After a very nice time in Ohio visiting friends and family I finally saw a window in the weather that was worthy of the trip south. I got the RV into road mode and set out from my brother’s house and stopped at my local propane dealer that is now following my adventure, Collett Propane, and hit I71 south.
With the new tire investment; didn’t want any more flats, the RV handled better and it was only a few miles before I felt like I was back into the adventure. I anxiously awaited the moment that there wasn’t snow on the ground, and unfortunately that took two states. After driving 6 hours I stopped at a Love’s truck stop and filled up with diesel. I’d been getting around 10 to 10.5 mpg and after 67gallons I averaged 9.62mpg this tank. I haven’t treated the RV with MotorSilk yet since I am still getting a base line for the fuel consumption.
I was getting tired so I pulled out my trusty KOA book and found a nice RV park just outside of the Georgia state line. It was 44 degrees here and I felt like putting my shorts on. I’ll save that until tomorrow when I get to Florida. One side note, as I hooked up the RV in its spot a guy walked around to the side I was on and said he had heard of MotorSilk but didn’t know it did all the things he was reading on the RV. He had a piece of paper in his hand it had the web site written on it. It’s great to be back on the road!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
First Trip and Still Alive
I woke up around 7am and started to get ready to go. I wasn’t in a big hurry since I knew I was close to my goal. I listened to the radio and heard a semi truck was pushed over last night in the wind. I felt better about the defeat. After drinking some coffee and getting everything stowed for the ride, I looked out the window and it was snowing heavily.
The snow was wet and only sticking a little, but the panic in me put me into overdrive as I quickly got unhooked and headed out. Of course at this point I was trying to figure out how I had offended Mother Nature.
As it turns out the snow was local and as I hit the road north there was no snow and the wind had died down tremendously. I had a somewhat leisurely drive to Ohio and planned to enjoy the holidays with family and friends.
The snow was wet and only sticking a little, but the panic in me put me into overdrive as I quickly got unhooked and headed out. Of course at this point I was trying to figure out how I had offended Mother Nature.
As it turns out the snow was local and as I hit the road north there was no snow and the wind had died down tremendously. I had a somewhat leisurely drive to Ohio and planned to enjoy the holidays with family and friends.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Mother Nature Wins
I drove on for awhile and stopped at a rest area for the night not too far inside Tennessee. Ear plugs ready, it was a fairly peaceful night. The next morning I got moving with a goal to make it to Louisville Kentucky. It was getting colder and the winds began to pick up. At first it was at my back and pushed me along nicely with only the occasional buffering. I came into Nashville and took I65 north towards Louisville and then the fun began.
As I headed north the wind at my back became the wind at my side. Hearing later that the gust were hitting 60mph did not surprise me. I fought the wind for a few hours. Slowing down to 55mph in a 70mph zone did help a bit, but my hands continued to sweat as I gripped the steering wheel with all my strength. Finally I decide this was insane since a few times I was almost blown off the road. I stopped at a truck stop and looked at my RV park directory and found one very close to my location. I went there mid afternoon and checked in. I got the RV all connected and settled in with my defeat. Only a few hours away from my goal. Oh well. Better to arrive safe.
As I headed north the wind at my back became the wind at my side. Hearing later that the gust were hitting 60mph did not surprise me. I fought the wind for a few hours. Slowing down to 55mph in a 70mph zone did help a bit, but my hands continued to sweat as I gripped the steering wheel with all my strength. Finally I decide this was insane since a few times I was almost blown off the road. I stopped at a truck stop and looked at my RV park directory and found one very close to my location. I went there mid afternoon and checked in. I got the RV all connected and settled in with my defeat. Only a few hours away from my goal. Oh well. Better to arrive safe.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Silver Linings
I left the KOA Campground after a long discussion about MotorSilk with the owner. It was rainy and as I found out once hitting the Interstate, a bit windy. Remember when I said before that wind is the enemy of RV’s. Well Mother Nature showed me that she can mix it up even worse with downpours mixed with high winds. In this case I was heading straight into the wind blowing the rain so hard into my windshield the bugs quickly disappeared. A Silver Lining.
