Tuesday September 20th 2016

I am back in my RV home in Jacksonville Fl. The trip north was a few days longer than I’d planned, but it concluded on a high note. The sale of my house in New Hampshire closed yesterday morning. I now meet all of the definitions for being a full time RVer or as some would say “homeless”. As far as I’m concerned I’ve been living in the RV since I bought it last October 5th.

Life in New Hampshire the last week or so has been interesting. All of the furniture was removed from the house at the beginning of the month. I held back a TV, the microwave oven, a few pieces of cutlery, some bedding and cleaning supplies. I bought an inexpensive air mattress to sleep on in the empty bedroom. It was a camping adventure inside the house.

I spent my time dealing with lots of miscellaneous things. The biggest item was the sale of my old Class C motorhome. In hindsight it would have been easier if I’d traded it in for the new rig, but that would have necessitated buying the new rig differently for more money. Most of the money I saved on the purchase price of my RV home was lost on the low value I got on the old motorhome. The overall condition deteriorated during the last few years of no use.

Other little tasks included stopping services and changing addresses. I also had to get rid of the items that were not removed from the house and junk from the shed in the back yard. With the help of good friends all was accomplished by Sunday afternoon.

I spent Sunday night in a motel in Merrimack after taking the last few things including the air mattress to Goodwill. The closing took an hour late Monday morning. There were lots of things for me to sign and even more for the buyers to sign. I walked away with a check, so I would say it was worth the writer’s cramp.

Site at Pecan Park RV Resort.

My flight back to Jacksonville was at 5:45AM this morning, so I spent the night at the Hampton Inn near Logan Airport in Boston. I returned the rental car on Monday evening and took the hotel shuttle to the airport. All of these logistics required me to get up at 3AM. I got about 4 hours of sleep last night and another hour or two on the planes.

My RV home was here waiting. It survived tropical storm Julia last week and other than needing to cool it down by cranking up the AC was a welcoming sight. I am looking forward to catching up on sleep in my own bed.

Friday September 9th 2016

Well it’s time to return north to New Hampshire for one last house selling trip. This afternoon I caught a Southwest Airlines flight from Jacksonville International Airport to Boston. It was a direct flight with one stop in Baltimore. Seven passengers stayed on the plane in Baltimore to continue on to Boston. Even the flight crew and the cabin crew were changed.

Inside Jacksonville Airport.

The contrast between the Jacksonville airport and the Boston airport is huge. Jacksonville is a mid size airport in a rural setting. Boston is a large airport in the middle of urban congestion. It took me less than fifteen minutes to get to the Jacksonville airport followed by a simple bus ride from the economy parking ($5/day) to the terminal. In Boston, it took more than that length of time just to get to the rental car facility. Getting out of Boston on a Friday night at 7PM was not easy either.

I’ll be here until the house sale is complete. It will probably be a little more than a week, but the closing is not scheduled yet.

Thursday September 8th 2016

The good weather continued today. Like the past few days it started out at an unusually low temperature in the low 60s and topped out in the high 80s. We have also had very low humidity. All this is forecast to change by the weekend. The tropical weather will be back.

The water level in the retention pond at the campground is also lower than it was when I arrived at this campground last month. Even though we had a hurricane go through last week, the area is several inches low on rainfall this summer. The return to high humidity with afternoon thunderstorms may help.

Egret on the bank of the RV park retention pond.

One of the things I enjoy during the winter in Florida are all the birds. This time of year there aren’t as many birds around. They are spread out over the entire continent. As it gets colder up north the bird density should increase. On my walks around the campground, I rarely see any in the retention pond. Today was the exception. I saw a couple of Egrets. I think during the winter there would be many more birds present. The brush on the far side would provide very good cover.

I don’t plan to stick around and find out. I am here for the proximity to the Jacksonville Airport. Once my need to travel north in support of selling my house is over I will move on. The facilities are nice enough, but I just doesn’t feel right. Whatever that means.

