We traveled south from Allentown to Philadelphia on the Sunday before Christmas, boarding a train the next morning for Raleigh. The next week would be spent with family in Raleigh before making our trip south to Jacksonville before New Year’s.
Carolinian arrives in Raleigh Christmas in NC
After spending a night in Philadelphia (and enjoying an “authentic” Philly cheesesteak), we boarded the Carolinian train south to Raleigh on Monday morning. We had a daytime run to Raleigh arriving just before sunset. And in a surprise to us, the train arrived there early.
After spending a night in Philadelphia (and enjoying an “authentic” Philly cheesesteak), we boarded the Carolinian train south to Raleigh on Monday morning. We had a daytime run to Raleigh arriving just before sunset. And in a surprise to us, the train arrived there early.
Claire helps Mom and Dad set up for the "Bow" game Over the next few days, we took in a movie matinee with our niece’s family, attended Christmas Eve services and celebrated Christmas in shorts-wearing weather. Bonnie’s family joined us on the weekend for an even larger family gathering.
After Christmas gathering This was the first time in many years that all of us had been together, and we enjoyed the time together. From touring the cow barns, to video games and a reprise of the bow game, there were lots of laughs and good times catching up. By mid-afternoon, we regretfully had to say our goodbyes. The uncertainty of Dave’s mother’s health pushed us to get settled back in Jacksonville so we would have more options depending on what might come next.
Our van became a good screen for Harry's Christmas decorations. Van Stuff
Having ordered some new “accessories” for the van which arrived while we traveled north, we were anxious to get them installed before we would start out for Jacksonville. So, we took some time on a balmy Christmas Eve, to do just that.
Having ordered some new “accessories” for the van which arrived while we traveled north, we were anxious to get them installed before we would start out for Jacksonville. So, we took some time on a balmy Christmas Eve, to do just that.
Our Yakima swing hitch gives us access to our rear door. The first install would be a hitch extension that would allow our bike rack to swing away from the rear doors, whether or not the bikes were installed. This would be critical if we wanted to make effective use of the storage in the rear of the van. The Yakima extension sits between the hitch receiver and the bike rack. Once installed, opening up the rear doors simply requires flipping up a lever and releasing a spring-loaded knob to swing the bike rack out to the passenger side. Then the driver’s side rear door will open fully and lock into place. However, while the passenger-side rear door opens wide, the swing hitch prevents it from locking into place. But we like the access we now have.
The wirelsss camera gives us better visibility driving down the highway. While the van has a backup camera, it only operates when in reverse. When just traveling down the road, there was very limited visibility out of the back of the van. So, we decided to install a wireless rear view camera to fill this void. The camera has a magnetic mount, which allows it to be easily installed on the rear roof. The monitor sits on the dash and receives the signal from the camera for the driver to see. We were very pleased with how crisp the images were, even in low light. And the install was very easy.
We now have Bluetooth access to our battery charger. The van has 3 different monitors for the onboard systems. However, the least accessible is the one for the Xantrex inverter / charger. It sits under the bed in the rear of the van. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an app that would display the same info on a phone? Well there is a version of the display that does just that. We just didn't have it. We swapped out the original monitor with a new Xantrex Freedom 2000, which has Bluetooth and an app that reads the data from display. So it is much easier to monitor the battery charging state when using shore power or the inverter. We can also make changes to adapt to different power inputs.
Once corrected, the display showing a charge going out (yellow) can be believed. As time passed, Dave started to be puzzled by the state of the batteries. The percent charged seemed off. After spending time studying the display, he finally noticed something. The bar graph showing the number of amps going in was backwards. It showed a green bar when the batteries were discharging and a yellow bar when the batteries were charging. His educated guess was that the shunt that fed information to the display was installed backwards. Correcting that could mean crawling into the recesses of the van to find the shunt to correct it. As we looked through the display settings, he discovered a simple fix. He could simply change the setting to reverse the display and voila! the monitor started making sense. Much easier than tearing the van apart to change a wire.
Dave's Mom Saying Goodbye
We had just stepped into our hotel room after traveling for several hours south toward Jacksonville when the call came. Dave’s mom had just passed. It was only hours after she had been placed in hospice care and less than a week after we had waved goodbye on our way to the bus.
She was 94 years young and had lived a generous, loving life over those many decades. She leaves behind the imprint she left on her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, not to mention the many scouts she helped over the years. Not a bad legacy to live up to.
We had just stepped into our hotel room after traveling for several hours south toward Jacksonville when the call came. Dave’s mom had just passed. It was only hours after she had been placed in hospice care and less than a week after we had waved goodbye on our way to the bus.
She was 94 years young and had lived a generous, loving life over those many decades. She leaves behind the imprint she left on her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, not to mention the many scouts she helped over the years. Not a bad legacy to live up to.
