Dismeet in the Smokies 2021! Y'all Come!

[tigger92662]

. I know I can google how to fix it myself but where can I get a new seal?

Kris if you get a seal I'll fix it, did mine, and well, I'm kinda used to working with poo poo. Leave the jokes for later

 

[tigger92662]

Ok, so little late to the party. Work, and well life in general, has been crazy this week.
Off tomorrow, few last minute items to address (OK 300+ things to do).
Will roll out Saturday am, have booked OH Kentucky campground for the evening.
Will arrive Sunday with petting zoo in tow.

 

[garneska]

Seal is ordered on Amazon. Will deliver Saturday. Will watch the videos but yes Joe we will take help if we don’t get it done ourselves.

Up early big hike today. My father in law should be around. We won’t get back till 7 or 8 tonight.

 

[PaHunter]

Thanks guys. I checked at the front and it will probably be Amazon prime but it works. Of course have to go you tube it.

fixing the seal is quick and easy.

 

[PaHunter]

So now that I am semi coherent. I will update on the beginning of our trip to PF. Was feeling a bit under the weather on Weds, but pushed thru and finished loading the motorhome. Went to bed so I would be all fresh and ready for our trip to VA. Plan is up at 7, out at 8am, should hit campground about 2p.
So woke up a few minutes early feeling good, headed in got my shower. IT was from there the day did not go as planned.
Stepped out of the shower, , and straight to the porcelain god. Sat on tub edge for sometime, then headed back to bed. DW did some work around the house. I woke up later feeling better, but not perfect. A couple of flat sprites and some banana bread and we were on the way.
So we ended up being on the road about 10am, everything going swimmingly but was getting low on fuel. Got off exit to hit a local Sheetz, just enough fuel to hit truck stop is my plan. Well Joe Entitlement and his white claw drinking other half, have the fuel nozzle in their truck, no one around, finally she comes out, lets the two dogs out of the truck, then gets water out for the dogs. Mr entitlement has not returned yet. Once he finally shows up, he tops off the tank, open the tailgate, open the side door to load the cooler full of alcohol they just purchased. Now he is ready, nope, now he needs to wash his windshield. OMG. Thank god the motorhome does not have a moose bumper or this would have put a crimp in my vacation.
So we pull up to the pump, get my 20 gal, and we are back on the road after a 30 min delay due to the important people.
Next stop, Whites Truck stop for our fuel load. We have been dodging storms for awhile now and they have been west of us, so far so good. Well about 10 mile from the truck stop it starts howling, blowing us all over the road, I mean we took a couple of good wind gusts, unreal. Now it is pouring rain and the wind is mostly head on, good. 7 miles to the truck stop and it is raining cats and dogs, when lo and behold the driverside windshield wiper falls off. Awesome, 65mph in the pouring rain, nowhere to stop and now trying to navigate thru rain drops.
We finally pull in to the truck stop and get fueled up and it stops raining. Only 2 more hours to Ft Chiswell.
We start to hit hills, up and down, and I am coming around a dump truck, making sure I am clear of the truck and start to pull back into the right lane and I see him. He slams on his brakes and comes flying up my left, horn blaring, oh you want to have a horn contest, mine is louder than yours !!! So idiot in a lowered Lexus trying to make it look like a drift car, figured he was going to pass on the right. Bad guess on his part.
I mean come on your from VA, y'all know nothing about drifting, heck a dusting of snow shuts down the whole state.
We finally arrived at Ft Chiswell closer to 6pm. I had a small dinner and was exhausted. I have had DW feeding me sprite all day to stay hydrated. Off to bed I went.
DW and FtWMike had a nice chat last evening as he stopped by at they are here also. She also ran in to him while walking Reba for her morning walk.
Plan is to be out about 10 ish, figure dog will need at least one rest stop between here and PF.
Safe Travels to all, and see you this afternoon.

 

[bama_ed]

What a day you had, PaHunter. Today HAS to get better.

Ed

 

[Teamubr]

Chris,

Hope you start feeling better. Being busy and sick isn't a good combo. See you tomorrow.

Donna is working this morning. I need to vacuum the pool, cut the front yard and load the RS. Should be on the road by noon. Then a quick 4 hour drive to Clarksville, TN. This is our usual stop when heading to Disney, but we have never arrived before 8pm since we normally leave after a full work day.

j

 

[jbrostek]

@tiggerdad that is a common failure I hear about. Most of those that have the failure seem to be long enough for heat cycles to age out the plastic. I been considering replacing that with an steel aftermarket kit from XDP, might be worth the investment for me with a 2012.

@PaHunter I really hate Mr. and Mrs. SelfImportant. They really drive me up the wall. Haoping the rest of your journey improves and you feel a ton better.