There are not as many travelers here tonight. The office closes at 6pm so if a traveler hasn’t arrived or made arrangements by then, they’re out of luck. Most of the people arrive around 4 in the afternoon. That’s pretty common for a stopping time. I try to be off the road by that hour when traveling too. The idea that a RV park along side an interstate would not have provisions for travelers arriving later than 6PM is unusual, but not unique. Many are only staffed to 8PM, but I have run across a few that close early, particularly during the week.

Wednesday September 7th 2016

Today started with an early unwanted wake up call. The Florida Air National Guard was flying today. Shortly after seven this morning several F-15s took off from the Jacksonville Airport. My RV home is about a mile from the end of the longest runway. Aircraft taking off and landing is not an unusual occurrence. The commercial traffic is loud, but not terrible. This morning the F-15s took off with full afterburners. It was very loud and I think the RV shook. There were probably six fighter jets taking off over a 15 or 20 minute period.

I tried to go back to sleep after the F-15s were airborne, but it wasn’t going to happen. The landscapers decided to mow the lawn in my area of the campground. It was still before eight when they were doing my site less than 10 feet from my bed. Sleeping in this morning wasn’t going to happen.

Historic Fernandina Beach looking up Centre street from the Amelia River

For today’s adventure I went back to Amelia Island. I toured the historic part of the town of Fernandina Beach. The town is the eastern terminus of Florida’s first Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico railroad. The track to the gulf was completed in March of 1861. The main street has shops along both sides of the tree lined thoroughfare. Today the buildings are filled with restaurants, boutiques and tourist shops, but you can visualize the businesses that occupied them one hundred and fifty years ago. It must have been a thriving port.

Whirligig Kayak in front of one of the shops.

Marina on the Amelia River

The main street ends at the Amelia river. The railroad parallels the river and is still a significant part of the towns economy. Across the tracks is the local marina. River cruises, charter fishing boats and jet ski rentals populate the marina. Once again, I could imagine the river bank lined with sailing ships with warehouses across the tracks to store the goods when the town was a bustling port.

Tuesday September 6th 2016

It was another beautiful day in northeast Florida. The weather was a repeat of yesterday. It was hot but not very humid.

After breakfast this morning I went in search of a waterfront area to see some wildlife and take a walk. It was an adventure, but I basically struck out. I found one city park that was filled with construction equipment and effectively unusable. Then I found several bigger parks with parking fees of around five dollars. This is a very reasonable fee if you are going to use the facilities for awhile, but I’m not. Unless I come prepared for a specific hike or bike ride, I usually only stay for a few minutes. I was back at the RV by 2PM after a stop for a few groceries.

The RV park has filled up the last couple of nights.

For exercise I walked around the campground after supper. The park has an interesting mix of long term residents. While the bulk of the long term residents seem to be retired folks, there are also many folks that are working in the area. The trucks they drive and the cloths they wear provide good hints to the possible occupations. For instance, several people arrive and depart every day in loose cotton shirts that one typically sees in medical establishments. A great number of traveling nurses use RVs for their homes. So that’s one bet. Another safe bet is the tools in the backs of trucks and company logos on the doors as an indicator for construction workers.

Another curiosity is associated with the current crop of travelers that have arrived in the park the last couple of days. Several RVs with young children have arrived for a night or two. Last month there were no kids around, but now with school in session across most of the country there are kids here. Maybe they’re home schooled.   Speculating about my neighbors is one way to pass a dull day.

Monday September 5th 2016

Today was a No Labor Day. It was a beautiful day with low humidity and the high temperature in the mid 80s, but I stayed at home most of the day.

The day started slow and never really got going. I turned the TV on in the bedroom and stayed in bed until after 9AM. Then during breakfast I started reading Internet news and blogs. The noon news was on the TV before I finished my breakfast coffee.

This afternoon I went on a mission of discovery. I was looking for a park on a river. The area has plenty of rivers, but I didn’t find any parks. I did discover where the Zoo is located. It’s a possibility for another day.

I also discovered the cruise ship terminals for Jacksonville. A smaller carnival cruise ship was in port. The cruise terminal is located on the north side of the St Johns river. It seems to be in an industrial part of town far from the urban center, but it is near the interstate to the airport.

