Halloween 2014

The month of October has become a month of non-stop camping and camping at parks which are having a trick-or-treat.  The kids get premium candy and we get to camp at the same time.  A great combo.  We do it so much that I didn't even take pictures at the first occasion of the month.  There isn't much to describe for these.  The pictures speak for themselves.

The following is from Cardinal Center Campground.  The friends that we camped with a few months ago at Mohican joined us this year at a neighboring site as a usual person in the group was not able to attend this year.  I even brought the smoker this year.  It was rather cold outside, but we still had a big community dinner.

The rest of the pictures are from the annual Anniversary Rally for some friends.  The state park where the campground is at has a trick-or-treat anytime there's enough campers on grounds to make a trick-or-treat worthwhile.  This time, we made the kids skip trick or treating and instead hand out candy.  They had enough candy this year!

The best repair for a broken down truck is a new one

This post is about a couple of small adventures combined into one, most notably the unplanned purchase of a new tow vehicle.

We had a short weekend trip planned to Chillicothe, Ohio.  This is about 2 hours from our home.  The main purpose was to visit the indian mounds of southern Ohio (National Park).  It should have been a very easy and quick trip; something that rarely gets planned by us.  In the end, I am glad it happened this way because I would not have wanted the truck to break down (again) a long way from home.

So we were on our way to the campground in Chillicothe.  We were following GPS, which, not surprisingly, did not know the exact entry point of the campground within the state park.  Over the hill and through the woods (literally) and in a torrential downpour, we went past what GPS thought was the entry to the state park.  So we now knew we needed to be somewhere else.  We decided to head back toward town and regain our bearings.  Just as I pulled away from the stop sign at the bottom of the hill...KABOOM...from under the hood of the truck.  Sadly, I had heard this sound before and knew exactly what had happened.  The engine blew a spark plug.  It is a common problem with Ford 5.4L and 6.8L engines made between 1999 and 2003.  I had it happen on the same truck 60k miles ago.  At that time, I had a Ford dealer repair it and figured I was good for the remaining life of the vehicle.  Not so.

We got off the road at a safe point and called roadside assistance.  In the end, the tow company escorted us (me pulling the Airstream on 9 cylinders) to the nearest Ford dealer.  We camped in the Airstream overnight in the dealership parking lot without hookups on a very humid night.  I expected in the morning (Saturday) to get into the shop and have the spark plug hole repaired and fixed.  Well, turns out on Saturday all the dealership is prepared to do is oil changes.  The technician that has the repair tool was out of state for the weekend.  We called local shops...no luck.  We called Ford dealers in neighboring towns...no luck.  So, I was preparing to go to the local car rental and rent a car to get the family home and come back later with a surrogate truck to pull the Airstream home.

I noticed a nice 2014 Suburban on the used car lot in LTZ trim no less.  I asked if I could talk to someone about it.  So they got a salesman to high-tail it in to talk to me.  In the process of discussion, the salesman commented that many people come in and have discounts such as Tier 1 and it makes new vehicles very affordable, especially with model-year change sales. Hmmm.  So I said, "I am Tier 1."  To which the salesman replied, "Then you can buy a new truck cheaper than that used one [the Suburban]."  So we talked.  6 hours later, we were loading all of our camping gear out of the Excursion into a 2014 F150 Platinum.  I would have never chosen the Platinum outright, but based on desired options and dealer availability, this was one of three trucks on the lot (two which were Platinums) which fit the bill.  The third was an obnoxious shade of red and had absolutely ugly wheels, so that wasn't happening.  We negotiated and agreed to a deal.

The owners manual recommends no towing until after 1000 miles.  So much for that!  We had an Airstream to get home.  Actually, we went to the campground; then home.  We had to abbreviate our tour in the area, but we did get to see the mounds.  Best of all, we have a brand new truck.  Worst of all, we have a car payment (which we had no car payments at all before this).  But at least we can be confident in travelling now and not having the tow vehicle break down.  That's worth it all, I think.  Below is a pic just after we hitched-up at the dealership (with 3 miles on the odometer!)

A small camping trip soon after purchasing the truck was with some new local friends that we met on the Airforums.  Again, a local trip only 30 minutes from home.  The main purpose of the trip was to be with friends and let the kids be with other kids.  It was a successful trip.  The boys got to go fishing with their new friends which was an adventure for them because Andrea and I don't fish at all.

A family trip to nowhere new, but one of the best trips we've had.

There are sometimes things that you don't expect to be absolutely outstandingly fun and memorable but then they turn out to be surprisingly fun and memorable.  A long-weekend trip to Niagara Falls, NY for some friends' wedding was just such a trip for us.

It was planned as taking Thurs, Fri off of work.  We were hitching up the camper and staying a couple nights near the falls (which is where the wedding was, too).  We then planned to move homeward and stop near Erie, PA and go to Waldameer Park as well as Presque Isle's peninsula fest.  Then home on Sunday.

