Day 9 – Roomie Reunion

narration here.The alarm rang before 7AM in anticipation a lengthy exit of the RV with a challenge getting up the hill as well as the Break Buddy setup on the Toad.

The RV minus the Toad clawed its way up the park incline carefully dodging tree branches and gently traversed speed bumps. A nearby dump station just up the hill outside the campground entrance was used as the staging area to attach the Toad and coax the Break Buddy into the Ready position. Much to the crews delight it only took 45 min. However, do to a sharp turn to exit the staging area, the arms of the tow bar did not extend until all axles were out on the main road. Good thing there was no traffic at this early hour so the maneuvering test could be performed to ensure the toad would track properly behind the RV.

Kevin had lost sleep over the looming slide-out issue, so Theresa tracked down an RV service place in Kansas City that would look at it on Wednesday.

The 2 lane roads were much smoother than I-40 but did warn for 30 mph curves for maneuvering the Smitanic thru the Ozark slalom course.

Theresa called to warn Dave Parker of an earlier than estimated arrival. It has been 20+ years since the Smits and Dave had seen each other. Dave was like family back in the day, he was not only Kevin's roommate on the Johnson house floor ISU college but was best man at Kevin and Theresa's wedding and became a frequent attendee to both Smit and Blaisdell family gatherings. Thanks to social media the Smit's were able to reconnect with Dave via Facebook and now with much anticipation face to face !

Following Dave's instructions, the Smitanic stopped just shy of the Parker Farm's long driveway so a plan of attack for docking it could be discussed. Initial hugs were made and the old friends picked up right were they left off with there banter and joking.




Dave helped guide the Smitanic into it's reserved spot in his yard and then supplied a extension cord so at least 110 power could be used in the RV.

Dave and his wife Barb then conducted a tour of the Parker house and farm. This included 7 cats, 3 pigmy goats, 2 fainting goats and several head of well fed cattle with several calves.

Zin was anxious to go head to head with goat and cows but shied away from the cats even as they came close to investigate her.

It was the Parker's 19th anniversary so all went to their favorite mexican restaurant for margaritas and fiesta. Then is was off to a nearby Walmart for supplies for the next morning and day.

The Generator was turned on to cool down the coach as the temp in the RV was 93.

Theresa and Kevin made some notes for the blog and after about 30 min the temp was now 79 so that may work (for Theresa at least) for the nights sleep. The generator was then turned off in hopes the coolness would be locked in for the night.

Kevin had also noticed that his wedding ring was cracked at the sizing solder point. Another damage item due to I-40 potholes! He put it safely away as he would save that repair for a trip to the jewelry district in LA.

Tomorrow more reminiscing and enjoying time with old friends!