DC Cherry Blossom Festival

We spent most of the day on Saturday at the DC Cherry Blossom and Kite Festival.  The cherry trees were at their peak and gorgeous!  With all the historic sites of DC as a backdrop the cherry tress put on a spectacular show for us.  The pink and white blossoms swaying gently in the breeze combined with the thousands of visitors from all over the world gave the whole scene a surreal feeling.    
The kite festival was fun and it was neat to see all the different kites.  I did notice there were very few if any real home-made kites or dual control kites flying as most were cheap plastic kites bought from a store somewhere.  There were many different and unique designs that bear mentioning.  There were a couple of flying dragons that flapped away as the wind carried them upwards.  A Space shuttle danced in the sky wishing to launch into the upper atmosphere.  There were all manner of birds and bears and tigers, cute, pink kites from small to gigantic.  Some guys came out with what looked like Parasailing or maybe KiteSurfing kites and tried to fly them but the winds were too great to allow long flights.  I guess maybe they were hoping to put on a show for the spectators at the main field but they looked kind of silly just chasing their over-sized foils the whole time.  In my younger days I may have been out on the field with them.
I made it walking around for about 4 hours and then had to call an Uber to come get us.  This made it nice since we were dropped off at the Washington Memorial and then picked up on the other side near the Thomas Jefferson memorial so we didn’t have to walk all the way back across the park and wade through the throngs of people there.  The trip was enjoyable and we had a great time.  Highly recommended to use an Uber/Lyft to get to the event as you don’t have to fight traffic or crowds.

We finished out the afternoon eating seafood at a nice restaurant in a small town near the RV Park called Skipper's Pier Restaurant & Dock Bar at 6158 Drum Point Rd, Deale, MD 20751 

Excellent food although we sat on the deck and as the sun went down it got really cold really quick.  It was overcast so no sunset but we will go back once it warms up to watch the sunset over the boat docks. 

2nd day at the office

Still fighting the Sciatica in my hip - it’s making my right leg numb when I drive or sit for a while.  Did some yoga this morning and that seemed to help even though it made my leg really hurt for a while.  I’m praying this goes away quickly.
The drive in to the office from the East side of town where the RV Park is located took about an hour at 8am so I’m hoping it will be closer to 45 minutes if I leave earlier in the morning.  We are also looking at Hillwood RV Park today - I thought it would be too far but it may be closer due to the fact that it is on the same side of town as the office.  The office will be moving out further west this year sometime so that would be better.
Getting my laptop setup with applications to do Maximo development and reporting today.  Have a few meetings but not many yet.

Starting out with leg pain

Last night the pain I’ve been experiencing in my right lower back moved to the hip portion of my right leg.  I’ve looked it up on the web and I may have over-extended the muscles in my back.  That would not be a far stretch considering I rebuilt and reinstalled a big patio slider door a few days ago.  I had been noticing pain in my back a few days ago but had to drive for 700 miles to VA for my new project.   I can walk ok and when I sit in just the right position the pain is bearable.
We are planning to drive another 3 hours to Adventure Bound Camping Resorts - Washington DC, 5381 Sands Rd, Lothian, MD 20711
Hopefully there is a train nearby that I can ride into Falls Church VA to work everyday so Karen does not end up stranded.
We will setup camp this afternoon and may extend the slideouts.
The aquahot cut off twice last night and I had to click the switch up/down in order to restart it.
The weather is in the 30’s here so the AH is necessary.  I also need to change out the heater elements in the AH so we can use electric for water and some heat.

Virginia territory

We arrived in Virginia and are making our way slowly across it.  We ended up going to a small campground named Walnut Hills Campground - it was advertised as big rig friendly but we found out the hard way that our 45 foot Newell would not make the corners and it had very windy, gravel roads that the coach did not like - think 4 point turns...
We left there in a hurry and headed toward the nearest Rest Area and Karen recommended we go to Cracker Barrel and spend the night there.  We got to the Cracker Barrel in Staunton, VA and parked down the street.  We drove the Jeep up to Cracker Barrel and the hill/turn was too much so we punted and decided to eat in front of a nice older restaurant named ‘Mrs. Rowes Family Restaurant’ at 74 Rowe Rd, Staunton, VA 24401 - good food and nice people there.
We will stay the night out front and figure out how to turn around in the morning.

Another day on the road

Started off the morning near Danridge, TN off I-40 at a rest area - there are very few rest areas in TN and we finally found one last night at about 9:00.  We must have switched time zones at some point last night since all the clocks are now off by an hour.  I couldn’t sleep and stayed up reading Centennial: A Novel by Mitchner for an hour or so.  It’s a 1200 page book all about South Africa from it’s pre-historic beginnings to the 1980s Apartheid; I finally understand Apartheid and where it came from.
Woke up at 5am and started driving to the nearest Cracker Barrel for a nice breakfast at 6am.  Karen is still trying to wake up and is fighting with her right hand that she cut a few days ago when she tripped up the staircase at home and shattered a glass coffee pot she was carrying to bring us tea.  She still needs help getting her sweaters on and since it started off at about 30 degrees she needed several this morning!  
We just turned onto I-81 off of I-40 and we plan to drive another 8 hours today to get to Virginia while staying on I-81 just about the whole way.  I hope it’s a nice highway!

Almost stuck under a 12.5’ bridge

Traveling down I-24 coming out of Chattanooga there was an off-ramp that had a sign stating over 12.6’ prohibited.  For some reason (probably lack of sleep) I turned off the BIG freeway onto this little road.  The cops that showed up to help us turn around were very grateful we did not try to ram our coach into the little tunnel and were happy to help!  Thank you to the Chattanooga Police force for saving us from ourselves!

