Kenly NC - Cummins Service Facility September 29 - October 2, 2020

 September 29, 2020

I discovered an issue with our motorhome several days ago. It has a bad Diesel Emissions Filter sensor. This is an issue that has been plaguing several owners in the last few year. There was a bad batch of sensors installed in motorhomes. 

I contacted Tiffin (our motorhome manufacturer) and they are suppling the new part and paying for the replacement. It was about time for the annual chassis, generator and engine service so we decided to get both done at the same time. There is a Cummins Service Center about 90 miles from us so we departed at 9:30AM hoping we would not have a shutdown problem before we got there. 

We arrived at 11:15AM with no additional problems and checked in with the Service Writer. After checking us in for our appointment tomorrow morning she showed us where we could park and hookup to power. We will stay in the motorhome tonight and go home tomorrow because they think it will take until Thursday morning to get everything done.  

Later we went to the nearby Denny’s for a late lunch. Then we returned to the motorhome for the night. It began to rain about nighttime and by 9PM it was really coming down. We lost TV reception several times before the storm passed.

September 30, 2020

We closed up the motorhome and turned the keys over to the Cummins Service Writer and headed home. Since it was our wedding anniversary we stopped at Cracker Barrel for a good breakfast before arriving home. 

October 2, 2020 

We got a call about 1:15PM that our motorhome would be ready in about an hour so we departed departed shortly after the call for the 90 mile drive. Shortly after we arrived the service facility had it ready, so I paid the bill and we returned home with the motorhome. 

The whole repair process took a day longer than I expected because I expected them to start on the service and repair Wednesday morning shortly after we departed. When I called Thursday October 1st at 1PM they had not even started on the service or repair. Needless to say I was not happy. They told me my appointment was a “drop off” appointment and not necessarily an appointment that they would start on immediately. I was never told that.  

But after more discussion today on their service policy that is their normal procedures. Our last motorhome was built on a different chassis and had a different brand engine and the service facility we used always started at 8AM on the day of our appointment. So we will have to adjust to the new service appointment policy. 

Cliffs of the Neuse State Park August 31 - September 5, 2020

 Day 1 Monday August 31, 2020 We finally got a chance to take a short trip, so we departed at 11:15AM for the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park Campground. The drive was only about 35 miles so we arrived about 12 Noon, checked in at the Campground office and setup in site 5. This is our third time to stay at this campground since the state converted 12 of the sites to big rig friendly full hookup (FHU) sites. For those that may not be familiar with camping a FHU site has hookups for water, sewer and electricity. In Canada they refer to this type of campsite as having 3 services. As I have stated in previous Blog posts we camped here many years ago with other family members when we had a tent,  a popup camper and then a small travel trailer. During that period of time there were no hookups but there was water faucets scattered around the campground to fill up water containers. The state parks system made a good decision to update the campground because they are getting more business now with the addition of the FHU sites. Most people in our age group travel in motorhomes or travel trailers and like to have hookups. Younger people that are not retired that come on weekends mostly have tents or small campers. 

Site 5

We like state parks because the sites are usually much bigger than commercial campgrounds and also they are usually in a wooded area so there is normally some shade trees. But the drawback of state parks are that some of them can't accept larger motorhomes like ours. 

We had not planned to do a lot of activities on this trip, just relaxing, reading and being lazy. We just wanted to get away and have a change of scenery as we were tired of staying home during this crazy COVID-19 mess. 

Day 2 Tuesday September 1, 2020 Some of our friends from nearby Goldsboro came by to visit this morning for a couple of hours. It was good to see them again. Later in the day a motorhome setup in the site across from us. They were towing a small Jeep with a 5 HP boat motor attached to the rear of the Jeep. I guess they were ready in case they got into deep water. We have seen some really interesting things in a campground over the years. 

It really is quite and peaceful here, there are only about 6 sites occupied today and all are people in our age group so no kids and yapping dogs. We did a little walking late in the afternoon around the campground. The park has several trails but it is rather warm during the day so we have not done any long walks.

Day 3 Wednesday September 2, 2020 We decided to drive into Goldsboro this morning and check out a coffee shop in the newly renovated downtown area. Several years ago the city started a downtown renewal project to spruce up the area and draw more business to the downtown area. They have really done a good job. They have redone the streets with roundabouts (traffic circles), lots of places to set outside, several pieces of artwork, plenty of parking and most of the buildings are now occupied in that area. There is also a really nice Paramount Theater that we have been to twice to see performances. I took my new camera but the sun was so bright that I didn't think any pictures that would be good, so we may go back later in the afternoon for some photos.

The first coffee shop we found on Yelp had closed up so we went across the street to another one. It was just okay, very small selection of pastries and the Lattes were not hot enough and even though we asked for 3 shots of espresso, they were still very weak tasting. We could have got a better Latte at McDonalds and that is sad when McDonalds is better than a “Coffee Shop”. In all our travels we have only found 3-4 coffee shops that know how to make a good Latte. 

