I did some tweaking to the "Other RV Overnight Opportunities" GPS data. I created this file for off-line mapping and I see it as kinda like a "playbook" in athletics in the way that it could give me options, or alternatives. I uploaded the file to Locus Pro (a mapping/ GPS app) on my Android OS tablet. But I didn't like the way it displayed the placemarks. So today, I changed the icons in Google Earth so that the points display something that's the same as Walmart's, Pilot's, Flying J's and Travel Centers of America's logos. Afterwards, I deleted the old tablet file and uploaded the new one.
And for the Walmarts in Ohio where overnighting is forbidden, I changed those placemarks to display a red tinted logo (the rest are the regular blue). I can toggle my custom data on, or off in Locus. If I wanted to, I can drive with it on and as the motorhome progresses, it changes the map and shows me everything on the screen contingent to my level of zoom. Personally, I prefer Google Maps for my turn by turn navigation, but Locus does other things better.
Showing posts with label parking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parking. Show all posts
2016/05/15
2015/05/13
Log 2015051301
About economy lodging in the Whipple area. I've stayed at the Magnuson Hotel By The River in Marietta
and the hotel formerly known as the Magnuson Hotel By The Interstate.
The hotel in Marietta is more like a "motel" and the establishment in Williamstown, West Virginia is what most would expect from a hotel (having interior corridors), but a works in progress. Not to mention that they've changed brands recently. I've have yet to have any bad bugs with either, They're both inexpensive, they have continental breakfasts, but they're full of carbohydrates and hikers could use some fruit.
As the webmaster of the Ohio Transit Hikers Resource, I tend to be immersed in the logistics of getting hikers to and from the trail and amenities. Now, I have data on public parking areas, but as I know now, none of them are what I call "All Weather," which are plowed areas in the winter that are attached to a plowed road that are suitable for a front wheel drive (FWD) vehicle to get in and out of should the amount of snow along the Whipple Section ever exceed 3 inches.
But make no mistake about it, the Whipple Section can be snowshoed. I don't have a set of cross country skis, but maybe them as well, too.
and the hotel formerly known as the Magnuson Hotel By The Interstate.
The hotel in Marietta is more like a "motel" and the establishment in Williamstown, West Virginia is what most would expect from a hotel (having interior corridors), but a works in progress. Not to mention that they've changed brands recently. I've have yet to have any bad bugs with either, They're both inexpensive, they have continental breakfasts, but they're full of carbohydrates and hikers could use some fruit.
As the webmaster of the Ohio Transit Hikers Resource, I tend to be immersed in the logistics of getting hikers to and from the trail and amenities. Now, I have data on public parking areas, but as I know now, none of them are what I call "All Weather," which are plowed areas in the winter that are attached to a plowed road that are suitable for a front wheel drive (FWD) vehicle to get in and out of should the amount of snow along the Whipple Section ever exceed 3 inches.
But make no mistake about it, the Whipple Section can be snowshoed. I don't have a set of cross country skis, but maybe them as well, too.
2014/06/17
Log 2014071701
I finished plotting and correcting waypoints for parking areas along the southern sections of the Buckeye Trail. At this point, I believe that I have all the information necessary to plan the trail.
2014/01/14
Log 2014010701
What I'm about to write is not exactly Facebook worthy. It's difficult to describe what I'm doing these days. And it's all a part of my "master plan." Basically, things change with transit in Ohio and I'm usually not aware of it until I scan through their websites. The Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource should be updated once annually. This year, I have a special treat. gpsvisualizer.com now has an option to merge track segments. Also, Google Maps - MyMaps has been redesigned.
Then, the Buckeye Trail Association released their centerline track data, but it comes in hundreds of track segments and my GPS's operating system will only reads about 25. So, I'm working on merging as much as I can to get the number of track segments down. But this merging isn't without it's problems. Sometimes a mysterious track connects with another track, causing a triangle. My best guess is that one of the affected segments is was recorded in the opposite order and it needs to have the coordinates in its XML language flipped around? Another possibility that comes to mind is that the web page that I'm using just has certain limitations?
