2010/06/30 – Wednesday – Country Music Museum

We did not get moving quickly this morning.  But I did get a phone call about the RV tire being ready. 

Once we left the campground our first stop was way back down south of Nashville to Franklin to the Discount Tire to pickup the RV tire.

Next stop was back in Nashville at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  We spent most of the day there.  We even met a So Cal Square Dance in the museum.

We walked around town a little and stopped at the Opry Original and Mom D got what she wanted.

We wandered around town and finally had dinner close to camp

Cheryl, Mom M and I went to grocery shopping.

I checked all the tires, put the van back up onto the trailer and got things ready for tomorrow. 

2010/06/29 – Tuesday - Nashville

We got a little late start, but no big deal, today was a short drive day.

We stopped at Flying J’s for our necessary gas before crossing into Tennessee.

We passed through Nashville and stopped south of it at a Discount Tire to get a new rim (to replace a out of balanced rim.)  We finally found somebody that could supply a rim, so I left the tire for them to replace it.

We found the RV campground (KOA).  The park is still recovering from the flood about two months ago.  With the van unloaded, we headed out to get the tickets for the Grand Ole Opry.

We headed back down to retrieve the tire, but when they dismounted the tire, the sensor got busted.  So I left the tire there while a new sensor is expressed mailed to them to replace the broken one.

Returned back to the RV for a quick change of clothes for Mom D (she wanted to to be a little warmer).

The show at the Grand Ole Opry was  good!!!

2010/06/28 – Monday – Caves

Our first stop was Mammoth Caves.  We got our tickets for the History Tour.  We did our shopping and went back out to the van to wait.  While we waited it started to rain.

By the time tour started the rain had stopped.   The tour has some interesting features.  When we got out the rain had returned and we got wet!!!

We took a round about route and did both ferries in the park.

We did stop for a late lunch at a DQ in Brownsville.

We made it down to the Lost River Cave and did the tour and enjoy it.  We did have rain before the tour, but when we got back out it was drying out.

The trip back, I decided to take a more scenic route.  When we got close to camp and I noticed the freeway was stopped!  We then got caught in the traffic getting back to the RV.

We did laundry tonight.

2010/06/27 – Sunday – Abraham Lincoln

We left the KOA campground about 10:00 – so that was not bad for the Sunday after the NSDC.

Our first stop was at Abraham Lincoln Birth Place.  Amanda got her JR Ranger booklet.  She discovered that we needed to go to his boy hood place.

Before heading to the boy hood place, we headed to lunch with one of Cheryl’s ROTC Friends from High School.

After lunch we finally found Lincoln Boy Hood Place.  Amanda was able to complete her JR Ranger booklet and got her badge.

We stopped for gas before we stopped for the night.  Next stop was at KOA and found out they did not have full hookup so we went to the next exit and found Cave Country Campground for the next two nights.

We did go out for dinner at one of the local eateries.

2010/06/26 – Saturday – Bats, Horses, and Dancing

We started out the day going to Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.  We did the tour and got a mini bat as part of the tour.

We stopped at Church Hill Downs and Mom D, Mom M, and Jesse did the museum, while Eric, Amanda, and Cheryl waited in the van – we took a little over an hour to tour the museum.

We stopped for lunch before heading over to the convention center to dance.

We all did do some dancing, but Mom D did head out to the van to relax near the end of the evening.  We finally left the convention center at 11:30. 

So I would call the 59th National Square Dance Convention a success and we had great fun.  We have already paid for the next three convention in previous years, but the Little Rock was announced this year so we have paid for that now.

• 2011 – Detroit
• 2012 – Spokane
• 2013 – Oklahoma
• 2014 – Little Rock

2010/06/25 – Friday – Dancing

We got a little slow start but we did manage to leave about 10:00. 

We did get to dance a little and we did a lot of walking.

We had a good dinner with the current Youth Chair and the Spokane Youth Chair.  We discussed what worked and did not worked.

We did stay for the after party in the youth hall until it was closed at 11:30.

2010/06/24 – Thursday – Sick Plain Dancing

Amanda had gotten sick over the night and was not able to keep anything down.

Cheryl did laundry, while the rest of us slept or worked on the computers.

By late afternoon Amanda was feeling better.  Jesse, Eric, and Mom M went and picked up Mom D from the airport (her plain arrived late, but that was no big deal).  We then stopped at Sonic for dinner.

When we returned Amanda and Cheryl was ready to go, so we got dressed and headed to the convention center, while Mom D and Eric stayed back at the RV.

We got back to the RV around 11:30 and we all headed off to bed.

2010/06/23 – Wednesday – We Made It!

