Weekend at Endless Caverns

Friday, 16 July 2010

The Phaeton was cleaned inside and out prior to finalizing the purchase in May.  It certainly looked great when we picked it up in Oregon.  But a cross-country trip takes a toll on any vehicle, and the coach was not immune.  Wanting to give our “condo on wheels” a once over before we start settling into it, we’re hanging out at Endless Caverns RV Resort this weekend to take care of chores and have a bit of camping fun too.

It was capital letters HOT, HOT, HOT when we left the house around 2:15p.  The temperature gauge was reading 105F [41C] by the time we arrived at the storage lot.  There was no way we were going to be able to pull right out and get on the road.  Poor Phaeton had been baking in the sun for days.  So, we cranked up the generator, turned on the A/C to cool it down some, and used the time to offload stuff from the CR-V into the basement of the coach.  By 3:15p, we were on I-66, heading west to the junction with I-81S.  It was still hot inside the coach, but it was bearable.

The 88-mile [141 km] drive to our destination near New Market, Virginia was an easy one.  We made just one stop along the way and that was to top-off the diesel that we’d used on the last leg of our cross-country trip.  (Love’s Travel Stop — $2.80/gallon with a $.05 cash discount.)

Mount Jackson’s “Basket of Apples” Water Tower is a well-known landmark on I-81.

By 5:30p,  we were checked in at the resort office.  A few minutes later, our golf-cart escort was guiding Mui as he backed into site A24.

The Endless Caverns Gift Shop is also the check-in office for the RV resort.

There’s no map; we follow an escort to our assigned site.

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the Phaeton is settled in for the weekend.

This is a new RV resort (144 sites; $51.99/night for a full hook-up), located in a heavily wooded area.  It is still growing, with both new amenities and additional sites in the works.  If there’s any construction going on at present, it certainly isn’t evident to us.

We’d chosen a back-in site so Mui could practice maneuvering.  As it turns out, this decision worked in our favor in regards to privacy as well.  All of the pull-through sites down the hill from us are occupied.  The perimeter back-in sites, on the other hand, are mostly unoccupied this weekend.  Our nearest neighbors are four campsites away to the left; five campsites away to the right.  That’s a lot of privacy when you consider that the sites are not only wide, but they are terraced and well-spaced out as well (Mui’s guesstimate is about 20 feet [6 m] separation on either side).  In essence, it’s like we’re all alone in the middle of the forest, except that we have electricity, water, and sewer.  Life’s good!

View of the campground from the bedroom window.
(Straight down from us are empty sites with our closest neighbor
in the distance; the pull-through sites are on the left)

You can’t see the pull-through sites when you look out the windshield,
unless you go to the very front and look right.

After settling in, we went for a slow stroll around the campsites; with the temp reading a humid 97F [36C] anything more strenuous was out of the question.  We like this place and wouldn’t mind coming back in the fall or spring.  The weather then should be more conducive to outdoor activities.  And perhaps the teeny-tiny, gnat-like flies won’t be in evidence then either.  The flies don’t bite, but they are a pain nonetheless, because they swarm as soon as you sit down or otherwise come to a standstill.

We didn’t want our lentil and rice dinner garnished with gnats, so we had dinner inside the coach.  Afterwards, Mui tested the satellite without success.  The antenna did get reception from local channels, and though it was grainy, it was sufficient for Mui to get his evening news fix.

With our evening chores taken care of, we popped in a DVD to watch a movie, but it failed to hold our interest.  We could have gone down to the Rec Center for a NASCAR “tailgate experience away from the track,” but we’re not fans.  Instead, I switched to blogging, which is always fun for me; Mui opted to read for a bit.  A quiet way to bring our day to a close.

All we can see of the sunset is just a glimpse of orange skies through the canopy.

Tomorrow we have chores to do, so perhaps it’s just as well that the forecast is for high temps and thunderstorms.  We won’t be tempted to go play outside.

Next Up … Housekeeping at Endless Caverns

The Long, Long Trailer

Saturday, 10 July 2010

I’m not much into comedy; especially slapstick comedy.  So, I was skeptical when Mui asked me to see if Netflix had a Lucille Ball comedy named The Long, Long Trailer in its inventory.  Since he asked me nicely, however, I added it to the queue.

We watched the DVD before we traveled to Oregon to pick up the coach, but I didn’t have time to blog about it then.  We’re home this weekend, giving the Phaeton a well-earned rest after our cross-country trip.  What better time to post about a fun bit of fluff.

