Doryman's Meanderings

[Doryman]

[JamesTXSD]

[hardee]

Jim said,
"Texas seems to think people have bladders of steel and the state rest areas are spaced far apart."

Jim, I always wondered what they made those Texas Traveler bladders out of.

Many trips down 666 to I-40 and east to Ft Smith, Arkansas. Loved that trip, Price mountains, Moab arches, Four corners, and then "way cross Texas" after toping the hill east of Albequrquie, it was all down hill from there, (at 5000 feet).

Harvey
SleepyC

[Discovery]

Warren and Lori--hang in there. The bad weather you're putting up with is worth it to get to land of sunshine. Hope all goes well getting the boat out of the garage. Remember the door is a little low for that boat. The boat with radar was 13'4" and the door is only 13". We had to take the radar off and lay it on the cabin roof to get it inside. Now Warren gets to put the scanner back on the radar arch. Lucky it's only 4 bolts. The kids say that there isn't much snow in Richfield. Good luck and let us know how it all goes.

Brent

[Doryman]

Thanks for the good tips, Jim. We need to take several days anyway because Lori is not up to long days on the road. I suspect it will take us at least a week to get to Florida.

Brent, thanks for the Richfield update. No news is good news when it comes to snow!

Warren

[Doryman]

After a busy couple of days with family and friends we're on the road again. We're in Richfield and in the morning we'll go get the boat out of the garage, offload some of the load from the bed of the truck, and get on our way to Laughlin, NV. Friends from Tucson have given us a route to bypass bottlenecks at Hoover Dam and Phoenix on our way to Tucson.

The weather has been gorgeous -- not a cloud in the sky. It's these crisp, bright, clear winter days that brings out the best in the Utah landscape. (No photos yet, sorry -- cameras are buried in the truck!)

Warren

[Nan-C]

Warren and Lori --
Nancy and I are sleeping in the boat tonight at the Valdosta KOA on the GA/FL border tonight. What a great New Year's Eve -- a special night for us that marks the anniversary of the first steps of our 35 year journey together. It's a real plus that it is warm, and we are toasty. Last night we went to sleep at about 50 degrees in Paducha, KY, but Nancy let me know in the middle of the night it had dropped to 27.

We will launch at Key Largo on January 2 and look forward to crossing courses with you sometime in the next few weeks. We were going to do Wefings about the same time as you but made a last minute decision to delay it until the end of the trip. We hope you enjoy Apalachicola as much as we have. As we and others have noted before, Marc and the crew at Wefings are first class.

By the way, the only real plus to living in Iowa is that we have to tow only 1800 miles or less to go anywhere. Enjoy the rest of your long trek.

Greg and Nancy on the Nan-C

[Doryman]

Mesquite, NV

This morning we made our way to Brent & Dixie's place in Richfield to pick up the Lori Ann, where it had been stored since October in one of Brent's many garages and outbuildings. (Their new place in Loa is to die for -- something like 1500 square feet of living space and 4500 square feet of garage!)

With the radar scanner mounted, the boat is 13'4" high -- 4" higher than the 13' garage door. To get it in the garage, we had to dismount the scanner and lay it on the cabin top. Thus configured, the boat was approximately 12'9" high -- plenty of room if the garage door did not sag, which it did. But thanks to a strategically-place piece of conduit wedged between the door frame and the door, we were able to achieve the full 13'.

Our only difficulties arose because the new GMC truck is significantly lower than my now-retired Dodge Cummins hauler. The truck, on the gravel driveway, was an inch or so lower than the boat, on the concrete pad of the garage. When we lowered the coupler onto the hitch ball, we were unable to retract the trailer jack to its traveling position. However, by blocking the trailer up with scrap pieces of wood and metal, we were able to retract the jack. We then drove the trailer off the blocks. Not an elegant solution, but it worked! The only casualty of this procedure: a formerly-square piece of metal that now looks more like free-form sculpture, which we left as a thank-you gift for Brent and Dixie. I'm still scratching my head trying to understand why we could not get the trailer out of the garage the same way we put it in.

After re-mounting the radar scanner without incident, we headed west on I-70 about noon. Sure feels different to have 10,000 lbs. hanging off the rear again! But the rig drove well and we spent the afternoon making our way to Mesquite. We're at the Virgin River Casino, a singularly unremarkable lodging and dining establishment.

Tomorrow we need to find a 30 amp locking-to-RV converter so we can run the boat's electric systems from RV park hookups. The Home Despot in Richfield did not have it; we're hoping to find an RV store that will.

Happy New Year to All! And many thanks, again, to Brent & Dixie for storing the boat. I can't imagine pulling a trailer through the snow and ice we experienced getting here.

Warren

[JamesTXSD]

Hi Warren,

Those 30 amp adapters are frequently carried at Camping World, as well as Boaters World and West Marine. We've also gotten plenty of use out of our 30 amp twist lock to 15 amp adapter (standard household) for use when "camping" in a driveway. When we're in a campground and don't need to use electric heat, we often use the 15 amp adapter and an extension cord instead of lugging the 30 amp cable around. Handles our needs and less bulk to wrestle.

You can also pick up the parts at an electrical supply place and make your own.

Travel safe.

Best wishes,
Jim

[Discovery]

Warren,

Good to hear that your making progress south toward the warmer climes. I don't remember any issues with the truck being lower than the jack, when we unhitched you, I think it's all the stuff you are hauling in the bed of the truck, depressing the truck suspension. There was a handy-man-jack in the other garage, that you could of used to lift the boat tongue enough to pull the pin on the jack leg. Glad the scanner reinstall went without a hitch. Working on anything out in the cold is always a chore.

Good luck finding an RV 30 amp to marine 30 amp adapter. You may have to buy the ends at different places, then use a short piece of 10 gauge wire, and make your own adapter. That's what I would do.

Brent

[thataway]

Glad to hear you are on the way. Yesterday and today was 78 degrees at our house in Pensacola (better than in Calif which Ieft yesterday AM). The next week still looks good, but a little cooler a couple of days.

Good traveling! Just don't find any 13 foot overpasses!

[Doryman]

Kingman, AZ

We wanted to get further than Kingman today, but could not find a place to stay that was not further than we wanted to drive. So we stopped and spent the rest of the afternoon making a start on getting the boat ship-shape. We have a lot of stuff to stow but the good news is that we've moved about a third of the stuff from the truck to the boat. I can actually see out the back now!

Warren

[Pat Anderson]

Warren - great following your progress! I know Brent and Dixie's driveway and area by the garage, had a DEVIL of a time just turning around back there! Wishing we could make our way to warmer climes, wishing WE were on our way to Florida (woke up to another light dusting of snow here in Fall City this morning...). Dr. Bob, Marc - hang on, we're coming one of these days!

[hardee]

Warren and Lori,

Good to hear you are making way to the warm. That has got to feel good. Just curious if you have considered weighing the truck, trailer combination, before the transfer and or after the transfer to see where you are weight-wise truck vs tow?

Travel safe,

Harvey
SleepyC

[El and Bill]

Warren and Lori -
Great following your progress to the 'sunny' south - good luck to you folks on the rest of your trip.