We arrived Monday afternoon at a motocross park called OakHill, just outside of Decatur, Texas. Like the race at Lake Whitney the week before, this race is also one of the big six amateur motocross races in the USA. The website for this motocross park is http://www.oakhillmx.com/.
The weather was fine and sunny when we arrived at OakHill. We got parked up although the ground was not level. So for the first couple of nights we were ending up down the end of the bed (or the side of the bed). Chris finally reset the level of the RV a few days later with some blocks of wood from a neighbour from Washington state.
The track at OakHill is, in my opinion, far better and safer than Lake Whitney. We heard there are 2,300 competitors. The whoops have sand in them I think. The track is quite loamy. There are some huge jumps. Some ruts. Josiah has rated it a 10 out of 10 (but not as good as his home track in NZ!) and I tend to agree with him. The officials do a great job of maintaining the track (including at night!). If you want to see what the track was like on Thursday, go to this link: http://www.racerxfilms.com/20080321_oakhillthurs/20080321_oakhillthurs.html.
Practice was to be on Tuesday. However, it was cancelled due to the amount of rain on Monday night and all day Tuesday. The kids did a full day of schoolwork.
Practice was deferred until Wednesday morning. The sun was out so things would begin to dry but the track was still muddy in the morning for Josiah’s practice. Josiah went out anyway and there were problems with his bike. He couldn't even finish one lap (like the last race at Lake Whitney).
We got back to the trailer, cleaned the bike, stripped the carb completely and cleaned it, but no dirt was found (Chris thought this was the problem with the bike). It just so happened that after cleaning the bike Pat (a mechanic who we had met the day before) was walking by the RV so Chris asked for a second opinion. Chris told him what had happened. He said "let me start it up to listen". He went to kick it over and said straight away there was no compression. So, he took the bike back to his rig, took out the piston (he had a brand new one to put in) and said the ring had no tension for compression. He then looked at the barrel and chrome was coming away from inside the barrel (meaning reduced compression). So, we went up to KTM and got a new piston set and barrel. Pat also got some new jets (pilot and main). Once we did the warm up, Josiah said it ran better than his old bike in NZ!
We really appreciated Pat’s help. We later found out he builds modified bikes for a high performance mini motocross bike in the USA that dominates everything, and is also a mechanic for some kids that have loads of USA amateur titles. In short, he knew his stuff. We also had Pat, Drew (his mechanic is Pat) and Drew's mum over for dinner (tea) on Thursday night which was great to get to know them outside of motocross.
Wednesday was a demanding day - Chris was busy like a one armed taxi driver trying to sort out Josiah's bike (although Pat did the work and Chris ran around).
Josiah got to race in a division (65cc stock class 7-9 years) just after lunch. He got a poor start (didn't even get out well), was about 15th around the first corner, but clawed up to 7th. He could have done better but for his start and yellow flags. Anyway, first time on the track, he did pretty well. He is safe and the bike goes! On Thursday Josiah raced in a division for 65cc modified 7-9 years. Not a great start but he got 6th (was running 4th at one stage).
First thing Saturday morning Josiah had his first final race for the 65cc 7-9 stock class. At OakHill there is only one moto (winner takes all), an not two like Lake Whitney, to decide the winner. He didn’t get out fast out of his gate but was say seventh around the first corner and that is the way it stayed until the end. That was a great result considering the top talent at this event and Josiah didn‘t appear to be that far behind. In the afternoon Josiah raced in the 65cc 7-9 modified class (on his stock bike). He was second around the first corner but faded to 17th. That was the end of motocross racing.