It turns our that the newbie RV adventures of Tacy and Nicky Collini (played by real-life wife and husband, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) was indeed hilarious and I’m glad we put it in the queue.  That Nicky was driving what he describes as “forty-feet of train” was of special interest considering we were going to be doing just that ourselves.

Here’s a brief plot synopsis of the movie, which is based on a novel by Clinton Twiss.  (See this Wikipedia article if you want more details.)

Nicky Collini and his fiancée, Tacy, buy (despite Nicky's extreme reluctance and dire predictions), a large trailer home (a 40-foot 1953 New Moon, which cost $5,345 at the time), so that they can save money that would otherwise be spent on a house, and also be able to travel around the USA to civil engineering projects that Nicky is employed on.

They have to buy a more powerful car to tow the trailer, a 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible with a 125 HP flathead V8 engine, and the money spent starts to mount up. The honeymoon trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains rapidly becomes a catalogue of disasters. These include Tacy's attempts to cook dinner in a tilted trailer, and a cliffhanging ride on a narrow road through the mountains.

Relations deteriorate between the couple and finally Tacy storms off in a huff. But by the film's end, they are tearfully reunited.

After we stopped laughing, we made note of two lessons-learned.  First, cooking dinner while the vehicle is in motion is not a good idea (to boot, it’s illegal).  Second, a rock collection is not a good idea when you have mountains to cross (or at any other time either; just think of all that extra weight and what it would do to your miles/gallon).

If you’re in the mood for a bit of light-hearted laughter, make a bowl of popcorn, and sit back and watch The Long, Long Trailer.

(To whet your appetite, click here to watch a short clip on You Tube.)

Maiden Voyage: Summary

wednesday, 7 July 2010

Here it is — our adjusted route map for the maiden voyage. We made only one change to the route (to avoid the Chicago area), but were otherwise good about staying on plan. I can tell you that it was hard not to deviate when we saw exit signs pointing to places of interest along the way (we could be enjoying ourselves at Yellowstone now, for example), but we behaved ourselves.

Across the US in six days.

2,900 miles [4600+ km] — 2,887 to be exact — in 57:59:59 driving hours, according to the onboard trip computer. Hopefully, our next cross-country trip will be measured in weeks and months, and not in hours and days.

With nightly rates ranging from $27 to $37, we spent an average of $31 in camping fees for pull-through sites with 50-amp service and full hookups. Couldn’t have done that had we been staying in hotels along the way. Fuel costs were much higher than they would have been had we been traveling by car, of course, so maybe it all averaged out this time.

We utilized truck plazas in order to take advantage of the faster pump speeds; it made a huge difference. Diesel ranged in price from $2.76 to $3.01 per gallon; if there was a cash discount (usually $.06), we took it. With a total fuel purchase of 325.55 gallons [1,237 liters], we averaged around 9 miles [14.5 km] per gallon on this trip. Our average speed of 65 mph [104 kph] was a bit more than the optimum; we’ll slow down on our leisure trips.

time for Q&A

Before I close, a friend asked me a few “comfort” questions, so let me address them.

Bed good? The RVs we looked at before buying the Phaeton all had queen beds. We wanted a king. Luckily, so did the former owners of the coach. Specifically, we have a Sleep Number California King with dual controls. Overall, we’re quite happy with the bed, though we’re still fiddling around with the controls to find the perfect sleep number for each of us. I took a survey on the Sleep Number website and came up with 45, but I found that number to be a bit soft for me. I’m up to 55 now; I think I’ll try 60 the next time we take the Phaeton out.

Cool enough? A/C noisy? Short answer to the first part —yes. On the hottest two days on the road, with the sun streaming in, we did use the fans suspended from the top of the windshield to circulate the air coming out of the A/C vents. Overall, however, the temperature in the coach was plenty comfortable in the cockpit and mid-section. It did get hot in the bedroom (the diesel pusher is back there, after all), but that was easily taken care of by turning on the rear A/C unit once we were on shore power.

As for the A/C being noisy. I don’t think it was; especially with the fan on normal speed (Mui noted that we have good insulation in the roof). I’d say that it was maybe a tad louder than the average house unit.

There were a few times when Mui had trouble hearing me, but I don’t think that had anything to do with the A/C being on at the time. He, like all husbands, is afflicted with SITHW (selective inability to hear wife) Syndrome.

