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

Mistletoe State Park

May 13th – 21st

Friday 13th
It was 71 degrees at Vogel State Park when we packed the trailer and reloaded the truck. (This time it took us about an hour instead of a day and half). We went to the dump station to empty our two gray and one black tank before hitting the road to our next destination. One gray tank is used for the kitchen sink and the other gray tank is used for the bathroom sink and shower. The blank tank is our sewage waste. By 10:00 am we headed southeast to Mistletoe State Park in Appling, Georgia. You may be wondering why south where it is hotter and not north where it is cooler. Well, my niece, Savannah Eckstrom, is graduating from high school in Stuart, Florida and they are having a graduation party with family and friends. We wanted to be there and celebrate with them and  break up the trip to make it easier on our cat and explore a variety of state parks. We made four stops due to Ed’s navigation checks, bathroom and lunch breaks, and a spare tire issue. The trailer spare tire mount is on the rear bumper in a vertical position. The top bolt backed out and the mount fell to a horizontal position. Tracey saw it after we crossed a bumpy bridge and called to tell me what she saw. A few miles down the road I found a place to pull over and check it out. I ended up removing the lower bolt on the mount and put the spare tire in Tracey’s Escape. Before I did that we discovered a bird nest in the wheel under the tire cover. It was probable the Carolina Wren’s nest that was hanging around the rear of our trailer when we were at Barton Springs Campground in Normandy. Poor momma wren, the nest had four eggs in it.

We arrived at the park by 2:30pm. It is about 2 miles to the campground from the entrance of the park.

We used the Friends of Georgia State Parks pass for the park pass and then got 20% off per night by being a senior. We stayed for nine nights. The sites are gravel and 40 feet plus. They do have some pull through sites that are even bigger. We took our time driving around the park to find the site we wanted. We chose a back in site #80 because I wanted the view of the lake from the back of trailer window and no close neighbors. The temperature was 87 when we arrived at the park but it had a nice cool breeze from the lake. To me, it felt like 75 with the breeze.

Site #80

We set-up, cooked dinner and watched the sunset over the lake.

 Mistletoe State Park is located on a branch of the 72,000-acre Clarks Hill Lake near Augusta. The campground is situated on a peninsula in the lake and can view both sunrises and sunsets over the open water. According to the park brochure this lake is considered one of the finest bass fishing spots in the nation. The park has hiking trails, a beach, playgrounds and picnic tables. They offer rentals for canoes and cabins. They have 92 campsites with water and electric hook-ups and three bath houses with laundry facilities. There is a site usage fee of $5 per car to enter the park. The RV and trailer sites are $32 a night and tents are $27 a night. Walk-in tents sites are $15 a night. Senior Citizens 62 or older receive 20% off their campsite cost. Friends of Georgia State Parks members receive 10% off campsite cost.
Saturday
From the state park it takes about 25 minutes to get into Evans to buy groceries at Publix and 45 minutes to get to the North side of Augusta to malls and restaurants. We stopped at Gander Mountain to look at folding recliner chairs. No luck there. We shopped at Ed’s favorite store The Apple Store!

Yep, we did it. We bought a new Macbook Pro laptop to replace Ed’s 10 year old Macbook. We love it so far. Our next stop was at a C.S.R.A. Camperland, Inc in Martinez, Georgia. We looked at used RVs and new Jayco Pinnacle fifth wheels. They are beautiful rigs but to long of a rig for us. We would like to stay in the 36 to 39 feet range. So we are still looking for the right rig for us.

When we came back from our trip into town and were welcomed by some unwanted guests at our site, ANTS! Believe it or not they came into the trailer using the power cord that is plugged into the rear of our trailer. There was a trail of ants around our trash can and living room area. Ed sprayed all over the back of our trailer, power cord, and stabilizer jacks and inside the trailer. We had to put Jessica in our bedroom to keep her away from the spray. Good thing the ants were not in there. So the lesson here is to spray for ants when you first arrived in a campsite especially in Georgia. 🙂

Sunday
The temperature was sunny 71 when we began our morning hike on Cliatt Creek Nature Trail Loop in the Mistletoe State Park. The trail was not marked very well but we hiked about 3½ miles of the loop.

