PTParaD TRs and Shenanigans

[Teamubr]

Oh bother. Waking up this morning to a 50 degree camper. Not out of propane. The furnace won't light.

It's an RV. There is always something.

Sounds like a great trip despite the few setbacks.

j

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

It's an RV. There is always something.

Sounds like a great trip despite the few setbacks.

j

Yes, great trip. It would be nicer if the "always something's" staggered out a little farther apart this trip. We're still smiling, just a little bruised.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

We're home. It was a long day of driving after sleeping pretty puny last night. We have the trailer mostly unloaded and winterized already.

We had a heck of a trip. Thanks for following along on this one. I don't think we have a big camping trip again until the 4th of July with the Midwest gang.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Little man did his Arrow of Light Crossover tonight. He's really happy and ready to get into Scouts.

 

[jbrostek]

Ugh RV problems. But they happen and add memories (and mostly good ones.) Check the sail switch and then the limit switch before replacing the control board.

Glad you made it home safe and sound and your son is loving scouts. Scouts gave me a lot when I was younger, skills I still put to use today!

 

[Teamubr]

Little man did his Arrow of Light Crossover tonight. He's really happy and ready to get into Scouts.

Congrats! Lots of good memories from that time in my life.

And are you an Eagle too? We may have discussed it, but I saw the knot on your uniform.

j

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Congrats! Lots of good memories from that time in my life.

And are you an Eagle too? We may have discussed it, but I saw the knot on your uniform.

j

Yes. I was one of those kids that age kicked me out from scouts. I got 1 palm also before hitting 18. I tried an Explorer Post, but the culture didn't fit me. Then I left for West Point and didn't have time anymore.

 

[bama_ed]

Congrats, Jack, on your son achieving his Arrow of Light Award.

As a former Den Leader and Packmaster in Cubs, I whole heartedly approve.

Ed

 

[friendofeeyore]

Thank you for sharing your Spring Break with us. Grumpy Aggie's Uncle had a fishing camp & shrimp boats in Galveston. He would help on the shrimp boats sometimes during the summer. So sorry about your tire, but glad it was not a blowout.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Somehow she's gone from this wisenheimer that found my old Army glasses and was imitating me at the table


To this soon-to-be freshman in high school, that has her driver's permit, and tears up the pool.


Her team got some pictures done yesterday ahead of the meet today.

Even though she's Miss Mature now, she's still giddy for the DISMeet in Nov 2024.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

We decided to plan a trip this summer with the kids and take them on their first plane ride. DW and I both grew up driving everywhere. I fly for personal travel maybe once every 2 or 3 years.

I didn't want their first flight to be like mine...getting booted out of the federal building in downtown STL with a flight voucher, a token for the train, and poor directions on how to get from where I'm standing to Fort Benning, GA for basic training.

Thursday Jun 20

We left for Maine Wednesday night. We've had two days in the park so far. We did sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. It's a timed entry process so the tickets are tough to get. I got them for Thu morning which wasn't that great since we got in at 1230 Thu morning. Sunrise in Maine right now is around 450 am


Then we went back to bed until lunch. We had to run some errands and got some grub before getting into the park.

We drove around for the afternoon and explored a bit. Everyone was still pooped so we found pizza for dinner and relaxed for the evening.

Friday Jun 21

We got moving around 9 and meandered around the main part of the park. There were a ton of people. Quickly we moved further west along Mount Desert Island and the park.

We stopped for lunch in the town of Northeast Harbor and then kept going west along the shoreline of the island through calm and off the beaten path places in the park. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.

Bass Harbor light from the water. Not a very majestic marvel of architecture, but neat nonetheless.

Skipping rocks on the far west of the island.

Tonight we're going to do some putt putt and grab dinner. This is the least prepared I've ever been for a trip. I researched a few restaurants, made reservations for lodging/flights/park, and let it ride. I think it's ok for exploring one park without the rig, but too nonchalant for our normal trips.

 

[team bradfield]

We decided to plan a trip this summer with the kids and take them on their first plane ride. DW and I both grew up driving everywhere. I fly for personal travel maybe once every 2 or 3 years.

I didn't want their first flight to be like mine...getting booted out of the federal building in downtown STL with a flight voucher, a token for the train, and poor directions on how to get from where I'm standing to Fort Benning, GA for basic training.

Thursday Jun 20

We left for Maine Wednesday night. We've had two days in the park so far. We did sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. It's a timed entry process so the tickets are tough to get. I got them for Thu morning which wasn't that great since we got in at 1230 Thu morning. Sunrise in Maine right now is around 450 am
View attachment 870042
View attachment 870043
Then we went back to bed until lunch. We had to run some errands and got some grub before getting into the park.
View attachment 870047
We drove around for the afternoon and explored a bit. Everyone was still pooped so we found pizza for dinner and relaxed for the evening.

Friday Jun 21

We got moving around 9 and meandered around the main part of the park. There were a ton of people. Quickly we moved further west along Mount Desert Island and the park.

We stopped for lunch in the town of Northeast Harbor and then kept going west along the shoreline of the island through calm and off the beaten path places in the park. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.
View attachment 870051
Bass Harbor light from the water. Not a very majestic marvel of architecture, but neat nonetheless.
View attachment 870052
Skipping rocks on the far west of the island.

