Well we got it all together, lets see from the top

It all starts with the stolen hitch pin, the hitch falls off, the safety cables gap the Jeep and smash it into the back of the RV, call junk yards for parts !  Then;

1. AC outlets didn't work, 2hrs later ready to go to the dealer  I thought I'd reset the ground fault detector in the bathroom, wha-la, now they all work.  An undocumented feature designed to frustrate the owners. And of course what tripped the ground fault detector.

2. Ready to go so we light the refrigerator, Oops, won't light, try and try, test for gas, jiggle all connections, no spark, again we are ready for the dealer visit, but wait that spark gap looks awfully wide, I'll just bend that down,  Wha-la,... that fact that this worked flawless for a year but now needs adjusted proves that Murphy travels with me.

3. Check valve on the outside water line does not work, so all stored water runs back out on the ground, a problem I can understand, reseat the O ring and all is well.

4. Balance the tire pressure, OK.

5 Decide stop and run AC in Virginia, as it gets warm as soon as one crossed the Ohio, but the Generator stops after running only ten minutes.  No Ideas so well lower the altitude adjustment from 5000 to 2500, that ought to do it. It starts right up and after 10 minutes down again.  Since this this has no moving parts, Oil is OK, We have gas, so its a plan for a dealer again.

6. Get to camp sight, start Christine,  I say Start Christine,  Christine hardly runs, but I manage to get it off the driveway, It's dark , late and I have no clue as to what could be wrong, so to bed.

7. Next day warn, and sunshine, I'd better check to see what is wrong with Christine so that I can have some clue as where to take her, Wha-la ,  Starts up and runs smooth and all ia normal. During a test drive we discover one mad bumble bee, from home, I open the door and let him out, lets see him find his way home.

8. OK, now to tackle the generator problem, the dealer is not going to buy the runs 10 min and shuts off story, we start it up again. Wha-la it runs fine for 1/2 an hour and ever since.

Among this relentless hassling, I forgot my pillow !

Later

 Day 2--

Now I try to find Ken Johnson in Charlotte,

Do you think phone books know to hide when your looking for them ?

Day 3 & 4

Sunny at the Beach, in Anastasia, FL

Day 5 Melbourne Beach , Sebastian Inlet,

Day 6 Fort Pierce, Bad cupping of the front tires,  this problem goes back to the first trip west, and Omaha, where they lined it up so it would not pull, This looks like a place to make a stand, General tire people and the alignment people are across the street from each other and in a partnership.  This will be a fiasco .  Appointment on Day 7 at 1pm

Day 7

 Alignment checked, OK so across street to get General tire, Oh, we used to deal in General we can't make and adjustment but can sell you new tires. So we say good bye, and Call General, they send me to West Palm Beach, you guessed it the land of the chad. So I put out my best Pat Buchanan flag and head into 5PM traffic. Oh they are not there any more, they moved, but we find them and they checks tires, oh you didn't rotate your tires every 3000 miles, it's not a defect, BS I say, he calls  General and they say give him new tires, OK ! But he does not have any, can get them here by 10AM tomorrow. So off we go looking for a Good Sam's, passing all the Gore voters standing in the street with their home made homeless signs.

Day 8

With new tires we'll put out the Al Gore pennant and head for Dade County and points south, sun on the coast cloudy inland.

 

 Landed in Key Largo, Beach Front , lots going on.

 

Day 9 and 10 John Pennekamp ST.PK.
Boat takes us out 4 miles to snorkel on the coral reefs, only park that is actually under water.
Interesting, but not spectacular like discovery channel.
 
Met son of owners of Newark's Papa Johns working as bagger at Publix, he is here with Grandma while ma and pa still work the pizza shop.
 
Met a man retired from Navy living in Key West, he traveled to Key Largo just to get away, he lives across the street from the RV park where I am headed, he says it is pretty nice, now going to  camp at Sunshine Key, Bluewater has modem at the site, give me a chance to catch up on my web site. If my connection works.
 
But everybody recommends Bahia Honda St Park, So I'll try to get in there first.
 
Two days in Bahia, probably the best spot on the beach. then on to Sunshine Key, 1.8 miles, same price plus cable and internet and sewer.

Have had trouble finding remote access, this is day seven in the keys, I should have brought my sailboat. This is amazing, but does not compare to the West.  Waiting for the storm to move out up north, then going to wonder up the west coast of Fl after get through the Everglades.

Today at 9 AM, 101.

 In search of the sun !

The storm is gone so we push on the Everglades National Park, done to Flamingo, camping is free because of the mosquitoes , did a few walks on the trails but not much to see so it is on to Everglades City.  Along the way the Sheriff escorts some alligators across the road, mostly to protect the people out taking pictures. More going on so I find the private air boat rides, describe as the best because they are on private land, no gators, but a trilling ride. The water is low the boat captain tells us to come back when the water is higher. 

Cap-airboat.gif (47857 bytes)    Then its on to Sarasota , and the very heart of world-famous Lido Beach and St. Armand's Circle!          Had visitors for breakfast sarasota-visit.gif (68261 bytes)

 

Ok, we are warmed up so it's off the mountains, but they are full of rain so we push on home.

One observation is, the Keys are a long  long way south, and Sarasota is hot when the sun is directly overhead and casts no shadow.

Home again, but it's Christine, cursed as she is,  who spews out her wheel bearings all over the driveway just before the 200,000 mile mark, trying to be faithful ?  Cah-Ching $$$

 

 

 

. 

 

 

 

setstats 1