Friday, April 5 - Sunday, April 7, 2013 On The Road
Friday we left for Kingsport. It was a two day drive for us, and this time we drove with the camper. It's a slower ride and we would be driving on I95. The traffic there ranged from
busy, very busy, to bumper to bumper. It rained lightly on and off for most of the day. We found a campground just before the intersection of I95 and I26, which was the half-way
point to Kingsport. Saturday was an easier drive with lighter traffic and clear skies. We stopped and camped at Warriors' Path State Park in Kingsport. Sunday morning, Alyssa's
grandparents met us at a shopping mall, since we were towing the camper, and picked up Alyssa and her belongings. We continued on to McKinney Campground in Acworth and set up the
camper for unloading. Monday morning, we returned for the rest of the unpacking and took the camper to Dry Dock storage. End of trip!
Thursday, April 4, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Today was another rest day. It rained on and off during the day. We cleaned the camper and prepared for our return trip to Kingsport.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Since we bought tickets for two days at WDW, we decided to return to the Magic Kingdom instead of EPCOT. We headed to Space Mountain and decided to wait in line rather than
getting a pass to ride later. The line was long and took quite a while. We finally boarded the cars and rode Space Mountain. The thing that makes the roller coaster so exciting
is that the ride is in total darkness and we did not know if we were going left, right, up or down. When we lived here years ago, this was Robby's favorite ride. One time, when
Sue did not scream, he said he did not enjoy it as much, and told Sue he wanted her to scream when they rode again. Next came the Speedway Cars. They are small electric race cars.
Alyssa drove by herself and we followed. There is a center safety rail that guides the cars in the right direction. Alyssa took off and we had trouble getting started. We
wanted to take pictures of her, but she was too far ahead. Alyssa is a true protégé of her grandmother, "Left Lane Sue". We finally caught up to her at the finish line after she
stopped. The three of us decided to have an early lunch before it was too busy at the food court. After we ate, we headed to the Pirates of the Caribbean. This was Bob's mother's
favorite ride at the Magic Kingdom. On the way, we stopped and watched a stage production of the Disney charactors, fairy tales, and movies. We stopped for tickets for Thunder
Mountain and decided to rest again at the Hall of Presidents. On our way to Thunder Mountain we took a river cruise on the Liberty Belle Riverboat. While waiting for Thunder
Mountain, we went to Main Street for drinks and watch the parade. When we were done there, we walked back to Thunder Mountain and rode the roller coaster. We all were tired and
ready to head back. We stopped at the Tavern again for dinner and returned to the campground.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
We all needed a rest day today. Since Alyssa wanted copies of our family photographs, we decided to purchase a hard drive for her laptop. We went to Best Buy and found the drive.
Then we went to Barnes and Noble to find some more books for Alyssa. While Alyssa and Sue read, Bob copied many photographs to Alyssa's hard drive.
Monday, April 1, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
This would be our first visit to Disney World (on this trip). We drove to the WDW parking lot (Peter Pan number 45), and rode the tram to the entrance where our bags were inspected.
From there, we rode the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. After walking around and
taking pictures at the castle, we decided to visit the Haunted Mansion. The lines were long, but moved
fairly quickly. From there, we walked to Splash Mountain. Instead of riding, we had to obtain passes for use later in the
day. We tried to get more passes for Thunder Mountain, but learned that passes were limited to one ride at a time. Since we already had passes, we had to wait until after we rode
Splash Mountain before we could get passes for another ride. We decided to eat lunch and went to a corn dog kiosk. Bad news, they were out of corn dogs. We walked to a hot dog stand,
and guess what? They were our of hot dogs! We continued looking and found a corn dog stand near the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. We ate corn dogs and afterwards, walked through
the tree house. After we ate, we walked to "It's A Small Small World". Again,
the lines were long, but moved at a good pace. When we finished there, we walked
to Splash Mountain and enjoyed the brisk, cool, wet ride. After the ride, we
decided to ride Space Mountain in Tomorrow Land. That ride has been a family
favorite since we lived here in Maitland years ago! We rode the railroad around
the park, but it did not stop at Tomorrow Land, so we got off at Fantasy Land and walked to Space Mountain. The only way we could ride Space
Mountain was to obtain a pass for 8:45 in the evening. We decided to come back another day rather than waiting that long. Our final destination was here in Tomorrow Land. We wanted
to rest, so we went to the Carousel of Progress and then rode the People Mover. We decided our day at Disney World was over and retraced our steps to the parking lot and drove
back to the camper. We wanted to stop for some pizza and found a pizza parlor called Upper Crust in Celebration, near the campground. Years ago in Atlanta, there was a great pizza
place by that name, so we decided to try Upper Crust. When we got there, is was not the same, and looked like a take out place. We drove around Celebration and found The Tavern.
