Italy Revisited

A few days at home and the taste of Italy still lingering, we headed for the mountains.  Avoiding Atlanta traffic has always been our goal, so it was LaGrange GA, then North -- Carrollton, Bremen, Cedartown (where the Silver Comet bike trail runs), Rockmart… ROCKMART!! SILVER COMET!! FRANKIES!!!!
When Frankie Pence rented a defunct bike shop along the Silver Comet trail and moved into the apartment  upstairs, no one was quite sure a quality Italian restaurant catering to cyclists and the downtown lunch business of a very small town was a really good idea. These were folks who haven’t tasted Frankie’s  Lasagna or experienced the genuine warmth of her hospitality.


When we parked our own “Silver Comet” along the tiny park across from the restaurant, the bike racks out front were overflowing and a swarm of colorful cycling jerseys brightened the sidewalk.  Inside, Frankie was perched on a high stool chatting up a Harley riding couple. She points at Pat, still in the doorway taking in the walls full of event jerseys and pictures of customers.
“Alabama”, she says emphatically.  “And something else..”  Pat reminded her of the Professional mugs we once traded her for dinner and she was into total recall.
We shouldn’t feel special; she seems to remember EVERYONE and has a genuine, totally welcoming grace that extends to everyone that works here.
  We took the traditional Frankie-and–bikes-and-customers picture to go on the wall and sat down to eat.
Ah yes, the FOOD!  Big crisp salads with creamy garlic dressing, hot breadsticks, Lasagna with Italian sausage for Pat and the signature chicken, spinach Florentine lasagna for Al. (We didn’t have to worry about riding our bikes after this.)  We showed Frankie and Harley friends the Silver Comet and pulled out of the near deserted town square, our Italian cravings once again satisfied.

                                                                                                                                                                                                           The rest of the drive was on pleasant cruise control. We arrived at Smokemount Campground in GSMNP just at dusk. It was 59 degrees. We slipped into a site we hoped would provide full sun.  Predictions are for 34 degrees  tonight.  We have a full battery, a furnace that works and the test of the new propane fired generator was A-OK.  Life is Good.

Blue Angels, Pasta and Porpoises

Al really doesn’t LIKE the beach; he barely tolerates it unless there are Beach Toys, preferably grandchildren. Long walks on the beach stooped over looking at flotsam and jetsam, Agates or even gold doubloons, not so much. So this little adventure has been classified as a trip to repair the carnage to our awning –- don’t ask-- or, perhaps a purely scientific inquiry into the rate of dune rebuilding since the last visit.
In his defense, this is what they built back after the hurricane tidied up the mess a few years back…










 
But this is what
we saved…  notice the
dunes are filling in…


And the remaining trees are filling out as well.  This is the part Al Likes….




    He Likes this too.







So while waiting for our camper repair, Patty found Petrella’s, a family place with rave reviews and seven dollar lunch specials.  Wow!  We split and were planning our next visit as we waddled out the Door.
The Gulf Island National Seashore appears just at the edge of the condo jungle.  It’s a mile or so along a thin ribbon of sand before you even reach the gate, where Ranger Douglas gave us the warmest greeting we have Ever had at a Federal facility.  It’s another three miles of beach before you reach the old Coast Guard station which serves as the camper registration and perhaps another mile to the campsites.

DECOMPRESSION  , and a chance to speculate about the eight foot mounds of sand along the road.  The park was closed several days to clear the overwash of sand from Tropical Storm Isaac.  And WE believe that the surf is a little closer to the road that it was…
We settled into  site #6 (with a lovely bit of shade), met some  truly nice folks, and didn’t even stray over the boardwalk to the beach.
Next morning, the Blue Angels were practicing and we were amongst the standing room crowd watching the spectacle. Standing allows the freedom to swing around and watch as the elements zooming in from all angles.
“Here they come.  Oh wait, that’s a dragon fly.. Oh, there they are.  Wow!  Wow!  Wow!”
As the planes landed and rolled out, a mature Bald Eagle which  had been circling  just off the airfield, moved over the center of the quiet landing area, climbed to 600 feet  in a tight spiral and just held there.

        “ROLL CREDITS.”

