Rain Day on the Road (Jamesville, WI)

 

Right now it is raining and we are in a truck stop in Jamesville, WI. We are now on Central time.  We pulled in last night after stopping at Walmart to pick up something for dinner.  We wanted to stay at Walmart (which is RV friendly), but the town does not allow overnight parking.  So here we are tucked between the big boys at a TA truck stop.

Getting here we almost ran out of fuel.  Because of the auxiliary fuel tank, it can be hard to determine, when the auxiliary tank is empty.  I am going to have to work on than.  We were on I-90 going through Chicago when I noticed that the main tank was not being refueled from the auxiliary tank.  Now what.  Ann checked her trusty Next Exit book and found a truck stop about 50 miles away.  OK we should be able to make that.  Now stuck in traffic I head a “Ding”,  50 miles to empty came up on the display.  That would be cutting it TOO close.  So I got out my trusty smart phone and brought up the“Gas Buddy” app.  It said there was a couple of stations within 2 miles. Great, so we got off the next exit turned left and directly ahead was an underpass 12’ 3”, we need 13’ 3”.  After going along the streets, camper in tow, I finally found an under pass 13’ 4”,  I went very slowly in through with no problems.  Just after the underpass was the service station but there was no way I could get in with the truck and camper.  So I tuned the corner found a large open parking space.  Dropped the camper, left Ann in the camper to stand guard and off I went in search of fuel.  Luckily the service station was right around the corner and it was a good price.  I filled up both tanks.  Now $288 poorer, I had two full tanks.  Went back to the camper, hitched up and back onto I-90 north. 

We were going to pull out this morning, but last night is started to rain heavy and it is stll raining.  It is supposed to stop late this morning.  If it does we will get back on the road.

Right now the generator is recharging the batteries and giving us power.  We have internet, satellite, heat, food.  I am here with my best friend.  We just celebrated our 46th anniversary.  Life could not get better than this.

See you down the Roan Roan…

,

Relax and Organize (Mercer, PA)

 

The Camper is really taking shape.  Ann has been hard at work unpacking and organizing the camper.  This morning we pulled everything out from the basement and reorganized it. I am sure as time goes on we will do more but for now it is “Lookin good”.  We even managed to get rid of a few things to lighten the load.

Early tomorrow morning we depart for Elkhart, IN where we will have some work done on the camper.

Next time we need fuel I will go to a truck stop and get the truck and camper weighted.  Hopefully we are not overweight. We did move a lot of STUFF into it.

Found, what seems to be a great way to rent DVDs for us in the road.  We cancelled our Netfix account because there was no way to have them delivered.  I signed up for Red Box service.  You may have seen them around.  You can reserve a DVD on line or through a smartphone app.  Choose a location and pick it up.  Then when finished drop it off at any Red Box location.  There are over 29,000 locations.  This for only $1.00 a day.  I will try it out when we get to Elkhart tomorrow.

That’s it for now.

See you down the Roan Road…

First Post On the Road. (Mercer, PA)

 

After moving the STUFF to the camper we stayed at Bev’s house (that’s Ann’s sister).  After Heidi’s wedding we went to the camper to get things somewhat ready for travel.  On May 23, 2010, we left Bev’s house.  Thanks soooo much, Bev.

We departed Amityville at 10:20 AM, so I guess that is the official time we started Full Timing.

Saying Goodbye

The worst road in the world?  The Cross Bronx Expressway.   This has got to be the slowest, bumpiest, worst maintained road in the world.  I am looking forward to the roads going to Alaska.  They have got to be better than the Cross Bronx.

After several hours fighting the NY traffic, we made it to I-80.  Ann was exhausted.  First stop was in the Pocono’s where turning a corner on one of the roads in the campsite I cut too close and caught the rolled up awning on a tree. 

We left the Pocono’s and continued on I-80 west across PA.  We are now in a nice campground in Mercer, PA., right on the boarder of PA and Ohio.  We will stay here for the Memorial day weekend to get some rest and organize things in the camper and do some laundry.

Next stop is Elkhart, Indiana (capital of the RV industry).  We will have the pin box on the RV serviced by Trail Air and find someone to fix the awning.  The oil in the truck is due to be changed, so maybe we will do that too.

