A Weekend with the Great-grand kids

Friday 30 November 2018

     We were up and out of the Moho about 9:30.  We stopped at the office to get a 100lb. propane tank delivered, off to the CU to do some banking, then to Mel's to drop off our bikes, bike rack and a box or 2 of things we had for her, a quick stop at Morgan and Shane's to drop off the Adirondack Chairs he got, then back to the Moho to drop of Rudy.  We put Rudy in his kennel then headed over to  Gilligan's for a nice, relaxing lunch (very enjoyable).  OK enough relaxing, Brad dropped me of at the Moho to get Rudy and start packing, while he ran to Etnoyer's for a longer hose for the propane tank. He got back and we finished packing, loaded up the truck and headed over to Mel's, they plan on leaving around 5:00 PM.  We stopped for some wine and pretzels, got to Mel's about 4:00, unloaded and started the waiting game.  Pere didn't get  home until 6:00, so it was 6:30 until they got on the road, by then we had all the kids fed and it was time to watch a little TV, then get the kids off to bed about 8:00.  Brad and I lasted until about 10:00 but knew we had a long day tomorrow. 

Saturday 1 December 2018

     I was up a 6:30 and the kids all followed shortly thereafter.  Diane made cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  I choked down a few and headed out to take the truck in to get fixed.  Bev picked pick me

Glad the game room is

in the basement. 

up and brought me directly home.  Diane warned us not to stop anywhere for anything for any reason as she was tending to the four kids.  The truck was done around 3pm.  Bev pick me up again and we were back by 4pm. The weather was warm but rained all afternoon so we had to stay inside.  We had grilled cheese and soup for dinner.  And by 8 the kids were off to bed again.  Now they were pretty good other than the occasional  picking, fighting and arguing.  More fun to be had by one and all tomorrow.

Sunday 2 December 2018

     Hurrah,  having served our time we should be set free around 7pm.  Diane made pancakes and bacon for breakfast so good.  We were all a little more relaxed today even Rudy came out from under the table and laid on the sofa with Cianna.  It is warm today in the mid 50's but cloudy and everything is still wet from the rain yesterday.  Karter had a marshmallow sandwich for lunch. Diane folded the sandwich in half. Karter unfolded it the best he could and ate it from the center out.  Words will not do it justice but I will try.  He had white sticky marshmallow  all around his mouth with two small streaks going toward each ear, a little like the joker on batman.  After cleaning the kids up it was nap time and we started packing up the truck.  Bake ham, buttered noodles and green beans for supper as we wait very very patiently for the parents to return. 

Week Two

Sunday 25 November 2018

     Temps are in the 30's.  we headed to storage unit to pick up hunting gear, then over to Norman's property to do a little scouting.  Drove into Wellsboro to purchase some supplies(cheese and bologna) for opening day, then back to the Moho to sort clothes and make final arrangements for tomorrow.  We are planning to go out even though they are calling for rain.

Monday 26 November 2018

      3:30 woke up cold we were out of propane!  I got up dressed and went out to change propane tanks and back in.  Now it is 3:45 alarm was set for 4:30 so I just stayed up.  The good news no rain.  Diane decided to sleep in and I got ready to head out.  Arrived at Norman's at six and the rain started and seven.  I last until 8:30 but the steady cold rain did me in.  I headed home and Diane and Rudy were actually up.  I got changed and warmed up, had something to eat the headed over to check on the Ochenrider crew.  We pulled in just as Andy (Glen's step-son) was tracking Tony's buck, a nice 8 point.  They gathered that up and headed to the house to hang it up.  A few minutes after it was hung, Glen and Andy headed back out, rain, wind and cold wasn't keeping them in.  We left shortly after they headed out, went home and got a text  about 6:30 that Glen got a nice 6 point.  Andy had shot at it, missed and it went right up to where Glen as sitting.  Off to bed as Brad is going hunting in the Morning and I am heading to the Ochenriders with him (at 5:30 AM.....ugh)  

Tuesday 27 November 2018

     I dropped Brad off at Norman's hill about 6:15 then headed over to the Ochenrider house.  Tony and Glen were up and Andy was out hunting.  It was very cold and windy, so about 8:00 I headed back down to check on Brad.  He lucked out, where he was sitting he was pretty well protected from the wind, so he stayed out and I was to head back down about 9:30 to pick him up.  We both headed back to the Och camp and as Kate was working on breakfast, about 6-8 doe were heading down through the back gutter.  Andy was out front, but as he headed in he had seen them and was scoping them out as we looked out.  He turned after that only to see 4 more doe cross the food plot, so he pulled up a chair and hung out on the front porch until he was called in for breakfast.  After that it was packing for Glen and Andy, loading up the truck and then backing to the meat pole to load up the buck.  Glen got them loaded and tied down, good-byes were said, and as he tried to pull out, he sank in the soft ground....stuck.  Brad got his truck to pull him out, took 2 different chains, Kate to move

Our First Full-timing Camp Site

her car and about 30 min, but they got him out and he headed home.  Brad headed out for the evening hunt, I helped Kate get some laundry done, no luck for Brad, so we headed home when he got in.  Hung up the hunting stuff to dry and tomorrow.