Shower pressure decent, water pump adequate? Yes and yes; the caveat being that we were on city water at each campsite, so the Shurflo pump was not in play for the morning shower. When we were on the road, the water pump certainly seemed more than adequate to wash dishes and flush the toilet. Will report back if we find that the pump is not satisfactory for showers when we boondock (as we hope to do in the future).

Speaking of toilets, let me pass along a tip that we read in a blog. Some might think this is TMI; so be it. We found the tip useful, and other newbies will probably do so too. Line the toilet bowl with criss-crossed strips of toilet paper before you do #2 business. No skid-marks, as Mui would say, when you flush the toilet. (No need to invest in toilet bowl liners IMHO.)

Small dining table workable? Absolutely. We wanted a free-standing dinette instead of a booth. Again, we lucked out with the previous owners having already exercised that option. Four around the table would be a bit of a squeeze even with the table pulled out to its full length, but you could seat three comfortably. As there’s just the two of us in the “condo on wheels,” we don’t see it as a problem.
(Updated 07/16/2010: thanks Jeff for letting us know that the table pulls out a bit more.)

Keep the questions coming. If you’re not privy to my email, just leave a comment here and I will post a response.

Our next adventure is coming up … stayed tuned.

Maiden Voyage: Last Day on the Road

Tuesday, 6 July 2010

Greetings from Maryland, the one but last state of the trip. (West Virginia doesn’t count since we went in and out of the state earlier this morning; no double counting.)

70-79-68-81-66 — you might think these are the winning numbers for the lotto, but they’re not. Rather, they are all the interstates we’re traveling today on our multi-state drive home. We’re on I-68E at the moment, so two down and two more to go.

It’s hot as blazes today. We’ve drafted the fans mounted on the windshield to help circulate the air coming out of the A/C. At least we’re no longer driving into the sun as we were for most of the morning.

After a quiet evening and a restful night’s sleep, we headed off on our last day on the road at 7:30a. With no time zone change ahead of us, the early departure should put us at the storage facility in Virginia around 2:00p.

Our route from Ohio to Virginia takes us on five interstates and one US route.

It was a very humid 77F [25C] when we left the campground. The morning fog was thick, with the sun trying to burn its way through. Because the fog bank was relatively high off the ground, visibility on the road was not impaired as we joined the fast moving traffic towards West Virginia.

Driving into a fog bank as we leave the campground.

An hour later, conditions are only slightly improved.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge crosses the Ohio River at the
Ohio and West Virginia state line.

We’ll be in and out of West Virginia twice today.

Two signs for the price of one.

Making just a few brief stops along the way to stretch our legs, we arrived at Sideling Hill, a rest area in Maryland, right around noon. It was well into the mid 90F [35C] range; the high humidex made it seem even hotter. We found a patch of shade and parked the Phaeton.

Mui stayed in the coach (smart guy) to prepare lunch; I went sightseeing. Trekking up a .2-mile paved path. I crossed over the highway to check out the interpretive displays that tell the geologic story of a 350-million year old syncline that was exposed when the I-68 cut was made through the mountain. It turns out that the visitor center was closed in August 2009, so I did not get to see the exhibits that explain how “a formidable obstacle to travel since the earliest days when settlers were moving west” was overcome with the construction of the interstate.

It was too darn hot to climb the stairs behind the visitor center to the overlook where binoculars would have given me a closer look at the two aquifers that were intercepted during the excavation. Instead, I made do with a view of the cut from the bridge crossing over the interstate.

When the constant flow from the water-bearing strata evaporates, it leaves behind
a residue of iron oxide. Hence the reddish orange tint on the walls of the cut.

We’re entering heavier traffic areas, so it’s time to stow the laptop and put my navigator’s hat on. More later …

Later … at home

It’s 5:00p. The Phaeton has been put to bed at the storage facility and we’re home, a successful maiden voyage under our belt.

The last stretch of our drive was uneventful. With 115 miles [184 km] remaining to our destination, we took our time over our sandwich and salad lunch, leaving the rest area around 1:00p. Thankfully, we had the generator to run the A/C or we wouldn’t have been able to dally as long as we did. It was hot, hot, hot!

We’d expected that our GPS (we’re using the Garmin nüvi® 465T; designed for truckers) would likely keep us on I-68 until we reached the I-81 interchange. But no; it put us on US Route 522, a scenic shortcut to I-81. And so it was that we arrived at the storage lot shortly before 3:00p.

Don’t you just love that instead of a car, this GPS unit shows a truck on the magenta path!

