Stuff Happens!

June 20th – 25th

Monday
Today we decided to adventure out and explore a park in Salt Springs which is about 30 miles south from the Lake Okalawaha KOA Campground. We arrived at the Ocala National Forest/Salt Springs Recreational Area at 10:30 am. What a beautiful area!

They offer 106 sites for camping with full hookups (water, electric and sewage) and 54 sites with no hookups. Other activities are boating, fishing, hiking, picnicking and swimming. Visitors can rent boats and canoes near the Salt Springs Marina. Picnicking and swimming in the springs is one of the favorite things to do at the park.

According to their brochure, the Salt Springs water contains no salt, but a variety of minerals and rare trace elements that gives a mild salt taste to the cold spring water that flows at the rate of 52 million gallons per day. Salt Springs is a natural spring rising from vertical fissures (cracks) deep within the earth. The presence of potassium, magnesium, and sodium salts give the water in the spring a slight salinity, hence the name Salt Springs. In the early 1900s many people came to the spring, believing it had medicinal healing powers.

The manatees come to the Salt Springs in the winter months. This park does not allow any swimming in the winter months. If we are here in the winter I would definitely go back and see the manatees and hang out in the park.

I will say it is a very relaxing, beautiful and peaceful place. I was amazed how clear the Spring was. It was a beautiful day with the temperatures in the low 80’s with a light cool breeze. I could hang out here all day. The water temperature is a constant 72 degrees year-round. It was too cold for me in the morning so we decided to go into town for lunch and grocery shopping. I wanted to go back to the springs and enjoy more of the wonderful energy of the place. It was around 2:00 pm with the temperature around 86 degrees and we decided to do a little hike to get hot and sweaty then go swimming afterward. We hiked on the Bear Swamp Trail.

The trail was about a mile and half long. It was beautiful and relaxing to walk in the forest with lots of cabbage palms, Water Oak trees, Live Oak trees, Cypress trees, Spanish moss, Pine trees, and with plenty of little gnats and flies to bug us along the way. lol

On the trail they built a nice long boardwalk over the semi-dried swamp area.

Ed spotted a Pygmy rattle snake curled up and sleeping in the sun light next to the boardwalk. Geez, that was way to close for my comfort.

Pygmy Rattle Snake

Ed loves to play with critters and decided to nudge it. It woke up and I wasn’t happy about that. It just looked at Ed and did nothing. lol Ed laughed and I walked away. lol He is a crazy nuts to be messing with a poisonous snake.

After the hike we were all hot and sweaty and ready to go swimming in the 72 degrees spring water. Oh my goodness it was cold when I first jump in but I got used to it. The springs had three areas called boils where the water was coming up from the ground. It had lots of rocks around it that we could swim around it. We could stand up on the rocks or sand in some of the area but other areas were probably 6 feet or more deep. There were plenty of bream, striped bass and blue crabs in the springs to see.

The rocks in Salt Springs

Oh we so enjoyed swimming in the springs. I can see why the springs were considered a medicinal healing power back in the day. I could feel a subtle or gentle energy in the water and felt very relaxed and calm. I didn’t want to get out but I was getting a little cold. We stayed at the park for about two hours.

View from the entrance

Beautiful Oak Trees as we walked to the spring

I appreciate the park taking good care of the area and hope the public enjoys the beauty of what mother nature brings us. Thank you mother nature for expressing your beauty for all of us to see and experience. What a great way to end the day.

Tuesday
Later in the afternoon around 2:00 pm, Ed and I wanted to see the other natural springs in the Ocala National Forest area. They have four natural springs; Alexander Springs, Juniper Springs, Salt Springs and Silver Glen Springs. All of the springs connect to Lake George, the second largest lake in Florida. We have seen Salt Springs so our first stop was at Silver Glen Springs.

This spring flows about 65 million gallons of water per day. That is an amazing amount of water. They offer hiking, picnicking, canoe rentals and all year-round swimming and snorkeling.

This spring did not have rocks but did have plenty of grass and sand. The water appeared shallow compared to Salt Springs but it was nice and clear. It is a very well used park. There were lots of boats and people swimming in the spring. It was too crowded for our liking to swim in the springs. To me, the energy of the place felt very congested and a little chaotic. So we went to the next spring, Juniper Springs which is about 15 miles south from Silver Glen Springs.

