Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Sharing My Peanuts

Now you can see why Teri wanted to get back home. These are 3 of our grandchildren that live near by. The girl, Marci Claire, is graduating from preschool thursday night, along with her cousin, and we had to be here for that. Marci Claire is so excited that we will be there for the big moment. The three in the photo are all siblings. There is a slight resemblance, don't you think? Here we are this afternoon eating peanuts. They love peanuts as much as I do. After we finished they had to have another tour of the GMC. The kids are getting old enough that they are asking to go with Teri and me. I may take the oldest one Saturday as we take the GMC and Vdub to a car show for the day. The boys wore me out this afternoon playing ball. I should have played before I ate all of those peanuts, instead of afterwards.
On the GMC front, just got a call from our very good friends, Jim and Marlys Garman. They were driving north on I-75, in Ga, today and their GMC caught fire and was totalled. Interior is gone. Jim said the fire was in the rear of the coach. The floor was on fire and he could not get it out with the extinguishers. The fire was inside the frame and he could not reach it. 3 fire trucks came and one of them ran out of water trying to extinguish the fire. They heard their bedroom smoke detector going off while they were traveling. We feel so bad for them. They had one of the nicest GMC coaches around. Jim had done so much work. They had all of the modern upgrades available. We visit with Jim and Marlys as often as we can. Spent a few days at their home last year after a rally in Lexington. We are so glad they are safe and were not hurt. Another coach can be bought. A life could have been gone forever. Good fast thinking on their part saved them. Teri and I know about coach fires as we have had our own. When that wood floor catches on fire it can really burn fast. The interior of their coach was so nice too. Jim and Marlys, you know Teri and I are available if we can do anything.
Thanks for coming around. I will have some good pictures from the car show Saturday night.
Dan

Monday, April 26, 2010

Final Day of Geocaching in Our GMC Motorhome

Take a look at where we slept last night. Boy, graveyards are quiet places to sleep. This was my first but may not be my last. Think about it, folks just don't cruise graveyards at night. Spooky I guess. We took off about 730 am, headed to Henderson to capture our first caches of the day.

I believe this was Teri's 3rd one this morning in Henderson.

This was also in Henderson. It was a bit chilly and very windy.

Teri at an artesian well. Pretty neat and right beside the road.

Wonder how they know these indians were here in 1 AD. And, they call that prehistoric?

Lots of these antique junk places along our route. The Pickers, from the History Channel, would love the route we took this week.

A quick grab in Jackson.

I love cemetaries.

The cotton picking Robins and Mocking Birds would not let us close to the cache here. It was in a bush and there were several bird nests in there.

It was so windy yesterday, and today, that we removed the bra from the GMC. I was using a couple of bungie chords and I see that is not good on windy days. I will figure out different straps before our next trip.

Check out the cache here. A refector on this road sign. It was an Altoids can with the reflector on it. I liked it.

We had a State Trooper here with us. Teri walked up and told him what we were doing. He was fine with it. Teri grabbed it and we were on our way.

Look at this old Ford pickup that greeted us as we arrived back in Dexter. I used to own one just like it. Had a souped up 100 horse flathead in it.
Was a great trip. We visited with a dear couple that we had not seen in over two years. Had a very good time visiting and being in some great technical seminars, at the rally. Was nice to learn that some graveyards are good parking for the night. Always looking for dry camping spots as we travel. too expensive to rent a spot in a rv park for one night. Have learned a little about how an automatic transmission works. We had some shifting problems on our way home. I think I can fix it with the information I have received. Took the scooter but never needed to unload it. Without a toad behind the GMC we can go most places a car can. But, I need to stop trying to turn around on a two lane blacktop. Still got mud in the trailer hitch and lodged in the back of the rear bumper, ha. Maybe Teri will work on that tomorrow.
Thanks for taking the trip with us. 900 miles and no real mishaps. Maybe you were our good luck charm.
Supper time.
Dan

Sunday, April 25, 2010

What a Ride, In A GMC Motorhome

Today has been a day. the transmission keeps kicking down to 2nd. Just got off the phone with my friend Ken. He gave me some pointers. I think I can fix it. It only has 3,000 miles on it so I know I can fix it.

If you look real hard you will see Teri in there.

We geocached once we got off of the interstate.Picked up a couple and it was church time. Stopped here in Cowan, Tn.


Here is Teri grabbing one from the poison ivy. Better her than me.

This girl is serious. She is right out there in a farmer's yard grabbing this one.

Nice old train depot. It sits on the old hiway and we would never have seen it if not chasing these caches. Lots of neat stuff just off the road.




Now, see why you need a good hand held gps? The coordinates need to be right on to locate these little suckers. I hate the little midgets. Ammo boxes are my style. Don't need my glasses for them.

Click this picture up and see what I found out in the woods on this creek. Teri was not happy with me shooting these love birds but hey, they were right out in public. At least they had their clothes on.



Now, what does this look like? Well, I almost had a wrecker on the way then this guy came by and Teri flagged him down. I was turning around and backed too far into the ditch. this old Bronco tugged us right out. Sure glad I paid the preacher this morning, ha. Glad I had a good looking woman with me too. He might not have stopped for me. I gave him 10 bux. He did not want it but he looked like he could use it.

In the rocks again.


