On the Road Again

Alaska – the largest state, with the tallest mountains, the largest area of national parklands, the highest concentration of glaciers, the longest stretch of coastline in the US, and the only state we have not yet visited.

That will soon change. We plan to drive to and explore Alaska with our Thor Motor Coach Axis, affectionately called “Rocky.” We’ve planned a four-month trip. We’ll take about a month to get to the Alaskan Highway – not by the shortest route, but one that will allow us to visit with friends and family along the way in Alabama, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, Idaho, and Alberta.  We’ll explore Alaska and Canada, taking about two months before returning to the US. Then we’ll take another month to return home visiting more friends in Oregon, California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.

Our home will be familiar, since we’ve already logged over 12,000 miles in trips to Pittsburgh for a wedding and a ski trip to Colorado. With the inserts, our bed is larger than king size, and, when friends join us, there’s a fold out couch that slides out and a twin that drops from the ceiling in the cockpit. The galley is small, but well equipped, including a gas range/oven, microwave/convection oven, and full sized refrigerator. We even have a navigation/computer workstation. And there’s an awesome view through the extra large windshield (hope to see Mt McKinley through it).

In a way, this is a continuation of our Great Loop Adventure with Always 5 O’Clock. We completed the loop in November 2013, sold our boat in June 2014, bought Rocky in August 2014, and planned the trek to Alaska before we settled down. Part of the plan was to visit the friends we made on the loop on our way to/from Alaska.

Al & Charli with Rocky

Bedroom

Sofa

Galley

Workstation

Day 1, 26 May 2015

Home to Valdosta, GA  243 miles

Our plan to leave early in the morning turned into an adventure when Al misplaced the keys (Yeah, we couldn’t believe it either). The locksmith from AAA rigged a new set of keys, and we were underway by mid afternoon. We camped at Camping World in Valdosta, Ga. This was a former KOA, with a pond, pool, and paved, pull-through sites. Can’t beat the $20 price tag. We stopped here to get some spare parts, since they sold Thor motor coaches. Unfortunately, they did not keep our parts in stock – special order only.

View of lake from campsite

Day 2, 27 May 2015

Valdosta, Ga to Dadeville, Al 245 miles

People warned us about cracked windshields on Alaskan roads, but we never expected that in Georgia. Well, it happened. No rocks, no pot hole, just a sudden appearance of a crack. We took pictures and sent them to Dream RV, so they could explore the possibility of warranty coverage…more on that later. Dadeville is the home of Wickles Pickles. It also has a beautiful lakeside community and home to Chuck and Susan (loopers on Blue Moon and the lead of our Great Loop flotilla from Chicago to Mobile Bay). Lake Martin was formed by a hydro-electric dam on the Talapoosa River in 1929. It spreads over 40,000 acres and more than 700 miles of shoreline.

Chuck and Susan in their sitting room overlooking the lake

 

Windshield crack

Day 3, 28 May 2015

Dadeville, AL to Nashville, TN 295 miles

Ran into heavy traffic near Nashville, slowing us down considerably. We arrived at the Nashville KOA just in time to catch the Nashville Downtown Shuttle. For $10 round trip, the shuttle picks up passengers at hotels and campgrounds on Music Valley Drive and, along with colorful stories from the driver, drops them off in front off Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville restaurant, right around the corner from the Ryman Auditorium. What a party town! There are at least 12 bars within a block, and at least 18 bands entertaining on multiple stories. All were crowded, full of folks who were singing along to their favorite songs. The sidewalks were filled with tourists, the street was busy with cars looking for parking, horse-pulled carriages, and Pedal Bars (12 passengers churning bicycle pedals with a driver steering through the traffic).  The show at the Ryman was Opry Country Classics, where headliner Pam Tilley and others covered some of their favorite old country songs. It was quite fun. And, yes, we did have some swigs at Tootsie’s to catch a good band there as well before taking the shuttle back to KOA.

At the Opry

Country Classics

Pedal bar

Day 4, 29 May 2015

Nashville, TN to Springboro, OH  315 miles

This stretch was mostly interstate highways, and the drive was therefore not very pleasant. Consider 4-6 lanes of ugly traffic, little cars weaving in and out of lanes without turn signals (probably a Napoleon complex), millions of huge trucks barreling past slamming us with a wall of wind as they go by and leaving us wobbling in the turbulence behind them. And it’s hard to stay awake with very little scenic stimulation and lots of road noise. Not a great travel day. But seeing Pat and Ian was a real treat. These wonderful people were our neighbors in State College, PA. Nice to see they are doing well, as are their children and grandchildren.

Pat and Ian in their beautiful front yard

Pat with grandson Matteo

Day 5, 30 May 2015

Springboro, OH to Indianapolis, IN  141 miles

Although we traveled interstate highway, it wasn’t so bad for the short haul. We camped at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Spartan, but adequate and a great location close to town, and only $30 for a full hookup. We biked along the White River to the White River State Park, sandwiched between the zoo and the university. All new and beautifully done, the park, and its nearby Canal District, was so pleasant. Fountains, gondolas, restaurants, folks walking, biking, paddle boating, it’s all good.

Al on the canal

Charli enjoying some wine along the canal

Day 6, 31 May 2015

Indianapolis, IN, to Winnetka, IL  200 miles

We met Dave and Jan (loopers on DawnTreader) when they were passing through the canal at Chambly in Canada. And we cruised with them as we looped from there through the Rideau Canal to Petersborough, meeting them again in Chicago. Nice to meet up with them again at their beautiful home in the north shore of Chicago.  They just remodeled their kitchen, so we got lots of good ideas for our plan to build a build a new beach house. We went to the Chicago Botanical Garden where, in addition to having beautiful displays of all sorts of plants and trees, they had an outdoor G-gage model railroad – really nice set up. Baha’i House of Worship was in neighboring Wilmette. Beautiful structure and an interesting, all inclusive, religion I had never heard of.

Model Train

Bha'i Temple

Jan, Dave & Charli at Chicago Botanical Gardens

Day 7, 8, 1-2 June 2015

Winnetka, IL to Racine, WI 61 miles

Dennis and Carol (loopers on Reunion) were part of our flotilla that cruised from Chicago to Mobile Bay. I knew these friends were keepers when Dennis said he would not leave me stranded at an anchorage on the Mississippi River when I had an alternator problem. They have a great view of Lake Michigan right out their front window! They showed us around Racine and Milwaukee (where we got Rocky a check up and oil change). We saw the Wind Point Lighthouse, several buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Harley Davidson Museum was pretty interesting. We even found a patch from Vilnius, Lithuania. And Milwaukee’s Riverwalk was fun to stroll around the modern art sculptures. Carol gave us a beautiful quilt she made.

Carol & Dennis at breakfast

Al on a new Harley

Dennis & Al doing dishes!

Our beautiful quilt

Vilnius patch