[rheavn]

After almost a month, we very fittingly arrived home in some well needed rain. When we left it was 106 degrees and we hadn't seen rain in a month. It was a very interesting and fun trip. We covered 3,651 miles and 12 states. The series 60 ran perfectly the entire trip. Mileage was 8.5 when we left the Interstate, but the trip through the Ozark mountains dropped it to 8.39 for the entire trip. As we headed for home we saw a lot of electric company assets headed to the Gulf.

We arrived home with a very short repair list. All maintenance is still up to date. I checked the alternator voltage output when I got home & am only seeing 8 volts. I'll have to discover if my voltage regulator has failed or if my alternator has failed for a second time. Other than that issue, I have lots of cleaning to do.

We met many interesting people on the trip. There were many Newell admirers. Some were familiar with Newells, others had never seen one. The most common comment was, "that is the biggest motorhome I have ever seen". We saw only three other Newells and all were seen going the opposite direction. We met two women that stand out. Both were driving large motorhomes alone. The first was driving a 45' Bluebird and the other was driving a 40 foot '97 Foretravel that she had totally updated. The Foretravel had an updated nose and a 2005 paint job that was done by Extreme Painting--they paint coaches for Foretravel. It looked like a 2005 Foretravel, except it had no slides.

We stayed in nine different RV parks. Five were 45 foot friendly and are included in my posting for Campgrounds for 45 footers. Four of the parks we stayed in I classify as 45' tolerant. That is I fit in the site, but trees needed trimming, roads were too narrow and not enough room given for turning easily.

Now if Hurricane Isaac leaves the Gulf coast standing we have to get ready for our next trip to Bella Terra RV resort in Foley, Alabama. We love this resort and look forward to hopefully being down there in ten days.