On The Road

On The Road
Dutch Star and Subaru ready to go

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Day 6 & 7 Ottawa to Livingston

Day 6 was a no drive day that we took off to relax at the campground in Edward, Mississippi.

We got an early start on our last day on the road and because it was Sunday there wasn't much traffic. The campground we stayed at was at the end of a half mile dirt road that covered the Jeep with dirt when we drove in and when we drove out. We drove through a little bit of rain in Louisiana but only enough to make the dust and dirt on the Jeep into mud. It'll have to be washed before we can drive it anywhere.

As it was no use stopping for the night when only a 100 miles or so from home, we continued and arrived home about 4:00pm. It was good to get home and after unloading just the essential items out of the motorhome we decided to leave the rest until tomorrow.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Day 5 on Return Trip, Ottawa to Livingston

Lots of noise last night in the parking lot so we didn't get the best rest. So after driving through Alabama and Mississippi we decided to rest for a couple of days in a campground.
Askew's Landing Campground in Edwards, Mississippi is about 20 miles from the Louisina border. It has a small lake that the pups couldn't wait to get into and they also give a discount to Escapees. - Can't beat that.
After driving through Alabama and Mississippi, Diane and I felt that they were among the most RV friendly with big rest areas that also had dump stations for RVs to empty their tanks. However the roads around Jackson, Mississippi are terrible with mucho dips and waves that cause the motorhome to bottom out if you're going anywhere near the speed limit.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Day 4 - Ottawa to Livingston

It was overcast today and we ran into a couple of rain showers while driving through Tennessee. It helped get some of the bugs off the windshield.
We're in Alabama tonight about 40 miles east of Birmingham on highway 59. Really rough road but they are working on it. We crossed over from eastern into the central time zone so now all our clocks are correct and we don't have to add an hour each time we check the time. Our supplies were getting low so a stop at a Walmart fixed that.
The pups are good travelers but I think Leo is anxious to get home so he can run free in the yard. Being on a leash all the time is necessary but he doesn't seem to agree.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

3rd Day - Ottawa to Livingston

Spent the day driving through the Appalachian Mountains in Virgina. The hills and mountains are real pretty and green as there's been lots of rain this year in this part of the country. We ran into a large road construction project and had to crawl along for about an hour but entertained ourselves by listening to all the chatter by the truckers on our CB.
We were able to get about 40 miles into Tennessee before calling it a day.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

2nd Day - Ottawa to Livingston

Made good time today.. over 300 miles and we were able to get through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and a short way into Virginia. Granted Highway 81 only went a few miles through the corner of Maryland and West Virginia.
The Dutch Star is running great and its nice to get into states where the fuel prices are coming down.
The cool relatively cool temperatures we had in Ottawa have been left behind and its getting hotter as we get further south. I hope at least the triple digit temps in Livingston have let up.
Staying the night in another nice welcome center in Virginia. These welcome centers are a handy and no cost place to stay. Also secure as last night the State Police had an office right at the welcome center. The only disadvantage is that you might get an 18 wheeler parked beside you with its refrigerator generator running all night.

The MotoSat/DataStorm is being tempermental. Sometimes running good, sometime bad and sometimes like today taking forever to connect to a satellite.

Monday, September 12, 2011

First Day Ottawa to Livingston

We were able to get everything ready and hit the road about 9:15 this morning on our first day on the road back to Livingston. I hadn't got fuel since leaving Michigan on our way to Ottawa and although I still had about a quarter of a tank I thought it best to get a little before heading out. At about $5.25 per gallon a little is all you want before crossing the border.
oThere seemed to be quite a few people in line when we got to the American Customs and the officer wanted to know the usual questions, "where are you from, where did you go in Canada and for how long, etc etc" Then he asked about fruit and vegetables and told us tomatoes were not allowed. This was just a day after we bought about half a dozen nice tomatoes at the farmer's market in Ottawa.
We stopped for the night in a nice welcome center/rest area in southern New York State about 35 miles north of the Pennsylvania border. When we pulled in we recognized the welcome center as we stopped here last year when coming home although last year when we stopped, it was during a heavy thunder storm.
The MotoSat is really bad today with internet connection worse than a slow crawl.. hopefully it will correct itself soon.