We got into the campground in Niagara Falls, NY with some fanfare.  It was significantly off of the highway and the GPS decided to take us on the scenic route.  Nothing too bad though.  We were on what I would consider to be residential roads but there were still semi trucks!!! travelling the same roads.  Mostly, it was the construction that sucked.  The campground was nice enough.  GREAT location in proximity to the falls, but it was really setup for the big rigs and people who live inside their camper for the entire time at the campground.  For those of us that like to exist outside...it's not such a great value at roughly $45/night after 10% discount!  Although it was a full-hookup, I didn't connect to anything other than electricity because my water and sewer connections would have made it an uncomfortable stay for my neighbors.  I'm not sure why when in a park that is 50% empty that they put two of us right next to each other.  Anyway, great place to stay if you're going to be out touring the entire time.  Below, you can see the site we were on.  Yes, that is my neighbor's water, electric, and sewer hookups in the middle of my campsite.

The wedding doesn't have much significance to this blog, so I'll skip right to the touring we did while we were at the falls.  We decided to do the maid of the mist tour.  Very cool.  I advise getting there early.  You get right on and it's not crowded.  By the time our tour was over, there was a hefty line waiting for the boat.

Despite the fact that I've been humoring Andrea with wearing sandals in warm weather, she decided that we needed to walk to Canada.  I have nothing against walking.  Just not lots of walking in sandals which are flip-flops on steroids.  I was bleeding by the time we were done for the day, but at least I got some great poutine for lunch.

  

I didn't really have time for pictures, but we did a whirlwind tour of a couple local wineries back in NY.  In the end, an incredibly successful and fun day.  The falls, trip to Canada, Poutine for lunch, clean up for the wedding, then winery hopping, dinner, and back to the camper for some (inside) time relaxing.

The next morning was packing up and heading for Erie, PA.  We pulled into a slightly larger but perhaps more awkward campsite.  The campgrounds in the Erie area were packed full due to Presque Isle days.  We were put on one site of a set of "buddy sites".  Great if you're there with people you know.  Not so great if you don't.  We spent some awkward moments that afternoon chatting with our neighbors.  They pulled out mid-afternoon and the next occupant chose to park their camper "backward" to not face us since they had connections long enough to still hook up.  The other side of their site was a small yard and the campground road, so it's not like we were THAT bad of people :-)  We knew that Waldameer park was a destination for us, but Andrea put on her planning hat and looked up things good to do int he area with kids.  There was actually a family pack that you could buy to the local minor-league baseball team.  You got tickets, hats, and coupons for free meals at McDonalds.  So for me, this was going to be classic.  Andrea hates McD's.  I try to avoid the place, but only due to the calories and trditional fast-food; but I don't think it tastes bad at all.  So we bought the pack.  I expected the kids to give up after 4 innings, max.  Turns out, they stuck it out the WHOLE GAME!  A foul ball given to Mason by a generous fan in the row in front of us ight have helped, too.  Andrea's and my favorite beer was on tap as well, so it was a great trip.  We now have a greater appreciation for minor league ball teams and parks.  Not as much game action, but the prices are lower and seats are better.  They still do the same entertainment stuff.  I think we might be finding the Akron Rubber Ducks games a few times next year.

The last part of this blog post is a few pictures of our visit to Waldameer.  I last went here as a kid at least 28 years ago.  It's changed a bit, but I think for the better than I recall it.  It was, as I recall from so long ago, on the verge of closing up.  Maybe I was just there at off times of the year.  Although busy, we never waited more than 30 minutes for a ride, and I think that was only 1 such case.  Pretty much everything else was a near walk-on.  It was fun to see what I remembered and what I didn't.  Although Parker was eligible to ride the big coaster there, he didn't.  I rode it alone and I am pretty sure it would have scared him.  For me, it was awesome.  One of the best wooden coastrers I've been on.  I even convinced Andrea to ride it.  The boys loved the smaller, older wooden coaster there, though.

Although not picture worthy, it bears mention that on our trip home through northeastern Ohio, Andrea decided that a winery near Geauga on the Lake would be a great place to stop.  Sure...with Airstream in tow.  That turned into winery-hopping; 3 of them to be specific.  We were ahead of the crowds, though, so really it wasn't bad to get parked with the camper.  And we bought some great wine.  Why won't they ship this stuff elsewhere in Ohio where they ship all their sweet wine!  Grrr.

The Birthday Bash...round 5

It's become a staple of our lives.  We will attend this rally every year until the organizers decide not to do it anymore or move the location out of reach for us.  It's the Birthday Bash.  It was in its 5th year this year.  Since Bash 2, little has changed and that keeps us coming back year after year.  Why mess with perfection?  Total relaxation around a lake that we have all to ourselves.  Kids' activities, adult activities, food, drink.  It's so good that we even brought an SoB family with us this year and they've caught the bug.

This year, we even participated in the un-official pre-Bash at PennWood Airstream park.

Then, on to the Bash 5.  I'm not going to put a lot of description here.  I think the pics speak for themselves.