We saw a hawk, gnatcatcher, chickadee and titmouse on the trail. Sorry guys no picture. I didn’t bring my Cannon Camera on this hike and my iPhone doesn’t take long distance pictures very well.

Does anyone know what this flower is called?

It warmed up to 79 degrees and sunny. I rested and played on my iPad and Ed played on his new laptop for the rest of the afternoon. At dinnertime, Ed saw a gray fox trotting down the road by our site. It was a cool and funny sight to see an animal running on the road instead of in the woods.

Tuesday
It rained most of the day with the temperature around 73. I typed up my blog and cleaned the trailer. Ed relocated the trailer again by placing one block instead two blocks under the tires. I seem to be a little sensitive to the leveling issue with our trailer. It is not perfect but it is closer to level. lol

We went out to dinner at Rhinehart’s Oyster Bar with Ed’s batfish buddy Chirs Johnson and his wife Frances. The restaurant is very well known for its seafood and celebrities, especially around spring during the Masters golf tournament. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very laidback and relaxed. Rhinehart’s motto is “beyond casual.” It was nice catching up with them and having some great laughs.

Chris and Frances Johnson with Ed and I at Rhinehart’s Oyster Bar

Wednesday
Today we had unwanted company again, ANTS! I guess the rain had washed the ant spray out. This time the ants came into our kitchen window and got into our honey. Ed found more of them outside all along the water hose, slide outs and trailer hitch that is still attach to the truck. Ed sprayed all around the outside of the trailer and some of the area inside. Georgia ants are small and smart. They find many different ways to get into the trailer. One guy told us that he had one little branch touching the top of his trailer and the ants got in his trailer after he sprayed all around his trailer. Geez, those little boogers!

For the rest of the humid day we did laundry and Ed dumped our waste into the blue boy and walked up hill about 4/10 of mile to the dump station. He didn’t feel like unhitching the trailer so he could use his truck to pull the blue boy on his trailer ball.

Friday

We drove about 2½ hours to Camping World in Spartanburg, SC to see some RVs. We saw some used Bighorns and new Montanas. We still haven’t found the one we like yet but it was worth the long drive to see a different floor plans.

 

 

 

Saturday
We went to Express Oil Change in Evans, GA for an oil and filter change on our Ford Escape. Wow, I was impressed with their service. We stayed in our car while they did the oil change in the garage. They had Motorcraft oil but did not have Motorcraft filters so we settled for a Purolator filter. They checked our engine, hoses, tires, transmission fluid, front and rear lights and blinkers. They added windshield wiper fluid and lubricated our door hinges. All of this service for only $48! The best oil change experience I ever had. lol

Well, that all folks!
See ya’ll later!

Our First Trip out of Tullahoma

May 9th – 12th

Monday
We left Barton Springs Campground around 10:30am central time. It was sunny and in the upper 70’s. We made two stops along the way and arrive at Vogel State Park by 4:30pm eastern time.

 

Our cat did very well on the road considering it was her first long road trip in the cat carriage. Ed said she didn’t like I-75 highway heading to Knoxville due to feeling every bump on the road while pulling the trailer. Other than that she did great.

 

We paid our camping fee, drove around the campground and picked a site that we wanted. We chose site #49 due to it being long and level. The site was gravel pad and had no close neighbors. We are the kind of people that likes privacy and space as much as possible.

Site #49

All of my items stayed put and didn’t break during the ride. Yay! I am pretty proud of myself. lol I know I will come up with more creative ideas to pack and store stuff along the way. Stay tuned for that later. lol

It is a very wooded and shaded here but nice and cool at night around 55. There were not many campers here the day we arrived but by Thursday afternoon it was almost full.

Vogel State Park, at an elevation of 2,280 feet, is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains at the base of Blood Mountain. The park lies in the middle of the Chattahoochee National Forest. The park covers 233 acres and features 22-acres Lake Trahlyta which was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and named after the Indian Princess Trahlyta.

The park provides 103 tent and trailer campsites most with water and electrical hook-ups. There are 60 RV sites that are 40 feet long level and gravel. Most of the tents and pop up campers use (23) 25-foot sites that are located away from the RVers. Many of the back packers use the (18) walk-in primitive sites. They have two handicap sites. The park has 35 cottages fully equipped and many of them are located along the creek and lake.