I kept cruising east and eventually got used to the pounding. By that I mean I quit squeezing the steering wheel so hard I left my fingerprints. I made my way out of Oklahoma and into Arkansas. Filled up with diesel at my favorite chain of truck stops, Love’s, and pushed my way through the wind and rain, making fairly good time to Little Rock, Arkansas.
50 miles out of Little Rock, driving along in less rain and feeling good about the time I was making, I suddenly heard a loud BANG and after a moment of what the heck, I realized my front driver’s side tire had blown out. When I started this trip I had always wondered in the back of my mind about the potential of having a blowout sometime and would the RV suddenly lose control and I would make the National News. As it turns out, the steering stayed perfectly straight and I braked slowly and limped to the side of the road.
Of course this was a section with a guard rail that I barely fit between the rail and the right lane of the interstate. I sat there a minute and gathered my thoughts, grateful I hadn’t made the National News. I was smart enough to get AAA with RV coverage, so I went to call them only to think, huh, where am I? There were no markers, no close exits, nothing to tell me my exact location. I was guessing that saying I was somewhere between Little Rock and Tennessee wasn’t going to be enough.
I looked at a map and thought I had narrowed it down a bit and made the call. AAA is great and they said they would get someone there, but it may take an hour. Oh well, an advantage to living in the RV is all your stuff is there, so I thought, Email Time… Remarkably I received a call from the service people and they said they would be there in 20 minutes. They called again in about 30 minutes saying they couldn’t find me where I said I was.
It suddenly dawned on me I have a GPS unit so I turned it on and after zooming out to the 80 mile view, I realized I told them I was about 30 miles east of where I really was. Oops! About an hour later, the guys show up.
In the mean time I turn on the radio and my CB comes on also and I start listening to all the truckers talking about the RV, the MotorSilk RV on the side of the road. Sympathizing for me because of the driver’s side blowout and being so close to the right lane. Free advertising! I heard speculation that I was with a race team, but they were talking about MotorSilk. The AAA guys showed up. Two older guys who were great.
As they were working I walked a ways behind the RV and signaled the oncoming traffic to move left in my safety vest I bought for the trip and my son thought was stupid. Ha ha..
Anyhow, after a three hour delay, I was back on the road headed for Tennessee. All in all, a good day. I know now the RV won’t crash violently with a blown tire and even delays can be good for business. Always look for the Silver Linings!
I kept cruising east and eventually got used to the pounding. By that I mean I quit squeezing the steering wheel so hard I left my fingerprints. I made my way out of Oklahoma and into Arkansas. Filled up with diesel at my favorite chain of truck stops, Love’s, and pushed my way through the wind and rain, making fairly good time to Little Rock, Arkansas.
50 miles out of Little Rock, driving along in less rain and feeling good about the time I was making, I suddenly heard a loud BANG and after a moment of what the heck, I realized my front driver’s side tire had blown out. When I started this trip I had always wondered in the back of my mind about the potential of having a blowout sometime and would the RV suddenly lose control and I would make the National News. As it turns out, the steering stayed perfectly straight and I braked slowly and limped to the side of the road.
Of course this was a section with a guard rail that I barely fit between the rail and the right lane of the interstate. I sat there a minute and gathered my thoughts, grateful I hadn’t made the National News. I was smart enough to get AAA with RV coverage, so I went to call them only to think, huh, where am I? There were no markers, no close exits, nothing to tell me my exact location. I was guessing that saying I was somewhere between Little Rock and Tennessee wasn’t going to be enough.
I looked at a map and thought I had narrowed it down a bit and made the call. AAA is great and they said they would get someone there, but it may take an hour. Oh well, an advantage to living in the RV is all your stuff is there, so I thought, Email Time… Remarkably I received a call from the service people and they said they would be there in 20 minutes. They called again in about 30 minutes saying they couldn’t find me where I said I was.
It suddenly dawned on me I have a GPS unit so I turned it on and after zooming out to the 80 mile view, I realized I told them I was about 30 miles east of where I really was. Oops! About an hour later, the guys show up.
In the mean time I turn on the radio and my CB comes on also and I start listening to all the truckers talking about the RV, the MotorSilk RV on the side of the road. Sympathizing for me because of the driver’s side blowout and being so close to the right lane. Free advertising! I heard speculation that I was with a race team, but they were talking about MotorSilk. The AAA guys showed up. Two older guys who were great.