According to their brochure, Juniper Springs Recreation Area is one of the oldest and best-known National Forest recreation areas in the Southeast. Constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), it has semi-tropical scenery not found on any other National Forest in the continental United States. The combined daily water flow from Juniper and Fern Hammock Springs is about 13 million gallons per day. Day-use activities include picnicking, snorkeling, bird watching, camping, hiking, canoeing and all year-round swimming. They have 78 camp sites with no hookups.

Watermill at Juniper Springs

The spring has a watermill that was used back in the mill days. It does bring water to the Juniper Creek that travels all the way to Lake George. The swimming area of the spring was rather small and looked like a pool area.

The water was murky from the sands being stirred up. It didn’t have the same peaceful feeling as Salt Springs did. So we went back to Salt Springs. It was 4:00 pm by the time we got there and it wasn’t crowded with people. We went swimming and it was again very refreshing, peaceful, and calm. I could get addicted to that place. We left Salt Springs by 6:00 pm and headed back to our campground and had a very nice and relaxing evening.

Wednesday
On Tuesday Ed got our sticker for our RV license plate from America Choice RV that we have been waiting to receive for the last two weeks. Oh so glad that the wait is over. So today we went to the DMV to register our domicile to Green Cove Springs by using the RV license plate as our domicile address. Then we registered both of our vehicles and then we registered to vote. The DMV at Green Cove Springs were so knowledgable about our situation and very helpful resolving any issue that we had. I highly recommend them if any of you are interested in using Green Cove Springs as your domicile address.

Now we are just waiting for our mattress to arrive this Friday and then leave to our next destination. Fingers crossed that all will work out. lol

Thursday
Ed spent most of the morning fixing the leak on our bedroom slide out. The bedroom slide completely blocks the hallway when it is in the stowed position. In order to remove the piece of corner moulding I had to have Tracey bring the slide in while I was in the wardrobe closet where I could get access to one of the mounting screws. After I removed that one screw I had Tracey put the slide back out so I could get out of the bedroom and finish the work. I removed the piece of corner moulding and cleaned up the old putty and silicone caulking. Then I put new putty tape in the moulding and re-attached the moulding except for the one screw you can not reach from the outside. There was a line of silicone caulking on the fascia that was detaching from the surface so I removed it and cleaned the surfaces. I applied a new bead of silicone to the moulding and the fascia. I have to give GE some credit for the silicone, it really went on smooth and easy. Maybe the 97 degree temperature I was working in had something to do with that. After that Tracey and I repeated the process of bringing the slide in so I could get that last screw installed.

I worked on our blog and did some laundry in our RV. Oh I am liking our washer and dryer in the RV. The one thing I am getting used to is that when the washer is spinning fast it rocks the RV a little. So there is a little rock n roll going on in our RV. lol

Later in the afternoon around 3:30 pm we went back to Salt Springs for the last time. There were a lot more people and kids in the springs this time. I didn’t feel as relaxed as I did the other times but I did enjoy the water. We stayed there for about two hours.

Friday
Today is the day that we finally leave Florida. Yay! We left KOA around 1:00pm and headed into Palatka to pick up our mattress. We arrived around 1:50 pm. We parked our RV in the parking lot at the Factory Direct Bedding, LLC and put the slides out while still hooked up to the truck. The guys from the factory helped us take out the old heavy mattress from the RV.

Then they put the new light mattress in the RV.

It only took about 15 minute to park, put the slides out, exchange mattresses, bring the slides in and get back on the road again. Before we left Ed noticed the left hydraulic landing gear was down. That was weird. So he brought it back up and we went on our way to the next destination at Reed Bingham State Park in Adel, GA. It is about a three hour drive from Palatka.

About an hour down the road Ed heard a noise. The hydraulic landing gear came down again. Ed brought it back up again and hopefully this time it will stay up.

Front Landing gears

Well, about 15 minutes later it started to come down again. This time the right hydraulic landing gear was coming down as well. So Ed thought it could be just gravity pulling the landing gear down so he put duct tape on it as an easy fix. Well, that didn’t work. By now we were close to Lake City so Ed called America Choice RV service department (where we bought our RV in Ocala) for assistant. They said it was probably a valve issue and to go to Camping World in Lake City and get the valve replaced. Ed wrapped each landing gear with a tie down strap anchored to the generator compartment. Man, I wished I took a picture of Ed’s creative work. lol The strap helped slow down the descent but it sure put a lot of pressure on the tie downs. We arrived at Camping World and they could not help us because they were booked with other customers for service. So Ed called Dominica at America Choice RV to see if they could help us out. She said we can camp in their campground behind the service department and check in the morning with the service department on what they can do for us. We stopped every 20 minutes to bring up the landing gear and relieve the tension it was putting on the straps. It took about an hour and half to get to Ocala from Lake City. We safely arrived at Wild Frontier Campground by 6:45 pm. We park at campsite #57.

