Tag Archives: M-52 Mobil

2014/04/28 (M) Home Again

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The wind blew overnight, but the rains held off.  We only had 80 miles to travel today so, other than wanting to break camp before the rain moved in, we were not in a hurry to leave Camp Turkeyville.  We set our sights on a 10 AM departure and by 9:30 AM we were busy with our departure routine.  It was trying to drizzle as I dumped the holding tanks but not really succeeding.  We had the bus and car prepped for travel by 10 AM and pulled out of the RV park around 10:15.

From exit 42 on I-69 we headed northeast towards Lansing, Michigan 38 miles distant.  We drove under overcast skies fighting strong, gusty winds, with just enough drizzle that I had to activate the wipers from time to time.  The bus is heavy and drives well, but it also has a lot of surface area, and I am very aware of strong, gusty side winds.

At the southwest corner of the Lansing area we picked up I-96 eastbound which took us around the southern edge of the city and put us our final course for home.  About 25 miles from our house we stopped at the Mobile Truck Stop at I-96 and M-52 and topped up the tank.  I prefer to have the tank full when the bus is going to sit for more than a few days, especially when overnight lows are going to dip into the 40’s or lower.

We decided to take the Grand River exit off of I-96 in Brighton rather than the slightly shorter route over M-59.  The Grand River route only had three stoplights, all within a short distance of the exit, and kept us on paved roads for all but the last mile of our drive.  The M-59 route would have had many more stoplights and put us on dirt roads for 2.5 miles.

We pulled into our driveway a little past noon.  We had stayed ahead of the rain, at least temporarily, and decided to unload as much of the coach as we could while the weather was in our favor.  The forecast for the rest of the week was for rain so we wanted to take advantage of this window while we had it.  It took a LOT of trips to get most of the stuff out if the house portion of the bus and into our fixed dwelling.  First off, however, were the cats.

Jasper and Juniper seemed a bit weary at first but quickly realized that this was a familiar place and started getting reacquainted with all the nooks and crannies.  Once we had most of our stuff inside the house we set about putting it away, or in the laundry room.  We went through mail, checked phone messages, made a few phone calls, and started making lists of things that we needed to do.  Although we will be here for the next half year or so we have quite a few major projects to work on and it already feels like we will be pressed for time to get them all done.  It was interesting to note that our transition back to a fixed dwelling was fairly abrupt, just like our snowbird departure was in December.

Late afternoon we linked up with our son, daughter-in-law, and younger grand-daughter via Facetime on one of our iPads.  There are advantages to being home and an Internet connection with lots of data is one of them.  After dinner I got our home computer network up and running and sent a few e-mails letting friends know we were finally home.

 

2013_09_15 (Sun) A Re-tired Travel Day

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We were up early today anticipating our departure, but also still having some things to do before we pulled out.  I switched the outside faucets to provide treated water (filtered and softened) and 125 gallons of fresh water on board.  I also checked and adjusted all of the tire pressures on the bus and the car while Linda finished loading food, coats, and toiletries.  In the past we have pulled the bus into the street and then hooked up the car for towing.  With the new pull-through driveway finally working as intended, we decided to hook the car up before pulling out.  This allowed us to do our light check before bringing the cats out and starting the engine.  (The cats do not like it when the engine is running or the coach is moving, so we wait as long as possible to put them on board.)

Ready or not, you reach a point where it’s time to go.  We’ve done this enough that we now accept that we will forget something and hope it is something small that we can do without or easily replace on the road.  The cats do not fall into that category, of course, so we put them on board, started the engine, and pulled out around 10:40 AM.  The driveway worked as planned and the bus made it out with the car attached with plenty of clearance.

We headed out our street to Hacker Road and headed south to pick up I-96 westbound from Grand River Avenue in Brighton.  (We would normally take M-59 westbound to I-96 westbound, but M-59 is under construction and traffic flow is not good.)  The trip to Twelve Mile, Indiana is about 250 miles and normally takes us about 5 hours including a stop for fuel somewhere along the way.  We decided to stop at the Mobil truck stop at M-52 and I-96, only 22 miles up the road, to top off the tank.  This ensured we would have more than enough fuel for the round trip and also operate our Aqua-Hot hydronic heating system and/or our genset if needed.

The weather was overcast with occasional light rain, but made for good traveling.  We prefer driving on partly cloudy days as it is easier on the eyes.  Being Sunday morning, traffic was light, which also made for good travel.  Sunday morning is a preferred travel time when we can do it, especially if we have to go through a major metropolitan area.  The drive was uneventful and we arrived in Twelve Mile around 3:45 PM.  We got the car unhooked and backed into our space next to Butch and Fonda Williams’ MCI MC-9 NJT bus conversion.  (NJT stands for New Jersey Transit.  These buses have a special front cap with a destination sign above the windshields.  They were specially built for the New Jersey Transit Authority and used as commuter coaches throughout the state.)  Butch and Fonda have a large paved area where they keep their bus with room for two more if needed.  A year or so ago I helped Butch wire up a pair of “50 Amp” RV electrical outlet boxes, so we have a nice electrical service when we are there.

Fonda returned home with Bell as we were arriving, and Butch returned from a gun show not long after while we were still setting up.  Butch and Fonda understand RVing etiquette, and left us along until we had “made camp.”  As soon as we were parked and the engine was off the cats reappeared from their travel spot under the passenger seat and were up looking out the windows.  They don’t seem to mind living in the RV, they just don’t like it when we move it around.

Linda and I had not met Bell before and the three women sat and visited while Butch and I did the same.  Bell went to fetch Bill and we met up with them for dinner at the Hibachi Grill Chinese buffet in Logansport.  It sounds like it was an easy enough day, but by 9 PM we were tired.  I was reminded that retired means re-tired, as in, “I was tired, and now I’m tired again.”  But it’s a good kind of tired; different from that associated with working a full-time, stressful job.