Our Good Sam RV membership claims we get a discount at Flying J’s and Pilot if you swipe your Good Sam card. Doesn’t work however, at all locations. We are supposed to get .$.03 off per gallon but it sometimes doesn’t pay to get off the highway to get that price, as we found out. Got caught in a juggernaut of a Flying J Thursday. The Rv’s fuel at different pumps from the trucks but you have to find the correct pumps and there in lies the problem. The signage to the RV pumps isn’t that great and we got caught in this massive jam of 18 wheelers coming from all directions and there we were stuck. Maneuvering a 46 ft unit amonst all the big guys was daunting! When we finally got unstuck and found our pumps there was no Good Sam discount!
Then we crossed into West Virginia near Wheeling up on the little upper panhandle of WV and were scheduled to try to stay overnight in a Walmart parking lot (for free). We found the Super Walmart and were excited to find numerous huge pull through parking sites specifically marked for RV’s. There were 4 huge sleeper busses idling with their A/C systems running and a few 18 wheelers but the signage said “no trucks.” We pulled in and took a walk over to the worlds largest Cabelas and then had dinner. In pulls the largest tractor trailer I have ever seen. Turns his engines off and all is wonderful. We go to bed and then the TT guy turns on his generator to run his heater to make his extened cab nice and toasty. Well the sound of the generator was deafening. His cab must be well insulated from noise. I finally went out in my PJ’s and hammered on his cab door until he had to answer and mentioned “no truck parking. He was surly but did turn his generator off.
Then we discovered something wrong with the hot water heater which runs on propane. The propane was running to the Freezer and fridge, and the heater worked off the propane. Scoured the manuals for info but could not fix the problem. IT IS UNDER WARRANTY so we found a Good Sam dealer near our Sat/Sun/Mon stop but of course they are too busy to handle us. But they did give us a referral to someone who does Good Sam warranty work. The repairman met us at our supposed stay at the timeshare resort Roark Resort in Branson and fixed our hot water heater. Turns out WE had not un-winterized it correctly. Then the Roark resort wouldn’t let us park the RV in a separate spot from the truck so we left and went to Table Rock State Park near Branson. The Ozark Hills are lovely rolling hills with outcropppings of layers of sandstone/limestone. Many caves in southern Missouri as a result.
Ohio is one big flat corn field that goes on for miles. The tractors must spend an hour tilling one row. The farms are gigantic.
Stopped in St Louis to see the Gateway Arch and took a unique podlike elevator ride up to the top of the curved structure. 5 people to a pod with 8 pods per train.
Thank goodness for buying the iPhone 5c. St Louis had changed the routing around the Gateway Park and the GPS got confused. At least with my phone I could maneuver us around a bit to find our way out of the city.
A highlight in Ohio was seeing a “Beltie” or a Scottish breed of cow that has a wide white strip around its belly. Very distinctive. Mostly used for beef. Amazing what having a 4g phone will do for you when you have a question.
The best APP so far is the “Gas Buddy”. It tracks your location and tells you what the local gas stations are charging for gas. Very convenient.
Only picture so far is a “selfie video” of us singing our theme song. “Indian Summer” by Brooks and Dunne. We just like the chorus and sing it loudly at all times
It is nice being plugged into shore power and having hot water. I know we could heat water on the stove which runs on propane but it doesn’t come out of a shower nozzle that way.
91 degrees in Branson yesterday. Went to a tribute show to Frankie Valle and the Jersey boys. Fantastic show. Branson is not what I expected. Large town snuggled into hillside of the very eroded limestone of the Ozark Mountains, which at this point are really big hills. I thought the main street would be walkable but it goes on for miles and the facades on the buildings reminds me of Vegas. Kitch par excellence! there is a Titanic show so the building has 1/4 of the titanic, and across the street King Kong is hanging off a building, Then 4 heads resembling Mt Rushmore but the faces are John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and JC Fields. Very weird.
Good news at the Chevy dealership this AM. They took us at the last minute to check on the engine and why it is burning more oil than normal. At least their test machines didn't pick up any engine problems. It is probably the stress on the truck of pulling the trailer. AMEN we can continue on!!!!!!!!!!!
I need to close this and leave the dealership now. The Ozarks are not mountains they are wonderfully rolling hills and gorgeous.
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