As they were working I walked a ways behind the RV and signaled the oncoming traffic to move left in my safety vest I bought for the trip and my son thought was stupid. Ha ha..
Anyhow, after a three hour delay, I was back on the road headed for Tennessee. All in all, a good day. I know now the RV won’t crash violently with a blown tire and even delays can be good for business. Always look for the Silver Linings!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Motoring
Got up feeling good, got ready to leave, had my coffee in my hand and set off for the Texas pan handle. Although I had lived in Houston for a few years in the mid 90’s, I had never been through the pan-handle. Wasn’t a lot to see but did make a few friends talking about MotorSilk and giving them a sample at a truck stop called Love’s. Love’s has the best diesel fuel price and the places are really clean. Next time you are on the highway and are in need of fuel, I recommend them highly.
Went through Amarillo, which was much larger than I thought, and then made my way to Oklahoma fairly easily. Oklahoma went fast and I was impressed to see their large quantity of wind veins on one of their high points off I40. Similar to a scene I saw in California. There had to be well over a hundred wind veins churning out electricity on top of the high peak. Getting low on water and propane, I decided to stop at a KOA campground that I saw the billboard for. I checked into the Checotah/Lake Eufaula West KOA Campground. The gentleman that checked me in was very curious about MotorSilk and so I gave him a brochure and a sample. If you ever get a chance to go there, make sure you have the Cole slaw they make. It was great.
Went through Amarillo, which was much larger than I thought, and then made my way to Oklahoma fairly easily. Oklahoma went fast and I was impressed to see their large quantity of wind veins on one of their high points off I40. Similar to a scene I saw in California. There had to be well over a hundred wind veins churning out electricity on top of the high peak. Getting low on water and propane, I decided to stop at a KOA campground that I saw the billboard for. I checked into the Checotah/Lake Eufaula West KOA Campground. The gentleman that checked me in was very curious about MotorSilk and so I gave him a brochure and a sample. If you ever get a chance to go there, make sure you have the Cole slaw they make. It was great.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wind
It seems learning something everyday is the common thing. Did you know that I40 going across Arizona through Flagstaff has a high altitude of well over 7,000 ft. I was thinking flat lands, warm Arizona sun… I guess I spent too much time in Phoenix.
There is a lot of wind in the high dessert. I plan to send a letter to the Arizona Department of Transportation strongly suggesting to widen the lanes to maybe 20 to 30 feet each. I want to apologize now to the small RV I was passing when the wind put me into their lane. Sorry! After several hours of white knuckle driving, I again was on the quest for a rest area to calm down a bit. Guess what, every rest area on I40 East in Arizona is closed. I looked at these places going by and could not see a physical reason for the closing. My guess is a cost saving issue, but it really sucks. And they are saving money on fixing roads also. Not having spent much time in an RV before, I was sure the body was eventually going to fly off the chassis as I watched the chassis drive on down the highway.
I made it to New Mexico, still fighting the wind, but not quite as bad. I talked to a few people who were curious about MotorSilk as I was refueling. I have not treated the RV with MotorSilk yet, since I am getting a baseline without the treatment for comparison. Currently I’m averaging around 10.5 mpg. Another 1-2mpgs will help the refueling bill greatly. I made it through Albuquerque, big cities are hard to maneuver in the RV, and kept driving east hoping to stay way ahead of the bad weather that was following me. It’s getting late and I’m on the search for a New Mexico rest area. After going by two that were closed I finally found one open and settled in for the night. This time I strategically placed myself out of the path of the main drag and decided I could avoid the farm animal alarm clock with ear plugs. At last, a good night’s sleep.
There is a lot of wind in the high dessert. I plan to send a letter to the Arizona Department of Transportation strongly suggesting to widen the lanes to maybe 20 to 30 feet each. I want to apologize now to the small RV I was passing when the wind put me into their lane. Sorry! After several hours of white knuckle driving, I again was on the quest for a rest area to calm down a bit. Guess what, every rest area on I40 East in Arizona is closed. I looked at these places going by and could not see a physical reason for the closing. My guess is a cost saving issue, but it really sucks. And they are saving money on fixing roads also. Not having spent much time in an RV before, I was sure the body was eventually going to fly off the chassis as I watched the chassis drive on down the highway.
