Fair Winds and Following Interstates
July 15, 2025
While at Lake Shelbyville, we realized that we were only an hour and a half away from the American Giants Museum in Atlanta, IL. Harold was thrilled to add to his Muffler Man sightings. Located on Historic Route 66, the museum pays homage to the heyday roadside services with giant fiberglass statues.
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| Uniroyal Gal/Pie Lady |
July 2, 2025
Tag Out / Lock Out is a term used in the Navy to help prevent accidents from happening. Essentially, if a tag for a certain location is out, no one else is permitted in that location. We decided that we needed a similar policy the day I nearly crushed Harold.
I was grumpy after our third day of back-to-back travel days. We hadn't aired down the two prior nights, figuring we were level enough not to deploy jacks. We got to the campground and started our set up routine. After about 30 minutes, I wanted to be done, and I hit the autolevel button. I knew Harold was outside. I thought he was probably chatting with a fellow camper. However, I didn't confirm exactly where he was before hitting the autolevel. That was a mistake that nearly cost Harold his life. Unbeknownst to me, Harold had decided to change oil in the generator. He was under the bus when I hit the autolevel!
The next couple of minutes were sheer panic. Harold was yelling, pounding on the bus. I was trying frantically to get the automatic procedure to stop. I thought maybe he had been putting the tire covers on the wheels, and his hand was getting caught up in the wheel well. I never imagined he was literally under the bus.
Thankfully, by the time the procedure stopped, and I made it outside, he was lying on the ground next to the bus. Our neighbors were there checking on him after hearing the yelling. Shaken, adrenaline pumping, he waited a bit before sitting up.
Though he seemed to be ok, we decided to go to the emergency room to make sure. He said a bolt on the bumper caught him pretty good. He had been on the way out from under the bus, and the bumper caught him diagonally across the chest. He had been unable to breathe for a tiny bit. He exhaled and was able to wiggle out to where he could breathe and maneuver the rest of the way out from under the bus.
The emergency room determined nothing fractured, no trauma-induced heart attack, everything looked good. He'd be sore for awhile though. A couple of days later, Harold thought he "popped" something while coughing. He was sore for awhile.
I still shiver and cringe to think about it. We're thankful that the Lord chose to spare us from our actions. We learned not to engage any automatic procedure without knowing exactly where the other is located. Harold has promised to let me know any time he is doing something under the bus.
This accident should never have happened. Hopefully our story will prevent others from making our mistake. Tag Out/Lock Out.
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| Low clearance |
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| Aired up |
June 26 - July 1, 2025
After our hot, long weekend in Tennessee, we headed to Alabama and Mississippi to visit friends and family. We were expecting even hotter and more humid weather, but we were surprised to find the weather to be slightly better. Guess that heat dome was moving on.
John and Becky near Mobile graciously allowed us to stay at their place, with full hookups too. As a bonus, T.C., a Navy buddy, also came over for the weekend. Both John and T.C. are former neighbors from King George. John even helped us build our huge "deckzilla." The guys had a great weekend catching up. Becky and I lost count of the "remember when..." stories.
About two hours up the road, we stopped near Hattiesburg to visit my cousin Sheila and her family. We enjoyed seeing their completed house. The last time we were through the area, the interior walls were just being framed. After a pizza supper with birthday pumpkin pie, we headed to the river for a quick run in the boat. The girls all went swimming with the birthday girl giving her new fishing rod a try.
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| More sealant |
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| Dinner time! |
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| Three Amigos |
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| The girls turn the boat around |
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| Going up river |
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| Wind in our face |
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| Just a quick spin |
June 21, 2025
We love going to quirky, family-oriented festivals. The RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival in Bell Buckle, TN, definitely qualified. We attended the festival with our friends, Bill and Bitsy, from nearby Smyrna. The day was one of those stupid hot days, upper 90's with humidity to match. We watched the mini-parade and gathered moon pies as they were hucked into the crowd from the parade floats. I do think the Mobile Mardi Gras parade yielded more Moon Pies; but its parade was a lot longer too.
Moon Pie introduced two new flavors this year, Birthday and Key Lime. The latter is only available through Publix or Moon Pie directly.
We took turns meandering among the vendors, soaking up air-conditioning in stores, and sitting in the shade. By about 3:00 pm, we'd had enough of the heat despite the rainstorm that soaked the guys and the chairs. We left for a late lunch at Miller's Grocery, taking advantage of the free dessert coupons we picked up at the festival.
Hey, there's a National Banana Pudding Festival in October in Centerville, TN. Hmm....
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| RC and Moon Pies |
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| Grand Marshall wearing Moon Pie outfit and birthday hat |
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| Shriners! |
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| Part of the parade haul |
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| Ice cold RC Cola |
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| Largest Moon Pie |
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| Chillin' at Miller's Grocery |
The Rally After the Rally is what they called the last of our three back-to-back rallies. Held in Parsons, WV, at Five River Campground, the Newmar WV and Aloha Aires Chapters of the Newmar Kountry Klub, made an impression. Some in more ways than one after all the rain made a couple of the sites quite soft! The owners were great, and this is the place to be for the Pickin' in Parsons Bluegrass Festival.
Our rally fee included an evening with the Gandy Dancer Theatre in Elkins, WV. We had such fun clapping and singing along. The performers love what they do, pouring their hearts into their performances, and it shows. I didn't get any photos, but they do a great job.
Harold and I climbed Olson Tower for spectacular views of the surrounding area. The tower flexes in the wind, and I was thankful we were alone when there. I found myself constantly reaching for a hold and adapting a wide stance like one would on a ship. Amazing views, but I didn't linger!
We then visited nearby Blackwater Falls State Park. The falls were going pretty strong with all the rain, and the surrounding woods were a peaceful, lush green. I enjoyed the Almost Heaven swing set up by the WV tourism department.
I've always said that WV is one of the prettiest states. This visit did not disappoint.
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| Olson Tower |
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| Mountain Laurel in bloom |
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| Up and Up |
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| Hanging on |
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| Beautiful |
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| Above the trees |
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| Fern forest |
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| Blackwater Falls |
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| It works! |
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| Just swinging |
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| Approximately 57' drop |
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| Tannins in the water |
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| Going strong with all the rain |
June 8-14, 2025
We left the Fulltimers Rally and headed straight to the Newmar International Rally at the WV State Fairgrounds in Lewisburg, WV. Around 250 coaches were parked on the fairgrounds, along with at least one killdeer nest.
Seminars, vendors, excursions, coach service by Newmar and suppliers, and lots of opportunities to socialize filled the week. In Harold's case, a job opportunity arose! Though Harold decided to stay retired, I was a little proud that his skills and knowledge are noticed by others.
We had a couple of windows defogged, some caulking done, an antenna replaced, discovered that we needed to get some coach house maintenance scheduled, got our coach washed, and a check engine light diagnosed and a service scheduled for that.
Then, there's the new model year coaches to walk through. Hmm, is it time to buy? : )
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| Killdeer nest |
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| Bring extra water hoses |
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| Newmar alley |
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| Traveling parts store |
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| Training trailer |
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| 2026 New Aire |
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| Spartan chassis |
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| Techs on lunch break |
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| Volunteers |
