Saturday, February 04, 2012
Anxious to begin this new year of travels
Now that groundhog day is past and the varmit promised that winter will officially end in six weeks, we are ready to get on the road. Jo's new knee is doing quite well so she should be able to enjoy our trips this year with less pain. Yesterday evening and this morning I have been confirming reservations for our March spring break outing to the south and that is now in the books, check the website for details. We leave here on the 10th and will enjoy St. Patrick's day in St. Augustine Beach, Florida.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Here we go, July is all set
Today we have completed all planning and now have a confirmed itinerary for our July trip to Alaska. We will fly from St. Louis to Fairbanks on Saturday July 14, 2012. While in Fairbanks we have a couple of local excursions planned plus a 3 day round trip up across the arctic circle to the Prudhoe Bay oilfields and back. Then we board the train to Denali National Park where we have an all day guided bus trip into the park. Then it's back on the train to Anchorage where we have a flight-seeing trip planned to see bears plus a visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Then it's back on the train down to Seward for an all day cruise in the Kenai Fjords National Park before a bus trip back to Anchorage and the flight back to St. Louis on Saturday July 28, 2012.
check out http://www.fredandjo-onthego.com/alaska.html for more detail
Over 10 years ago, our brief visit to Alaska combined with a seven day cruise from Seward to Vancouver, BC just gave us a taste of this beautiful State and we have very much wanted to get back for more. I know that this is plenty early to be finalizing these plans but at this time all of our desired excursions are wide open and we have selected the timing of "our choice" instead of having to take what was left to pick from. We fully expect that this trip will provide us with many great photo opportunities and promise to post for all to enjoy.
check out http://www.fredandjo-onthego.com/alaska.html for more detail
Over 10 years ago, our brief visit to Alaska combined with a seven day cruise from Seward to Vancouver, BC just gave us a taste of this beautiful State and we have very much wanted to get back for more. I know that this is plenty early to be finalizing these plans but at this time all of our desired excursions are wide open and we have selected the timing of "our choice" instead of having to take what was left to pick from. We fully expect that this trip will provide us with many great photo opportunities and promise to post for all to enjoy.
Friday, November 18, 2011
ready for winter
With the nice warm weather that we have been having so far here in November I have had some good days for winterizing the trailer. Last week I finished taking care of the plumbing by pumping pink, non-toxic, antifreeze through the whole system. Earlier this week I cleaned the bugs off the front and then put two coats of wax over the front cap to help protect it from the rest of this winter.
I'm trying something new this year by putting a couple of "Damp-Rid" containers inside to help prevent mold that might result from excess humidity. In the past I have used some pouches of moisture absorbent chemicals but always wondered, "where did the moisture go?" With the "Damp-Rid" system the chemicals draw the humidity from the air and deposit liquid into the bottom of the container. When the chemicals are all gone I can dump the collected liquid and refill the cans with new chemicals, we'll see.
I'm trying something new this year by putting a couple of "Damp-Rid" containers inside to help prevent mold that might result from excess humidity. In the past I have used some pouches of moisture absorbent chemicals but always wondered, "where did the moisture go?" With the "Damp-Rid" system the chemicals draw the humidity from the air and deposit liquid into the bottom of the container. When the chemicals are all gone I can dump the collected liquid and refill the cans with new chemicals, we'll see.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
mean while back at the ol' Martin Manor
Got home this afternoon a little after 2:00 and now the laundry begins. This was a super relaxing trip but now it is time to put the trailer to bed for the winter and start planning for next years outings. To be truthful I've already started but there is more work and refinements yet to be done.
Getting the trailer ready for winter is taking everything out that could freeze and store it in the basement. Then I have to drain all the plumbing and pump some non-toxic antifreeze throughout the whole system. I need to wash the trailer and get all the bugs off the front and then wax the front in preparation for next years travels. There isn't any hard freeze forecast in the next 10 days and probably for awhile after that so I don't have to be in any big rush but might as well take advantage of these better days here at the first of November.
Getting the trailer ready for winter is taking everything out that could freeze and store it in the basement. Then I have to drain all the plumbing and pump some non-toxic antifreeze throughout the whole system. I need to wash the trailer and get all the bugs off the front and then wax the front in preparation for next years travels. There isn't any hard freeze forecast in the next 10 days and probably for awhile after that so I don't have to be in any big rush but might as well take advantage of these better days here at the first of November.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
long day
We had to have the trailer in front of the shop door at 7:00 this morning so that meant an earlier than usual breakfast. After they listed all the items that we felt needed attention we were off on our own for the day.
We started with a visit to Wall-Mart where I picked up a new Sudoku book to help pass the time then we drove into a nearby city park and watched the ducks swim around on the lake. This city park includes the campground that we are staying in and it was quiet. Mid morning we drove into town to the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari museum. Martin & Osa were pioneers in the art of wildlife documentaries filming their trips to the cannibal tribes in the South Pacific and later many safaris in Africa sponsored by the New York museum of Natural History and Eastman Kodak. Most of their films were before talkies. Martin Johnson was the photographer and Osa was a crack shot and native tribe negotiator. Martin was born in Independence, KS and Osa was from Chanute so that is why the museum is here. There were many African and aborigine artifacts and a very interesting History Channel film that we viewed.