There's the impending hiking trip coming up. There's no telling what condition it will be in. If the blazing isn't perfect, I learned on my last hike that having a good GPS track will help out a lot. And so, I come full circle on needing those tracks.
So basically, there's 1700 miles of major hiking trails in Ohio and it's going to take a long time to get them just right.
So, the master plan goes like this...
1. Settle in to my new living arrangement (check, it's done)
2. Save money
3. Update the transit hiking website (in progress)
4. Prepare my gear and make retrofits if necessary (the utility hauling trailer needs to be re-wired)
5. depart for Stockport Section, Pt. 3, which is Campground H of the American Electric Power"s ReCreation Land and start my hike when the weather breaks.
The problem with hiking now is The Cramper. It's heating systems have never been tested in the cold, let alone a polar vortex. And even though I just replaced the rear struts, they were cheap. And even the slightest load in the tailgate makes the back end dip. Which makes the front look higher and the HHR is front wheel drive. Another thing is what if it snows? I may have to camp somewhere on an unimproved road. Some of those are dirt, gravel, 1 1/2 lanes wide with edges for which there are no metal barriers. Sometimes the HHR drives like the Cobalt, while others its more like the Tahoe. There's no telling what it might be like if I was trying to brake down hill while pulling an extra 40% of the Chevy's weight.
With that being said, while parking near state highways might be an option, I still have to pre-position the bicycle, or retrieve it from somewhere.
On another note, my back seems to be getting better. Today is day 62. I flared it up just a little bit while taking my brother's dog for a walk a couple days ago.
Then, the Buckeye Trail Association released their centerline track data, but it comes in hundreds of track segments and my GPS's operating system will only reads about 25. So, I'm working on merging as much as I can to get the number of track segments down. But this merging isn't without it's problems. Sometimes a mysterious track connects with another track, causing a triangle. My best guess is that one of the affected segments is was recorded in the opposite order and it needs to have the coordinates in its XML language flipped around? Another possibility that comes to mind is that the web page that I'm using just has certain limitations?
There's the impending hiking trip coming up. There's no telling what condition it will be in. If the blazing isn't perfect, I learned on my last hike that having a good GPS track will help out a lot. And so, I come full circle on needing those tracks.
So basically, there's 1700 miles of major hiking trails in Ohio and it's going to take a long time to get them just right.
So, the master plan goes like this...
1. Settle in to my new living arrangement (check, it's done)
2. Save money
3. Update the transit hiking website (in progress)
4. Prepare my gear and make retrofits if necessary (the utility hauling trailer needs to be re-wired)
5. depart for Stockport Section, Pt. 3, which is Campground H of the American Electric Power"s ReCreation Land and start my hike when the weather breaks.
The problem with hiking now is The Cramper. It's heating systems have never been tested in the cold, let alone a polar vortex. And even though I just replaced the rear struts, they were cheap. And even the slightest load in the tailgate makes the back end dip. Which makes the front look higher and the HHR is front wheel drive. Another thing is what if it snows? I may have to camp somewhere on an unimproved road. Some of those are dirt, gravel, 1 1/2 lanes wide with edges for which there are no metal barriers. Sometimes the HHR drives like the Cobalt, while others its more like the Tahoe. There's no telling what it might be like if I was trying to brake down hill while pulling an extra 40% of the Chevy's weight.
With that being said, while parking near state highways might be an option, I still have to pre-position the bicycle, or retrieve it from somewhere.
On another note, my back seems to be getting better. Today is day 62. I flared it up just a little bit while taking my brother's dog for a walk a couple days ago.
2014/01/07
Log 2014010601
I received a letter in the snail mail today from my cellular provider. And in it, they stated that they performed an account review and had noticed that I was exceeding my data roaming limit. Considering that I've been at home port in Painesville of Lake County for the last 67 days with regular voice service and 4G data and in that time, I only put about 1,000 miles on my 2008 Chevy HHR, I would have to conclude that they were in reference to my extended time while on hiking/ maintenance for the Buckeye Trail. And I could only imagine that this excessive data roaming was accrued while using Google Maps and my turn-by-turn navigation moving from one place to another and finding amenities. I tried to get in contact with their Roaming Compliance Department in their last operating hour today, but there was no response.
