ToWanda's maiden voyage

[Henry Jay Hannigan]

--- Patty & James should read...Patti & Ken......sorry about that


Regards,
Hank



In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Henry Jay Hannigan"
wrote:
>
> ---For Patty & James: the year will pass soon enough..make sure u
> enjoy from NOW until the year ends......FOR JAMES with the 78
> Bird...are you the JAMES from VEGAS??????
> If so, I want to meet u when we get to VEGAS sometime in late
JUNE.
> Want to see that 78 BIRD.
> Regards,
> Hank Hannigan
> 90SP36
>
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> In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "orbitalsolutions"
> wrote:
> >
> > Nice!
> >
> > When I bought my bus I drove it eighteen hundered miles in four
> days.
> >
> > Something was pumping...
> >
> > Congrats, and best wishes.
> >
> > I don't know Ralph, but if I ever do meet him, I will demand a
> great
> > dinner.
> >
> > Of course, I will prepare it on the bus and attempt to treat
them
> as
> > well as they have treated you. (provided he has a level place
for
> > me to park.)
> >
> >
> > James
> > 78FC33SB
> > Parked on a ranch in Texola TX
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, KP Marsh
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Everyone,
> > >
> > > We just got back this past weekend from our 2 week excursion
> to
> > pick up our Bluebird, ToWanda, down in Duncan, Oklahoma. We
left
> > Minneapolis on Saturday, April 29th, for Duncan. We arrived
early
> > Sunday evening to Ralph & Charolette Fullenwider's home. Their
> > arms were wide open to welcome us, dinner was on the table and
> cold
> > beer was waiting. We can't thank Ralph & Charolette enough for
> > their wonderful hospitality and for the exceptional care they
> took
> > of ToWanda since she came to "nest" at their house last August
> > right after we bought her.
> > >
> > > We stayed in Duncan the entire week, getting reacquainted
with
> > ToWanda and preparing her for the trip home to Minnesota by way
> of
> > Nebraska and Iowa. We had the pleasure of meeting some new
birder
> > friends and sharing in their knowledge and experience. It was a
> > GREAT week that went entirely too fast. :o)
> > >
> > > On Saturday morning (5/6) we said good-bye to Duncan and the
> > Fullenwider's hospitality to head for our next stop in Pender,
> > Nebraska at the Blue Ox Factory. This leg of the trip was to
have
> > our hitch/tow package installed on Millie, our VW Beetle. It
was
> a
> > fairly uneventful trip with the exception of a slight detour as
a
> > result of my (Patti) taking the wrong exit while Ken was
> napping.
> > >
> > > This resulted in a "baptism by fire" driving experience for
Ken
> > on some VERY narrow secondary roads. The "pucker factor" was
> > definitely a white-knuckle 10+ in trying to keep our big girl's
> 40
> > foot long by 8 1/2 foot widebody centered on a barely 10 foot
> wide
> > paved surface with absolutely NO shoulders and an immediate
drop
> > off into a very deep drainage ditch..... plus we were towing
a
> U-
> > Haul car transport trailer behind ToWanda with Millie strapped
> down
> > on it. But Ken kept her "between the green and with the shiny
> side
> > up!"
> > >
> > > We stayed overnight on Saturday evening in a service island
> area
> > on the Kansas Tollway, just north of Wichita. We arrived in
> Pender
> > on Sunday in the mid-afternoon. We had an appointment with Blue
> Ox
> > to have the hitch/tow package installed on Monday morning. We
> > stayed Sunday night and Monday night at the RV park that Blue
Ox
> > has right next to the factory for it's customers. It was VERY
> nice
> > accommodations plus we made some new SOB friends, Sally Blonder
&
> > Freddie Lewis (retired teachers from Palm Coast, Florida), who
> were
> > there also having some work done. We can't say too much too
good
> > about the quality of the installation job and the customer
service
> > attitude by everyone we encountered at Blue Ox. It was well
> worth
> > the trip to have the installation done at the factory by their
> > people.
> > >
> > > We left on Tuesday morning (5/9) and drove over to Cedar
> Rapids
> > to spend Wednesday and Thursday helping Ken's Mom & Dad with
> > preparations to move into an assisted living apartment. Our
only
> > incident during this leg of our journey was our brain-fading
and
> > leaving Millie's key in the accessory "on" position. We didn't
> > find this out until much later down the road when we stopped
for
> > lunch and discovered that as a result of leaving the key in the
> > accessory position Millie has automatically locked her doors
once
> > she had rolled a few feet under tow. Hussy! Then we realized
we
> > had forgotten the "extra" key back home in Minneapolis...
> DUH!!!!
> > >
> > > Thankfully we made it to Cedar Rapids Tuesday evening
without
> > further incident and had a locksmith open Millie's doors for us
> > first thing Wednesday morning. Ken went immediately to VW and
had
> > an extra key made for Millie to be kept in ToWanda at all
times.
> > As Ken & I recounted the experience we took the excellent
advice
> > our new SOB friends gave us before we parted company in Pender
> and
> > we both said "Wow, Look at all the new things we've learned!"
> > Thanks Sally & Freddie!!
> > >
> > > Things went well at Ken's folks. We had our first Walmart
> > parking lot experience just a few blocks over from Mom & Dad's
> > house. We got lots accomplished for Mom & Dad in helping them
get
> > ready for their impending move in July. We left Cedar Rapids
on
> > Friday morning (5/12) and drove straight in to Minneapolis
> stopping
> > once for gas and lunch.
> > >
> > > The only "problems" we experienced in our 1000 mile trip were
as
> a
> > result of our brain-fades. Our "big girl" performed flawlessly
> and
> > she is a joy to drive! Ralph was absolutely correct when he
> > checked her over for us last year and then told us "You
definitely
> > want to buy this one. She's tight as a tick and one sweet
> coach!"
> > Thanks Ralph! You dah man!
> > >
> > > We had a great time on our trip and learned a lot about our
> > rapidly approaching "new" lifestyle as full-time RV'ers, most
of
> > all being that we can't wait until we are retired next year and
> > can "keep on going" :o)
> > >
> > >
> > > Til then, Happy Trails!
> > > Patti & Ken Marsh
> > > Mpls ~ Keepin' our eye on the prize
> > > Full-timing as of March '07
> > > ToWanda'89WLWB40ft
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> >
>