It looked nice, had a lot of people eating in the outdoor seating area, we decided to eat there. We had great burgers and were pleased, since we were very hungry. We headed back
to the campground several miles away and relaxed for the evening.
Below is a long video of "It's A Small, Small World" at Disney World.
Sunday, March 31, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
We drove to Cocoa Beach for a day at the ocean. Originally, we decided to go to the Canaveral National Seashore and we input the destination in our GPS. That brought us
to a trailhead in the middle of nowhere. We turned around and drove back toward Cocoa Beach
and found Lori Wilson Park . This was the last day for the local school systems' spring break. The
traffic, beach, and
parking lot was jammed. We waited a while for a parking space and, after parking, walked to the beach. We stayed about three hours and left for our campground in Celebration
(Kissimmee). The only route to the coast from Kissimmee was a toll road. In Florida, the state offers an "Easy Pass"
that allows residents to drive without stopping, but we had to go through the toll gates. Next time,
we will try to purchase an Easy Pass. It is more convenient, easier, and faster than the toll gates.
Saturday, March 30, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
After breakfast at Chic-fil-A, we went to Honey Baked Ham for an Easter ham and then to Barnes and Noble. Alyssa finished the book she was reading, so we got her
a new book. From there, we drove to Lake Buena Vista for lunch at Ghirardelli. It's the family tradition to eat hot fudge sundaes there. We introduced Alyssa to this old family
tradition. While we were there, we bought tickets for two days at Disney. Then we went to Publix for groceries. Finally, we made a trip to the campground pool and Alyssa played there for the afternoon. We spoke to another
camper and he told us the reason it was so crowded here is that the last two weeks were the local spring break. They should be back to school this week. Maybe it
won't be so crowded for us at Disney.
Tuesday, March 26 - Friday, March 29, 2013 On The Road
Tuesday, we drove to Columbia SC and Wednesday to Kingsport TN. We picked up Alyssa and she spent the night with us in the motel. We took her
to school Thursday and picked her up at noon after lunch. Friday was Good Friday and she did not have school. We drove back to the intersection of
Interstate 26 and 95 in South Carolina and stayed in a motel. Friday, we drove to Kissimmee (Kiss-Me) to start our Disney World week.
Sunday, March 24, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational, Tournament, Day 4.
I sat through this at the 18th hole.
Saturday, March 23, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational, Tournament, Day 3.
Friday, March 22, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational, Tournament, Day 2.
Thursday, March 21, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational, Tournament, Day 1.
Atlanta Braves game vs. Washington Nats.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational, Pro-Am 2.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational, professionals practice day.
Monday, March 18, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational, Pro-Am 1.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
This was our second Braves game of spring training. They played the St. Louis Cardinals. Our seats were about ten rows behind home plate on the first base
side. It was a day game with cloudy skies and several short showers. The Braves won twelve to three.
Braves video below: Jordan Shaffer's catch in centerfield
Thursday, March 7, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Today we attended our first Braves spring training game. We had seats behind third base in the visiting team area. The Detroit Tigers played tonight. The Braves lost nine to two.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
We have been waiting for a warm day to take a trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. We wanted to see the Atlantis Space Shuttle. Today would be warm and sunny, so we headed
to the east coast. When we arrived, we saw the building that housed Atlantis, but it will not open until this summer.
NASA is building the structure around the space shuttle inside. We decided
to stay and to see the rest of the space center. We walked through the exhibit area and boarded a tour bus that would take us around the space center. One interesting building was used to
display the Saturn V rocket used for the lunar program. Previously it had been displayed outside. The exposure to the weather was eroding the rocket and it had became the home for small animals.
The Saturn was rehabbed and brought inside for public display. We ate lunch in the Saturn exhibit building. From there, we saw the control center for launches and landings of the lunar
programs. We took the shuttle bus back to the main area and viewed an IMAX movie about the Hubble space telescope. The ride back to Kissimmee was only an hour drive and we got back
in the late afternoon. The audiobooks seem to shorten our driving time.
Monday, March 4, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
Today we stopped at the most inept McDonald's we have ever seen. It is located
in a mall outparcel near John Young Blvd.. and Sand Lake Road.
