The complete trip -

This is roughly our trip summary from February thru October of 2012. We expect to be in Arizona the end of March, Colorado from Mid to late April,  Michigan Mid June, Massachusetts in August and back in North Carolina again October.

Each letter represents a place we want to stop and see. The trip ends at "z" only because Mapquest wouldn't accept anymore points. "z" is in Virgina with the final stop back at "a".

We plan to take 8 months and approx 8,000 miles.

Dates we know for sure so far.

Our travel schedule so far...

Tuesday, 2/14 Savanah, Georgia
Wednesday - Thursday 2/15, 2/16 - Jacksonville, Florida
Friday 2/17 thru Saturday 2/25 - Lillian, Alabama (Pensacola/Gulf Shores area) Central Time
Saturday 2/25 thru Saturday 3/3 - Meridian, Mississippi
Saturday 3/3 thru  Saturday 3/10 - Shreveport, Lousiana

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Tire, tires, tires…..what to buy?

I’ve never had such a headache! Trailer tires have to be the worst thing to research. Consumer Reports doesn’t even test them!

So off to the web I go surfing the BIG wave of opinions.  Everyone has one, including me. So I start looking for the best ST225/75R15 LRE tire. I have 15” wheels and really do not want to invest in new wheels. The ones I have are rated up to 2830lbs and 3 years old.

History –

2005 Keystone Cougar 5^th wheel, 35’ with a GVWR of 11,790 lbs.  Original tires were Mission’s LRD. 2^nd set of tires were Carlisle’s LRD’s. I replaced the missions in 2008 and never had an issue with them.  We lived in Michigan sold our home and headed to North Carolina. After a blow out on the driver’s side I knew it was tire time again.  Was the pressure low on the one that blew?  Maybe, one of the rare times that I visual looked and said, “those look ok”.  Was it the tire or my stupidity? I’ll never know. Now it’s time again.

Until October 2011 we used the trailer for the typical weekend trips and a few long vacation trips, one around 4,500 miles.  In October of 2011 we became full-timers. Staying in North Carolina from October thru February of 2012 tires were not a major concern but in February we will start a long trip from North Carolina, to Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Montana, South Dakota then Mass via Michigan.  A lot of miles!

Concerned with tires and an avid, replace ‘em every 3 years I seriously starting looking.  I want tires to be the last thing I’m concerned with on the trip, short of checking air pressure and wear. I plan to install a tire monitoring system as well.

So what’s available in the 15” inch market that RV’rs rave about?  Not much!  I found a lot of post bashing Carlisle. To be honest I don’t know if Carlisle is really that bad or victim of selling a large percentage of trailer tires but in any case it’s very hard to find anything good about them.

China, China, China……don’t get a tire there. That goes for Goodyear, and others….I don’t know how many times I read that. 

Highly recommended, Michelin ribs (not available under 16”), Goodyear G16’s (again 16” + wheels)….and also $280-$360 per tire plus the cost of rims in my case.  And yes, the argument is made that you get what you pay for but if a Carlisle goes 3 years without issue versus a $360 tire, I’ll go with the less expensive tire.  Well, guess I fell somewhat victim to all the complaints.

Generally speaking, I read far more complaints about just about every tire company than positive comments. But, I suppose like most things most people are drawn to complain not praise much as I am here.

All said, I think the biggest arguable contribution to tire failure from what I read is speed, overloading and under inflation.  If all three are kept in check, I expect complaints would not be on blow outs but rather age.

After total frustration of reading and going to or calling just about every local tire dealership and getting recommendation for tires I’ve never heard of before to the ones that everyone complains about I finally made a decision that took months.

Maxxis M8008 ST225/75R LRE. Why Maxxis?  Price was moderate but certainly not the cheapest. It was a name I’m familiar with. It seemed to have the least negative comments and most positive that I could find. Based on my research, did not appear to be made in China.

Why Load Range E’s?  The factory D concerned me. 11,790 / 4 = 2,947.5 per tire. Load Range E’s are 2,830. Assuming even 15% on the pin, 11,790 * 15% = 1,768 that drops it to 10,022 or 2,505 per tire.

