Freightliner ambulance conversion project.

[Ozrockrat]

Good day today. 250 miles without taking the cruise control off. Finished with Texas.

And averaging 10mpg. I'm happy with that.

 

[patoz]

Are you staying in campgrounds and sleeping in the vehicle while you're traveling?

 

[rossvtaylor]

Man, I love that monitoring system. I will definitely be getting one of those dongles and a Windows tablet (with a USB port). Great info from that thing.

Happy travels, Oz.

 

[Ozrockrat]

Are you staying in campgrounds and sleeping in the vehicle while you're traveling?

A bit of each. So far 1 night at a rest area, 1 night at a state park campground and then 1 night at a Walmart. Sleeping and generally eating in the vehicle except where we are just trying to make miles.

 

[Ozrockrat]

We are officially in the East (I think). Mississippi River.

Actually I know it's the Mississippi but I think that is officially the East.

 

[patoz]

It's the eastern half of the US, but you still have a ways to go before you're offically in the 'East'!

Looks like you're on I-20 in Vicksburg, about to hit Jackson, MS.

 

[Ozrockrat]

On the Natchez Trail Parkway heading north now. We said when we hit Mississippi we would slow down and have a look around.

 

[tgreening]

Shoulda dropped down and took the southern route through Loo-zi-anna and Nahlins. The smell is quite impressive.

 

[Ozrockrat]

Did the southern route twice now. Once to pickup the Sportsmobile and once with the Freightliner.

 

[tgreening]

Did the southern route twice now. Once to pickup the Sportsmobile and once with the Freightliner.

Ah, well then you should be quite familiar! Took the wife and kids to New Orleans last year, mostly for the food (impressive!), but couldn't get over how bad that place stank! It's a good idea in such a busy tourist city to have garbage cans every 30' but sweet Jesus you need to empty and clean those things once in awhile.

The hi lite was stopping at the Cafe Du' Monde for Beignets and getting yelled at by our Vietnamese waitress because of breakdown in communication.

"How many order you want?"
Three. How many are in an order?
"That 3 order right over there. How many order you want?"
Three, but how many beignets are in an order?
"Dat 3 ordah right ovah dare! HOW MANY ORDAH YOU WANT!"
Three please.

They sure were good though.

 

[patoz]

I just posted this on my thread for Tom, but I'll post it here also...

As far as the hurricane situation goes...I hope you packed some Maxtrax mats, a raincoat, and your rubber ducky, for ExPo East because right now it looks like Matthew is going to be sitting just off the NC/SC coast Saturday!

From the NOAA NWS National Hurricane Center.

Direct hurricane impacts are possible in Florida later this week. Tropical storm and/or hurricane watches could be issued sometime tonight or early tomorrow for portions of the Florida peninsula and the Florida Keys. Tropical storm or hurricane conditions could affect portions of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina later this week or this weekend, even if the center of Matthew remains offshore.

 

[Ozrockrat]

Bugger. Looks like a stop at the outfitters for some mud boots. Not much use for them or raincoats in Phoenix. Might even need to rethink the solar strategy.

 

[Ozrockrat]

It's hard waking to a scene like this. Yesterday we did over 100 miles of tree lined 2 lane road without a stop sign or traffic lights. I had no idea anything like this existed in the USA. Fantastic.

 

[patoz]

Bugger. Looks like a stop at the outfitters for some mud boots. Not much use for them or raincoats in Phoenix. Might even need to rethink the solar strategy.

The thing about hurricanes is, they are unpredictable. With about 4 days to go, it could turn a few degrees inland and pretty much dissipate, or turn away from the coast and head out to sea. This is a very slow moving storm, which can be good because it gives you plenty of time to prepare, or it can be bad because it does more damage in it's path and makes it hard to tell where it's going.

Some of our local reports are saying Matthew, which is a Cat 4 (winds 130-156 mph) now, may be down to a Category 2 by Saturday (winds 96-110 mph), but as far inland as Asheville, NC is, I doubt you'll see much of this. Rain and possible flooding however, could be another story and this is something I would plan for.

My suggestion is to just monitor it very closely, and if I see anything helpful to you guys I'll post it also.

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale


From the NOAA NWS National Hurricane Center.

Tropical storm or hurricane conditions could affect portions of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina later this week or this weekend, even if the center of Matthew remains offshore. It is too soon to specify what, if any, direct impacts Matthew might have on the remainder of the U.S. east coast farther north. At a minimum, very dangerous beach and boating conditions are likely along much of the U.S. east coast later this week and weekend.

https://www.facebook.com/NWSNHC/photos/pcb.1175460812519397/1175457712519707/?type=3&theater

 

[tgreening]

Bah. I've lived in my single story ground level cardboard shack all my life n I ain't lettiin no little hurricane chase me outta mah glub glub glub gurgle......