Running Around

After checking everything I could think of I thought that the trouble with the engine was the alternator.  I took the alternator off which wasn't very much trouble since it sits right on top of the engine.  So yesterday Nancy,Jackie and myself went down to Morehead to run around.  I took the alternator to Advance Auto to have it checked. I watched the guy as he hooked it up to the tester. The only problem with his checking he said that the wire lead he had was missing a wire(not good). Anyway he said it was only putting out 12 volts.  So next stop was Auto Zone to see how it checks out on their tester.  Again I watched as he hooked it up with all the wires to all the connections on the alternator. The tester showed it failed all four test.  This is a 130 amp alternator,they had one in stock so I said I'll take it.  The prices was around $100.00 less then I thought it would be,still cost quite a bit but still not like I thought. I will put it on in the next couple of days and I hope that was really the problem.
OK,we then went to Walmart to get our medicine refills,then to CiCi's for the pizza buffet.  From there to the Peddlers Mall,the Dollar Mart and finally back home.  We ran around the whole day,which was a good day for it.  It wasn't very hot and had a nice breeze.    

On down the road

We left Camp Nelson around 11:00AM yesterday.  After stopping at the Walmart for groceries we were on our way. We took I-64 east then got off at the Morhead exit.  We got to Jackies house around 4:30PM.  Everything went well until after I got the car unhook and started to back up the motorhome. The engine went dead,I tried to start it but had no battery power(thats not good). So I used the jumper cables hooked them to the house battery to start the engine. After leveling up and hooking everything up it was time to check the problem. Only thing I've found so far was a rusted electrical connection.  I'm still not sure about the alternator,I will have to run some checks to see if its putting out the power or not. 

Time Has Come

The time has come for us to move on. We have enjoyed our two weeks here visiting Vicki,Richard and the girls.  The little one Kathryn has spoiled Nancy and myself, she is a doll.  Tomorrow we will move on down the road to Nancys sister Jackies for a while.  Like I always say our plans are very weakly knitted together.  So our plans are really no plans as far as time is concerned.

Good Nights Rest

I finally got a pretty good nights sleep last night and its about time after 2 weeks of pain from the kidney stone the old man is just about back(I was going to say normal but that not me)to his old self. 

Lexington is still getting prepare for the horse equestrian events in September and October.  They have places horses through out town and are very excided about having an estimated 500,000 visitors to the city and state.

From our camp site here in Camp Nelson we have the view of the old bridge and the new bridge that crosses the Kentucky river.  The campground is located off of the old Lexington Road.
We aren't doing anything new still using our time visiting with vicki and family which we are enjoying very much.

The Good and Bad

Not a lot happening. Just still putting up with the old kidney.  I went to the urologist thursday morning to have the stent removed and he said I should start doing better.
I am but---------.  Well after I got home and doing pretty good in a couple of hours I started getting pain in the kidney so took some pain meds and that eased it up.
Yesterday was a pretty good day. We went again to visit Vicki and family,we had a very good time.  About bed time the old kidney decided to start throwing out some "junk" from the surgery the week before.  So I was up half the night before it settled down.  So far this morning doing pretty good again.   Time will heal as they say. 

Nothing New

We are still parked here in the Camp Nelson Campground.  We were going to stay a week but due to my bout with the kidney stone it will be at least another week. 

I'm still having some pain and some other minor things that will hopefully go away in time.

 

This is the road we take to see our daughter. The tall bridge goes over the Kentucky river and a cut thru the mountains.

