From south of Mobile, in Summerdale AL we have moved on west stopping first in Poche RV Park outside Lafayette LA. We got in late and left early. It is a nice place and we have stayed there in the past, but this year it was just an overnight. Next stop was Rainbow’s End in Livingston TX where we got the Jeep and the coach inspected. Just pull into the inspection shop without an appointment and 20 minutes later after paying $14 total for both vehicles we are good for another year. We also got our mail, I needed the car to go over and pick it up, we hadn’t collected any in a couple of weeks. After two nights we were on the move again headed into San Antonio.

San Antonio was a three night stop. We had dinner with Mary and Harry, who are parents of the Assistant Rabbi at the synagogue we grew up in in Rochester. We had a lovely time and hope to see them in Rochester in the Fall-talk about planning ahead. Our other major occupation in San Antonio was time at the McNay Art Gallery. For some history http://www.mcnayart.org/ We got there at 3 in the afternoon, only to find that they close at 4 on Friday. We dashed through the special exhibit of Miro’s work from the 60’s to the end both paintings and sculpture. Although we have been fans of Joan Miro for as long as I can remember, we were not familiar with the bronzes. Oh my what a show. When I was in high school my parents had a cheap print of a Miro oil that hung in my bedroom. It went off to college with me and then with my sister Sandy and then with Yechiel and I think eventually with a nephew. Oh we could hardly drag ourselves out of the modern end of the gallery. We crossed over to the house side where the exhibits were also wonderful, but we had to leave. We returned the next day and devoted most of our time to McNay’s personal collection in her house. She was a painter herself and collected modern works of art with a wonderful eye. Photography was not allowed. If you are going to San Antonio this is a must visit. Oh yes the grounds are magnificent as well.

Sunday, oh that is today, we rolled out with a plan to be on the road bout 4 hours. We had thought about charging across I 10, but just couldn’t bring ourselves to do that so here we are back in Seminole State Park along US 90 just before we cross the Pecos River. Tomorrow we will stop early again in Marfa before continuing on to Las Cruces on Tuesday.

Following our repair at laMesa RV, we moved on across the state to St Petersburg KOA to spend the week with Carol’s brother and sister-in-law. They are significantly older than us and, unfortunately showing it. We also visited with other friends during our week long stay. We especially enjoyed lunch with Shelley and Norm who we have traveled with in our RVs over the years, going back at least to 2005. As with many RV friends that means we have been together on both coasts and many places in between. They are off the road now so we must come to them in either Block Island or near Sarasota FL. We had brunch at Bert’s home in Long Boat Key with his SO Judy. It has been a few years since we had gotten together. We go back with Bert to sometime in the ’70s when we were very active in our community in Rochester together.

Most of our time was spent with Arthur and Natalie in their apartment as they prepare for another major life change, moving to NJ to be close to their son and better health insurance than is available in Florida. This will take away our major reason for coming to Florida “on our way from Virginia to California” each year.

As I write we are back in Rainbow Plantations for the innumerable time. We are moving across the country with some speed. Tomorrow we move again with a plan of being in Livingston TX on Tuesday evening.

Just one small repair to report on. For the past 10 months or so we have been plagued with a slow draining sink in the bathroom. I have looked for help on the Tiffin Owners forum and played plumber more times than I care to think about. I have cleared the trap and unplugged the drain line more times than I can count. It seemed to have resolved itself during the summer storage until a week ago when it became very slow again. The only way I could get it to drain was to remove the stopper. Finally this morning I had about had it. I unscrewed the stopper one more time and noticed that the black liner seemed to be hanging down and obstructing the flow. I decided to compare it to an identical stopper arrangement in the bedroom vanity. THERE IS NO BLACK LINER! The inside of the stopper was loaded with an accumulation of stuff. I cleaned it out with a cuetip and the water runs down the drain freely. Another repair attributable to my mechanical aptitude and perseverance 🙂 I will admit I was just a bit slow on the uptake with this one.

