"if you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room"

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

internet woes

Rudee had the inside of the 5th wheel all ready for travel when I got off work on Thursday and she helped me get the outside chores done. Since we had loaded the motorcycle onto the semi Wednesday evening it only took us about 30 minutes to hit the road.
We made it through Indianapolis just before rush hour but traffic was still heavy but thinned out as we made our way east of the city. Approaching Shelbyville on I-74 the skies became very black and we were heading right into a storm. Luckily the worst of the rain and lightning only lasted about 10 miles but we did slow down quite a bit just to be safe.
Our home for the long week end was Hidden Paradise Campground in St. Paul Indiana and was about 3 miles off of I-74. After we exited we had to wind our way down a curvy country road and into the small town of St. Paul. The campground was at the edge of town off one of the side streets. The entrance is plenty wide but the interior roads become very narrow with trees at the edge just waiting to reach out and grab a passing RV :-). We arrived at the office unscathed and went in to register. I am always taken aback some by the comments we get about our rig from the check in people. The first thing the lady did was look out the window and say "is that thing 45' long?". I told her the entire rig was almost 65' long and the RV was 39'. There was a young man in there working with her and he wanted to know (in a very smart a$$ way) why I thought I needed such a big truck. Well, hmmmmm, maybe because I want one, can afford one and like my outfit, whats it to ya there "sonny"! I was nice though and explained we have the truck to haul the bike on. He then proceeded to tell me that they made lifts that mount on the back and then I wouldn't need the truck. I was getting a little po'ed by his attitude but kept my cool and told him that I liked my arrangement better. We got checked in and paid but this young punk wouldn't let up, when he found out we were in town for the motorcycle rally he wanted to know why we didn't just stay at the fairgrounds. I had pretty much had my fill of him and was about to tell him that I would suggest that to the 7 other RV's that are staying at their campground and we would take the $900 we were paying them elsewhere, but again I kept my cool and just decided to ignore him. What an idiot.
Our site was great. Large gravel pad and patio overlooking the river with plenty of shade. There was no sewer hook up but we had water and 30amp electric for $30 per night. Our friends were just across the road from us and we had a large fire ring near them we would all share.

Friday morning was the first day of the rally and we were hosting a pancake breakfast. That meant we were up and at the fairgrounds before the sun was up. We cooked pancakes and sausage patties from 7am until 9am and then we were free. The rally had lots of activities. We picked up our registration packets and strolled through the vendors. They even had some Harley stuff and we picked up some bling for the new bike. The local Chapter had mapped out several rides along the scenic roads so we were able to take a couple of nice rides during the rally. I wont bore you with all the details of what we did, mostly just rode the bikes and hung out with our friends at the rally site. We did have a campfire each night back at the campground. The weather was very nice all week end long.

Monday we packed everything back up and headed home. We got parked and set back up here at the KOA shortly after noon. After unloading the bike and parking the semi Rudee noticed a problem. Every time she tried to walk through the 5th wheel she would wobble to one side and felt like we were leaning too far. I told her she was just goofy and that I had leveled the 5th wheel before unhooking and setting things up. I decided to humor her though and checked the level again. That's when I saw a problem. I guess I put the boards under the wrong wheels and instead of getting us level I made it twice as unlevel!! Well I had to admit my mistake to Rudee and she helped me get the bottle jack out so I could crawl under the axle, jack it up and remove the boards ......... sheesh, did I goof up or what :-).

Our phone line was out when we got back, no dial tone at all. I checked everything I could and could not find a problem so we called AT&T. They said they would send someone out and have us back in service by 7pm on Tuesday. Since Rudee uses the phone line for her internet access for work this meant she would not be working until they arrived. She called her boss and explained things and then just sit around waiting all day. The repairman arrived around 3pm and started tracing the problem down. He eventually told her that the problem was in the main line and would be at least another hour or more to get it fixed. They eventually found that the wires had been cut by a contractor resetting poles in the area and were able to get us back in communication around 6pm. Rudee had a pretty easy day, only down side is this puts her a day behind in an already short week.

No big plans this week, just catching up from the long week end but of we get into any mischief I'll keep you posted.

2 comments:

  1. We went all wireless (T-mobile). T-mobile probably isn't the fastest or best coverage, but it is $40/month unlimited/no penalty fees. Relying on the wires or the campgrounds is just not a great solution.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree RV Marlan, only problem for us is that Rudee's company requires she be tethered and will not let her use air cards or similier technology. We are hoping they will update soon and we can "cut the cord" :-)

    ReplyDelete