Days 84 and 85 of the Journey - Lee, FL & Charleston, SC

 Sorry - very long post.....

Tuesday - Day 84.   Although Mitch came home at 8:00 am, this still proved to be our last day in Panama City Beach.  He slept until 2:30 and really had an itch to get on the road.  He's not the type who really enjoys going out sightseeing or doing touristy things, but for some reason, he really wanted the extra day in Charleston.  We were planning on 2 days - stopping at about the halfway point to overnight and then driving the rest of the way the following day. 

Packing and hitching took 2 hours (from 3:30 to 5:30), and went fairly smoothly until it was time to hitch up the truck to the RV (or the CoW to the Bull to create the Beast).  Just to side-step a little: I needed to use a special step stool to get in and out of the Bull.  It needs to be extra wide because I need to be able to turn my body around completely so my tush is facing the seat (this way avoiding the forbidden motion of twisting).  I also need the extra width to put my cane down to give me leverage when climbing out.  Well... Mitch was extra efficient and put the stool next to my door in advance.  However, when it was time to line the hitch up to the pin, he had to move the Bull forward a few feet first.  Neither of us remembered that the stool was next to it and... you guessed it... a $70 step stool is now a totally flat piece of metal.  On the bright side, at least it didn't slash the tires!   Regarding the rest of the packing, I had a wonderful 3 page list which was extremely helpful.

Ok, we get hitched up and leave.  We were aiming for Baldwin, FL, about a 4 hr drive, but figured we'd stop whenever Mitch got tired, especially since he was driving at night.  We planned to also stop in a rest area/truck stop for dinner.  About 1.5 hrs into the trip, we started to get a little hungry.  We pulled into a Pilot.  Realize we have always parked in the car area.  Being that we are as large as a semi, we need to be in the truck area.  This was a brand new experience for us.  Mitch was not only totally intimidated by all the trucks, but the only place to park was along the edge between 2 other trucks (needing to parallel park).  Mind you, we came to this area to get driving lessons, with focus on learning to park and back up.  We are no where ready to do this.  Fortunately, there was a clear area in the car section, so Mitch took up about 10 spaces and just ran into the convenience store section and picked up some junk food (McD parfaits and 2 bags of chips.  I had 1 parfait only.  Good girl!)  That would have to hold us until we came to another place that perhaps had more parking.

Wednesday, Day 85.  He drove for another 1.5 hours.  It was now about 11:00 (10:00 if we hadn't crossed over from Central to Eastern time).  We found a Loves truck stop on Interstate I-10, in Lee, FL with 120 spaces, mostly full, but again, they were all back in spots and he didn't want to deal with all the truckers.  Fortunately, there was a large space across from the gas pumps, so we just pulled in there and set down for the night.  I was very uncomfortable and didn't get very much sleep.

We woke up at 8:00 (the alarm didn't go off) and pulled out at 8:30.  We drove until about 10:30 and found a truck stop (TA) near Jacksonville that had a Country Pride restaurant.  Again, same situation with the parking. It was almost full and all spots were back in only.  Another thing: many campgrounds are at least 18' wide.  Truck parking spots are only 12'.  Imagine us trying to back our rig up next to two huge semi tractor trailers, when we don't know how to back in!!!  Well, being hungry (didn't even have a sip of coffee or tea) Mitch decided to suck it up.  He got out of the Bull, walked over to a truck driver who had just gotten out of his rig, told him "we just bought this RV, never drove one before.  We're on our way to learn how to drive it.  Would you mind helping me park it?"  The guy got a kick out of it, but he was incredibly nice, and of course, had it parked perfectly in less than 3 minutes (he's been driving trucks since 1969).

We left the restaurant at 11:30.  The rest of the ride was uneventful except that it was incredibly bumpy.  Even with the air suspension, we were bouncing all over the place.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to pack away the new ceramic plates and cups we recently bought (they were in the plate closet).  The closet opened and one of the cups fell out and smashed on the floor.  In the scheme of things, not a great loss.  It was only $2 and is open stock at Target, so easily replaced.  But next time I have to pack away the breakables.

We finally arrived at the campground at 5:00.  First impressions - I hate this place!  The roads and sites are not paved nor do they have gravel - it's all grass and dirt.  They've had lots of rain recently so it's really all dirt and MUD.  Doesn't give me anyplace to take a walk unless I want to swish around in the mud.  Then again, I don't particularly care to go outside because of the LOVE BUGS.  Not the camp's fault.  Not only was our windshield and CoW completely covered with splattered bodies, but when you step outside, these things are swarming by the thousands.  I'm not sure what kind of bug they are exactly, but I'm told they're called love bugs because they are mating while flying.  If you take a look, it appears to be a 2 headed bug: 1 head on top and the other on the bottom.

We pretty much set up within an hour, but Mitch had a problem getting the Bull unhitched.  It was starting to rain and he was very tired and cranky.  It was difficult to level the CoW while hitched, but he decided that we'll just have to live with it being very uneven tonight and deal with it in the morning after a good night's sleep.

So plans for tomorrow is that we'll get up early, unhitch, if it's not raining set up the brush and hose and try to wash the bugs off, then head into the downtown area for some sightseeing.  We decided on a horse drawn carriage tour.  On the way back we need to stop at Walmart and Home Depot for a few things.  But you know how plans go......