Scottiemom
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Re: I77 South
I don't know if the truck stop at Tamarack is still under construction. It was all torn up in 2023. I do believe they allowed RV's and trucks to spend the night though. If you go up to the Artisan's center, they have a parking lot with RV spaces marked. I never have, but I'm guessing you could spend the night there. It would be easy enough to ask. Much quieter up there. I often stop for a lunch break there and walk the dog. I just did an online check and it is set for the grand opening tomorrow, December 30, but is already open. The article said there were lines at all the food kiosks. Terry always joked that there wasn't a piece of ground in West Virginia long enough and flat enough to park a Class A. We always started out the day entering West Virginia and ended the day exiting WV. LOL We sometimes stayed at Camp Creek State Park, Bluefield, WV, south of Beckley. It is a small state park, but can accommodate big rigs and has a couple FHU sites. Two waterfalls within walking distance from the camp within the park. Very cool. Enjoy your travels, Dan and Patty. Travel safely! Dale138Views0likes0CommentsRe: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
Good mornings Burch and fellow FOOFs! Merry Christmas to all! Brendon (my Scotty) and I unwrapped our presents at home and then got in the car and drove the 92 miles to Brandon's in Melbourne. Normally this is a 2+ hour drive with multiple slowdowns on I-4 due to Disney, but it was smooth sailing yesterday. I actually made the drive in 90 minutes. . . a record for me, but just what it should be. The kids opened their presents from me and we had dinner around 4 o'clock. It was delicious. Brandon did a tenderloin on the green egg and he has done it so many times that now it is second nature to him. It was perfectly medium rare. We had lots of vegetables and salad and grilled pineapple with cinnamon (tastes like pineappole upside down cake). I had brought a pumpkin pie per Brandon's request. Great meal and great family. I will likely go back home today some time. Might stay an extra day, but will see. We were just together at Thanksgiving when we all went to Turks and Caicos. They have lots going on with Brynlee's activities. Hope you are all well. Dale193Views0likes0CommentsRe: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Burch and all the fellow FOOF's! I totally agree with you about this site. It is really cumbersome to negotiate and I rarely see anything written by "old" friends. I went with my son and his family to Turks and Caicos for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time. We left on Wednesday and got back last night. We flew from Orlando which was great as it's the closest airport to me. So I just got reserved parking and drove over and my car was waiting for me when we arrived last night. It was an all-inclusive trip and I took money and credit cards and didn't spend a cent! LOL My kind of vacay! We walked a lot, going from place to place and the grounds at the Sandals Beaches were beautiful. We spent our days in the pool, then also took in some excursions. Went out on a catamaran and snorkeled, visited iguana island. . . where we. . . wait for it. . . saw IGUANAS! Then they stopped so we could go off the slide and swim a bit on our own. I went down the slide twice! We also rode those big pedal trikes and kayaked. It was a busy few days and I had a great time. So glad at age 74, I could still join in on those things. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at one of the restaurants, but I was the only one who had the traditional menu. Everyone else got something else. But I love turkey and all the fixings. It was very good, but believe it or not, I like having leftovers. So I had to take one for the team there! I had thought that the islands, being owned by Great Britain, would be well appointed and nicely developed. But once you leave the resort, it was almost like a third world country. The airport was not what I was expecting. So many people, a small space and not enough seats for everyone and, of course, you had to get there 3 hours before your flight. And no A/C. Then our flight was delayed, but we did get out about 45 minutes late. It was still early enough I could stop at my friend's, who dogsat for Brendon. He was excited to see me. I love him so much and it is such a blessing to have someone greet you like a dog does when you return! My big trips that have been planned for a year are now all completed. I must say, that they have been great experiences, but I love my RV above all and enjoy the RVing lifestyle more than any of these other trips. One friend told me it's because I'm a control freak and want to be in control. She said that like that's a bad thing. LOL I know Terry would never have done either of the two trips I made this year, so I did have some fun doing them with friends and family on my own. Like I said, I'm glad my health has allowed me to do things that others prolly cannot do at my age. My son wants me to go to Greece with them in a few years, a combination belated anniversary trip posponed from Covid times and a gift for their daughter. He wants me to go to "chaperone" my granddaughter as my son and his wife want to do some stuff independently. I hope I can do that. In the meantime, it will be the RV. LOL Well, enough rambling. But I do hope you are all well and enjoying your families this holiday season. Dale337Views0likes0CommentsRe: Starting in January 2025