The Naval Air Museum is a must see, even though we have been here several times.  (Patty has a LITTLE crush on the Blue Angels.)  This time we strayed off the main hanger floor into a bulkhead to watch a film on qualifying carrier pilots on an old refitted side-wheeler off Chicago!  Who Knew?  The film outlined the recovery of some combat veteran Aircraft from Lake Michigan and the five year restoration.  The plane, a ABD Dauntless Dive bomber was instrumental in winning the Battle of Midway and has a tiny family connection.  Carl Meyer’s first task as a civil engineer at McDonnell Douglas during the war was to engineer/reengineer the tail hook.
“We want it strong, Carl. Lives depend on it.  But, it’s not a bridge.”
Amazingly, nearly 6000 were built yet none were available for display before the restoration on the proud ship sitting here.  We stroked her quietly while a Navy veteran carrier pilot of a later era, recounted the Battle of Midway. 
“Can we go back to Petrella’s ?  Sure.”
Later we found the beach. 
“Yeah, still here.  Can we ….?  NO!
A single Porpoise brightened Patty’s day and she “walked” it down the beach till she was out of sight.
Later we biked until sunset with no noticeable effects on the sore shoulder. (That would show up later.) Patty was full speed from the start and seemed to enjoy the flat terrain, great pavement and balmy temps.
The Osprey nests that were so plentiful in snags last year were destroyed by the winds.  Only a few left.  There will be a building boom next spring.  This is too good a fishing ground to abandon.
Next day the Porpoises were here –- in droves.  Seems that about 3:30 they run East along the beach and play with anyone who can reach them.  Today a pontoon boat accompanied them and, from our distant vantage, seemed to be able to make them jump and cavort by swinging her arms overhead?  It was quite a show, probably as many as 12-14.
Even cooler the last night. The CG was emptying out in the morning as the Grey Hairs moved on and the sites filled with young folks in tents getting settled for the De Luna Music festival over the weekend. One last Breakfast. 

“What’s the Friday special at Petrella’s?”
“Flounder stuffed with crab in a white sauce.”
“It’s on the way….or will be.”
So, the perfect beach trip.  A lovely place, a density of 1-6 people per mile of beach, warm water, pleasant breezes and time equally divided between beachcombing and Italian food.

Ice Through the Door

 

Yes, I AM the guy who can spend up to a year choosing a new backpacking stove –- months of catalog reading, price comparisons,  a few hours of peering over fellow hiker’s shoulders at dinner time and suffering several cuts and puncture wounds from constructing little alcohol stoves from cat food cans.

  “Who do we know that owns a cat…?”

So it came as a surprise to see  the lovely faux stainless glow of a new refrigerator staring back at us as we returned home last month.

“Remember?”

“The old one died just before we left two trips ago.  We just cleaned it out and left .  We bought this one when we got back last time.”

Apparently I can part with enough cash to fund several months on the road (even at these gas prices!) and forget it completely. The Ice Through the Door is cool,  though not enough to hold us in thrall as the leaves begin to turn. 

We are planning to Head Out, first  South to tag the Gulf Beaches and measure the rebuilding dunes, then North to where trout fin quietly over stony beds and bears forage for Winter.  We will join family and friends at the National Storytelling Festival at Jonesborough TN in early October and then file our flight plan “in the air.”

Patty has begun therapy for her long neglected shoulder and, star patient that she has always been, is making measurable progress; she expects to try out the bike on this southern swing and in mountain campsites chosen for their level bike trails. When the Physical Therapist asked what her goals were, she replied, “to ride my bike, and  bump a volleyball with my grandchildren” 

“…and were you able to do this before…?”

Al got his bike out at home and reports that “getting back on our bikes” will entail a little more than just adding them to the traveling payload. Wow, those first few miles after a long layoff are like starting to run again –- painful.

In retrospect, we have named our last four month tour to the “shores of Gitche Gumee" and back as the “NO BIKES TOUR” , the first long enforced separation from our bikes since we were dating; who knows what this adventure will bring?  For now, we are calling it ESCAPE FROM ICE THROUGH THE DOOR.

iPad Navigation & More

We started this last four month road trip with a brand new iPad and some untried apps. Here is what we have learned so far. You should know that we have been navigating for years with the Delorme Mapping products on the laptop.  Patty is a 5th degree black belt in Delorme.

“What’s the name of that mountain over there, Honey?”
“That’s Picklers Peak, elevation 3457 MSL”
“What’s that on top?”
“Radio station WGGT, country for all of West Virginia”  “I think the road up there is a little steep for an Airstream,” she adds, getting a little tired of the gratuitous geography quiz.