It was 108F [42C] when we arrived at the storage facility; much too hot to dally outside. Shelving our plans to hose down the exterior of the Phaeton, we quickly went through the post-trip checklist, emptied the fridge, and threw ourselves into the air conditioned comfort of the car we’d left at the lot so that we’d have transportation home. We’ll go back in a few days when the temps are a bit more reasonable to at least clean the windshield and the bug spatter on the front of the coach. In the meantime, we wouldn’t mind getting a few strong showers to wash off some of the mess.

The coach and the toad-to-be — a matching pair at the storage lot.

We’d like to take the coach out this weekend, but the forecast is calling for thunderstorms. We do have plenty of chores to do around our “house without wheels,” so I think we’ll give the Phaeton a well-earned rest and see what we can line up for a bit later in the month.

Start Odometer	End Odometer	Day’s Mileage
11148	11490	342 [547 km]

Statistics for Today

Until our next adventure … thanks for tagging along.

Next Up … Maiden Voyage: Summary

Maiden Voyage: Day 5 on the Road

Monday, 5 July 2010

The shortest route we came up with when we were planning this cross-country trip took us through Chicago. Driving through big-city traffic on a post-holiday travel day didn’t sound good to us RVing newbies, so we made some adjustments. Hence the reason why we dropped down into Illinois via I-74 yesterday.

Today, we’ve already traversed Illinois and are mostly through Indiana. Our destination for the day is Cambridge, Ohio. Although the new route added about 80 miles [128 km] to our trip, so far it seems like we made the right decision. There is still a great deal more traffic to contend with in comparison to previous days, but it’s been nothing like what we were expecting.

Our route from Galesburg, Illinois to Cambridge, Ohio takes us on I-74 and I-70.

It was lights out in the Phaeton around 9:00p last night. We heard the fireworks go off at about the same time. Having gotten our annual fix by watching the Capitol Fourth on the PBS station, however, we skipped the festivities. It was certainly nice to get a full eight hours of sleep for a change.

Knowing that we’d be losing an hour to one last time zone change, we were up early and on the road by 7:30a. It was a humid 77F [25C], with heat haze making the blue skies look dingy. The temp had climbed to 98F [37C] by the time we pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot near Indianapolis for our lunch break. Had we known that there was a rest area a little further down on I-70, we would have stopped there instead. Oh well. We weren’t alone in our choice of a lunch stop — a fifth wheeler, leveling jacks down and slides deployed, was already there. As were two semis. A quick salad and sandwich, and we were on our way again.

I’ve been pretty lackadaisical about taking pictures today. Not sure why. I think that what a friend said about road-weariness setting in around the fifth day is true. I don’t feel tired though, and I really am enjoying myself, so I hope I get back to my camera-clicking self again soon. In any event, here are two snapshots I took this morning while we were still in Illinois.

Peoria Skyline

Crossing the Illinois River.

The Ohio state line is fast approaching; I’ll try and get a shot of the welcome sign. More later …

Later … Spring Valley Campground

I did get a shot of the Ohio welcome sign, but that’s about it for any pictures from this state for now. I promise to try and do better tomorrow.

Eight states down; five more to go.

The second day in a row found us arriving at our campground early; around 6:00p. We’re at Spring Valley Campground — a pull-through site with 50-amp service for $29. There are 199 sites here. We’re in B4, a wide gravel site near the entrance; “easy in; easy out” as the camp manager said when I checked in. The perimeter sites back onto trees and there are plenty of trees towards the center, but none in our immediate vicinity. Mui was happy about that as it gave him a chance to test the satellite. We did lock onto a signal, but couldn’t get a picture. Looks like he has a bit more work to do on the connections. In the meantime, we’re getting great reception with the antenna, so we have entertainment again tonight.

After we had everything set up, we went for a walk around the campground, and Mui took a dip in the pool to cool off before dinner.

How’s the water, Mui?

Anyone want to go diving for the sunken treasure chest?

Black Swallowtail
(it was having a hard time flying; i think it may have lived out its lifespan)

Dinner was another frozen entree — something with chicken. It will be nice to be settled in with our pots and pans and whatnot so we can cook some real meals in the future. Afterwards, I connected to the wi-fi to check in with loved ones. Unlike the other campgrounds we've stayed at on this trip, the signal was very weak at the site, but it improved considerably when I took the laptop over to the area near the office.

Start Odometer	End Odometer	Day’s Mileage
10642	11148	506 [810 km]

Statistics for Today

This is our last night on the road; time to get packing! We’re planning another early morning departure for tomorrow.

Next Up … Maiden Voyage: Last Day on the Road