14 December: Orange Park, FL

Thursday, We had a good long sleep last night. Prior to that we checked into the Elks Lodge in Orange Park after a three hour trip from Lake Park and we met some nice people and had a good time.

Today came about with a slow start but we did manage to wash our clothes, ate lunch at the RV and traveled via I-295 around the city to Beech Blvd to see a Salvation Army store that was highly rated. SAM was in there a few minutes and returned with little comment. The return trip to the RV started slow but became normal city traffic later: Total round trip time was an hour and thirty minutes.

We had a few things to check out at the Elks and we returned to the RV for dinner and the evenings entertainment via Amazon Videos and Internet entertainment. Time for bed. BFN

Day 12: 12 December 2017

Nice sunshine again but the wind is up. Today will be a bit busy as we prepare to leave tomorrow AM for the rather short 120 mile jaunt to the Elks Club of Orange Park. We plan on staying there for a few days to check it out and to give us time to arrange more long term RV’g parking. I think I will have to hookup the block heater today as the morning temperatures will be in the low thirty’s.

This afternoon we washed the RV, scrubbed it and dryed it by hand. Afterwards we went into Valdosta to the Pecan Factory and ate at Wednesday – for the second day I had the 4X4 and is is good. Not too much of a fan of the chicken nuggets but it is part of the meal so SAM & I split them. Afterwards, back to the RV and to coil up the sanitary water hose and to the Dollar Stores. Later and into FL tomorrow.

Day 10 & 11: Sunshine and 55°F+

Sunday 10 December: The day dawned crystal clear and RV Steve showing up right at 9AM. He worked until and most of the problems were taken care of so by early afternoon he was paid and for a reasonable number of hours. We toured around and ate lunch at a truck stop Wendy’s. I was impressed by this Wendy’s as the staff was excellent and friendly. After lunch we came back to Lake Park and the Flea Market. It was nearly closed up as there were no customers.

We watched the sun go down and when I went to drain the grey water, I noticed the blankity-blank thing was leaking again and the water spot was a growing circle under the RV. Steve said he would come back tomorrow. Now we are listening to Christmas music on FM radio. Just before sundown I tore into the audio panel of the RV. SAM helped and we made some cable routing. We only had a few electrical sparks.

Monday 11 December: Another beautiful morning but cold. It warmed up quickly and by 11AM was shirtsleeve and we finished up with the waterline stuff about 1PM. Then we took the RV over to Peterbuilt to have the circulation pump V-Belt tightened and finally fueled up for the Wednesday departure for Flemming Island. A very beautiful clear day with a high of 64°F with cool light winds.

SAM went out to do some shopping at Family Dollar and Winn Dixie. She came home with a rotisserie chicken and I was a happy camper: I live rotisserie chicken. Everything else was icing on the cake. We finally ate dinner about 7:30PM and the night is winding down with a green tea brew.

From now on I think I will do individual day reports rather than 2 days at a time. Moore later.

Days 8 & 9: More rain

Friday 8 December: Very much heavy rain so not too much was done but lay around the RV and go to Lowes in Valdosta, GA. I was looking for RG-6 but all they had was 100′ and 1K’ rolls. We then went to Walmart and bought a pre-made 6′ length that was cheaper than the connectors I had. When we returned to the RV, I pulled out the VCR and extended the coaxial cable from the Digital to Analog converter for the old style 5:4 Analog TV. This allowed me to re-arrange equipment a bit.

Saturday 9 December: All the parts arrived for the water system – Yea. RV Steve came over around 3 PM and started working on it. Well, at 8 PM he was still on the job finding pinhole leaks that brought in air to the system. Finally, I told him to go home and we would attack it tomorrow.

Days 6 & 7: Rain & Cold

Yesterday, Wednesday 6 December, I was awakened by the sound of rain. However, I did not hear it on the roof of the coach and since it was time to get up, I arose and started the coffee and breakfast porridge. Being stoked with food and caffeine, I went outside and discovered the reason for the rain sound. Water was pouring from compartment where the hose attaches to the coach. When I opened the coach compartment door it was filled with water and I could see it pouring from the vanity panel. I shut the water off and called our new found rv park maintenance guy RV Steve. A while later he came over and discovered the newly installed winterization valve was pouring out water. I called Ben Davis in Auburn and Mack said he would cover it and I could get RV Steve to install it if it was less than $220 materials and labour. Steve said he would do it for that price so all was good. The bad news is that it will take 3 days to get here. While all this was going on it was raining pretty hard. Well, it continued to rain all day and all night into December 7. From the weather reports the rain will continue unabated for the next two days. After that it is going to get cold, like well below freezing, so we are thinking of how we will prep the RV.