My husband and I fulltimed for 15 years, till he died on the road. I now part time in a smaller motorhome and I am based in Florida. You asked about Thousand Trails and KOA. We never did the TT, but know a lot of people who did and still do. There is a buy-in fee, and I believe yearly maintenance fees, but you can camp cheaply after that. If money is tight, I would wait on that till you know you can afford to keep it up. BLM land in the west particularly is cheap or free in most cases, but it is normally primitive, so you still have to think about how to get water, recharge batteries, and dumping your tanks. KOA's are expensive. Some of the campgrounds are old, but if they are still associated with the franchise, you can expect good services from them. A lot of the KOA's are now privately owned and they can be cheaper or expensive. We joined PPA, Passport America which offers 50% off campgrounds in their system. Some are good, some are bad, but we used it enough, we bought a lifetime membership and it paid for itself. Take a lot of smaller trips and get your plan in order before you leave. As was mentioned, your rig, if it has sat for a long period, will likely give you headaches, so make sure you have planned ($$$) for those. When I sold my 40' diesel pusher it had over 100,000 miles on it, but the fellow who bought it had a diesel mechanic friend who told him to take the one with the most miles because it was well cared for. That is true, especially for a diesel, because keeping anything on the road requires due diligence. Letting it set. . . not so much. If the plan is to let it set. . . buy a trailer instead. There are a lot of people who work from the road, but it does require an internet connection. Do not rely on campground wifi as it is offered mainly for convenience and not for heavy use by lots of campers. Living full-time in a motorhome is not cheap. Many people have that idea and are sorely disappointed. It offers a lot of adventure and I loved our time on the road. But money was not a problem for us. There are a lot of camping organizations that can offer suggestions: Escapees, FMCA, RVOvernights, to name a few. Check them out for more information. Dale387Views1like2CommentsRe: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
There's a lot of cleanup to do yet down here as well, Burch. In our motorhome community, we had about 20 houses damaged. Considering that we are all manufactured houses, we only lost ports. Most homes have RV ports and carports. The ones that were damaged typically didn't have anything under them, like RV's. There was one port that was twisted all to heck and the one next to it got the same treatment. The one was a total loss. From the looks of it, that may actually have been a small tornado that ripped it up. The people were not there. That would have been scary. The only damage to homes themselves was mainly facia, skirting, but no windows blown out or anything. The residents who stayed said it was the worst they had every seen, and many have lived here for 30+ years. I lost some panels up high at the transition from the carport to the RV Port. Most of the panels were laying on the floor of the port and my neighbor picked them up for me. I had a guy put them back up for me, but about half of the panels are totally missing, so I will have to have someone finish that for me. At least with what was put back up, the rain cannot blow through down onto my cars. We were flooded and I had water on two sides, but since I am not sitting on the ground, it did not get into my house or my shed. That was lucky. The canal is right behind my house. I don't think any house was flooded inside. My neighbor lost all his ductwork underneath his house. His was the flexible pipe with insulation and it all got saturated from the water under his house. It took him a couple days to get it all pulled out and replaced. We have some trees in the community, but only lost branches. Our white plastic fencing around our community was damaged and some residents got together and got it all fixed back up. There are some posts that need replacing which we will have to do, but at least we are all enclosed again. We only lost power for about 9 hours one day, then 3 the next, so all the food in my freezers is okay. I keep a pan of ice cubes in each freezer, so I know if there has been a big thaw, but all was good. One neighbor down the street lucked out and had no damage, but their house in Augusta, Georgia, got hit by Helene the week before. They lost 15 trees in the back yard and almost as many in the front. In the front yard, uprooted trees