Moving Days–FINALLY!

We wrapped up our stay in Michigan with a few last family get-togethers . . . dinner with Bryce & Hannah, and a 5-year-old’s Star Wars birthday party.

The kids had lots of fun with the little robot, and were rewarded with lots of candy when Darth Vader finally broke open!

I made one last trip into the office, saying good-bye for now until next summer . . . our contact for the next several months will all be virtual . . . fortunately, that works well for all involved.

We were all set to leave . . . we picked up my Mom on Wednesday night so she could travel with us to Dayton, OH for my nephew’s wedding, and we woke up Thursday morning, ready to go . . .

We were supposed to get snow showers for most of the day, and between Toledo and Dayton (our route for the day) they were getting ice!  There was no way we were getting on the road with that risk!

So much for moving day!  I cancelled my vacation day, and we postponed our arrival in Dayton, extending our stay in Monroe one more day.  Tom was really annoyed!  He had spent much of Wednesday afternoon clearing all the ice off the slide toppers and getting them nice and dry!  He would have to do it all over again on Friday morning!

Friday morning was definitely better for travel, and after once again clearing off the slide toppers, we got the slides pulled in (they moved really slowly in the cold!) and fired up the engine.  It was still cold, but at least the roads and the weather forecast were clear!

Our first stop was for fuel for the motorhome.  We had over 3/4 tank when we arrived on October 15th, but over the last month we’ve been using the Aqua-Hot pretty extensively for heating, and were down to almost a 1/2 tank.  The first two weeks, we were using the diesel burner just in the evenings and mornings, but the last two weeks we’ve had it on 24/7.  We figured we burned through about 30 gallons of diesel in the month.  It was a pretty expensive month – $145 for electric, and about another $100 for diesel for heating.  Another reason to like warmer climates!

First stop – Ohio!  OK, it’s only one state away, but the weather did improve over the weekend! 

We didn’t have a lot of RV Park choices in the Dayton area in November, so we ended up at a little park southeast of Dayton in the historic town of Lebanon.  Good thing we waited the extra day to travel – this area was hit pretty hard by the ice storm!  There were lots of tree branches down all over the park, and they were still in the clean-up process when we arrived on Friday.

The park stays open through the winter because they have a small group of people who stay there fulltime in one area of the park.  The “transient” area of the park, where we stayed in a nice long pull-thru site isn’t “technically” open for the winter – they shut off the water at the bath houses and at the sites, but they do rent sites for a day or two, as long as you bring your own water.  We had filled our fresh water tank before we left Monroe, so we were prepared for our 2 night stay.

The wedding was Saturday afternoon, so we spent a few hours in the morning checking out the shops in town.

It’s a cute little town, with lots of antique stores and some other cute shops and historic buildings.

Many of the historic buildings have been re-purposed.

Lebanon is a nice little town, and we really enjoyed exploring it!

After our exploration, we had just enough time for a quick light lunch, and then it was time to get dressed for the wedding.

It was a very nice ceremony,

and soon they were Mr. & Mrs.!

The reception was very festive,

and there were lots of opportunities for photos.

Sisters,

plus one brother,

and Mom.

It was a nice way to wrap up our time with the family!

The next morning, several of us met up for breakfast and we handed off our extra passenger.  She didn’t want to continue travelling with us . . . not sure why she wants to stay in cold Michigan!  Texas is going to be much warmer!

It was a beautiful travel day today, and we were completely thawed out before we got back on the road.

By the time we reached Kentucky,

it was a balmy 61 degrees!  For the first time in months, I could go out without a sweatshirt, and I even opened a couple windows for a little while!

We’re in Renfro Valley to spend Thanksgiving with our friends Bryan, Janetta and Tessa . . . and looking forward to spending a few days with them!

Meanwhile in Virginia . . .

It was also finally moving day for Nicolas and his shipmates, too!

On Wednesday, their ship finally left the shipyard in Portsmouth,

and made it’s way up the Elizabeth River,

back to its place on the pier in Norfolk.

We just saw little bits of video of the move on Facebook, but it had to be quite a sight to see that huge ship being pushed up the river!

So, Nicolas is now officially in his homeport, and we’re headed towards our winter destination, Texas . . . it feels good to be back on the move!