo status.  That said, we wanted to stick close to home in case we’re able to pick it up from San Bernardino today. Late morning, Bill told Fester that the turbo guy was able to rebuild the turbo, but still had a few things to work on, so we can’t pick it up today.

We had some projects lined up to keep us busy while we waited. Sadie and I walked our desert loop again. The turbo guy got back to Bill before day’s end and said we should be able to get it in the morning – to check back with him when they open at 9. We took a trip to Home Depot to pick up some screws for my window blinds project and came across a really wacky car decorated with all sorts of stuff including antlers, coins, bullets, crosses, matchbox cars…you name it.  I thought the “Art Car” was worthy of a few photos.  I imagine the owner would be an interesting character with a story or two to share.

Wednesday, February 16:  The temperatures dropped and the wind howled all night long, making for a bad night’s sleep.  And, to top it off, we accidently ran our batteries down to 2% because we forgot to switch the portable electric heater to the power cord Bill let us use. As the heater slowly drained the batteries, it eventually shut down. It was very, very cold inside the coach when we got up.  Fester turned the generator on so we could charge the batteries and turn on our heater system. Gentleman that he is, Fester insisted that I drink my coffee in bed while the place warmed up. I didn’t argue.

Bill said our turbo was ready for pick-up and he asked Fester if we would mind delivering a part to the same turbo shop.  Of course, we said yes, but had to wait about an hour or so for John, the mechanic, to remove the part. We didn’t get back to the coach until almost 4 and decided to stay home for the rest of the night. It was a big relief to have the turbo here.

Thursday, February 17:  Brrrr… it was a cold 35 degrees this morning; with a high of just 57 for the day. Interestingly, back home in Willoughby (yes, we do check) the temperature was 51 degrees this morning. It’s hard to believe it was colder here than in Ohio.

Last night was our 9^th night in the truck yard, and while we’re trying to make the best of it, the experience is definitely getting old.  Fester’s waiting until 9 or so to approach Bill and John to see when they may start work on our coach.  The last few days have been very windy and chilly, which might slow down our progress since John will be working on our coach outside vs. the warmth/wind protection of a garage.  At least we have the turbo here so its just a matter of hurry up and wait.  Once we know when they plan to start work, we can make plans to do more sightseeing, etc. We’re talking about visiting JTNP again, but we’ll start at the Oasis Visitor Center and explore that part of the park.  There’s also another 4-wheel drive/high clearance road we haven’t been on yet, that we may check out.

John started work on the turbo around lunch time, and we decided to stick around. It seems Bill had John focus solely on our repairs so he made good progress. Late afternoon he was adding oil and attending to a few other important details. Fester thinks John may finish up today and we can be on our merry way tomorrow. Yes!

We’re starting to think about routes for our homeward journey. We thought about heading north toward Las Vegas then Albuquerque, but cold temperatures may cause us to backtrack south, heading for New Orleans. Although it’s only the middle of February, we need to be back the first week of April for Fester’s scheduled doctor appointment and lab work. Starting back now will allow us to take our time and enjoy a leisurely trip down the southern coast.

Sunday, February 13: After enjoying breakfast leftovers, we’re setting off for our second visit to Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP), planning to travel the unpaved roads today for some fun adventures.

Saturday, February 12:  Fortunately, Bill showed us where the “secret” key was hidden so we can let ourselves in and out of the gate this weekend.  Not being locked in is definitely good.   On our way to JTNP, we stopped for breakfast at the Crossroads Café on Rt. 62 (a diner recommended by mechanic John). While talking over breakfast, we realized we forgot our National Parks pass, which saves us from paying the entry fee. Because we had to return home anyways, we stopped at a roadside Farmers’ Market and purchased local strawberries, blueberries, Brussel sprouts and snap peas.  We also stopped at a weekly “Swap Meet”, basically an outdoor flea market with regular vendors.

After dropping off our breakfast leftovers and market purchases, we set out again for JTNP, with our National Parks pass.  We spent several hours just driving around the park, getting to know our way around. There were many places along the road to park and take photos. Later, we took one of the unpaved roads and had fun exploring the park from a totally different perspective.  According to the park brochure, the 792,510 acres park (more than 80% of it managed as wilderness) is comprised of two deserts. The eastern half of the park, below 3,000 feet above sea level, lies within the Colorado Desert.  The western half of the park, above 3,000 feet above sea levels, lies with the Mojave Desert and is habitat to the “wild-armed” Joshua tree and Mojave yuccas.  The roads and trails lead through a jumble of stacked boulders, which began underground eons ago as a result of volcanic activity. It is amazing to drive between these two deserts and watch as the habitat gradually changes.  We spent a lot of time in the Mojave Desert during our PCT hike, and remember the drastic temperature changes as the day turned to night. We hope to get back to the park at night, as the dark skies make this a perfect place for star gazing.

Friday, February 11:  We didn’t make venture out much today, and spent the majority of our time on small, but necessary projects around the coach.