travel – Page 6 – Julia A. Keirns – Author, Blogger, Writer

Longview RV Park in Elizabethtown, Kentucky

October 27, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

I do a lot of calling around and researching when I’m looking for places to stay as we travel around America. I have always been fortunate enough to find some of the best places at the most reasonable prices.

As soon as we pulled into Longview RV Park we were greeted by a nice man on a golf cart who led us straight to our site. We would much rather stay in a smaller campground than a larger one. The people are so nice and glad to have you.

The lots are decent length, with room enough for the tow dolly to remain hooked up and park the car in front of the RV.

The only complaint Rich had is that the sewer dump is up by the front of the RV so he will have to wait and dump when we pull forward to leave.

There is a nice pond in the rear of the campground. The water level looked low. They must need rain. They said they had seen bald eagles here. Wish we would see one.

With it being the weekend before Halloween, it was nice to see the decorations.

They even had a bowl of free buckeyes! We are from Ohio, the Buckeye state. Of course, I will take a free buckeye!

The laundry facility was extremely nice and clean and just look at the wonderful private bathrooms!

Another important factor for us RVers is the water pressure. Great water pressure here and the water tasted really good to us. That is a big plus for us.

Longview RV Park in Elizabethtown, Kentucky gets 5 stars from us. If you are ever in the area, we highly recommend it.

Thanks for traveling with us.

Driving From Ohio to Kentucky

October 26, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

RV Life on the road

We pulled out of our familiar spot in Ohio and headed south today. Hwy 30 to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, 469 South to 69 South around Indianapolis to 65 South.

Most of 69 South to Indy is under construction and bumpy as heck. The RV has new tires and shocks and we still jiggle nuts and bolts loose all the time.

The trees displayed a gorgeous array of colors including red, gold, rust, brown, dark green, light green, yellow, and orange.

I hope to take more photos of the leaves, but we saw a lot of them blowing off the branches.

I’m so glad Rich enjoys the sights as much as I do. Once in Kentucky, we saw some beautiful hills covered with fall trees and he said, “Wow, look how pretty that is.”

The Louisville skyline is shown in the photo above.

We drove as far south as Elizabethtown and stopped at an RV park for a couple of days. From where we were in Ohio we drove over five hours. We have no set schedule. Five hours was long enough.

Stay tuned for the adventures! I can’t wait to show you a tiny piece of Kentucky.

(all photos were taken by me unless otherwise noted)

Living Our “Dash” To the Fullest

October 25, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

In an old RV

Richard Keirns born 1960 — ?

Julia Keirns born 1964 — ?

We are both still living the dash.

Life is short. It might be a cheesy cliché, but it is so very true. And it’s something that Rich and I have come to realize more and more over the years. People our age are dying including friends from high school and other acquaintances.

That’s part of the reason why we decided to sell our house and buy an RV to travel around the country full-time. It is something we always talked about doing and didn’t want to have any regrets. We are living our dash to the fullest, and we are loving every minute of it. If either one of us dies tomorrow, we will be so glad we spent this time together traveling around the country.

Of course, full-time RVing isn’t for everyone. It takes a lot of planning, hard work, and flexibility. It takes a lot of patience to put up with each other 24 hours a day in a small space. But for us, it works and it is the best way to live our lives right now.

The road is long before us and infinite. We love seeing new places, meeting new people, and experiencing new things all the time. And we love doing it together, as a couple.

We are definitely seeing the country. We’ve been to all but 8 states since we started full-time RVing, and we’ve seen some of the most amazing places in the country.

From the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest to the Rio Grande in southern Texas, and into Maine, we’ve been blown away by the unbelievable beauty of this country.

We love meeting new people. One of the best things about full-time RVing is that we meet people from all walks of life. We’ve met other RVing couples, families with children, and solo travelers from all over the country. We’ve made some great friends along the way, and we’ve learned a lot from these people.

Of course, full-time RVing isn’t without its challenges. It seems like there is always something that needs fixing. There are times when we miss our family back home but Skype is a wonderful tool. And if we get tired of being on the road we can just go home to Ohio and park in our daughter’s yard for a while. But overall, we wouldn’t trade this lifestyle for anything.

We have had to learn to be flexible. Things don’t always go according to plan when you’re full-time RVing. We are prepared to change our plans at the last minute if we have to and we have learned to not be upset about it. Everything always seems to work out for the best.