Site #57

Ed left the truck hitched to the fifth wheel just in case the landing gear is not able to support the rig. He was able to put down the other hydraulic levelers manually.

The DRV hitched up to the truck

I guess we won’t leave Florida for a couple of days. Pooh! It was a LONG, hot and stressful day. After we got the RV and cat settled, we went out to eat at a pizza place down the road. We were very tired by the end of the evening. One good thing is that I slept on our new mattress and not on the couch. That felt good to sleep with my honey again. 🙂

Saturday
This morning Ed talked to Joel from the service department and they can’t do anything today due to short of staff and closing by 2:00pm. So we are stuck here until Monday. Geez we will ever get out of Florida? So what is the lesson in all of this? Learn to be flexible, patient and go with the flow when stuff happens. It is a learning process for both of us or least for me. Patience is not my best virtue and I wonder if it’s just a red head trait. I am the opposite of Tracey. I am so patient that Tracey mistakes it for procrastination. Funny honey!

Later, we decided to go to the movies because it was to hot (99 degrees) to be outside. We saw Now You See Me 2 and it was a good movie. It was nice to get our situation out of my head for a couple of hours. For the rest of the day we just chilled in our RV.

Well, stay tuned for future updates and hopefully we will be out of Florida by the next blog. lol

See ya’ll later.

Weighing our options

June 10th – 19th

Friday
This morning we rented a canoe from the camp store at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. We canoed down the Loxahatchee River for two hours.

While we paddled down the river there were plenty of mullets jumping near our canoe and scaring the heck out of me. I kept thinking it was an alligator coming toward us. I finally started laughing every time one of those mullets jumped. Ed had fun laughing at me every time I jumped when the mullets splashed the water near our canoe. lol Yeah that was funny!

The river had lots of wildlife to see. Here are some of what we saw.

Little Blue Heron

Osprey

Egrets

Turtles

The Loxahatchee River is well known for plenty of alligators to see up close and a far. I like to see them very very far away. As for Ed he wanted to see them very close. We saw one swimming far away from us. Whew, that was a relief. lol Here is a picture of an alligator that was sleeping near a bridge on one of the trails in the park. Again, to close for my comfort.

Is that close enough honey?

The river is a beautiful and peaceful place to canoe on a gentle breezy day. The water was very calm. I like how the water reflected the beautiful scenery of the river.

It was 82 when we started paddling but got up to 90 and hot. Good thing I put sunscreen on my face, shoulder, chest, and arms. Later, I realized that I had forgotten to put sunscreen on my knees. Oh my they were red. It looked like I had red stoplights on my knees. lol

Later, Ed and I went to Rustic Inn Crabhouse for lunch with my sister, Holly. Ed wanted fish and to be by the water and I wanted to spend a little time with my sister. The food was delicious and the view was awesome. The restaurant is located across the Jupiter Inlet from the Lighthouse.  Click here If you are interested in reading about the history of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse.

We had a fabulous lunch and time together. I love my sister!

Holly and I at Rustic Inn Crabhouse in Jupiter, FL

Someone asked if I missed living in Jupiter. Yes and No. I do not miss the humidity, heat, crowds and the snow bird traffic in the winter months. I do miss walking on the beach at dusk when no one is around and seeing the old Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse from DuBois Park located near the Jupiter Inlet.

Sunday
We packed and hitched up and left Jonathon Dickinson State Park by 8:15 am and arrived at St. Cloud by 11:00 am to get our RV weighed by Shane and Jamie Hess who work for the RVSEF. I was intrigued watching the couple weighing our rig that I forgot to take pictures. 😦 I will let Ed explain about the process and the result of the weight of our RV.

 

This is an example of the scale they used.