Wednesday 28 November 2018

     No more hunting this week. We left around 9am over to rent a trailer and return all the hunting stuff to the storage unit.  Back to Don and Bonnie's to loaded up the four wheeler and Walker mower for delivery to Coudersport.  It was cold and wind blew across that hill top like crazy.  The trailer was a piece of crap, and I had to shovel snow off of it,  tie down hooks were bent, ramp was busted up and the lights didn't work.  But after an hour we were on our way.  Over to Coudersport and back with a lunch stop, post office stop, wine stop and gas stop. Returned the trailer and made to the camper around 4pm. and yes we had Rudy with us.  We started packing for our trip to Harrisburg tomorrow.

Thursday 29 November 2018

      Despite packing some last night we still did not get moving until 11am.  It was cold and windy with a few passing snow flurries.  I don't know why but the 3 hour drive took 5 hours.  We arrived at the campground after 4pm. Filled up propane tanks the first site was to uneven so we moved and ended up setting up after dark. Diane drove the truck and each time she hit the brakes or used the turn signals the dashboard would flash and ding oil change required/ trailer wire failure. Needless to say happy hour was late but very much enjoyed.

Day 2

November 18 2018

     Well day 2 is over and we are slowly getting things organized.  Today was a trip to the storage unit some went in and some came out.  Then over to the old McCurdy camp to visit with the bear hunters, brother Lorin, his son Ben, and grandson Logan.  Wish I could have hunted with them but just to much stuff to get done.   Then over to visit Kate and Tony did a little snow plowing for them and the big reason was to shower.  Seems Diane is having trouble surviving without showering.(go figure)  Now we are back in the camper and it is already feeling like home.  We are having a problem getting the satellite hooked up right but we will figure it out, I'm sure.  We joined a couple Facebook groups and it is amazing how many people are out there full timing and helping solve our problems.

     I think I did mention that you should never start full timing in the winter.  We have already burned through a 30# tank of propane and the really cold stuff gets here on Thanksgiving.  Tomorrow is another crazy busy day of running. 

END OF THE FIRST WEEK.  November 24 2018

     A week has passed just like that and are having nothing but FUN.   Monday and Tuesday was

Road to Kate and Tony's

more of the same over to storage unit every day, over to visit/help Kate and Tony get ready for their thanksgiving trip and access to long showers and a free laundromat .  Temps have been near 40 each day and just mud, mud, and more mud with a little snow mixed in.  Tuesday Diane had DR's appt. and I cleaned ice off of the slide out toppers so we could bring them in as temps are to drop to single digits.  Wednesday temps still is upper 30's we brought in two slides to help with heat. The 110 outlet quit working on the pedestal so I had to string 150 feet of extension cords borrowing some from the campground.  Woke up middle of the night COLD.  I checked heat the rear furnace was not working. Outside temp is 8 degrees and it is Thanksgiving day and hot water is froze...... what more could you ask for.  Cold worked so Diane heated water on the stove so we could wash up.  I went over to office they gave me a number of a local guy called he has no parts.  Called all the emergency numbers I could find.....no one works on Moho's.    One furnace working one electric heater working and we 

Thanksgiving Dinner Crew

headed off to Thanksgiving with the family.  Got up Friday temp 5 degrees all water is froze.  Called the nearest RV dealer he is not open.  Called one in Williamsport 100 miles away they were open and had tech's working until five.  We packed in like a hour....just throw and stow.   I pulled in just before noon.  They had it fixed (new circuit card) in two hours. I was back at campground by 3:30 and everything hooked up, tanks dumped even tv hooked up when Diane returned from Kate and Tony's.   Fired up the furnaces and electric heaters and slowly all the water pipes thawed with no leaks.  One good thing,  you can go a long time on a tank of water when the pipes are froze.

Looking forward to better time this coming week.

Starting our new adventure

Saturday November 17 2018,

      A lot has happened since March.  After talking it over we listed the farm for sale on 15th of August and continued making plans for our trip south this winter.  Well the place sold in two days with settlement by 16th November.  So here we are day 1 of full-timing again with no house and all of our belongings in our new to us 2015 Meridian 40R.

                                                                                                     

Our Little Stow Away
 doesn't like the snow!!

      

We are currently staying at a RV parking area with electric and sewer, in Middlebury Center, Pa.  We have to clean out our temporary storage unit, tie up sum loose ends after the auction and visit a couple friends.  We hope to be out of here and heading south in early December.  It snowed 10 inches or more yesterday and temps are holding in low 30's.  I don't care what the manufactures say these things are not made for winter camping. Diane has been trying to get the Moho organized as we just carried things out of the house and stashed it anywhere it fit.

