Sherry's Place

Mt. Baker National Forest in Washington State's Cascade Mountains

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:33:00 -0400

Stunning scenery, magnificent forests, and well maintained roads greeted us on a side trip during our recent visit to Seattle, Washington. We drove through portions of the Mt. Baker National Forest.Â There were very few people in the area as we toured in the middle of the week.

The views along the road were spectacular. What a display of nature’s beauty was presented for us!

Big 4 Mountain was named for an ice and snow bank that at one time looked like a large number 4 on the side of the mountain. There used to be an active railroad and a resort-spa hotel on this site.

Cooking in the RV trailer: Yea, you have to eat

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:49:00 -0400

Well we now have begun to claim a certain level of comfort with our Starcraft AR-ONE RV trailer. After a few trips out the set-up is beginning to become familiar. I have become somewhat proficient in the unhitching of the trailer from the TV (tow vehicle, remember?). DW is great at the initial set-up of the interior of the rig once I have it stabilized and level.

But now, what the heck are we going to eat on these adventures into the world of RV camping? Our first night out we didn’t have much food (no food, really). Remember the GPS directed us to the CiCi’s pizza that wasn’t a CiCi’s? That was the night we hit the Burger King next to the truck stop.

Our RV trailer is outfitted with a neat two burner LP gas stove and a nice sized microwave above complete with a rotating turntable. Dang thing has more features and buttons than the one we have at home. The problem with the stove area is that that is where I have been putting my stuff that normally hits the dresser at home. You know: Keys (now two sets, TV and RV), wallet, pocketknife, sunglasses etc. I have been told the next time out I have to find a better place for my stuff.

We decided that we would each prepare supper for ourselves the second time we were out. I’d prepare what I wanted and Sherry would do the same. Allow me to now share with you, dear reader, the culinary delight that I prepared for my supper one night.

The next time we head out I’ll pack a couple of stove cook pans, find a non-stove top location for my stuff, and cook some good vittles for us. Thus the learning curve continues. Stay tuned.

Metal detecting an old church site with the Garrett GTP 1350

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:17:00 -0400

Our Garrett GTP 1350 complete with headphones was in the vehicle along with the digging trowel and an old sheath knife. The early evening weather was nearly perfect for metal detecting and treasure hunting. Off we went to the site of an old country church.

I had been thinking of this site as a potential for metal detecting for some time. I remembered when the church, a small yet stoic brick structure stood by the highway, with its cemetery on the same lot. All that is left of the church now are the outlines of the rectangular shaped foundation and the old concrete steps that once led to the front door.

Being a gathering place over the years tagged this site as having a decent potential for some older finds with the metal detector. Remembering some of the tips read on some forums led me to want to swing the Garrett here. The GTP 1350 is a great detector with the capability to shift back and forth from two different search modes. For this site I chose ‘coins’ and ‘jewelry’.

My initial sweeps around a couple of trees near where the back of the church lay did not produce any hits. Moving along the outside edge of the foundation did result in some hits. The Garrett GTP 1350 was able to pinpoint these hits as being large pieces of iron metal at depths of 10 inches or better.

The pinpointing and profiling features of the 1350 enabled me to ascertain which hits I wanted to pursue. I chose not to dig these deep hits at this site.

I was interested in items within a very few inches of the surface. No coins or rings were found. I did hit a couple of pieces of metal at shallow depths. One was probably a piece of a can, while the other was a larger piece of a thin silvery metal, ID as yet unknown. I plan on returning to this site soon. I’m feeling there is a lot more there.

The Good Sam Club Provides Many Services to RV Users

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:34:00 -0400

When we purchased our Starcraft AR-ONE travel trailer from a Camping World dealer, we received a complimentary one year membership to the Good Sam Club. I knew little about this organization, but soon discovered that membership does have its privileges!

