I had hoped to have everything sold or otherwise disposed of by the end of October so I could begin my full time adventure in earnest. As of the end of November, I was only half way to that goal. My mothers house had been sold, but my New Hampshire house and other assets remained to be liquidated. I was tired of waiting. It was time to get on the road and deal with the house etal. as I best I could. My new “plan” was to go to Florida for the winter with a sub-plan to come back to New Hampshire a time or two to work on getting the things done.
On November 30th I departed Normandy Farms Campground in Foxborough MA heading south. I was trying to stay ahead of the weather. One possible track of the storm coming up the coast would bring the first snow fall to the area. I made it to the KOA in Jonestown PA after dark. It was a complicated day with a minor mechanical issue, traffic and rainy weather at the end.
The mechanical issue was right at the beginning of the journey. I put the power drivers side window down to work the gate at the campground exit only to find it unable to close. I continued to try and get it closed as I slowly made my way back toward the main roads with no success. Finally, I stopped in a shopping center to work on the issue. Holding the trim open, pulling on the glass and pushing the power button proved successful after a few minutes of activity. Now I only had to remember not to put it down to far at the various toll booths I needed to pass through.
The second day of travel was much shorter. I only traveled to the Americamps RV resort just north of Richmond VA. I stopped early at this campground after yesterday’s long travel day. I have stopped at this campground many times before. It has plenty of easily accessed pull through sites.
The next morning when I was getting ready to depart, a new mechanical issue came up. The slide out rooms and the leveling jacks wouldn’t work. Until I could get them to work I wasn’t going anywhere. While I considered my options, I went to the free breakfast at the campground rec-hall and asked around to see if any other campers had ideas. The consensus was call the factory.
Once I finished my waffle and coffee I returned to the RV and looked up the number for Tiffin’s highly rated technical service. I soon had a technician on the phone working me through various checks to attempt to diagnose the source of the electrical problem preventing the slides from working. Holding the phone to one ear, I contorted my body into various positions under the dash checking wires and fuses. Finally, after about 30 minutes of checking this and that, pulling out and replacing one perfectly good fuse produced success. The Tiffin service had lived up to its reputation and saved the day. Why the problem occurred and what really fixed it is still a mystery, but the slides and jacks worked.
My mechanical issue was fixed, but I wasn’t ready to travel. I was emotionally drained and my back hurt from all the contorting. I decided to spend another night at Americamps. When I went to the office to extend my stay, they had me move to another site. The one I was on was reserved for a member of a camping group scheduled in that night. I wonder what they would have done if my mechanical issue had prevented me from moving on?
The next day, Thursday, I got underway with out issue. My goal was to get as far south as I could. By about 3PM, I was ready to stop. I chose the Point South KOA in South Carolina . I have stayed at this KOA before, so I knew what I was getting. This was the first night that was dry and not terribly cold. I was clearly getting into warmer territory.
I still wasn’t sure where I was going to end up in Florida. On Friday, I stopped at the FL visitors center, got my teaspoon size cup of orange juice and collected brochures. I departed the welcome center with a goal of spending the weekend at the Orlando Southwest KOA. It is located in the middle of the state and would make a good location to conduct my search for a location for the next few months. In the mid afternoon after seemingly endless construction and traffic on Interstate 4 I arrived at the KOA for my first night in Florida. My trip south was complete.