Our Wander Years

TN_11 Hop 6: Twinsburg OH to Elmira NY

Posted on July 28, 2025 by Sparky

338 miles via OH 82, OH 8, OH 303, I-480, I-271, I-90 and I-86 with several sightseeing stops in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and a visit to the Seneca Allegheny Casino in Salamanca NY. Auto miles: 347. Cumulative route miles: 2855. Cumulative auto miles: 3051.

This was a hop that wasn’t planned. It became necessary because our stay in Twinsburg, at the Super 8 Twinsburg/Cleveland, was so bad that we cancelled the planned second night. How bad was it? Let me count the ways. Dirty hallway, a microwave that had just one working button (the “3” – to heat our coffee for 2 minutes we had to enter 3:33 and stop it with 1:33 left), a TV remote that didn’t work, an A/C unit that was difficult to operate, a terrible breakfast (a choice of cereal or white toast, with Tang instead of orange juice), a musty odor everywhere. I think I am being generous by giving it a 2 on a 10 scale.

We visited the MGM Northfield Park Casino on our one night in Twinsburg. I won $100 but Marlene lost $200.

After our not-very-good breakfast we did an auto tour of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This is a large park that lacks the dramatic settings of the western national parks but is quite serene and scenic in a subdued way. We visited on a Saturday which is the busiest day for this suburban Cleveland park. There was a road race (your choice of 25, 50 or 100 miles), a motorcycle rally and lots of joggers and hikers. We started with a visit to Szalay’s farm stand and then visited two visitor’s centers.

It was a mostly cloudy day but the rain held off while we toured the park. It rained on-and-off while on I-86. We stopped at the Seneca Casino for a bio break and, of course, played some slots. We were both lucky – I broke even (I count that as “lucky”) and Marlene won over $300, more than making up for her losses the previous night.

We looked for a hotel in Corning NY but they were pricey. So we stopped for the night in Elmira NY.

Categories: Hotels, NY, OH, PA, Routes, TN_11 | 2 Comments

TN_11 Hop 5: Alcoa TN to Twinsburg OH

Posted on July 27, 2025 by Sparky

503 miles via US 129, I-40, I-275 (around Knoxville), I-75, KY 491, US 25, KY 14, KY 17, KY 16, I-275 (around Cincinnati), I-471, I-71, I-271 (west of Akron), OH 8 and OH 82 with a refueling/bio stop and a lunch break. Auto miles: 646. Cumulative route miles: 2517. Cumulative auto miles: 2704. The additional auto miles were due to sightseeing around Pigeon Forge TN.

This route was not as difficult as it sounds. Most of the KY state route pieces were due to a decision to avoid yet another 30-minute slowdown on I-75 south of Cincinnati. I don’t know if zig-zagging through Kentucky saved any time but it was more interesting than sitting in stop-and-go traffic on the interstate.

The sightseeing in Pigeon Forge was not what I had planned. I wanted to visit Gatlinburg. But when we hit heavy traffic 4 miles from our destination and the GPS said it would take 37 minutes to get there, I turned around. See the theme? I don’t like bumper-to-bumper traffic.

The most interesting part of our trip to Pigeon Forge (which is nearly 90 minutes from Alcoa) was the return trip. We took a more southerly route which was a series of very narrow back roads with very sharp turns. Very remote. At one point we encountered a black bear in the road. We stopped and I tried to get a photo, but it scampered off into the woods before I could get it. But that was my first encounter with a bear in the woods.

Our two nights in Alcoa were at the La Quinta Inn and Suites Knoxville Airport. Yes, we were near an airport. But it isn’t a big airport and we heard no air traffic noise. This hotel was very good in every way: good bed, good cable, good A/C, good shower, good free breakfast. It even had a good gym and a good pool – neither of which we used. And very reasonably priced. I give it an 8 out of 10.

We dined out, which is unusual for us – we went to the Shoney’s down the road. Shoney’s is like a small Golden Corral. A smaller buffet selection, but they had some good stuff. And cheaper than Golden Corral – $15.