The weighing was done with four mechanical scales with an accuracy of 25 pounds. They weighed our tow vehicle first with a scale under each front wheel and under each pair of rear wheels. Then they moved the scales to the four wheels of the DRV. We then unhitched the DRV and weighed the tow vehicle again. Knowing all these weights you can calculate the combined weight of our rig, the total weight of our DRV, the pin weight of the DRV and the total weight of our tow vehicle. You can also see the distribution of the weight in our DRV from side to side and from front to rear. As it turned out we were only 450 pounds from our GVWR of the DRV (that is not enough weight to add all of our stuffs into the DRV). We are 400 pounds heavier on the drivers side of our trailer which is the side the stove, refrigerator, hot water heater, power cable reel and washer and dryer are installed. The good news is we have plenty of towing and hauling capacity in our F-350 tow vehicle.

When we get back to our storage in Tullahoma in a couple of weeks, we will need to reorganize our stuff and decide what we really need to have in our rig and what we can give away. I am looking forward to having more clothes, kitchen and personal stuff in our rig. I know I will not be able to put all of my favorite books in the rig because they weight to much. 😦 I hate to keep some of our stuff in storage but we don’t have much of a choice. Our rig cannot handle all of our stuff that is in storage.

After we got our rig weighed we headed up to Fort McCoy, FL. We arrived by 3:30pm. It was a long day of driving from Hobe Sound to Fort McCoy. We chose to go back to the KOA Lake Oklawaha campground because we knew the area and we had more paperwork to do in Ocala and Green Cove Springs.

We are at campsite #166 two sites up from where we were a couple weeks ago.

Site #166

The reason we are still in Florida is that we are waiting for the registration for our RV to be process with Florida DMV and get a sticker for our license plate. Once we get that then we will change our driver license to Green Cove Springs and get tags for our vehicles. We are hoping to have all of this taking care of within three days. We will see though.

Monday – Thursday
We went to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in Green Cove Springs and found out that our registration for our RV has not been process in the Florida system. So we went to America Choice RV in Ocala to find out what is going on with our registration. The America Choice RV had to wait for the lien to clear from the previous owners of our RV. That took a while. After that process is taken care of then they can process our paperwork with the state. Well, we have to wait some more. 😦 So we will need to stay at the KOA a little longer than we planned. So for the rest of the week we just hung around the campground and learned more about the mechanics of our rig.

It rained just about every day but not enough to bring the temperatures down. It was in the high 95’s hot and humid all week. During one of the hard rains we discovered that we have a leak in our bedroom slide out. It took awhile to figure out how it was coming in but Ed found it.

The seal on the lower part of the slide out was warned out and needed to be cleaned and resealed. Ed put electrical tape (the only kind he had in his truck) on it for a temporary fix. Ed wanted to chat with someone on how to fix it since he is not sure how the slide out is bolted together. There is a lot to learn about taking care of a fifth wheel.

Friday
There is one item I am having trouble with on this rig and that is the horrible mattress. OMG! It is hard and feels like sleeping on the floor. I wasn’t sleeping well and decided we needed to get a new mattress. I thought of putting a 3 inch memory foam on top of it but the foam weighed over 50 pounds. Geez, I don’t need to add more weight to the rig. We measure our mattress and it is a RV king mattress size 72 x 80 and not a regular king mattress size of 76 x 80. Oh boy, now we will have to special order one. So we went shopping for a new mattress in Palatka, FL. We found a store that could order a special sized mattress and could get it within a week. So guess what? We extended our stay at the KOA again. I sure feel like we will never get out of Florida! lol I am sleeping on the couch until we get our new mattress next Friday. Fingers crossed that it will come in on time and that I will sleep like a baby again. lol

Saturday and Sunday
Happy Father’s Day!
All weekend we hung around the campground and relaxed. It was too hot to do anything fun outside. It was nice to not have to drive anywhere in town though. I was getting a little tired of driving 45 minutes to a hour into town. Staying around our new RV is starting to feel more like home and we are liking it or should I say I love it!

Well, that’s it for now.

I hope you all had a wonderful Father’s day.

See ya’ll later

Jonathan Dickinson State Park

June 3rd – 9th

Friday

Today was the first time Ed hooked up a fifth wheel to his new hitch. Oh I was a little nervous but he was calm as a clam. lol Ed wanted one of the service techs from America Choice RV to guide him through the process. He felt pretty sure how to do it but just wanted to make sure he didn’t miss anything. So we waited for about two hours for the tech to show up. They were very busy in the service department that morning. Anyway, a service tech name Junior came by and helped Ed hook up. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It only took less than 15 minutes for the tech to go over it and to hook up. We left around 11:15am. Here is a picture what it looks like when I drive behind the DRV.