The Good Sam Club has been around for several decades. The story goes that in the 1960’s an independent group of folks who traveled around the country in travel trailers and RV’s decided to put bumper stickers on their rigs proclaiming that they were “Good Samaritans” willing to help those who were having trouble on the road.

That humble beginning has led to a huge international organization devoted to providing a plethora of services to the current RV community. Its stated purpose is to make RV travel safer and more enjoyable. In addition, membership enables members to save money through Club-endorsed benefits and services. Owners of recreational vehicles of all types belong to the Good Sam Club. Company websites claim over one million members.

Perhaps the greatest service provided is the establishment of a series of 1700 Good Sam Club Parks throughout the country. These parks are inspected annually to insure that high standards of both park management and the physical facilities meet the Good Sam Club standards. Members of the Good Sam Club also enjoy a 10% discount on the fees at these approved campgrounds and RV parks. In the short time we have been traveling with our RV, we have saved a decent amount of money using our Good Sam Club discount.

Other services offered to the membership include RV roadside assistance, insurance, extended warranties and even a Visa rewards card. The Good Sam Club website offers a tremendous amount of information, even if you are not a member. Camping World RV sales, service and stores scattered around the country are owned by the same parent company as Good Sam Club.

Unique Lighthouses in Downtown Sandusky, Ohio

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:17:00 -0400

Sandusky, Ohio proudly displays a series of six feet tall lighthouses throughout the town and surrounding areas. Each lighthouse is painted in a different theme by different artists. Known as “A Light in the Harbor 2011” this collection is delightful to view.

On our trip to Lake Erie and Sandusky we began to see these colorful lighthouses on what seemed to be every corner as we approached downtown Sandusky. Several were located within a block of each other near the court house.

Read about this unique public art display and art auction here.

NPS Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial on an Island in Lake Erie

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 22:47:00 -0400

Put In Bay, Ohio is on an island in Lake Erie. A popular recreational destination, it is the site of the National Park Service Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial. It honors those who fought in the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. In addition, it celebrates the long peace between Canada, Great Britain and the United States.

The Memorial tower is one of the largest in the country. The Visitor’s Center is a museum in and of itself. Read a complete article about the site and travel information here.

Ferry to Put In Bay, South Bass Island in Lake Erie

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 15:11:00 -0400

We thoroughly enjoyed the ferry ride from Port Clinton to Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island. We left our vehicle and RV parked and walked onto the ferry. Several vehicles and lots of people with bicycles and pedestrians rode the ferry.

Miller Boat Line Ferry boat to the island

View from the upper deck, ferry approaching the island. The boat could hold about 150 walk on passengers.

Approaching the dock on South Bass Island

Sandusky, Ohio Merry-Go-Round Museum

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 14:54:00 -0400

Recently we took our RV travel trailer on a trip to Sandusky, Ohio and Lake Erie. One gem of a tourist attraction in Sandusky is the Merry-Go-Round Museum, located in the center of town. Housed in a beautiful old Post Office building, the museum provides a delightful journey back to the years 1870 to 1930 when carousels were in their heyday at amusement parks around the world.

When you enter the museum you are immediately immersed into the bewildering variety of animal characters utilized on carousels of days gone by. Goats, lions, ostriches, elephants, and even whimsical dragons are there on display along with the horses most often associated with carousels. Coney Island style, Philadelphia style, and County Fair styles of animals are displayed. Panels from old carousels are placed around the museum along with photographs of old carousels and workshops showing craftsmen hand carving the animals.

County Fair style animals were of simple design; most often the legs outstretched enabling easy packing when the ride was prepared for transport to the next stop on the fair tour. Philadelphia style captured the majesty of horses. Many Philadelphia style horses were clad in armor or had saddles draped with fabric and fancy tassels. The Coney Island styles are the most flamboyant of the carousel animals.

Coney Island of course was the premier amusement park in the country. Of note are the additions of smaller characters added to the animals by the carvers. One bison has a small dog resting behind the saddle, and a beautiful goat has an eagle head on the back of the saddle.