 

[Teamubr]

@tiggerdad I been considering replacing that with an steel aftermarket kit from XDP, might be worth the investment for me with a 2012.

I would have bought the XDP pipe if mine hadn't broke on the road. My 2011 failed after 7 years. That was with mostly heavy towing miles though. Lots of heat going through that fitting.

j

 

[tiggerdad]

PaHunter, with any luck you have the worst of it behind you. I sure hope I do...

Up early, not early enough to explore though. We'll have to give ourselves 2 days here next trip.

We about 3 hours out from here. Chattanooga looming on the radar and Missionary Hill.

 

[jbrostek]

I would have bought the XDP pipe if mine hadn't broke on the road. My 2011 failed after 7 years. That was with mostly heavy towing miles though. Lots of heat going through that fitting.

I started to think about that for the cost of the part on the road it might make sense to replace it prematurely.

 

[Bishoparc]

@PaHunter, best wishes for a better day!!

 

[tiggerdad]

Haven't even made Chattanooga...


Randy drafting...

 

[Teamubr]

Loaded up and ready for DW to finish her work day. Should be leaving in about an hour.



j

 

[JETS70]

Safe travels and continued safe travels to all that are in PF, on the road, or preparing to leave. @PaHunter hope you are feeling better and the remainder into PF is smooth sailing. Teresa and I hope to head out about 5am Saturday morning. Key word.........hope.
@tiggerdad glad the truck issue wasnt to big of an big issue. Are you sure @SouthAlabama5er is not pushing you
@bama_ed does it make you a little nervous when you hear the horns go off at the dam?

Steve

 

[jbrostek]

@tiggerdad you are in NASCAR country......

 

[bama_ed]

@bama_ed does it make you a little nervous when you hear the horns go off at the dam?

To be honest, Steve, I haven't heard any horns yet. We are behind a hill from the dam proper. I have heard them at my local CoE campground, though, so they wouldn't surprise me. I also might not hear them because the cicadas are so loud they drown out nearly everthing else. They're not having a concert - they're having a convention and apparently ALL OF THEM decided to attend!

@tiggerdad, I felt your pain there yesterday. We sat for nearly an hour in the pouring rain and moved maybe 100 yards. I see the Mega-Millions/Powerball lottery billboard on the right - we should each buy a scratch-and-win to see if we get a couple $$$$$.

Lazy day here at Douglas Dam. Made some scrambled eggs and toast for me and DW this morn after we had slept in. Took a walk around the place (boat launch, swimmer's beach, picnic area) then about 11am we rode over to the little town of Dandridge to hit the local Dollar General (a favorite of DW's) and the Food City grocery store.

At the grocery we bought burgers, dogs, steak, chicken, and pork chops (all boneless) and used a bag of charcoal to cook it all up. This is a Fort Wilderness technique I've adopted which is on check-in day, heat up the charcoal and cook several meals worth of meats. Not talking ribs or a whole pig - just stuff that can be reheated (nuked) and put with some sides for a quick delicious meal.

Steaks burgers and dogs on the grill:



Chicken and "poke" chops in the bags cooling off to go into the electric cooler:



Listening to the Bama - NC State baseball game in the NCAA Regional Baseball Tournament. Not going well for the Tide about midway through. LIstened to the Bama softball team last night in the College World Series crush their opponent. Baseball hasn't been to Regionals for several years so just to get back is a rebuilding step. Fall practice is only 4 months away, Jets70, for baseball and us retired folks can go watch.

Sunny beautiful day here (hot) with high clouds). I am staying hydrated.

After standing over that hot grill in the hot sun, I need to replace my electrolytes.

Ed

PS - we had the steak, some mashed spuds, and a side salad with ranch dressing for lunch today. <chef's kiss> delicious.

 

[2goofycampers]

We have been trying to add days at the front or back of our ressie, NO luck. We did score Sat night in a State Park 2 hours away. So when you see the people packing up in our site on Sunday give them a hand. LOL

 

[PaHunter]

So this morning we got up and leisurely packed up. We left at 10 am after saying hi to FtWMike. Traffic coming down thru was not too bad until we hit 66 and of course that is a nightmare. But we managed and got in to the campsite. This afternoon @tiggerdad and @SouthAlabama5er rolled in and are getting set up. It is hot.
I am feeling better, especially after an episode of cough up a lung. Since then have been feeling better and hope to improve. Have to go unload the motorcycle but only once the sun goes down some. Dismeet is on !!!

 

[garneska]

Sitting in traffic to get back after the hike.

Did 15.5 miles. Oh boy but we did see the llamas.







The backside of water at Groto Falls



Us at the start all bundled up well me.