pulled up their water pipes, so they had no water, and no power. A tree fell on their one garage and destroyed his shop and a car. The bus garage, however, that has his Tiffin Allegro Bus and his custom Prevost was not damaged. They were on a cruise at the time and it took 3 weeks of nonstop work with heavy equipment to get things back in order once they got back. Their house itself was spared. I was in Virginia with my daughter, but had I been in Florida, I would have gone to my son's over in Melbourne. His house is concrete and his roof is strapped down. After a certain year here in Florida, all new houses built had to meet stronger standards. They did get the storm there, mainly tornados, but he fared well. Hopefully we won't see any more storms of that magnitude any time soon. Glad you and yours were safe, Burch. Hug those furbabies! Dale657Views0likes0CommentsRe: **BEWARE OF LA MESA RV IN DAVIE!!**
I am on my 9th RV. No way would my first entry into the RV world be in a $175,000 rig I was making payments on. Pleasure Way is a Canadian firm as well, which means to get "factory" service, you have to go to CAnada. A big reason my latest RV is built in Florida, 90 miles from my home. Dealers are notorious for their poor customer care after the sale. That's just how it is. There are some good ones out there, but generally speaking, it's not the norm. And it's not uncommon to find that not all Mercedes dealers will service a motorhome chassis. My current RV is on a Ford Transit and not all Ford dealers will service it. I knew that when I bought it and know where I can get it serviced in my area. The best thing is to do your research and homework before the sale. . . not try to figure it out once you have problems.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
So glad you and yours made it through, Burch. People who stayed in my community said the same thing you did. We are a manufactured home community, but the damages were confined to the bus ports/carports and some skirting and facia. I haven't seen any windows blown out or trees down, but a lot of tree/bush debris. Fortunately no home damage. We were flooded as well and my house looked like it was sitting in a lake. Water came within about 10 feet of entering under my ports, but it didn't. Even though I had water all around, it didn't get into my house or into my shed, which sits right on the ground. My back yard slopes to the canal, and my house is up on blocks and anchored there, so I didn't have any damage from water. That was a miracle. I did lose some pieces of skirting up high where my carport transitions to the bus port. My neighbor picked up pieces that were laying on the ground, but I am missing some that blew away. I had a guy who was working around the community re-tack some pieces still up there that were loose and flapping in the breeze and then he reattached the ones that had been picked up. I'm still missing some and will have to have some new pieces put up, but at least everything up there is secure now. A friend came down with his tall ladder and inspected my roof. It is fine. He also reattached my TV antenna which had pulled out on one side and was interfering with TV reception. That affects my kitchen TV which isn't hooked up to cable. But all seems well. Overall our community feels very lucky since we aren't living in hurricane rated homes. It will be weeks before we get the debris all cleaned up. Plus we had major damage to our plastic fencing that secures our community. Several of the guys in the "hood" were out the next several days and reset the fence, so we are once again enclosed. Our section (we have 5) only lost power for about 9 hours total, so I didn't lose anything in my freezer. I keep dishes of ice cubes in the freezers. If they melt and refreeze solid, I know the food is toast. But I still had ice cubes! My son in Melbourne got hit as well. His house is poured concrete, though, and his roof is tied down. He had his truck pulled across in front of his garage. He had his garage door open and was standing leaning on his truck and saw a tornado rip down the street in front of him. He lives on the edge of a cul-de-sac and he saw it swoop down in the circle, then speed down the street. He estimated it was an EF0. He felt it was definitely a small tornado from the spin and the damage it was doing. Some other neighbors saw it as well. If I had not been visiting my daughter in Virginia, I would have been at his house. I would not have stayed here. One couple down the street had no damage here, but Helene hit their house in Augusta, Georgia. They lost 15 trees in the back yard and more in the front. Trees uprooted in the front ripped out their water lines going to the house. They have it mostly cleaned up now. One tree fell on a garage that had his workshop and a car in it totaling all that. He also has a bus garage with his custom Prevost and Allegro Bus in it that was unscathed. Prayers for those still cleaning up and recovering from losses. Dale864Views0likes0Comments
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