Sunday February 12th 2017

Today started with thick heavy fog. The visibility in the campground was so bad I couldn’t see the office four rows of campers away from my site. It cleared off by midday and warmed up to the high 70s.

I didn’t have any real plans for the day, but still managed to get a number of things accomplished. Chief among those items was getting my computer printer working again. I don’t know exactly how I accomplished it. I took the black ink cartridge out, tapped it on the table and put it back in. That alone didn’t fix it, but after I cleaned the print heads again it worked. The good news is I don’t have to buy a new printer.

Torpedo at the Georgia Welcome Center

This afternoon I went shopping and touring. One of the places I stopped was at the Georgia Welcome Center on the highway. I’ve stopped at this rest area a number of times over the years. The thing that stands out is the exhibit of a torpedo. There is nothing that tells you why it’s on display. The first time I saw it was long before Google and Internet searches. It was a number of years before I learned it was because of the nearby Kings Bay Submarine base in St. Mary’s GA. Today I found a poster inside that told about the nearby submarine base, but the torpedo still stands alone.

Lunch today was an empty the freezer meal. A couple of weeks ago (maybe more) I froze a couple of bratwurst. In an attempt to use what I froze for a change, I thawed and cooked them for dinner. I used the grill for the bratwurst and served them along with spaghetti dressed with some marinara from a jar. It wasn’t bad.

One of the less successful tasks of the day was finding a place in the St. Augustine area for a few days stay this week. One place had no vacancies until Thursday, another place had a premium site available for Tuesday night and a different one for Wednesday night. The next place I checked didn’t even answer the phone. I’ve booked another night here and will continue to try and locate a site in the morning.

Saturday February 11th 2017

This time of year Florida seems to experience a temperature roller coaster. Yesterday it was only in the 60s and today it broke 80 degrees. I’m not complaining. New England just got over one snow storm and another one hits tomorrow.

Today was moving day. I need to keep moving around to find places with vacancies. I’m back at the KOA just north of the state line in Georgia. This place has plenty of open sites since it caters to travelers that only stay a night or two. Unfortunately, it is too far north of the area I need to be in. I will move back south of Jacksonville on Monday. I just need to figure out where.

Site E-8 in the tall pines. I couldn’t get a Satellite signal here either.

Travel days include about 2 hours of leisurely packing up and 2 hours of setting up. I can get it down to half an hour in full on travel mode when I only stop overnight. There is usually one or two things that require a little extra effort. This time it was getting the cable TV wire disconnected. I had to dig out two pairs of pliers to unscrew a simple connector.

Today I only traveled for a little over an hour but hung out at a rest area for over an hour to delay long enough to show up after check in time. I can read, watch TV, surf the Internet, eat and just generally live in the rest area parking lot. So it’s not a hardship dragging my feet in this way. It’s relaxing.

One of the things I did after getting set up is the laundry. This included a new complication. The water pressure is so low that it takes extra time to complete the wash cycle. They have posted the wash time as 30 minutes, but my load took closer to 50 minutes. When I returned to the laundry room at 30 minutes the rinse cycle was just starting. It took 10 minutes just to fill the tub with water for the rinse cycle. Learning and experiencing all the variations in laundry facilities is one of the more interesting things about the campgrounds I stay at. It’s a little thing, but it is more of fun challenge than some of the bigger hurtles of this lifestyle.

Friday February 10th 2017

It has cooled off to below normal temperatures. It was in the high forties overnight and only got into the sixties at the peak of the day.

Tonight’s blog entry is a bit of a rant. I have a computer printer in my motorhome. It doesn’t get used a lot, but when I need a printer, I need a printer. The only alternative to not having a printer with me would be to use print services at places like Staples. To use those you need to prepare ahead of time and be ready for a significant per page cost. I’ve used those services in the past when traveling.  I’m also concerned about the potential security issues associated with using those services.

Fountain in the campground’s drainage pond.