Day 4 Thursday September 3, 2020 We drove back to Goldsboro to visit Old Waynesborough Park. Waynesborough was the first seat of Wayne County and set on the banks of the Neuse River and was incorporated in 1787. The park in situated near where the original town was located. The park has a small visitor's center and a dozen or so old buildings that have been moved to the location from around Wayne County to make the park look a little more like the old town would have looked. After touring the visitor's center we walked around part of the park. None of the building were open due to COVID-19 mess. Our visit would have been more interesting if we could have gone in the buildings. Several of them needed some maintenance done to them. There is also over four miles of walking trails but it was too hot to consider any long hikes.

General Store

Roberts School from 1892-1926 then Gum Pond Primitive Baptist Church 1926-1950

On our way back to the campground we stopped at a McDonald's for a Latte and dessert. There was a sign on the door that read “Come on In” and another sign that read limit 16 customers, so we went in, Lena with her mask on and I took a seat at a booth while she went to the counter to get our order. When she got our order and set down at our booth to eat, a staff member came up and said we could not eat inside because they were not allowing inside dining. I told her then they need to put up a sign stating that because their sign stated “Come on In”. I would express my thoughts on some of this mess that is going on but I will hold my thoughts to myself. So we continued on to our campground for the remainder of the day to read and relax and just be lazy.

Day 5 Friday September 4, 2020. Today is my bride's birthday so we went to Olive Garden Restaurant in Goldsboro for lunch. It was good to set down in a restaurant and have a  meal. We had a really good waitress and a great meal. She brought Lena a piece of Tiramisu for dessert for her birthday. Then she told us her birthday was the next day.

Later in the day the temperature cooled off a few degrees which was good as the last few days has been really hot. By mid afternoon the campsites begin to fill up for the holiday weekend. By dark all the FHU sites except the Host site was occupied and about 2/3 of the tent sites were occupied.

Day 6 Saturday September 5, 2020 We packed up and departed for home about 10:15AM. The temperature today is the coolest it has been in several days. We had a good relaxing trip. It was a good change of scenery for a few days.

Fries Virginia May 26-June 5, 2020

Day 1 Tuesday  May 26, 2020 After 4 ½ months of staying at home we are taking a little trip. The COVID-19 virus that has spread around the world caused us to cancel our normal month of working as volunteer campground hosts at Stone Mountain State Park North Carolina for the month of April. This would have been our 6th year as volunteers. 

We departed home at 7:15AM and drove to Mocksville, NC to have a windshield screen installed and get our tire covers. We were supposed to do this in March on the way to Stone Mountain but had to cancel due to the virus. The windshield screen attaches to the windshield on the outside with very strong magnets. Of course it is only used when the motorhome is stationary, like in a campground. It is used to block the heat from the hot sunshine and really helps keep the inside of the motorhome cooler.

Since they already had everything made for us it didn't take long for the install. Counting us there were  three motorhomes in the parking lot getting the windshield shade. One of the staff gave everyone a demo on how to put up the screen and how to take it down and roll it up for storage. They are letting us stay overnight in their parking lot with 50AMP electrical hookups. We knew we would be able to stay overnight but was surprised that we would have a electrical hookup.

When we were finished with everything we drove into the downtown section of town to a coffee shop. The latte I got tasted like nothing but a cup of warm milk. Pitiful. 

Day 2 Wednesday  May 27, 2020 Just before we departed at 8AM it began to drizzle rain. We only had about 90 miles to get to our destination so we took our time, stopped at the Virginia Rest Stop for a break and arrived in Fries VA at the Fries New River Trail RV Park. We were here in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Checkin is not until 12 noon and we arrived at 11AM but our site # 8 was open so Tom, the owner, told us to go ahead and setup. This is a small campground (RV Park) and is very quite and peaceful and immaculately maintained by Tom. Most of the sites are beside a small mountain stream. It sits in a little narrow valley between two tree covered hills. Fries is a small town of about 500 people. It was once a textile mill town. The mill closed in 1989. The hydro electric dam and works are still in place and many of the small mill town houses are well maintained and occupied.

We soon got setup and sit outside and read and enjoyed the peace and quite until the rain began to get to much for us under our canopy. It continued to rain most of the night.

Day 3  Thursday  May 28, 2020   The rain has stopped and the stream that runs through the RV Park has a lot more water in it today. We drove to Galax to see if the Briarpatch Cafe and Coffee shop was open. This is one of two of our all time favorite coffee shops. The other in Raleigh NC. It was open but we had to order through a new walk-up window they had cut into the wall by the sidewalk. They had several two person picnic tables setup on the sidewalk so we used one of them. While we were enjoying a hot hand made cinnamon bun and good Latte a person with a famous name stopped to talk to us. His name was John Wayne. He showed us a DVD he had just bought that was a John Wayne movie. He was named for two of his uncles (John and Wayne). 