The centerpiece of the museum of course is a full sized functional carousel originally built in 1939 by the Allan Herschell Company. The museum has mounted a variety of animals from their collection, as the carousel had no animals when purchased. The price of admission to the museum includes tokens for a ride on this carousel. Take advantage of this opportunity. The classic carousel music will delight you, and this carousel moves at an exciting speed.

Seniors on the Road to Lake Erie with RV in Tow

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 14:29:00 -0400

Where to go this time was our discussion. Sick of the 90 degree plus temperatures we decided to go north in the quest for cooler weather. Lake Erie sounded interesting, had a decent weather forecast, and we could drop off our granddaughter at her house in Ohio on the way.

Our son went with us on this trip, giving him a chance for a last adventure with Mom and Dad before he heads back to his senior year at college. Having him along was a treat for us, and he was able to help not only with the driving but also the set-up when we arrived at the campground.

After the drive towards Sandusky, Ohio was nearing its conclusion, we pulled into the Milan Travel Park, another campground in the Good Sam Club group of RV parks. We got a full hook-up pull through space, which was convenient as we arrived as darkness was settling on the park.

Our son was a great help in the set up, removing the sway bar and load leveling system and hooking up the water. We opened the end bunk as we would need the extra sleeping space. Then the first ‘issue’ reared its ugly head. When I turned on the AC, there appeared to be no power to the air conditioner. I began to panic. What was wrong? The breakers in the trailer were on. Hmmmm. Breakers. Better check the shore power panel. (Shore power = RV speak for the electric service you plug into at a campground.) Remember I said it was dark? Electricity 101 says that it helps if the breaker on the shore power panel is turned on. Thus I recovered from a true Homer Simpson (doh!) moment. The AC was now functioning.

The sewer hookup was easy this time. I had plenty of hose to go from the trailer to the dump pipe. But, it seems the last time I dumped the black water tank (black water = RV speak for the icky gross sewage from the toilet) I didn’t quite get it sufficiently clean. An offensive odor was wafting from the toilet after each use. I filled the black water tank about ¾ full and dumped it. The odor problem was solved. DW approved of the fix.

Our Starcraft AR-ONE travel trailer served us well for this trip. There was ample room for three adults, both sleeping and relaxing inside the trailer. We all had our laptops fired up and I was using my net book as well. The Milan Travel Park is a good facility, the only complaint we had was the slow Wifi connection at the park. It was very, very slow.

We enjoyed two nights at this park, using it as a base for our jaunts to historic Milan and Sandusky, Ohio.

Our Second Stop with the RV, Still Learning

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 09:32:00 -0400

With our first night (read about that below) in our new RV trailer under our belt, we went on down the road to find another RV campground and do a little sightseeing. I had checked online and found a couple of places at the same exit on I-70 near the Indiana-Ohio border. So we drove into the Deer Ridge Camping Resort, a Good Sam Club campground.

The proprietor was most helpful to us. We followed her golf cart as she escorted us to a shaded, pull through, full hook up site. When we thought we had reached a level spot in the pull through, I checked to see if our 30 AMP cord would reach the power pole. Well, it didn’t so I had to back up about six feet so the cord would reach. Power on, brand new water hoses connected, trailer unhitched from our Ford Flex TV (remember TV is tow vehicle in RV speak) we were ready to head out for some sightseeing. In addition to some sightseeing, we were able to meet up with our son and pickup our six year old granddaughter who could spend a night camping with us.

We had an absolutely wonderful time at the Deer Ridge Camping Resort. The playground was filled with all types of equipment and our granddaughter enjoyed each and every one. I in particular liked to old fashioned kid powered merry go round, and DW (DW is dear wife, another term in RV speak) shared some quality swinging time with Ellie.

