Another vehicle down. I mean GONE.

Today the last of our two van Gently Used Books FLEET of vehicles has been sold, and with it our GUB era passes into history.

The Pontiac Montana sold several weeks ago and today the Chrysler Town and Country followed it to our friend Pete Dady, local car dealer and leader at St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Amityville.

Both of these trustworthy vehicles hauled about 1,500 lbs of books a piece from homes and estates being closed or to Goodwill Industries to be recycled yet again. Each of them were personal vehicles as well, serving me or Ramona for church, vacation, or store trips.  The last trip of the Chrysler, fittingly, was to a church bible study group last night.

Now we are down to being a one car, and one coach couple. Mona says I may claim driving rights to the Alpine, but she claims them, when she wants them, to the CRV.

May our two newest vehicles last long and well!

-Ken

Coach Prep

Quo is in her third of four weeks of preparation at Tom Schaeffer's RV in Pottsville, Pa now.  We went up to look over the progress on Thursday this week.

Aaron, a grandson of business founder Tom Schaeffer, is one well bred service focused family business person!  He has stepped us through our sometimes unique process at every turn and has kept us fully informed via email or phone of any new ideas or changes in plans.

The techs and other service and sales persons we've met have been just as helpful.  In fact, I learned from Aaron that this third generation family business knows a bit about the fourth generation business I grew up in, Stauffer's of Kissel Hill. It seems family businesses that successfully plan generational success have one thing definitely in common; they treat their customers welfare as the main reason they are in business, and they treat their employees and each other with the utmost respect.

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A bit of news about our sold house at 100 Holly Drive:  It hasn't.  The buyer discovered they could not get the planned loan so we are back to showings and open houses.

It's good there's a Dunkin' Donuts with a comfortable couch to read on just 3 blocks from the house for all those times we are not to be home when guests arrive.

Back to the coach.

Quo won't be getting the planned solar panel array we spoke of earlier.  The cost is much higher than we'd hoped and the return, even in usefulness on the high desert, is minimal, unless we literally cover the roof with panels that are manually adjustable to the angle of the sun. And that cost?  'Fugat' about it!' as Tony Soprano might say.

Also, the bed won't be receiving the auto-lifters we were hoping for to get it to rise for easier access to the engine and storage compartments.  It seems the quality of the mattress and frame is just too great!  in other words, it's way too heavy in solid construction and insulation.  Any lifter system on the market is too lightweight to handle it. So we'll just have to rely on strong mechanics at shops we visit, and my arm will have to fully heal to get to the under-bed storage myself.

The LED bulbs are arriving as I type and we decided to replace all exterior bulbs as well.  Much brighter, loads of saved battery power, and tens of thousands of hours of use and an upgrade to coach value to boot.

Mechanically and visually Quo's former family, the Hickson's of Mobile, Alabama, get HIGH marks from the techs at Schaeffer's for the way the 8 year old coach has been maintained.  They say they always love to work on older RV's that are in great shape, and in the case of this one, especially the WRV brand.  It's rare that they get one in since so few were made in the companies 30 year existence and they noted some great features not always found on similarly priced coaches of the pre-RV-crash era (before 2008).

The quality of basement door locks which provide added security, multi-level protective computerized devices connecting all power sources through one Xantrex system, and especially the wood work craftsmanship throughout the interior are just three such examples.

The CRV tire pressure system was connected wirelessly without a flaw to the coach while we were driven up to the nearby Cabella's Superstore to browse, read and have lunch while the work was being done.  Major thanks to John and Kim McGrath for getting those sensors mounted on each CRV wheel beforehand. And now the coach charges the car battery as we tow so the Patriot auxiliary braking system doesn't such the car battery dry as it protects the car on fast stops.

Finally, the most important addition to the coach of all.  The NAME PLATE was installed on the front of the coach!  Now we are almost THERE!

A house that was home to a church

It was September, 1997 when we arrived at 100 holly Drive from Graystone Road in Lancaster County. We had no idea how long we would be living here. We'd been told by our United Methodist leadership to not even move because if Hope Church could not become viable as a financially independent church soon it would be closed. We thought about that, and then moved anyway.

