FLORIDA TRIP - An Early/Not So Early Departure for Collier-Seminole SP - Sunday, January 16, 2011

If you think the title is confusing, well, all I can say is we had good intentions of leaving early but didn’t. We both were up bright and early. We got the Tahoe and the Pleasureway ready to travel. Then we decided to have breakfast before we hit the road. AHHH…Everything is on schedule…you know how I love schedules!!

One last thing to be done, I asked Nancy to move the van forward a foot or two so we could get the leveling blocks out from under the tires. Nancy turned the ignition key and NOTHING happened – no click, click -- no nothing. We tried to put the van lights on and nothing, so we knew it was a dead battery.

I made two trips of 15 miles each. The first one was to get a battery. When I got to the Auto Zone (thank goodness it was open on Sunday) they wouldn’t sell me a battery without the series number of the old battery. So back I came to the park and disconnected the old battery and drove back to Auto Zone.

A nice woman working there checked the battery and said the battery was good, but it had zero charge. She said it could be one of three things: 1st a bad alternator, 2nd a bad starter or 3rd we were trying to charge a dead coach battery with our van motor battery. I looked at her and said I was pretty sure it is #3. Anyhow, she agreed and charged the battery (30-45 minutes) and wished me good luck!! She wouldn’t take a dime from me – what a kind and generous thing to do for us.

I got back to the campground, reinstalled the battery, and it started right up!! So off we went to the dump station…what a great way to celebrate. Now with all systems go, we can get on our way. Then Nancy came up with the brilliant observation that it was already lunch time. So we decided to eat another meal before we left.

Lunch in Hillsborough SP Parking Area

Finally, we started the 200 miles trip to Collier-Seminole State Park about 12:30. The trip was uneventful – thank goodness. We got here just before sunset and took a quick walk down to the boat launch to try and see the sunset.

Site 67 - Our SMALL site

Campground - Very Congested

Not our 'cup of tea', but we can put up with it to be close to the kayak and biking we want to do in this area.

 Boat Basin - Blackwater River Canoe Trail

No Sun Sunset - Rain Clouds are coming

Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, so we may be doing a little car exploring and grocery shopping until the sun comes out again on Tuesday. But for now, I was just glad to hear the Pleasureway start and run again!!

Nancy here…
I want to post a few pictures here of RV-Dreams Friends we met at the Supershow. Steve and Dianne started fulltiming in June 2010. They are from British Columbia and happen to be staying right around the corner from us here at Hillsborough. So last evening, we got together for happy hour and were able to get to know them a little better. They have been planning this adventure for 20 years and when you see their rig, you will realize that they have put some thought into the idea of “Bringing their toys with them!!” They are only allowed to visit the USA for 6 months each year and are beginning to head back towards Canada. We really enjoyed our short visit and hope we can meet up again down the road.

Dianne

Steve

The BIG truck which tows a Montana 5th wheel, has an automatic boat rack. When you open the doors on the truck bed you will find...

His and Hers ATVs... You never leave home without them!!