Monday December 26th 2022

I was up early to get ready for a travel day. It didn’t get as cold last night as the previous couple of nights, but it was still only in the low thirties as I got packed up.

Things felt a little frozen. The hoses resisted moving in the direction I wanted them to move. It took a little more time and convincing. Getting the main slide room in and the leveling jacks raised was a slow process. The hydraulic fluid in the system was not as viscus as usual. All things considered, I was still ready to leave at 10:30. That is when the real issue made an appearance.

As I was connecting up the car for towing one of the park staff asked the curious question: “Do you have a gas leak?”. Sure enough there was a small puddle of gas accumulating under the coach just behind the engine area. I had smelled gas in the past and thought I might have an issue, but this was a lot worse than anything I might have suspected in the past.

The next complication is that today was a holiday for most of the working world. I got several options from the park staff, but nobody was picking up the phone. The few places that I got through to on voice mail haven’t called me back. I drove around the area in my car this afternoon and didn’t find any service places open.

The site I pulled out of this morning is occupied tonight. I’m on another site until at least Wednesday. I called Lake Manatee State Park in Bradenton to give them a heads up that I will be arriving a few days late. In the morning I’ll resume my search for someone to fix the fuel issue.

Many new RVs arrived at the campground today. It looks like many people spent the holiday at home before departing to spend the rest of the week between Christmas and New Years out camping. Lots of the new arrivals have kids trying out new bicycles, scooters and other large outside toys. The park is far more lively today than it has been during the entire two weeks I’ve been here.