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!