When you don’t use your printer regularly it takes a pass or two to get the print heads clear. Yesterday I needed a printer and that didn’t work. Using the printers maintenance commands I tried to clear and align the print heads. That too didn’t work. Today I bought a new ink cartridge to see if that will clean up the output. I also did some looking for a new printer. The problem is the cabinet for the printer is not big enough for many of the mid range printers. I either need a small cheap printer like I have now, or an expensive portable printer. The models I’d buy if space was not a concern are just not viable.

While writing this blog entry another rant topic came up. Why do cars beep every time someone uses their key fob? It’s a configurable item on most cars that I always make sure is off. It is nothing but an annoyance in a campground. A couple of minutes ago the guy next door’s car beeped and I jumped out of my skin. I can think of no real reason you need the audible feedback other than to annoy your neighbors. I won’t get started on the disturbance a car alarm makes in the quiet campground.

Thursday February 9th 2017

The storm front that lingered around for about 36 hours was gone today. In its wake was a good stiff wind. The temperature still managed to reach the mid 70s because of the full sunshine.

Today was a relocation day for me. I still have errands that are best completed in this area before I move west. So I’m finding ways to stay in this area. None of the campgrounds have enough open days for me to stay in one place, thus I needed to move today. I am one exit south on off Interstate 95 at Compass RV Park. I stayed here for a week or so last November.

While I had the motorhome out today, I tried to get it an oil change. Unfortunately, the garage and I were not on the same wavelength. When I arrived for my appointment, I was informed that they couldn’t service the large motorhome. This was the manager or owner that made that call, not the person I had made the appointment with. All I got for my trouble was an apology and some vague reference to a garage that he thought could do the task. I’m not sure what was really happening, but it was clearly not going to happen today. I’ve got the oil and filter, I’ll go back to the original plan to do it myself.

Site 90 at Compass RV Park. The tree blocks my satellite reception.

I only have a site at this campground until Saturday. I will probably go back to the KOA just north of the line in Georgia for a couple of days. Tomorrow, I’ll see if I can find a place starting Monday. My current plan is to head west starting on Thursday. The current long range storm pattern appears to have an opening over the weekend around the 20th, but who believes in weather forecasts a week out.

Wednesday February 8th 2017

Last night the storm front that brought tornadoes to Louisiana and Mississippi earlier in the day arrived here on the north east Florida coast. It had calmed down a little by the time it got this far east, but still brought severe thunderstorms. Around ten last night the sky opened up, the wind blew and lightning flashed. It lasted for a couple of hours, then showered off and on during the night. There was at least one tornado reported to the west of here.

Sky between the storms

The power went out over night, but I didn’t know until I saw the microwave flashing this morning. The microwave is one of the things that doesn’t get its power from the inverter circuit. The lights and the outlets all get power from the batteries via the inverter. When I checked the battery status this morning, they were in fast charge mode, so the power was out long enough to draw them down significantly.

Today was a changeable day. It started cloudy, cleared a little, then the clouds moved back in. The temperature peaked in the mid 70s. A few showers have moved through the area and it is starting to fog in tonight. The humidity and lack of a good breeze has kept it uncomfortable all day.

I feel lucky that the weather didn’t impact me more than it did. One of the plans I was considering for my travels to the west would have had me staying in New Orleans this week. That general area got hit by several tornadoes yesterday. I’m now trying to understand the long range weather forecast for the south. I still need to get across the country to Arizona by March 1st. The Weather Channel and AccuWeather websites have been getting a few visits.

Tuesday February 7th 2017

The temperature challenged the record highs today topping out in the low 80s. I managed to take advantage of the nice weather before the day was out. A storm front is predicted to pass through overnight and bring the weather back toward normal.

Duck boats and trucks surrounded by Patriots fans.

Mr. Brady came to party

Getting out of the RV was delayed this morning by the a new TV addiction. I got caught up watching the Patriots victory parade through downtown Boston. The NFL Network had a combination of its own coverage and the WBZ TV Boston local coverage. Watching the Duck boats and flat bed trucks packed with players, team staff and family members winding through Boston during a winter storm was very entertaining. With very few exceptions, nobody knew who they were looking at. The players weren’t in uniform and very few were wearing identifying numbers. The number of times the announcers identified people incorrectly was amazing. If they didn’t contradict themselves or retract their identification, I’d have never known. People who wear helmets for a living can hide in a crowd. I really don’t know what my fascination with the parade was all about.

When I finally made it out of the campground, I went to the Atlantic Ocean south of St Augustine Beach. Guess what the Atlantic Ocean is still there. I didn’t have anything specific in mind when I stopped at the seaside conservation area near the Marineland Laboratories. The tide was most of the way in leaving very little area for exploring. There were a few people taking advantage of the warm sun between the rocks. I spent a few minutes watching the waves break and the shore birds scramble.

South view of the Atlantic Ocean

Palm trees under a cloudy sky.

There is still lots of work going on to repair hurricane damage. Fences and signs are still broken down in some areas. Serious bulldozer work is going on to rebuild some of the barrier sand dunes. It has been around four months since the storm went up the coast. Buildings have been repaired but landscape damage hasn’t always been repaired.

Monday February 6th 2017

Today was a recovery day from yesterday’s emotional roller coaster of a Super Bowl game. Watching the Patriots dig their own grave, then fill it in and build a monument for football posterity was gut wrenching. I got caught up in all of today’s Monday morning quarterbacking. I listened or watched more sports shows today than I would in a normal month. All of the shows were pretty much in agreement that the Falcons chocked, but only a team as good as the Patriots would have been able to take advantage of the chock.

Today’s Bird Picture

It was a bright sunny day in the mid 70s. I got a number of errands accomplished and a little grocery shopping. The old cliquish about grocery shopping while hungry held true. With my stomach growling in the grocery store, I bought some rib eye steaks and potatoes for baking. The steak grilled up nicely for an early supper and I have another one for a second meal in the next couple of days.

The afternoon moon.

Walking around the campground I’m staying in is one of my sources of exercise. I always see interesting or curious things. At this park two things stood out. The first is the mix of residents and the other is the decorations. There seem to be four types of residents in this park. There are people who live hear and work in the area. This campground may be their permanent homes. The second group is the long term weekend residents. They probably live in Jacksonville or some other city area and use this for weekends and vacations. The third group is the traditional Snowbirds and the fourth short term travelers like me. From my limited observation, I don’t thing there is a lot of interaction between groups.

Valentines Decoration in the RV Park

The other observation during my walk was the decorations for Valentines Day. I am used to seeing Christmas decorations in December and have begun to accept Halloween decorations in October, but the idea of extensive decorating for Valentines Day is new to me. There are many deep red lights hung from awnings and red rope lighting on the ground. The site across from me has a heart made of lights hanging out front. I’m not sure if I’m ready for this. If I ever see a blow up Cupid, I’ll know it’s gone too far.

Sunday February 5th 2017

It was almost 20 degrees warmer today. The sun was shining brightly and all thoughts of yesterdays winter were gone.

Today was moving day. I needed to travel from the Florida Georgia line to the outskirts of St. Augustine. It’s only about 60 miles but you need to navigate through or around Florida’s largest city of Jacksonville. For years I’ve taken the western beltway around the city on I295, but sometime over the last 10 years the eastern beltway has been completed. This time, I took Interstate 295 on the east side. It is shorter and seems to have less major intersections. Since it was mid day on a Sunday, I could have gone through the center of the city on Interstate 95, but the last time I was on that road it was very rough.

To avoid arriving too early at my new campsite, I stopped at the Florida Welcome Center. In addition to all kinds of brochures on all things Florida, they give out samples of Orange or Grapefruit juice. I’ve commented before on how small the samples were. This time they were giving out slightly bigger samples. That’s surprising since the cost of OJ in the grocery stores has gone up. I won’t complain, it was good.