We are enjoying the journey and living our dash to the fullest. Full-time RVing is a great way to see the country, experience new things, and meet new people.

If you’re looking for a way to live your dash to the fullest, I highly recommend full-time RVing. It’s not for everyone, but it’s the best way we have found to live our lives.

Thanks for reading and coming along on our journey. Comment to let us know you stopped by.

(all photos are taken by me unless otherwise noted)

The Geese Are Heading South and So Are We

October 24, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Off to warmer weather

My knee is healed. I am walking decently with little discomfort, and we are biting at the bullet to head south.

The days are cooling off and the nights are too chilly here in Ohio. When the outside air begins to cool our bones on the inside and the inside heat begins to dry our skin on the outside, it is time to move to warmer temperatures.

Rich works a lot harder than I do preparing to move.

I basically take care of closing up the inside and he takes care of closing up the outside.

Closing up the inside consists of picking everything up and putting it away so it doesn’t fall over, break, or rattle while we drive down the road.

And making sure the television is strapped, drawers are locked, counters are cleaned off, and nothing is going to go flying around if we hit a bump.

Together we dismantle the outside displays such as lights around the awning, picnic table, bug spray, lawn flags, and chairs. But Rich puts it all away in the outside compartments.

He takes out the leveling blocks, dumps the tanks, puts away the cords and hoses, brings in the jacks, hooks up the tow dolly, gets the car loaded up, checks all the lights and turn signals, and locks all the cabinets.

Yes, I help when I can.

Last, but not least, is cleaning the windshield and side windows so we can see good.

I don’t have great balance. I fall easily and break bones, so he doesn’t let me on a ladder much.

We are both excited to be back on the road and in our happy place. I can’t wait to see new places, take lots of pictures, and write all about it.

And of course, take you along for the journey. Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park

October 17, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Dayton, Ohio

We drove two hours south the other day to visit the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park in Dayton, Ohio, and get my stamp and sticker in my National Park book. We didn’t realize this was in the heart of downtown Dayton and finding a place to park was difficult.

There are times we become a bit concerned about the area we are entering and driving through. We passed several police cars with people pulled over and lights flashing. The entire area looked quite poor and rundown, except for the buildings that were part of the park. But I refuse to be afraid when we travel. I will not live in fear.

The Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP commemorates Orville and Wilbur Wright who turned cloth, wood, bicycle chains, and gears into the first heavier-than-air airplane. Established in 1992, this national park includes six unique sites, each highlighting a different part of the story.

The Wright Cycle Company (shown in the main photo above behind the park sign) and the visitor center is the first place to begin. These two buildings are right beside each other. The cycle shop was closed the day we were there. This building was actually the fourth cycle shop location operated by the Wright brothers and is the only remaining testament to their cycle operation.

The visitor center was open. It is a beautiful building and the workers inside were extremely nice and helpful. The first thing we did was walk through the small museum.

The photo below is a replica of the 1902 Wright Glider. It’s the first display you see when you enter the museum. It has a wing span of 32 feet and weighs 117 pounds empty.

Located at the corner of South Williams and West Third Street, the visitor center and museum contains exhibits on every phase of the Wright brothers’ lives, exhibits about aviation history in the Dayton area, and exhibits about the life and works of poet and writer Paul Laurence Dunbar.

The house is the third building that is part of the park and is located on North Paul Laurence Dunbar Street. Dunbar purchased this house in 1904 for his mother Matilda. He lived here after he became too sick from tuberculosis to travel. He died in 1906. His mother lived here until she died in 1934. Free tours are available on select days and it was closed the day we were there.

Did you know that the Wright brothers not only figured out how to fly through the air, but they also built a better bicycle with improved brakes?

The Frank B. Hale Grocery store was also located here in the early 1900s. For seventeen years Hale sold canned goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, and other goods to the people of Dayton, including the Wright brothers and Paul Laurence Dunbar. This grocery store replica has been carefully furnished with historically correct items to show what it looked like at the time.

In 1920, the Wrights opened the first factory in the United States designed especially for building airplanes. They had just returned from a European tour and came home to Dayton with orders to build three airplanes. The factory is going to be the newest part of this National Park but is not yet open to the public.

Located on West Third Street is this 1905 Wright Flyer III Sculpture. The Wright Flyer III was the third powered aircraft by the Wright Brothers and was built during the winter of 1904–05. Orville made the first flight with it on June 23, 1905.

I love traveling the country and visiting all the national parks and historic sites. I hope you enjoyed this little tour of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park.

