ToWanda's maiden voyage

[orbitalsolutions]

Yes, Hank, I am the James from Vegas.

I pulled out of town on May 11th, to escape the summer heat.

I did a lot ot upgrading to the old 'Bird over the winter --
completely new electrical system -- Batteries, Chargers, Xantrex XBM
battery monitor, Pure sine wave inverter, High Def LCD TV, Stereo
system, amature 2-way radio station and lots of new wires and
cables.

I also did the roof thing with stainless fasteners set in 3M 5200
and painted the decking with a new heat reflective coating. It's
actually aluminum particles suspended in a poly resin, developed by
NASA, and it really does a GREAT JOB! You can walk on it in the
middle of a 100 degree day in your bare feet and it feels cool to
the touch.

Now, I'm enjoying the fruits of my labor. I am en-route to the
Ozark Plateau in southwest Missouri where I will spend at least 3 or
4 weeks before heading off for other destinations.

Sorry to miss your return in June, but not sorry to be missing the
120 plus degree heat that comes with summer in the desert.

People who see the old bus frequently ask me if it is new !! I lost
count of how many coats of Dri-Wash I have polished the bus with,
but it looks like it has about 6 coats of clear sprayed on it.

The only thing I wish I had done differently is to buy a Wanderlodge
many years before I did.

I hope you gave those Aussies a few poker lessons. Perhaps we will
meet up somewhere down the road in the near future.

Later...


James
78FC33SB
Cherokee, Oklahoma - 30 miles west of Oklahoma City - (A place where
you can eat BBQ Buffalo and Buffalo burgers. Quite tasy too!)








--- 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
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 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]
> > >
> >
>