What a Day

Man what a day I had yesterday. As you know all week I've had problems with my back and stomach,which I thought might be my kidneys.  Well I stayed awake all night with my back acting up which I thought for sure was a kidney stone.  Since I have a history with kidney stones I'm usually righ when I think I have one.  So as quick as day break rolled around we got ready in search of a clinic.  I went to the St. Joseph emergency services that is located on the Nichilasville by-pass.  I went in and told them I was in a lot of pain due to what I thought a kidney stone.  I also told them I had a history of kidney stones and knew what one felt like.  I was very suprised they rush me right in and started giving me fluids intervienously. That with a shot of morphine the pain was a lot less.  Then they gave me a CT Scan. Later they came in and said I would have to go to the St. Joseph hospital in Lexington and see a urologist that will have to break the kidney stone up and get it out since it was 8cm big and too large to pass.
Since they gave me all of the liquids and morphine I couldn't drive and Nancy doesn't drive they call an ambulance to transfer me to the hospital.
Once at the hospital they rushed me to room started with the liquid in my arm,all the while letting Nancy fill out all the paper. In a couple of hours it was down to the out patient surgery room,actually they have around 10 of those rooms.  The urologist came and said he would take a laser to break up the stone,that way I could then pass it through.  By the time it was all finished and back to my room they finally released me at 8:30 pm.  I was just thankful that I was visiting my daughter and her family at this time. Vicki's husband came to the hospital to drive us back to their house where we spent the night.  Even though I'm in some pain I'm sure I'll have a better day than yesterday.

So.how was your day.

Camp Nelson

We left the Walmarts in London,KY and in a little over an hour we were in Camp Nelson.  Of course this drive was only 65 miles.   Camp Nelson is an old Civil War encampment along the Kentucky.  It has the river on one side and a shear rock cliff on the other.  The only thing is I can't get a phone or internet signal here. Ihave to do my computing while visiting with our daughter Vicki.  So my postings will be limited for a while.  

London,Kentucky

We left the Walmart in Asheville on I-40.  They are still working on the rockslide in the north bound lane. They have actually cleared the road but it looks like they are pulling the rocks off of the cliffs that look dangerous. No loads over 12 foot wide as of now.  They have signs that there may be extended delays but we drove straight thru without being stopped.

We did make it into Tennessee and stopped at the Walmart in Newport for gas.  We were there for about an hour.  Then back on the highway around Knoxville onto I-75 up to London,Kentucky where I pulled off on exit 41 to the welcome center to dump the tanks and fill up with water.  We then back tracked to exit 38 where the Walmart is located to spend the night with several other motorhomes.  It was a good day of traveling which I covered 213 miles.  Tomorrow should finish up our traveling for a while.

Not a good day

I got up yesterday morning with what I think is my kidneys acting up. Maybe a kidney stone?  Anyway we got ready and as usual our slow pace left around 11:00AM.
I would drive a while then had to stop.  I did this the whole day.

We had to stop one time for a major rain down pour. The streets in Charlotte looked like creeks.  After the rain I got on I-26 and a short distance we saw a five car pile up,no doubt due to the rain storm.

During our drive yesterday we saw the gas prices jumping up and down.

We did finaly get to the mountains and reach Ashville where we spent the night in another Walmart parking lot.  Most of the Walmarts are very good about letting us spend the night as long as we are parked out of the way of the main traffic. 

On the road

We left Wishing Well Campground around 11:20 yesterday and drove the back roads of 904 then 74 through North Carolina.  We stopped in Rockingham,NC to a ham and cheese sandwich with a slice of good tomato on it that Nancy put together.  We then stopped at a Big Lots in the town of Laurinburg just to stretch out legs and get a few things.  After 130 miles and in the town of Wadesboro,NC we stopped in at a Walmart for the night.  I know 130 miles isn't a days driving but the way we travel in the motorhome that is a full day for us.  I don't like to get in the motorhome and drive straight without stopping to enjoy the small towns.

Another night another Walmart

Times Up

Well our time here is about gone.  We went to Shallotte yesterday to do the laundy,both of us got our hair cut and then it was to Walmart to do some grocery shopping.  All of that took most of our day. 
Tomorrow we will start our journey toward Lexington,Kentucky and it will be more then a day of traveling.  I go slow and easy so if I see something interesting we will stop to check it out.  I have no plans on where we will spend the night except it will be in our motorhome.  I don't know where the motorhome will be parked.

Beach Scenes

We parked the all the way to the south end of the beach yesterday.  As you can see it was a far walk to the beach. 