I viewthat as breathing room with the E’s and way to close with the D’s.  After all, as full-timers we carry everything with us but stay within the proper load ratings. The 5^th wheel has two slides on each side in the back. The E’s made more sense and don’t cost that much more and gives me some peace of mind.

A beautiful Sunday at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher

Sunday was beautiful in Wilmington so we decided to go to the beach and visit the Aquarium at Fort Fisher. It's about 30 minutes south of Wilmington in Kure beach.

The Aquarium while a bit small had a lot of really nice exhibits and a outside walking trail explaining the vegetation and water foul in the area. Inside, all the regions of North Carolina were explained. They also had a hands on pond area where you could touch the various fish and shell fish. Kathy really enjoyed it. It is really amazing all the various species of fish that are in the area as well as some of the prehistoric findings they have had over the years.



Relaxing in the afternoon sun!



A hurricane water gauge outside was pretty impressive too. Seeing how much area is covered with 25' of water is something. Basically nothing is above water. The early 50's had such a hurricane.

We walked on the beach a bit from one end to the other and enjoyed the sun and breeze.

It's a great place to visit and spend the day. Cost is very reasonable at $8 a person for the aquarium. Beach and walking around Fort Fisher is free.

Enjoying the day!

So what's happened since Thanksgiving.....

The first part of December was pretty quiet. On ABC Evening News we saw a small spot on Airlee Gardens in Wilmington and their Christmas display. It was a crisp and cold night when we decided to go. The light display was nicely done, including the 500,000 lego city. Pictures say it all!

The Lego display came complete with a full city monorail and candy mountain where workers were busy digging candy out and putting it in trains that hauled it away.
                                                   

Giant Crayons

Sailboats in the ocean

A perfectly clear night.

The week before Christmas all of us flew to Colorado to see Bill graduate from Metro State. Nikki went from Friday through Monday and we stayed until the day after Christmas. The graduation was huge! Over 1,200 graduates and 3 hours long. 2 hours and 15 minutes until Bill's name was called! He has flooded the US with resumes now from California to South Carolina and everywhere in between.

The proud graduate

Colorado Convention Center - Graduation Day

On Thursday before Christmas, Wheat Ridge got about 10 inches of snow. It was nice to see knowing we would be leaving it.  We decided to go look at light displays and found a really cool house in Arvada (the neighboring city to Wheat Ridge) which was synchronized to music and sponsored by the local radio station. You an see it here: Arvada light house. A new window will open when you click on the link.

Bill, Kathy and I went to Arvada United Methodist Church for Christmas Eve services. It was very nice with the Christmas story told in music and scripture.

Opening presents on Christmas Day
What a tree!

Nikki's "Real" tree!

Christmas at Nikki's (before we left). Nikki made great Lasagna and we decorated her tree.

Our rice crispy house with a snowman, deer and other goodies took a while to assemble. I'm afraid we had some structural issues when it got warm. We probably could have used some supporting trusses as the roof started to bow in :)

Kathy and I took the red eye on the 26th arriving back in Wilmington around 12 noon. Both of us were exhausted and did nothing all day. Tuesday morning the 27th started at around 5 a.m. with me waking up with a severe headache, full body sweat and unable to stand or move because the whole room was spinning. I had been sick the week we were at Bills. Kathy could do nothing so she called an ambulance. After a bunch of tests I was admitted for more. After two days in the hospital the final prognosis was my cold settled in my inner ear causing vertigo and all the symptoms. All I know is Tuesday morning I really thought was going to be my last! I did have the best and most expensive physical for the new year. If you are ever in Wilmington and need a hospital with friendly and helpful staff go to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

After all that excitement, we had to move our RV from its October spot in the campground. It was the first time we have "packed" up since we got here. A good trial run for February, plus it was 70 degree's New Year's Day. 

Speaking of traveling, our trip begins February 11th when we head to Jacksonville, Florida for a week and spend some time with Kathy's sister and brother. After that, we are off to the gulf shores for some golf in the Pensacola, Florida area then up to Meridian, Mississippi and westward for the next couple of months. We have stops planned for the Grand Canyon, the Space Port where commercial space flights will be launched from in New Mexico, Area 51, and anything else that looks interesting. The blog will be updated at least weekly with pictures of our trip. You can follow us at Everytrail with real time travel tracking!