Yep, it is a habit. Long time between posts

Finally got my notebook out and blew off the dust. Did a bunch of updates and now I can post. We have been busy. We took the Ford out for a long tow. After getting back the Escape we drove a tank or two of gas out of it and it was working fine. Ford Motor Company called in reguards to the note I sent them concerning the car having it's third tranny put in and it being out of service for over 3 weeks. They checked with the dealer and the transmission installed had the proper build date and it should be towable. Well we gave it a try. 1600 miles worth of try. We went to Florida. We had a good trip. For one thing at no time during our trip did you find us along side the road waiting for a tow truck. A very positive direction for us, given our history of traveling lately. We went to Jacksonville Florida and visited with Doug and Dana Cody. It was great getting to see them and their new home. The community was beautiful and the homes back up to a golf course. We spent the night with them and then in the morning a snag entered the picture. I had taken the whole drive way as we had to disconnect the Escape so the rv and Ford could park in the driveway. I backed the Escape out of the drive and parked it a couple of houses down in preparation for connecting it to the RV. I started backing out of the drive and was not watching close enough evidently. I heard a noise in my rear view camera and hit the breakes. I was moving ever so slowly and hit the breaks. Just as I did that the front tire dropped off the curb which rocked the rv. The neighbors mail box was just above the back bumper and the rocking of the rv ripped the box off the pole. As it turns out the bumper got scratched. Even though the mail box ripped off the pole, it did not even scratch it as best I could see. I think the mail box won.
We headed on south to Arcadia Florida where my mom and dad live. We got to spend 3 days with them which was great. Our trip to Florida had been so delayed they were happy to see us even if it was just a few days. Oh yea, did I mention just prior to leaving for Florida we got a call from the Real estate company and our closing was moved up a week. So the trip was a quick one. We left Arcadia on Sunday afternoon and headed to Belleview Florida to visit Linda's dad and a friend of mine I used to work with at Intel in Folsom, Mark. We stayed in a nice rv park just off Hwy 75. We had a good visit with all. We had spent our mornings trying to get things done for the closing like inspections, appraisals, insurance, electric companies, city of Bristol. Minor stuff like that and took the rv to a dealer to check out a message we were seeing on the dash.
On Wed we had breakfast with Linda's dad and step mom and then headed up the highway. We needed to be in Bristol for our closing on Friday morning. We drove with little interruption and make good time. As the day pushed on it looked to me like we could make it to North Carolina by night fall. We did make it there. I decided to pull over and spend the evening in a rest area. We pulled along side some trucks and proceeded to take a nap. I was restless and decided to see how much further we would have to go to get to Bristol. To my surprise we were 120 miles away. I could have driven on in without stopping. I didn't have any place to stay so it was just as well we stopped. We got up and headed on in to Bristol. We got to town about 6am and had some breakfast at Mickey D's and then found a Wallmart parking lot to rest in until the camp grounds opened. So we had all day Thursday to take care of any last minute details.
I decided to stop by the power company. They didn't get any of the stuff I had sent them on email. Their application and my identification forms. It cost me 6 dollars to get the stuff scanned so I could sent it. Good thing I stopped. Filled out the forms and got all that stuff setup.
City of Bristol would not let me submit an application through the mail and they wanted proof of ownership. So I had to wait for closing. Well Friday arrived and closing took place so we are the proud owners of a home in Bristol. No furniture yet but it won't be long. Time to open the pod and see what we were doing back in December. Kind of like a short time capsule. Now we will see what I saved and what didn't make it. I could be in real trouble. It was a stressful time and I am sure mistakes were made. I just hope no big ones!
We have spent two nights in the house and have a bed and table and chairs. That is about it. I evidently bumped the power button on the refrigerator in the rv and it was off so we lost our freezer stuff. We have the pod arriving tomorrow afternoon so we can start unloading. Maybe we will be in a place that looks like home soon. At least on the inside.
We have been attending church at the church where Ken and Carmine are. It is great seeing them. Linda is going to play the piano Sunday. She got a warm up in Florida as she played for my parents church. During the summer they don't have a piano player. So maybe we are starting to settle in a little.
Lizzie had a nice romp in the church's yard with Teddy, Ken and Carmine's dog. It was fun to watch. I spent the day building the table and chairs and watering the yard. It has been un-seasonably hot here and humid. It is like their August weather. Tonight after watering the yard we had a small thunder storm go through. NO I didn't watch the weather. I don't have a tv yet.
So there you have it. The Ford traveled 1600 miles and the tranny is still working. I didn't smell any burnt fluid. Something else smelled but not the tranny. I need to check the fluid to make sure it is still red and clean. It has been resting the past couple of days as we drove the van.
So that has been our days. I am ready to crash after another long day, like 8 am to 9:30 pm. Retirement?