Categories: Food, Hotels, KY, OH, Routes, TN, TN_11 | Leave a comment

TN_11 Hop 4: Hot Springs AR to Alcoa TN

Posted on July 24, 2025 by Sparky

586 miles via US 70, I-30, I-40, I-55, US 51, I-240, I-40 again, I-440 around Nashville, I-40 again, I-140 and US 129 with a refueling stop in Memphis, a brief bio break and a stop at the Buc-ees in Crossville TN to purchase a souvenir T-shirt. We also did a drive-by of Graceland, Elvis Presley’s mansion in Memphis. Cumulative route miles: 2014. Auto miles: 627. Cumulative auto miles: 2114. The extra auto miles were due to sightseeing in Hot Springs AR.

This was a very long, very tiring hop that was made difficult by the heavy truck traffic on I-40 and a “wide load” truck carrying some very large and very heavy electrical equipment that we had to pass four times. Every time we passed it we stopped for one reason or another and then had to overtake it again. There was also a truck accident on I-40 that delayed us by 30 minutes. All told, we were on the road nearly 12 hours.

Our two nights in Hot Springs were spent at the Rodeway Inn. This is a very decent hotel with clean rooms, a pool, free parking, a free breakfast and nice cable TV – I rate it a 6 out of 10. Very good for the price. It was also close enough to the Hot Springs National Park that we could walk to Bathhouse Row. Which is what we did. It was just over a mile. But we then walked Bathhouse Row and some of the trails above it – well over 8,000 steps. It was a nice day for a walk. We got some nice photos.

We also drove through the hills surrounding Bathhouse Row, but were unimpressed.

Categories: AR, Hotels, Routes, TN, TN_11 | Leave a comment

TN_11 Hop 3: Beaumont TX to Hot Springs AR

Posted on July 21, 2025 by Sparky

396 miles via US-96, US-59, US-79, I-20, I-220 (around Shreveport), I-49, I-30 and US-270 with several shopping stops in Beaumont and a refueling stop at Walmart in Center TX. Auto miles: 399 (3 extra miles to get ice). Cumulative route miles: 1428. Cumulative auto miles: 1431.

This was the “easy” hop – just 6 hours. But it seemed longer. We left before 9am but didn’t arrive until nearly 6pm – 9 hours clock time. Much of that non-travel time was spent in some “brief” shopping stops as we departed Beaumont – one of which took 90 minutes.

But the weather was good and the traffic not too heavy, so it was a fairly pleasant (and boring) trip once we got out of Beaumont.

We stayed for 3 nights with our friends John and Deb who lived in Lehigh Acres FL until last December. They were our regular Hand, Knee and Foot card companions and we missed them terribly. They both have significant health issues, so it was both pleasant and necessary to see them. They were wonderful hosts. The detour to Texas was well worth it.

In case you were wondering, Marlene and Deb won 3 out of 4 games. John and I managed to salvage one game (and our dignity).

Categories: AR, Friends, Games, LA, Routes, TN_11, TX | Leave a comment

TN_11 Hop 2: Tallahassee FL to Beaumont TX

Posted on July 19, 2025 by Sparky

619 miles via I-10 and I-110 in Lake Charles LA. Auto miles: 619. Cumulative route miles: 1032. Cumulative auto miles: 1032.

This was another LONG day of driving – over 9 hours. And on 3 hours sleep. Not pleasant. But we got there.

We did have some stops along the way. First, we got gas and coffee at a Flying J truck stop near our rest area overnight home. Then we stopped for gas a second time, at a Buc-ees in Mississippi. Buc-ees is always fun. Cheap gas, wonderful rest rooms and lots of tempting things to eat. But we only got ice (16 lbs for $1.99) and a souvenir for a friend. We also stopped at a Sam’s Club in Lake Charles LA to get some potato salad (Marlene loves that Sam’s potato salad) and a nearby liquor store to purchase a gift bottle of whiskey. Then on to our friends John and Deb in Beaumont TX.

Categories: AL, FL, LA, Routes, TN_11, TX | Leave a comment

TN_11 Hop 1: Lehigh Acres FL to Tallahassee FL

Posted on July 19, 2025 by Sparky

413 miles via FL 864, FL 82, I-75 and I-10 with a short detour at the intersection of I-75 and I-10. Auto miles: 413. Cumulative route mile: 413. Cumulative auto miles: 413.

