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Initial Insights

It’s been a week since I set out. So what’ve I learned? I’ve got a few takeaways…

  • Lighten up the forward gear locker. Simply moving a couple heavy toolboxes to the truck bed settled B down quite a bit.
  • The sway bars aren’t that big a hassle—although the starboard one could be less obstinate.
  • Know the length of thy cables & hoses. It’s just a good life practice; it’ll also keep you from moving B after you start setting up.
  • Plug power in first ‘cause it takes a while for the fault detecter to run its tests.
  • Small positioning moves can make a big difference in lateral leveling (another good life practice).
  • When it’s cold, run the fireplace at night, all night. Bottom line: save ur propane and burn the park’s electricity instead.
  • Always always always put the bath soap bottle in the sink before driving away. Or spend several minutes trying to find which nook/cranny it found its way to.
  • Make sure the damn traction weight doesn’t get stuck between the slide and the stationary wall or be prepared to fix the sidewall moulding.
  • Take really wide swings around the tree at the tight corner near the park office at the KOA in Gulf Shores. (Fortunately, it was early and I saved my dignity with a quick reverse and reset. Nobuddy saw me).
  • When near the coasts leave your shoes by the door, or sleep with sand in your bed.
  • Never rely on memory for how much bourbon is left. Check and visit the local refill station before it’s too late.

 

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South Coast to East Coast

Having driven through the I-10 pine tree tunnel in Alabama and Florida years ago, I decided to take the gulf coast route to Ochnolockee River State Park in the Florida panhandle, even though I knew it’d be a couple hours longer. Other than in Pensacola, traffic flowed well and I arrived at the campground about 3pm. The park sits in a flat pine forest alongside a pretty lazy-lookin’ river. When checking in the ranger told me to, “watch out for those little white squirrels; they’re nothing but trouble. Don’t worry about the bears.”

Since it was just an overnight stop, setup was quick & easy (level spot, no stabilizers, no unhitching). I permanently hung a coat rack that kept falling off the 3M hangers and cleared out my email. Went down early ’cause I was making an early Interstate sprint to Brunswick, GA and up the coastal islands to Savannah–a longer (but probably faster) trip than Monday.

Ochnolocknee River State Park

 

Ochnolocknee River

 

 

My departure Tuesday was an hour later than I thought. I looked at the time on my iPad after spending some morning time with God. While He knew the time, the Apple-gods didn’t update their creation to eastern daylight time. When I got in the truck and set my nav app toward Savannah I noticed the difference. No worries; I had an easy day ahead. And it started really cool with a mother and her fawn greeting me as I drove out of the state park.

Drove through rain much of the day. When I turned north about noon out of Florida into Georgia the moderate rain stopped for the most part. In a short while I jumped off the big road and onto US 17 for a ride up Georgia’s easternmost thru road. Crossed over the super cool Sidney Laner Bridge (I might need to get a dash cam with snapshot capabilities!) and then by countless marshes, inlets and other waterways on this nice drive. Seemed like no time before I was winding my way through the southern outskirts  of Savannah toward Fort McAllister Historic State Park. I had tried to get a RV park closer to the city but am really glad I ended up here. It’s a beautiful place with history, which I’ll check out over the new few days. I’m here until Friday when they kick me out because the park was already fully booked.

Stay tuned for my take on Fort McAllister and Savannah over the new few days.