Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Relaxing in Fort Myers

HAPPY NEW EVERYONE
We hope that the coming year will be filled with nothing but good health and happiness for all of our friends and family.

One of the first things that Sandy and I had to do when we got to Fort Myers was clean up the pickup, motorcycle and motorhome. That meant while Sandy was busy scrubbing the inside, I was busy cleaning the outside. When we think about this cleaning project we both agree that it would be nice to have the 26 foot Lazy Daze again.
Here Sandy caught me actually working, LOOK AT THAT SHINE!


One morning Sandy took the garbage to the compacter and came across this golf cart. Sandy just had to take a picture because we have a friend, Jerry, who worked at the Ford Plant in St. Paul for over 40 years.





On Tuesday, Fred, a full-time RV friend of ours from Minnesota, stopped by around noon and we went to lunch and got caught up on events since we last saw each other. When we got back to the motorhome we started to look for a lot to rent for January and February. There were a few open for January but not February. We eventually found one that we have to rent for 3 months so we will stay until the middle of March before we head to Savanna, GA.

Here is a night-time picture looking to the north from Dale and Mary's lot.

We celebrated New Years Eve here at Cypress Woods. Dale and Mary had given us their tickets and we sat at a table with Bob and Brenda, friends from Minnesota, and 3 other couples who have lots near them. The theme of the party was "Margartaville". We had a great time and I even danced (?) some. They had a DJ, gave out prizes and the JUGS (Just Us Gals) did a dance routine.

After they were done, Captain Morgan came by to offer them some refreshments and they seemed to be happy about that.








Here are Bob and Brenda dancing to a country song. I’m sorry about the poor quality picture, but it shows that they are having fun.








After we celebrated three New Year Eves (Buenos Aires, Argentina; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia; and New York City) it was time to head home. We only had a block to walk back to the motorhome so dodging all the golf carts was not too bad. Although for safety reasons, I think they should make them sound like a diesel pickup truck so they don't come sneaking up on you.

Until next time,
Dave and Sandy

Friday, December 25, 2009

A couple of days in Memphis, a week in Red Bay, AL and now we are in Fort Myers, FL.

First off, Sandy and I want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS. It's different for us to wake up to 71 degrees with 91% humidity on Christmas Day. But it's so much nicer then what people are getting back home in Minneapolis, MN.

On Monday the 14th when we got up in the morning we found out that we were on 12 volt battery power and batteries were running low. I called the factory and talked with a tech. After some trouble shooting, he thought that our transfer switch box was bad. We had partial power so we decided to stay here in Memphis and visit Graceland, then go to the Tiffin factory tomorrow and have them check out the electrical issue. We last visited Elvis’s Graceland in about 1985, the place has changed so much since then. The house and yard were all decortaed for Christmas which was Elvis' favorite season. More "tourest trap" areas (gift shops) and museums have been added across the street including 2 of Elvis' private airplanes. Sandy said that this is what will probably happen to “Neverland Ranch” now that Michael Jackson is dead.

Graceland

A room full of records and awards that Elvis received.

More awards and stage costumes from his shows.

We stayed at the Tom Sawyer’s RV Resort located right on the Mississippi River in West Memphis, AR. Tomorrow we head to Red Bay, Al to have some work done on the motorhome.

On Tuesday when we drove into Camp Red Bay. There were only about 40 coaches in the park. A far cry from when we were here before. The camp host said that this is normally their slow time, but wait until after New Years and this place will be over flowing.





On Wednesday when they came to check the automatic transfer switch, everything worked OK. Maybe it was bad wiring at the last camp site. I hope so.

It was Friday before they could get us into the paint shop where they caulked around two windows for us. We are now done here at the service center but will stick around and have some work done by Brannon at Custom RV, Inc on Tuesday of next week.

We drove to Florence, AL and did some shopping on Saturday and on the way back we stopped at a unique cemetery. I'm sure ya'all know there are pet cemeteries around. But this one is for Coon Dogs only. It was started in 1937 and there was at least one buried there this year. Some tombstones were very elaborate while others were just stick crosses made from tree branches.






