On my smartphone, there's five bars that indicate regular voice service. When the unit goes in to voice roaming, there's a little icon and the bars start over for that. As for 4G, I only get that signal in major markets, like the Cleveland area. The rest is 3G service. But when the unit goes into data roaming, there isn't an icon. You would have to roughly assume that the data roaming service area is similar to the voice roaming area. But I know for a fact that they are not exact. Sprint has online maps that detail these areas, but I would have to download an offline copy for what I do, but I don't believe that is available. If I had an offline copy, I could upload it to Google Earth on the laptop that I carry on these trips to reference and know when I need to get paper directions.
So, I'm starting to formulate alternatives. One is getting paper directions like I mentioned.
- Purchase a automotive GPS, which would work with satellites instead of cell phone towers and be more reliable in more places.
- Purchase and install a smaller a CDMA repeater in the car so my smartphone can get regular data services in more places.
- Change my cellphone carrier to Verizon if their services suit my needs in regards to data roaming.
But what I'm really hoping for is a special package that I can add on. What does a cross country trucker do?
So far today, the air temperature was -13°F at home port. At -7°F, my 2008 Chevy HHR had a difficult time starting. It rained yesterday and froze on what was already hard packed snow... So, the Chevy did not move at all today. And the already weak tailgate release would not power up when actuated.
This morning was the first in last 64 days that I didn't notice my back ache. And considering that I tried pushing the HHR into a place where it might get some traction today, I still don't notice it. Depending on how I sit, I can still feel, but barely.
My personal task list is dwindling down as I've completed a bunch of items. The biggest hurdle now is I need to get about 45 days worth of pressure canning done before I can sit down and work on the 2014 Edition of the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource. That's January's main task. In February, I need to start getting The Cramper's materials ready for when the weather breaks in Southern Ohio.
The next recreational series will tentatively start in the City of Parkersburg, West Virginia. The plan is to bicycle to the Village of Chesterhill in Morgan County on the American Discovery Trail (ADT) in Southeast Ohio. It's about a 31 mile ride. At Chesterhill, the ADT will run concurrent with the Buckeye/ North Country Trail across the south. I have the BT/ NCT/ ADT already completed from the Village of Mount Orab in Brown County to Eden Park in the City of Cincinnati.
After the ride from Parkersburg to Chesterhill, I'll need to drive across the state to Cincinnati. The 6,800 mile ADT is kind of peculiar in that it's mostly a straight line... until it reaches Greater Cincinnati. That's when the trail splits into a loop. The south side goes to Saint Louis, Missouri and the north goes to Chicago, Ill. They rejoin near Denver, Colorado.
I'll have to find a parking spot for the car and use public transit. Before hand, I'll have to get a bike box from Amtrak (because there's are better) and use it to board the Greyhound to Richmond, Indiana. Richmond is on the Indiana/ Ohio State Line and I'd cycle south on ADT's north side, while managing to divert and pick up about 2.5 miles of the south side. And then, I'll turn around and clip through Northern Kentucky before reentering Ohio in Downtown Cincinnati, end at Eden Park and then pick up my car. That ride is about 45 miles long.
Within Ohio, cleaning up the ADT independant of the Buckeye Trail, I'll line myself up to hike about 350 miles from Chesterhill of Morgan County to Mount Orab of Brown County. When I finish at Mount Orab (which this location is tentative), I will have completed the Buckeye Trail and be eligible for the Circuit Hike Patch. Also, I'll be eligible for the North Country Trail's "Ohio" state patch. The ADT doesn't have a state patch, all I really want to say that I've completed every major trail in Ohio. And should I wish to hike, or bike across it, I'll be well on my way with having Ohio completed.
In other words, cleaning up a few minor ends will allow me to clean up and finish everything on one course while the three trails are running concurrent with each other on the same route. That's my "plan of attack."
