Don & Lori See America

Miles Traveled: 208

Total Traveled: 18,928

We're settled in for the next two months at Pleasant Lake RV Park in Bradenton, FL. It's a gorgeous park, well worth the inflated "snowbird" rates that are the cost of staying in Florida in the wintertime.

Miles Traveled: 250

Total Traveled: 18,720

We took another one-day break here on the way into Bradenton. Casey Jones is getting to be a regular stop on the way north and south for us.

Miles Traveled: 222

Total Traveled: 18,470

We're in one of the nicest parks we've stayed in. Although the lots are small, the park is immaculately maintained, and includes a lake with a fountain, a bridge over the creek, an enclosed dog run, and full service -- including pickup and delivery of propane tanks you want filled. They also have great cable and Wi-Fi service. The park's actually so nice we decided to take our next day break today instead of tomorrow.

Miles Traveled: 148

Total Traveled: 18,248

We left Tom & Liz's yesterday with high hopes. We're ready to get south for the winter. The fates, however, wanted us to slow down and enjoy the weather, apparently.

Twenty miles after we started, we pulled into a Love's travel center to dump our week's accumulation of waste and fill the truck's fuel tank. That's when Lori noticed the low right-rear tire on the camper. Uh-oh. A quick check showed 45 lbs of pressure, instead of the recommended 80.

Since we were by an air hose, I ran the pressure back up where it belonged and started dumping. By the time I was done dumping, the tire was back down to 60 lbs. Not a good sign. When I took the gauge off, though, I heard a slight hiss. On closer inspection, the valve stem was loose and leaking air.

I tightened the stem and refilled the tire. A half-hour later, after eating lunch, the tire was still at 80 pounds. Of course, between the dumping, fooling with the tire, and lunch, we lost almost 1 and a half hours at the Loves.

Although we planned to make it south of Birmingham, we called it a day in Cullen, AL, about 50 miles short of our intended goal. We'd both had enough of a day, and we've got a week or more to get to Florida, so there's no rush.

Since Lori had checked weather before we left, we were expecting a very rainy Tuesday, so I just registered for two nights instead of one. All day it's been a fairly constant rain, so we made the right call. We'll head south again tomorrow.

Miles Traveled: 190

Total Traveled: 18,100

A milk run down the interstate from mom's house to Tom & Liz's, Lori's sister.

Miles Traveled: 305

Total Traveled: 17,910

The longest towing day ever, both in miles and time. We left the campground around 9:30, and arrived at mom's house 7 hours and 305 miles later, after a half-hour lost north of Dayton (trying to get diesel) and an hour in a traffic jam outside of Louisville. Taking a couple of days off and visiting family before heading on to Florida. Lori says we're going to be in a really nice campground down there, I can hardly wait to get there.

Miles Traveled: 270

Total Traveled: 17,605

Well, this is going to be an interesting trip. Lori had to fly back to Bradenton on short notice, so I've only got Baby as my faithful co-pilot. I left the park about 9 this morning and arrived here around 3 this evening. Tomorrow evening should find me at mom's house, in Mt. Washington, KY.

Miles Traveled: 154

Total Traveled: 17,335

Michigan sure is a big state. Made it to St. Ignace, then took the 5-mile drive over the Mackinaw Bridge. We're in the Mackinaw City KOA for tonight. On to Alpena, MI tomorrow.

Miles Traveled: 135

Total Traveled: 17,181

A pretty drive along Lake Michigan, and we're camped about 100 yards from the water. Tomorrow we arrive in Mackinac City, MI. We'll be arriving in Oscoda on Thursday.

Miles Traveled: 235

Total Traveled: 17,046

You'll have to check the Current Location or 2009 Travels Map to figure out where we are. We're here, and I don't have a clue where "here" is. We're taking tomorrow off before heading on to Escanaba, MI on Monday, St. Ignaces, MI on Tuesday, and Oscoda, MI on Thursday. We may take a trip to Mackinac Island on Wednesday, or may just relax for the day.