The Final Evaluation

Well, Tom and I have had THE talk.  And the final decision is............

Prepper Heaven...

NO WAY.  We like the creature comforts way too much.

No really.  After a conversation about the why we were considering this and what was available, it doesn't seem to fit us.  The big ones are over $100,000 and we would have to tow a small vehicle for day trips; the tow-behind trailers leave me in a gas guzzling truck for everyday travel, and it isn't cheap either - especially if you add the cost of the truck in.....

We did get used to driving the Model C, but were never really comfortable above 60 - that increased our travel time to +50% it seemed (doesn't make sense but that is what happened).  Probably more stopping for lunch at out of the way parks and then making lunch instead of just pulling off the interstate and getting some fast food.  And there was all that setting up and then you had to spend a lot of time getting ready to hit the road the next day.  The suspension was hard on us, but the Class C we were in had 130,000 miles on it - so not the best test.

I did find out that I did not need a gourmet kitchen to feed us and that we did perfectly well in the small kitchen.  We did grill out one night but the ticket would have been to bring a tailgate grill.  We just didn't have enough charcoal to get a good fire going for any of the park/campground grills on the trip.

With all the traveling we have done in the last 10 years, it seems like a condo or timeshare might just fit us better.  So we'll look into that.

They do relocate new RVs from Chicago to all over the country in the fall, so that might still be a possibility to try.  I mapped a trip from Chicago to Seattle and that took us through all the prime Northwest park areas - that might be fun.  And there was a relocation from Seattle to Phoenix (Phoenix seems to be a hub), that could take us through Crater, Down Northern California, Napa, see Jimmy and the kids in Rancho Chucomungo and then on to Phoenix.

The other thing is that we had really started to consider this when we were hiking and backpacking.  And with my knee and Tom's feet, we are pretty much half-day hikers now.

Final Day in the RV - On the Road to Orlando

We had coffee and some zucchini bread and then go on the road south.  The mileage was 137321 leaving Jacksonville.

We found A1A just south of the Hanna Jacksonville City Park we stayed in and headed south listening to Jimmy Buffet songs, and well as Micheal McCloud.  We traveled down to St. Augustine and then A1A moved right along side the beach - listening to both of the beach singers.  I just can't wait until the first of the year and Key West.

An old favorite!!

A1A - Buffet's Highway

We spent about an hour on A1A and got down almost to Daytona, but then decided to get over to 95 South and make some time.  We have a lot packing, sorting, throwing out, and cleaning to do before we leave tomorrow.  We were able to get decent seats on the plane by getting the boarding passes done as we drove.  We stopped in a County park and had a nice, simple lunch of the sandwich meat and a french roll left over from the night before. 

We continued down through central Florida trying to make sure we didn't get on a toll road - we forgot the EZPass and we hear they put a $25 surcharge on the tolls when you rent.

We made it to RV campground and checked in.  Quite the setup here.  It's lots of RV sites and these little single wide cabins - I'll get a picture in the morning.  The campground isn't really that full, but there are people here who travel with all the chachkies - lights, plants, gnomes, flags.  It will give you nightmares. 

I didn't want to be too close - Plants, lights, flags, gnomes

We met a young couple with 3 children all under the age of 5.  They had been RVing for the last 11 months, never staying anyplace for more than 4-5 days.  EXCEPT for the time they spent 3 weeks in OK when she gave birth.  They were young and I guess enjoyed it, but not for me.

Although Tom offered to take me out to dinner, I thought the best thing was to stay in, cook what we had left, throw out what needed to be pitched, and start getting ready for tomorrow.  We have to have the tin can turned in and be at the airport before noon.  That will be pushing it considering how fast we have been moving on this trip.

Jacksonville – the Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in the World

That’s what they call this weekend – the UGA Bulldogs vs. Florida Gators football game at Jacksonville. I don’t know why it’s here and not at one of the schools, but for whatever reason the game has historically been here except for a few years of bad weather or stadium construction  – maybe they need a bigger stadium or maybe they need better or more cops than the Campus boys.

Part of the campground here was rollin’ by 11 am. Game isn’t until 3:30, but we are in a much more secluded area of the campground away from where the Gators are partying. There are a lot of kids in our area, but they are fun to watch and didn’t stay up late drinking. We saw and said HI to a few Dawgs - they were just wishing that they didn't get embarrassed.  As it turned out they did - just like the Terps.

Wasn't even thinking about doing that!

After cooking breakfast, we took a walk out to the Atlantic Ocean beach and I got to put my toes in the Ocean, and it was really nice, much warmer than the Pacific in California in July.  We tooled around the area and walked either 4.4 miles or 2 miles depending on whose smart phone is the smartest.

