Day 9 of the Journey - Lake City, FL

We woke up at 7:30 this morning, but admittedly didn't get functioning until closer to 8:30.  We were finished packing up the inside and out and ready to hitch by 10:30 (mostly because Mitch wanted to do a little more organizing).  It took us only 1/2 hour to hitch up -- not bad for the first time doing it alone.  I was the one taking instructions, but found that I am much better behind the wheel with Mitch navigating.

Getting out of the campground was another story.  Recall these are winding, narrow streets.  At one point we almost took a tree with us.  We had to maneuver back and forth before making it around the curve.  But we made it without a scratch!  Wish I had taken a picture of that narrow curve.

We got on the road by about 11:15.  Mitch was exhausted by then so we stopped at the first rest area about 1/2 hour away so he could close his eyes for a catnap.  After 10 minutes he got a phone call from one of his contractors, offering him a job for Monday.  He went back to sleep for another 10 mins and then ran into the Dunkin Donuts to get some ice water and 2 bagels for lunch.

We hit the road again and drove another hour and a half until we reached the half way point we had decided on - a Walmart in Lake City (wallydocking = overnight parking at Walmart).  Here's where today's 2nd adventure begins: 

• The GPS did not take us on the most direct route but rather had us drive about 10 miles on a narrow two lane road with a few turns. 
• Pulled into the Walmart parking lot which was not a huge entrance.  It put us in front of the store and there was no way we could turn down any of the narrow aisles with all the cars coming & going to get to the back of the lot.
• Had to go the first area that had a little space which was around the building, in the loading dock area.  After a few forward and backwards moves, we found a good angle where we weren't blocking the fire exit or the trucks in the bays.  We were low on gas so we unhitched the truck to get some (no truck stops nearby that would have allowed us to pull in with the CoW.  We also passed a Moe's and decided to bring back some burritos rather than my having to cook.  It took about 20 mins to gas up all the tanks and the heat was brutal.  Oh, I should pause to mention that we first stopped into Walmart to load up one of their prepay cards so we could get a discount on gas at their station, only to find that they don't sell diesel there).
• Came back to our "site" to discover a security guard in his little cart waiting for us, telling us we couldn't park there.
• Hitched back up.  This time it only took about 10 minutes!  Yay team Mitcheryl!!!  Of course, we more than made up the time with trying to move it over to the empty area, around the windy narrow islands.  We did manage to get to that area and pulled into about 10 spots.  A truck driver parked there told us we couldn't park in that direction because we needed to pull in the other way, otherwise they can't get out.  That's where the real fun began because we had to pull around another really narrow island.  A lot of back and forthing, but finally got it without doing any damage.  We're now taking up about 20 spots (in the middle of 2 rows) but after all that, not to mention the severe HEAT while doing all this, we really don't care what the truckers have to say.  We've been parked here now for about 2 hours and so far we've been left alone.

Mitch plans to get up in the middle of the night and do some shopping (they're open 24 hrs) and hit the road by 6.  Not sure why he wants to leave that early; I guess to avoid traffic and also give him time to pull over several times to nap.  He can't seem to go more than an hour at a time before getting tired, and I'm not feeling confident enough yet to drive it without his being outside guiding me.  He's getting really good at driving and turning.  We will still need a lot of practice backing up, as we haven't figured out which direction the CoW wants to go when we turn the wheels. 

Anyway, really exhausted, probably from all the heat.  It's only 8:00pm but I'm going to bed now.  Good night!