SUMMER TRIP 2004
Written By Paul Tennyson, TN Chapter “A”
I am sure that all of you are anxiously awaiting the results of this years motor home trip after all the problems we had last year, starting with the exploding transmission. This year wasn’t all that bad, but there were a few incidents we would rather have done without. The total mileage for this trip was just under 3000 miles and it lasted from June 24th until August 24th.
We left home at 7:30 AM and headed north up I-75. I had not topped off the gas tank after the last use, so after 150 miles or so we stopped for gas in Richmond, KY. As usual, I walked around the rig checking for problems and unfortunately, found one. There was coolant dripping from under the engine. My cell phone would not go through unless I gave them a credit card number (no Verizon coverage) so we got back on the interstate and drove 8 miles, where we found a truck stop. They didn’t have a mechanic, but they had one that they sometimes call on just such occasions. They called him and at least there was plenty of room to park it out of the way so he could work on it. While waiting for him I crawled under the engine and eyeballed the problem area. When he arrived, I told him it looked like the hose going from the radiator to the water pump because the hose was covered with antifreeze that was dripping from it. After investigating he came to the same conclusion and set about replacing it. He had to go get one and then I think he had lunch before coming back, but after about three hours the job was done. We could find nothing on the hose that looked like it would leak except for one little spot where the rubber was torn a little but upon starting the engine and watching it for a while it didn’t leak. I paid him and we were on our way, much relieved.
That relief didn’t last long. A truck ahead of us was throwing pieces of tire at us, one of which hit the windshield seemingly hard enough to crack it, but it didn’t. I backed off but was intent on watching for flying rubber and thinking about the delay so far and I missed the exit for I-75. I was on I-75 and common sense would tell you that I-64 would exit off it, but as my luck would have it, going straight put you on I-64. I went 20 miles before I realized that instead of signs for Cincinnati, I was seeing signs for Louisville. It was another 10 miles before I got to another exit where I could reverse direction.
The delay set our schedule back a bit so it was almost dark when we arrived at our campground in Berlin, Ohio (Amish country) and it had just rained so I couldn’t see any leak. The next morning I checked the motorcycle in the trailer. There were two straps loose. The rain had pretty much dried up so when I looked under the motor home I saw that the only wet spot was under the engine. I checked the coolant and sure enough, there was no level showing in the overflow tank. Panic time again. The nearest RV dealer didn’t work on engines. The Chevrolet dealer was only open to sell cars (it was Saturday) and they didn’t have a stall large enough to take it in anyway. No one around knew anyone who would work on it. I went to an auto parts store and got some stop leak, thinking that it would do no good since the fluid was coming out around the shaft of the water pump (determined with a closer look with a flashlight) which was constantly turning and wouldn’t allow the stop leak to adhere. I took the cap off the radiator and saw that the water level could be seen and there was not much room to add the stop leak. I sucked as much coolant out as I could until it was below the core and I could not get suction any more, added about half the stop leak which filled it back up, put the cap back on and filled the reservoir. Assuming I only lost the amount of coolant in the reservoir in a five-hour drive, I figured I could keep up if I added coolant every time we stopped. I refused to let it worry me and went about enjoying the rest of the trip.
Linda’s sister and brother-in-law joined us in Berlin to travel with us for a couple of weeks. We went about enjoying the Amish country and good food. It was basically like the Amish country in the Lancaster, PA area, but without all the traffic. The most memorable event came while the ladies were shopping and Dick and I spotted a couple of steam tractors behind the line of stores on the street and in the front yard of a house.
We walked back there to look and while admiring them the owner came out to walk his dog and started talking to us. He invited us to see his collection, which he had in a large metal building about 40 ft. square. He had hundreds of tools, pumps, motors, oilcans, another steam tractor, and so many things I can’t remember, even hundreds of keys and even pencils. I was so enthralled that I forgot to take pictures.
After a couple of days in Amish country we got underway and traveled east to Scranton, PA. We camped for three nights and spent two days at Steamtown, a National Park (free with Golden Age Passport). They had several old steam engines and train cars, as well as some historical displays of train memorabilia, such as train wrecks, etc. We took a short ride in a caboose and watched the engine being put to bed using the large turntable.
Our next leg took us to Boston where we stayed at Hanscom AFB Family Campground just off I-95. We had a cookout at the motor home for 12 people on July 4th, including the four of us, two cousins and their wives and our daughter with three of her friends. We spent some time with Linda’s elderly aunt in Peabody, until it was time to head for Rutland, VT and attend the AGWA Rally. This we did on July 9th and Linda’s sister went back home to Ohio.