After a nice lunch in town we went back to the park and more Sudoku until abound 3:30 when they called from the shop that our trailer was finished. There were about 11 items on our list and they had taken care of them all above and beyond the expected results and all covered under the trailer warranty. We have had great experiences with this company on both the purchase and our service needs.
We started with a visit to Wall-Mart where I picked up a new Sudoku book to help pass the time then we drove into a nearby city park and watched the ducks swim around on the lake. This city park includes the campground that we are staying in and it was quiet. Mid morning we drove into town to the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari museum. Martin & Osa were pioneers in the art of wildlife documentaries filming their trips to the cannibal tribes in the South Pacific and later many safaris in Africa sponsored by the New York museum of Natural History and Eastman Kodak. Most of their films were before talkies. Martin Johnson was the photographer and Osa was a crack shot and native tribe negotiator. Martin was born in Independence, KS and Osa was from Chanute so that is why the museum is here. There were many African and aborigine artifacts and a very interesting History Channel film that we viewed.
After a nice lunch in town we went back to the park and more Sudoku until abound 3:30 when they called from the shop that our trailer was finished. There were about 11 items on our list and they had taken care of them all above and beyond the expected results and all covered under the trailer warranty. We have had great experiences with this company on both the purchase and our service needs.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Strong winds
The trip today from Shell Knob to Chanute, Kansas was with clear skies again allowing the sun to brighten up many patches of Mother Nature's tree painting. We traveled north from Shell Knob to I-44 and then west to Joplin/Carthage and then continued westward into Kansas. We had very strong winds out of the south all the way. The last 20 miles into Chanute was straight north and I believe that I could have turned off the engine and the wind would have taken us the rest of the way.
Our campground here is a city park that is just a half mile from the NuWa factory and the first two nights are free. Should there be a need to stay more than two nights the fee then is only $10 and this includes electricity and water and a dump station that we can use on our way out toward the Martin Manor.
Tomorrow we have an appointment for some maintenance to help preserve our investment and a few warranty items that the factory technicians will take care of.
Our campground here is a city park that is just a half mile from the NuWa factory and the first two nights are free. Should there be a need to stay more than two nights the fee then is only $10 and this includes electricity and water and a dump station that we can use on our way out toward the Martin Manor.
Tomorrow we have an appointment for some maintenance to help preserve our investment and a few warranty items that the factory technicians will take care of.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Yea! we finally found some good fall color
Today the three of us drove to Springfield for a visit with Lola and then we took Wilma to her house. It's been fun having her with us these past few days and I believe that she really enjoyed her visit also. I've even enjoyed being the referee between the two Ledgerwood sisters. ;-)
Jo and I have been a bit disappointed in the lack of good fall color in the trees so far on this trip. Today's drive was different and we have had many oohs and aahs which has been great. Since Lola lives in the SE corner of Springfield and Wilma's house is in the NW corner I chose my path across town to visit some known areas where there has been a good color showing in the past. I drove through Phelps Grove Park and took these two pictures. The first one is from the parking lot looking toward the pavilion
.
Then we drove down E. Loren where the whole street was bright with color. It was a shame that the big maple in front of 606 is gone. Then we drove by Maple Lawn Cemetery which has always been a great color splash this time of year. Then we crossed town on Grant Ave. and was surprised to see that the old Holsum Bread bakery is now a brewery, I guess they found a new use for the grain.
On the way back to the campground we took 160/13 south through Nixa. That sleepy little town now boasts over 12,000 population on the city limit sign, my how it has grown. Then it was down 13 to Reed Springs and west on 76 through Cape Fair to Shell Knob. This picture is from an overlook with Shell Knob in the background on the right.
Jo and I have been a bit disappointed in the lack of good fall color in the trees so far on this trip. Today's drive was different and we have had many oohs and aahs which has been great. Since Lola lives in the SE corner of Springfield and Wilma's house is in the NW corner I chose my path across town to visit some known areas where there has been a good color showing in the past. I drove through Phelps Grove Park and took these two pictures. The first one is from the parking lot looking toward the pavilion
.
Then we drove down E. Loren where the whole street was bright with color. It was a shame that the big maple in front of 606 is gone. Then we drove by Maple Lawn Cemetery which has always been a great color splash this time of year. Then we crossed town on Grant Ave. and was surprised to see that the old Holsum Bread bakery is now a brewery, I guess they found a new use for the grain.
On the way back to the campground we took 160/13 south through Nixa. That sleepy little town now boasts over 12,000 population on the city limit sign, my how it has grown. Then it was down 13 to Reed Springs and west on 76 through Cape Fair to Shell Knob. This picture is from an overlook with Shell Knob in the background on the right.
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