You can picnic, fish, paddle boat, bicycle, swim, hike, or sit on the swing by the lake. They offer boat and bicycle rentals, miniature golf, naturalist programs and a large pavilion. They have four bathhouse that are kept very well and cleaned. They have two sanitary disposal stations. This is a very well maintained and versatile park. We love it here!

There is a Park Pass required (costs $5) and the RV sites cost $30 per night.  Tents sites are less. We purchased ($60) a Friends of Georgia State Parks Senior family membership that gave us two free nights of camping, 10% discount on future camping and park store purchases and, most importantly, an annual Park Pass to all of the Georgia state parks. We join the Georgia State Parks RV Club for free. They offer a free night stay after you stayed 9 nights in any one of the Georgia State Parks. We are planning to stay in many of the Georgia state park this month and maybe in June. We used the senior discount of 20% off our per night camping fee instead of the 10% offered by Friends of Georgia State Park. We received the park stamps for our 4 nights of camping for the RV club. Only 5 more nights is a GA state park and we get a free night of camping.

Most state parks limit you to 14 nights stay at a campsite. We wish we could of stayed longer but they were booked up due to a marathon this weekend. I think next time will we do that and take more time to explore the area. Anyway, we would definitely be back here.
Tuesday
We did a lot of hiking today. Oh it was beautiful day to hike in the park. It was 75, sunny and light breeze. Our first hike was 0.8 mile loop on Bryon Herbert Reece Nature Trail. The trail had small up and down hill slopes but an easy hiking trail.  The walk to the trail and back to the trailer was an additional 1.2 miles.

It had many wild flowers in the forest. Here are some of them.

Pink Lady Slippers and Foam Flowers

An hour later we walked around the Trahlyta Lake. The trail is one-mile long and very easy and relaxing trail with plenty of wild flowers to see.

The trail crosses an earthen dam constructed by the CCC in 1935. A spur trail off the dam leads to an observation deck below the dam’s spillway. We didn’t hike down to the bottom of the fall.

In the background is Blood and Slaughter Mountains taken from the bridge over the dam spillway. The park created cute signs for kids and adult to do fitness routines that are related to animals So cute!

 

I tried to get Ed to do the frog routine but he didn’t what his picture taken.

Before dinnertime we walked around the campground. There were plenty of empty sites that we didn’t see before we parked on site #49. We liked site #57 that was located on a creek. We will try to get that site next time we come back in the area. Actually many of the sites here are really nice.

For the rest of the evening we relaxed by the fire and drank some beer and wine.

Ed sitting by the fire at site #49

Wednesday
We got up early and drove an hour southwest to Amicalola Falls State Park. Amicalola Falls entered the Georgia State Park system in 1940 and played a key role in the Appalachian Trail club rerouting the start of the trail to Springer Mountain in 1957. Springer Mountain is the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail and is just over 8 miles from Amicalola Falls. With over 800 acres, the park is one of the larger parks in the Georgia system.

At 729 feet, Amicalola Falls is the tallest cascading waterfall in the southeast. Visitors have choices on how to best view the falls, ranging from an accessible pathway to a challenging trail with staircases. We chose the accessible pathway to the falls. I was not in any mood to climb 425 stairs to the upper falls. lol

We saw the top and bottom of the Falls and what a beautiful view.

We left there and stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch then headed to DeSota Falls just south Vogel State Park. We hiked the 1.5 mile trail to the falls. It was quiet and an easy climb to the falls. The weather was beautiful with 79 degrees and cloudy.

The we went back to the campsite and ate a grilled 30 oz T-Bone steak and baked potatoes for dinner. Yumo! After dinner it was getting way to buggy for me. We went inside and watch an old Superman movie with Chris Reeves in it. There is nothing like watching an old movie to just chill and relax.

Thursday
Today, we hung around the camper most of the day except for lunch. We went into town for lunch at GG’s Bakery for sandwiches. It was one of the favorite restaurants that the locales recommended. The bread and sandwiches are outstanding! I spent the day writing on my blog and Ed went hiking in the woods.

