Axle Woes

Our original hope was that the new axle would be ready on Friday, August 10.  However, the manufacturer couldn't get it ready until Monday morning at the earliest.  That meant that we had to make alternative plans for our weekend since we couldn't pull the RV anywhere and our camping spot at the repair facility does not have full hook-ups. 

Fortunately, Pat's brother Mike lives in Michigan only about an hour away so we packed suitcases, dogs crates, some groceries, my Keurig for coffee, and dirty laundry (just like in college!) and headed up the road for the weekend.  We had a pleasant stay with Mike and Joanne and their dog Scooter except when Duke decided that he wanted to go for a run.  The first time he got out loose, he came back with no problem.  The second time we (he) was not so lucky--he headed down the road to visit a neighbor's boxer and decided to try to be the dominant dog which ended in a bit of a dog fight.  Needless to say, Duke was in the doghouse for the rest of the weekend.  The three Cronin dogs got along pretty well and after the initial get-acquainted period, they all settled down.

Scooter, Duke, and Abby

We had made plans to get together with some of Pat's nephews on Saturday evening.  One of them was sick and I was also sick so Pat, Mike, and Joanne meant the others and had a pleasant dinner. 

On Monday morning, we packed up everything (clean clothes this time) and returned to LaGrange, IN to get our camper.  However, when we got there, they didn't have the new axle and the repair folks wanted one more day to fix everything.  Back we went to the Michigan Cronin's for one more night. On the way, we passed some Bison grazing close to the road:

Tuesday morning, we called ahead and all was done so we headed back to LaGrange for the camper.  We paid the bill (insurance did cover the repairs!) and headed to a campground in Shipshewana for the night.  After we got hooked up, we discovered we were still having an electrical issue.  We disconnected the 50 amp cord and headed back to LaGrange.  It turned out that we had a situation that could have easily caused a fire--this time they replaced the plug that goes into the camper and all is now OK (whew!). 

On Wednesday, we had an appointment to have the axles aligned and then finally headed up to Ludington, Michigan (200 miles from Elkhart, IN).  Much cooler weather up here--it was in the 50's yesterday morning (Friday) and only in the 40's this morning.  It feels good to be in the low 70's during the day!  Hope this follows us as we head back south!!

We are going to Lake Michigan today so I will have pictures on the next post.

EASY LIVING!

Indiana Escapades (August 2012)

Okay so our plan was to leave Diamond Caverns in Park City, KY on August 2 but on July 31 we ran into electrical issues and thought it was poor power at the park.  We decided to go ahead and leave a couple of days early and head for Charlestown (IN) State Park.  Upon our arrival and while trying to plug in the camper, we discovered that our power cord plugged into the camper was broken so we had to rush to a camper supply store to buy a connector to temporarily fix our electrical problem.  It sort of worked but we still only seemed to have power on one leg of the 50 amp circuit.  We thought it was still a problem with the camper but could deal with it for the six days.  We did see several wild turkeys in the campground and paid a visit to a very old cemetery that is on the grounds of the old Indiana Ammunition Plant.

We were both glad that we moved to Charlestown a couple of days early.  It enabled us to meet a friend and her mom (Susan and DJ) for lunch at Chuys which was most enjoyable.  DJ was one of our neighbors in Georgetown and Susan's children and ours have been friends and classmates since elementary school.

Thursday, our daughter Cathy, her boyfriend Jesse, and good friend Tiffany and two sons came out to the campground for a cookout.  Of course the temps were probably the second hottest day of the year so we pretty much spent the time in the camper--5 adults, 2 children under the age of 5, and three dogs makes for a very crowded and hectic time.

Friday was a relaxing day and we met our good friends Rob and Becky for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. 

Saturday morning our son John came out to the campground to visit and enjoy our special Dutch oven breakfast casserole.  We had a very nice relaxing visit with him.

Sunday was church at St. Marks United Church of Christ in New Albany followed by lunch with some more friends.  This stop certainly was filled with visits with friends and family.  This time I remembered to take some pictures!



Mike, Tara and Mark



Christa, Bill, and our son John

Pat and John

On Monday, August 6 we left Southern Indiana with our destination in Northern Indiana for RV Repairs at Indiana Interstate Enterprises (Paul Cross).  When we plugged the camper into the RV repair place 50 amp, all looked OK.  Our conclusion is that we had two problems at the last two places--one was bad campground wiring and the other was our broken cord.  That problem has been solved but now we are sitting at the RV repair site waiting for a new axle.  Back in March when we first arrived at Lake Conroe, we apparently damaged one of the axles by driving partly through a ditch.  All seemed OK until we got here for repairs.  Upon close inspection, one of the axles is damaged beyond repair.  Hopefully, our insurance will cover the cost of the new one.  As a result, we will be in Lagrange, IN until Friday, Aug 10 or possibly until Monday depending on when the new one is ready.

Our plan is to move on into Michigan for a few weeks so stay tuned.  Never a dull moment in the RV lifestyle!!

EASY LIVING (?)!!