So, after two weeks of motocross here are a few observations. First, 50s and 65s are much faster in the USA than in NZ. The kids race on the same track as the juniors and seniors. Second, the tracks are more technical in the USA than NZ. There are ruts (leading to corners, around corners, out of corners and up to jumps), whoops and bigger jumps. Third, there is a lot of qualifying to get to the main event (you have to go through two sets of qualifying to get to the USA nationals at Loretta Lynns). Fourth, the top riders train. We were told by some parents that the top three riders in the USA for the 65cc 7-9 year classes (stock and modified) were at OakHill, although you don’t necessarily believe everything you hear (we think we are going to find out there are a lot of fast kids in the USA, no matter where you are). These same parents (their son is in the same class as Josiah) said their kid does four hour motocross sessions four times a week, plus cardio/fitness work with a personal trainer in between. We would be lucky to get Josiah and Joel to raise a finger to do any of this. They struggle to do their schoolwork and cleaning up. Fifth, they have modified classes for all bikes in the USA. There is some serious money spent on these bikes. For example, a modified 65 may be new triple clamps, hubs, spokes, motor, pipe & suspension. My guess is that it would be easy to spend $5,000 to $10,000 on this stuff (excluding the purchase of the bike). Finally, the motocross people in the USA have been extremely generous and helpful. Special thanks here go to Mike and Pam from Arkansas, Kenny and Tracey from Iowa and Pat, Liz and Drew from Oregon. We wouldn't have been able to have a bike, let only get the thing going, without the help and technical expertise of these people.
After the race we left OakHill and headed to Plano, Dallas (about an hour away) to stay with Phillip and Pauline Bellingan. Steve and Beth Crowe, from our church in New Zealand, used to go to this church and referred us to Phillip and Pauline for a place to stay after OakHill.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Lake Whitney, Texas
We arrived Monday evening at Lake Whitney, Texas. This place holds one of the big six amateur motocross races in the USA. The top amateur riders from all over the USA come to this event.
We got here late because we wanted to see the Johnson Space Center in Houston on the way. When we got to the Lake Whitney park, it was wet and we had to wait for the officials to see if the RV hook up was available (that we had paid for). It had rained excessively that day that the officials had trouble getting RVs into the park to their hook ups. After two hours they escorted us to the hook up but then we had to drive around and through a paddock so that we could back in the most easy way. Chris nearly took out two port-a-loos trying to drive around a corner. Because it was dark it is difficult to gauge where that thing (ie. the fifth wheeler) is on the back of the pick up truck. So at around 10pm we were hooked up (electricity and fresh water - not wastewater). It was wet. A big thank you to Mark Sheffield (Manager for Cycle County in Texas) who was patient and took the time to guide us into our RV spot.
Tuesday morning was practice. We decided not to do the practice as it was a mud bath. The officials cancelled the rest of the day anyway. The kids did school work. Chris got to take a look around. There must be around 2,000 riders at this event. There are massive trucks, all the manufacturers and their rigs, sponsors, vendors etc. We needed to buy Josiah a new pair of MX boots and paid USD 100 for Alpinestar 4S. Also got Joel some new 2008 Thor Phase gear (shirt, pants and gloves) for USD 103. This is considerably cheaper than in NZ - it would be three times the amount for this gear in NZ (after converting into NZD). We got this gear from Baxley’s Motorcycle Parts vendor fifth wheeler (it is 48 feet long!).
On Wednesday Josiah rode his first race in the modified 65cc class. There is some serious money spent on these bikes. Josiah is riding a stock bike, but even without the modifications the kids still go fast. Josiah did not ride on Thursday but was first up on Friday morning in the 65cc stock class. We had to wait at least an hour though for the fog to lift! That's right, fog in Texas. Josiah did OK but did not get the best of starts.
It was hot on Thursday even though it was foggy in the morning. The temperature in Fort Worth was 87 F on Thursday (Lake Whitney is just over an hour from Ft Worth) and the next door neighbour reckoned it was about that temperature here at Lake Whitney (that's 30 degrees celsius). So we had both air conditioners on Thursday evening in the RV!
Josiah described the track has having big jumps & big ruts. There are three rhythm sections at the start, in the middle at just before the finish line. The biggest jump is going into the forest. It is a long tabletop. The dirt is slippery when wet but on a dry day it is dusty (it is like clay but a bit more loamy). The guy on the loud speaker here at the bike race is always yelling when there is a battle on in a race. Josiah liked the track as it was fast and open and would like to race there again. The thing Josiah didn’t like at Lake Whitney was having to do schoolwork.
Try this website for Thursday’s video coverage of racing at Lake Whitney: http://www.racerxfilms.com/20080314_whitthurs/20080314_whitthurs.html. It includes the MX Lites A class. You will see some of these kids graduate to the professional racing environment (that Ben Townley competes in) within the next year.
