Monthly Archives: July 2014
Wanted: $1000 Reward . . .
Today was another tourist day for us. so we all headed out about 10:30 on our way south, to Georgetown, OH. to visit President U. S. Grant’s boyhood home and other sites. So after a quick stop at the Post Office in Wilmington, we headed down US 68 for Georgetown, about an hour away.
Grant’s boyhood home was built in 1823 by his father Jesse, and Grant lived here until he was 17, and left to attend West Point in 1839. And in a strange twist, going to West Point accidently changed Grant’s name.
His real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, but realizing his initials on his trunk would HUG, he was afraid he would be teased, so he submitted his application under the name of Ulysses Hiram Grant. But the Senator who recommended him, mixed up his name even further, submitting it as Ulysses Simpson Grant.
When Grant got to West Point, he found out they didn’t have an opening for Ulysses Hiram Grant, or even for Hiram Ulysses Grant, but they did have one for Ulysses Simpson Grant. So he decided his name was now U.S. Grant. Anything was better than HUG.
His father owned a tannery right across the street which is also still standing.
It’s amazing how much of the original furniture is still in the house.
Our next stop was right down the road where Grant attended school from 2nd grade to the 8th grade
And they’ve still got the desk he used.
And they also had this Wanted Poster for one of Jan’s ancestors. John Hunt Morgan of Morgan’s Raiders fame . . . or infamy, depending on which side you were on during The War of Northern Aggression.
Leaving Georgetown we headed further south down on the Ohio River to Ripley, OH, and the home of John Rankin, one of the leading Abolitionists during the period.
Rankin’s house sat on a high hill overlooking the Ohio, and served as a beacon for slaves escaping from Kentucky right across the river. Rankin’s home was one of the first stops on the Underground Railroad, and it’s estimated over 2000 slaves passed through his hands on their way to freedom.
Leaving the Rankin house and heading back down the hill, we encountered something none of us had seen before: A blonde squirrel.
This photo was taken through the windshield so the coloring is a little off, but in the sunlight he seemed to be the color of a palomino horse. And like a palomino’s mane, his tail was much lighter than his body, almost white. The Internet has a lot of pictures of these, but no real explanation as to what they are. They’ve definitely not an albino of any type.
After stopping off at Rankin’s gravesite in town, we made another cemetery stop up the road a ways to the grave of Rose Washington Riles, otherwise known as Aunt Jemima, or at least one of them. Apparently there have been 6 ‘official’ Aunt Jemima’s, and a bunch of regional ones. Reading online it’s a pretty convoluted story.
Heading west along the Ohio River, we stopped off at Point Pleasant, OH to check out Grant’s actual birthplace where he lived until the age of 1, when his parents moved to Georgetown
At that point we turned north, heading for Loveland, OH, on the eastern outskirts of Cincinnati, and after a quick stop at a Chase Bank we arrived at our dinner location, the Montgomery Inn. We had heard good things about their BBQ. And the menu said that every President since Gerald Ford had eaten there.
The ribs, their specialty, were pretty good, with a sauce that was different, but very good. However, the pulled pork was more like what we called ‘Chopped’ in Texas. And like we’ve encountered before up in this area, the Beef Brisket is more like Roast Beef with BBQ sauce on it, rather than the Brisket we get in Texas.
But the Ice Tea was really, really good. What can I say?
Our last tourist stop for the day was Loveland Castle, or Chateau Laroche. Unfortunately they were already closed, and good pictures were hard to come by, so I got these from their website
Construction was begun in 1929 by Boy Scout troop leader and World War I veteran Harry D. Andrews, who said this about the project:
“Chateau Laroche was built as an expression and reminder of the simple strength and rugged grandeur of the mighty men who lived when Knighthood was in flower. It was their knightly zeal for honor, valor and manly purity that lifted mankind out of the moral midnight of the dark ages, and started it towards a gray dawn of human hope.”
Apparently Andrews built the place pretty much by himself over the next 50 years, assisted by the Boy Scout troop he found, The Knights of the Golden Trail.
Reading about the castle and its builder on the Roadside America, Loveland Castle page, it kind of reminds me of Edward Leedskalnin, the guy who built the Coral Castle down in the Miami FL area.
Our last stop of the day was a nearby Barnes & Noble for a few magazines, before we finally headed home.