See you down the Roan Road…

This is it !! (Roslyn, NY)

 

Tomorrow is Blast Off.  We pull out of our nice cozy parking place in Amityville and take off for points west.  A foreign land, so it is only Canada!  it is a different country and they do use different money like Loonies and Toonies. That’s the Canadian one and two dollar coin.  You do need a passport to go there.  They do speak  English for the most part.

And then we go back to the good old USA, Alaska.

So stay right here and wait for the next installment of:

Roan on the Road…

P.S.  A note to all our family and friends:  at the bottom of each blog entry, there is a place for comments (just scroll down a bit).  Please feel free to send us your comments, we love reading them.  A&R

It’s a Done (Roslyn, NY)

 

It’s a done deal, Heidi and Jay are married, Andrew and Caroline are off to Dubai and in two days we are off to Alaska.   Talk about splitting up the family!

Yesterday Heidi and Jay were married in a small wedding ceremony with just a few family and close friends.  The ceremony was just perfect, the company and the food were perfect.  Everyone had a great time.

This is actually for the night before at the Rehearsal Dinner. I left the wedding pictures to the real photographer, Jaime.

Tomorrow Andrew flies back to Paris, takes a quick nap and heads for Dubai for 10 days to get his work visa.  Caroline will go back to Paris and get everything packed for the move.  Then it is off to Dubai for three years (or so).  Try to keep cool guys.

On Wednesday we are heading out for Alaska.  We start out at the beginning of I-80 heading west. Then, just after Chicago we hang a right, northwest, on I-94 to about the middle of North Dakota.  Then head north to Canada.  Across Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and on through Yukon Territory to Tok, Alaska. It is 4087.4 miles and about $ 2000 in fuel.  So any contributions to the Roy and Ann travel America fund will not be refused.  Just kidding.

See you down the Roan Road …

It’s Done (Roslyn-NY)

 

The house is sold and we just turned over the keys to the new owners. We tried to go through the things in the house but the new owners are not very fluent in English.

Until May 23, we are staying an Beverly’s house ( Ann’s sister).  This will give us time to setup the camper for travel.

We are now Full Time Travelers. 

It has been an exhausting couple of days, both physically and mentally.  Both Ann and I are both drained and relieved.

For the past two days we have been doing the final packing and moving out to the camper.   What to bring and what to throw out the last minute was taxing mentally.  All the clothes you had for years, need to be gone through and picked over.  For the last few months we have been doing just that, but the last few days really brought it to a head.  Do I really need this?  Will I ever wear it again?  Can I do without it?  Is there room in the camper?  And don’t forget about the weight.  There are weight limits on the camper.  These are all of the questions we were asking ourselves and each other.

Then there is the physical. We sold the car a week ago so we are using the truck to get around.  The last couple of days, up at 5AM pack up the truck.  Make a run out to the camper. Unload and unpack.  Three time a day.  When we pack up the truck means bringing things up from the basement or down from the second floor many many times. 

Then there is the stuff we are getting rid of.  For weeks we have been taking load after load to be donated.  Putting things that cannot be donated in black garbage bags.  We can only do this twice a week and only 6 bags at a time.

Well it is all over now.  We are both sad and happy.  Sad that a part of our lives for 18 years is over. Happy because we are beginning a life long dream, many years in the planning.  So, after Heidi an Jay’s wedding next week, we will take off.  Next stop, Alaska and beyond!

See you on the Roan Road…

A Done Deal - (Flushing NY ..the end..)

 

Well it is a done deal.  After over 90 days, which is way past the closing contract ended, we finally closed.  It was the Closing from Hell.  We arrived at the lawyer’s office yesterday around 11 AM and didn’t leave until 5 PM, and it was not complete.   We had to go back today to pick up the checks.  We are still in the house until Sunday when we will be houseless, not homeless.  Our home is now parked in Amityville.

The buyers are taking all of the furniture we do not want and could not sell.  Than is a big relief because we would have to pay to have it removed.  The car is sold and we are using the truck to get around.

We will be staying at Bev’s house (Ann’s Sister) or at the Camper until we hit the road on May 23, first stop, Alaska.

To all: if you are going to call us please call on our Cell phones as the home land line is being turned off.  If you need our phone numbers or new mailing address please email me at roybrody@gmail.com.

 

See you down the Roan Road….