On my smartphone, there's five bars that indicate regular voice service. When the unit goes in to voice roaming, there's a little icon and the bars start over for that. As for 4G, I only get that signal in major markets, like the Cleveland area. The rest is 3G service. But when the unit goes into data roaming, there isn't an icon. You would have to roughly assume that the data roaming service area is similar to the voice roaming area. But I know for a fact that they are not exact. Sprint has online maps that detail these areas, but I would have to download an offline copy for what I do, but I don't believe that is available. If I had an offline copy, I could upload it to Google Earth on the laptop that I carry on these trips to reference and know when I need to get paper directions.
So, I'm starting to formulate alternatives. One is getting paper directions like I mentioned.
- Purchase a automotive GPS, which would work with satellites instead of cell phone towers and be more reliable in more places.
- Purchase and install a smaller a CDMA repeater in the car so my smartphone can get regular data services in more places.
- Change my cellphone carrier to Verizon if their services suit my needs in regards to data roaming.
But what I'm really hoping for is a special package that I can add on. What does a cross country trucker do?
So far today, the air temperature was -13°F at home port. At -7°F, my 2008 Chevy HHR had a difficult time starting. It rained yesterday and froze on what was already hard packed snow... So, the Chevy did not move at all today. And the already weak tailgate release would not power up when actuated.
This morning was the first in last 64 days that I didn't notice my back ache. And considering that I tried pushing the HHR into a place where it might get some traction today, I still don't notice it. Depending on how I sit, I can still feel, but barely.
My personal task list is dwindling down as I've completed a bunch of items. The biggest hurdle now is I need to get about 45 days worth of pressure canning done before I can sit down and work on the 2014 Edition of the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource. That's January's main task. In February, I need to start getting The Cramper's materials ready for when the weather breaks in Southern Ohio.
The next recreational series will tentatively start in the City of Parkersburg, West Virginia. The plan is to bicycle to the Village of Chesterhill in Morgan County on the American Discovery Trail (ADT) in Southeast Ohio. It's about a 31 mile ride. At Chesterhill, the ADT will run concurrent with the Buckeye/ North Country Trail across the south. I have the BT/ NCT/ ADT already completed from the Village of Mount Orab in Brown County to Eden Park in the City of Cincinnati.
After the ride from Parkersburg to Chesterhill, I'll need to drive across the state to Cincinnati. The 6,800 mile ADT is kind of peculiar in that it's mostly a straight line... until it reaches Greater Cincinnati. That's when the trail splits into a loop. The south side goes to Saint Louis, Missouri and the north goes to Chicago, Ill. They rejoin near Denver, Colorado.
I'll have to find a parking spot for the car and use public transit. Before hand, I'll have to get a bike box from Amtrak (because there's are better) and use it to board the Greyhound to Richmond, Indiana. Richmond is on the Indiana/ Ohio State Line and I'd cycle south on ADT's north side, while managing to divert and pick up about 2.5 miles of the south side. And then, I'll turn around and clip through Northern Kentucky before reentering Ohio in Downtown Cincinnati, end at Eden Park and then pick up my car. That ride is about 45 miles long.
Within Ohio, cleaning up the ADT independant of the Buckeye Trail, I'll line myself up to hike about 350 miles from Chesterhill of Morgan County to Mount Orab of Brown County. When I finish at Mount Orab (which this location is tentative), I will have completed the Buckeye Trail and be eligible for the Circuit Hike Patch. Also, I'll be eligible for the North Country Trail's "Ohio" state patch. The ADT doesn't have a state patch, all I really want to say that I've completed every major trail in Ohio. And should I wish to hike, or bike across it, I'll be well on my way with having Ohio completed.
In other words, cleaning up a few minor ends will allow me to clean up and finish everything on one course while the three trails are running concurrent with each other on the same route. That's my "plan of attack."
2013/12/04
Log 2013120401
As you can see, these logs are also used as maintenance records. Normally, it takes a website 3 - 9 months to be cataloged by something like Google to come up in a search result. Because this log is on Blogger, and it's a part of Google, my log entries tend to get indexed by their search engine much faster. So, I'm careful to mention my car's year, make, model, edition and mileage. Also, my blog entries can be searched from my user interface. I can use that to determine if I performed a certain repair before? If there's any "tricks" to making the repair easier? Or, I might be able to determine if there's pattern of some kind? Or, I can use it to estimate when a part that I worked on before will go bad (such as the brakes, which were fully replaced recently noted as per the log)? In this case, when down trail for extended periods of time, it would be advantageous to anticipate its replacement.