On Monday the 21st I went to the Tiffin manufacturing plant and took some pictures of a guys’ motorhome chassis that was starting the process of being made into a motorhome. This is a common occurance where someone having a coach built will ask (on the Tiffin forum) if someone could take the time to go to the manufacturing plant and take some pictures as it is being built.

The next day we had a 7:00AM appointment with Brannon at Custom RV, Inc to have some work done. After we finished there we went to the Tiffin chassis plant and had the computer in the motorhome reprogrammed to act like the “Automatic Brake Switch” which sets the Jake brake to actuate when stepping on the brakes rather than letting off the throttle. After we were done (12:45) we left Red Bay and headed to Ft. Myers, FL. We stopped around 7:00PM just south of Ozark, AL at a rest stop to get some sleep. On Wednesday morning we got up 2:30AM and were back on the road by 3:15AM. Dale, now we know why you like driving at night. No traffic.



I think we were north of Tampa when we were slowed done by a traffic jam that was created by a semi that had its trailer frame break in half. At least the driver got the rig onto the shoulder before it completely fell apart. We listened to other trucker comments on the CB radio. Their language was much more "colorful", but they said some of these trailers are built so cheap, then the put the load all in the center of the trailer rather then spreading it out.













It was around 3:00PM when we pulled in to Cypress Woods Resort where we will be for a couple of months. Right now we are sitting on Dale and Mary’s lot until they get here the middle of January. They were kind enough to let us use it until we can find another one to rent. It’s much cheaper if you can rent from the person that owns the lot, rather than through the office.



It's 72 and cloudy right now and it looks like we will be getting a little rain today on Christmas.

Until next time,
Dave and Sandy

Sunday, December 13, 2009

We have made our escape!!!!

First I want to bring everyone up to date on my brother Joe. He is back home and doing great. He had an appointment last Wednesday with his oncologist and all his tests were normal or close to normal. I guess that means the lymphoma is inactive which is great news. His next appointment will be in a month.

Now for us!!!

Last Wednesday the temperature was 14 degrees at 12AM and continued to fall all day until it was -1 degrees at 11:59PM. We had about 7 inches of snow with wind gusts of 41 MPH. It’s time to leave!!!!


Thursday we went out to eat with our friends Jerry, Donna, John and Pat. This will be our last get together until next April. We will sure miss them. The next morning Jerry and John came to the garage and helped me load the motorcycle into the pickup. After that was done Donna said "maybe you guys should head south today (Friday) rather than wait until tomorrow morning". Thanks for the suggestion Donna, because an hour later I called Sandy at home and asked, would she be OK with leaving today after she got her hair cut. Without much hesitation we were rushing around getting things done and were on the road at 3:30PM heading south. When we left the temperature was 16 degrees, but along the way it got down to 4 degrees. The roads were clear all the way, but south of Waverly, Iowa there were a lot of vehicles in the ditch from the earlier storm, including one semi that went into the ditch backwards. When we finally stopped for the night it was midnight and we were in Bowling Green, Iowa where the temperature was a balmy 31 degrees.
Saturday morning when we left Blowing Green it was still 31 degrees. Again, the roads were clear until we stopped at a truck wash in Blytheville, AK to get the salt washed off the RV. We left the truck wash and it started to rain a couple miles down the road and continued to rain to West Memphis. So much for a clean RV, but at least the Minnesota salt is off. The temperature was 42 degrees when we stopped.
Sunday will be a rest day for us, Monday we are going to find the "Ghost of Elvis". For the next couple of days we are staying at the Tom Sawyer’s RV Park in West Memphis. We can sit and watch the barges pass by as the river is only 100 feet away. Nice park to just sit and relax. Tuesday we will head over to Red Bay, AL and have some work on the motorhome at the factory. If all goes well we will be at Cypress Woods RV Resort in Fort Myers before New Years. Dale and Mary have graciously offered us the use of their site until they get down the middle of January. After which we will have to pay the big bucks to stay there. Then we have reservation at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground from 2-5-10 to 2-12-10. We have not decided where we are spending the rest of February but we will be heading to the Savanna, GA area in March before heading home in April.
We will post periodically as we go along.
Until next time,
Dave and Sandy

Monday, November 16, 2009

Change of plans.