Remember the title to this article referred to still learning? Well, the lesson came when we were ready to leave the campground. We used full hookups of electric and water as soon as we arrived. Now when it was time leave I got out the sewage dump hose for the first time. I attached one end to the trailer connection and I took the cap off the sewer line pipe on the site, ready to attach the other end of the hose from the trailer. Then I realized that I should have checked the hose length the same way I checked the power cord length. You guessed it, my brand new just out of the box “Dominator” 15 foot sewer hose came up about 16 inches too short. I finally got the black water and grey water tanks dumped, after I scraped the egg off my face!

As a couple of seniors just getting into this RV travel thing, we are beginning to get the hang of it. Time will tell as to what other lessons we will learn.

Our Path to RV Ownership or How Did That Thing End Up in Our Driveway?

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:12:00 -0400

There it sits, wheels chocked, stabilizing jacks down, power cord plugged into the garage, and looking much much larger than it did on the lot at the Camping World RV dealership. As I gaze at our Starcraft AR-ONE travel trailer, I reflect on the long road that brought us to RV ownership.

Sherry and I have been talking about traveling and owning an RV for years. We always laughed about selling the house, buying one of those huge fancy motor homes and living full time “on the road”. As the years went by and our five kids began to graduate college and move on with their lives we realized we would eventually be empty nesters. I would say that when our last two kids were enrolled in college we got serious in our search for an RV.

What kind of RV? Class A motor home? Travel trailer? Fifth wheel? Pop-up camper? Class C mini motor home? So many choices were available. The big Class A units all had price tags in the six figure range. Don’t think so. We looked at Class C mini motor homes. We even took a test drive in one about 2 ½ years ago. But with two kids still in college at the time, well, we were not ready to pull the trigger.

However, that test drive in the Class C coach really prompted some serious contemplation. Sure it sounded great to have an RV. But would it be practical? We knew we wanted to travel, but would travel in an RV of some kind open up or restrict traveling plans? We pushed the pencil all over the spread sheets. Cost of hotels vs. campground fees? Cost of gas? (How do you figure that these days?) Would we save preparing our meals instead of eating out all the time? What if one of the kids moved to the west coast? That would be a long RV trip from Indiana.

OK, about a year ago our search became very serious. My work, though full time, is only scheduled four days a week. Thus the idea of three day weekends opened up some real opportunities. Hmmm, leave Thursday afternoon, and need not be back until Sunday night. Our vehicle, a 2009 Ford Flex, was capable of towing a smaller travel trailer. We decided to look for an RV that the Flex would tow.

Pop-up campers were inexpensive, but required fairly extensive set up time at a campground. I could envision yours truly struggling to set up during a pouring rain, Sherry waiting in the Flex. Think we’ll pass on the pop-up.

What we discovered was a decent variety of smaller, light weight travel trailers that our Ford Flex could tow. The problem with most was the limited number of sleeping spots, usually only two or three. We did hope to have beds for at least five. Then we found the Starcraft AR-ONE. This slick unit is designed to NOT require a full sized truck for the tow vehicle. It is touted by Starcraft as perfect to tow behind even a minivan. With a drop down extra bed, the Model 15RB hybrid would sleep five. Worked for us.

Oh, and our kids, their spouses, and our grandkids? Well, two are close by, one family in Ohio, one family on the East coast in Virginia, and, you guessed it, one family in Seattle. We see some long RV trips on the horizon.

The Start of a New Chapter: Our First Trip in Our New RV Travel Trailer

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:45:00 -0400

We had talked about it for years. We did the pro and con list thing, researched online, observed other RV’s driving down the road, and went to several dealers. To make a long story short, we now are the owners of a new hybrid travel trailer.

We started out on Thursday afternoon and headed for the RV dealer to pick up a few things we did not get when we took delivery. Then we began our trek from the Indianapolis area towards Ohio. To not have a definite destination was rather exciting. We figured we would find a campground with space available.

