Day 4 of the journey - St. Cloud, FL

Not too much going on today.  We were granted permission to stay until Sunday (we would leave tomorrow, but we don't travel on the Sabbath).  Since it takes over about 1/2 hr to pack everything up to hitch, it didn't make sense to take it out again for another practice run.  Guess we'll start learning as we go when we go, just like 99% of the RV'ers before us.

After checking emails, we went out shopping.  Seems we've been going out every day!  It does take some getting used to buying small items rather than large cans or boxes or anything in bulk.  It's more expensive this way, but there isn't a lot of pantry space.  I have room for 5 cans of tuna, not 20!  Besides food, we also needed to buy a blanket and pillows, as the ones our hosts gave us were actually on loan (forgot to buy pillow cases - oops!  Another run to the store later).  We also bought some bug spray and another camping chair as Mitch left ours at Jess's house and if we want to sit outside under the awning, there's only 1 chair (I should let him sit on the floor, just as an "I told you so" (not to take it out of the van)).  I also decided to replace my wardrobe.  I haven't worn summer clothes since I lost weight and the 2 pairs of shorts I own are too big and baggy and the 5 tshirts are all black or brown.  So I bought 4 pairs of shorts and 3 tops.  I'm calling this my "winter wardrobe" as I hope to be in warm locales in the winter.  Mitch and Kevin also loaded up the 2 40# propane cylinders and brought them to a filling station.  When on electric hookup, we still need the gas for the hot water heater and stove.  The frig will run on it while we're driving.

So our "lessons" for today is learning how to set up and use the generator for when we dry camp (what do we need to turn on?  what needs to be off?), and opening/closing the large awning which is not electric (there are so many dials and latches to locate!  When we're near the factory in Sept. we may explore the possibility of replacing it with an automatic one like the smaller one in front).  We will practice hitching and unhitching again on Sunday before we take off.  We're actually not allowed to check into the campsite until 3:00 so maybe if the parking lot we found is en route to Orlando and not in the opposite direction, we can go back there and practice some more.

As for next week's plans, we have a guy who can reseal the roof at our location, and since he's out of Orlando, we will stay at a campground there (actually in Clermont) until he's done - probably leave on Wednesday.  We have chosen not to visit Naples or Ft. Myers this time around as we want to do as limited driving as possible until we take lessons.  We'll visit Fred and Twila in Panama City Beach (which is still a little off route) and then head up to Myrtle Beach.  Hopefully by the time we leave SC, we won't be so green around the gills.  Although after driving for about an hour yesterday, Mitch was driving almost like a pro.  As long as we stay away from narrow winding roads and hills and small towns where there are a lot of tight turns -- staying on the interstate as much as possible - we should be ok.