Going On The Road with Monte & Rose: January 2018

Saying goodbye to 2017

Our time, the past two months, has been filled with family visits.

Applebee's with Mom and Dad, brother Jon and sister-in-law, Margaret

Mom and Dad

Monte's daughters, Jenny and Melissa

Grandsons fishing at Lake Manatee State Park

Working at Lake Manatee State Park

and a slow start on our plan to do some serious purging of things in our home. Things we have been dragging around with us the last 5 ½ years on the road (some we have not used once) and things we have accumulated since becoming full time RVers.

We also were treated to a wonderful Christmas concert by Monte’s daughter Melissa.

Michael W Smith, Amy Grant and season nine winner of The Voice, Jordan Smith

We managed to squeeze in a visit to Busch Gardens in Tampa,

Sea World in Orlando

and the Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach.

We celebrated our anniversary with our traditional dinner at Applebee’s

and spent Christmas with family.

In 2017 we had our share of health issues with Monte spending a week in the hospital in Indiana with a bleeding ulcer. I have been dealing with bone spurs on both my feet that have drastically curtailed my ability to take hikes.

We also dealt with several issues related to our RV including a ruptured gray tank and leaking hot water heater tank.

While at MorRyde in Indiana, where we took the rig in for a routine inspection of our independent suspension system, they also discovered the rubber suspension springs had cracked and had to be replaced.

One of my biggest fears was realized when our refrigerator stopped working. Luckily it happened while we were near Elkhart. The cooling system was replaced by one of the foremost RV refrigeration specialist in the nation.

Some of the repairs were covered by our extended warranty but some were not and many of the repairs disrupted our travels.

Repairs to our truck also caused us some unexpected disruptions and out of pocket expenses included a new brake caliper for the front passenger wheel. We also had to be towed to a Dodge service station in Connecticut where we spent 12 days parking lot camping while waiting for a new torque converter to arrive and be installed.

Then six months later we ended up needing a brand new transmission.

The timing couldn’t have been worse because while our truck was in the shop for 12 days our Jeep stopped working so we ended up having to rent a car. We decided because of the age of the Jeep we would not have it repaired.

With great sorrow we had to make the decision to euthanize our beloved Annie. She was a wonderful traveling companion and we miss her very much.

While some of the unexpected events that occurred were stressful we don’t regret our decision to live this lifestyle because it has enabled us to explore and enjoy some wonderful sights that have touched our hearts, meet some really great people and take in the beauty of our vast country.

Some highlights included: