Sunday January 14th 2024

Today was a Florida cold day with light rain in the early afternoon. Not the best weather for a travel day. Packing up in the cool weather wasn’t bad, but the rain began as I tried to get on the road. Thankfully it was a light rain that didn’t require a lot of windshield wiper action. My wiper blades were breaking down from two years of UV light. I have already bought new ones, I just haven’t installed them yet. (shame on me)

This was a stressful travel day. My slideout rooms on the motorhome wouldn’t come in on the first, second or third try this morning. I have had issues in the past, but tapping gently on the relay in the fuse box usually gets the current flowing so they will come in. Today the usual methods didn’t work. I started looking for a mobile RV tech to come out and assist. There are only a few that will take calls on Sundays. While waiting for the camphost to get a list of area technicians, I tried removing and resetting the DC breakers. For some reason, it worked after this and I was able to get underway.

It was well after the 1PM checkout time went I departed the state park grounds. I was fourth in line at the dumping station, so that took the well more than half an hour. The light rain was pretty constant by this time. On a positive note, I was able to fill the motorhome gas tank at a decent price. The roller coaster of gas prices was at a low point today.

Next up on this adventurous day was a traffic backup on Interstate 4 in the Lakeland area. I was in stop and go traffic for less than a mile before coming to the source of the backup. At least three cars had a collision in the high speed lanes. One white SUV was on its roof. It looked like everyone was out of the vehicles. Emergency services had not yet arrived. I passed many speeding vehicle with flashing lights on their way to the accident after I cleared the area.

I arrived at the Orlando Southwest KOA in Davenport Florida after 3PM. I have stayed here before. The rain was giving way to pockets of blue sky when I arrived. I got setup without any additional issues with the slideout rooms. The next three weeks represent the period that I was unable to book a state park or other public park reservation. I will be at the KOA for two weeks before moving for the third week. These are expensive campgrounds when compared to the public parks, but much cheaper than some of the locations near the coast. My problem is the amenities that drive up the price aren’t things that I make much use of. For example, I don’t need cable TV. I have a satellite. I will use the supplied WiFi, but I can easily make do with my cellular data service. The sites are also generally less attractive. The central Florida location puts me near the theme parks, so more visits are in my future.