Isn’t she pretty? lol

We drove down south (I know, it is even hotter down south in Florida! lol) to Hobe Sound on I-75 then to the Florida Turnpike. It was an easy and long drive. Ed took his time to get use to the feel of pulling a heavier rig. He did a great job pulling the rig. According to the manufacture sticker on the DRV the maximum weight is 19,000 lbs and the SolAire trailer weighed about 7,500 lbs. Ed’s F-350 can handle up to 23,800 lbs. Our DRV has a GVWR of 19,000 lbs with a 21,000 lb TrailAir pin box. The B&W hitch in my truck can handle 20,000 lbs with a pin weight of 5,000 lbs. It is a little closer to the max weight than I wanted but I preferred the B&W hitch for other reasons. The truck pulled it fine but during braking I could definitely feel the difference in pulling weight from the SolAire.

We made two stops; a bathroom break and lunch. We arrived at Jonathon Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Florida around 4:30pm at 94 degrees. Yep, it is crazy hot and humid down south! lol

We have a nice gravel pad that is pretty level with water, electric and sewage hookup at site #54. It took about thirty minutes to park, unhook and set-up. Great job backing up the 5ver (short for fifth wheel) and setting up honey!

We received a Florida resident and senior discount 50% off the regular price of $26. (Thank you honey for being at the right age.) So we paid $13 a night plus transaction fee and taxes which added up to 17.78 a night. Oh I like a good deal. We stayed here for four nights.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park is located 12 miles south of Stuart on U.S. 1. A little history about the park from the website.

“The 11,500-acre park is named for Jonathan Dickinson, a Quaker merchant whose vessel shipwrecked nearby in 1696. During World War II, the land the park now occupies was home to Camp Murphy, a top-secret radar training school with over 6,600 men. The land became a state park in 1950. Far upriver is the Trapper Nelson Interpretive Site, the restored homestead of a man who came to this area in the 1930s and lived off the land, trapping and selling furs. He became famous as the ‘Wildman of the Loxahatchee,’ opening his ‘Trapper’s Jungle Gardens and Wildlife Zoo’ to the public.The Loxahatchee River, Florida’s first federally designated Wild and Scenic River, runs through the park. Ranger-guided tours of the 1930s pioneer homestead of Trapper Nelson are available year-round.

Visitors can enjoy paved and off-road biking, equestrian, and hiking trails. Boating, canoeing, and kayaking along the river are also great ways to see the park. Anglers can fish along the riverbank or from a boat. The nature and history of the park comes to life through exhibits and displays in the Elsa Kimbell Environmental Education and Research Center. Programs for the kids, or for the whole family, are also offered here. The park also offers two full-facility campgrounds and a youth/group primitive campground. The campground is open 356 days a year from 8am until sunset, and reservations can be made up to 11 months in advance.”

This is a great park if you want to come here in the winter months if you don’t like the heat. If you do like the summer heat check out this park. There is plenty of things to do at the park and around town in Stuart and Jupiter especially at the beaches.

Saturday
We went to the beautiful Memorial Park in Stuart to celebrate my niece’s high school graduation with her friends and family.

Memorial Park was re-dedicated on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11, 2011 in an official Grand Reopening ceremony following a complete redesign. They had thirteen war plaques that were dedicated to honor those who have served in the various wars that have taken place throughout American History. It is a beautiful and peaceful park and a nice place to have a gathering.

It was hot and humid with 92 degrees but felt like it was 103 degrees. We sat under a pavilion most of the time. There was a nice breeze which help keep us a little cool. We had a great time catching up with my family.

Holly (sister) with her son Hunter, Ginger (mom), Scott (brother) with his girlfriend Michelle, Ed and I at Savannah Graduation party in Stuart, FL

 

Sunday
Ed and I went to my home town, Jupiter to see the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. We took some pictures from across the Loxahatchee River. It was cloudy but it was the best I could do. We love the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse.

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse

Then we went to Coral Cove Park on Jupiter Island to visit one of our favorite beaches. Ahhh feels like home again.

Then we went down the road from Coral Cove Park to Blowing Rocks. Wow, the rock really have eroded away since the last time we were there 18 years ago.