We had a good week in Vermont seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Bob Comeau led us on a good ride getting to Queechee Gorge on Sunday before the rally and an equally good ride going back. On the day of the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream factory ride some of us didn’t want to wait until the departure time so we left early. After the tour we were ready for something to eat and stopped in downtown Waterbury at a small restaurant. Margaret Thweatt was driving her car with both her dog and Karen’s and left the windows closed and the engine running with the air conditioner on. When we got back to the parking lot Karen’s dog met us as we got to the lot. It had stepped on the window button, opened the window and jumped out. Fortunately, we got back before anything happened to it. We went back to Rutland via hwy 17 west over to US 7. It was a fun motorcycle road. The next day many of us rode to Lake George, NY. While everyone else took the boat ride, Owen & Gail Toomey and Linda & I shopped a little while and then rode north around the lake and crossed Lake Champlain by ferry at Fort Ticonderoga on the way back to Rutland. The next day a few of us rode up Mt Equinox, dropping most of the ladies off in Basketville at the entrance. It was very foggy at the top but a good ride nonetheless.
After the rally we headed up to US 2 and traveled along it to Bangor, Maine and then made our way out US 9 to Great Pond, where Naval Air Station Brunswick has an outdoor recreation area. We stayed in the campground, which was really out in the boondocks. The nearest city was Ellsworth, which was 45 miles south, and then Ba Haba (at least that is what they called it but the map said Bar Harbor) was another 30 minutes. We went into Bar Harbor Sunday morning and met up with Gordon and Liz Dickson from Michigan who were preparing to leave the next day on the ferry to Nova Scotia. We walked around, ate lunch, walked around, ate ice cream (even though it was only 65 degrees), shopped a little and said goodbye. The traffic was pretty heavy there so the next day we decided to go to the other Acadia National Park on the next peninsula (Schoodic) to the east. It was very nice and much less crowded so we went again the next day. We could only take a week of the boondocks, so we decided to go south as soon as the week we paid for was used up. We had a day to spare so I rented a sailboat and went out on the lake. Wouldn’t you know, it was the only day in a month that there was no wind. I kept at it for about 4 hours but finally gave up. The boat had a rubber drain plug that you take out when pulling it out of the water. Someone had the bright idea to attach a cord to it so it wouldn’t get lost and help in pulling it out. They drilled a hole in it and ran the cord through the hole and tied a knot in the end. The other end was attached to the boat. Unfortunately, the hole was bigger than the cord so all the time it was in the water it was leaking. I was wearing jeans so my legs wouldn’t burn, so I was pretty uncomfortable most of the time. If there had been enough wind to cause the boat to lean the water would have been on the other side of the boat from me. As it was, my weight caused the boat to lean to my side so the water was under me all the time.
The next day we headed south to the Camden, Rockland area and found a campground in Rockport. This is a nice area and we stayed 10 days until they kicked us out because they were booked up for the Lobster Festival. While there we took bike trips around the area, starting with a trip to Wiscasset, where Reds Eats is located alongside Route 1, in a red shack hardly big enough to hold a couple of riding lawnmowers, for the best lobster roll in the world. It has been written up in several magazines and TV shows like the food channel, so it is very popular. We waited in line for 45 minutes and it was the best lobster roll we had the whole trip, and we spent many dollars on lobster while in Maine and Massachusetts. We also stopped in at the famous Moody’s Restaurant on US 1 in Waldoboro for lunch, but we were too full to partake of the homemade desserts for which they are famous. Before leaving the Rockland area we rode down one peninsula to Friendship and another day to Tenants Harbor and Port Clyde. We also spent time in Camden Harbor, Rockport Harbor and Rockland Harbor. We visited Owl’s Head Light and Marshall Point Light & Museum. Linda’s cousin and his wife came up from Keene, NH and spent the night with us. While they were there we went to the Owl’s Head Transportation Museum. It is an excellent museum with lots of old cars, motorcycles, bicycles and airplanes. Since they were preparing for their huge annual auction we even saw many other classic cars that were only there for the auction. If this type of thing appeals to you go to their web site: www.ohtm.org
We left the Rockland area and moved about 30 miles south to the Boothbay area. After setting up camp we returned on the bike to Rockland to attend the first day of the Lobster Festival. We were disappointed; it was like a carnival, with rides, games, food stands and music. They were serving lots of lobster and the line was long so we decided to eat elsewhere. We had an ice cream, looked in the craft and photography tents, listened to a Celtic music group and walked around the harbor watching the boats. We couldn’t tolerate the crowds enough to wait until the Jazz group started so we went back to the campground. Linda prepared baked potatoes, corn on the cob and salads while I rode down the road a couple of miles and picked up cooked lobsters a little over 1½ lbs each.