It looks like we are going to get a later start for our trip this year. On Nov 5th, my youngest brother, Joe, went into the emergency room and found out he has lymphoma and was sepsis. They ended up doing surgery on an area that was infected with Fournier's Gangrene. Joe has been in the hospital for 12 days with the prospect of being here 2-3 more weeks or longer. He has been getting stronger each day but has a long way to go. The lymphoma is CLL and is very controllable so the outlook is looking as good as it can. I have started a site on www.caringbridge.org
So if all continues to go well we may get out of here after New Years.
Until next time,
Dave and Sandy

Sunday, October 11, 2009

A couple of fishing trips

On Monday the 21st of September, Terry G, John H and I headed out on our fall musky trip. We drove to Baudette and stayed at John’s brother’s resort overnight and the next morning we drove to Kenora, Ontario where we launched my boat and went to Pipestone Lodge on Lake of the Woods. By the time we got to the Lodge and checked in it was about 12:30PM before we got fishing. The fish were real active with lots of follows but I caught the only muskies for the trip.

This first musky was a 31 incher.





Here I am reeling in the money winning musky for the trip and Terry is getting ready to net the fish.



This musky was the money winner for the trip, a nice 46 ½” Musky. As you can notice Terry is trying to get into the picture.



The next day we did not catch any muskies today and only saw a couple.

On Thursday the 24th we saw quite a few (9) muskies, but could not get any to bite, but John and Terry were both able to land 36 ½” northern during the day.




















Here are a few pictures of the area. Thanks to John for all the pictures as both Terry and I forgot our cameras.



























During our last night we had another guest take our picture during supper. Here is Terry, John and I.





After supper each night we went out and caught a few walleye to bring back. Never had to go more than a couple of blocks to catch as many as we wanted.















When we got back home on Friday I had to get ready to leave the next day to spend a week in Hayward, WI with friends Terry S and his wife Elaine. Then on Tuesday Elaines sister Dee and here husband Marlin came over. We spent the week fishing for crappies and playing cards and domino's. The crappies were biting good enough that everyone was able to take their limits home.


Here is Terry S getting ready to land what we figured was a musky, but as these things go when using 2 and 4 pound test line, it eventually broke off. Probably was a good thing as Terry would have had to buy a new net after trying to get a big musky into that net.




Now this is a depressing sight that we woke up to on October 9th. Even though we know it's coming it would be nice to have the first snowfall later rather than sooner.





We have finished with the remodeling of the house, now next spring we will have to get the furniture buying done. Here are a few pictures



















Until next time,
Dave and Sandy

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Motorcycle trip out west.

On Sunday August the 9th, Dale (a friend and business partner), Joe (my youngest brother) and I headed out on our 10-12 day motorcycle trip. Dale and I left Savage at 7:00 AM and headed up I-94 to meet Joe in Fargo. We planned to meet at the Subway in Fargo. To my surprise my other brother Glen drove up with Joe. After lunch Glen headed back home as Dale, Joe and I headed out on our trip. This is going to be a riding trip rather than a sightseeing trip. I will be riding my 1998 Moto Guzzi, Dale his 1999 Victory and Joe will on his 2003 Victory.




We had real nice riding weather until the end of the day. It looked like we were going to be able to make Glendive, MT, but when we got to Dickinson, ND we could see this storm brewing in front of us. There is also a little road kill on the windshield.
We stopped to put on our rain gear and managed to squeeze through the storms with a minimum of rain but by the time we got to Medora, ND we figured we had better stop for the night as it looked like our luck was not going to hold up. So after 583 miles we called it a day.



Here we are leaving Medora the next morning.














We had ridden only 25 miles before our first stop of the day. We tried to get a picture as we entered each state.
Once we got to Glendive, MT we got off the Interstate and picked up MT Hwy 200.










Here we are taking a break along Hwy 200. We tried to take a stop for a break every hour.
We stopped in Choteau, Mt for the night after riding 493.4 miles. Do I need to say that no one had trouble sleeping on this trip?


