Update on Repairs

To start AT&T replaced my Blackberry Bold Free of charge!!!! Thank you AT&T.

I cleaned the house batteries terminals, sprayed the connectors and the terminals with a protective spray to prevent corrosion, and added distilled water to the batteries. That should take care of the batteries for a while.

The parts came in yesterday to repair the window awning. Leah picked up the parts as well as a Winegard Antenna add-on which is supposed to improve HD TV reception.

Today I installed the new torsion assemblies in the window awning and it is now back in working order. This job was much easier than I thought it would be. When it comes time to do the other side, I'll know what I am getting into.

I installed the Winegard antenna add-on, took me about 10 minutes total. This included setting up the ladder, climbing onto the top of the motorhome and attaching the add-on. Now it remains to be seen if it does in fact work better.

I am still waiting to here from the windshield repair place in Frederick to replace the windshield. I will call on Monday to check on the status of the replacement windshield. I hope to have it replaced by Wednesday of next week.

Angels and Demons

We went to see the new Tom Hanks movie, Angels and Demons, today. WE thought it was very good. It contained a lot of action and plot twists. I know there will be some who will try to make more out of the movie than it is. Remember it is just a movie to entertain you not a documentary to educate you. Go see it.

Next, I want to see the new Star Trek movie and Leah wants to see Night at the Museum. Our plan is to go to a megaplex theater showing both films at a time when the two movies are playing during the same time. Leah will go see her movie and I mine.

Memorial Day Weekend

We spent Memorial Day Weekend in Frederick, Md at the Maryland State Samboree along with 6 other units from our local chapter. The rally started off verry bad for us.

When setting up the motorhome, I did not lower the front leveling jack on the passenger's side which caused the frame to twist when I raised the backend of the motorhome. In the process the windshield on the passenger's side cracked. The drivers side windshield popped out of the gasket by 1/4 inch. but went back into place when I raised the leveling jacks to prepare to come home today. I called the insurance company to get the wheels into motion to raplace the broken windshield. I hope that we can get the replacement installed sometime this week.

Also, somehow, someway, I broke the LCD display on my Blackberry. Now when you look at the display it looks like a tie died shirt. I located a place on the internet, where else, that sells replacement LCD displays for the Blackberry. Until I get the new display, I am limited to incoming calls only on my Blackberry.

Despite all of my mishaps, we still had a very nice weekend with our friends.

Left Turn Signal and other items to be Fixed

After we got back home, I had several item on the motorhome to repair and adjust.

The first problem was the cover over our slideout was moving forward on the roller. I had to figure out a way to unwind the cover so I could slide the cover back in place. I was able to do this using a box wrench and some nylon rope. I next put some screws in the railing on the side of the motorhome to keep the slideout cover from moving.

I had to order some replacement springs for one of our window awnings. While setting up the motorhome at Holiday Park, Leah told me she could not get the awning all the way down to hook the holding strap. I told her I would look at it. To make a long story short, I pulled on the awning and heard a big noise and the awning came all the way down and would not go back up. I used some wire ties to hold the awning in the rolled up position until I can get the replacement springs.

When we got ready to head home from Waves, NC the left tail light on the toad was still not working. I thought I knew what the problem was as we had had a problem with the right tail light last year and that was the Remco light diodes were blown. Sure enough when I checked the diode case was cracked. I went to an RV repair and parts to purchase a replacement diode. They had some heavy duty diodes for $7.00 each so I decided to replace all four diodes on the toad. After making the diode swaps I tested the lights and found out I still did not have a left turn signal light on the toad. I broke out my Volt Ohm Meter and tested the trailer connection on the motorhome and found no power to the connector pin for the left turn signal. I took the connector apart hoping that I would find a loose connection, but everything was in place and tight. Now what? I started to trace the wiring back to the front of the motorhome and found a connector when the wiring colors going to the front was a different set of colors.

My next step, after spending several hours, was to post my problem on several RV forums sites. Earlier today I got a reply on one of the sites that told me there was a separate set of fuses for the trailer tow wiring harnes located up front to the left of the steering wheel. I located the fuse for the trailer left tail light, pulled the fuse and it was blown. I replaced the fuse and tested the lights. We have a left turn signal again.

