On the Move!

 Peace River, Wachula, FL.    High: 63, Low: 46.    Site: H-2, corner

After a great stay at Thousand Trails Peace River for three weeks, we were ready to go...it was getting more and more crowded at this park, and just navigating around the roads to bike or walk, was getting harder and harder with all the people and traffic. Peak season is definitely coming to all Florida RV parks. Some start to fill up in December, and peak season is from about now till March.

Sparky participated in a craft fair one Saturday morning, and sold couple of bracelets and quite a few ornaments in just a few hours that morning. There were only two other ladies participating, but we all sold a few things, so that was nice.

Here is one of Sparky's wrap bracelets that sold....Sparky still has an Etsy shop called JeanBeanGifts.

Her inventory has had to dwindle now that she doesn't have a dedicated craft room any more, but she will be adding more items in the future. (And craft supplies, sighs Eldo.) She already has the bathroom linen closet claimed. It's pretty big. And a screen tent....but the storage shed in Bradenton is EMPTY! WOO-HOO! Hey, that's progress! Goodwill got a TON of terrific craft supplies, thanks to Sparky's reduction in supplies efforts. (But the packages are still coming in the mail, sighs Eldo. Next she'll be claiming the truck rear seat. Wait a sec--what are all those plastic boxes in the back seat?And that box that says "stamping supplies"?????? Ummmmmmm....well, you see, they were too heavy to keep adding weight in the bay, and we had room in the truck....SIGH.....

After Peace River, it was time to get ready to go to Texas, with a couple of stops along the way. Sparky is getting excited about seeing her little grandson, who is growing like a weed. We will be three weeks at Lake Conroe in Texas, another Thousand Trails park that will be a free stay. We like those "free" stays with our membership!

In case you were wondering, here's what we do to get ready to move to a new location. It's not simply a matter of pulling in the slides, hitching up, and pulling away...oh, no....You have to remember that your rig is basically a captive earthquake on wheels. EVERYTHING is going to shake, rattle and roll severely going down the highway. We've had overhead lampshades come unscrewed, cabinets empty themselves on the floor, a pillow get squashed in between a slide, a coin jar get crushed and fridge contents come crashing down when the door was opened. NOW, that doesn't happen any more (Are you sure about that, Sparky? wonders Eldo) Yep, because Sparky now uses LOTS of bins in the fridge and pantry and closets and even scrap cardboard dividers in the pantry as a "front" to prevent forward movement.

The night/day before: stow all loose belongings on shelves, pick up all area rugs, roll up and stow on ottoman and bed. Dump black and gray tanks, and use treatment chemicals-(helps with digesting waste and odor), put away bathroom scale and secure shower door latch, place shower head on the floor on a washcloth (so it won't get scratched moving around on the shower floor.) Why do we put the shower head on the floor of the shower? Because it has been known to shake itself right out of the holder it sits in while we travel down the road!

The morning we leave: Lock shower door, fasten all closet doors (they have snap straps to keep them from sliding back and forth while traveling), stow bathroom essentials in sink so they don't roll around, stow scale in the closet, tape craft drawers closed so they don't do this:

Clear floor of all items that are normally stashed beside the bed. Unplug fans, tablets, and stow on the bed. Put away coffee maker, turn off ice maker in fridge, stow appliances under sink. Stow sofa pillows so they don't roll on the floor and get in the way of the slides when they go back out. (AHEM!) That was Eldo. Turn off hot water heater. Check fridge and pantry for loose items not contained in baskets or bins. Lock the fridge. (It flew open one time before we started locking it, and the mess it dumped wasn't pretty!) Turn off AC/heat pumps. Bring in the slides. And that's just the inside...then we move to the outside...

We unhook the water, clear the water from the hose and stow it. We retract all the jacks and raise the front ones just a little. We back the truck up close to the hitch, and then we fine tune the hitch height. Once the hitch height is good, Eldy backs in the truck the rest of the way to get connected. We plug in the lights, connect the safety break away cable, then do a little pull test to make sure the truck is securely hitched...the rig moves forward just a couple of inches. Back to the front jacks...raise them up the rest of the way, stow any wood leveling blocks and chock blocks and finally unhook the electric. We save the electric for last to keep power going to the rig while jacks are retracting. Once we are all hitched and ready to go, Sparky checks the tire pressures on the rig and we both do a walk around to make sure all bay doors are closed securely. And then....(WAIT! cautions Eldo. Aren't you forgetting something?) Possibly, which is why Sparky generated a type written list of steps to follow, pretty much what we have written here. So, CHECK YOUR LIST AND RECHECK IT, because after sitting for 3 weeks, Sparky forgot the sequence of hitching up and Eldo had to remind her. AGAIN... Hey, Sparky is 70 years young, and the memory is just not quite as good as it used to be, but Eldo understands and is very patient.

And we were off.....first day, we spent the night at A Stone's Throw RV park in Lamont, FL. Quick and easy self-serve park about 350 miles from Wachula. there is a LOT of road noise from the highway so sleep with ear plugs or white noise machine going. We use a fan every night. Gravel sites, level, it really was easy in and out. McDonalds is within walking distance of the park, so easy quick breakfast the next morning and off we went again. Eldo wanted to do a BIG driving day. When that man wants to move, he wants to move BIG TIME! He and Sparky did a 500+ miles trip today, and here we are for one more night at Cajun Palms RV Resort in Beaux Bridge, AL.

This is some park! We spent 40.00 for one night here, and wow, what a park! When Covid has left us behind, this is one park we will definitely return to. All concrete level sites, an AMAZING pool, tons of activities, a bar and grill, and much much more. Most of the activities are shut down due to Covid, but you definitely can still stay here and mind your P's and Q's at your site.....

We were in a portion of the park with mature trees, on site 100. It was really pretty. This park is HUGE but newer sections are rather sterile with no trees to speak of, or tiny ones waiting to grow. There is some road noise but it is quite far removed from the highway, yet it was very  easy and convenient access to get to the park. We definitely will return. It looks like a really great park with TONS of amenities. Tomorrow, we have about a 4.5 hour drive and we will arrive in Spring, TEXAS! Yay! (Can you tell Sparky is getting excited to see her daughter and grandson?) Yippee! Yessiree! See you later!