A New Chapter Begins

This past August we sold our 2007 Fleetwood Discovery and purchased a 2016 Thor Challenger. We went from diesel to gas, complex to simple, and, hopefully, more expense to less expensive (nothing is cheap about motorhoming!). If you have followed this blog in the past you may be aware of the bad luck that seemed to accompany us in the Discovery. Particularly on our long trips to Mexico and Canada. We hope the black cloud remained with the Discovery and better luck will follow us in the new motorhome.

Even though we have had the new motorhome for 4 or 5 months, we have been too busy to go on any trips in it. Until this weekend, that is. We went on a short trip with our local chapter of the Good Sam RV Club. It was 3 days and nights at a KOA in Rusk, TX, only about 45 miles each way. It was an almost eventless trip and our “fix it” list for the dealer is rather short and without anything major.

The key word in the previous sentence is “almost.” We did have one rather startling, yet humorous experience. It happened as we were getting ready for the group’s “pot luck” supper. Carol Ann was going to bake a corn casserole in the convection microwave (we use the gas oven as a bread box) if we could figure out how to use it! I got out the manufacturer’s manual which was not much help. There were about 15 pages of installation instructions and only about a half page of user instructions. After several attempts we managed to set it properly and the baking began. It needed 45 minutes of cooking time and due to the delay in starting would have to go immediately from the oven to the clubhouse once the time expired. We gathered our paper plates, utensils, and other necessities and put them in a shopping bag, ready to grab and go.

As soon as the timer reached zero, I removed the very hot casserole from the oven while Carol Ann filled two cups with ice and grabbed a couple of drinks from the fridge. At the last minute she decided to take a plastic pitcher of ice with us and as she was taking it from the freezer, lost her grip and ice cubes were bouncing all over the floor between the fridge and the motorhome’s door. The 3 steps in the step well to the door were covered in ice cubes. I got down on my hands and knees and began rounding them up but I managed to loose my balance and fall against the wall. All of a sudden there was a very loud “honking” noise and everything went white for a couple of seconds, much like being in a white out during a blizzard. I was a bit shaken until I realized as I fell against the wall I had bumped into the CO2 fire extinguisher mounted in the step well and caused it to briefly discharge. At least we know it works but we will have to clean up the white powder coating the lower portion of the fridge and the floor in front of it.

We hope this was not a portent of things to come in our new motorhome. We have a big trip coming up next month and are hoping it will be uneventful. Stay tuned to find out.

The Weather and I Are Just Fine, Thank You

This morning the weather and I were both better.  However, it was time to leave this campground as we had only made reservations for 3 nights and they were up. For the entire time we have been here either the weather or I have been miserable. We still weren’t ready to leave the White Mountains so we just moved about 11 miles up the road to a KOA.  It is really a nice campground.  It’s situated on the banks of a river with lots of trees.  

While we were at Echo Lake I rigged up the busted TV antenna by duct taping it to the top of my 6-foot stepladder and connecting the TV cable.  We got excellent reception of several over-the-air channels; actually better reception than before it was torn from the roof.  I don’t think I will worry about re-installing it until we get home. Country-come-to-town.

After we were setup at the KOA the sun went away and dark clouds moved in but so far it has not rained, even though it looks as if it could pour down at any moment.  We went of a short drive to Bath after lunch and visited the USA’s oldest general store, which is still open for business.  Behind it was a covered bridge but it was being renovated and was covered in plastic sheeting.  

We continued our drive through Lisbon to Woodsville to see another covered bridge, the Haverhill – Bath Covered Bridge.  It was in continuous use from 1829 until 1999.  Foot traffic is all that is now allowed on the bridge.

We found a Walmart about 4PM and purchased more supplies before heading back to the KOA. Tomorrow we will drive the 100-mile White Mountain Trail Loop, which includes the very scenic Kancamangus Highway.  

Now, time for a glass of wine before dinner.  By the way, I meant to mention this a few days ago but forgot.  I can’t remember if it was in Connecticut or New Hampshire, but one of them has highway Service Plazas that are kind of like rest areas or welcome centers on steroids.  They include fuel, groceries, AND a package store!  I guess if you are running low on fuel, food, or booze you just pull into the Service Plaza and fill up on all three.