Another long, but fun day.
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Thought for the Day:
According to an audit by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA),.Special Agents at the IRS accidentally shot their firearms 11 times between 2009 and 2011, and at least three of the cases “may have resulted in property damage or personal injury.”
In fact, these 11 ‘accidents’ were 3 times the number that they intentionally fired their firearms in the field.
Don’t you feel safer now?
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Stuff Every RV’er Should Have . . . Maybe
Since today was a rainy do-nothing day I thought I’d continue with a list I started on a post back in June. It’s a combination of things we like and use, and some of the items from the 10 Things Every RV’er Needs seminar that I used to give at Nick and Terry Russell’s late, lamented Gypsy Journal Rallies. We’ve found all of these either very useful, or very necessary, or both.
First up are things electrical.
1. A Three Light Outlet Tester is just plain necessary, for your home or your RV. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve plugged into a 20 amp or 30 amp campground outlet and found a Open Neutral, an Open Ground, or a Reversed Open/Neutral. All of which under some conditions can get you shocked. Or keep the power from making it through your Electrical Management System (EMS) and into your rig. About $6.
2. The Kill-A-Watt is another must-have. With it you can check the voltage of the outlet of course, but also the current draw in Amps of whatever you have plugged into it. And you can also check the frequency in Hz, the power consumed in Watts and KWH (Kilowatt Hours). I use it to set the frequency on the diesel generators when we gate guard, so our clocks run right. About $23.
3. A Digital Volt Ohm Multimeter (VOM) is another must-have item. With it you can check battery voltages, fuses, pretty much anything electrical. About $6.
3a. Just a better VOM, this one with auto-ranging which means you don’t have to preset the voltage range before taking a measurement, i.e. 0 to 200 volts, or 0 to 20 volts. About $20.
4: These are the super bright LED strips that I came across recently due to Ed Hurlburt of the RV Tips area on Facebook. They’re bright white, and are perfect replacement for your F15T8 fluorescent bulbs. Here’s my blog post on how I replaced my fluorescent tubes with these. About $9 per set of 2.
5. This is a temperature-controlled outlet that I use during the winter. I have a small cube heater that I put in the our water bay during very cold weather. The heater plugs into this outlet which is plugged into the rig AC power. The heater is turned on, but only operates below 35° and then cuts off at 45°. About $12.
6. This one is for diesel rig owners. You should always carry a spare filter or filters when you’re on the road. Both Nick Russell and I can attest to that. What I was surprised to learn about was all the Cummins Fleetguard products that Amazon carries, including both of my fuel filters shown below.
The FS1022 is a very fine filter located right on the engine. About $22.
This FS1242 is a 1st stage coarser filter located near the back bumper. About $20.
One thing nice about getting these through Amazon is that they’re cheaper than directly from Cummins.
7. I went through a number of different inside dual extensions that always started leaking after a few months, until I found these braided stainless steel ones. Going on two years now, and they’re still airtight. About $19 for a set of 2.
8. This Water Pressure Gauge has backed up a couple of my complaints about low water pressure at several parks. They would say the pressure was fine, and I would show them that 10 psi is way too low. About $12.
9. This High Flow Dual Outlet lets me hook up a hose for washing the truck or the rig, or even the pressure gauge above. And unlike a lot of cheaper ones, it doesn’t restrict the water flow. About $18.
Nelson Rezimar High-Water Flow Dual Outlet Kink-Free Flex Hose Adapter
10. Staying with the water theme, every RV’er seems to rave about the Oxygenics shower heads, and we’re no different. Low flow so your hot water lasts longer, high pressure for a good shower, and easy installation. About $33.
11. These last two are my favorites. The first up is this Flying Ball Helicopter that’s great for flying inside, or outside too. But the globe protects the blades in the close quarters of the rig without hindering the flying, and makes for more enjoyment, and cheaper flying. About $22.
12. All our readers know my penchant for hot stuff, but these are the hottest peppers in the world. Dried Trinidad Scorpion peppers. I grind these up with our Mr. Coffee coffee bean grinder. I know better now, but the first time I did this, I didn’t allow for the lethality of the fumes generated. Now I do it with the doors and windows open and fans going on full.
Hopefully this list will prove useful to you, so if you have any questions or comments, let me know.
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Thought for the Day:
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