On Tuesday when we got ready to leave, I could not find my riding pants. It turns out I must have left them lay on the motorcycle overnight and someone took them. Well there went $297. Today we drove north on US Hwy 89 to St Mary, MT where we connected up with the “Going To The Sun Road” for our ride through Glacier National Park.


Taking another break as we head into Glacier Park.












Here we are riding next to St Mary Lake (on our left) in Glacier Park. Joe is getting pretty good at taking pictures on the fly.












This is one of the picturesque streams in the park.














They were several areas of road construction.












After leaving the park we picked up US Hwy 93 and headed to Eureka, MT before heading south on MT Hwy 37 to Libby, MT where we spent the night. We still managed to put on 292 miles for the day.




When we got up on Wednesday the 12th it was raining. Not heavy, but rain nevertheless and it stayed with us for about ¾ of the day. Even with the rain it was a beautiful ride.






We followed US Hwy 2 into Idaho where, at Bonners Ferry, we made our first repair of the trip. While driving thru town I could smell a little hot rubber and also heard a rattle it the front of the bike. After pulling over we figured it was a rock in my brake caliper. After pulling the caliper we spun the tire and could still hear the noise, so we pulled the other brake caliper but still had the noise. Now we figured we have front wheel bearings going bad (which is bad news), but after spinning the wheel some more we found that a screw securing the front fender had worked loose and was rubbing on the tire. After tightening it up, all was well and we were on our way. Thankfully, that was the only mechanical problem we had on the road.



















At Sandpoint, ID we went south on US Hwy 95 to Coeur d’Alene, ID where we stopped for lunch and to see if the rain would let up some.




The moose in Coeur d’Alene are a colorful breed.












After lunch we drove east a little so we could drive down the east side of Coeur d’Alene Lake which turned out to be a nice scenic drive. After going by the lake we crossed over into Washington and headed south to Lewiston, ID.


Just north of town we stopped on top of Lewiston Hill and took a look at the Spiral Road before we headed down the many switchbacks to town. Now days for the nonadventurous you can take the 4 lane highway into town, but for us, this was part of why we were here.


A shot of one of the switchbacks.






After pizza and a beverage of choice we did a little planning for the next day’s segment.
We spent the night in Lewiston and ended the day with 316 miles.











From Lewiston we headed east on US Hwy 12. I think we all agreed that this stretch was probably the best of the trip. It was easy riding with the river right alongside the highway and a lot of the road was through wilderness. What a ride.
After we got back into Montana we headed south on US Hwy 93 to Darby, MT where we stayed for the night. We traveled 278 today with rain most of the day.



About 45 miles south of Darby we were back into Idaho again. After riding 100 miles south on US Hwy 93 in ID we turned west on to ID Hwy 75 which we followed down to Sun Valley, ID. It rained pretty heavy on 75 until we got to Sun Valley where it was sunny and warm. After having lunch in the area we continued south to US Hwy 20 where we turned east to ride through Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is a large area of volcanic rock that looks like the cinders you get from burning coal, bu much larger in size.












From there we continued east on 20 to Idaho Falls, ID where we got on US Hwy 26 to ID Hwy 33 to the Wyoming boarder. I had wanted to show them the west side of the Grand Tetons, but the mountains were socked in with clouds so it was just a good ride thru some beautiful country. From the border we followed WY Hwy 22 into Jackson, WY where we spent the night.
This was a 514 mile day.


After breakfast on Saturday the 15th we headed north to the Grand Tetons National Park. Upon entering the park we went to the Gros Ventre Campground to visit and have coffee with our friends, Ron and Jane, from AZ. Before we got to the park we stopped to get some pictures of some buffalo and the Grand Tetons. I’m glad we stopped as this was the only time we got to see the mountains as when we came out of the campground they were covered in clouds.


When we stopped Jane snapped a couple of pictures, the one at the beginning of the blog and this one.
Like I said, when we left the campground we were not able to see the peaks of the mountains because the clouds.


