RVers Off-Balance

Getting your home on-the-level can be an issue when you live in a motorhome. Here's our site: It may not be obvious what a hill we're on, but it is. We used our leveling blocks under the downhill side wheels. Then we check the bubble levels that Jim mounted by the drivers' door. (a hint from Lynne and John) and, even though we were still a little off - we decided it was OK. I hardly even noticed for the first 4-5 hours. But, it's surprising that, as the time goes by, you notice the slant more and more. By the second day I was feeling decidedly off-balanced. Well, at least I have an excuse! I still think I'd rather be off-balanced than have my wheels in the air like this RV with hydraulic levelers.

Lost in the Woods

I haven't posted in a while have I? Since I last wrote, we've visited 2 more Coach Connect parks, did our seminars, helped users, and surveyed the WiFi systems. I also maintain databases of all this stuff and produce a variety of reports for various purposes and people. If you've ever done database work, you probably know that it is a bottomless pit. A *fascinating* pit, but bottomless nonetheless. I've been trying to get caught up on some of this work and I feel like I've just been lost for a few days. Meanwhile, we've been in simply beautiful country. In the deep woods of Pennsylvania. Here's a photo of typical sites at Appalachian Campsites. Jim did some more high altitude work when he got up on the roof of this barn to make an adjustment to the antenna. Sorry I missed that photo op! And now we're in Sun Valley which, if possible, is even more heavily forested. Thank goodness for WiFi ... cuz our satellite dish sure would not work here. Oh yea - we had some pretty dramatic thunderstorms yesterday too. ooops, gotta go. Jim tells me it's time to drive him around again to check the WiFi signal throughout the park. We already did it once, just with his laptop and built-in antenna. Now we're going around again with a roof-mount antenna that we are beta testing.

Gettysburg!

We were on the job to visit a park called "Round Top". I knew it was somewhere near Gettysburg. I didn't realize it was right at Gettysburg. In fact, the hill known as Round Top is a well known site in the battle of Gettysburg. Here's Jim 'going to work'. A really nice woodsy park with very friendly folks. Less than two miles down the road was the Visitor Center for Gettysburg National Military Park and the Cemetery. We finally tore ourselves away to do some sightseeing about 2 hours before we had to be on the road to go to the next park. You can't be here without trying to memorize the Gettysburg address: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure... " For the entire text, click here. I so love learning history while physically standing on the ground where that history was made. I learned that Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest battles ever in terms of American lives. 51,000! It is also one of the most decisive battles anywhere - ever. Up until this point, the Confederates were winning. Think about it, Pennsylvania is pretty far north! After the Union victory here - it was all downhill for the Confederates. After seeing the "Electric Map" presentation and the Cyclorama, we bought a CD with narration for a self-guided car tour. Pretty cool. Here's the battlefield for the opening battle. There are spectacular statues everywhere. These cannons were also everywhere. So, that's it, we really did have to get going.

Crossing Ohio

We just zipped right on thru Ohio. This is about all we saw. Sure is starting to get green and lush, and we love the sight of hills. Windmills are always a nice sight. Once in Pennsylvania the hills got steeper. This one was a 9% grade! Jim has learned to keep the rig geared down, even into 1st in order to save the brakes. I sure wouldn't want to need one of these 'runaway truck ramps'. Our campsite near Bedford, PA was beautiful. I just love opening the door in the morning to a new scene!

Buckminster Fuller and Henry Ford

We went to the Henry Ford Museum today. It's not just about Henry and cars - although there are a LOT of cars. It's also an Imax Theatre, a history museum for American Culture, Aviation and Electricity, and it houses the Dymaxion House by Buckminster Fuller - which is the reason for our visit. What a day of learning! The IMAX theatre was an unexpected high point. We saw a 3D film called Aliens of the Deep. Spectacular. If you get a chance - see it. Did you know that there are thriving communities of creatures who survive without any benefit of energy from the sun? The sun could blow up, destroying all life on earth's surface and these communities thousands of feet below the ocean's surface wouldn't even know anything had happened. Their energy comes from the heat of the earth's core interacting with chemicals in the ocean. Then ... the Dymaxion House: This was one of Bucky's earlier inventions. Cool ideas. A rotating air vent in the top that would turn constantly to get the best air circulation. A pre-fabricated house made by airplane manufacturers where all the pieces would fit in a big tube and be transported to wherever you wanted your house to be. When you move, you can pack it up and ship it on ahead. It really was kind of wierd feeling tho. It makes sense that it was an early invention. He had visions of going into production with thousands of them, but it didn't take off. Here's the living room. Of course, we saw lots of old cars too - but I really perked up in the RV section. Here's a 1928 motorhome! And, here's the motorhome used by Charles Kuralt in the TV series 'On the Road' Then there was a lot of information about electricity. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were good friends. We knew this from visiting Edison's winter estate in Florida Reviewing this history made us come home and rewatch the video we have on Nikola Tesla's life. Fascinating that we learn all about Edison when we go to school in this country, but you don't learn about Nikola Tesla who was the one who discovered Alternating Current, the type of electricity we actually use today. It appears to me that Nikola Tesla and Buckminster Fuller have a lot in common. They both claimed to 'discover' what nature already knew - not to 'invent' new things. And, they both believed that we have the resources and the knowledge to provide abundant energy, food and all other essentials to every person on earth. If we only had the political will. Speaking of energy - I'm all out! G'night.