George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Yesterday, we had a great time touring around Westmoreland State Park and George Washington Birthplace National Monument. Both sites are within 30 minutes of this Outdoor World. Click on the title to link to the National Park Service for more information. Our ranger guide was a fountain of information and had done extensive genealogical research into the Washington family. The grounds are amazing and right on the banks of the Potomac River.

We returned to our site by mid afternoon and I just had to give this Dri-Wash I bought in Chesapeake Bay a go. Walt Fulton, who we met in Peace River last year was a few sites down at Chesapeake and I was always amazed how his coach and rig sparkled. Dri-wash is a waterless cleaning compound that works wonders both inside and outside our Phaeton. Spray on, wipe off with one micro fibre towel, and then buff with a second micro fibre towel. Results are fast and awesome. We did the whole coach up to about 7 feet high, but only because we didn't have a ladder with us. Then we tackled the Vue which was filthy. Wow! I think our photo speaks for itself.

Today, we are heading to Gettysburg Farm in Dover, PA which is another ODW park. We are going to be daring and try taking Hwy 301, I-695 and I-83 through Washington, DC and Baltimore as well. It's Sunday, so perhaps traffic will be light.

I thought readers might also like to know that I am working on a new blog as well. Ken and Faye suggested a title to us that Ken's son Mike came up with and we loved the idea. Some of you will no doubt remember the Peyton Place TV series from the 60s...... Yep, we will be introducing "Phaeton Place", but likely not until we get back to Ottawa when I will have more time to get things set up properly. Thanks Mike for a great idea!

Walterboro, South Carolina

We awoke at 6 am to another hot and sunny day in Tampa and were all ready to get going by 7 am. We had planned to pack up the Phaeton and move it out to the main parking lot at Rally Park so I could have the toad all hooked up and ready to go for when our driver showed up. Not "our" driver in the chauffeur sense of the word, but our driver who would do the out of state delivery to Valdosta, GA for us, so we wouldn't have to pay the Florida state sales tax. Anyway, Jack, showed up about 30 minutes early, so we left right around 7:30 am, which suited us just fine. Jack was the same driver we had for our Bounder delivery back in May 2007. What a great guy and so knowledgeable too. I was a sponge and soaked up any advice he chose to share. Chris sat on the sofa reading her book. We were in Valdosta before noon and on our way to Brunswick, GA on I-95 after seeing a Notary Public and a quick bit of lunch. We pulled into the Flying J at Brunswick, where we were originally going to spend the night, at 2:30 pm, but decided to push on to Walterboro, SC instead. Skies were blue, so why not.
Our phaeton drives like a dream. Much quieter and smoother running than our Bounder with very nice captain and co-pilot seats. I think the tag axle makes it handle much better on the highway. We averaged 60 mph most of the way and never budged at all when semis went by us in either direction.

We hit some serious thunderstorms in Savanah, GA as you can see from the pictures above. Temperatures must have dropped at least 20F because of the rain. It rained so hard, it washed off all the kamikaze love bugs that had impaled themselves all over our windshield in Florida. Better than a car wash or pressure washer.

So here we are back at the Super Walmart at exit 57. Only three RVs here tonight. Supper is done and we get to watch some satellite TV and some season finales before bed. We'll make it to the Chesapeake Bay Thousand Trails park east of Richmond, VA tomorrow night and spend a few days in that area before pushing on into Pennsylvania.

Lazydays...Bay 12

Monday morning I said goodbye to Jim and Jane who are off to Alberta. We'll meet up with them again in June when we join up to head to Alaska.

Our new Phaeton spent last night in service bay 12. Pull out tray is almost installed and the surge protector was removed from our Bounder yesterday and will go on the Phaeton today. I have never understood why surge protectors are not installed as standard equipment at the factory. I've decided to go with the nitrogen fill for the tires and also to have a set of Tyron bands installed on the front wheels. These are designed to keep the tires on the rims in the event of a blow out. Safety first, right. A few more things to look after, some cosmetic scratch removal outside, and hopefully I'll be unloading the rest of the Bounder into the Phaeton storage bays today. May even be over at Rally Park beginning tonight. The service bay is alright though for a few nights...full hookups.

Time for another free breakfast and Starbucks coffee compliments of Lazydays. Looks like another hot and humid day in Tampa again today.

Our New Motorhome!!

We loved the porch on this Country Coach but thought it was just a little over the top. This one is parked just down the lot from us in deliveries. It is on display. No purchaser just yet. This isn't our new coach. Here is our new 2009 42 ft Phaeton. We are on a delivery site at Lazydays until Monday at which time they will move us over to Rally Park for a week before we start to head back to Ontario. I've spent the last two days moving our things out of the Bounder and into the Phaeton. Chris even helped out over the web cam, suggesting the best place to put things. Ain't technology grand! I have everything out of the living area, just need to empty the storage bins. I'm waiting for another roll tray to be installed in the second pull through bay in our Phaeton before unloading anything else. No point in moving it more than once. Bedroom of course with king size bed and tons of storage..
Dining area, residential refrigerator, Panasonic Viera 32" TV

Kitchen area with 3 burner propane stove, microwave and pull out island. Again, tons of storage.
Two euro recliners with foot stools will be a big improvement over the two sofas we had in our Bounder. Lots more storage.

Note the tag axle on the Phaeton. This gives a much better ride on the open highway. Lazydays still has a few things to look after for us. They are moving the Progressive Industries 50 amp surge protector we added to the Bounder into the Phaeton.

Now I have to go and read the mountain of owner manual material and watch the DVD that Tiffin provides with the motorhome.

Lastly, given we have a new motorhome, we will have to consider either changing the title of my blog or simply start a new one. All suggestions will be given fair consideration.