Great walkway to the beach

Tom taking in the view while I walk down to the beach

Since we didn't have WiFi for the two days we were in this park, getting a post up was challenging.  I authored in Word and then airdropped from my iPad to Tom’s iPhone and then he emailed it to me and I pasted it into the Blogger app on my phone. A lot of steps and I couldn’t insert the picture in the text exactly where I wanted them but was able to post. I can always fix that later. And I figured out how to invite people from a mobile situation but I have to do the Blogger site inside of Safari and then I can access that function. I also checked the data usage and we used about .5 gb (much more than any other place) but it should be alright since the only critical thing is getting a boarding pass for the plane trip home.

Tom’s taking his shower now and we decided to spend the day in camp and get things organized and ready for tomorrow and the trip home. We had leftover shrimp and polenta for lunch.  It is time to start thinking leftovers.  I put some of the cornbread from an earlier dinner in with the polenta – and although it was sweet, the shrimp needed some spicy hot so by the time we added hot sauce, it made a pretty good mix. We are a little up on supplies, but we are thinking about freezing some of the food and transporting home – we’ll see.

On the walk earlier, we came across small, rustic cabins which seem to be more and more an option in parks and campgrounds. I’ll see if we can integrate that into travels, if we don't RV.

Dinner by the campfire - the bugs were irritating

We had dinner of pork chops, baked beans, and sauerkraut and home made apple sauce - 

by the cracking fire.

Tom taught me how to play Casino - which I am terrible at.  It's a card game from Italy and I just can't recognize the point cards.   We really went to bed early (about 9) but did re-positioned the RV so our heads weren't lower than our feet - that helped both of us sleep better.

The Hanna City Park in Jacksonville was really quite nice.  The sites gave a feeling of real seclusion, but really weren't that far apart.  Everyone (except the staff) was very friendly.  The bathhouses were dated, but very adequate and semi-private and very clean.  Over all - with the Atlantic Ocean just a short walk away - I will keep it in mind as someplce to stop.  About $30 a night for a campsite; I don't have a clue about the cost of the cabins.

Our campsite in the rear of the park.

We stayed the second night and packed up after some zucchini bread and coffee for breakfast.  As we were sitting out, I looked up and all you could see was the blue sky, live oaks and Spanish moss.

Spanish moss hanging from the tall trees over our campsite

We headed out to Kissimmee about 10 am on Sunday, got to pass the Gentlemen's Club at the entrance and headed south on A1A.

To Jacksonville

Friday –

We left Hilton Head about noon heading for a Jacksonville City Park.  When I tried to make reservations a week ago, the State and National Parks in the area were either filled up or didn't take 30 ft RVs.

So far, it's been interesting.  I thought we would be rolling earlier each day so I had planned all types of stops based on the travel time in either the AAA app or Google Maps - apparently they are clocked at the speed limit and we did not feel comfortable going 70 MPH in that RV.  So we have had to adjust the travel schedule, and we are making much less stops than I planned.

We stopped for gas and bought shrimp (not at the same place) for shrimp and grits tonight.  Oh yes,  and I needed to get some white wine.  Lois and I left the wine inventory in shambles, but c’est la vie.  We have enough red to get us through but I needed white for the wine sauce.  We then had to feed the tin can - another 30 gals.  

We decided we needed to get serious and start putting on some miles down the road to the city park in Jacksonville.  The reviews said something about the park being between a helicopter base and a topless bar.  There is no WiFi in this campground but the idea was to try different things.    

It is supposed to be across the street from the ocean.  The weather has really cleared up since we left Florence.  It is warm and sunny.   And gas is less than $2.00.   Lovin’ it. 

We got the iPod charged at Lois & Pat’s so we are listening to our tunes now.  The sound system in the RV is surprisingly good.  We finally have learned to secure everything before hitting the road and it’s been awhile since the coffee pot rolled out when we took a turn or we noticed that we didn’t put the cover on the gas tank, or left the windows open and were wondering why it was so noisy???  

As we headed south on 95, we started to notice Red UGa flags and some orange UF flags on cars going down the road and when I looked it up there is a football game Saturday afternoon between the Dawgs and the Gators.   Tom remembered that Tommy Lee called it something special and when I looked it up – it’s the LARGEST OUTDOOR COCKTAIL PARTY IN THE WORLD.  We started to think about the wisdom of being in town for something like that, especially when 20% of the vehicles traveling south were RVs.  And I had trouble booking a campsite a week before we started this adventure. So as we were coming down 95 toward Florida we stopped at a Georgia Welcome Center and let me tell you – not so welcoming!!  I asked the elderly woman about the game and whether or not we should be considering another area to visit and she  told me she could not help us  – to check with the Florida Welcome Center.  And I used to think Georgia people were really friendly.  