The next day we rode to Pemaquid Point, stopping at Shaw’s Restaurant for lunch and watched the Lobster boats in the bay check their traps and later unload them at the restaurant. We then toured the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and
museum and walked along the rocks enjoying the nice temperature, nice breeze and nice scenery. The next day we returned with a picnic lunch and spent a few hours just hanging around and walking. Before leaving the area we visited Fort William Henry. The next day we went to Wiscasset for me to get a haircut and afterward stood in line at Red’s for an hour for lobster rolls. We then went on down the road and stopped at Big Al’s, where we bought a bag full of miscellaneous stuff for $9. Afterward we continued on to Yarmouth and stopped at Delorme’s to see the huge globe before going to Freeport and walking through L.L. Bean’s.
On Saturday we returned to Owl’s Head for the air show. They flew several of their planes and had some other privately owned ones show up to put on a show. If you come in an antique vehicle you can get in free so there were nearly 100 antique cars, in addition to all the vehicles belonging to the museum, and the other ones waiting for auction. People in period costume were riding many of the old bicycles and the pilots were also in costume. It was a very good show.
We moved to Cape Ann Campground near Gloucester, MA on August 11th. We rode around the area on the bike a little and rested up some. Bob and Linda Comeau came by in their Mustang convertible and took us on a tour of the area. We really enjoyed it. Our youngest daughter arrived in Boston for a business meeting on Friday, so we had her and our middle daughter, who lives in Boston, over for a lobster dinner. I went to the grocery store and bought four lobsters and had them cook them while Linda was preparing baked potatoes and salad. After I returned I roasted the corn-on-the-cob on the grill in the husk after soaking in water for a couple of hours. We learned this at the Queechee Gorge Roasted Corn stand. Two of the lobsters were 2 ½ lbs and the other two were 2 lbs. That is the first time I have eaten lobster and felt that I had enough.
The next evening Bob and Linda picked us up again and took us to Woodman’s Of Essex where we met Bob and Pat Dombrowski, and Bob and Cecile Moreau. After eating lobster again (this time fried) we all returned to the motor home where we sat around and talked for a couple of hours until the mosquitoes got to be a pest. After another day we moved over to Hanscom AFB Family Campground, where it was less than half the price of Cape Ann, and stayed there a week while checking up on Linda’s aunt in Peabody and spending more time with our daughter. We had lobster rolls about three more times before departing on August 23rd.
We left Boston for home around 8 AM and stopped at a KOA in New Market, VA about 6 PM. After registering, I tried to start the engine and just got a click. I switched to the house battery and it started. The next morning it started normally and has ever since. Curious??? We departed the KOA about 7 AM and arrived home about 2 PM. It was hot and humid, just like when we left it.
During some of the heavy rains we encountered on the trip we noticed a couple of leaks in the bedroom and one under the antenna crank. (It is in the shop now getting those fixed.) Also, while traveling through the rough roads of northeast Pennsylvania, the full-length mirror fell off the bathroom door, the silverware drawer fell off its tracks and the dining table came loose from the wall. We made a run to Wal-Mart in Boston and added two more brackets to the mirror and put a strip of Velcro on the wall and the table. We just took the drawer out every time we traveled and set it on the bench. I will repair that later. I finally figured out why the straps were coming loose on the bike and had no more trouble after Steamtown. I was pulling all the slack out of the strap before I started tightening it with the ratchet. It did not wrap around the spool enough to hold when subjected to the violent shaking it got on some of the rough roads we traveled on.
The first thing I did at home was get the motor home in the shop for a water pump, oil and filter change, lube job and tightening up the supports on the exhaust pipe, which also came loose enough to increase the noise level. That was $800. The next thing was to get the Suburban in the shop. We had driven it to Gardner, MA for the Memorial Day get-together, towing the bike, and apparently it started leaking transmission oil on the garage floor. We didn’t notice it until we got home. We had them replace the rear seal and perform a service on it, replacing the oil and cleaning the filter. While it was there I decided to have them repair the ABS as the light had been on for a couple of years. This all came to about $1100, most of which was the ABS (brakes). They don’t seem to repair anything anymore. They just replaced it all, module, valve, motor.
We are having second thoughts about owning a motor home. If it breaks down on the road it is difficult to get a tow truck big enough to haul it. It is difficult to find someone to work on it, as it won’t fit inside most garages. There seems to be something going wrong every few days or at least weeks. Maybe if we had a diesel dually and fifth wheel…Hmmmmm.