Our home was always ours, never a church parsonage, but Hope Church dedicated it that fall as Hope's church office, Pastor's office,  and small group meeting space while we worshiped temporarily at Pine Forge seventh Day Adventist Church. For six years.

Mike Sobel was a part of Hope LONG before he was a member of Hope.  he has always had a heart for keeping church IT up and running.

Here the Reigles, Gail and Fran Loughead fold bulletins for our Sunday service.

Teams and small groups  met in the lower floor office and basement meeting rooms to study Scripture, pay bills, plan plans and pray.

 Lots of praying went on at 100 holly Drive.  It still does.

Nan Horn and Gail Grady work away helping Pam Lloyd manage the office.

 Hope had been around since it's inception in 1990 by the remaining congregation of Searles UMC in Pottstown. But many firsts took place in our home over the years I was appointed as pastor here.

The celebration Team began under Pam Rader's (now Frame's) leadership soon after I arrived and still plans our services throughout the year at Hope.
Here Bob Simcox, Judy Reinert and Judy Bonetz and I work together on some regular Monday evening.

 And who would EVER dare leave out our Hope Heavenbound Youth Group. Here are just a couple of the kids who did some of their growing up in the basement group room at our home / Hope's office. Simcoxes, Hegeman's, Lucas's, Weaver's, and more.

 Then, almost suddenly, in 2003, everything changed.  We built and dedicated our first church building and the church moved out of 100 Holly.  All except the pastor's office, that is. And that Christmas we moved our tree down to the new family room.  Which became Mona's library and the room where gently Used Books got it's start as a warehouse and book sorting center.


Hard at play this Christmas is the Shoemaker DeWalt family playing with our train set (now Khalif's) under the tree and on the futon given to us for our new room by the Grell's.

Now, 11 years later, we prepare to depart 100 Holly, it's fireplace, and Mona's reading room, for new digs.  well, as you know, actually NO digs at all since it's a rolling house from now on.

A fall 2013 image of the moon over our front porch reminds us that where we will be heading there should be little to no snow.  The old country song 'Heading for Sunny and 75' speaks to us now every time we hear it.

Today we're packing up the few things we feel we might want to use down the road if we, or when we, come off the road for good.  And we're choosing carefully the things we want, or will need, to have with us in our 400 square feet above the basement in the coach.

If there's one thing we've learned about life in the last 20 years it's this.  Beyond our loving God, there is nothing so permanent as... CHANGE.

-Ken

First stop will be: Warwick Woods

Many have asked what our first stop on the journey will be and we've told all we are heading first to visit our son Jim in Nederland, CO.  However, there has been a slight change (drum roll please).  Our house just sold.

Yes, we have a tentative date for closing of April 28, 2013, though it could easily change a bit.  But our newest landlord is being very generous in helping us move in with him till I retire June 8.

Today we booked a tentative arrival date of April 24 for our coach and TOAD at WARWICK WOODS CAMPGROUND, Elverson, Pa.  http://www.warwickwoods.com/

It's about a 20 minute drive to Hope Church and the rates are cheaper than French Creek State Park with all utilities onsite and....... BINGO and free donuts and coffee on Saturday mornings!

The pool won't open till we are one week from departure but Mona will enjoy the arcade room regularly... NOT!

The owner normally doesn't take reservations till April 1 but is willing to book us in now to site 5, where he says we'll get EXCELLENT WIFI service.  Yea for me!

The campground is just minutes from St. Peter's Village where, among the historic buildings, is found the marvelous St. Peter's BAKERY.

Its about 5 minutes from Hopewell Forge National Park and French Creek State Park but we know them well and they don't have a bakery daily special.

Fishing is available onsite with a stocked and free pond that requires no license and equipment rental is nominal.

Warwick Furnace Site is also nearby and the peaceful Horseshoe Hiking and Riding Trail runs right through the camp. Watch where you step!!

The time will fly as we approach our departure date of June 8 because we will be busy preparing everything to depart.