This is what Sarah said about the week: “It was not that exciting. I did do a lot of relaxing. I met a new friend called Jennifer who was parked next to our RV. We painted nails and brushed our hair. Jennifer’s brother, Kenny junior, drove us around in the buggy (golf cart) in the evenings after dark. We went on a tree swing and kind of broke it.”
One of the best things about the week at Lake Whitney would have to be our neighbours, the Hempens (Kenny senior, Tracey, Kenny junior, Jennifer, Josiah and Luke). They travelled from Iowa, about 800 miles north of Lake Whitney. They are a great christian family who were very hospitable. We got to try thick meat patties from Iowa and they tried our NZ marmite and vegemite on toast - Kenny junior liked it and said it tasted like burnt cheese. Tracey looked like she was going to hurl after tasting the marmite. We were glad to help them early in the week as their son Josiah had a bike accident and had to be taken to the hospital. Because they have a coach and trailer it was easier for us to take them in our pick up truck. Turns out Josiah fractured his collarbone. He was not well. Kenny and Tracey have invited us to come up in August as there is a big motorcross race on in Minnesota (Milville) so we will see if it can work out.
So, on Sunday afternoon we left Lake Whitney and drove to a RV park just out of Fort Worth. We got cleaned up (and cleaned out) which was great. On Monday we bought food supplies and gas and headed for Decatur, just north of Fort Worth.
We got here late because we wanted to see the Johnson Space Center in Houston on the way. When we got to the Lake Whitney park, it was wet and we had to wait for the officials to see if the RV hook up was available (that we had paid for). It had rained excessively that day that the officials had trouble getting RVs into the park to their hook ups. After two hours they escorted us to the hook up but then we had to drive around and through a paddock so that we could back in the most easy way. Chris nearly took out two port-a-loos trying to drive around a corner. Because it was dark it is difficult to gauge where that thing (ie. the fifth wheeler) is on the back of the pick up truck. So at around 10pm we were hooked up (electricity and fresh water - not wastewater). It was wet. A big thank you to Mark Sheffield (Manager for Cycle County in Texas) who was patient and took the time to guide us into our RV spot.
Tuesday morning was practice. We decided not to do the practice as it was a mud bath. The officials cancelled the rest of the day anyway. The kids did school work. Chris got to take a look around. There must be around 2,000 riders at this event. There are massive trucks, all the manufacturers and their rigs, sponsors, vendors etc. We needed to buy Josiah a new pair of MX boots and paid USD 100 for Alpinestar 4S. Also got Joel some new 2008 Thor Phase gear (shirt, pants and gloves) for USD 103. This is considerably cheaper than in NZ - it would be three times the amount for this gear in NZ (after converting into NZD). We got this gear from Baxley’s Motorcycle Parts vendor fifth wheeler (it is 48 feet long!).
On Wednesday Josiah rode his first race in the modified 65cc class. There is some serious money spent on these bikes. Josiah is riding a stock bike, but even without the modifications the kids still go fast. Josiah did not ride on Thursday but was first up on Friday morning in the 65cc stock class. We had to wait at least an hour though for the fog to lift! That's right, fog in Texas. Josiah did OK but did not get the best of starts.
It was hot on Thursday even though it was foggy in the morning. The temperature in Fort Worth was 87 F on Thursday (Lake Whitney is just over an hour from Ft Worth) and the next door neighbour reckoned it was about that temperature here at Lake Whitney (that's 30 degrees celsius). So we had both air conditioners on Thursday evening in the RV!
Josiah described the track has having big jumps & big ruts. There are three rhythm sections at the start, in the middle at just before the finish line. The biggest jump is going into the forest. It is a long tabletop. The dirt is slippery when wet but on a dry day it is dusty (it is like clay but a bit more loamy). The guy on the loud speaker here at the bike race is always yelling when there is a battle on in a race. Josiah liked the track as it was fast and open and would like to race there again. The thing Josiah didn’t like at Lake Whitney was having to do schoolwork.