The nicest rest area in TN

Weather: 59F near Jasper, TN
Driving from Huntsville, AL to Falls Church, VA for a new project today and tomorrow.
At Ladd’s Rest Area in Jasper, TN.  This has to be one of the prettiest rest areas around.  Stopping to rest for a little after getting the coach ready to go yesterday and this morning.  We left about 8:30am and drove a few hours until we got to this rest area.  The rest area is in the middle of a huge lake (Jasper?) on I24 heading North.  
Karen is going to walk the dogs and I’m going to take a quick nap.
The coach is running well with no issues and the wheels look great after spending several hours on them yesterday with my new 3” Girot’s Garage polisher.  Some of the rear wheels need to have some stronger compound or maybe sanding on them to get rid of the pitting and discoloration in them.
We are already missing our home and Virginia is still 600 miles away.  Will try to update this tonight.

The List while in Phoenix

We have done so much on the coach since being with Darlene and Tom! 

This week I would like to address the following: 

• Add new compression clamps on air compressor
• Fix the front cabin heater fan 
• AquaHot pump that is leaking - Remove, Repair, Replace the seals 
• Check ping tanks for water (and map out where ping tanks are located)
• Clean the wheels 
• Wax the front 
• Wax the sides  
• Put RainX on the windshields 
• Install new pantry drawers 
• Clean front passenger bay where oil leaked (where did the oil come from?)
• Clean front driver bay - check Howard Power Steering area 
• PPV Pressure Protection Valves on both your primary and secondary brake tank need to be replaced; located on top of the brake tanks up front 

Living life in Phoenix, AZ

We have been staying with Darlene and Tom McCloud for the past two months or so.  I have been working in Phoenix, AZ for APS and am just about to wrap things up here and move on to a new project for FedEx in TN.  We have really enjoyed staying here, and although we didn’t do nearly as much sight-seeing as we would have hoped, we really like the Phoenix area.  We spent most of the non-working hours going through the engine and solving many leaks including an air leak in the Dupree sewer valve system, a hydraulic leak in the big fan on the Detroit Series 60 engine, an anti-freeze leak in the air compressor in the engine bay.  I’m planning to check all the ping tanks and there  was a suggestion on the Newell Gurus forum to check the valves for the ride height in case they were rusted so they don’t add more sediment to the air system.  We still need to have an oil analysis done when we are in TN at about 2000 miles with the new engine we had installed and change the oil.  We will plan to do that once we are safely in Collierville, TN.
The coach is cleaner now than it has been since we have owned it and even the engine bay is clean!  I ended up removing the big over hang load adapter (OHLA) to repair a leak. This big chunk of metal  holds the big hydraulic fan up so the motor does not get stressed.  While I had the fan out I CRAWLED to the back of the engine bay and stretched to get the back wall as clean as I could.  On the trip (from hell) to Phoenix we had the Turbo blow out on us and it spewed a thick black coating of diesel oil all over the driver (left) side of the engine bay.  Needless to say this was NOT fun to clean up and took several days of shimmying through a very tight opening in order to do so.  At one point while I was laying down cleaning inside the bay I decided to pull myself out of the bay.  As I was shimmying out my belt caught on the fan relay switch at the rear of the engine.  I thought I was going to have to call a friend for a few anxious minutes... I finally undid my belt and the trauma was over.  At least now I have a great way to tell if I have put on too many pounds!  Time to start working out again...

So far on this trip we have met Clark and Elaine Cockwald - very nice couple with a cool 87 (I think) Newell classic that is in really great shape.  Clark has done a lot of work restoring and reviving the coach inside and out.  The furniture and flooring inside were in great shape and the whole coach was very clean.  Clark has a neat grass carpet that he lays out when he is camping and it makes the coach look like it is in a little oasis.  Then he sets up his BBQ and a fire pit to complete the scene.  He also pulls a nice trailer with his VW inside along with a variety of tools.
Last night we met Jim and ? - they have a very nice 84 ? Newell classic that has newer LED lighting that Jim custom built throughout - this coach could be a show coach.  The furniture that Jim designed and had built were outstanding as was the craftsmanship with which it was created.  There was a small club chair that my wife absolutely loved and attached to it was a table/TV stand - the TV was on a lift and was hidden until needed - the TV looked to be a 32 inch.  There was a fold-down table built for a computer in front of the passenger chair.  All of the upholstery had been redone and looked brand new!
I should have taken pictures of both of these classic Newells!

Darlene and Tom had a party on Saturday night that was great!  They had tons of food and drinks.  About 200 people showed up!  It was fun for all and the conversation was fantastic.  We met Cindy and Joe Galowitch who own a 1998 Newell (same years as our current coach) and had a great evening talking and exchanging stories with them.  We have a lot of common interests including homes, boats, and Newells.  We hope to see more of them in the future!

Water pressure problems solved

We have been having intermittent water pressure problems and had resorting to using the tank but it ran out today. We had friends over for dinner and the water lasted a few minutes and then died after about a minute or so. I checked the water pressure at the park spigot and it was fine, went back inside and same thing, good water pressure for a minute at most and then it died to a trickle. (made taking a shower last night lots of fun). So a friend of mine and I went out to diagnose the problem. As I was heading back to the spigot I glanced between the drive and tag tires and there it was - the hose was under the hydraulic jack pad!!! I was elated at finding the problem but was really blown away by two facts: 1) the water was getting through the hose with 30,000 lbs sitting on top of it 2) the hose was not destroyed when I lifted the jacks... amazing.
Moral of the story - don't toss the excess hose under the bus until the jacks are DOWN...