It seems that every time we need an actual service center to make some sort of repair the process makes root canal seem like a more pleasant pastime. The actual repair of the Air Conditioner/Heat Pump seemed to be headed in that direction. After waiting three weeks to get a mobile tech on site, he waved his tools at it and pronounced it healed. Later that day, well after his departure, it resumed its failed ability to heat anything.

I gave up and decided to try my luck in Florida. A call to Lazy Days resulted in the information that they would deign to let us darken their threshold in four weeks or so since we had had the nerve to buy from someone else. I then remembered that we had been serviced at LaMesa RV in Sanford FL, only about 100 miles out of our way. I also remembered long and seemingly fruitless waits in an expensive campground 20 minutes or more away from the service center. Oh well getting parts can be like that. A call to Nathan, the Customer Service Rep who we had worked with two years ago got me a “sure, bring it in when you get here and we’ll take care of it.” This seemed like a bit of an over promise, but it was the best offer I had.

Monday morning we arrived from St Augustine area at about 10 AM and located Nathan. Within an hour the coach was in a service bay being diagnosed. Less than an hour later we had the news that the AC/HP needed to be replaced, and the work had been authorized by our extended service company (Good Sam). Nathan at first said it would take two days to get a new unit delivered, then he learned that he could get it the next day! Tuesday the new AC/HP was delivered late afternoon and we were scheduled to have the transplant done Wednesday morning at 9. By 11:30 we were driving the coach back to the campsite. By 1:30 we were driving it back to LaMesa as the condensate drain was spilling condensate over our door. They quickly found a kink in the drain tube that was hidden from view after installation and they installed a new more flexible tube which solved the problem. The condensate is dripping out the overflow at the rear of the coach away from the door and anyplace else it would cause us problems.

I am extending kudos to Nathan and the LaMesa crew in Sanford for taking care of a wandering full timer in an expeditious and friendly manner. Would hope I don’t have any more failures, but know I will and I can only hope that if I can’t get back to Sanford that I will find others as helpful.

I must add that despite many gripes about service from Good Sam Extended Service, this is at least the third repair they have provided coverage for in a year and at least one of those was self inflicted for which I expected no coverage at all.

On Wednesday with the weather fine and the promise of rain on Thursday we headed into DC for a major walk though the Tidal Basin and down (up?) the Mall. We took the Metro to Smithsonian by the Castle and walked around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson, FDR and MLK Memorials. We continued on to the WWII Memorial which was mobbed, it was Veteran’s Day! We continued down the Mall to the National Museum of the American Indian where we had lunch with choices of “Indian” food from both American continents. We spent more time than we expected touring the museum. We returned through rush hour to the coach with sore feet and full minds. We had walked over 7 miles and really enjoyed it. Thursday was chill and rainy and we stayed around the coach and caught up with cleaning, laundry and sundry indoor activities.

Friday we drove too far, 405 miles, but we had to in order to get to Leigh and Pat’s place in Charlotte NC before dark. Well it was 7 something and certainly dark by the time we disconnected the car on the street in front of their place. We then backed the coach into the cul de sac they live on and leveled up and planned mostly to sleep  and have breakfast on board. That was how it worked out. We had an easy dinner with them in their lovely home and got to see the garden and play with Molly. Hazel did not make an appearance at all. Saturday we went into Charlotte to visit a couple of galleries and have lunch and eventually dinner. The McColl Center provides residencies for artists for up to a year and also a lovely exhibit space. Part of their obligation is to open their studios from time to time and this was one of those days. From there went to the Harvey Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. On exhibit was a photo essay from the Selma March, the work of Charlotte Catlett and a large exhibit of work by the AfriCOBRA Now group. We closed the place and went back to the house to put our feet up before going to dinner at Bistro la Bon. I had Beef Samosas with Chili Sauce and a Salmon dish that I really enjoyed. I would be glad to go back to that place.