Try this website for Thursday’s video coverage of racing at Lake Whitney: http://www.racerxfilms.com/20080314_whitthurs/20080314_whitthurs.html. It includes the MX Lites A class. You will see some of these kids graduate to the professional racing environment (that Ben Townley competes in) within the next year.
This is what Sarah said about the week: “It was not that exciting. I did do a lot of relaxing. I met a new friend called Jennifer who was parked next to our RV. We painted nails and brushed our hair. Jennifer’s brother, Kenny junior, drove us around in the buggy (golf cart) in the evenings after dark. We went on a tree swing and kind of broke it.”
One of the best things about the week at Lake Whitney would have to be our neighbours, the Hempens (Kenny senior, Tracey, Kenny junior, Jennifer, Josiah and Luke). They travelled from Iowa, about 800 miles north of Lake Whitney. They are a great christian family who were very hospitable. We got to try thick meat patties from Iowa and they tried our NZ marmite and vegemite on toast - Kenny junior liked it and said it tasted like burnt cheese. Tracey looked like she was going to hurl after tasting the marmite. We were glad to help them early in the week as their son Josiah had a bike accident and had to be taken to the hospital. Because they have a coach and trailer it was easier for us to take them in our pick up truck. Turns out Josiah fractured his collarbone. He was not well. Kenny and Tracey have invited us to come up in August as there is a big motorcross race on in Minnesota (Milville) so we will see if it can work out.
So, on Sunday afternoon we left Lake Whitney and drove to a RV park just out of Fort Worth. We got cleaned up (and cleaned out) which was great. On Monday we bought food supplies and gas and headed for Decatur, just north of Fort Worth.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
The South
In our last post we left off with the tornado warning in Mobile, Alabama. Janine and Chris did not get much sleep that night. The people at the RV park who told us about the tornado said we would know when it is coming as it would sound like a freight train. The RV park we were at was close to an airport and railway line so everytime a plane took off or a train went by we thought is this it coming down the side of our RV? Anyway, there was lots of heavy rain and violent wind, and then it stopped all of a sudden around 4am.
Tuesday morning we went to the USS Alabama in Mobile (http://www.ussalabama.com/). This was wicked. It is a historic park for a massive battleship and submarine. We spent the morning here touring on these vessels. The missiles on the ship weighed over 2,000 LBS. The turrets on the cannons were huge. We then tried the flight simulator. Chris first went with the kids and nearly hurled. Janine then went with the kids.
In the afternoon we travelled to New Orleans crossing from Alabama through Mississippi to Louisiana (the land is flat and swampy through these states). Upon arriving at the RV park we went into the French Quarter until evening. We bought some candy, toured the streets, were approached by homeless people, went to the markets and tried some southern food (eg. gumbo, jimalaya, red beans, etofay - I have probably mispelt these food items).
One thing we noticed on the road to and from New Orleans is the swamp and length of bridges crossing these swamps. One bridge seemed to go for 10 miles (two lanes, both sides). That would have taken some building! We also noticed the devastation left from Hurricane Katrina. Lots of houses are still inhabitable. Some people have parked a caravan (travel trailer) next to their house to live in. Shopping malls are vacant as they were ruined. The RV park we stayed at had a waterline on the wall across the road which would have meant our RV was submerged.
Wednesday morning we travelled west to Breaux Bridge in Louisiana and stayed until Sunday. The weather has been temperamental. On Wednesday and Thursday it was warm (but cool in the morning). On Friday it rained and was around 5 degrees celsius (40 F?)
We are currently at a MX track and have met Mike and Pam. Mike and Pam are involved in arenacross in the USA (smaller version of supercross) along with promoting MX races at different tracks. They (along with their "adopted" MX sons, Corey and Brock) have been most hospitable to us (I watched these guys race on the track today and they can haul). Mike and Pam have been so helpful with different things (including arranging the delivery of a motocross bike, shopping at Walmart) and we are very appreciative. Plus, Mike introduced Chris to a southern delicacy called crawfish (fresh water crayfish). It is boiled in a pot and then spices are added. Everyone eats them including young kids. Pull off the tail, take off the shell and eat the meat, then suck out the other end of the crawfish (the brains?).
