On the road again, headed to Florida. I guess I am an official "Snowbird". I left Harbor View Campground, Colonial Beach, VA. about 11 AM October 24 after hitching up the car, sort of on my own I had observers and as I was beginning, I noticed a bolt was too short to put the pin in. It had been about 15 years since I had hitched a car to an RV and I had kept all of the parts but evidently we had lost a bolt and purchased a new one that was too short. I decided to go ahead and do what I knew to do, and finished hooking it up without the bolt. While I was doing that, one of the Rangers at the park came by and I asked him if they sold it in the store or did they have one. He said they didn't have one in the store but he would check to see if they had one in the shop. By the time, I had finished hitching up, he came back with a bolt with two nuts, put it on for me and it worked! I was off. I had never driven with a tow car, so I had to think differently. I was about 10-12 feet longer with the car on the back and I would not be able to back up That meant I would have to think ahead before I pulled in anywhere so I could see where to pull through or out. At first I was a little apprehensive, but a little while later I stopped at the store to get the replacement bolt and found a place to park that was a ways from the store but I could easily drive around the store to get out.
Driving on the highway was an easy adjustment, I just traveled between 55-60 mph even though the speed limit was 70 and getting in and out of gas stations worked out as well. I stopped to get gas just before the North Carolina border in Virginia and I'm glad I did as the gas prices were about 10 cents a gallon more in NC. The next fill up was in South Carolina and the price had gone down again, God is good! I stopped for the night at South of the Border, SC and had a little adventure.
It had just turned dark and I thought I would pull in back of a store where I had stayed twice before. Well, because it was dark, I went in back of the wrong store and ended up with a fence in front of me and a narrow alley was the only outlet. Well that wasn't an option because there was a BIG pothole that seemed like it would have swallowed the RV and the car! So here I am stuck, I couldn't back up, and couldn't go forward. I was next to 3 dog runs for watch dogs and 3 or 4 dogs were all barking at the same time. Interesting. I figured with all that barking, someone would come to see what all the ruckus was about. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later I heard a knock at the door and I looked out and it was a security guard. He told me with his precious deep southern drawl, that I couldn't stay there the night and we would have to unhitch the car and turn both the RV and the car around and head out to the nearest truck stop for the night. He was so nice, and said if I would talk him through the process, he would do the unhitching and hitch it back up. Woopee! Praise the Lord! He knew the Lord and I adopted him. He unhitched it in no time, said it was against the rules for him to drive the vehicles (I had to do that). When they got repositioned, he hitched is back up and I was on my way to a nearby truck stop where I stayed the night. God always sends his angels to take care of me! Praise Him!
My next stop was in Brunswick, GA at a Sams club, where I met with a Shaklee Member in my group that I had talked to on the phone but never met in person. It seemed like we had known each other for years. We had a good session and, since I still had some daylight left, I drove on across the Florida border and stayed the night in the Welcome center where they had night security. It had just started to rain as I pulled in. I had a good night's sleep and since I had turned in early, I woke up at 4:30 AM and started driving as soon as it turned daylight. It was Florida, the rain had stopped and it was 72 degrees in the morning. Wow! I checked and it was 32 in Maryland. See why I go South for the Winter?
I had another Shaklee appointment in Palm Coast, FL with a Distributor who used to live in DC. She had her Aunt with her (who was from DC and down visiting). She was awesome, 84 and very "young and feisty", my kind of gal! We got along great and she enjoyed seeing the inside of the RV. After meeting with them, I drove on through some interesting back roads with lots of farms, swamps and ritzy golf resorts, all on the same road to the the Campground near Ocala, FL. The Campground is considered "5 Star", very nice and I will be here three weeks, then go directly (about 1 1/2 hours to the next park where I will stay for another three weeks. That one is a little closer to Orlando, then after three weeks there, I will come back to this one for three more weeks then go further South for two weeks around Christmas and New Years (All free). I will be near some friends that live down there.
As soon as I hooked up, I went to the pool! The pool was not heated but very refreshing and wonderful. I hadn't been to a pool since California and it was great! I arrived on Friday, and Saturday I drove the car to Tampa (1 hour and 10 min) for the Shaklee training where I was going to meet my "Grandson" that I adopted on the phone when he lived in Kansas. He is originally from Puerto Rico and came to help with his Mom here in Tampa. He is interested in Shaklee, wanted to come to the training but had to work Saturday, so he met me after the training. He is awesome! It was so good to connect after talking on the phone for two years. He and his Mom are going to Puerto Rico to see his Grandmother for a week on Tuesday and we will reconnect when his gets back.
Sunday I streamed my Church, the message is on "A call to Righteousness"! Wow, it was life changing. (Check it out www.fthcm.org) I just chilled the rest of Sunday then I decided to update you with my blog. It was 42 degrees this morning, WHAT! And only 75 degrees today but tomorrow it will be back in the 80's, Woopee!