 

We were getting blown away at Blowing Rock! Get it! lol

 

Later, I had dinner with my childhood friend Sandy Wood. Even though we haven’t talked or seen each other for 10 years or so it was not a problem to pick up where we left off. Old childhood friends are the best! We drank plenty of wine and laughed a lot! It was fun going down memory lane and talking about our present lives and future plans!

 

 

Monday
We decided to get our DRV weighed. The reason we want to have it weighed is to get a base line weight before we add too much stuff and equipment. We do not want to overload our rig and possibly have a tire or suspension problem. The weigh station we chose can weigh your RV and truck by individual tires (not like the ones you see on major highways). There is a RV weighing station in St. Cloud, FL operated by RV Safety & Education Foundation (www.rvsafety.com). We called RVSEF and made an appointment for Sunday, June 12th at 11:00am.

We decided to stay here at Jonathan Dickinson State Park for five more nights since it was cheaper and we didn’t want to move to a new campground in Kissimmee and move again on Sunday. Stay tuned on the development of the weight of our DRV.

Later in the afternoon, we went for a little hike to the Hobe Mountain Observation Tower. On top of the tower you can see the Indian River, Atlantic Ocean and the Park. Who knew that there is a mountain in Jupiter. lol Obviously  it is an ancient sand dune not a real mountain. Here is a picture of the area.

Tuesday
Well, we had to move our rig to another site in the park because our site was already reserved by someone else for the upcoming weekend. So we moved to site #6 with a nice view of the scrub brush and palmettos.

Site #6

It took us about an hour to put some fragile stuff away, hookup, drive a block away, park, unhook and level our RV. It was good practice for Ed and I. lol

Our cat, Jessica likes her new view from the couch. She enjoys looking out our windows every morning watching the birds and squirrels play around.

Jessica dreaming of chasing the birds

Wednesday
Ed and I rode our bikes on the Jonathan Dickinson Park paved bike trail. It was only a 2 mile ride with some sprinkles of rain that kept us cool. It has been awhile since I rode my bike but it felt good to ride again.

Ed and I went out to lunch with my sister Holly at Dune Dog Cafe.  This is a small out door restaurant but it is a very popular place for the locals. They had awesome Dolphin sandwiches. I don’t care for fish so I had a chili cheese dog. YUMO!

Tonight was the first time I used a convection oven. I cooked some breaded chicken tenders. OMG! They were fabulous and crunchy. Sorry, no pictures I couldn’t wait to eat the chicken. lol But here is a picture of the biscuit I made Thursday night.

So far I am liking our convection oven. Can’t wait to make some brownies! I tried the gas oven in our SolAire and didn’t like it. Our gas stove in our DRV is bigger than our SolAire. I will try the gas oven and let you know how that goes.

Thursday
This morning we rode our bikes for 3.6 miles around the park. It was humid but not extremely hot. I enjoyed the ride except when I got gnats in my hair and teeth. Yuck!

I got my haircut today by my old friend Karen Smith at Michelle Hair Salon in Jupiter. The last time she cut my hair was eighteen years ago. So glad she is still cutting hair. It was good catching up with her.

Stay cool this summer!

See ya’ll later!

New Home!

We have a new home!

On Thursday, May 26th, 2016 we bought a 2014 DRV Mobile Suite 36RSSB3 fifth wheel at America Choice RV in Ocala, FL. Oh my goodness. I can’t believe we bought it!

2014 DRV Mobile Suite 36RSSB3 

It was not what we were looking for due to the cost but they had just got it from a trade and wasn’t ready to be shown to the public yet. We asked to see it while it was still in service and inspection mode. OMG, I fell in love with it! Ed knew he was in trouble because DRVs are usually considered expensive. So we and the saleslady, Dominica, talked about our trailer and the cost of the DRV knowing that we couldn’t afford it. Well, they came back with a high price which we expected but they kept working with us on the deal. Our salesladies Dominica and Nicole saw that I really liked the DRV and worked hard to get the best deal for us. I didn’t have my hopes up but they did come down to what we could afford! OMG I couldn’t believe it. Can you tell that I am excited about it? lol

Here are some of the pictures inside our new rig.

We scheduled to pick up the DRV on Tuesday May 31st.

Tuesday
We left KOA Lake Oklawaha campground around 9:30am and arrived at the Wild Frontier Campground that is connected to America Choice RV in Ocala around 10:30am.