We made a last-minute decision to take Marlene’s Toyota Camry rather than my Hyundai Tucson. That was because the Camry gets better mileage and because we are planning on using the Tucson next summer for an even longer road trip.

We didn’t depart Lehigh Acres until 7pm. I did my volunteer gig in the afternoon, but got off at 3pm. But there was preparation to be completed – most notably packing for the trip. And readying Marlene’s house for a month of absence. Because we left so late our destination was… a rest area. That was a first for us. Yes, we slept in a rest area. We arrived at 1am and departed at 6am. Marlene got maybe 4 hours of sleep; I got maybe 3. A hotel would have been more comfortable, but a waste of money for a short night.

This was a straight shot, a long 6 solid hours of driving. We made a brief stop at Aldi on our way out of Lehigh Acres to get some snacks (can’t do a long road trip without snacks) and a detour at the intersection of I-75 northbound and I-10 westbound due to construction.

Categories: FL, Routes, TN_11 | Leave a comment

“Rainbow Six” by Tom Clancy

Posted on July 1, 2025 by Sparky

I thought I had read all of the Clancy novels, but I somehow missed this one. It is #2 in the series of 2 novels featuring John Clark. #1 in this series is “Without Remorse” and I don’t believe I have read that one either. So I guess I will try to find it.

But I won’t try very hard.

I am generally a fan of Clancy’s books. They are well-written and have always kept my attention. But I had a hard time finishing this one. It is 900 pages. I started it while on the NCL2 cruise back in April. It is now July. More than 2 months to slog through it. It has plenty of action – and death – but not many real surprises. Clark was in charge of an elite anti-terrorist squad which, in the first half of the book, is tasked with resolving three terrorist plots. They were interesting, but it came as no surprise that they resolved each swiftly and with almost no civilian or squad casualties (except for one young girl who was dying anyway). The fourth terrorist attack was on the “Rainbow” squad itself. This, too, was repelled, but with several squad casualties.

Throughout these incidents ran a narrative of activities going on at the Horizon Corp, a huge pharmaceutical company headed by John Brightling, a brilliant billionaire who was funding most of these early attacks, for reasons not obvious to anyone – including the ex-KGB agent that he hired to arrange them. After the failed Rainbow attack the agent decided to get out of the game. Brightling moved him to a Horizon Corp facility in Kansas. He then learns the reason behind the attacks and it turns out to be a monstrous plot to kill millions.

So Rainbow was called upon to save the world.

Interesting, but hardly surprising. I won’t spoil anything if I tell you that the world still exists.

I would have enjoyed this book more if these interesting-but-not-surprising adventures of Rainbow could have been told in 600 pages rather than 900.

5 out of 10.

Categories: Books | Leave a comment

More floor repairs

Posted on June 29, 2025 by Sparky

I don’t know why, but a large section of my RV floor along the port side (see how comfortable I am with using nautical terms – the result of my many cruises) had become soft over the past year, obviously the result of severe wood rot. It has been bothering me a lot, so this past week I decided to repair it. I knew it would be difficult, but probably not as difficult as my first floor repair which was in the other slide. That was very difficult because the repair had to slide over the central floor. And it was a true patch – I didn’t replace the entire sheet of plywood, so I had to figure out a way to join the patch with the non-rotted wood.

I thought I would have to patch this time too, but I discovered that the main floor has, under the OSB sheathing, some very solid foam insulation. So while I was careful to put the edges of the patches (three separate wood patches) on joists, I didn’t have to figure out how to join the patch with the remaining wood. Much simpler.

But the covering – vinyl planks instead of carpet – turned out to be much more difficult. It took me, I estimate, nearly 3 full days to complete the repair.

The most difficult part of the job was laying the new flooring. One needs to be VERY careful with this stuff. Any damage to the locking channels prevents the pieces from fitting together properly. Even with great care some pieces didn’t fit right. And they didn’t stay put. I had to get some flooring cement to keep them in place. And there were still a couple of joints where I had to use super glue.