Tonight we're going to do some putt putt and grab dinner. This is the least prepared I've ever been for a trip. I researched a few restaurants, made reservations for lodging/flights/park, and let it ride. I think it's ok for exploring one park without the rig, but too nonchalant for our normal trips.

Beech Mtn trail is a fantastic hike, Geddy's in downtown Bar Harbor is a GREAT place to eat. Love that area of Maine

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Friday continued.

We did some putt putt. It was a great course. DW won, but that's under protest. She kept score and magically won by a stroke


Then we went to dinner at the Bar Harbor Lobster Bake. DS is in heaven. He loves seafood and was given the green light to order from the right side of the menu.

Beech Mtn trail is a fantastic hike, Geddy's in downtown Bar Harbor is a GREAT place to eat. Love that area of Maine

Geddy's is on the list, but the crowds downtown are keeping us at bay. It's supposed to be rainy tomorrow, maybe we can sneak it in.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Saturday June 22

We headed out to the easternmost of Acadia, the Schoodic Peninsula. It's about an hour from Bar Harbor. We left a little after 1000 and stopped for lunch on Winter Harbor just outside that part of the park.

After lunch we wandered around the Schoodic Peninsula. It's much less crowded and has different feel, in a good way. At Schoodic Point we scrambled on the rocks and were memorized by the waves rolling in. The kids said that this was their favorite day in the park.




I guess DW took all the good pictures. This area was really interesting with the different geology. There were stripes of a different rock the pushed up from volcanic activity.



After spending about two hours on the rocks we made our way back to to our house to relax a bit. Then we went back to mini golf for rematches. This time I won by two strokes.

We finished the leftover pizza from the other day because everyone was stuffed from the week of over eating. Then we turned in early.

Sunday June 23
Wake was 2:30 am. Oof. Had to get to the airport, an hour plus away and needed to turn on the rental too, by 5.

Just got back to KC around noon. We're grabbing lunch on the way home and heading for laundry and mowing.

Great trip, but we probably won't make travel sans RV a habit.

 

[bama_ed]

After spending about two hours on the rocks we made our way back to to our house to relax a bit. Then we went back to mini golf for rematches. This time I won by two strokes.

Did you keep score this time, Jack?

Thanks for sharing the pics. That's a corner of the world I've never been to.

ED

PS - now THAT was a rough early morning wake up time this morning! Ugh.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Did you keep score this time, Jack?

Thanks for sharing the pics. That's a corner of the world I've never been to.

ED

PS - now THAT was a rough early morning wake up time this morning! Ugh.

I was more determined this time. Second go around we got pretty competitive.

 

[jbrostek]

Great trip, but we probably won't make travel sans RV a habit.

That's how we felt with the California trip. If we had the time we would have done it, but it's 3-4 days just to get out there so we chose this way. Think once we can hit the road for a month or so we will make it back out there.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

I finally got around to doing a gooseneck hitch swap. We opted for the Gen-Y Executive. It had the best fitment options for my trailer.

I was tired of having the hitch in the bed always, without significant effort, when not camping and chucking was driving me nuts. Pulling my gooseneck cargo trailer was always a pleasure. The camper was like driving a bowl of soup.


My assistant lining up to take the old pin box off


It's off


It's off


5th removal for the last time


It's on!

I've only pulled the camper to the driveway to load it up for a boys trip coming up to shake it down before the looming DISMeet.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

DS and I took a quick trip to Tulsa for the Army v University of Tulsa football game. We decided to take the RV to shake out the new hitch we installed. It was successful. Much less chucking and I like the hook up process much better. On to the trip.

We stayed at Brush Creek Park. A COE campground west of Tulsa. It's below the Keystone Dam. Relatively quiet except when the turbines start up there is a horn that blow 5 times for like 30 seconds a toot. Quite loud. Thankfully it only happened during daylight hours.

The game was great. It was DS's first Army game and he was excited. Army housed Tulsa. They are having a good year in the AAC so far. Tulsa's stadium isn't large. It was a very nice place to watch a game. We were like 10 rows up from the Army bench. Nice seats and nice crowd.

No trip within 300 miles radius of Tuttle, OK is complete without a stop for Braum's. We got our fill on the way and got home around 330pm. The camper was quickly unloaded and stowed briefly for the DISMeet around the corner.

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Bittersweet end to DD's cross country season. She was running very strong, finishing first on her team most races and usually getting a medal at meets (usually top 20-25). At Regionals in Topeka yesterday she had to finish in the top 15 to move on to state individually, as her team was not going to qualify without a miracle or a lot of PEDs. The pickle was that the state meet is on 11/2 and would give us 1.5 days less to get to FW.

She ran the 5K in 21:44, her fastest of the season, but finished 30th. Our region is tough. We are a school in a farm town on the small end of 5A and we swim in the waters with schools from KC Metro and Topeka that could be 6A any year depending on a bump in enrollment. She gave it her all and was a little disappointed. However, she gets a little reward in that we all won't be dog tired when we arrive on Mon to the DISMeet.