The #'s 22 & 69 and spare 10amp fuses on my 2008 Chevy HHR LS were replaced at 130,073 miles on the odometer in Cleveland Heights of Cuyahoga County. The #69 is a 10amp fuse for the air conditioner. There's nothing wrong with that system at the moment. It's just that I ended up needing it because I was out of spare 10amp fuses and it was expendable this time of year.
The #22 slot is for the rear parking lights. I transferred #69's fuse into the #22 slot while the trailer was hitched and it blew that as soon as I it a load (power). There is no doubt anymore that the trailer's wiring has a short that is causing a power surge greater than 10amp to try and get through the fuse box.
This isn't the first time that the trailer has had a short that blew the #22 fuse. At one time, I believe that it blew one of the rear taillight bulb filaments. Because I have one package of 2 bulbs with one of the missing, and then another full pack in addition. I think that I used that one bulb because one of my turn signal filaments was burnt out.
The trailer's electrical seems to work on a series circuit.
The brake lights and turn signals have been unaffected. Since the parking lamps only come on with the headlights and hi-beams (but not the daytime running lights), they're irrelevant during the day. So, I've been using it to haul items to the dump and transport plywood.
Well, the trailer will need a couple hours for me to wire it correctly. And I'd rather do that at my storage unit under daylight where the drive is paved and is easier on the caster wheels to sit on and roll into storage. Because I think that the problem with the trailer's wiring was that the unit was folded into it's storage mode where the back part of the deck is unbolted and folded onto the front. Then unit is tilted up from its main to the caster wheels and rolled into storage vertically. When the trailer was assembled, it was never wired while the unit was in storage mode. The wiring came after and I never bothered to check it in that configuration.
Well, when I folded the trailer into storage mode last month, the wiring was a bit tight. And it's very possible that I may have stretched and broken the insulation shielding somewhere along the frame. Regardless, the wiring needs to be re-routed through custom drilled holes anyways and get clamped to the frame in a way that accommodates its storage mode.
The #'s 22 & 69 and spare 10amp fuses on my 2008 Chevy HHR LS were replaced at 130,073 miles on the odometer in Cleveland Heights of Cuyahoga County. The #69 is a 10amp fuse for the air conditioner. There's nothing wrong with that system at the moment. It's just that I ended up needing it because I was out of spare 10amp fuses and it was expendable this time of year.
The #22 slot is for the rear parking lights. I transferred #69's fuse into the #22 slot while the trailer was hitched and it blew that as soon as I it a load (power). There is no doubt anymore that the trailer's wiring has a short that is causing a power surge greater than 10amp to try and get through the fuse box.
This isn't the first time that the trailer has had a short that blew the #22 fuse. At one time, I believe that it blew one of the rear taillight bulb filaments. Because I have one package of 2 bulbs with one of the missing, and then another full pack in addition. I think that I used that one bulb because one of my turn signal filaments was burnt out.
The trailer's electrical seems to work on a series circuit.
The brake lights and turn signals have been unaffected. Since the parking lamps only come on with the headlights and hi-beams (but not the daytime running lights), they're irrelevant during the day. So, I've been using it to haul items to the dump and transport plywood.
Well, the trailer will need a couple hours for me to wire it correctly. And I'd rather do that at my storage unit under daylight where the drive is paved and is easier on the caster wheels to sit on and roll into storage. Because I think that the problem with the trailer's wiring was that the unit was folded into it's storage mode where the back part of the deck is unbolted and folded onto the front. Then unit is tilted up from its main to the caster wheels and rolled into storage vertically. When the trailer was assembled, it was never wired while the unit was in storage mode. The wiring came after and I never bothered to check it in that configuration.