Later we were walking around the streets to see if anything else was open, a lady came out of the local BBQ restaurant to see if she could help us find something. For some reason she spotted us as tourist. Maybe it was the camera slung around my neck. She talked a little about how they tried to keep the restaurant open during this COVID-19 virus by serving takeouts but they couldn't even cover the basic expenses much less the overhead of utilities and rent, etc. so they closed until things get better. But they do come in some days and cook meals for a local shelter. We discovered in our discussion with her that her parents were both from Germany and that she had visited Germany many times during the Summer when we was growing up and later with her husband.

After a few stops for photos we returned to the RV Park for lunch and reading time.

Day 4 Friday May 29, 2020 After breakfast we drove through the back roads in the area looking for some photo opportunities. We have driven this route 3-4 times. It takes us through some really pretty hills, farm land, Christmas tree farms and lots of old barns and farm houses. We returned to the RV park about noon just before a light rain shower.

Fries Dam on the New River

Old Church

We relaxed the remainder of the day, read, organized some of my photos and caught up some paperwork.

Day 5 Saturday May 30, 2020 Today we did a little more exploring around the area. We drove over to Mt. Airy NC (home of Andy Griffin). We have been here several times. Not many of the business that serve food were open and those that were was for take-out only. About half or less of the gift and antique places were open. Not sure we understand why the places that served food that was open didn't allow the 50%  indoor seating that was allowed under the current Phase 2 of the Governor's plan. I will not express my opinion of the Governor's plan here. 

We did meet an interesting animal on the street. His name was Pongo. He was a Llama. He has been in a movie along with one other of the 11 Llamas the owner has. The owner also pointed out the Coca-Cola mural on the side of one of the buildings. He said it was painted in the early 1900's and then a building was built that covered it up. The in the 1980's the building was torn down and the people were shocked to see the mural. The town contacted Coca-Cola about getting the mural refreshed. 

Pongo

Pongo and Lena

On the way back we stopped at a large produce stand and got some good tomatoes and other produce. That tomato sure was good on the hamburger I grilled when we got back to the RV Park. We drove back on about 20 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

When we got back to the motorhome, I discovered our power was off. I stopped Tom as he was driving by and he replaced the 50AMP electrical breaker for our site and that corrected the problem.

Day 6 Sunday May 31, 2020 We were totally lazy today. We stayed around the RV Park, did a little walking, reading and a whole lot of relaxing. The mountain stream that runs through the park beside our site makes a very relaxing sound as the water tumbles over the small rocks, so it was nice to sit outside and read while listening to the water.

Day 7 Monday June 1, 2020 We were a little more energetic today. After breakfast we rode our bicycles about 6-7 miles on the New River State Parks Trail. This was the bed of a railroad that was abandoned years ago. The tracks were taken up and the state converted the rail bed into a trail for walking, bike and horse back riding. It is almost totally level so it is fairly easy riding. We have not ridden our bicycles in almost two years so we were a little out of shape for riding. Over the years we have ridden several of the 57 miles of the trail. Most of it runs beside a small river. 

After our ride we returned to the RV Park and grilled some thick pork chops on the BBQ grill. 

Day 8 Tuesday June 2, 2020 We drove into Galax again to get a Latte and cinnamon bun at the Briarpatch Cafe and Coffee Shop. After we were served one of the owners came out and talked to us. She saw from our licenses plate we were from North Carolina and was curious what part. She said her and her husband owned the shop and lived upstairs, She said they had to lay off most of their employees during this COVID-19 mess. By cutting their staff, adding the take-out walk-up window and the small outside tables they were managing to stay open but hoping to soon get back to more normal operation.

Day 9 Wednesday June 3, 2020 We drove West of Independence VA this morning to visit with some friends that we met on a Carnival Cruise in 2018. We visited with them last year in April while we were working at Stone Mountain State Park. Joe gave me several pieces of wood to use on my lathe. I turned a nice bowl out of some of the Walnut and gave it to them today. Later we all drove down the road to a local Cafe that was serving meals out on a covered patio. Today is the first time in about 3 months that we have been to eat out and was able to sit down at a table at the establishment and eat. We returned to their house and visited for awhile after they took to see their cabin just over the North Carolina line. They have been staying there while Joe recuperates from some surgery.

After we returned  to the RV Park the man in the camper next to us came over and asked for help with his hot water heater. They were on their maiden voyage with their new camper and he was not sure how to turn on his hot water heater. I showed him how to operate it and they soon had hot water.

Day 10 Thursday June 4, 2020 We stayed in the RV Park today and just enjoyed the quite. We did some reading and Lena did the laundry. Today was the warmest day we have had on this trip. I moved my chair beside the mountain stream and enjoyed the cooler air around the stream and enjoyed the relaxing sound of the water. Before night we packed up all the outside items to help with an earlier departure tomorrow.

Day 11 Friday June 5, 2020 After breakfast we finished preparing for departure and headed for home about 8:45 AM. We stopped at the Farmers Market in Greensboro to stretch our legs and get a few vegetables. We stopped at Bojangles in McGees Crossroads for lunch. Had to get takeout and eat in the Motorhome. We got home about 3PM. Sure is hotter here than in the mountains. We had a safe trip and enjoyed out trip after months of setting at home.