Finally moved - Day 1659 (Year 5, Day 190)

Brunswick, GA

$2,300 later, we got the truck back at 1:30 pm. We needed to take a 12 mile trip first to refill our propane and fuel tanks, so after we hitched up and left "Camp Ford" it was 2:45 pm.  We had 160 miles to go to the campground which we reserved until Sunday, so we only stopped once, at the halfway point, to change drivers.

We arrived at the campground around 5:30 pm, when it was starting to get dark (fortunately it was a pull through site so we didn't need to spend 1/2 hour +++ backing into it!!!).  A few sewer problems, but we'll deal with it in the morning.  

It's too soon to give my opinion about this place.  So far, from first impressions, it seems like a really nice place.  I'll enjoy being here over Shabbat.

Another night at "Camp Ford" - Day 1658 (Year 5, Day 198)

St. George, SC

Looks like we're spending another night on the Ford dealership lot as truck is still not ready.  They narrowed it down to either a fuel pump or injector(s) but as of 4:30 pm today, they still didn't have an answer. 

As for now, the plan is that we hope to be on the road tomorrow at some point tomorrow.  We have about 4 hours to get to the next campground (in Brunswick, GA), where I changed the reservation to leave on Sunday, so we'll spend Shabbat there.  I can still prepare for Shabbat on Friday, even if we need to do a little more driving on Friday morning, depending on what time we can hit the road tomorrow.

Plan B is that if the truck isn't ready tomorrow either, if it's ready on Friday, we'll just find a local campground and stay there until Sunday.  Time will tell.....

3rd travel day - "Camp Ford" - Day 1657 (Year 5, Day 197)

St. George, SC

Our "campground" view today (notice the sign in the background):

"Camp Ford".  This is the 3rd time in 4  years we've been parked at a Ford dealership because the truck broke down.  They really should have a reward program for frequent visitors!!!

We left the rest area at 7:30 this morning.  The travel plans were similar to yesterday's, going about 175 miles down I-95 with the driving hopefully very similar.  We planned to stay at a campground off the highway, with an arrival time before noon so we could enjoy the grounds and/or get some work done.

As you can tell, that wasn't meant to be.  We weren't driving even 5 minutes before we started running out of steam.  We were very fortunate to have a good shoulder to pull onto, where we just barely made it as the truck died (it made a whirring sound but didn't turn over again).  Once again, since we have the truck pulling the trailer, we need a tow truck that tows semis, which are generally very hard to find.  We broke down at 7:45 and the tow truck showed up at 11:00.  By the time we got hooked up, over to the dealer 15 miles away and unhooked (and backed into a spot in the back), it was close to 12:30 pm.  At 2:00 pm, the truck still wasn't even in the bay, so it's extremely unlikely that it'll be fixed today.

For now, the plan is continue with our route as planned, just a day later.  But of course, that depends on the diagnosis and how soon tomorrow they can have it ready.  We'll need at least 4 hours to get to our next destination.

UPDATE:  They didn't take the truck into the bay until just after 4:00, so clearly we are camped out here for the night.  Mechanic took a real quick look at it and said it could be one of several things: a bad fuel pump, and/or a bad injector (sadly, not the starter as we were hoping).  He needs to work on it more in the morning to determine for sure.  Service manager said that IF it is one of those things and IF they can get the part from their warehouse, then maybe the part will arrive by noon.  Which probably means the work won't be done until 3 or 4.  So right now I'm sitting tight and prepared to figure out next steps.  Doesn't look like we'll make it down to FL even by Friday, so we'll probably go as far as we can and stay in a campground over Shabbat.  Did I say last week that I couldn't be serendipitous?  Guess it's not all that true (ok, I can't just go without a plan, but at least my planning is very flexible).

This is turning out to be quite a very expensive week, just at a time when we can afford it the least.  I hope Mitch can find lucrative employment very quickly. 

2nd travel day - Day 1656 (Year 5, Day 196)

Santee, SC

Thankfully, today's travel was very uneventful and it was the kind of travel I prefer -- all on Interstate 95 with no traffic and no road construction and fairly decent roads.  We traveled almost 200 miles and were able to stop approximately every 50 miles at rest areas to stretch our legs and change drivers.  We landed at a rest area here.  There is a sign posted, among other things, no overnight parking, but hopefully they don't have the personnel to enforce that or even keep track of who arrived when (we got here at 4:00).  Naturally, we'll be fully clothed for bed and ready to hit the road if needed, but praying that won't be the case.  Plan is to hit the road around 7 am tomorrow, and arrive at our next destination, which will be a campground, at noon.  We have about 175 miles to travel.

Oddly enough, although my work has been very slow over the past few months, this week clients decided they needed me!!!  I'm not complaining about having billable hours, but the timing really sucks!

One more thing I really need to make a note of.  It is a political statement so please just close this and don't read on if you don't want to read it......