I made it to New Mexico, still fighting the wind, but not quite as bad. I talked to a few people who were curious about MotorSilk as I was refueling. I have not treated the RV with MotorSilk yet, since I am getting a baseline without the treatment for comparison. Currently I’m averaging around 10.5 mpg. Another 1-2mpgs will help the refueling bill greatly. I made it through Albuquerque, big cities are hard to maneuver in the RV, and kept driving east hoping to stay way ahead of the bad weather that was following me. It’s getting late and I’m on the search for a New Mexico rest area. After going by two that were closed I finally found one open and settled in for the night. This time I strategically placed myself out of the path of the main drag and decided I could avoid the farm animal alarm clock with ear plugs. At last, a good night’s sleep.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Mother Nature Lessons
My plan was to head south to get on a less likely to snow route to Ohio. I wanted to spend the holidays with my siblings, which hasn’t happened in, I have no idea, many years. So leaving Sacramento I headed to Bakersfield and the plan was to take I40 across the southern states and then get to Ohio. Keep in mind that bad weather could change my plans in an instant.
I learned a few things on this day. The first is that high winds and RV’s are enemies. The second is that rough roads, no matter how good you pack, will result in things hitting you in the head when you open the cabinets. The third is, never depend on rest areas, being open. It certainly seemed that in California there was a plan to close most of the rest areas I went by. Okay, yes I was not good at rest areas yet, but I had a plan and wanted to execute it. Executing a plan is very difficult when the state won’t cooperate. Since it was early in the day and Arizona was close, I couldn’t wait to test my new ideas in their rest areas. More on that later.
So around Edwards Air Force base, I noticed a sign that stated high winds and gust the next 10 miles. Well, high winds were the case and the 10 miles turned into what seemed to be a thousand miles. Have you ever leaned back in a chair and almost fell over but saved it. I felt that way for about three hours. I’m hoping in time that I will get over the fear of the RV tumbling over and over on its side like a bad NASCAR crash, but for now, let’s just say I’m a bit overly cautious. I know this from the encouragement from other drivers behind me. I did receive a few thumbs up from passing cars and trucks. Not sure if it was for MotorSilk or just the fact I hadn’t killed anyone or myself, but I’m going to take it as a good sign.
It was late in the day, dark, I was tired and as I crossed over into Arizona, I saw the sign for Lake Havasu and an RV park there. I’ve never been there and did see some interesting spring break video from there once, or was it girls gone wild, anyhow, I took the exit and went looking for the RV park. As it turns out I found the RV park and it was full, but I did see a Wal-Mart store and decided to do a little shopping and test their policy on overnight stays. Turns out the shopping went well, but the overnight stay was cancelled by a local law forbidding it. Still tired but happy to have spent some time outside of the RV, I headed back to I40 confident a rest area would be close.
My plan was to head south to get on a less likely to snow route to Ohio. I wanted to spend the holidays with my siblings, which hasn’t happened in, I have no idea, many years. So leaving Sacramento I headed to Bakersfield and the plan was to take I40 across the southern states and then get to Ohio. Keep in mind that bad weather could change my plans in an instant.
I learned a few things on this day. The first is that high winds and RV’s are enemies. The second is that rough roads, no matter how good you pack, will result in things hitting you in the head when you open the cabinets. The third is, never depend on rest areas, being open. It certainly seemed that in California there was a plan to close most of the rest areas I went by. Okay, yes I was not good at rest areas yet, but I had a plan and wanted to execute it. Executing a plan is very difficult when the state won’t cooperate. Since it was early in the day and Arizona was close, I couldn’t wait to test my new ideas in their rest areas. More on that later.
