A great weekend

Well, I towed the Caravel home successfully... even though the bearings on the passenger side were still really hot on the Caravel, with new re-packed bearings and all. Why they are getting hot is mysterious. But, the Caravel is up in NY now and the Sovereign of the Road is now here in Virginia. It was great to spend time camping with Zoe' and the three boys (two of which had a birthday on Friday and Sunday - they're all 7, 5, and 1 now... how time flies.

My Pageant of Bands Rally is June 5-8 in North Norwich, NY so that's it's next trip north...Gas was $3.76 a gallon at the Flying J with my RV discount - not bad. Sophia likes the road!

From my front door

Here is the view from my front door of the Caravel.. out here at Lunga Resevoir - the camp ground on base here. It's a great location, and a nice campground for $13 a night (can't beat it). When I pulled in yesterday, my right wheel bearing was still HOT to touch so I've got to locate a new bearing to install this week as I pull this home for Memorial Day. Taking it easy.... here on the lake. I received a link to a very cool RV ad out of an Airstream that Matthew McConaughey did - check it out here .

Wheel Bearings

I am now back on Active Duty for 6 months with the Marine Corps here in Quantico, Va. I am staying in the Caravel these first two weeks, giving me something to work on in the evenings. On the tow down here, I pulled over after hearing something funny dragging... I'm glad I did. The front belly pan had pulled loose and part of it was dragging...easy enough fix with my rivet gun... I went and checked the road side wheel and cool - then over to the driver side... HOT!!! to hot to touch....so, I got on my Garmin and found a very close Pep Boys and pulled over there. I have Bearing Buddy fitting on this new axle so I borrowed a grease gun and injected until I saw grease.. many pumps.. must of been low. So, I was 40 miles from Quantico, I slowed down and pulled to my final destination. Yesterday, I pulled into the base Auto Hobby Shop and took it all apart and cleaned them up and repacked them, put it back together and now them seem good to go. I'll pull this home this next Friday and bring the SOTR back down. Today and tomorrow I'm gonna mess with some plumbing.

A few more of Assateague

Assateague was a great break and VERY relaxing. There were no crowds and the weather was mid 70s with a light wind... and sunny! Here are a few more pictures for you to enjoy.

Towing through the Valley

Yesterday am, we departed for home knowing we wanted to tow to Valley Forge and go through the park. We departed Assateague right around 9am, stopped at the Visitor center to touch some horseshoe crabs, then headed out. It rained on us in Philly and by the time we got to Valley Forge, the rain had stopped and the sun came out. Valley Forge was great! A beautiful park. I was last here in 6th grade on a safety patrol trip (I think). Here are some pictures. We ended up in Jim Thorpe, PA ( take heed on Jim Thorpe Camping Resort ) - it was an adventure. We'll go back to Jim Thorpe but we'll try a state park next time. Enjoy! It's good to be home.

Assateague is wonderful!

Here are a few pictures from today. We went out to the beach (the wind made it cool) and then we headed over to the National Park just south of here ($20 a night for boon-docking right on the dunes - not bad). We then hiked on the trails some and saw alot of horses. We also had a horse right outside the SOTR too - I think it liked the shine. Tomorrow I think we'll explore Ocean City some in the afternoon. Gas here is $3.50 so it's not too bad as compared to the $3.73 we paid in NY. The weather here looks good with rain coming in on Thursday night...it doesn't look good pulling home though - just a little wet.

Here at Assateague State Park

Well, we made the pull over to Chatham, NY to the Celtic Festival Airstream Rhendevous (it was more of that Boondocking rather than a Rally)... and then on Sunday, we pulled through the $40 of tolls of New Jersey and the Delaware Bridge to get here to Assateague State Park out on a barrier island on the Ocean shores of Maryland. We pulled in around 545pm last night and we are here until Thursday. Here are a few pictures of our site. The beach is just over the sand dune behind the trailer. We're hoping to see some horses while we are here. I am thinking we'll spend Thursdy evening up near Valley Forge outside of Philadelphia.

Getting ready for the Celts

On Friday afternoon, the family and I are heading for Chatham, NY where we'll be joining a bunch of other Airstreamers at the Celtic Festival. There will be many Metro NY and WDCU WBCCI members there - and it's gonna be tons of fun! We did this two years ago with the 1960 Trade Wind... this time we'll be in the SOTR. I have propane lines run now as well as plumbing drain lines... but the fresh water tank is out getting a small fitting installed so that I can hook up the onboard 12v air compressor for the water system. Here are a few pictures... I've been doing some polishing. The tank goes in today.... Zoe's just happy she will be able to use the stove!

Items left to complete

Things I'm working on:

• I'm doing the second cut of polishing (with a year in between). It's looking good.
• Running propane lines to H2O heater, stove, fridge, and fireplace.
• Install vent for fridge.
• Install vent for fireplace.
• Installing 12v Air pump.
• Installing grey water drain lines.
• I still need to install diamond plate (this is in my outside storage hatch - complete) and,
• Install the outside door seal on the entry door

I am getting there.