Josiah rode his motocross bike at a race at Breaux Bridge and did well. The track was short but extremely rough compared to NZ standards. The track owner had mixed in some mulch (rice and corn?) which made it like sawdust so it whooped out alot (big braking and acceleration bumps. Josiah competed in stock and modified classes. One thing I noticed about the modified class was the amount of $$ spent on the bikes. There is some serious bling on these things. The other thing that I noticed was the quarantine of the parents to the pit area and the heat coming from the parents when their child didn't do as well as they thought. These parents could outdo a trooper in a swearing contest.
We are now in the middle of Texas near Waco (Monday night) having left Breaux Bridge and gone through Houston last night. Last night we stayed at a RV park just outside of Houston which Chris selected as it was 2 miles from the interstate highway into the city. Turned out when we pulled off the highway and turned left to go back under the highway we then had to turn left immediately again and travel the two miles back up along side the highway. So we stayed right beside the interstate highway with heavy traffic all throgh the night.
In the morning we showered and then hit the road for the Johnson Space Center in Houston (www.spacecenter.org). This was a quick trip and we didn't really do it justice. We also got caught in a storm on the outside tram tour. And then we had to hit the road again, in the storm travelling through busy Houston traffic.
I am hoping for Sarah, Josiah and Joel to add their comments to the blog in the next few days.
Tuesday morning we went to the USS Alabama in Mobile (http://www.ussalabama.com/). This was wicked. It is a historic park for a massive battleship and submarine. We spent the morning here touring on these vessels. The missiles on the ship weighed over 2,000 LBS. The turrets on the cannons were huge. We then tried the flight simulator. Chris first went with the kids and nearly hurled. Janine then went with the kids.
In the afternoon we travelled to New Orleans crossing from Alabama through Mississippi to Louisiana (the land is flat and swampy through these states). Upon arriving at the RV park we went into the French Quarter until evening. We bought some candy, toured the streets, were approached by homeless people, went to the markets and tried some southern food (eg. gumbo, jimalaya, red beans, etofay - I have probably mispelt these food items).
One thing we noticed on the road to and from New Orleans is the swamp and length of bridges crossing these swamps. One bridge seemed to go for 10 miles (two lanes, both sides). That would have taken some building! We also noticed the devastation left from Hurricane Katrina. Lots of houses are still inhabitable. Some people have parked a caravan (travel trailer) next to their house to live in. Shopping malls are vacant as they were ruined. The RV park we stayed at had a waterline on the wall across the road which would have meant our RV was submerged.
Wednesday morning we travelled west to Breaux Bridge in Louisiana and stayed until Sunday. The weather has been temperamental. On Wednesday and Thursday it was warm (but cool in the morning). On Friday it rained and was around 5 degrees celsius (40 F?)
We are currently at a MX track and have met Mike and Pam. Mike and Pam are involved in arenacross in the USA (smaller version of supercross) along with promoting MX races at different tracks. They (along with their "adopted" MX sons, Corey and Brock) have been most hospitable to us (I watched these guys race on the track today and they can haul). Mike and Pam have been so helpful with different things (including arranging the delivery of a motocross bike, shopping at Walmart) and we are very appreciative. Plus, Mike introduced Chris to a southern delicacy called crawfish (fresh water crayfish). It is boiled in a pot and then spices are added. Everyone eats them including young kids. Pull off the tail, take off the shell and eat the meat, then suck out the other end of the crawfish (the brains?).
Josiah rode his motocross bike at a race at Breaux Bridge and did well. The track was short but extremely rough compared to NZ standards. The track owner had mixed in some mulch (rice and corn?) which made it like sawdust so it whooped out alot (big braking and acceleration bumps. Josiah competed in stock and modified classes. One thing I noticed about the modified class was the amount of $$ spent on the bikes. There is some serious bling on these things. The other thing that I noticed was the quarantine of the parents to the pit area and the heat coming from the parents when their child didn't do as well as they thought. These parents could outdo a trooper in a swearing contest.
We are now in the middle of Texas near Waco (Monday night) having left Breaux Bridge and gone through Houston last night. Last night we stayed at a RV park just outside of Houston which Chris selected as it was 2 miles from the interstate highway into the city. Turned out when we pulled off the highway and turned left to go back under the highway we then had to turn left immediately again and travel the two miles back up along side the highway. So we stayed right beside the interstate highway with heavy traffic all throgh the night.