Last night, on the way to meet the kids for dinner, we were pulled over by the police.  Apparently, all of our back lights on the truck were out (no running lights or tail lights).  It's probably a bad fuse somewhere.  In addition, our registration expired the week before (in Florida, you only get a tag to put on the vehicle -- no paper).  We paid for it but it didn't arrive in the mail yet so we had nothing to prove that the vehicle was legally registered.  So in affect, we had 2 strikes against us. The officer was extremely nice.  He liked us and noted that he thought our vehicle was used for business and said we seemed like really nice people.  We built a rapport explaining our traveling lifestyle and how we were just meeting our daughter for dinner.  We promised to look into the issue in the morning.  But here's the catch.... we got off without even a ticket. But what if we were black???  I really hate to think of it, but I'm truly convinced that if we were black, we would not have gotten off anywhere near as easy as we did. Not only would we have received a fine, but I wouldn't be surprised if we were arrested.  Just food for thought here, folks.  This is not a fair world we live in.

Last day in VA Beach, 1st day of travel - Day 1655 (Year 5, Day 195)

Selma, NC

We spent Friday and Saturday at the Holiday Trav-L Park, down the road in VA Beach.  Thankfully, the water pump was replaced on Friday so we were able to travel as planned (left today, Sunday Jan. 6th).

I'm not sure I would stay at this park again.  It was pleasant enough as it was quite empty, although the sites are very close and the roads narrow.  I can't imagine what it's like during the busy season.  They had lots of amenities (including 4 pools).  They converted one to an indoor heated pool, which we forced ourselves to take advantage of after services and a nap on Saturday.  The campground also had very nice decorations all over the park, including cute signs, a large statue of Neptune, even wooden duck in the fountain pond.  They still had some Christmas decorations up, including these:

 

So... we packed and hitched up for our ride down to Florida.  We're not planning to drive more than 200 miles a day, so God willing, we'll arrive on Thursday.  We left VA Beach at 10:30 this morning, and after a 20 minute stop at the first rest area we came to (NC Welcome Center just over the border, where we changed drivers), went the rest of the way to this campground, in Selma, NC, where we arrived at 2:45 pm.  Other than being right off the highway and not too far from train tracks (thus car, truck and train noise, which doesn't really bother us), this is a real gem of a park (why do we always manage to find these gems when we're only staying overnight???).  The property is a  nice size, sites are extremely spacious, grounds very well kept.  Our site is right on a small lake (catch & release fishing, no license required).  In fact, it's a gorgeous day with temps in the high 50s, so I decided to sit outside and do some work.  I'm also impressed by the fact that instead of a standard picnic table, the sites all have real patio furniture -- glass tables and outdoor chairs. Below are some photos of my table setup and what I am looking at as I sit outside:

And a few hours later, sunset over the lake:

Anyway, tomorrow's plans include more rest stops (about every 50 miles) and we will most likely be staying overnight at a rest area, as I couldn't find any affordable campgrounds within that mileage.  The destination will be Santee, SC.

UPDATE:  We discovered that we were only 35 miles away from Raleigh.  Turns out Jessica was leaving on a business trip early in the morning, but we all agreed to meet at the halfway point (which was Clayton, NC) for a wonderful sushi dinner.  Thanks Jess and Griffin!!!  It was great seeing you again, especially so spontaneously!

Status on leaving - Day 1652 (Year 5, Day 192)

Virginia Beach, VA

Yesterday (Wed), we were told the part (water pump) would arrive today.  Note there are 2 RV techs that are working the project: the owner of the company (Shawn) and his specialist that works on plumbing issues (Mike).  Mike is the one who is doing the labor but Shawn needs to do the warranty work, order the parts and other administrative stuff.

Anyway, we called at 10:00 am this morning to find out whether the part arrived.  Got Shawn's voicemail.  Mike said that Shawn had to take his father to the hospital, and therefore didn't know what the story was.  He said he would drop by Shawn's house after work to see whether it had arrived, and if so, he would install it tomorrow (Friday).  So another day of wait and see.

Meanwhile, we packed and hitched up and went down the road to the other campground.  Lots of wide open space here, but the sites are rather close together.  It's probably not very pleasant during busy season.  The place is huge, however, with tons of amenities and 4 pools.  One of them has been converted into a heated indoor pool, so I'm hoping we'll have a chance before we leave to get at least 1 swim in.

Happy New Year (and update) - Day 1650 (Year 5, Day 190)

Virginia Beach, VA

January 1st and it's 74 degrees!!  Strange for this area.  But it will be 49 tomorrow.  Mitch is still underneath the trailer making stuff "pretty".

We're starting out the year on a fairly positive note... one of the places I contacted in Florida called me back and has a spot for us.  It's in Zephryhills, which is about 30 miles northeast of Tampa.  I guess the reason they're not sold out is that it's a small little hole in the ground (about 30 sites), it's not a resort -- absolutely no amenities; just a place to park, and they don't advertise.  I found their listing on a site of RV lots for rent by owner.  But hey, the price is right ($400/month + electric) so it's worth giving the place a try since we wanted to be in FL anyway and it's peak snowbird season.

Whether we go down the road on Thursday or head down south depends on when the water pump comes in and gets installed.  We're hoping tomorrow, but time will tell.