So around Edwards Air Force base, I noticed a sign that stated high winds and gust the next 10 miles. Well, high winds were the case and the 10 miles turned into what seemed to be a thousand miles. Have you ever leaned back in a chair and almost fell over but saved it. I felt that way for about three hours. I’m hoping in time that I will get over the fear of the RV tumbling over and over on its side like a bad NASCAR crash, but for now, let’s just say I’m a bit overly cautious. I know this from the encouragement from other drivers behind me. I did receive a few thumbs up from passing cars and trucks. Not sure if it was for MotorSilk or just the fact I hadn’t killed anyone or myself, but I’m going to take it as a good sign.
It was late in the day, dark, I was tired and as I crossed over into Arizona, I saw the sign for Lake Havasu and an RV park there. I’ve never been there and did see some interesting spring break video from there once, or was it girls gone wild, anyhow, I took the exit and went looking for the RV park. As it turns out I found the RV park and it was full, but I did see a Wal-Mart store and decided to do a little shopping and test their policy on overnight stays. Turns out the shopping went well, but the overnight stay was cancelled by a local law forbidding it. Still tired but happy to have spent some time outside of the RV, I headed back to I40 confident a rest area would be close.
Well, after going by the first one that was closed, I sought out every sign in the dark that mentioned RV Park. Turns out I found a nice little place called the Blake Ranch RV Park and Horse Motel East of Kingman. I got a well deserved night of rest and headed out the next morning ready for the adventure to continue.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Do I hear Cows?
Said my goodbyes to family and friends, which was hard and sad, and then headed out of Portland. My goal was to head south with my first stop Las Vegas. No, not for gambling or the other things you may have been thinking, but to visit one of our customers there. Turns out, they couldn’t get in on Saturday, so I proceeded down I5 ready to replace the jeans with shorts as soon as I got into California. As it turns out, I left at the beginning of a low jet stream that brought cold weather to what seems to be everywhere. I was pleased with the drive noticing several people reading my RV. (At least on the first day there were a lot more people who had heard of MotorSilk than the day before.) I gave a brochure to the inspection officer at the border of California who was curious what the heck MotorSilk was. I had a great drive and decided to settle in that night at a rest area outside of Sacramento. Lesson one, rest areas are more like a spot for people to make a lot of noise all night. Okay, yes I should have known that, but I guess I had previously led a sheltered life. When I finally fell asleep after several hours of guessing what kind of semi just pulled up, I was awakened by the mooing of a cow. Put yourself in my position, restless sleep so far, wakening not really knowing where I was and hearing farm animals. After coming out of my slumber I peeked out the window and right next to the RV was a livestock hauler full of cows. One particular cow was eyeing me through the little hole in the side. As he continued to Moo, and I started to realize where he was most likely headed, I decided to get up and continue my adventure, hoping I may have a better long term fate.
The Adventure Begins - Early December, 2009
What am I doing? Being the US Distributor for MotorSilk products is fun for two reasons. One is that the product really works and two is that it is great for the environment. I’ll admit I haven’t always been as “Environmentally Conscious” as I could have been, and I’m sure I could do better now, but at least I am trying in the areas I can make a difference. Okay, back to selling MotorSilk. Almost three years ago I retired from Intel after 28 years. I still needed to work to keep my sanity and through a separate business adventure, which I lost my shirt in the economic downturn, I became the US distributor for MotorSilk products. Hey, great product, really works, how hard could it be? Well, very hard. Even when you have a great product, people need to know that. I tried advertising which was very expensive and turns out to have a low ROI, unless you have very deep pockets and a lot of patience. I found myself at a cross roads in life on a personal and business level. I am very close to my son, Brandon, and one evening of trying to figure out what the best way to get the word out on MotorSilk, we thought hey, why not buy an RV, wrap it with all the logos and drive around the US for a few years, go to trade shows, car shows, races and anything else that gives exposure to the product. A grass roots approach. Well, after selling the home, storing all the belongings, I am now on the road with the RV. I have to admit this is somewhat a trial and error effort since I’m not sure what is the best exposure and what is a waste of my time, but by keeping track of where I go and who I talk to, I’m hoping in a few months I will get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. This isn’t all about selling. This is also a personal quest for me to do something that can really help people and our environment. I know it may sound corny, but I really do want to make a difference and I’m willing to give all my time to make a difference with this product. Okay, I did have another personal agenda in there also in that I wanted to be in warm weather all the time. Work the southern US in the winter and the northern US in the summer
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