Sunday we woke up early, said oour farewells, hitched the car to the coach and were on the road by 9. We promised ourselves a short day, but with no reason to stop earlier we made it to St Augustine, 432 miles, St Johns RV Park – Passport America 50% discount. I cannot rate it as they gave us an overflow spot with water and electric and we pulled in as the sun set. It seems nice enough, especially for our purposes. This was the second 400+ mile day we have had and we are not supposed to do this sort of thing. But tomorrow is 80 miles! and we get into La Mesa RV early to get the heat pump looked at. I’m not betting we get it fixed tomorrow, just hoping for this week!

After that is dealt with we are on to St Petersburgh to spend some time with Carol’s brother and s-i-l, We also have some friends to visit with before we begin our westward trek.

After 4 weeks in Dan and Malena’s yard it was strange to get back into the campground, touring life style. We settled in to Cherry Hill Park and dashed off to see Bunny and Alan. Alan has had the very bad fortune to have a cancerous tumor on his pancreas. It was a very quiet and subdued visit although Bunny managed to entice me into enjoying some wonderful Maryland Crab Cakes brought by another friend. We smiled and made the best of the visit.

Sunday was a wonderful, family filled day. We visited my cousin Judy and her SO Ralph in DC. We were treated to a royal Sunday Brunch with lox and bagels and homemade kugel. We had not been in touch for several years and it was great to spend a couple of hours catching up and reminiscing. Ralph’s daughter is a professor of archaeology at Brown and. I am pretty sure, was involved with the Coursera course I took a few years ago “Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets”. It certainly is a small world that keeps getting smaller. We left there and drove to Alexandria to see Daisy and Steven’s new home there. Dinner was lovely, but even more lovely was the reception they gave us in their marvelous new home. We will be back to meet the baby next year!

Monday we were not quite done with family. We met cousin Bob (that’s Bob Levey, well known to most readers of the Washington Post until about 10 years ago). Lunch was a Metro ride from the campground to Bethesda and then a very short walk to a Nepalese Restaurant that Bob favors. Road traffic was horrible and the Metro spared us from the worst of it and parking was a cinch at the Metro station in College Park. We even got to use our Senior Smartrips which we picked up the last time we visited in DC. Once again the conversation flowed and we spent the time catching up with each other. It is so important to keep family together even though we are scattered across geography and life experiences.

So we were in DC, well Bethesda, a short step form the Metro and all of DC spread before us with a few hours before things started to close. We decided to take up one of Judy’s suggestions and stop by the Library of Congress to see the Reading Room, especially the ceiling. -you may infer a very long pause here- We LOVE libraries! We got there about 2:45 and were there until closing. The only books we saw were in the shelves around the Main Reading Room and the Jefferson Collection special library. I could repeat some of what the docent told us on the hour long tour, but you need to do that for yourselves. To further whet your appetite go to www.loc.gov. The building was built at the end of the 19th century and is a glorious temple to knowledge and learning. Indeed it is in the form of a temple. Every surface is decorated with wit and intelligence and beauty. I could spend many hours there, but we have tickets for the Newseum tomorrow and that is where we shall go.

Actually ten days have passed since the Bar Mitzvah. We have run some errands and helped take the boys into and out of Charlottesville, it really is time for Alex to get his driver’s license but that is a subject for another time. Mostly we have been sharing family time enjoying being able to spend time with the boys and their parents when they are between tasks. Incredibly the weather has been super fine. It is November 5 and I have the coach door and a window open to enjoy the warm Fall weather. It is 67 and at noon and rising.

Last Sunday Dan, Alex and I set out for a hike on the Virginia/West Virginia border about 30 miles west of Harrisonburg VA. The day was cool and damp, the rain had passed over the area where we were going to hike and had moved across Covesville too. We took a trail to a Fire Tower. I am used to spindly metal towers with a cab on top that were scattered all over the Adirondacks when I was a camper. This turned out to quite a substantial tower built out of local rock, finished by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 1930’s. The hike in was 1.5 miles mostly vertical. I was grateful to have my hiking sticks along.

 It is wonderful to go on a three generation hike. Alex continually stopped to watch the birds and to check out the plants as we went. He is quite the naturalist. I hope his interest does not wane.

