Mixed feelings as I sit here in a KOA Campground at 10:30 pm on a fine Tennessee evening. Here is today's report:
01 We bought the RV. This could not have been done without IndieGoGo, the PayPal donors, and two private donors. $65K for used RV, after a day of driving it I am well pleased BUT it is noisy, hot, and not not not as much fun as anyone might think.
01 RV designers are idiots. They should all be sent to sea in a Navy 44 going 9 different directions at once in heavy waves. An RV is a sailboat with four wheels. These morons have not designed lips on tables or dividers in the fridge or the cabinets, so an RV is a trash basket in motion until one makes up for the poor design. The second idiot assumption is that plugs only need to work when you are stopped and the generator or shore power is on. Unbelievable how an entire industry can be so stupid for so long.
03 Gas mileage today was 6.4 MPG. Started at 7219 miles with a full tank, filled up with 34 gallons before coming into the campground, at 7438 miles, a total of 219 miles driven today.
04 Cynthia does NOT want to sleep on this RV, I have told her so already. If we can raise the money she needs a diesel RV that is sound-proof, and no more than two drivers. I would be glad to have a driver so I could spend time tending to all those that are donating and emailing. This 33 foot version is a SMALL sailboat. Two people — a driver and the principal — at most.
05 Had my first two accidents: cut close to a gas station island and the protective steel tube half-closed the large copper exhaust (fixable, no skin damage); and then driving into a WalMarts scrapped the left half of the roof with tree limbs I did not see. No damage.
06 T-Mobile Hot Spot from my iPhone is working. Only $25 a month (on top of the $85 a month that EIN pays) for super speeds everywhere they reach — which is not everywhere, especially in the West, will need an AT&T sidebar.
07 KOA Campgrounds is amazing. Cannot say enough good things about them. Clean, professional, everything a campground should be. I stopped in some ratholes before finally nesting with KOA.