In the morning we showered and then hit the road for the Johnson Space Center in Houston (www.spacecenter.org). This was a quick trip and we didn't really do it justice. We also got caught in a storm on the outside tram tour. And then we had to hit the road again, in the storm travelling through busy Houston traffic.
I am hoping for Sarah, Josiah and Joel to add their comments to the blog in the next few days.
Monday, March 3, 2008
First week in the USA
We arrived midnight on Sunday 24th February after travelling for nearly 24 hours from Auckland, NZ. There was some fun on the way at the airports. We had to sprint from US Customs in Los Angeles to get to the domestic terminal to get to Charlotte, North Carolina. We had to carry our luggage (10 full bags weighing around 22 kgs each) trying to cross the roads with our bags getting tipped over onto the road. The aircraft carrier cancelled our flight from Charlotte to South Carolina so we had to sprint again to another terminal in Charlotte to be put on standby for a later flight. We got on and finally arrived in SC!
We stayed with Jessica and Josh with their two kids, Caroline and Alex. We had such a good time with them and they looked after us with true southern hospitality. In fact, we even thought about forgetting the RV trip in the US and staying there for instead!
The next few days were spent sorting out the RV (fifth wheeler) and truck. The RV and truck was suggested by Kyle Fullwood who we met in the USA in September when we were at Budds Creek, Maryland. Kyle is a God send as he has provided lots of advice and support to get us over here.
Back to the vehicles. The RV is nearly 40 feet long & weighs dry at just under 12,000 LBS. Its a big daddy. The truck is a F250 6L V8 diesel turbo. This thing has got some torque like nothing you will ever see or hear about in a pick up truck in NZ. Chris Cordez, the previous owner installed 5,000 LB airbags in the rear plus a "bully dog" (more power and torque). Chris gave us the run down on how to operate the RV which was great. Lots of notes taken.
We stayed the first night in the RV on a plantation on Friday night. Thanks to Ken and Donna (friends of Kyle) for experiencing further southern hospitality. No bears or aligators so that was good. We finally got moving Saturday morning aiming for Nashville, Tennessee. We slept in and then couldn't sort out the brakes on the RV so we ended up leaving at around 10am.
We nearly got to Columbia when the truck made a loud noise and loss of power. We pulled over. Chris looked under the truck and noticed a hole in the manifold. We had just subscribed to a roadside assistance program which was initially most frustrating. That is, you phone a call center located somewhere else in the USA. The first lady said they couldn't help us as we were not registered as members. After insisting they help (receipt on hand) and a further five conversations later, a tow truck was organised. He turned up five hours later.
The roadside assistance had organised to tow us further away to a RV park and truck dealer. The tow truck driver ended up speaking to the operator at roadside assistance. After a few minutes she hung up on him. He towed us to his workshop, put a plug in the truck manifold (plus gave us a spare) and recommended a good place for us to stay the night at a nearby RV park. Thank you so much to Dave for getting us back on the road, a really nice guy (and Jennifer his wife as Dave the tow truck driver was late getting home). If you ever get broken down in Columbia you have to use this guy. PS. Dave mentioned the problem was the bolt had come out of the manifold hence the problem.
Sunday morning we left Columbia (South Carolina), travelled through Atlanta (Georgia) and hit (sweet home) Alabama. We stayed out in the boondocks east of Birmingham.
On Monday morning we went to Birmingham as we wanted to go to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (http://www.bcri.org/index.html). On arrival, the place was closed as it is closed on a Monday. Great. After mentioning this to the receptionist (Gliss) and crossing the road to the park, a gentleman came over and introduced himself (Ahmad Ward). He works at the Institute. He mentioned Gliss had called him and our situation and he gave us a tour of the place and talked us through it all. This was the best situation for us as the carpark was empty and we could ask Ahmad lots of questions. Thank you Ahmad for your southern hospitality. You Kiwis should have a look at the BCRI website. The treatment of African Americans was unbelievable (words cannot express the sadness). BCRI is located across the road from where four young girls were killed in a bomb attack at a church. Birmingham was also the place you may have seen photos of in the past of firemen hosing down African Americans with high pressure water and releasing police dogs onto young African American people.