We left at 9:00 and was on the road heading to our furthest East destination.

We stopped for lunch about noon.  We got into Louisville at what we thought was 2:00 but I guess we crossed the time line into Eastern Time so it was 3:00. 

We stopped at the convention center to pick up our packets and found out we had already paid for RV nights, but I already knew that I did not want to dry camp (with only electric available) especially with 6 people that will be in the RV.  We then headed for the RV park (KOA) where I had already made reservations for the weekend.

After setting things up, Cheryl made dinner, and then we got ready to head back to the convention center.

Amanda did dance one tip.  We also walked around to get the lay of the land.

Also note, the drive was good!!!!

2010/06/22 – Tuesday – Pop – Another Tire

This morning we got up early so we could be at Discount Tires at opening time 8:00, and we managed to do that!

It only took an hour to get the tire changed (they had to go get the tire from another store), so we where on the road at 9:00

We had lunch at the Largest McDonalds (which sets over the freeway)

All day, I have been watching the Smart Tire System (especially the temps) but all have been looking ok.  All of a sudden we hear this loud POP, I looked out both of my mirrors and can see tire shrapnel on the driver side, but I could not feel any problems – then I notice that it is a semi trailer tire that had exploded (the semi was passing me at the time). 

The good news is we were all good on our tires!!! hurray!!!

We stopped for the night at KOA in Illinois, but we thought we had enough time to go see the arch.  So we unload the van and headed on down.  We got there and found out it was all sold out.  Amanda was able to do her Junior Ranger program. 

Finding a place to eat was interesting, we drove around and finally found a Burger King to eat a late dinner.

Once back at the RV, I loaded the van, but I will secure it in the morning.

Next stop Louisville.

2010/06/21 – Monday – Tires!!!

We started the day at 9:00.
We got into Amarillo and we found a Discount Tires, so we stopped to replace the bad tires – that took about 2 hours.  During that time we also had our lunch.
About an hour before Oklahoma City, we felt another tire develop a bubble, so we stopped and changed the tire.  So that makes it three RV tires and one trailer tire.  So now this is our new record for replacing tires.  One good thing is we have had NO BLOWOUTS (knock on lots of wood!!!)
We stopped in Oklahoma City for the night at about 7:30, we walked across the road to eat dinner.
Again we are using the parks wifi, but it drops you connection all the time (about every few minutes)
We have already looked for another Discount Tire place and hopefully we will be up early and be at the store at 8:00.  So that means we have to get up earlier then our normal time.

2010/06/20 – Sunday – Long Drive and Another Tire

We left camp at 9:00 – so the day started off good.
We crossed the state line and changed our clocks to Mountain Standard Time. 
We stopped at a rest stop for lunch.
Our next stop is Flying J’s in Albuquerque, but about 3 miles before the exit we had another tire develop a bubble so it was shaking the RV.  We got gas and then drove around to the truck area to change the rear driver outside dually.  Now we will have to get that tire replace in Oklahoma.
We stopped in Tucumcari Flying J’s for gas and now we are at the KOA Tucumcari, NM.
When we stopped the wind was really bad so I did not setup the satellite, but we are using the parks wifi and it is extremely slow.

2010/06/19 – Saturday - Drive and Fixing

After getting up, I went out and check the RV out.  Well I noticed that the front passenger trailer tire had no tread, but it was still holding air.   So I changed the tire.
Cheryl did some research and found a Discount Tire in Flagstaff so we stopped to get two new tires.
After leaving, we noticed a fire was relatively close to town, so I took the business loop out of town (because the interstate was close to the smoke and listing to the CB the interstate was slow)
We stopped in William at Flying J’s for the necessary gas.
We have stopped in Holbrook (KOA) for the night and we had dinner at their grill.
Well, I am having major problems trying to get the Satellite Internet to connect – so we are using the SLOW campground connection

2010/06/18 – Friday - Start the Vacation with a problem

We only got 22 miles before I had to stop and change the front passenger tire – the tire was starting to separate (creating a bubble in the tread and causing a vibration in the RV.
We did stop a the Flying J’s for our normal fuel stop in Barstow.
We finally pulled into our night stop 1:30 AM

Almost time to leave

Well I finished the last item to get ready for the RV.  I put the necessary connection for a set of tail lights that I put onto the van when it is on the trailer.  I also checked all the tires on the trailer and the RV.

The RV is mostly loaded and is ready.  Its getting late, and we still have to go to work in the morning…

Getting Ready For Our 2010 Vacation

I am currently home for lunch and we have a few things to do before we leave on vacation this Friday.  

I am posting this to dust off the dust and making sure things still work…

I will hopefully post more tonight!