This is a cool monument in Savannah.
Listen to this, the hiway had fallen in after the hard rains last night. Hiway 64 was closed and we were forced to drive 15 miles out of our way to get around and into Savannah. What a day.

Neat path in a park in Crump, Tn.

Selmer, Tn. We were trying to beat darkness on this one and then it came a flood. We got wet on this one. Got it quick, I was glad. Those dots are reflections in the rain. It was really coming down. We were in a real downpour last night so I wanted to be dry tonight. I could see north of Selmer we would be dry, so after this cache we took off and got out of the rain. We are parked for the night just south of Henderson in a graveyard. No one can see us from the road. A great place to park.
Hated to leave our friends this morning but we hit the road about 8 am CDT so we could get a good start before we stopped for church. Worked out well. We have 150 miles to go and a lot of caches to find. As long as we get home by dark I will be happy.
This has been a great 5 days in the GMC, even with a couple hiccups. Don't tell anyone I ran the coach off in the ditch.
Watch our tracker tomorrow. I am off to the tv. Need to find out who won the race in Talledega today.
Dan

Saturday, April 24, 2010

GMC Motorhome Gatherings

Some of the girls, playing cards. They love those cards.This one is for all of you old time hotrodders. Joe Mondello was here. He talked with us for a couple of hours this morning. I used to sit in studyhall and read the magazines that had Joe on the covers, Hotrod. He is working on some stuff for our coaches now. His place is in Crossville, Tn.

My friend, Ken Burton, taking a nap. Well deserved too. Ken was the ringleader on my Onan update yesterday. I love it when Ken shows up. Gives me a friend that I can really "gig" and get away with it.

This is another friend's coach and trailer, Chuck Boyd. Chuck is always willing to help anyone in need. He is a great mechanic.

A few of the 47 coaches parked up here in the woods. Nice campground for a GMC rally.

Here was our spot. Never unloaded the scooter, didn't need to.And, here is a nice little 23 footer for sale. New engine and tranny.
This was an absolutly great technical rally. The folks in charge did a great job setting it up. Thanks. Made it well worth the 900 mile trip. Can't wait to see everyone in Du Quoin this Fall.
Teri and I plan to roll in the morning. We will stop enroute for church services. Taking a couple of days to get back home. We have a few geocaches that Teri wants to look for as we return, probably the same way that we came. IT rained this afternoon and continues tonight. It looks like it will all be gone in the morning, I hope so. Should it be raining we may travel the interstate home. I-24 will get us within 85 miles of home.
Check the tracker when you have time. Thanks for coming with us. Pray that everyone has safe and uneventful trips back home. Some must travel further than us.
Dan

Friday, April 23, 2010

A Friday In Georgia

You know without me saying anything that Teri and I are having a blast. We are here among many of our friends. The weather was perfect today. I had some guys here help me install a solid state ignition on our Onan generator this afternoon. We had an excellent presentation on a new type of air ride system. There are 2 more technical sessions tomorrow. I can't wait. We also had an excellent catered meal and another one coming tomorrow evening. Some of our friends are cooking a full breakfast for all of us in the morning. There are 50 something coaches here. The campground is just great. Was in upper 80s this afternoon so we fired up the air conditioner. It sure felt good. I am afraid we may get storms tomorrow.
For our GMC friends I have posted several photos on the GMC Photo Site.
thanks for checking on us. All is well.
Dan

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Calhoun Ga. in a GMC Motorhome

Not a good picture of the building where we stayed last night but it gives you a sense of its age. I had intended to get a good picture this morning but we left in a hurry. Teri woke me up at 830 am. While I was in the shower there were two mowers that fired up. I jumped out and we took off as soon as I could get my clothes on, waving to the couple that we met last evening. This was a great find.Our first find of the day. Yes, that is my best friend crawling into that big rock. She nabbed it.

On our second hunt of the day.

This hiway 64 is a great ride across Tn. We loved it. Most all of it is now 4 lane but the pace is slow and laid back. We drove 50 mph a lot of today.

Just one of the sights from today's trip.


I just hit the "back " key and deleted one of my pictures. We found a place making whiskey while we were back on a little narrow road, off of 64. I guess it was legal. They were in an old school building and had a sign out front. Was about 15 miles south of Lynchburg.


64 bypasses the little towns now but Teri and I did not take the bypasses. We drove right through town. I even got run off of a truck repair place by a lady. No sooner had I turned the engine off out she came. I just fired it up and parked in the Dollar Store lot. They were much friendlier.

Click the sign, below, and see if you can read it.


This shot was taken after we climbed the mountain just prior to getting on I-24.


Oh yea, these little critters are out.  I picked up a rock and there he was.

The GMC did not even huff or puff as we climbed this mountain. I would not tow the Vibe up this thing, 2 lanes only.

Sewanee, Tn. A great place here for geocaches. The place is eaten up with them. We only chased down 3 here. Maybe we will grab a few more on our way home.
The weather was just great. Overcast and a few sprinkles. We enjoyed the ride and then we had to get on I-24, I hate interstates in the GMC. Did 90 miles on interstates this afternoon, getting to Calhoun. We are parked for the evening and will head to the rally early in the morning. The tracker was on. Go check our route when you have time.
Thanks for riding with us today. We enjoyed your company.
Dan