Another of today’s lazy activities was watching the changes in the RV park. The overnight and weekend campers left my mid day. Many of the longer term residents had taken their rigs out for the long weekend. They started to return early in the afternoon. Toward evening new overnight travelers started to arrive. One difference here is that most of the travelers are Florida residents not a diverse selection of travelers. This park is one of the first or last parks in Florida on Interstate 95 so I would expect to see rigs from all of the eastern states. Then again, smart travelers wouldn’t be here in the hottest part of the year.

Tomorrow is forecast to have similar weather, so I’ve got another chance to get motivated to enjoy it.

Sunday September 4th 2016

This afternoon I visited Fort Clinch State Park on the north end of Amelia Island. It’s about 25 miles north and east of here in an area of Amelia Island that’s more to my liking than the area I was in a couple of weeks ago.

Fort Clinch

The main attraction of the state park is Fort Clinch. It was built starting in 1847 as part of the country’s coastal defenses. The fort is located at the mouth of the St. Mary’s River to protect the deep water port of Fernandina. The port was the eastern end of the railroad going west across the northern part of the state.

Looking through the Sally Port into the courtyard. The period flag is at the center.

View of the fort from high on the rampart.

During the Civil War it was occupied by the south but was soon abandon for strategic reasons to be re-occupied by federal troops. After the Civil War the Fort was put into caretaker status until the Spanish American war. During that brief war, it was again occupied. It became a state park in 1935 but was used by the military again during the Second World War as a base for coastal surveillance activities.

Guns mounted to defend the mouth of the St Mary’s river.

Another view of the interior of the fort.

The facility has been well restored and maintained. You can tour many of the buildings with artifacts from the period on display. Ramps and stairs are available to climb to the top of the walls. Standing beside the cannon aimed at the sea approaches provides a sense of the coverage the fort had. You can walk through galleries in the walls to get a sense of the thickness of the fortifications. In general, it is a very impressive structure that never saw any real action or was every actually completed.

Tidal area in front of the Fort

If I’d planned better, I would have gone to the park yesterday or earlier today. On select weekends throughout the year re-enactments are conducted by volunteers. The first weekend of every month is a re-enactment of Federal Civil War era troops garrisoning the fort. At other times soldiers from different eras and the confederacy are re-enacted.

The weather in the area of Fort Clinch state park was great for a visit today. The sun was out through scattered clouds. A good breeze off the ocean kept the temperature down. Here at the RV park the weather was not as good. It was right on the line between the good weather and a rainy area. Sometimes it would be sunny and sometimes it would cloud over quickly and rain for a minute or two. Tomorrow the line between good and bad is forecast to move further south.

Saturday September 3rd 2016

The weather threatened rain all day with heavy clouds and a few very brief showers. The rain finally arrived at the supper hour. The TV meteorologists say the rain is caused by the “tail of Hermine”. They’ve got to be making this stuff up.

Late this morning I made another visit to the Flea and Farmers market next door to the RV park. It hasn’t improved from two weeks ago. There still weren’t any farmers present. The only vendor selling fruits and vegetables was clearly not a farmer. Everything showed signs of coming from a wholesaler. I came home empty handed.

National Seashore support boats at the dock in St Marys

Sailboat anchored in the St Marys river

Today’s major excursion was to St Mary’s Georgia. This is a historic town on the northern shore of the St. Mary’s river. The river forms the boundary between Georgia and Florida in this area. Two major draws for the town are the mainland facilities for the Cumberland Island National Seashore and the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. I wanted to learn about the options for visiting the National Seashore.

Watching the river for food.

You need to take a boat out to Cumberland Island to visit the park. There are two boats out and three boats back per day. You really have to dedicate a day or more to see the island. The island is the home to a variety of wildlife including feral horses. The history of the island dates back to the Spanish. The island also played significant roles in the War of 1812, the Civil War and the industrial age with one of the Carnegie homes occupying part of the island. All things that interest me, but I’m not sure I want dedicate a whole day or more right now.