After we got back from shopping in Blairsville I decided to hike the Bear Hair Gap Trail. It is described as a 4.1 mile partial loop trail with a 800 foot elevation gain. It uses part of the Coosa Backcountry Trail to complete the loop. The 800 foot climb is in the first 1.2 miles of the hike and it is pretty much a continuous climb. After that you meander down and up over a few of the lower ridges of Blood Mountain which at it’s peak is 4458 feet. About a mile into the hike I began to hear thunder and could feel the rain coming. I did not see too many wild flowers until I reached the feeder streams that converge into Wolf Creek. About 1.25 mile in there is a spur trail that makes a loop to an overlook where you can get a view of Lake Trahlyta. The foliage blocked most of the view but you could still make out the lake and the pavilion at the lake. Just after the spur trail there were a few close (1/4 mile) lightning strikes and the rain started again only a little harder, typical Appalachian mountain weather. About half way around the loop I came across a rock outcropping that had a colony of salamanders living in it.

I came across a tree stump where some “rock pilers” were very active.

A little farther down the trail I came across a Jack in the Pulpit, some Squaw Root and a few pink Lady Slippers.

I completed the loop just as some more rain started falling.

Well that is it for now until next time.
See ya’ll later!

Our last week in Tullahoma

May 1st – 8th, 2016

Sunday

It was 82 degrees and cloudy and a real nice day to walk in the woods. Ed and I went to Short Springs Natural Area in Tullahoma. Short Springs is a 420-acre natural area and is manage jointly by TVA, TN Department of Conservation, and the City of Tullahoma.

One of the signs at Short Springs

They have four hiking trails; Machine Falls Loop, Adams Falls Loop, Busby Falls and Laurel Bluff trail. We took a short hike on Busby Falls trail to Bobo creek. There were some wild flowers that Ed spotted along the trails and creek.

Friday
Ed ordered a new fifth wheel hitch on Monday and had it installed at Line-X in Tullahoma on Friday. The hitch is a B&W Companion that installs into the Ford OEM pucks. It is rated at 20,000 pounds with a 5000 pound pin weight. That is the only size B&W makes for the Ford OEM system. I wish it was a 24,000 pound hitch so I would have plenty of margin. We are looking for a trailer that has a GVWR less than 18,000 pounds.

In case you noticed, Ed traded in his Red F150 and got a new Bronze Fire F350 Diesel with dual wheels in April. I think he likes his new toy. Yeah I like it. It rides nice and stable and I can’t wait to pull our SolAire trailer with it to see how big a difference it will be from the F150.

Ed’s new F350 Diesel Dually

The reason we have a new truck and hitch is that we are looking for a used fifth wheel that is designed for full-time use. Our trailer is not designed for full-time use plus I need more storage and closet space. So what makes a full-time rig? Well, we need 50 amps, thicker insulation, dual pane window, two A/C units, stronger frame, and larger closets, refrigerator and storage area. We will post our new fifth wheel when we find the one we like. To me, it is like shopping for a new home, we will know it is the right one for us when we see it. I am hoping we will find one soon though.

Mother’s Day
I hope all of the mothers had a wonderful Mother’s Day. Trevor, Stephanie, Zooey and River came by the campground around 5:00pm. We had dinner, played around the campground and relaxed on the couch. The kids were worn out but had fun! I sure love having them around.

Trevor, Zooey, Stephanie and River

Saturday and Sunday
We cleaned and packed up our trailer to get ready for our first trip out of Tullahoma as full timers. We are heading to Vogel State Park in Blairsville, GA on the 9th. It took us a day and half to pack everything away securely. The reason it took so long was that we stayed in one spot for one month and we didn’t put stuff away securely. When pulling the trailer lots of things get moved and shaken around during the ride. It took a little creative thinking to make things not roll around in the cabinet and refrigerator during the trip. Here are some things I did to make things stay put in one place during the ride.
Used a roll of paper towel, pasta boxes, and Gatorade bottles between glass jars and cans in the cabinets
Used a large sock to insert wine bottles, alcohol bottles and glasses
Used dish drainer to put cold food inside it and placed it in the refrigerator
Placed the towel and broom racks on the bed
Put the wall clock and skillet glass lid in the silverware drawer
Storage glass jars in a basket

I am keeping my fingers cross that they don’t break or fall out of the cabinets during the trip to Vigel State Park.

The rest of the week we did more errands, grocery, laundry, and relaxing by the fire.

See ya’ll later!

We are full-timers!