Spoke with Ford in Detroit today

We have been driving the Ford for two days now and Ford called today. They say the transmission put in the car is the proper one for towing. They say it should tow with out any problems now. I actually have the name and number of the person who called, should I have any further problems. I was going to ask for it but he read my mind and offered. Imagine that.
So we are ready to head to Florida.
We plan on pulling out for Florida at 7am on the 14th. We will see if the Ford can get to Florida without incident. Or will it be mia by he time we get there? Any bets?
Our plan is to come back to Tennessee just in time to sign papers and take possession of our new home. We will keep you posted as we head south east. We will finally get close to the East Coast.
First stop Doug and Dana's new home in the Jacksonvile, FL area. Then on to Arcadia to visit my mom and dad. We will then head north again to Bellview, FL to visit Linda's dad and step mom. And we will visit with my friend Mark, who I worked with my last years at Intel in CA. Amazing how many people I am getting to visit that I knew for years and years in CA.

Well here we sit.

Holiday weekend is over. Our friends left for Texas, to visit their family there. My family left to go back to work. The home purchase is getting the details underway and ...... What now? Still no Ford. We are approaching 3 weeks. I have decided this is rediculus and have contacted Ford Motor company to lodge a complaint. I spoke with another rv'r who has a 2009 Ford Escape. He has towed it over 2000 miles without issue. His was a 6 cyl two wheel drive. I think the 4 cyl tranny is maybe not so good for towing. I am ready to head to Florida and my tow vehicle hasen't made it to Tennessee in a usable state yet. What is wrong with this picture?
Well, as you can see, I am sitting here with little to offer in way of blogging.
Oh, yes, on FaceBook I have made connections from our San Jose days. So we are connecting with some more people we haven't seen for years. And we lived just a couple of hours away. How bad is that?

Busy Day, not......

We made an offer on the house, got a counter and are accepting the counter. So we purchase our second house in 4 months. The retired life. SCARY!
My sister and brother-in-law arrived from Cincinnati and we took a tour of the area. Showed them my wealth of knowledge of the area. "That house we looked at yesterday, here we have a nice house we looked at the other day, oh, and here is where our friends live. You got the picture. The only good part of it was that TomTom didn't have anything to say about it. I was able to do this and even ended up in VA and get back to the RV. So here we go. Next phase of the plan soon to begin, trip to Florida. My mom is going to have surgery early July so we will be heading there once the house purchase is on auto pilot. Pray please. We need it. I still don't have the Ford back from the trip here. Maybe I can burn up this tranny with less than 500 miles on it.
I spoke with another RVer who is towing a 2009 Escape. 6 cyl automatic, over 2000 miles no issues. IS IT ME?

House hunting is task at hand.

Well we have been searching for a place to call home. The idea crossed our minds to maybe trade up the rv to a larger unit that we could live in. It was somewhat appealing. Until you figure the cost of a motor home that size is better than half the cost of a house. Then you have to figure that our president and the rest of the world leaders are working on tanking all markets for a couple more years. Maybe they are going to get it right? So buying two houses in this market? A smart plan? Hay who knows. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

My mom is facing surgery soon so we need to consider getting this house hunting done and move on to the next phase of our plan to get to Florida. My sister and brother-in-law are planning on being here to spend the 4th of July with us here in TN. That will be a good time and we will learn more about this area, I am sure.

So you can see that not much has happened. Linda and I did take a drive out the roads we have scoped out and shot some pictures. Hopefully I can get some posted here soon. I know.... I said that last time. You know the best laid plans of mice and men.

And we are quickly approaching the Nascar Bristol second race of the year. I have found that all roads lead to Bristol Motor Speedway. Even when you get into Bristol Virginia on the 81 freeway, there is a sign that says exit here to get to the speedway. That way you can drive down the city streets for miles and miles to get there.

You can bet I know how to get there by now!

Oh, wait! I still don't have the Ford back. It is still in Knoxville, TN. I am loosing my mind and can't keep track of dates but I do believe it has been almost 3 weeks at this point. If I go to Florida and it isn't done yet, I wonder if they will start charging me storage fees? Maybe I can off set a storage fee, by charging them a lease fee as they have had the car longer than I have. The way I see it they have had the car 1/26th of the time that I have owned it. It doesn't look like I will be driving the Ford several thousand miles before towing it again. I can't wait for our next adventure! gag!

Happy 4th to all our friends. Let's celebrate America the country we love. Then let's get to the task of taking back our country from all the illegals and the idiots who are giving it away to them.