In general, I’m not fully engaged in this lifestyle right now. My attention is divided between the things around me and the sale of the house up north. Why that is the case, I’m not sure. I’m not in travel mode; I’m not in tourist mode; and I’m not in regular living mode. Hopefully, I’ll settle in after the house sale closes.

Friday September 2nd 2016

This should be the last of a weeks worth of blogging about the tropical weather system that became hurricane Hermine. The bottom line is I survived hurricane Hermine. The storm came ashore 160 miles west of here with 80 mph winds about midnight last night, but the time had very little association with how the storm manifested here in Jacksonville.

I spent all day yesterday and most of the evening waiting for something to happen. About 6:30pm the first band of rain and wind associated with the storm came through the area. It got the TV meteorologists excited because there was some tornadic rotation in the band, but it had very little impact to my immediate area. Three hours later another band came through. This one brought more rain and wind and it never really let up until the storm had moved through.

Another 3 hours later, around 12:30, the next band came through. The weather alert radio went off with a tornado warning for an area north of here. Once I reset the radio, I went back to trying to get to sleep. It was not easy, but knowing that the radio would get my attention if another tornado warning occurred, I did get some sleep. Additional heavy bands went through about every 3 hours until noon today.

Clouds to the north after the storm.

The bulk of the wind came this morning. The Jacksonville airport, about 1.5 miles from here, had a peak gust of 46 mph just before noon. By this time the center of the now tropical storm was over 100 miles to the north. Strong winds continued all day, but the sun came out during the afternoon and warmed things up into the high 80s.

This evening I extended the motorhome slide out rooms and raised the satellite antenna. I had stowed these yesterday about 24hours earlier to limit the potential wind damage. I also took my bicycle back off it’s rack on the back of the car. Everything is back to normal.

I think this is the first time I’ve been on the right side of the storm path for a hurricane. This side of the storm is known for having bands of energy with rain, heavy winds and possible tornadoes. The left side of the storm, that I’ve experienced before in New England has heavier rain and less gusty winds and tornadoes. Between the bands on the right side it is possible to get a false sense of security. Prior to the time I got to sleep, I still heard jets passing overhead on their way in for landing at Jacksonville International Airport. I hope they were cargo planes and not passenger service.

Overall the storm didn’t have any physical impact on me or my property. It did cause some emotional turmoil in the form of self anger for not getting out of town when I could. I’d like to think I’ll run next time, but who knows.

Thursday September 1st 2016

It is around 6PM as I’m writing this blog entry. The first wave of wind and rain that is rotating around hurricane Hermine is about 30 minutes away. I’ve spent the day wondering why am I here.

It has been cloudy, calm and very humid all day. The rain has held off to a few short and light showers. I’ve finally found a TV meteorologist that I think I can understand. He is on the non network news focused channel 4. He does a much better job of explaining what is happening and explaining the potential developments that will be coming than the other forecasters on the network channels. Perhaps if I’d been listening to this guy, I’d have known when and where to move to get out of the path of the storm. As I mentioned the other day, if I’d moved at the beginning of the week I’d have moved from the frying pan into the fire. Not moving northwest was a good decision. That is where the storm is currently tracking.

Dull cloudy, but very humid day before the storm.

Other travelers seem to be equally confused or storm challenged. Four new RVs arrived at the campground this afternoon. I’m not sure what direction they were traveling in, but I am surprised that people would stop here before the storm arrived. With my current understanding of the storm I’d get as far south as I could before stopping. However, while traveling it would be very difficult to develop that understanding. I’d probably end up stopping in a strange place as well. Hopefully, this isn’t the wrong place.

I’ve retracted both of the motorhome’s slide-out rooms. This reduces the amount of room in the RV, but it provides one less set of things for the wind to get in and cause damage. At the very least it will make it quieter inside. The flapping of the fabric slide toppers is annoying even in a light wind.

The storm is forecast to last until tomorrow afternoon. It doesn’t even come ashore in the big bend area of Florida until midnight. Bands of wind and rain will be passing through all night and Friday morning. I don’t anticipate getting much sleep.