We did finally got to the beach.

The birds were there waiting and watching for food.

A shrimp boat was out trolling in hopes of the big catch of the day. 

The dunes are protected all along the beach.  It looks very nice not seeing motels or any type of high rise building along the beach.  We were lucky enough that it didn't rain until later in the day.

Beach Today

The weather man said it was going to hit close to 100° yesterday and I think it was every bit of that. 

The parking at the pier parking lot was full so we drove on down the beach where all the condos are to park.  The town lets you park along the road in front of the condos as long as you don't block a mail box or driveway.  They have beach excess down along the road,so you don't have to cross anyones property.  As you can see in the photo it isn't as crowded down this way.

I believe I made a mistake the other day in calling this ship a cruise ship. On a closer look and seeing where the ship was coming from I think this was the casino ship that came out of the little river port.

There was just a slight breeze today but the waves coming in were good.  There were a couple of surfers hitting the waves.   We could only stay out a couple of hours due to the heat.

4th of July

Yesterday we were going to stay home but as our plans are most of the times it didn't happen.  Nancy wanted to go down to Murrells Inlet to see the boardwalk and all the restaurants. So I got on the laptop to see what they had going on for the 4th.  They were having a boat parade and then a C-17 cargo carrier from the military was having a fly-over down the coast,that sounded good.  

As we were going past the air base in Myrtle Beach as luck would have it the C-17 cargo carrier was landing because it was still early for the fly-over. I got a real close look at it,because it didn't land on this round it did a circle then had another approach. As we went in front of the strip I looked to my right and there it was coming straight at us. I don't know why but I get excited watching airplanes flying close off the ground. 

We got to Murrells Inlet and was lucky enough to find a close parking place to walk over to the boardwalk.  There were 1000's of people there enjoying the day.

Boats of all sizes.

All decorated up with flags and red,white and blue.

Then came the fly-over that was for a short time as the big jet flew over.
We came home and watched several 4th of July programs.  This was a feel good day and a day to be proud to be an American.

Happy 4th of July

First of all I hope while you are enjoying your Independence Day the you will remember the men and women that makes it possible for us to have the privilege to do this in America. 

Wow,what a breakfast to start yesterday off.  Nancy did real good.  As you can see,eggs,pork chops,potatoes,tomatoes and coffee. It was hard sitting around the house so we did go to the Dollar Tree to get a few things.  That was about it for yesterday.

Beach Crowd

We decided to go to the beach yesterday.  We were lucky enough to find a parking space close to the pier where there is a walkway to the beach.

Here is a cruise ship off to the open waters of the atlantic.

Here is part of the huge crowd that wanted to be close to the pier. This is close to the two large parking lots.

Click on the short video to hear and get a feeling of the ocean.  Although it was a big crowd everyone was enjoying the water and sun. The kids as usual were running the beach and throwing sand,but that is small children for you.  As I said yesterday we will be sitting home the next few days.

Big Week-End

We went down to Shallotte yesterday to do the laundry and boy is that small town crowded. Everyone is getting ready for the holiday weekend and all the stores are over run with people. We went to Walmart after doing the laundry and it was hard finding a parking place. We bought some smoked pork chops,so when we got home I put them on the grill while Nancy prepared the sides.  It made a great tasting dinner and of course we ate more then we should should have.  We will again for sure stay home this week end.  I wouldn't want to fight the beach crowd.

Some Day

Yesterday wasn't the best of days. I think my kidneys were acting up because of a kidney stone.  I couldn't drive very far until I would have to stop for a while and then go again.

We had to stop one time for what appeared to be a cloud burst.  I mean it really,really rained.  After the rain I got on I-85,drove a short distance and saw a 5 car pile up.  That is the reason I didn't drive in the hard rain.

 Driving the roads in North Carolina the gas prices were jumping all over the place.

After getting on I-26 going up and down the steep mountains we finaly got to Ashville in another Walmart parking lot for the night.

I sure hope it will be better mileage tomorrow and more than the 160 miles I drove yesteday.