At exactly 7:05 we pulled into Jellystone Park off I-70 near Knightstown. Years ago we had stopped here with our tent, so we were somewhat familiar with the place. Well, the office closed at 7:00. I was scratching my head when a nice lady came by and said she would get the owner to come open up the office. Whew! Since we were arriving late and could leave by 10:00AM the next day, our rate was only $25 for the space.

I was grateful that there was a pull through space available. While I was confident in my ability to back the unit, it was nice to be able to just pull into the site. We soon had the trailer unhitched from our TV (Tow Vehicle: RVers have their own language). Plug in the 30 AMP cord to the power pole, turn on the AC, and open the bed drop down on the end of the unit.

Then we realized we were pretty hungry. Unfortunately we had not packed much food, only some snacks and a few drinks. One thing you learn about campgrounds: they are usually out in the middle of nowhere. So when we took off following the GPS to a Cici’s pizza buffet place, we were rather discouraged when the GPS led us to “Suzy’s pizza” in a very small village. Don’t know if Suzy lost her Cici’s franchise or not, but we decided to continue our search for vittles. We ended up at a Burger King next to a truck stop.

With full tummies we headed back to camp. The bath house at the Jellystone Park was close to our site #86 so I decided not to hook up the sewer or water to the trailer. Ready for bed, we crawled into the drop down bunk, a queen sized bed. With the temperatures falling, we had the screen covers dropped so we could enjoy the great outdoors.

Our first night was not very sleep filled. A full moon bathed our bed with light. That would have been ok, but the bright night light on the power pole pretty much wiped out the moonlight. The beautiful campgrounds were really close to the interstate. Truck and car traffic seemed very loud that night. Oh, and did I mention the trash truck that came through about 1:00AM dumping the dumpsters?

Dawn came as it always does, very early. Very, very early. But I was looking forward to that first cup of coffee on the first morning in our new RV. Even though it was micro waved instant coffee it still tasted great.

Out first time out went rather well. Certainly there are things we need to get. A coffee pot is one thing. Fresh brewed is better than instant anytime. As we continue our journeys and adventures I’ll add more stories and photos. Stay tuned…

Sunset Over the Florida Gulf Coast at Naples

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:56:00 -0400

Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico provides amazing beauty and scenery.

The Lavender Cottage in Taichung

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:32:00 -0500

One of our afternoons in Taiwan was spent at The Lavender Cottage. The literal translation of its Chinese name, Lavender Forest, is a good way to describe this beautiful place in the mountains. If we had been tourists visiting on our own we probably would never have even known of The Lavender Forest, let alone visit it. The Lavender Cottage started as a dream of 2 Taiwanese city girls who wanted to have a romantic hideaway, where those in love could enjoy their own private moments without disturbance. Today, they have a haven for busy Taiwanese who want to retreat to the mountains, and enjoy the health and beauty benefits of the aromatic Lavender herb.

After following a scenic mountain road we arrived at our destination. Just like its name describes it is a place full of lavender. A short walk from the parking lot leads to a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains and the valley below. The Lavender Forest is filled with acres of herb gardens and flowering plants. Paths lead you through these beautiful, aroma filled gardens. The garden includes not only lavender, but also many other herbs.

Following a short path we came upon a large patio area where guests were enjoying unusual flavors of ice cream. The specialty flavor is Lavender, some of the other flavors are rose and lemon grass. We had the Lavender ice cream and enjoyed the delicious taste. It is hard to describe the beauty of being in the high fresh mountain air, with the scent of lavender and the clouds all around you, enjoying a Lavender Ice Cream Cone.

Hanging a wish on the wish tree is popular and fun at the Lavender Cottage. We all wrote out a wish on a piece of paper that was supplied to us and then hung it on the wish tree. As you walk through the gardens you will see several of these wish trees with brown pieces of paper tied with string hanging from them.

We finished our visit at the Lavender Cottage by having a delicious lunch and my son asking for permission to marry our now daughter-in-law. It was a beautifully, romantic place for this request to take place.