Night #3 Northbound

     We are still getting some miscellaneous bugs out of the system (both the bus and us). Tonight we have settled into a lovely spot we have used before in Pine Grove, PA.  So you don't have to look it up, it is just north of Harrisburg a few miles west of I-81.
     Our first day out required a fill-up of diesel   We stopped at a Flying J in Latta,SC where I put in 127.499 gallons for $492.02!  Both numbers are new personal bests.  Our first night was at a KOA in Enfield, NC...just south of VA.  We have stayed there many times over the last fifteen years.  It is owned and operated by a retired USAF E-8.  It was there that we went through the process of getting this DirecTV receiver reactivated. That turned out to be a trouble free phone call once I got past the front end menus.
     Day 2 brought forth another glitch that had to be fixed.  I stood there in the shower waiting for hot water that never arrived.  With a towel wrapped around me (sorry, no pictures), I turned on the propane heater...still no luck.  I took a cold shower and called Pro Tech, and Freddie solved the problem immediately.  Actually, I should have figured it out myself.  There was no water in the hot water tank and it was bypassed during winterizing.  I re-positioned the bypass valve and released the hot water drain valve until I got water instead of air.  When the water level reached the required level, the propane ignited and we were back in business.  I never did find out if Durelle would have taken a cold shower as she claimed.  The rest of the day saw us continuing north on I-95 until we hit route 123 a few miles south of DC.  We have a serious problem with our stop in the vicinity of DC.  We have too many close friends in the area.  We kept with tradition by parking in front of the home of Allen and Joyce Wegner in Fairfax.  If there is one year since 1960 that the Cloutiers and the Wegners have not managed to get together somewhere, I can't remember it. In August of '60 when we moved into our less than modest one bedroom, furnished rental house for $80 per month they lived nearby and adopted us.  While I was a very naive brown bar, Al was a lofty 1st Lt.  Plus he had six years of prior enlisted service in the Navy.  Joyce took the already pregnant Durelle under her wing, and our two families have been closely linked ever since.

     They are both doing well and they celebrated their 60th !! anniversary last March.  Note the shiny bus, too.  So Durelle and I ask the indulgence of all our other DC friends for not making a connection with them this time.
     We woke up this morning to another glitch.  I had not run an extension cord to their house.  I figured I could run a couple of fans all night on just the batteries...wrong.  At 0530 Durelle woke me up because a number of items were emitting their "low voltage" beeps.  I unplugged a bunch of stuff, turned off the inverter and went back to bed for a couple of hours.  Then, when the Wegners were up, I ran extension cords.  During an extensive breakfast the batteries recharged, and we were off with no further difficulties.
     Because of the big breakfast, we did not stop for lunch and got in just after two.  We are set up on a hill with great TV and internet.  Today was about 220 miles, but tomorrow will be almost 400, so we plan to leave by 0730.  Wish us luck.