We parked our trailer and went to the office and sign a bunch of papers and paid for the RV. Later in the afternoon they parked the DRV next to our SolAire so it would be easier to transfer our stuff.

DRV and SolAire

The service man named Adam did the PDI (pre-delivery inspection) on our new DRV. It took about two and a half hours to go over everything. Oh there is so much learn about how to maintain a fifth wheel.

They took the DRV back to the service to fix a couple of things and to re-clean it. We didn’t get to transfer or sleep in our DRV the first night because it was almost closing time by the time they got the DRV in service. 😦

Wednesday
They brought the DRV back next to our trailer around 1:30pm. It took us five hours to transfer stuff over to the DRV in 95 degrees heat! OMG it was sticky HOT! lol We were exhausted by the end of the night but was glad that we got to sleep in our new RV. Oh I love our new RV.

As I sat in my recliner and looked at our new home, I still couldn’t believe all the things we got with this RV such as toppers on slide outs, dishwasher, washer and dryer, garbage disposal, residential refrigerator, 2800 watt inverter, pre-wired for solar panels, and a great price. I feel thankful and blessed to own and live in this beautiful RV. I can’t believe I got what I wanted but I am glad it all fell into place. Thank you Universe and Ed! I love you, honey!

The unit was factory ordered by the previous owners and we were able to get the build sheet from DRV. They had made a few modifications from the standard; the island counter is 12” longer, they added a couple extra 110 vac outlets, deleted the window from the front door, deleted the window behind the TV, deleted the window in the bathroom and installed a medicine cabinet in its place, upgraded to four 6 V batteries and the 2800 watt inverter, pre-wired with 6 gauge leads for solar panels, and included an Onan 5500 generator. They also ordered Lane theater seats and matching sofa and a Whirlpool washer and dryer. The previous owners transferred the generator to their new unit so that is even more reason to get solar installed soon.

We are very grateful to be able to travel around the country in this beautiful rig.

See ya’ll later!

Happy Memorial Week

May 22nd – 30th

Sunday

We left Mistletoe State Park at 10:35am and the weather was 71 degrees and sunshine. We took US-221 south most of the way down to Hazlehurst, Georgia. We made two stops for a bathroom and a lunch break. We arrive at Towns Bluff Park and Heritage Center by 2:45pm and it was 81 degrees and cloudy.

The main office was closed on Sunday. The campground provided a phone number to call the camp host if one arrives when the office is closed. We called the camp host to get into the gate and will pay for the site on Monday. The park has water and electric only. We chose a pull thru site #6 that has plenty of shades. Ed did not have to unhook his truck from the trailer, again. He didn’t do it at Vogel and Mistletoe State Park as well. He is getting spoiled of not unhooking/hooking up the truck. lol

Site #6

Some may wonder what is a camp host? There are variety ways to be a host at a campground. Some campgrounds offer a free or reduced price campsites with full hook-up (water, electric, and sewage) for a host that either volunteers or works (paid small) certain amount of hours a week per couple. Some do 24 hours or more a week. It all depends on the campground of what they need from the host. What are the duties of a camp host? They either clean bathhouses, maintain the grounds, be a cashier, scheduler, gatekeeper, or camp store sales person, and greet and answer any questions the campers may have. Those are some of the examples I know so far. I am pretty sure there are more duties a host could do that I do not know about yet. Some campgrounds want a camp host for a certain amount of time such as 3 to 9 months. There is a Workamper Newsletter online that campgrounds use to place ads looking for camp hosts with certain conditions. We are considering being a camp host in the near future. Stay posted when we do decide to camp host.

Monday
We went to the Towns Bluff’s office and paid for two nights. We used Passport America and paid 12.50 a night. I sure love a good deal. lol They accept Passport American membership on Sunday through Wednesday night. The other nights are $25 a night for RVs.Tent sites are regularly $17 a night. They offer RV rental $45 a night. It includes a small kitchen, air conditioning and heating and sheets. The rental RVs do not have bathrooms and they do not allow pets in the RV. The rental RVs are positioned near the bathhouse.

Towns Bluff Park and Heritage Center is located on the Altamaha River and the Bullard Creek Wildlife Management Area just eight miles north of Hazlehurst, Georgia on Highway 221 N. The campground has 24 fairly level, spacious sites, a bathhouse, and fire pit. They have a fitness trail, nature trails and an archery range.