Well, when I folded the trailer into storage mode last month, the wiring was a bit tight. And it's very possible that I may have stretched and broken the insulation shielding somewhere along the frame. Regardless, the wiring needs to be re-routed through custom drilled holes anyways and get clamped to the frame in a way that accommodates its storage mode.
2013/07/23
Log 2013072301
I woke up at 0230hrs this morning, had some cerial and laid back down for a while. After watching several hours of Star Trek, I started doing some final packing and loaded items in my car.
The trailer is getting heavy and I normally have to pick it up and slam it down for the hitch coupler to lock. Well, the driveway was down hill and one of the wheels must have drifted out and I missed the mark. That brought the trailer's tounge down to the cement where it pinned my left ring finger against it and my chains. Luckily, I was able to lift it off with getting only a scratch.
The new rear struts did nothing to lift the car when hitched. So far, the back end still sags. With the hitch receiver being so extended, I still have to be very careful when coming up or down curbs, or a part in the road that suddenly drops. The car still maneuvers around turns like it's top heavy. That could be due to the gear in the roof bag, which is a recent edition.
I ate breakfast at Bob Evans this morning where I had an omlet, home fries and orange juice. Afterwards, I got to the VA an hour and a half early. Parking the trailer was easy as I found two spots, one in front of the other on the 3rd parking deck. Normally, I have to park on the 4th deck by dropping the trailer in one spot and parking the car next to it.
I think some people would ask me if I trust my gear there? I do. In a 1.7 mile block, there are 5 police departments. The VA and University Circle is probably the safest place to be in Cleveland. I like to call it an "oasis."
After having a medical appointment, getting a prescription filled, making an optometry appointment and having lunch, I was out the door. And bound for Base Camp Delta at Punderson State Park.
Because the VA in Cleveland's Wade Park closer to the center of the city's eastside, the quickest way to Punderson was to take Mayfield Road through Little Italy, Coventry, South Euclid, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Gates Mills, Chesterland to Sperry Road, then OH-87. I'm familiar with the route on Mayfield, it was part of my 21 mile hike from the VA to Lake County this past winter.
I'm in Punderson now. It's a beautiful campground, probably the 2nd best that I've ever been to. I believe that I'm 2.7 miles from the Burton Section - Buckeye Trail. Punderson isn't directly on it, so I'm not sure.
The trailer is getting heavy and I normally have to pick it up and slam it down for the hitch coupler to lock. Well, the driveway was down hill and one of the wheels must have drifted out and I missed the mark. That brought the trailer's tounge down to the cement where it pinned my left ring finger against it and my chains. Luckily, I was able to lift it off with getting only a scratch.
The new rear struts did nothing to lift the car when hitched. So far, the back end still sags. With the hitch receiver being so extended, I still have to be very careful when coming up or down curbs, or a part in the road that suddenly drops. The car still maneuvers around turns like it's top heavy. That could be due to the gear in the roof bag, which is a recent edition.
I ate breakfast at Bob Evans this morning where I had an omlet, home fries and orange juice. Afterwards, I got to the VA an hour and a half early. Parking the trailer was easy as I found two spots, one in front of the other on the 3rd parking deck. Normally, I have to park on the 4th deck by dropping the trailer in one spot and parking the car next to it.
I think some people would ask me if I trust my gear there? I do. In a 1.7 mile block, there are 5 police departments. The VA and University Circle is probably the safest place to be in Cleveland. I like to call it an "oasis."
After having a medical appointment, getting a prescription filled, making an optometry appointment and having lunch, I was out the door. And bound for Base Camp Delta at Punderson State Park.
Because the VA in Cleveland's Wade Park closer to the center of the city's eastside, the quickest way to Punderson was to take Mayfield Road through Little Italy, Coventry, South Euclid, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Gates Mills, Chesterland to Sperry Road, then OH-87. I'm familiar with the route on Mayfield, it was part of my 21 mile hike from the VA to Lake County this past winter.
I'm in Punderson now. It's a beautiful campground, probably the 2nd best that I've ever been to. I believe that I'm 2.7 miles from the Burton Section - Buckeye Trail. Punderson isn't directly on it, so I'm not sure.
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