We arrived in Michigan last week. We are nearing a month on our tour now. The weather is pleasant and cool. We are here for two weeks and then will travel into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Before leaving Virginia, I was finally able to replace my front left tire. I discovered uneven tread wear on the tire. Last year I had to replace the front right because of a screw lodged in the tire. I learned while trying to replace the tire that truck stops aren’t of much use for RVs except for refueling. They cater to trucks and don’t care about RVs.
The RV tire I needed is not stocked at truck stops, nor will they try to get one. The RV tire is 295/80/22.5 and has a weight rating of 7,820 lbs. This tire has 16 plys. The standard truck tires are 295/75/22.5. The 80 aspect ratio (height of tire vs width of tire) compared to 75 doesn’t seem like that big a difference, but it is. And those size truck tires are only rated for 6,200 lbs. I’ve weighed the RV on a CAT scale at a Loves Truckstop, and the front axle weighs 13,500lbs or 6,750 lbs on each tire. The back axle weighs over 24,000 lbs, for a combined weight of over 37,000 lbs. I was able to find a tire store in Pulaski, VA, that ordered the tire and was able to mount the tire from the rim.
The front tires have a safety feature called Tyron which is a band that holds the tire onto the rim in case of a blowout. This band could save your life. The band also makes removing the tire from the rim difficult. A special tool is required to compress the tire so you can reach the band to remove the band before the tire will come off. The tire changers had a difficult time removing the Tryon Band.
When I went to pay for the repair, the manager at the front desk told me that for future reference, I should tell them beforehand about having a tire safety system installed. He said they were almost unable to change the tire. That is exactly why I didn’t tell them beforehand. I knew they would probably not have changed the tire. I waited until they had the tire off the motorcoach and were starting to take the tire off to spring the Tyron changing device on them. I feel a lot more comfortable driving now. I’ve always believed in changing tires and batteries before they wear out.
While driving on the West Virginia Turnpike, I crushed the lug nug covers on the right front wheel while driving through an extremely narrow toll booth. There were just inches to spare on both the driver’s side and passenger side mirrors. I thought I would just barely fit through the narrow tollbooth. Then I heard a crunching noise. I thought I had hit the front right cap of the motor home.
When we got out at a rest stop an hour later to let the dogs out, I was relieved to observe no damage on the cap. I didn’t know what caused the noise. When we pulled into our stop for the night, Erica noticed the crushed lug nut covers. There must have been a concrete pad that came out from the booth that hit the covers. The covers protrude about an inch from the side of the RV. This incident could have been considerably worse.
We boondocked at the Appalachian Distillery in Ripley, Virginia. We pulled into an unexpectedly full park lot on a Sunday afternoon. There was a livestock auction going on next to the distillery.
At the auction, I accidentally raised my hand and bought three goats. Ok, I made up that part up, but the auction was real. Did you know you can buy a pig for $5?
Then we had dinner at Yacht Club right next to the distillery. We were inland, and there was no water and no yachts. The dinner was very good.
The next day we drove into Ohio and stopped at a Harvest Host just south of Canton Ohio.
The following day we stopped at a Boondockers Welcome south of Toledo, Ohio, just off of I-80 before making our way to Charlotte, Michigan. We are staying in Charlotte for 13 nights.
We set up in the rain in Charlotte. At first, I only had 15 Amps of electrical service. Then we found a 30 Amp service connection. The next day I found a 50 Amp service and moved across the road from Erica and Chris so I could plug into the 50 Amp connection.
The 50 amp service location just happened to be next to where they were having a show cow contest. I woke up at 6 am to a cow mooing outside my window. This was a beauty contest for cows. I am not making this up. The cows had their own covered dressing rooms. The cows were shaved, combed, and brushed. I think the losers were eaten. There were also a bunch of horses there that were being trained at a police horse level.
Last Saturday there was a celebration of life for Chris’s Grandfather Dave. The celebration took place in the historic courthouse in Charlotte which was now a museum. Dave was a lawyer for over 50 years. Dave was a wonderful person. He was kind and thoughtful, with a calm demeanor and a great sense of humor. He was an excellent listener. Dave had an exceptional impact on so many people. People flew in from around the country for the memorial.
A lifelong friend of Dave gave a beautiful tribute to Dave. At the end of his remarks, he concluded with the poem, Bits and Pieces. There were many moist eyes in the gathering by the conclusion of the poem.
Bits and Pieces
Bits and pieces, bits and pieces.
People. People important to you,
People unimportant to you,
Cross your life,
Touch it with love and move on.
There are people who leave you
And you breathe a sigh of relief and,
Wonder why you ever came into contact with them.
There are people who leave you,
And you breathe a sigh of remorse and,
Wonder why they had to go and leave such a gaping hole.
Children leave parents,
Friends leave friends.
Acquaintances move on.
People change homes.
People grow apart.
Enemies hate and move on.
Friends love and move on.
You think of the many people
Who have moved in and out of your hazy memory.
You look at those present and wonder.
I believe in God’s master plan in lives.
He moves people in and out of each other’s lives,
And each leaves his mark on the other.
You find you are made up of bits and pieces
Of all who have ever touched your life.
You are more because of them, and
Would be less if they had not touched you.
Pray that you accept the bits and pieces in humility and
Wonder, and never question and never regret.
Bits and pieces, bits and pieces. – unknown