       

We thought selling the farm and auctioning off our belongs would be very difficult but it wasn't all that bad.  It has actually been a big relief to get it all over with.  Today is the first day and it feels good to start this chapter of our life.  First thing this morning was a trip to donation center,  recycle center and the disposal station to clean out the last load from the house.  The truck looked like Beverly Hillbilly's.... back loaded up to the cab.....inside packed full including the console....poor Rudy couldn't even look out.

       

To our friends, family, and followers from before, welcome back.  We are looking forward to seeing many of you as we travel around the country.

        

I will try to post often the first few days to let you how it is going.  And a little advise to anyone going full-timing,  never, never ever start in November.

Brad

A new Adventure begins!!

Thursday 1 March 2018

We bought another Moho the 19th of February, and are anxious to get back to camping.

But first a short summary of the last 22 months since April 2016.  We went on a few short camping trips throughout the summer/fall of 2016.  A trip to Knoeble's,  two trips to Ives Run and maybe a trip to Little Mexico campground.  We left Christmas Day to head to Florida nobody on the road we buzzed down I95 to camp ground in Ashland Va.  The rest of the trip was a traffic nightmare.  We will never travel south between Christmas a New Years.  We finally arrived at Paradise Oaks 30 Dec 2016.  We set up camp and attended the new year's celebration at the campground.

Then 2017 started.  By far the worst year of our life.  Some good times first part of the year.  We left Bushnell headed up to Cedar Key for a few days,  up to Ho-Hum campground in Carrabelle, on to Maxwell AFB to visit with Brittney and crew.  Next a county park in Gadsden, AL, then on to the SKP Acre rally in Sevierville TN, and lastly to the Freightliner service center  in Gaffney SC.

We arrived at Ives Run campground 15 May and making arrangements to go to the farm turn on water, heat etc. before unloading the camper.

The morning of May 16 2017 news came of the passing of our daughter Shawna K. at 45 years of age.

The rest of summer was mostly a blur that we fumbled our way through.  The check engine light came on in the Moho.  Cost $7,000 and it still wasn't fixed,  another $1,000 it ran but still needed another $5,000 or more in engine work and tires.  So we sold it, and that was the end of our RV'ing days.  The year moved along sluggishly for us pain, sadness, and despair. It finally came to an end.

2018 began the same way 2017 ended.  We rented a cabin for a month on Lake Panasoffkee.  The trip was terrible.  We had to stay in hotels on the way down and back.  They were expensive, dirty, extra charges for Rudy and just plain nasty.  The cottage was no better, we checked in and Diane spent the
first day cleaning.  We stayed 26 days and left.  It was good to visit our friends at the campground, Len and Gabe.   We went to the Florida National Cemetery to visit Shawna several times, a lot of tears.  We returned 11 Feb to the farm turned everything back on and settled in.

We decided we would wait a year or so and save some money before looking for a new motor home.
And the rest is history.  Signed the paper work on the 19th of February.  You all know how that goes....a deal you just can't walk away from.

2017 Fleetwood Bounder.  It was a left '17 and they wanted to get rid of it, so now it's ours.

Back at the Farm

Nice site in Dillsburg!!

Friday 15 April    We finally made it back to Dillsburg.  Another great day for traveling, sunny and 70 or so.  We should have had a easy day of travel but just as I was coming down the mountain at Caledonia State Park on route 30 the dash board display lights up.  Check engine,  service engine,  and check control display lights all came on.  I quick call to Diane before she is out of radio range and we start looking for a place to pull over.  We pulled into a empty lot added some engine oil and coolant and the lights went out and we were back on the road.   We parked and set everything by 3:30, and it was a good thing Diane called ahead for a site because the place was full.  I was not feeling well so dinner on the grill and a early night.

Saturday and Sunday     Two days of just crazy busy, truck inspection, lunch with Bev, dinner with Lynne and Rick, shopping for Pennsylvania food(sweet bologna, chips, scrapple), a quick visit with Mel and family and poof it was Monday morning.

Monday 18 April    A travel day to the farm.  I headed out around 10 for the trip north and Diane stayed to take Aunt Lida a card and chocolates for her birthday.  An uneventful ride for me, except for pulling into the driveway.  Just as I passed the mail box there were two trees lying across the drive.  So I parked and was just about done when the neighbor Don Gillman came over with a chain

Nice Welcome Home!!

saw to help.  It was cleaned up in no time and I parked around 1:30.  I plugged in the Moho and went  went to work turning on the water system, heat, and just opening up and airing out the place. Fortunately every came right on, there was a little problem lighting the water heater.....I had to read the instructions.  Diane had a much longer day visiting Aunt Lida, then stopping to shop several places for supplies we needed.   She arrived around 4:30 we set up the camper and crashed.

