Towels never dry in Florida. Too humid.
We can only drive several hundred miles a day because 60-65
mph is about the average speed we should safely travel.
When we stop for gas, everyone wants to know how many
gallons our tank holds (100 gallons), what kind of gas we use (diesel, which
always costs more than gas except in California), how many miles per gallon we
get (7-8 ish)…there’s always someone at the gas station that is curious. Yes, we fill-up with the big trucks! These truck drivers are all really nice...men and women! They work hard for a living!
We can spend anywhere from $0 a night when we stop
overnight…up to $279 a night! Ok, we
have stayed in a Walmart parking lot overnight for free! And no, we did NOT
stay at the Newport Dunes RV Resort for $279 a night…but, hey, you can also
have your boat at the marina and I’m sure there’s an extra charge for that! We
usually try to spend under $40 a night, but during high season we sometimes spend
more. Our spot ON the beach on Ft. Myers
Beach, FL, was around $100 a night…our front window view was the ocean, and it
was cool. Our month’s stay in Ft.
Lauderdale was $1,600 for the month…but, hey, we were amongst $1 million RVs
with people who owned their own site and built tiki huts, indoor bars with 100”
TVs, and kitchens…it was a first class place.
We’ve stayed on the sand at Sunshine Key, FL. Our weekend spot at
Talledaga Superspeedway was $85…constant rain and cold was no extra charge.
Towels in Arizona dry before you get a chance to hang them
on the rack to dry.
Charlie and I don’t always agree. What?!?!?!
We meet the most interesting people. Marilyn and Larry from Canada…who live in
their RV fulltime…they’re called “Fulltimers” and travel the warm US and Mexico
each year Oct-April and live and work in Canada spring and summer when not on
the road. Chris and Jim, also
Fulltimers, who travel the country while teaching technology classes to
RVers…they taught us how to set up our blog! (ok, we promise to get better at
it)…Tracey and Phil who also work on the road selling all kinds of electronic
products that RVers can’t live without.
Of, course, we bought a bunch of their stuff. We met Marilyn, Larry,
Chris, Jim, Tracey, and Phil on our first extended trip in December to
Florida…we became instant friends when Marilyn and Larry invited the group over
for dinner…they would cook, we would each bring 2 bottles of wine! Instant
friendship at the RV park!
When we’re on the golf course, we get the best suggestions
from the locals where to visit, eat, drink, golf…Can’t wait to go to Pismo
Beach, CA!
We have learned that when we are sick, we should go to the
urgent care right away…and not wait until we really feel bad, because then they
send you to the hospital for a few days…boo…Charlie started with the cold,
bronchitis thing…got him some drugs…Mary got it…hung in there way too long
before we made it to urgent care who immediately told us to go across the
street to the hospital…who promptly checked me in for 2 days and treated my
bronchial pneumonia and sent me home with more drugs…ok, those drugs didn’t
work after the 10 day dosage, so back to the UC for more drugs…those worked
immediately and after 4-5 weeks, Charlie and Mary are cured and back on the
golf course.
Our mountain bikes are great for cruising around and
checking out different areas. Riding
everywhere around Key West was the best! Find a place you want to stop, there’s
always a tree or a fence to lock the bikes up to…ready to head off to Hogs
Breath Inn…yep, there’s a tree there, too.
While riding on South Beach Miami, you can lock your bikes to a palm
tree while you attend the South Beach Food and Wine Festival while hanging out
with Rachael Ray, Anthony Bourdain, Emeril and the gang…just hop on your bike
afterwards to get back to the car.
We’ve learned that if the road is really narrow and windy
and maybe looks like a 40” RV shouldn’t be driving on it, it most likely means
that we are going to get stuck on the curb and need a really big tow truck to
get us off the curb. Oops, it was a long
4 hours the night we tried to check into Santee Lakes, CA (close to San Diego)
and missed the main entrance and found a really badly designed secondary
entrance. We were told by many people
that we weren’t the first to get stuck there…didn’t help as we turned away the
first really small tow truck who said he would just attach his wench and
drag us off the curb…oh, no, this is my house and I just didn’t think dragging
my house was a good idea. An hour or two
later the REALLY large tow truck showed up and on the 2
nd attempt
got us safely back on the road…minor damage that was fixed with a visit to
Rick’s RV the next day. Oh, the
adventures!
We also learned that sometimes gas stations have crappy
exits…yes, it is possible to try to leave the gas station and bottom out the
front end on the way out…ok, it only crunched one of the fog lights that was a
bad design and was hanging too low anyway.
And, we’ll most likely never drive in fog anyway.
We tow our Chevy Equinox…so we have a vehicle to drive once
we park ourselves at an RV Resort. You canNOT
backup the RV when towing the SUV…so, if you get into a situation that requires
backing up…you must detach the towed vehicle from the tow bar…then reattach the
tow vehicle. We’ve only had to do this a
few times, but it’s a pain.
We cannot go under bridges that are less than
13'7”…otherwise we will be driving a convertible RV.
Lance’s (the cat) fur mostly matches the colors in our new
home…grey, with a little beige…oh, even his little kitty vomit (one-time deal)
matched the rug…thanks, Teresa, for choosing the right colors during our
makeover!
Charlie and I always agree to what time happy hour starts.
If the gas gage gets really low, it’s important to get
gas…the next diesel gas station may be miles away. Nope, we haven’t run out of
gas, but came close once :(.
Rolling down the road…we have a Picture Window To The
World…right in front of us. We sit in
front of this huge windshield and our chairs are 6-7 feet in the air, so we can
see faaaarrrr and over the top of all the cars.
When there’s an accident down the road, we can usually see what’s up
before we get there. Rainbows look cool,
too.
Follow the truck drivers on the detours. They know what’s going on. And, someday we’ll learn to use the CB radio,
so we can even talk to them!
3 grandkids can comfortably spend the night on the pullout
sofas! A second night may have been more
than Harper and Avery needed, but I’m sure Ella would be back without any
hesitation.
The weather in Southern California is the best!!!!!!!!!!
Warm and sunny all the time!
Adding the Earthquake App to my phone is fun…but I still
haven’t felt an earthquake while we’ve been here.
By adding your email address on our blog, you will be
notified when we post an update…since we don’t do it very often, sorry.
Sometimes stuff breaks and someone has to fix it.
Talledaga, baby!