Now I have to check out the house batteries.

Outer Banks of North Carolina

On Sunday the 3rd of May we left Greensboro, Md. and headed for the Outer Banks of North Carolina by way of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel to Virginia and then onto Waves, North Carolina. It was about an 8 hour trip, 300 miles, with stops. We had reservations at Ocean Waves Campground, a small well-maintained campground on the ocean. After the weekend of cool damp weather the warm sunshine made us get out the shorts and t-shirts for the week. The campground had free Wi-Fi but where we were located it was hit or miss with service so this posting was not able to be done until we got home.
On our trip down we discovered that we were infected with ticks, obviously from the campground in Greensboro. The bites caused me to have severe itching for much of the week. Tom's bites were not as problematic although we were concerned.
Our week was spent in a relaxing way. We did a walk on the beach everyday, had to keep up my cardio exercises. To go grocery shopping we had to go 13 miles south to Avon. Of course we ate out several times and had to go to Avon or north 20 miles or so to the Nags Head area.
One thing we found a little baffling was the inflexibility of the restaurants with their meal offerings. We had eaten a nice Salmon dinner at noontime at the motorhome and later that evening we went to a restaurant for supper. When we ordered a soup and a salad the waitress told us that was available only at lunchtime. When we said that we would go elsewhere the waitress did say that she would get the soup and salad as we requested. A family was there at this time with a teenage son that wanted a hamburger but it was not available except at lunchtime.
On Sunday, Mother's Day, we went to another really nice restaurant for dinner in the afternoon. I was surprised that there was a specfic lunch menu for the day that included sandwiches and a few full meals. I guess we have been spoiled by restaurants in this area offering a full menu for much of the day.
The Hatteras lighthouse is located about 30 miles south of Waves. We had not been to the relocated lighthouse so we went down and climbed the steps to the top, another workout! The museum had a video that ran for about an hour describing the relocation process.
All in all, we had a very nice relaxing warm week at the beach. When we arrived back home on Monday we were pulling out our long pants and sweatshirts- what a difference 300 miles makes. On Tuesday, Tom and I went to the doctor to have our tick bites checked out. So far nothing to b e alarmed about. It's interesting that Travis is able to be protected from Lime disease better than we are.

Left Turn Signal Problem

We had to stop at the dump station on our way out of Holiday Park to empty our holding tanks. While there, some of our friends stopped and told us our left tail light was not working on our toad. I sprayed the toad light connectors with electrical contact cleaner and tested everything again, still no left tail light signal. Well, we still had to go to Waves, NC light or no light.

Holiday Park - Greensboro, MD

Our Good Sam Club, The Traveling Americans, held our regular monthly campout.  We co-hosted the weekend along with Bruce and Cricket McGinnes.  Despite some iffy weather, we had a nice weekend.

The campground was very overpriced for what it had to offer.  We don't know about the others, but we decided that we were not going to come back here again.  The discounted price was $45.00 per night and you had to pay cash to receive any discounts.  For that amount of money, you would expect to have sewer hookup or at least free pump out service.  The campground just mowed and chopped up the leaves last fall.  Along with the rain, we were tracking in wet leafs all weekend. 

On Friday evening 16 of us went to Snappy's in Denton Md for dinner.  Leah and I went in to Denton during the day and checked Snappy's out.  We both had a crab melt which were very good.   We reported to the group that it was a good place to eat.   So, sixteen of us drove into  Denton and had a very good dinner.

On Saturday morning, the host provided breakfast for the group.  At 4:00 we have happy hour, since out weekend theme was Cinco De Mayo we had Mexican munchies and served Margaritas.   Saturday evening the campground had a pizza buffet.  The pizzas were purchased from Pizza Hut.  The pizzas were cold despite the efforts made to keep them warm.  When we went into the hall where we were going to eat, car car was parked outside a door with the engine running and its heater going  full blast.  I guess if they had not done this, the pizzas would have been even colder.  The up side was there was plenty of pizza for everyone.

Sunday morning we had a potluck breakfast of Mexican dishes.  I wish to report they all were good.  After breakfast we cleaned up, packed up, said our good-byes and headed for home or other destinations