Tuesday and Wednesday   Another two days of crazy.  Into the post office in Westfield, the USDA Office in Wellsboro for soil test bags, one office has the paper work then drive to the other end of town for the kits.  The animals must of missed us they all came out to say hi,  three bears in the pond,  several different groups of deer including 5 buck walked around, a bunch of turkeys one of which Rudy thought he had to chase away and finally a porcupine.   Fired up the push mower....need a rider

A lot of yard at 22" a pass

sooooon.  A bit of cleaning, list making, organizing and trying to decide just what we need to move into the house.    And poof it was Thursday morning.

Thursday 21 April   We are off for a wine trail tasting event in Watkins Glenn with Lynne and Rick.  It was a short trip even for us 60 miles.  We arrived at our site and there was a big truck parked in it, a worker told us to move to the next site which we did.  I went to hook up the sewer a the sewage is almost coming out of their pipe.  So flag down another worker who gets the owner and they come back 20 minutes later and tell us some one forgot to turn on the sewage lift pumps.  A disaster avoided.  Lynne and Rick arrived around 7:00 pm  burgers on the grill, some good wine with good friends and the day was over.

A glass of wine as we
close the last Winery
of the day!!

Friday and Saturday    We were off each morning starting with breakfast and then off to the Finger Lakes Wine Trail.  Each winery was very different, some big, some small,  some very cordial some not so much, white wines and red wines.  Best of all though, was Lynne's excitement as we entered each winery and what new taste she may meet today.  Saturday night we had grilled chicken on salad for dinner and then sat by the fire and relaxed.

Sunday 24 April   It is all over and we are heading home.  The Shirks left first around 9:00 and we pulled out at noon.  We got back at 1:30.  And now the reality of just how much stuff  we have to do is setting in.

Monday 25 July    We are hard at it today.  We went to Westfield and of course first we had lunch then across the street and bought a mattress and bed frame, then up to Woodhull NY to look at a mower, a stop at the grocery store then off to home.  The house is still empty and we are surprised at how slowly we progress.  With so much to do, it's deciding what we do first that's the problem. 

A stressed out,
Brad, Diane and Rudy!!

Almost Home!!

Sunday 10 April     We were on our normal schedule we left the Shaw AFB campground around 10:15 for a 180 mile trip to Mt Airy NC.  Today was a really nice day the wind quit blowing so hard, sunny and temp's in low 70's.  We arrived around 2:30, set up camp and just enjoyed the afternoon.  Burgers on the grill and called it a day.

Monday 11 April    We could not decide what to make for breakfast so we went out to 'Sue's Diner' it was OK, don't need to go back.  Back to the camper for a shower and off to the big antique mall in Dobson.  Stopped for a coffee at Sheetz, stopped at ATM, stopped for lunch and never did find the antique store, so we went to a winery instead,  Yea.  Shelton estate winery a very nice place, we took the tour and were the only ones, so we had the guide to ourselves, back to the tasting room, where she gave us about 5 extra tastes...good wine and a purchase was made.  Back home walked Rudy and made sausages(chicken and kale) on the grill.  Just about time to eat and a little stray dog(girl) shows up to entertain Rudy.  They ran, chased, and rolled around for quite a while but eventually we had to take Rudy in.

Campsite at
Mayberry CG

Tuesday 12 April   Today we had breakfast at home, shower and headed into Elkin to the big antique mall.  We first had to stop for lunch(The Pharmacy Diner) just like it sounds an old drug store turned into a diner we had soup and sandwiches which were good.  Then off to the big antique mall.  We stopped at several small shops and found lots we liked but no purchases.  Diane saw a sign for the antique mall, I turned and we ended up in a train yard.  We stopped for coffee and decided to head back and on the way to the interstate we found the antique mall, OH YEA. We walked around for at least a hour bought two cups and saucers and then headed home.  Back home Rudy was so happy to see us he runs out the door looks all around and comes right back.  We guess he was looking for his girlfriend but she stood him up.  Dinner on the grill and the day is over.



Beautiful view!!
 

Wednesday 13 April   Another nice day for travel.. We left around 10 am for an arduous drive of 189 mile drive up  I81 to Walnut Hills KOA in Staunton VA.   We arrived at 2:30 filled up with water which took forever very low water pressure.  We finally were on our site by 3:30,  put the slides out, and were just setting up chairs when the KOA worker comes by to tell us the water is now on. Several long walks around the campground, some run time in the dog park and more long walks around the campground waiting for Rudy to do his business but that was a no go.  This is his second day of not going after eating "something" rotting by the dumpster several days ago.  Anyway,  we had steaks on the grill and sat by the fire until bed time.

Brad, Diane and Rudy

Nice site at
Walnut Hills KOA