We will appreciate your prayers and your kind thoughts as we set up the auction now for our remaining household goods with Cathy Pennypacker of Gouglersville, and pack the coach when it returns from it's tweaking tour (see the previous post).

-Ken

Tweaks and Upgrades for the Highways

Yesterday Quo (or FROG, if you prefer) went to Tom Schaeffer's RV on rte 61 above Hamburg to get it's final mechanical tweaks and household upgrades. Along with the mechanical work being done over the next couple of weeks which includes PA state inspection, we are making these changes to the coach.

The biggest upgrade by far is the switch from incandescent bulbs to all LEDs.  While our new bulbs will give off the warmer yellow light, not the standard bluish light shown to the left, they will be hugely lower in 12 volt and inverter 110 volt electric use.  Of course, I doubt we'll ever get back our cost in installing them, but we are making the change to extend our available time off the electric grid when 'dry camping', not just to save electric cost. And it adds some resale value to the coach itself.

Every bulb, in every fixture, all over the house and basement and exterior, if that last is practical, will be changed.  Along with this 'dry camping' change we are adding a second flat mount 100 watt solar panel to the roof to keep the 10 house batteries more fully charged when parked in Death Valley.  It would be even better if we made them movable so we could manually angle them to the sun when we park, but have I ever told you stories of me and heights? Even climbing onto the 13' high coach roof will be a challenge for this old flat-lander!


Speaking of Death Valley, and other such sparse cell phone tower locations we are having a Wilson SLEEK installed that will hold our Verizon JETPACK.  The JETPACK is simply a cell broadband receiver and signal distributor (up to 8 devices within a 350 foot range) that gets it's signal boosted by the SLEEK device you mount it in Then an 18" roof mounted antenna additionally boosts the signal reception and a 4" indoor antenna boosts the transmission power to those devices.  After all, I can't wait TOO long for my Netflix movies to buffer!

Vaguely similar to the setup we will have on the ALPINE

And speaking of Netflix... our old family room flat screen will fit nicely on a new fold out mount being bolted to a new steel support going between the two awning side basement slides. Then I'll be able to sit outside in a cool breeze (in a warm location) to watch those Netflix flicks. You notice I didn't say 'we' will watch?  Mona will be reading beside me, and I'll have my wireless headset on.  The things a man must give up to keep his wife happy when you live in a 400 sq. ft. box.  :)

And finally, we are getting a second fire extinguisher installed on the side wall behind the driver's seat.  There is one already mounted in the bedroom. Why two when all RV's have just one? Have I ever told you about the time I set our basement on fire when we lived in Lititz, PA 40 years ago?

You can't protect against every eventuality, but you can at least invest a little in less sleep deprivation.

-Ken

Frog joins Toad

You may remember; the day before I mauled the front end of our TOAD we had gotten her a mascot at the clearance table in the Crackerbarrel Restaurant we boondocked behind for the night (see post "Our TOAD's got a Toad". Jan 6, 2014).  We named her Toad.  How creative.

Today, as just one more step in personalizing our next life we decided to not place our Valentine's Day frog in storage but rather turn her into the mascot of our coach and home, Quo. And the name we've chosen for this darling?  Frog.  Once more, how creative.

While Toad is a new addition to the travelling DeWalt's menagerie, Frog is not so new.  In fact, one reader of this blog, Catherine Quenon, our Swiss ex-pat now Dubai-an was with us in Florida several years ago when we picked her up for a song at a CVS drugstore post Valentines Day clearance and she became Mona's every year Valentines Day gift. Yes, we pay close attention to all clearance tables, thrift stores, etc.

I don't know how long Frog will last as the centerpiece of our dashboard though.  You see, there's a little red button on the top of her left rear webbed foot which, when pushed, turns her into one dancing and singing fool.  And sometimes, just sometimes, Mona tires of these little electronic tributes to my love for her and they tend to disappear.

But the next time you see us in or near Quo don't hesitate to ask about Frog.  She may be singing from a bin in the basement, but I'll keep her batteries fresh so you won't miss a performance!