Today, Thursday 7 December will be spent looking into cold weather preparation. I want to go a few places too plus go out for lunch. The story will continue into this afternoon. Still raining hard and even harder to come judging by the radar. Current temperature is 46°F, heat is on and the skies overcast. went to lunch at Rodeo Mexican Grill and it was good with Burger King prices. Then up to Valdosta Harbor Freight (bought some shop clothes ), Walmart looking for gooseneck for GPS – no luck there and back to the RV. Rain is light now and temperature has not started free fall yet.

Days 4 & 5

December 4 & 5

This day is not the happiest day of our lives & we are both depressed at the state of events yesterday took. We have decided to stay the week in order to make repairs. As I was making more days reservations, I mentioned to the lady that we were broken and she said that there is a certified rv repair guy right in the trailer park. I said give me the number! All this lead us to RV Steve. I texted him as advised and within a few hours he came back saying he would be by later but I told him we were staying all week so he said tomorrow. So we spent the day exploring the area up to Valdosta, Ga. While in Valdosta to checking out the Elks we went to to a nearby Super Walmart: Abby & I waited in the car while she went inside. When finished we had carry out at BK and returned to Lake Park and explored some more.

Next day, Tuesday the 5th, RV Steve came over at 10AM to check out our pump problem. It turns out it was the pump as I expected so he ordered a 4gpm replacement which would be in the next day. SAM had a lot of questions about the RV and he answered them all plus a lot more we did not think of. In the course of events he showed us how to fix the clunking solenoid in the basement air. You reset the thermostat by removing the fuse. Since then it appears to work ok. After he left we explored Lake Park some more and ate lunch at Cracker Barrel CB service was very slow.

The evening was spent exploring different areas of the RV. SAM figured out the bedroom rdio and I attended Dicks Tech Net of 9050 via portable Allstar Node 43584. Thus ended the day of December 5. Cheers from Moore.

Day 3 & 4: On the road

December 2nd and 3td

We left Cartersville, GA KOA after several people. I was awakened bu the next door diesel truck clackty-clackting and by the time the second RV left I was awake and up. We were not in a super hurry and followed the normal routine and were out of there by 9AM. The trip through Atlanta on I-75 went well and only a couple of spots raised concern. We went through town because we were following a big class A in front of us and I said “where he goes, I go”. I am glad it was Saturday morning and traffic was light.

The day progressed and we arrived at the Lake Park RV campground next to Campers world in Lake Park, GA about 3PM. The check in went smoothly and the plan was to leave the next day but we decided to stay. The afternoon then went leisurely, we took a walk to Campers World, met some neighbors and enjoyed the 75 degree temperatures under clear skies.

I decided to sanitize the onboard water system the next day so we bought some sodium hydrosulfite to bleach the system bacteria. As dawn broke I was ready so I added water to the storage tank and everything after that was down hill fast. I turned on the water pump and nothing happened after 10 minutes. I started looking around and discovered the “Winterize” switch had been left on by Ben Davis so I turned it off (light out). Thank heaven the “Bypass” switch was off or that would have been the end of the waterheater. After that a whole bunch research into the systems produced nothing.

A physical inspection ensued to find the location of the waterpump. After I found it I discovered the pump filter/cleaner had not been replace after the winterization. Another 10 minutes of running the pump produced no water. We went back to Campers World and looked at waterpumps. This ends Day.

On the road again: Day 1 & Day 2

Overnighted in Corbin, KY KOA, Day 1, but did not allow enough time to properly set up and we were both beat. We connected the TV, Water and sewer but not without trials in its own. We are now in Carterville, GA just North of Atlanta for the night and watching NAT GEO.

I figured out the TV system of VCR, TV, Cable, Satellite, Antenna plus a bunch of remotes. I brought the TV I fixed, a 32″, that will just fit but now we have seen this on already in the RV, I am reconsidering. Maybe next season. Nat Geo Wild is pretty good. I wonder where they get all there footage?

The RV is dirty after going through all that rain and truck spray and campground side roads. We did clean all forward windows inside and out. We found a couple of stone chips that will need looking into. I think we need to find a truck wash to run her through. Let’s call her Inspiration RV just for identification.