Do you collect stamps and stickers of the National Parks?

Thanks for reading.

Fort Greene Ville Historical Landmark

October 14, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Greenville, Ohio

We drove south to Greenville, Ohio today and I wanted to see the fort.

The photo above is a replica of The Fort at Greene Ville that was built by General Anthony Wayne in 1793 during the American Indian Wars.

According to military history, Fort Greene Ville was the largest pioneer fort in Ohio. It was used to house about 2,000 American soldiers dedicated to neutralizing the Native American threat and casting American dominance and law over the region. The construction of the Fort was finished by the fall of 1793.

The Treaty of Greene Ville was signed on August 3, 1795, by both the Delaware and Wyandot tribes and the United States at this Fort, after General Anthony Wayne’s victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in northern Ohio.

The treaty marked the end of the Northwest Indian Wars and negotiated the land boundary between the settlers and natives.

The gate was locked the day we were there so we couldn’t go inside.

The fort was abandoned one year after the treaty was signed and settlers in the area descended on it stripping it of construction materials and finally burning it down to scavenge the metal.

I love driving around to find hidden gems like this in the towns we visit and then learning some history about them.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed your history lesson for today.

Have You Seen the Yellow Rubber Ducks in Jeeps?

October 12, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

So what do they mean?

Traveling around the country as we do, we have noticed some of the other people in RVs that tow Jeeps behind have their Jeep windshield dashes covered with little yellow rubber ducks.

I’ve never asked anyone about it before, but often wondered what the reason and significance of it is.

We had to make a trip to the Newmar Parts and Service Center the other day and I immediately saw these little rubber ducks for sale all over the store.

We don’t have a Jeep, but I wanted one anyway, mostly because it says Newmar on it. I have a Newmar. If you are going to collect something as you travel, why not cute little yellow rubber ducks?

I decided to research and find out more about this strange infatuation.

Duck, Duck, Jeep

According to an article at parade.com, Jeep Ducking was started by one woman in Canada in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. She just wanted to spread some kindness and put a smile on a stranger’s face.

She placed a cute little rubber duck on the hood of their Jeep with a note that said, “Nice Jeep,” sat in her car, and watched their reaction. Sure enough, they smiled, took the duck, placed it on the dash, and drove away.

She did it again, and again, and before she knew it, other Jeep owners were doing it too. It took off like wildfire.

They began “ducking” other Jeeps and also spread the word through Facebook and Instagram. The trend took off like wildfire and now there are over 68,000 members in her Jeep ducking Facebook group. The trend has spread now all throughout Canada, all 50 states, and even countries like Spain and Australia. It just shows how easy it is to get on board with a simple act of kindness! — parade.com

You’ve been ducked

Evidently, Jeep owners are a tight community and are “ducking” other Jeep owners. Some have their own “duck pond” on their dash. They keep all the ducks they get and buy new ones to give away.

Do a Google search for “Duck, Duck, Jeep” and you’ll get more than 20 million results!

And it isn’t just Jeep owners anymore. Everyone else got jealous and wanted to collect cute little rubber duckies on their dashes too. According to Car Talk, ducking has become very popular and widespread.

The trend has spread well beyond Jeeps. Drivers of other marques, looking to get in on the fun, have started ducking each other. We have seen examples of Bronco ducking, Mustang ducking, and some particularly inventive Toyota-loving wags are selling green rubber ducks with pointy ears for — what else — Ducking Yotas.

I found several great articles that helped explain the simple concept of Jeep Ducking to me. Car Talk, Readers Digest, and Parade are just a few among the millions.

So, if you drive a Jeep, don’t be surprised if someone “ducks” you.

What a great way to spread kindness in a world that needs it. Kindness is a ripple effect. It spreads from one person to another, and soon it can change the world.

Thanks for reading and coming along with us on our travels.

An Excuse To Go For A Drive

October 11, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

To the RV repair store

It was a beautiful sunny morning and I secretly wished we could go venturing out and about. I had surgery on my knee a few weeks ago, and we had to come home to Ohio for the months of September and October. I originally planned on being somewhere else by now.

I am biting at the bullet to get going somewhere, anywhere. The nights are getting chilly in Ohio, and we have had frost warnings with temperatures down in the 30s.

Lately, we have simply been bombarded and swamped with repairs on the RV. It is a great motorhome and I love it to death, but we are both getting sick and tired of things going wrong one after another. It is twenty years old now and it makes me doubt our plans to hit the road and take off. Will we break down again after only 500 miles of travel?