She did all that and more from a little laptop desk anchored in front of her co-pilot seat.  That is, she DID until a friend with experience in ergonomics in airplane cockpits and more common sense than I pointed out that an airbag deployment would likely cut my lovely wife in half.  The desk was removed and enter the iPad with a whole set of new navigation applications.

Only the iPads with cellular capability have the GPS thingy.  You need that.
Cellular connection completes the package but you can navigate without it. (We used Verizon and feel it has the best coverage in the places we travel)

Lots of applications make use of your position to provide useful information; some apps are resident on the pad and others work only if you are connected to cellular.

The Google maps program has up-to-date maps, lets you plan a route while on WiFi or cellular and saves it for use when you are not “connected.”  Maps has a “traffic” view which will show you congestion not only in city environments but in other surprising places.  Yesterday we passed an accident in the opposite lane backing up traffic for miles.  When we started seeing taillights on our side a few miles later, Lovely Co-pilot confirmed that it was indeed showing up on the map, but it was transitory, probably that accordion thing.  It disappeared before Lovely Co-pilot could plot a course avoiding it…
 
The “you Need A Map” application is resident on your iPad (after a long download), knows where you are and lays down a “bread crumb” trail you can save and play with later.  You don’t plan a route with this one, but you can follow along watching your little blue symbol moving on the map.  You need this one when you are not connected and…say it with me …”You Need A Map.”

The “Allstays” application maps all the campsites in the country along with important things like, rest areas, Walmarts, your favorite stores, low overpasses, truck stops and lots more.  They are presented on a map with your position in the middle.  You can use the filter to show just the features you are interested in at the moment.  When on cellular you can call up the campsite’s webpage, see reviews and even pictures right from the application. Touch a button and “Allstays” plans your route to the selected feature and brings them up in Google maps.  Very handy because with the route selection you get millage and a driving time estimate.  We use this a lot. 
WARNING NOTE:  Always read the direction segment of the selected campsite’s web page.  Often there are better directions and dire warnings about the consequences of ignoring them.

There are other campground finding apps: “Campwhere” lists only public campsites, but missed a great one we used in Michigan. “I Camp Here” has both public and private.  Both seem to be waiting for users to fill in the blanks in their database and are often missing the basic information (like how many sites). We list them as “not ready for prime time” but keep them on the pad for cross reference.


Soo, you are whizzing down the Interstate and are wondering about lunch, or a tire shop or Kinkos.  “iExit” is the application that knows where you are and what’s within a short distance of the next exits.  It seldom lets you follow a two mile trip through town to find the subway advertised on the highway sign  AND it provides a handy detailed map of the area around the exit which aides navigation around Malls and other cluttered interchanges. The featured stores are shown on the map.
Several states now have “Pocket Ranger” apps or an equivalent.  These have lots of information on camping and sightseeing in the state and will link you seamlessly with the appropriate site to book a campsite. 
We have tried some other applications and are still finding others. 

 These are working well for us right now for basic Navigation.  Others everyone should consider:

A weather App.  Your choice, there are several.  We use the weather Channel. 


“My Radar”  Isn’t it cool to have onboard weather radar just like a real pilot? Remember when bag cell phones first came out and worried kids would watch CNN and relay tornado tracks to you, or the local radio would provide up  to the second info, but you needed a map and a good co-pilot to find those threatened counties?  Now you are the Master of the Universe and all the ugly climatological phenomena that implies.  Several free apps provide quick updating radar.  Just don’t leave it on when you don’t need it because those repaints will suck your download allocation down quick.  Flip your “Maps” over to Satellite view and it will SLOWLY repaint your map and help you find a big empty church parking lot or other open place to wait out the wind and rain in an area free of falling tree limbs.

OTHER COOL STUFF:
“Gas Buddy” knows where you are and seeks out the best reported gas prices.  It is not unusual to save 10 –15 cents a gallon.  If you have loyalty cards with say Loves, Costco or Sams, the Allstays program will help you find one  (use the filter feature.)
We dispense with gas receipts by using “Gas Record” to record purchases and do the math.  We do this on the phone; the iPad isn’t always running, but the phone is usually handy.  Reports can be generated if you REALLY  want to know how much you are spending on gas. You can also see your gas purchases on a map if you can’t remember exactly where that cheap place along I-65 with the RV lanes and the attached restaurant was.

And, Oh Yes.  Do you  remember those little sweaks, pings and whirlly noises that accompanied the Gameboy being tortured in the backseat on those long trips with the kids?  I have found that if I don’t keep Lovely Copilot occupied searching for Thai Food in an outdoor setting with all 5 star reviews, she lapses into GAME MODE and the sounds of decks shuffling, piles of blocks collapsing and magical transformations of colored icons into pyramids fill the air.

