We left Virginia Beach and have moved on to Four Oaks NC. The roads in VB are really bad and the ride out to 95 was slow and full of huge pot holes. They are so bad that many of the locals had blow outs when traveling 64 and 264. V-dot is taking a lot of bad press over it and is actually paying for vehicle repairs. We made it out to 95 OK and the trip down was un event full until we were ready to get off at our exit and I heard a pop under the trucks hood and I then realised I no longer had power steering or power brakes. The exit was one of those short u- turn types and my speed was now in excess due to no brakes. I grabbed the steering wheel and gave it a really hard pull and reached down to the RV brake controller and hit the manual brake lever and God bless MorRides new disc braking system, the truck slowed down and I made the turn slowly and only ran off the road a little bit. The next chore was putting the RV into a back in space with no power steering, I though my arms were going to explode but we managed. So  here we were in the little town of  Four Oaks and our truck with a problem. After we set up I looked under the hood and saw that the serpentine belt that drove all the power equipment was shredded and as I tested all the pumps I found that one of the idler pulleys was frozen and that's what shredded the belt. When we were pulling into the RV park I saw one of those little auto repair shops across from the RV park and I walked over to it and asked if he could look at the truck and he said yes , I brought the truck to him and in less than two hours the truck was repaired and the bill was so small I was amazed. Just parts and $25. and hour labor, not like back in PA. Small things will happen when you travel. We are still headed to New Orleans and maybe we will get there next week. Not in any hurry, 200 to 250 miles a day makes for a nice ride and we will stay a few days between runs to make it easy.It will be in the 60's here today and plan to do some sight seeing.                                         G

        Finally on the road again and glad to be in Virginia Beach. We missed the snow storm by a day . We did how ever have about 3 inches of rain which started about 2 hours after we had set up, good thing we set up the front skirt on the RV, it kept the bikes fairly dry during the 40 to 50 mile wind gusts. It is a nice sunny day here today with just a few clouds. We had a nice visit with Laurens family here yesterday and will spend time with them again today. We will probably on the road again early next week. Watching the weather to see if we have to drop further south before we head towards New Orleans.                                              G

          Another cold and some what snowy Sunday in the Lehigh Valley. It is 20 degrees out with about 1 inch of snow . It does make it quite pretty outside and makes it much easier to see all the small critters foot prints as they move through our yard. In the last week we have spent a lot of time with family and friends as we rapidly approach our time to leave. Have taxes on Monday and then get every thing ready to go. Need to check all the vehicle tire pressures and the RV tires for that last minute make sure nothing will go astray as we head south. Going to spend a few days in Virginia Beach to visit Laurens Dad and then we will head for New Orleans for a week or two. Then on to Texas and New Mexico. As soon as the weather gets better on to Colorado to visit our friend there and then up to South Dakota and do our final part of the address change, Vehicles and Driver license .Not sure from there, only the new future.                                G

       Another morning of single digit temperatures. That's five in a row and we can't wait to head south on Feb 6th. The RV is quit cozy with the fire place running and keeps the floor warm. Had a  minor pipe freeze in the storage area  and the black tank valve was frozen. Small electric heater took care of both. Not much to say. Had a lunch with and old friend and wonderful dinner at Shula's with our best friends last night. Wrapping up loose ends. Have to cancel garbage collection and have already put our change of address in at the post office. Soon we will be South Dakotans so we need to make all the necessary address changes and new bank accounts. Change vehicle registrations and drivers license, all minor stuff. The best part about sitting here in the snow we had last night is watching the kittys watching the birds at the feeder we put back up when it got really cold at the beginning of the week.                                    G

       Still sitting in our yard for a few more weeks and then we will be on the road. Looks good for the second week in February right after we do the taxes.  Depending on the weather we may go west if there is no snow or straight south and see some family and friends on the 95 corridor. So many choices and places to see and our ever growing group of RV friends . We will surely miss our family and friends in the Valley area and NJ, but we have a need to hit the road for awhile.                 The fish tank pictures were hard to take but those came out fairly well. The flash always clouded the shot because this tank is round. This tank is the third one I tried , the first one we tried was a 4 gallon vase that was hour glass shaped and it cracked because I failed to put a spacer behind the tank and we traveled on US 10 through the southern states. If you have driven it you know you could believe it was a war zone road. The second was much shorter and had a lid out of glass, it was OK but only held 3 gallons of water. This one has a slight upward taper and is a quarter inch thick and 27 inches high and hold 5 gallons. It is 10 inches round and a clear glass plate serves as a top when we are sitting and I made a foam plug for when we are on the road. Works great with no lost water. The turtle tank filter and submersible  heater works good. If you wonder about power, we have a 110 volts  all the time with our power inverter so the tank runs even when we are moving. Enough for now.     G

We have had a few people ask about our fishtank so here are a few pictures

Of course there are no pictures in the RV without the Kittys

Our pets have pets to play with

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It's a 5 gallon vase that works really well . I use a turtle tank filter to keep it clean

     I  hope everyone had a great New Years Eve. We were in Staunton VA. with our friends at a great BB. We have had been doing this for so long we had a hard time remembering how many we have spent together. Rick and Linda and Janet and Craig have been our friends for at least 28 years and have spent at least 26 of those together for the New Year. This of course was our last as we will have no idea where will be in the future. Some where warm I believe but one never knows what the future will hold . For some time now I have felt like I'm back in my 20's with my whole life still in front of me with new adventures and a whole new outlook on life waiting to be explored. the freedom that comes with not owning a bricks and sticks home and getting rid of 40 years worth of stuff  that seemed important at the time but when it was all gone it seemed WOW, OK and now whats next in our future and now we are truly free to do what we want when we want. A hard concept to grab hold of and hang on to on those feeling old days which seem to be fewer as of late. A mind set that takes some getting used too. As I write this we are getting another propane delivery and I hope it's the last one here. hope to be on the road by early February but need to get some papers in to do the Taxes before we leave or it will be sign form and leave them with the accountant and hope for the best as to when they get done via e-mail and phone.                                             G