Whew after all the planning and all the preparation the year has sped by and we are reliving the wonderful day in our rear view mirror – well not quite, we haven’t left yet, nor do we plan to for another week. Carol covered the “day” in her recent blog at Eyeshine.

Once again the tent was set up in the orchard, this time with walls and heaters. The family gathered Friday night at the house and the celebration began with Sabbath rituals and plenty of good food.

By 10 in the morning the tent was filling, the parkers were about done, and the service got off, just a bit late. I will admit that I had tears in my eyes for most of the service. After we finished the Torah service and Josh had lifted the Torah and we had put it away, Dan grabbed Corey and started to dance, before you could say,”this isn’t on the schedule” I was up to join them and then all my boys were circling with Corey. Then the Queen of the family, Carol, joined in and we concluded with Corey in the middle being squashed by all. Oh, was I in tears then!

After Kiddush (lunch) under the tent, the crowd began to thin. Eventually leaving just the family to reassemble for a cook out in the early evening. One tradition that has continued through all kinds of family events was that whatever Scotch Whiskey I had brought was consumed, thank you Joel for the anCnoc, it went down very well when the Lagavulin was gone 🙂 Everyone reappeared for Sunday Morning Brunch at Brookville Restaurant and then the exodus began. The last family, other than Carol and I, were gone by Tuesday morning. We are sticking around at least through Carol’s birthday.

Once again I was delighted not to be the senior family member as Uncle Josh, my dad’s brother, and Aunt Gloria attended and participated in handing down the Torah and later helping us dispatch the Scotch. It is so special to have four generations present at a celebration such as this.

My grandson Corey and I have birthdays one day apart. His is on the 16th and mine is the 17th of October. The family joke is that I told Malena to hold up on his birth for a day. You can imagine her answer, actually if you don’t know her maybe you can’t 🙂

This year we were together for birthday for the first time in a long time. Corey really, really wanted to go to Busch Gardens because, in keeping with the Halloween season, they have terror night each weekend night through October. So Friday the 16th, bright and early – 7:30 AM – Corey, Dan, Alex and I were in the car headed for Busch Gardens. about 2 and a half hours from the house. During the day we rode all six roller coasters, a couple more than once. I figure we stood in lines for 4 or 5 hours for a grand total of maybe 15 minutes of time on the rides. Three times they stopped the coasters while we were in line for “maintenance.” The first time we walked away and got in another line. The next two times we just stayed in place and watched the line in front of us melt away. One of Corey’s friends was expected to be in Busch Gardens as well and we managed to connect and Jessa stayed with us for a while. By about 7:30 we agreed we had had enough, even the boys didn’t complain about leaving even though the festivities were in high gear and spooks and goblins and nasty men with chain saws were patrolling the darkened grounds looking to scare us.

There are no pictures because I kept forgetting to get the camera out.

When we arrived back in Hungrytown Hollow the chickens were roosting in an apple tree rather than in there coop. I pulled the car to light the area so Dan and Alex could get them out of the tree. Dan vanished up into the tree and the next thing I knew it was raining chickens. He scared and shook them out of the tree and Alex ran around on the ground and picked them up and tossed them in the coop.

The next day was my turn and after a relaxing day we all went to dinner at Tavola where we had a pleasant wait in the lounge until our table cleared. I will admit to enjoying a very well made Martini which resulted in me being very relaxed for the meal and wine which was a very nice Chianti.

Birthday time is almost past. Carol’s is just two weeks off. First we need to reach a new high with Corey’s Bar Mitzvah which I have been counting down here and in other posts. 5 days to go and the first arrival will be Josh late tomorrow.