The Heritage Center has a playground, a small museum, as well as a meeting room that can be be rented. The Altamaha River, designated by the Nature Conservancy as one of the 75 “Last Great Places in the World,” boasts an ecosystem filled with wildlife, bird life and flora and fauna not seen anywhere else in Georgia. They say it is a great place to hunt for white-tail deer, turkey and game birds. Also, fishermen can catch bass, bream and catfish on the river.

Later in the morning, we hiked for about 2 miles along the river. We came across an archery range and it was real cool to see the variety of animal statues used for targets. It looked like the range was very well used.

It started to get hot (89 degrees) for me so we headed back to the trailer and headed into town for lunch. For the rest of the day we stayed in the trailer with the A/C on. I worked on my blog and Ed paid our bills. Yep, we still have on-line bills but at least no more mortgage payments. lol

Tuesday
We left Towns Bluff Park at 9:00am in 67 degree weather. It was a longer drive to our next destination, the Lake Oklawaha KOA Campground near Fort McCoy, Florida. We arrived at the KOA around 2:30pm to 84 degree and HOT weather.

We chose site #168 by a tree for the afternoon shade. The site was not very level due to the hump near the tree. We had to used three blocks on one side to get it close to level.

Site #168

The campground is located on a bluff overlooking the 13,000-acre Lake Oklawaha (also known as the Rodman Reservoir), the park is surrounded by the 400,000-acre Ocala National Forest.

The KOA Lake Oklawaha RV Park has nearly 400 full hook-up sites that include water, sewer, and electric. You can buy certain lots but prices vary according to site location and size. The RV Park includes the following amenities: sites range from 55 ft to 75 ft long and 40 to 45 ft wide, 20/30/50 amp service, clean restrooms and showers, coin-operated laundry ($1.25 a load – recently expanded, remodeled and upgraded), junior Olympic size swimming pool, 6,000 s.f. recreation center and is pet-friendly. The park does not allow ground base fire pit but you can bring a elevated contained fire pit. They are open year round with a location that is surrounded by the Ocala National Forest and welcomes all kinds of ATVs.

I was very impressed with their newly remodeled bathhouse and laundry facility. They had restrooms, 12 inclosed showers with lock doors (two of them were handicaps), four washing machines and two gas dryers. All of them were very well maintained and clean.

They had a beautiful Gardenia Bush that was full of flowers in bloom near the restrooms. Oh it was very nice to stop and smell the flowers!

Gardenia Bush

So far our habit is to stay and chill after we arrived at a campground. I guess we get tired from the drive and settling in the site. lol

Wednesday
We went into Green Coves Springs to pick up our mail at St. Brendan’s Isle Mailing service. It took us about an hour to drive from the campground. Then we at lunch at Sweet Sensations which was fabulous. Then we went shopping at Staples, Kmart and Publix. We came back to the trailer to go through our mail, relax and eat dinner. The temperature is was 86 and hot. Oh we are not used to the Florida heat. lol

Friday
We got our florida drivers license. Yep, we are Floridians again! The worker at DMV in Green Coves Springs were very helpful, informative, efficient and NICE. I was impressed with her patience and knowledge of our situation living in a RV full-time. The reason we had to change our drivers license was to claim domicile since we no longer own a property in Tennessee.   Its a long story but I will tell you about it another day.

Memorial Weekend
First of all a big THANK YOU for all of the service men and women that served, protected and died to maintain our freedom for out beautiful American country.

People starting arriving for the memorial weekend. I was amazed how many toy haulers there were at the park for the weekend. Most of them had variety of ATVs. It seems to be a popular area for ATVs.

There are miles of trails for ATV use and for motorcycle (dirt) use. We saw many camp sites with 3,4 or 5 ATVs. Many sites had the toy hauler (both travel trailer and 5th wheel types) and another utility trailer for the extra ATVs. Since the location is pretty far from gas stations many of the users brought their own portable gas tanks with manual fuel pumps. Some groups occupied 2, 3 or even 4 sites all together in their own little ‘villages’. Oh, boats and jet skis also! Some folks had a lot of toys.

It was crowed but very manageable. We didn’t do much for the weekend because it was way to HOT (95 degrees) for me and Ed. Did I say that Florida is HOT enough? lol

I hope you all had a fabulous week.

See ya’ll later