Posts for March, 2011

We arrived (by plane) in Columbia, SC last night. The mission: to collect our Tiger motor home.

We were at Campingworld a little after 8:30 to have new front shocks fitted. I had organized this from home a few weeks ago in the hope of facilitating a fast turn around. It was not to be so. We were not finished until early afternoon, during the process had discovered that one of our tires was about to disintegrate, and the rear brakes both pads and rotors need to be replaced. Back on the highway we further discovered that while the shocks were improved there was still a substantial vibration. We will need to replace all 4 tires soon.

Fortune smiled on us this morning - we got 4 new Bridgestone tires at Discount Tire. It took only 1/2 an hour and once on the highway the vibration has gone -- Yippey!!

After a late start we spent some time exploring the area around Asheville. Included in these explorations was a drive to the town of Chimney Rock, a quaint little one street town at the foot of a spectacular granite tower called, you guessed it Chimney Rock. Unfortunately we could not tour the top of the rock as the elevator is being replaced and will be out of action for a year, and the track was closed until mid April.

The bare forests and Rhodies continued this morning as we traversed the Smokey Mountains. Exiting the tranquil forests and mountains into the excessively and garishly developed towns of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge (which among other things is the home of Dolly Parton, and boasts her Dollywood theme park) and Servierville was a bit of a jolt.

We parked on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Louisville this morning, strolled along the bank and made use of the weak wifi at a restaurant to update the journal and check emails. There had been a recent flood. Mud caked the walkways and boat docks, and there were work crews out cleaning away debris. The delight of the morning was a large beaver swimming along side the bank. Nina chased it for about 1/2 a mile trying to get some photos. We have never seen a beaver up close before and were surprised by its size.

We spent the morning driving across Missouri to Nixa a township south of Springfield. This is the home base of GlobalXVehicles.com an organization that builds high end custom expedition style motorhomes. We wanted to see some of their work up close and get an understanding of the range of vehicles they provide. We spent a very interesting hour or more with Mike Vanpelt, the owner and Dave Mezo the sales manager. We saw three vehicles under construction. One was a large two story motorhome based on a full size truck (you can see some of this on their website) - this is truly an awesome (and more than a little over the top) vehicle. There were also two Ford F550 based vehicles under construction. One of these (being built for a TV personality) has air bags and trailing arm suspension front and rear. All in all the work was very impressive. I was particularly taken by the level of the sophisticated engineering (both body and suspension) that the team has brought together in the relatively short time they have been in business.

It was cold last night!! To our surprise the temp this morning was 33°F. What happened to spring?

It was even colder this morning, 20°F, sunny and clear. We were up and going by 7:00 am in order to be at the Earthroamer factory by mid morning.

Boy did we get our weather predictions wrong for this trip. Another cold night with a light dusting of fresh snow this morning. However the sun was out and the sky blue. Really a pretty morning. We took advantage of the pleasant campground and lazed around until late morning before getting underway.

Our route this morning took us through the town of Ouray and on through Red Mountain and Molas Divide passes to Silverton and Durango. We knew from previous visits that this was a spectacular drive and we were not disappointed. Though we were a bit surprised, at our selves, when we realized (and observed) that Red mountain was still winter white (not red) because of the snow.

Before starting the days travel we drove along the rim road of the Canyon de Chelly, stopping at a number of the numerous overlooks. The Canyon de Chelly is only 500-600 feet deep, but spectacular, with many impressive sandstone structures. From some of the overlooks we had glimpses of Anastasi ruins built into the canyon wall. The floor of the canyon showed signs of recent agriculture, and habitation as well as a vehicle track that we understood is used for guided jeep tours.

We undertook a little more sightseeing this morning before leaving the canyon and making our way south to Flagstaff, and there after along 89A through Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, and Jerome. This is definitely a scenic route transitioning from a narrow winding canyon into spectacular red rock mountains.

We spent last night, and a very little time this morning, in Phoenix visiting with our son. It was nice to catchup as we have not seen him in some time. We will drop by again on our return journey next week. If the schedules work our we will get a chance to visit with his loverly lady Lizzie.