Well we are about 4 hours south of Rochester in Milton PA. We made it out of town within 30 minutes of the time I declared as my preferred departure time. Everything was nominal once I corrected my first (and I hope last) basic error of this journey. As we set up in the storage yard I very carefully went through the procedure to tow Ruby. Eventually I got in the drivers seat of the coach and engaged drive and released the brake to find no motion at all! Now what? The only thing I could think of was somehow I had not gotten the Jeep set up correctly. I grabbed the key, leaving Carol in the coach and ran back to the car. Sure enough I had put the transfer case in 4 wheel drive and the transmission in park. It wasn’t going anyplace. I pulled the transfer shifter one more notch into neutral and we began to move! NOT GOOD. I had left the coach in drive with the brake off. Fortunately Carol, in the nav seat realized this was not a good thing and she set the brake and put the coach in neutral preventing who knows what kind of disaster. Lesson for those spouses who don’t regularly drive the coach. Carol didn’t have to think how to stop it. She does half the driving so she is as familiar with the controls as I am.

The rest of the drive was without incident. The leaves along I390 in NY and I 99/US 15 in PA were mostly at or near peak color and the sun was a golden glow lighting everything beautifully. We got to Yogi at Shangri La on the Creek by 3 and had time to finish setting things up and for me to wash the bugs off the nose and windshield. Darn, there have been multiple sink bug sightings. Hate those bugs. I guess by the time we turn west we will be distributing a new crop as we go.

Tomorrow, 10/12, we plan to complete the trip to Covesville and the Dan, Malena, Alexander and Corey.

Thursday night, October 1, we went to a concert in the JCC Center Stage Theater. I’m not sure when we were in it last, certainly not in the past year. We went to hear a performance by John Sebastian and David Gristman. If you don’t know the names its okay, you just weren’t paying attention over the last 50 years. Gristman recorded with Jerry Garcia and Sebastian was all over the place as backup or rhythm guitar and harmonica and composer. They are not kids and Gristman only sang solo on one number, Shady Grove. they covered the spectrum from Rock to Folk with plenty of stops along the way.  It was a wonderful 90 minutes of unbroken music and stage chat.

Where was I? I wrote the above 7 days ago and we got really busy with doctors and social calls as we prepare to get back on the road after three months of not so sedentary time. Sunday morning the 11th we plan to hook up the car to Gee Whiz and roll to Yogi at Shangri La in Milton PA. This lets us not push too hard getting under way and leaves us a reasonable 6 hours to get to Covesville – Dan Goldberg family. We need to arrive in daylight, first because we would prefer to never drive the coach after dark; coach headlights are notoriously poor and second it takes some serious close quarter maneuvering to position the coach upon arrival.

 I have given up trying to plan our route and travel beyond Covesville. Eventually we will leave before we freeze and work our way south. We would like to visit people in Ivanhoe NC and Charlotte NC and maybe St Petersburg FL before we make our way to California. Stops along the way would include Las Cruces NM and ?? We think we will spend New Years Eve in Jojoba Hills, but will not force the issue if something distracts us along the way.

We have been entertained in our apartment by a major painting job that has been underway since June! This view from our window is common:

Skylift capable of reaching at least 7 stories Since our window blinds do not cover the top two feet of the windows we need to be alert in the morning as we prepare for the day and move to the interior bathroom when they are working outside our apartment. Maybe by the time we get back to the apartment in 10 months or so they will be done. We have more privacy in the coach. Other changes we have been watching in Rochester include the filling in of the Inner Loop, this was a four lane roadway that was set below grade sometime in the 60’s. It has functioned as a moat and has been lightly used as a traffic route. It will be interesting to see what use is made of the reclaimed land. Up north, by Charlotte beach the city has been excavating a former parking lot and abandoned land next to the Genesee River near the lake to create a sizable marina. They plan to be letting water in this week or next. There is much more going on that we will follow from afar and look forward to seeing when we work our way east next summer. We are looking forward to staying put, sort of, in Jojoba Hills. I expect we will spend more time based there than in Rochester for the future. Of course we will take our time passing through our “home state” of Texas as well. The big family things we are looking forward to are the last two grandson Bar Mitzvahs. Corey, in Covesville, in a couple of weeks and Avi in LA July 2. Add two months in New Zealand/Australia and a stop in Hawaii starting late March and we have a very full year. Next post should be from Covesville VA.