From here we continued north to Yellowstone National Park where we took the west loop up to Mammoth Hot Springs. But, about three quarters of a mile before we got to Old Faithful area we hit a traffic jam that was the resultof President Obama was visiting the site.

After 30-45 minutes they took off in the helicopters. You can see the dust from the helicopters just above and to the right of the cars.
When we got to Mammoth Hot Springs we fueled up even though the price was high. When traveling on a motorcycle you have to get it when you can.





We left the park at the northeast entrance and headed to Red Lodge, MT so we could ride the Beartooth Highway. This was one of the roads we wanted to ride.


When we got towards the top of the Pass we ran in to some inclement weather. The temperature was 30 degrees with some sleet, and later fog. Then to top it off there was 19 miles of construction.




I think Joe is asking “whats up with this’.












Once we got past the west summit in Wyoming and hit the east summit in Montana the weather got better. At least it cleared up some but it was still cold. We continued on into Red Lodge where we spent the night. The total mile today was 285.


We had planned to back track on the Beartooth this morning and catch the Chief Joseph Highway into Cody, WY. But with the road construction going on we took a different route to Cody and picked up the Chief Joseph Highway on its east end and drove west on the road to the overlook and then backtracked to Cody. Here again was a nice riding road.













From Cody we headed east on US Hwy 14 through the Bighorn Mountains. Here we have just entered the Bighorns.













Once we got out of the Bighorns and hit I-90 we headed for the Black Hills in South Dakota. When we got to Gillette, WY we stopped and got a room for the night because of heavy rains in front of us. 353 miles for the day.



This morning we are headed to see Devil’s Tower and then ride in the Black Hills. Here we are approaching Devil’s Tower.



From Devil’s Tower we rode to Spearfish, SD where we drove into Spearfish Canyon. Dale says that it was kind of nice to ride the Black Hills when there weren’t so many bikes around.
This shows the progress on the Crazy Horse Monument.



Here we are on the Needles Highway waiting for traffic to get through one of the tunnels.


Are you sure a car can get through here?



After the Needles Highway we went to the east side of the park and drove north on Alternate 16. On this road all the tunnels were cut through the mountains so you look straight at Mount Rushmore.



This train runs from Keystone to Hill City. I think our road crossed the tracks 16 times.
We had to stop for this train a couple of times.












We spent the night in Sturgis. I don’t think we saw a dozen bikes in town and just two weeks earlier there were probably 300,000 in the area. We put a leisurely 267 miles on today.

Now it’s time to head home. Our route from Sturgis was SD Hwy 34 east to Hayes where we picked up US Hwy 14.


This was one of our stops on 34.
We made it as far as Marshall, MN before calling it a day.













On Wednesday the 19th, our last day of the trip, we woke up to rain and looked at the Weather Channel. We knew we were in for a bad day as the weather was moving from west to east. Since my waterproof riding pants were stolen I have been wearing a pair of wind breaker pants. They had worked pretty good in the lighter rains that we had up to now. But Dale and I had to ride in some pretty heavy rain all the way bay to the cities. Joe faired a little better as he headed north and eventually got out if the rain. When I got home my right boot had about ¾ of an inch of water in it. Good thing that happened on the last days because riding in wet boots would have been the pits.



Home again. GPS says 3981 mile, but I know it missed a few along the way. Every time
I start the bike it shuts down and restarts, so it’s not tracking for a minute or two until it gets through its start up menu. After figuring in a 3 percent error on my odometer, I calculated 4017 miles. So officially its 4017 miles in 10 1/2 days. Great ride guys.

If you are interested the are more pictures at this web site. There are cations under the pictures so be sure to scroll down far enough to see them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dhassel999/2009MotorcycleTrip#

Now while I was off playing, Sandy was back home watching over the fiishing touches being done to the house. After I got back we still spent over a week before moving into the house on August 30. This is 2 years and 2 days after we sold our other house before going full-time in the RV

I'm off to Canada for 5 days to fish for Muskies. Then when I get back Sandy and I are heading to Hayward, WI with some friends to fish and relax for a week.

Until next time,
Dave and Sandy