The new planking matches the old planking pretty well, but there were some places where I had to be creative in finding ways to make them fit together.

All in all, a successful job. And a floor that no longer feels “squishy.”

But did I figure out how it got wet in the first place? Not entirely. I am pretty sure that the water came in through the seal on the slide and/or the seal on the window next to the slide. But we had several severe thunderstorms while I had the subfloor exposed and I watched very carefully for any water. None. Maybe it was latent damage from one or several hurricanes. I just don’t know.

Categories: RV Living | Leave a comment

The ATW is taking shape

Posted on June 1, 2025 by Sparky

Until a few days ago the only parts of the upcoming 10-week around-the-world trip (starting mid-September) that we had booked were the two cruises – the 23-night transpacific and the 14-night transatlantic. But this week we booked a lot more. Many of the transportation details are now set. This is how it will go:

A flight from Ft Myers to Seattle-Tacoma and one night in Seattle.
The 23-night transpacific cruise on the Carnival Luminosa, Seattle-to-Sydney via Hawaii and Tahiti.
3 nights in a hotel in Sydney near the Opera House.
A flight from Sydney to Rome via Chengdu China (with a 20-hour layover in Chengdu).
2 nights in a hotel in Rome near Vatican City.
14 or 15 days touring Europe by car (the car is booked but the hotels are not booked). The city sequence will possibly be: Venice, Munich, Paris, Blois (and the Loire Valley), Grenoble and Pisa.
2 or 3 nights in a hotel in Rome.
The 14-night transatlantic cruise on the Carnival Miracle, Rome-to-Tampa.
A car or bus ride from Tampa home.

The only significant portions not booked are the hotels in Europe, the hotel in Rome after the car tour and the trip from Tampa home. We also have to arrange a number of transfers (e.g., home to the Ft Myers airport at the start, from SEATAC to Seattle, from the cruise terminal to the hotel in Sydney, etc.) but those are easy and relatively inexpensive.

The choice of the flight from Sydney to Rome via Chengdu was driven by price: the total package price for airfare for both of us and 2 nights in Rome was under $1,200! That is amazingly cheap, cheap, cheap! The flight is over 21 hours in the air. It means we have to forego Mumbai or Istanbul, but we will see China (from inside an airport terminal) instead.

The use of a car instead of trains (via Eurail pass) was driven by my concern over how difficult it would be to haul our large suitcases on and off trains and to/from hotels. Plus we have more freedom to see what we want when we want. I also discovered that the cost of renting a car was surprisingly low: the cost for a 2-week car rental is about the same as one Eurail pass, so with gas it will probably be about the same cost. We will also have more freedom to find cheap food.

Anyway, it looks almost certain that this epic trip will really happen. We just have to stay healthy.

Categories: ATW, Preparation/Planning | Leave a comment

Eleventh trip north (TN_11) preview

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Sparky

Marlene and I have decided that we will, once again, go north for a few weeks this summer. This trip, my eleventh, will be designated TN_11. It will likely begin Thursday, July 17, and will span 10 nights and over 3,000 miles. The stops along the way are as follows:

Tallahassee FL. This will be an overnight stop, just because Ft Myers to Beaumont is too long for one hop.
Beaumont TX. We will stop for 3 days to see our good friends John and Debbie who moved to Beaumont from Lehigh Acres FL last year.
Hot Springs AR. I love this town and Marlene has never seen it. We will spend two nights here just so we have a full day in the city.
Pigeon Forge TN. There are a million things to do here but I would love to get back to Dollywood.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This must be the most obscure national park. I have no idea what is here but we will spend two nights in the area so that we will have a full day to explore.

Our destination is Worcester MA where we expect to stay with Jett’s brother and sister-in-law. While up there we will make an overnight trip to Maine to see if I can find my younger brother who has, once again, stopped communicating with everyone.

We will be taking Marlene’s pup, Becky, and that has, to some extent, influenced the route. Both Hot Springs and Cuyahoga Valley National Park are dog-friendly and Dollywood has Doggywood, a really fine dog daycare facility. We will have to find a hotel in Tallahassee that is dog-friendly.

Categories: Preparation/Planning, Routes, TN_11 | Leave a comment