The King in Concert

Went to the Elvis show last night. Although the show had it's moments we both left there thinking "What The Hell Was That???!!!!
This was their 950th show over 16 years and it showed. Very tired production although Elvis gave it 110 percent. His back-up singers looked like a couple of umm "ladies" glad to be off the street for a few hours. One of them is allegedly Kitty Wells' granddaughter. Anyways without further ado, I give you Elvis.......

Tough gig though, Nashville is crawling with "Elvises".

Tonight we took a shuttle into town to do a few bars and have dinner. The driver bestowed upon everyone on the bus, two very important responsibilities.
The first, to run, walk or crawl back to the pick-up location by the designated pick-up time, and, the second, to remember which RV park or hotel you were picked up from. Apparently the second one is a big problem at 1:00 AM.
We made it to 8:00 and arrived back at The  Unit, well fed and hydrated

.
Here's a shot of Broadway Street at dusk. There have to be at least 50 bars in 4 or 5 blocks, every one with a live band, no cover charge.

Tomorrow we continue south expecting to end up around Montgomery, AL. The day after that, Sunday, St. Georges State Park on the gulf. It's supposed to rain for the next few days. Glad I didn't waste any time washing The Unit, which is pretty dirty.

A Few Wet Days

OK, I have about half an hour before we have to go to see "THE KING".
We spent Tuesday night in Windsor ON, parked in Darlene's Uncle Elmer's driveway. 
It started raining around midnight Tuesday and rained on and off all through Wednesday. The border crossing was uneventful, the border guy was more interested in finding contraband than in the chandelier and since there wasn't any contraband he sent us on our way.

Spent Wednesday night in a Walmart parking lot just outside Lexington, KY. Free WiFi, bought some groceries, gotta love 'em. They even have bins for your garbage. We were planing to go to Atlanta today but that didn't happen. Went to Nashville instead, hence our date with "THE KING". I just realized I have an extra hour before the show because Nashville is on central time. Woo-hoo, enough time for another drink or two.

Speaking of drinks, WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THIS???!!!!

Found this in a "Package Store" around the corner here in Nashville. Regular price, not on sale.

That's a 1.75 litre bottle of my chosen libation which sells in Toronto for about $58 and change. And it's made in Canada!! It's nice to be Canadian but it sure COSTS!!

Anyways, the bottle is now in my liquor cabinet and we just paid for a second day here.

Tomorrow, downtown Nashville.

The Bucket List

Well, not really a "Bucket" list because that implies some kind of finality, which isn't really part of the plan. 

We leave in 2 days. Countless trips out to the Unit (someday I'll explain why it's referred to as the Unit) in the driveway and there is still more stuff to load into it. We have to try to shoehorn a crystal chandelier into the back of the toad, destined for Darlene's sister in Austin. It's been in our basement way too long and needs a new home. US customs will have fun with this one if they ask what I'm bringing, to leave in the US. Hopefully they won't ask, and I won't have to lie.

Anyways, here's the list in no particular order. 

Run the boat in salt water. That pretty much means in the Gulf of Mexico.
Eat deep fried clam strips somewhere,... anywhere.
Drive on the beach (not necessarily with the Unit, although that would be really cool)
Ride the bike 20 km's in 1 day (I downloaded the app so I'll have proof)
Watch Tara (the dog) run on the beach and maybe even go in the water, but that's unlikely
Eat onion rings at The Gristmill River Restaurant in Gruene, TX. Been there..outstanding!!!
Walk across the Rio Grande into Mexico. ( on a bridge at a border crossing, I'm not talking about sneaking into Mexico)
Visit the Junk Gypsy at Round Top, TX. Don't have a clue what this is but was told this must be on the list by a "local".
Order take-out BBQ from Rudy's in Austin. Been there also, also OUTSTANDING!!
Visit The Oasis Restaurant overlooking Lake Travis, near Austin. This place is immense and is glued to the side of a cliff several hundred feet above the lake. Was there a few years ago, memorable experience.

So, that's the list up to now. Sorry, not too many pictures yet, but that is going to change soon.
I'll be sure to post on each item I cross off the list.

Stay tuned... 

The Equipment

When I first saw the unit I remember thinking "Wow! this thing has unlimited storage". And that's the thing with RV's isn't it? You can take ALL your stuff with you.
Now that it is loaded up with the exception of clothes and food, I'm seeing that there are limits.
The "must have" list looks like this:

- inflatable boat and outboard motor (fuel tank, life jackets, paddles, etc.
- Coleman stove, lamps, etc. 
- A compact Weber BBQ
- 20 lb propane tank for above.
- 5 gal. purified water jug for the ice-maker and purified water tap in the kitchen.
- 1 reclining ZG chair, 2 beach chairs and 2 folding chairs.
- 12 foot folding aluminum ladder
- Small aluminum folding table
- one 7' beach umbrella and 2 smaller clip-on umbrellas
- tool box including cordless drill and charger, socket set.
- Bin with RV washing stuff (long handle brush, soap, cleaners, buckets, etc.)
- A 6 x 9 carpet for under the awning.
- Bin with spare parts, belts, hoses, fluids etc.
- Shop vac
- Small air compressor.
- Bin with dog stuff, a big bag of kibble, cookies, brushes, clippers, toys and a kennel (so she won't eat our shoes shoes while we're out).
- And finally, a drone to check out fuel prices at the next exit.....(kidding)...  But I am bringing the drone...

So, the basement storage is pretty much filled up. Can't think of anything else really I wanted (needed?) to take, but if I do, we still have an empty Honda CR-V.

Getting The Unit Ready For the BIG Trip

Over a year has passed since we acquired the RV (hereinafter referred to as "The Unit" (long story)) which we hope, will take us to some wonderful places over the next several years.
It's a 1999 American Coach, Dream, with 22000 miles on the odometer, barely broken in.
I found The Unit near Grande Prairie, AB, a long way from our home near Toronto, ON. After a search of over 2 years I knew this was the one as soon as I saw it. It needed a little TLC and a few age related replacements but nothing to break the bank. It's very well built and nicely laid out. It sits on a Spartan chassis with a 330HP Cummins diesel doing the heavy lifting.

The days are quickly counting down before our first "BIG" trip. The plan is to leave Toronto around the end of October, head south to the Gulf of Mexico and then make our way west towards Texas. We will be stopping at Mexico Beach in the Florida panhandle, Grayton Beach State Park which is a bit farther west, New Orleans, Galveston, Corpus Christie and the Rio Grande Valley and then ending up in Austin. We will store the unit in Texas, drive home in the car we're towing and then drive back to Texas in March and do our return trip arriving back at home in mid April. About 6 weeks per trip. That's the plan, anyways.

In preparation for the trip we have replaced the original tires, rear air bags, ice maker, an incredibly expensive ball joint and the inverter/charger and RH windshield, to name a few of the more costly items, plus dozens of minor things. 

For our "Toad" we found a 2005 Honda CR-V in great shape with low km's. All it needed to be towed (toad?) was a baseplate ($349 US, $619 CDN, go figure), a Brake Buddy (used) to stop the toad, a tow bar (also used), and a wiring harness (home made) to turn on the toad's lights while being towed.

I'm also bringing a bicycle which I bought used. It will be mounted on a bike rack between The Unit and the toad. The rack wound up costing about as much as the bike. But it's a very cool bike rack.

More updates soon, stay tuned.