April 16th – 30th 2016

We made it, yay! It has been a two-year journey of researching, talking, debating, and attending RV seminars and shows and more researching and talking to finally arrive at today. If you don’t mind let me back up here and start from the beginning. Well, not that far back. lol

Two years ago, Ed and I chatted about downsizing and doing some traveling around the country and how can we do that affordably. We began researching how we can travel around the country in an RV full-time. In January 2015, we bought a Palomino SolAire 297rlds 30′ travel trailer to see if we like RVing. Well, we loved it and wanted to do a lot more of it.

We began researching and reading websites, blogs, and RV owner forums and attended a RV-Dreams seminar in October 2015 on how to live in a RV full-time. In the late fall of 2015, we made a decision to sell our house and furniture and move into a RV full-time. We put our house up for sale on February 23rd and had a contract by February 27th. Things were moving fast. We had 29 years of stuff to clear out of our house. We sold almost everything and put the rest in storage. Hopefully, down the road we will be able to no longer need the storage but time will tell. We closed on our house on April 15th, 2016 and moved into our trailer with our 14-year-old cat, Jessica.

Our old house in Tullahoma, TN

We officially went full-time RVing on April 16th, 2016. We are staying at Barton Springs Campground in Normandy, Tennessee until May 9th at site #56.

Now you might be thinking how come you only went 3.6 miles down the road from your old house? Well, we had more stuff to do in Tullahoma that needed to be done before we get on the road. Stay tuned for our next stop though.

We don’t have Wifi or Internet at Barton Springs Campground. So, we have been searching for restaurants in town that have free WiFi so we can get our daily fix of internet use while we eat lunch. Now, we have become one of those people that are on the phone or iPad while eating and not talking to each other. We swore we would never be like that. lol Oh well, like the saying goes, you don’t know what the other person’s situation is like until you are in it. On occasion we go to June’s house in Tullahoma (Ed’s sister) to use the Internet, laundry and shower. Thank you, June!

Barton Springs Campground is a very nice and relaxing campground. It is located on the Normandy Lake in Tennessee.

Barton Springs Campground beach and boat ramp

Tulip Poplar Tree

They do keep the bathhouse cleaned and the grounds well maintained. We picked site #56 for privacy, the lake view and to be close to the bathhouse. They offer electric and water but no sewer hook-up. We think they are a little expensive considering they do not have sewer, laundry, cable, WiFi, or a store. The site cost $27 a night. On the water is $29 a night. With Ed’s senior discount we paid $25 a night. They do offer a monthly rate (minimum two months) but it is limited to 30 sites and they get booked up with the seasonal campers. It does get busy here on the weekends though. One thing we don’t like is that they charge guests $7.68 per vehicle that are coming to visit. After saying all of that, we would come back here if we needed to be close to Tullahoma.

Since we didn’t have sewer hook-up and didn’t want to move the trailer to the dump station every week we needed to purchase a Blue Boy. What is a Blue Boy? To put it simply, it is a tank with wheels that you use to transport your sewage and wastewater from the RV to the dump station. RVers call it a Blue Boy because of the color. Pretty cool, huh! I know it doesn’t sound pretty or fun but it is very handy to have when you need it. The Blue Boy we got is made by Barker and they changed the wheels for the 25 and 37 gallon ones to pneumatic wheels. These roll much easier than the solid hard rubber wheels on the previous models. I was pleased with the ease of rolling a full load (~300 pounds) of waste up and down the hills of the campground. You can pull them with a vehicle but that seemed like a waste of fuel for me.

Blue Boy by Barker

Ed’s friend Steve Roper came by Friday night after we closed on our house. It was a little cold outside and we didn’t have any firewood to burn. So the next night, Steve came by with a truckload of firewood and we sat around the fire for a couple of hours. Thank you Steve!

On Sunday the 17th, Trevor came by with Zooey and his girlfriend, Stephanie. We talked and played around the camper and ate burgers, baked beans and chips for dinner. We sat around the fire for a little while until Zooey was ready to go to bed. It was great seeing them.

June came by on Sunday the 24th to check out our new home and ate dinner with us. It was a very relaxing night sitting by the fire with June and Ed.

Ed, June and I

The rest of the week we did lots of errands, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping and just plain old relaxing.

See ya’ll later!