Same place, different year

One of these times, we need to stay more than one night here! We are following the same route now as we did last year, so we're parking in the same park: Whitten park, near Tupelo Mississippi. It's a beautiful little Corps of Engineers park and I'd love to stay and paddle our kayaks sometime. I think I said the same thing in last year's post! Anyway, it's still beautiful, and we're still able to get Internet on our Satellite dish thru the trees. Highway 20 thru Alabama was quite nice. There was even a dump station at the Welcome Center rest area. We took advantage of that.

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Outstanding in our Field

Have you ever seen such a big, and empty RV park? We made it to Macon, Georgia today. A little over 300 miles.

We did have to repair the engine's Air Conditioning. When the belt broke, it tore up an a/c hose. Luckily Dad knew a shop he trusted and took care of it for us. Thanks Dad!

I woke up with a cold this morning.

g'night

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Gratitude?

It's a short trip from being grateful to being somewhat pissed off. I felt very grateful that whatever was wrong gave us plenty of warning with the 'check engine' light and the heat guage. Jim simply pulled off the road and turned the engine off. We were OK. I was also grateful that we had Emergency Road Service. We picked up our cell phones, called them, and within a couple hours we were being towed to an RV park. What would we have done before cell phones?

I was also grateful to be in an RV. We cranked up the generator and turned on the 'house' air conditioning while we waited to be towed. We were quite comfortable. Because of our Emergency Road Service, the tow didn't cost us anything.

Then ... a repair service was supposed to be out to see us 'in the morning.' I took that to mean around 9am. If it was just a broken belt, which we felt sure it was, it should be a quick job and we'd be on our way. Well, they didn't get there till almost noon, and at 2:30 the new belt still wasn't operational. They said they would send someone out ... I guess we need to ask next time to send someone who knows what they're doing! Here's Jim trying to help.

We finally did get back on the road a little after 3. The service call cost us $232. The night in the RV park cost $32. Within a couple miles of driving we passed a big Camping World with several service bays. Geez, why couldn't they have towed us there? And, within another few miles we passed the Orlando Thousand Trails - where we could have stayed for free. And Jim saw several auto parts stores nearby. I heard him muttering, 'I should have done it myself.'

Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and I am still grateful that we are OK. The engine performed flawlessly to get us to our satellite customer, and then on to my Dad's house last night (arriving at 9pm). BUT, the vehicle air conditioning didn't work at all. aaarrrggghhhh So, we're taking the rig to a shop here in Dunnellon today. That could be a big $ item.

I think the lesson to be learned about Emergency Road Service is that, once the emergency is over - meaning we're towed off the highway - we should consider all our options for further service. At that point you don't need to blindly accept what's offered. Live and learn. Or, is it live and make mistakes, and live and make more mistakes?

Check out what was right next door to the RV park ... a Buddhist temple. Maybe we should have prayed?

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Geeks in Tow

We were on our way, driving contentedly north on the Florida Turnpike. We have a satellite dish to deliver in Bushnell, then planned to make it to my Dad's - just another hour - for the night.

Some things are not meant to be.

First the air conditioner stops blowing cold air. hmmm .. Then, in just a few more minutes the 'Check engine' light comes on and Jim also notices that the temperature is way high. He pulls over and turns the engine off. Since we don't know what is wrong, we're not going to attempt any further driving. We call our Good Sam Emergency Road Service and explain the problem. since this is Sunday (of course) we won't be able to get any service. They tell us that they can send a tow truck and tow us to the nearest campground. We can get a mobile service at the campground, or get towed to a facility in the morning. Ah well. Take a deep breath and thank our lucky stars that we are fine, it's not a fire or anything like that. Amazing to see the tow truck get hooked up. They even have to detach the drive shaft?! I tell Jim to please check that he reconnects it when we're done. Hey .. I barely know what a drive shaft is, but it just doesn't seem like a vehicle will be worth much if it's not connected, right?

The tow truck pulled into the RV park and expertly backed us into a site. We're hoping that the problem is a simple matter of a broken belt.

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On the road again

Chris and Richard gave us a farewell dinner party on Friday night. Here's Jim giving Richard a *hand* at the grill. :-)

In addition to visiting with old friends at Chris' house, we get to visit some of our stuff! I loved this 'Fantasies of the Sea' print by James Christensen. But, when we sold the house and got rid of everything to go RVing, it had to go. Chris agreed to take it, so now we get to visit! Click on either photo above and it will take you to our Picasa Web Album. Then you can click the arrows for previous or next photo and see more from that night. Thanks Chris and Richard! That was a great meal and good company. We finally got on the road Saturday about 3 o'clock! We had that luxury because we knew we were only going to Jupiter. No, not the planet (that's next year :-)! The city just north of West Palm Beach, where our good friend Marie lives. Here we are in her driveway.

And then, I asked her to show us around Jupiter a little, show us where she works etc. Here is a townhouse in the community of Abacoa where she works. I think she's got her eye on it.

And, the beach is just awesome here.

I told her that, as we travel, I always have an eye out for any place I think could be nice to live someday. Jupiter is right up there at the top. It's only an hour from Ft. Lauderdale beach and kayak diving, yet it's out of the heavily populated 'gold coast.' Marie says that Jupiter has a population of about 60,000.

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