I have made the step to winter in Florida, and I have the opportunity to do it where my mom had a mobile home for many years.
While a friendly place and active, I am close to a railroad track that runs all hours of the day and night. The freeway is also half a mile away, and an overpass ensures traffic noise will carry at night..
Wish I was on the road, this is as bad as motels used to be, you never know what you are going to get. I can see why people go to the same place every year,...

11/24/2019
Day 3

Well I called it pretty spot on in the last blog. We got out at 9am not 10 as predicted. Hit the road with absolutely no intentions of stopping other than to pee. We have to stop since I am the only driver. Drove straight into VA without incident until…… The traffic in this state is ridiculous and the drivers are bizarre. We got stuck in 3, no lie, 3, count them 1 , 2 , 3 wrecks that caused the entire freeway to be SHUT DOWN. Seriously I lost my mind at the...

Happy Holidays to One and All -- 12/11/19


We'd like to share our best holiday wishes (as well as a snapshot of our favorite Christmas ornament) with everyone in the IRV2 community.





As you can see, this ornament is a depiction of a class A motorhome appropriately branded Relax.

While we've never actually encountered a full-sized version of...

I've had a blog since January 2008 and mostly just chronicled my attempts at doing triathlons, running and life stuff. Haven't posted anything in over a year, but today, Dec 4th, 2019 is my Mom's birthday and she's been gone since June of 2008 and for some reason just felt like writing.

But wasn't planning on posting it here, but here's a link if anyone is interested.

https://trimoot.wordpress.com/2019/1...time-no-write/

There's a melancholy...

Update: Winter Travel Plans -- 11/29/19


We are migrating south again, hopefully avoiding the worst of Chicago's winter weather by heading back to Florida, but this year we're leaving right after the holidays.





Last winter we didn't leave home until the 1st of February; that was a decision we still regret.

You see, last winter we departed in...

11/22/2019
Trip to Winchester VA

Night before we leave;
This will be the longest trip we have taken. We have the puppies with friends, so it is just us. Leaving the house around 9am, daughter gets counted as present in school at 9am so we take her out and leave at 9:15..Not sure of the weather so what do we take? It’s a 40G, take everything plan for all weather patterns short of blizzard. If we see a blizzard coming, we will Tac and head to FL.
We are off to...

Update: Yellowstone 3 - In Retrospect -- 11/09/19

Visiting Yellowstone should be on everyone's bucket list; it is an experience I would recommend for anyone at almost any age.



If we had it to do over again, this is how I would optimize that experience:

1. Plan, plan, plan: Visiting Yellowstone can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so treat it accordingly. Like most...

Proof: You Just Never Know -- 10/21/19

On a recent trip through a high pass in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, we stopped to enjoy the rare, clear air and came fave to face with...



...a pair of pandas.

It's funny what effects altitude can have on some folks. Take the couple pictured above, for example. Speaking in calm but muffled voices, they told us they were...

After noticing that the tow vehicle was not tracking directly behind us in a braking action - it was moving out about 6-8 inches - indicating that one of the dolly brakes was braking harder than the other, it was time for an inspection.

Paying attention to the wear pattern on the brake rotors - one side was no making a full contact with the brake rotor so this made me pull a wheel and take a closer look at the pad wear.

The inspection revealed the outside pads on both...

Trip to Jellystone Park in Kerrville Texas for a 4-day weekend.

The kids had a 4-day weekend, so we ran about 2 hours south to Kerrville Texas to stay at Jellystone Park on the Guadalupe River. We have stayed at this park before, but they have added a lot of stuff, increased the size, water slides, more cabins more park.
My daughter invited her friend to come with us and this was the first trip with a friend to join. My wife and I, 2 kids, 2 dogs meant a full bus. The trip...

Anyone interested in following the thread and upgrading their lame OEM alternator to a much better option like the Delco Remy 40Si needs to note that they come in several models.

1. They are either 12 or 24 volt
2. They are either Pad Mount, J180 Long Hinge Mount or J180 Short Hinge Mount.
3. They come in 240, 275, 300 and 320 amp versions.

For a copy of the brochure go here.

Installing a larger alternator means it can be, or more than likely...

Yellowstone Day 2: GyPSy Tour - WOW! -- 10/04/19

Our second day of touring Yellowstone was targeted at the park's north loop, the upper half of the "figure 8". Once again, we entered the park's East entrance by car, then turned north toward Canyon Village.



While our previous day's sight seeing was done riding in a 40 foot bus with a tour guide, the second day we used...

This was a great trip for us. Pacebend is about 10 minutes from our house but it was the first time we have ever taken the coach there. A friend has a yearly party that is over a long weekend and they all have rental units delivered. We decided to take the coach instead of just running home each night. Turned out this was a great way to play.

I drove to the park several months prior to the event to make sure our 40G would fit in the spots.

...

Update: Yellowstone Day 1 - Circle of Fire -- 09/29/19

We had originally planned to boondock in Yellowstone at the Canyon Campground, but our diesel generator sprang a fuel leak; with no way to recharge our batteries, we had to switch to Plan B.



So we found a full hookup RV site 1/2 between Cody, WY and Yellowstone's East Entrance, intending to use our toad to commute into the park...

Our 2003 Fleetwood Expedition came OEM with the Norcold 1200LRIM, two flooded acid house batteries and a 1000 watt inverter.

The Norcold consumed 555 watts of power in AC mode when AC power was present. The inverter was highly inefficient and used 100 watts with no load present and almost 300 watts when a 1000 watt load was present (1300 watts total).

The coach had no solar power system.

It was wired for 30 amp service.


Two 200Ah...