We are still in Alabama at a place called Mobile (bottom of the state). We got here around 6pm. There is a tornado warning at the moment. Some people passed by our RV and said if it comes through to get out of the RV and head straight for the ditch nearly. Don't do anything else but that as the tornado will easily pick up the truck and trailer and you are safer in the low ditch. They are currently watching the tornado on the TV. This southern hospitality is really blowing us away.
We stayed with Jessica and Josh with their two kids, Caroline and Alex. We had such a good time with them and they looked after us with true southern hospitality. In fact, we even thought about forgetting the RV trip in the US and staying there for instead!
The next few days were spent sorting out the RV (fifth wheeler) and truck. The RV and truck was suggested by Kyle Fullwood who we met in the USA in September when we were at Budds Creek, Maryland. Kyle is a God send as he has provided lots of advice and support to get us over here.
Back to the vehicles. The RV is nearly 40 feet long & weighs dry at just under 12,000 LBS. Its a big daddy. The truck is a F250 6L V8 diesel turbo. This thing has got some torque like nothing you will ever see or hear about in a pick up truck in NZ. Chris Cordez, the previous owner installed 5,000 LB airbags in the rear plus a "bully dog" (more power and torque). Chris gave us the run down on how to operate the RV which was great. Lots of notes taken.
We stayed the first night in the RV on a plantation on Friday night. Thanks to Ken and Donna (friends of Kyle) for experiencing further southern hospitality. No bears or aligators so that was good. We finally got moving Saturday morning aiming for Nashville, Tennessee. We slept in and then couldn't sort out the brakes on the RV so we ended up leaving at around 10am.
We nearly got to Columbia when the truck made a loud noise and loss of power. We pulled over. Chris looked under the truck and noticed a hole in the manifold. We had just subscribed to a roadside assistance program which was initially most frustrating. That is, you phone a call center located somewhere else in the USA. The first lady said they couldn't help us as we were not registered as members. After insisting they help (receipt on hand) and a further five conversations later, a tow truck was organised. He turned up five hours later.
The roadside assistance had organised to tow us further away to a RV park and truck dealer. The tow truck driver ended up speaking to the operator at roadside assistance. After a few minutes she hung up on him. He towed us to his workshop, put a plug in the truck manifold (plus gave us a spare) and recommended a good place for us to stay the night at a nearby RV park. Thank you so much to Dave for getting us back on the road, a really nice guy (and Jennifer his wife as Dave the tow truck driver was late getting home). If you ever get broken down in Columbia you have to use this guy. PS. Dave mentioned the problem was the bolt had come out of the manifold hence the problem.
Sunday morning we left Columbia (South Carolina), travelled through Atlanta (Georgia) and hit (sweet home) Alabama. We stayed out in the boondocks east of Birmingham.
On Monday morning we went to Birmingham as we wanted to go to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (http://www.bcri.org/index.html). On arrival, the place was closed as it is closed on a Monday. Great. After mentioning this to the receptionist (Gliss) and crossing the road to the park, a gentleman came over and introduced himself (Ahmad Ward). He works at the Institute. He mentioned Gliss had called him and our situation and he gave us a tour of the place and talked us through it all. This was the best situation for us as the carpark was empty and we could ask Ahmad lots of questions. Thank you Ahmad for your southern hospitality. You Kiwis should have a look at the BCRI website. The treatment of African Americans was unbelievable (words cannot express the sadness). BCRI is located across the road from where four young girls were killed in a bomb attack at a church. Birmingham was also the place you may have seen photos of in the past of firemen hosing down African Americans with high pressure water and releasing police dogs onto young African American people.
We are still in Alabama at a place called Mobile (bottom of the state). We got here around 6pm. There is a tornado warning at the moment. Some people passed by our RV and said if it comes through to get out of the RV and head straight for the ditch nearly. Don't do anything else but that as the tornado will easily pick up the truck and trailer and you are safer in the low ditch. They are currently watching the tornado on the TV. This southern hospitality is really blowing us away.
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