Leaving Georgia - Entering Florida

But regardless of the red flags, we decided to go on to the campground.  It seemed that the campground was removed from the game and if it was crazy we could just leave for Orlando early. We finally got to the campground – Hanna City Park, and I must say the staff was about as friendly as the horse hornets in my orchard earlier this year.  Although there was a camp store on the website and the map, we were told NO - not even.  The camp store was in fact a building - just deserted.  They were also about as helpful as a snake on how the campsite was set up and how best to pull in. Once we got to the site, everything was easy enough.  The place had to have been sprayed lately (almost no bugs), and we had a fire circle with grate set up.  No WiFi but that was good too, fo a change.  About ready to become unplugged. 

Shrimp and Grits!!!

 We settled in – the water seems to work here.  Shrimp and grits for dinner.  It needed some hot, but it was pretty damn good.  Should have brought some citronella candles (or just plain candles).  We had dinner outside and it was pretty good, but it was almost dark by the time I got it together.  Tom found a flashlight app to see by – I wonder if they have a romantic candle app?  By the time we washed up, it was time for dessert – blackberry cobbler and ice cream.  

"I'm glad we bought the wine glasses!  Hate drink wine out of red solo cups"

 Several hands of Casino later, and time to go to bed.  As I said – no WiFi - but I could compose Blog entries on the iPad to be uploaded later.  Getting tired and going to finally sack out. 

NOTE TO SELF – check bridges on route and make sure Tom is driving those (the one on 295 outside of Jacksonville made me very nervous).  ALSO – check for EVENTS in the areas we are visiting, and ask for maps and tourism packages 2 months in advance.  In fact when we get home we should request from all states.  Check AAA app – although worked like a champ the first couple of days, it stopped work (I think after I edited the route using the mobile app instead of the one from my desktop at home) - need to check that.  (Looked into that at home and somehow I added a pharmacy with no address - that might have been the problem).

Down To Hilton Head

Thursday

We left Florence, SC - bidding farewell to Lois & Pat.  We got out of the driveway without taking down their nice brick column – but it was touch and go there for a while.  We filled up the tank with $1.72 gallon gas and headed to 95 and points south.  The mileage was 136935 at the gas station fill up as we left Florence - about $30.   And the guage said 211 miles to empty at the start of the fill up and 470 miles to empty after.  So rough estimate of miles traveled was 260.

We decided to try another state park for lunch and decided on Santee South Carolina State Park.  We made sandwiches and set down at a picnic table and then the mosquitoes, no-see-um's, and black flies descended.  We moved to the lunch table inside the camper and finished up lunch.  The lake was nice, but must be man made – a lot of dead trees.

Entrance to Santee State Park

Tom heard the lunch bell - really just getting the paper towels.

The trip to Hilton Head was really uneventful and we rolled into the campsite about 4 pm.  We got to choose our site, and got one that was fairly secluded, and had passable WiFi - if you stood down wind and on one foot.  But who cares, we’re supposed to be roughing it.

We had Tom's chili for dinner (we forgot to stop and get shrimp on the way in), and played some cards, Tom’s ahead now – to be continued.  And then we hit the bed.  Driving the tin can is a nerve racking experience, but I think we are both getting better at it.  The temperature had to be in the 70's and we were near the ocean and even with all the vegetation, we had a good breeze so we left the tin can open and it was really quite pleasant.  This is a fairly expensive campground (I splurged to see how the other half lives).  So, it is a sort of senior community.  Curbside trash pick up, spa, hot tub, 2 pools, and on-site restaurant (reservations required) that is supposed to be 5 star.  It also looks like it is a condo – each site privately owned and rented out, so each site's amenities are a little different.

Our campsite at Hilton Head

A view on my walk to the showers.

The city water works OK, and we get running water when we are in camp and hooked up.  It looks like something is wrong with the tank and pump, it keeps leaking so we turn it on and off as needed.

Bathhouse - pretty good

The bathhouse was nice - nothing as nice as Four Oaks on Day 1.

Florence SC

Tuesday and Wednesday

Visited Lois & Pat

We left Four Oaks, NC and decided with the additional time we seem to need to get from place to place in the RV, the 5 hours I had mapped out to visit Southport and Oak Island would turn into 7 and we'd be rolling into Florence about 8 pm.  We decided to find a place (like a park) to eat lunch and spend some time and then head to Florence.  While I was looking on the AAA site, I came across a State Park - the Jones Lake State Park.  It was on our way and had a lake and some natural interest, so there we were.  

Turns out Jones Lake opened in the summer of 1939 as the first state park for African Americans. It was open as a strictly African American park until the 1960 when it became fully integrated.  It had a lake, concessions, and all types of camp activities.  It had a little informational educational display in the camp headquarters.

State Park where we ate lunch.