Site 7 at Stagecoach RV Park in St. Augustine

I have a back in site at the Stagecoach RV Park. I’ve been here two other times since August. Both of my previous times were in the pull thru sites. This back in site is harder to get parked, but is a nicer site overall. I back up to a fence around an open field, so I have no rear neighbors.

I started this blog entry when the Super Bowl game wasn’t going the way I wanted. With the Patriots not playing well, the commercials and the half time show were not very interesting. Now as I finish this blog entry, the Patriots have completed the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. I’m glad I kept the game on even though I wasn’t paying attention until it was within two miracle scores. Congratulations to the New England Patriots.

Saturday February 4th 2017

As predicted it was twenty degrees cooler today than yesterday. It never got higher than the mid 50s. The clouds and the breeze contributed to a very raw and uncomfortable day. People just don’t know how to deal with this type of weather. Travelers from the north were out walking around in short sleeve shirts. The locals were in hoodies, winter weight jackets and gloves. Many of them looked ready for twenty below.

I probably would have gone with something in the middle like the hoodie without the jacket. Since I never went outside today, I really don’t know. I stayed inside with the little electric space heater on to keep the RV at the right temperature. It was a little too cool for the electric fireplace alone to keep the rig comfortable, but it was not cold enough to warrant the full gas furnace. Generally, I reserve using the furnace for early in the morning to bring things up to temperature or on those rare occasions when I need heat in the middle of the night. As long as I stay around Interstate 10 or south, I don’t think I need to worry about the hard cold in the middle of the night.

A little heat goes a long way.

I have spent most of the day watching TV. The sports channels have all had Super Bowl hype shows. The number of different ways they can express the characteristics of the two teams is amazing. I have heard the Falcons labeled as the number one scoring offense and the Patriots the number one scoring defense more times than I can remember. Of course, each commentator has a different opinion on what that means for the outcome of the game. It’s a good thing the game is tomorrow. They are running out of ways to spin the facts.

Tomorrow I am moving back south to the St Augustine area. My weekend exile to Georgia is over. It is only about an hour drive south, but I need to be out of here by 11am and aren’t supposed to check in at the new campground until 2pm. I may spend some extra time at the Florida Welcome Center. I am not going to slow roll my travel preparations like I did on Thursday with disastrous consequences.

Friday February 3rd 2017

This campground is located beside Interstate 95 just north of the Florida Georgia line. It is a nice, but not great campground. The two things I think stand in the way of greatness are the closeness of the sites and the highway noise. The sites are angled in such a way that the impact of the lack of separation between sites is minimized. As for the highway noise, you get used to it. Last night I took to counting trucks on the highway by their noise to get to sleep.

Marina with live aboard boats in St Mary’s Georgia

American Flag flies at the marina.

This afternoon I went over to the town of St Marys Georgia. This was my second visit to the historic town. My first visit around labor day was documented in a blog entry “Saint Marys Georgia“. At the time, I thought the sleepiness of the community was do to the late summer season. Five months later in the middle of winter it is just as sleepy, maybe even a little more so. The Cumberland Island National Seashore Visitor Center was closed today.

Three of four Coast Guard boats waiting to be taken out of the water.

While I was there the Coast Guard provided the entertainment. Four coast guard boats came up the St Mary’s river to the boat launch. Each boat in turn dropped two men off at the launch area to get the trucks and boat trailers. The two men remaining on the boat then waited in the river for the trailer to be backed down the ramp. Once the trailer was in the water the driver beeped the horn to tell the boat to come in. The second man on shore connected the boat to the trailer as it was powered up onto the trailer. The boat pilot then beeped the boat horn to indicate it was OK to pull the trailer out of the water. The truck driver beeped in reply then pulled forward. All four men then went to work to tie down the boat and prepare it for transport. It was a well orchestrated process.

Today’s bird picture.

Today was the right day for touring it was the mid 70s with a light breeze. Tomorrow is forecast to be 20 plus degrees colder.