Let’s stay positive and hope not.

Anyhoo —

The last time we put the bedroom slide out, the bottom seal broke loose, and we knew it needed replaced, but it wasn’t a vital fix. We have had several expensive vital fixes lately, and I figured the seal could wait.

I said something to Rich on Monday that when the slide went out and the seal broke, I heard a bang. He heard it too. But something told me we better try to put the slide back in just to make sure it would close ok without a new seal. Good thing I did.

Nothing.

We pushed the button, and nothing happened. There was no click, no motor sound, no movement. Just nothing. WTF?

Uh, oh.

We checked the front slide…nothing there either. Surely both motors couldn’t have gone bad at the same time. We did find one blown fuse, but all we got was a clicking sound that was coming from the slide-out controller box.

We called the Newmar Parts and Service department and found out that a new slide-out controller box was going to cost us $170.00. And while we were at it, I asked about a new seal for the rear slide and that price came to $30.00. Damn, another $200 bucks with no guarantees that it would fix the issue. Once you plug the wires into the new controller it is non-returnable. But at least the new seal was only $30.

The Newmar Parts and Service store is located in Nappanee, Indiana. We could be there in 90 minutes. We hopped in the car and went for a drive to buy our parts.

I was pleased with the service we received and how nice the partsman was. He even gave us an in-store discount for coming to get our own parts, but with tax, and the cute little rubber ducky I purchased, it still came to $200.

We got home and plugged in the new controller box, and it blew another fuse. !@#$%^&. We go through those fuses like crazy. Once we got another new fuse put in, the front slide began working, but the rear one still just clicked.

Ok, a half-fix is better than a no-fix. We always try to start with the cheapest fix and work our way up. Kind of like in August when we just had the throttle body cleaned for less than $100, but then two weeks later had to replace it anyway for $700. 🙁

Eventually, Rich figured out that the rear motor burned up and a new one is going to cost $535. No, thank you, Newmar. Can’t we just manually crank that sucker in?

He found one on Amazon for only $349, but I am still not happy with that price either. At least not today. I’m just so frustrated at the cost of repairs lately eating up our traveling funds.

So today we are attempting to replace the bottom seal on the rear slide. Not a fun or an easy job. I keep telling him there is probably a Mickey Mouse easy way to do this that we aren’t getting, and we are trying to do it the hard way. YouTube Videos were not much help here.

But that’s how we learn.

Five hours later, Rich hollers — “I think I figured it out!”

I love living the dream, even on the days when repairs suck the happiness out of both of our smiles. It isn’t all glamour and fun like most people think it is. But it does have its moments.

PS — I bought a Powerball ticket. Can’t win unless you play.

Thanks for reading.

A Drive Around Grand Lake St. Mary’s Ohio

October 8, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

The largest inland lake in Ohio.

Grand Lake St. Mary’s in Ohio was once the world’s largest artificial body of water. It was dug by 1,700 German and Irish immigrants from 1837 to 1845, to supply water for the Miami-Erie Canal, a vital supply source connecting the Ohio River in Cincinnati to Lake Erie in Toledo. At that time, it was the largest artificially constructed lake in the world, and today remains the largest inland lake in the state of Ohio.

In the summer of 2010, GLSM experienced a toxic algae bloom that was brought on by two types of blue-green algae. I was pleased to see cleaner water today when we were there. The lake was gorgeous.

As you enter the city of Celina from the north on Highway 127, the first historical site is the Celina Lighthouse. This forty-foot lighthouse was built in 1986, is functional, and is used by boaters trying to find the small marina and boat docks after dark.

Just across the street from the lighthouse is a lovely little restaurant called the Boardwalk Grill which we enjoy eating at on fair-weather days. With open walls, you can eat by the water and enjoy the view. Of course, it closes for the winter.

Grand Lake St. Mary’s is 9 miles long and 3 miles wide. It covers approximately 13,500 acres, but it is shallow with average depths of only 5 to 7 feet.

Traveling east from the Celina Lighthouse we drove through Lake Shore Park. This is a beautiful park with a lot of picnic tables and playgrounds and a wonderful parking and viewing area.

Let’s keep traveling east along the northern side of the lake. To get to the Grand Lake St. Mary’s Lighthouse by land you have to drive through a private residential area but we could see it from the road.