For lunch we finished the hamburger sliders from the night before.  Tom is learning to take the battery out of the smoke alarm when I use the cook-top - the exhaust fan doesn't do much exhausting.  After lunch we took a stroll around the lake, and then headed out to Florence.  We got to Lois & Pat's about 4 and sat down (happy not to  be moving) and caught up and then Lois made us her amazing seafood casserole.  We sat up and swapped life stories and then crashed.  The Tempur-Pedic bed was great and Tom's feet didn't hang off the end by 2 feet.

Next morning, we headed out to Myrtle Beach with Lois & Pat to spend the day cruzin' and have dinner.  We had a great day, rain held off until we headed back to Florence, and we had lunch on the boardwalk and dinner at Captain George's and stopped by Barefoot Landing to spend a little time and money.  

Just what MiMi needs - in a store at Barefoot Landing.

Horror of horrors - the Twisted Kilt Bar and Restaurant was closed.  We'll have to check it out in March, but this could be a setback for Spring.

Got back to Florence safe and sound with Pat being the driver - didn't have much energy and crashed about the moment we got home.  

We did pick up the Rx for my sinusitis so we'll see how that ruins the trip - my system has never liked antibiotics much, but it felt like my face was in a vice, so I gave up and called the doctor.  He was a sweetie and after talking to me called in the prescription.  Told me it served me right for being in an RV.

The Adventure Begins

Monday - Day 1

Well the adventure has begun with the routine misteps.  I left my phone at Parbuoni's the night before we left, and so it was dead by the time I figured out where it was and we picked up on our way out of town, then I plugged the wrong address of the Cruise America into the the phone navigation and we ended up in an empty lot  - thank god, not too far from the actual location.

Heading into Virginia over the Wilson Bridge to pick up the RV

And just to make things interesting, when we were doing the walkthrough on the camper the water pump didn't come on, so it took them about an hour to get that straight.

We got on the road about 1:30 PM.  Will Check miliage from the paperwork.  Thought we had a snafu with the checkin paperwork, but I had picked up someone else's from the glove box.  We finally got on the road and took the backroads from Manassas and picked up 95 at Fredericksburg.

Note: It might have been an idea to come and get the RV and then bring it down and load it up.  I probably would have a tendancy to overpack but we would have brought a mattress pad - another thing we forgot.

We got out of Northern Virginia, stopped outside Richmond for lunch - sandwiches in the welcome center parking lot.  View - big class A's on both sides of us - both towing small cars.  I took the picture before the class A's showed up. 

First meal in the camper - Rest stop in Virginia

I took over the driving and went as far Emporia where we stopped and got gas at $1.81 per galleon.  Whoo-hoo!!!  Wasn't bad driving although the turn radius on the rig was a bit large.  The steering is loose so you have to stay on top of it, but once we got past Petersburg the traffic thinned out a bit.  It seems like the water pump went out again, we'll see when we stop.  Probably can get it fixed in Florence when we layover 2 nights.  We'll make a call tonight.  Took a wrong turn out of the gas station and paralleled 95 for about  10 miles until we found a exit.

Neither Tom or I feel confident with this monster over 60, so the travel times that the mapping software gave us was an underestimate.  I need to figure out how to adjust the software or just add 20%???

Tom forgot the old MAC charger for the iPod so the music is limited - but it really doesn't matter when we are the road - a lot of cabin noise.  You almost have to yell at each other - not quite, but really loud.

We made it to to Four Oaks after dark as I said the estimates I got from the mapping software were off.  The owners were great - put us in the front of the park.  Came out and showed us how to hook up - and it's really not that chilly.

Four Oaks, NC - First Night

Seems like the water pump is still not working and the pressure at the water hookup is really high, so it charges the water system but then it circulates the water through the holding tank and it sprays out that outlet.  If it was the middle of summer, the neighborhood kids would have a blast.  But we are hooked up to electricity, thank goodness and it looks like the WiFi works.  Currently we are listening to music and sort of glad we don't have a TV.  It will give us a break from the heartbreak of watching the Ravens, although Toms just said they scored - he's checking it on the internet.  

Cooked dinner, set off the smoke alarm, the light is not working in the RV bathroom. and the garters on the sheets are not holding - queen mattresses in campers are not full size.  Tom was NO help getting the garters on - no experience with those things.  Considering his age, I am sort of disappointed.

Dinner is finished; the bed is made, and Tom just told me he had worried that we had brought too much to drink, but based on what we have drank so far, he is no longer concerned.  I really didn't think we bought that much - planning on leaving some wine and canning from this summer at Lois's.

BTW - the color in Virginia as we came south to Richmond was beautiful.  If anyone has a chance, take a drive and enjoy the colors.  I have to figure how to get Tom's pictures in this.  My camera/phone wasn't charged yet as we went through.

Thee bathrooms here are very nice, private and tiled - almost like a spa.  Definitely not the state park issue.  

Nicest Bathroom of the trip!!  Blue Ribbon!

The photo doesn't quite do it justice and I have found that the app for blogging leaves much to be desired.