“Whatever happened to the art of conversation, admiring the passing landscape, wondering what that historical marker might have said…” he asks.
“On course, on Glide path…shut up and drive.”

Mike and Lizzie

 

I may have said it here before, but it bears repeating. On this journey we have met hundreds of people we would love to spent more time with.  For a variety of life’s reasons, many of these couples have found each other late in life -- a surprising number of them computer dating!  Each has a unique story, but all seem to us blissfully happy, tolerant and loving to each other and enjoying the life they are making together “on the road.”  

  By far the best story is Lizzie and Mike’s.  They met, courted a bit, sold everything, bought the first RV they had ever set foot in and headed out across the country. Sure, Lizzie had tent camped with her kids and a dozen more as a single Mom, and Mike had owned a sailboat….  ”but, but,” we sputter.  Relax, they are doing great. “Right, Mike?”

We met last year in Grand Gulf Mississippi just before the Tornado outbreak and have kept track of our wanderings using the Latitudes phone app. Latitudes told us that our paths would cross again in West Virginia where they are camp hosting with the Corps of Engineers.

When we landed at their campsite at Bee Run, Mike was regaled in his COE approved steel toed boots putting a few finishing touches on the campground with a weed whacker.

  “Even though you owe us dinner,” he reminded us,  “Lizzie is cooking.”  LIZZIE IS COOKING!!

Need I add it was like a heavenly taste of Hoboken?  And we brought New Jersey Trifecta Pie, so it really was a little piece of New Jersey on a West Virginia mountaintop.

 

 

 

We had a couple days exploring the New River Gorge from several overlooks and messing about with the Airstream’s battery and generator.  We wished it could last longer, but there are plans for a mid winter rendezvous…

Fantastic Vents -- They really are.

 

Every Airstreamer loves the little Fantastic Fan that quietly draws air into our Aluminum homes.  Many fans (Vents) sense the temps and turn on and off by magic and some even close in a rain shower.  Remote controls? Sure. But what really makes this company world class is their customer service. Call them from some outpost in the wilderness and confess that you (OK, that’s Me) stuck my finger in the 13 year old fan and broke a blade. They will send you a whole new fan assembly FREE, with Motor FREE,  freight free and say ”Thanks for your business.”  When that happened to me, I pledged to tell everyone I met about this great product and buy another for the bedroom at my earliest convenience .

Being adrift in Michigan gave us the opportunity (thanks for the reminder Jason.)  We arrived at Imlay at the scheduled time and Chris expertly led us through our options. In minutes, he was on the roof peeling off caulking. He often travels to the big Airstream rallies and installs/upgrades and repairs dozens a day.  He knew where the wiring lay and what extra steps were required to deal with the roof curvature.

THEN he wanted to look at my existing fan.

“This motor mount is cracked”   Whirl, snip. it landed in the tool belt. 

“This lifter seems to be bent and the fan isn’t opening all the way…”  

“Well”, I stumbled, “that might have been bent when the awning flew over the top…”  Whirl, whirl of the screw gun and both were replaced.

He tried the new pieces and still wasn’t satisfied. “Are you having trouble with the temperature control?” 

“Err, I really don’t ever use it…” 

“I think it’s the circuit board.”  THOSE would be ominous words anywhere but at Fantastic Vent. Chris found the board, some new trim and pretty much the whole assembly and sent me on my way with two perfectly matched, silent running fans and one of their new covers which allow the vent to stay open while on the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FANTASTIC VENT:  Great Product

Made in America 

World Class customer support

LONG MAY THEY PROSPER!

Hartwick Pines State Park

As we beat a hasty retreat from Mackinac, we failed to calculate that winds gusting to 30 MPH would make Sunday afternoon on I-75 a bit dicey.  Lots of RVs getting tossed around out there and everybody was anxious to get home after a big weekend “Up North.”
We had lots of sweet little interludes to choose from, but sighted in on Hartwick Pines State Park and its grove of virgin White Pines. After the Interstate rowdiness, we decided to stay over.
We strolled around the paved path late in the afternoon comparing Michigan’s “big trees” with others we found in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Sadly we were too late to interact with the staff at the forestry museum, but we did share the elevated walkway with a marauding raccoon.  No Olympics tonight though other campers seem to be getting coverage.(sad)