Grand Lake St. Mary’s State Park became one of Ohio’s first state parks in 1949. The park offers 52 miles of shoreline parks and swimming areas.

We saw several groups of mallards today. We rolled down the windows and breathed in the fresh air as we drove around the lake, enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

From a distance, I can’t tell if this is a crane, an egret, or a heron. What do you think it is? Its beak kind of looks like a spoonbill.

Driving around the eastern end of the lake to the southern side, we stopped at Behm’s (Grimm Memorial) Lighthouse. This historical landmark was the vision of Stan Grimm, co-owner of Behm’s Landing and Restaurant, located on the southern shore of the lake.

This octagonal, forty-eight-foot-tall lighthouse sits on a small offshore island and was dedicated on April 19, 2003, to the memory of Stanley Mike Grimm, who was killed in an auto accident on April 25, 1997.

Two gorgeous Canada Geese seemed to be paying their respects at the memorial beside the lighthouse. You can see the Grand Lake St. Mary’s Lighthouse on the other side of the lake in the background.

Several free public sandy beaches dot the shoreline of this lake.

We were shocked to see two large white pelicans on a freshwater lake in the middle of Ohio.

The American White Pelican is one of the largest birds in North America with a wingspan of 9-foot. A few of them got lost during one of their migrations several years ago, and each year the flock coming to Grand Lake St. Mary’s in Celina, Ohio has grown.

This one I believe is probably a great egret, but I am simply guessing. It is some kind of a tall white crane. I just couldn’t zoom in close enough to tell. It could be a spoonbill too.

The southwest corner of the lake consists of a 357-acre wildlife area and waterfowl refuge.

There is a walking trail and a viewing tower.

We were able to see a Bald Eagle nest from the road. I zoomed in on the photo and cropped it. Too bad we didn’t catch a glimpse of any bald eagles.

Heading north back on Highway 127, we pulled into West Bank Park.

And what did we see but about 50 more American White Pelicans?

Two years ago, over 600 were counted on the largest lake in Ohio, which was a state record. The fall migration season is now, and Rich and I were shocked to see these birds on the lake today, which is only about 30 miles south of us.

The drive around the entire lake only took us about three hours and that included stopping for lunch at the Rustic Haven Restaurant.

The food was good, the waitress was nice, and the decorations were spectacular.

On this gorgeous sunny day, a drive around the lake was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. I hope you enjoyed going with us.

Thanks for reading.

The Painted Fire Hydrants of Ohio City, Ohio

October 7, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Small-town street art at its finest.

Rich and I used to live in the small village of Ohio City, in Van Wert County Ohio. There is another Ohio City located over by Cleveland, but this little village only has a current population of 629 as of 2023. In 2021, it was 643.

Ohio City is a village in Liberty Township, Van Wert County, Ohio, United States. The population was 651 at the 2020 census. It is included within the Van Wert, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area. — Wikipedia

As you can tell, its population is diminishing quickly. We drove over there today to take a peek at our old properties, and as we came into town I was surprised to find all the fire hydrants painted. How cool!

I think this one was made for a short-legged dog.

I told Rich to stop and let me photograph them all. “All of them?” he asked. And I said, “There are only like five streets in the whole town, it won’t take very long.”

So, here they are…the painted fire hydrants of Ohio City, Ohio for your viewing pleasure.

The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. These people must be fans.

Johnny Bravo and the Pink Panther.

Fire hydrants are located by distance from each other, not according to houses or people, or per block.

The maximum distance between fire hydrants shall not exceed 500 feet.

For a small town of only 629 people, it seemed like there was an awful lot of fire hydrants.

Section 4933.22 | Tampering with hydrant, pipe, or meter.

Ohio Revised Code

No person shall maliciously open, close, adjust, or interfere with a fire hydrant, valve, regulator, gauge, gate, disc, curb cock, stopcock, meter, or other regulator, operating or measuring device, or appliance in or attached to the wells, tanks, reservoirs, conduits, pipes, mains, service pipes, house pipes, or other pipes or apparatus of a water company or furnisher of water, with intent to cause the escape of water or to injure or destroy such property.

I wonder if painting a fire hydrant is considered tampering with it. Nah, probably not.

I couldn’t tell what or who some of them were supposed to be, but isn’t it cool to see them all?

I love m&m’s. I think this one is my favorite.

We saw more than one Snoopy dog.

I will never look at a fire hydrant the same way again. Now I will always see a face, and will always remember the painted fire hydrants of Ohio City, Ohio.