TN5 Hop 1
227 miles via FL 31, US 17, FL 557, I-4, I-95 and FL 100. Cumulative tow miles: 227. Truck miles: 237. Cumulative truck miles: 237.
This was not a fun hop, primarily due to I-4 through Orlando. I think I-4 and I-84 in CT are competing to be our “least favorite” interstate. Both are very rough, both are very busy and both are constantly under construction. The trip was supposed to take 4 hours and 20 minutes (according to Google) but was just over 5 hours total (including a brief bathroom break at an I-4 rest area).
The big news on this hop was: no breakdowns. The truck ran like a champ and the repaired A/C pumped out cool air the entire way – which was important when the outside temp reached 97 in Orlando. I have to confess that I am worried about the truck’s reliability. And will continue to be worried until it proves itself to be better than it has shown on the previous two trips.
Ray doing my dirty work
Both ends of the trip were more difficult than they should have been. The only hard work remaining on the departure date was to move the fiberglass stairs and attach them to the shed, to keep them from blowing away in a hurricane. That was heavy work, made easier for me by Jett’s brother Ray getting suckered into the hard stuff (I had to walk the dog, ya know?). Then he took off in the Corolla, to have a bit of a holiday in New Orleans with his lovely wife. We will reunite with the Corolla when we get to Worcester.
The teardown at Cypress Trail was uneventful until the very end, when I tried to take down the electric service. The electrician, when he added the electricity for the shed, reinstalled the electric panel cover such that it wouldn’t open. I had to pry it. As I was prying, bees started swarming – there was a nest inside. Well, I couldn’t not open the cover, so I just pressed on. I got it open, but not until I got one very painful bee sting on my right index finger.
Then I couldn’t get it to shut securely. I didn’t have time to fool with that, so I taped it shut. Something to deal with when we return in the fall.
The very empty site
The setup at Beverly Beach Camptown was uneventful – or so I thought. It was a back-in site, which Jett hates. I asked her to stand by the picnic table to provide a point of reference for me. I had to maneuver a bit, but got it backed in fairly quickly. Then I got the RV leveled, got the slides out, got the water. electric and cable hooked up. Done! Jett went in for a nap and I took Rusty out for a walk…
And as I was coming out of the RV, my brain started to function. I knew when I was shown my site on the campground map by the office staff that it was next-to-last in the row. So why were there 2 sites between me and the end? An awful realization crept over me – we had set up in the wrong site! I was in Site 75 when I was supposed to be in Site 74. In 6 years of travel, that was a first. And not a happy first, either.
What’s a guy to do? Well, the hope – a faint hope – was that I could just stay where I was and whoever was going into 75 could just go into 74. So I trekked down to the office, apologized for making a rookie mistake and inquired about the possible swap. No dice – the people scheduled for Site 75 the next day were staying for 11 nights and couldn’t easily be moved.
So we had to tear down, move the RV and set up again.
I guess we needed the practice.
All set up… in the wrong site!