Last Trip for this year

We made our last camping trip to the Shenandoah Valley in Va a couple of weeks ago. We had hopped to see some fall color and although it was not at peak it was still very pretty. We spend a day in the Shenandoah National Park driving the Skyline Drive. We also visited The Natural Bridge, Monticello and New Market Civil War Battlefield.
If you are looking for a great place to get away this is a beautiful area to do it in. Check out these videos to get a feel for the area.

Weekend Adventure

Even though camping season is over for us and the camper is in hibernation for he winter we still have the itch to travel. This last weekend we made a day trip to Roadside America with our grandson. This place is an icon in the area as it opened in 1953. We both went there as kids, we took our daughter there and now we took our grandson. He had a great time and we scratched a itch to get out of the house. This is our You Tube video for there. By the way if you like it please click "LIKE" and check out some of our other travel videos. While you are there subscribe to our "Turning Miles Into Memories" channel.

Tour our Coachmen Apex

Want to take a tour of our Apex Ultra Lite? Check out how we live on the road.....

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNyQK2IatylaheOOrurwZKw

Why we prefer to travel in our RV

We don't have to pack and unpack every night.
We don't have to dig through our suitcases to find what we are looking for.
We always have good pillows.
We don't worry about bed bugs.
The dirt on the floor is our dirt.
We can have breakfast dressed any way we like.
Our egg are done the way we like them.
We don't have to look for a vending machine to get something to drink.
We don't hear water running in the rooms around us.
We can open the windows.
RV parks are cheaper than motels.
We don't have to go through TSA.
Our RV is never overbooked.
We get to see everything along the way.
We don't have to rent a car.

Raise it up

As I discuss in the last post we wanted to raise the height of the toilet to make it easier for our old bones. Since I now had all the parts and we had a couple days before our next adventure I decided it was a good time to get it done.
The install was rather easy. Make sure the water pump was off, disconnect the filler line and take off the two bolts that hold it to the floor. The riser that we bought from Thetford is made to fit almost all types of toilets. I needed to drill one hole in the back for the filler hose to run through but they even had a spot marked on the underside as a drill guide. I used a 1" drill bit and drilled from the bottom. After placing the new longer bolts on the floor flange I ran the fill line through the hole that had been drilled and aligned the bolts with the holes in the extension. The toilet then attache to these bolts. Make sure you tighten them down alternating between the two until it is snug to the floor. I then attached the 6" extension hose to the fill line and the toilet. Turned on the water and checked for leaks.

It took me less than an hour to install. Might have been less but I had to run to the basement to drill the hole. For us it was a great upgrade for under $40. And something anybody with a little home improvement skill level could handle.

Doing some mods

Decided it was time to do a couple accessibility mods to the Apex. So to start things off we went to the RV show in Hershey to check things out and see how a new pair of steps might help Barb get in and out of the camper. After trying a couple out we decided that this was indeed something that needed to be done so we headed to the MORryde booth to discuss our options with them. they helped us out with selecting the right stairs, I did think ahead and bring my measurements for the door, and getting the hand rail. Gave us a nice show special price and delivered them to a local RV dealer 2 days later.
The install was pretty easy except for the fact our screen door was too long. I had to grind about an 1/8 of an inch off the bottom but other than that it was straight forward. These make a great addition to the RV and I am less worried about anyone falling down the stairs. And since they reach the ground when level there is no more need for an extra stool to make up for the first 14" step we sometimes had if the passenger side was raised a little.

After that I decided to add a grab bar to the bathroom. My concern was being able to mount it securely to the wall. I didn't trust molly screws on the 1/4" paneling. As luck would have it i found that the studs in the wall were 18" apart. BINGO! We now have a grab bar that when you pull on it you can rock the camper.

Now on to my next project. I ordered a toilet extension that will add 2 1//2 inches to the height of the toilet to made it more like an ADA fixture. I have that but I also needed a filler hose extension that I needed to order and will not have until later this week. So a post for another time.

Barb has said that she is not going to let a few issues get in the way of our life. And we are going to do any mods that we can to make sure that life is as easy as possible. Please comment if you have made any changes to your RV to help with accessibility issues.

Accessibility Issues

As we travel around visiting different places in this country we notice more and more people who are challenged by some type of accessibility issue. We are , of course, more aware of this because my wife has this problem. Her knees are bad and a replacement would not solve her problem so she is very limited on how far she can walk. About 18 months ago we bought a mobility scooter, that is now our traveling companion, that has freed her to go most places. There are, however, still places that cannot be accessed. Many by no fault of their own.

Case in point, we recently spent time in Williamsburg VA. Many of the historic homes cannot be accessed because they were built 250 years ago and have stairs to enter the home and very narrow hallways and doors. I do need to give Colonial Williamsburg credit for everything they have done to help with that issue. In some of the larger buildings, including the Capitol, they have installed lifts allowing access to at least the first floor. They also offer a discounted ticket to folks they know will not be able to access all their buildings. And we found the people who work there were all very willing to go out of their way to help by opening back doors that may have been more accessible and offering other help where they could. Again high praise to them. Just recently we found that Luray Caverns in VA is now completely accessible. Who would think that you could use a scooter to tour a cave? They opened a new entrance this spring allowing this to happen. We plan on a visit there this fall. 

On a recent visit to Virginia Beach we found that the Back Bay nature preserve had 2 hiking trails that were completely accessible as well. The trails were gravel covered and boardwalks traversed any wet area. Another great place to spend a morning exploring.

So we are now planning our trip for next year. We are going to be heading west to visit many of the National Parks. Along the way we are planning our stops based on places we find that will have access for us.

Our question for you is simple. Do you or someone you love have this issue? Leave a comment here about that issue and how you have been able to travel with it.