Facts:
1)
Sue likes unsweet iced tea
2)
We usually stop at McDonald's for unsweet iced tea
3)
McDonald's usually has two urns of unsweet iced tea, one behind the counter and one in the seating area
4)
Iced tea needs to be brewed fresh each day
5)
More people drink sweet tea than unsweet tea
6)
We think "some" McDonald's have unused unsweet tea left over from the day before
7)
We think "some" McDonald's add fresh brewed unsweet iced tea to the old stale iced tea from the day before
The Unsweet Tea
Party Story:
We stopped at the McDonald's mentioned above and ordered an unsweet iced tea. Sue usually tastes the tea to see if it is fresh or stale. Today, it was stale. Bob asked for another iced
tea that was fresh. The attendant drew another iced tea from the same urn instead of the second urn. We
weren't sure why the tea from the same urn would be fresher, but Sue tasted it and again we asked for fresh
unsweet tea. The manager came over and told us they would brew another urn of unsweet tea. He asked us to drive to a parking space while they made fresh tea. The urns are large and should
take some time to brew. The manager came out several short minutes later and handed us two drinks. He said they brewed fresh tea. We told him we only ordered one unsweet tea. He said to keep the
extra unsweet tea. He left and Sue tasted the unsweet tea. Guess what? It was
sweet tea. All we could do was laugh, but decided not to ask for another unsweet tea. Most of the McDonald's
in the Orlando area seem to have bad unsweet tea. Another day we stopped at the McDonald's on the Disney property for some unsweet iced tea. Normally the tea is $1.00, from the dollar menu. Here it
cost about $2.75 and it was stale. From now on, we will stop at Chic-fil-A in Florida for tea. They never have stale unsweet tea.
Sunday, March 3, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
We lived in Maitland, FL from 1984 to 1985. Maitland is just north of Orlando and Winter Park. During that time Sue taught first grade at Riverside Elementary, Rob attended
Dommerich
Elementary and Jenny went to Maitland Jr. High. We drove to each of the schools and took some photos. The Riverside School gate was locked, so we could not get close enough for some good
pictures. Dommerich Elementary and Maitland Jr. High, now Maitland Middle School, were located on the same property. Both have been remodeled and were in excellent condition.
Monday, February 25, 2013 Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale this morning at 7:00 AM. We were scheduled to depart the Zuiderdam in a late group, around 9:30 AM. We retrieved our luggage and headed to customs.
The line through customs was long and took about one hour. We called the Hampton Inn and requested the shuttle to return to the motel where the truck was parked. The ride back to
Kissimmee was uneventful and took about two hours. We were glad to be back, but enjoyed the cruise.
Sunday, February 24, 2013 At Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Today was a typical day at sea. Reading, audiobooks, eating, relaxing on deck.
Saturday, February 23, 2013 At Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Today was a typical day at sea. Reading, audiobooks, eating, relaxing on deck.
Friday, February 22, 2013 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
The Zuiderdam docked at Puerto Limon at 7:00 this morning. We walked through the duty free shopping area in the port area and returned to the ship. We were tired from the trip
through the Panama Canal and decided to relax the rest of the day. We departed at 4:00 PM and started our return trip to Ft. Lauderdale.
Thursday, February 21, 2013 Gatun Lake, Panama
Today was the big day. Another item will be checked off of our bucket list; the Panama Canal. We entered the Gatun Locks at the Panama Canal at 8:00 AM. There
are three locks here that that raise ships to a height of 87 feet above sea level. Each lock is 100 feet wide and 1000 feet long. It took thirty minutes per
lock (one and one half hours) to reach Lake Gatun. When we reached the middle of the lake, we boarded the tender, this time a lifeboat. We were ferried to the shore where we boarded a bus.
Our destination is the Pacific locks at the city of Panama. The canal follows a northern to southern route, and we are traveling south toward the Pacific Ocean. We had to take
a bus, since a boat ride on the lake would take too long and we have to be back at the Zuiderdam for the seven o'clock departure this evening. We drove about an hour and boarded a
shuttle boat at the Gaillard Cut. We would continue on the shuttle boat through the remaining three locks and finish at Panama. The ride was long and slow. We
saw several bridges, construction of the new deeper locks, and other vessels. Our trip through the locks was longer than the Gatun Locks. Our boat was too small to use the
locks by itself, and we had to wait for a Chinese tanker to join us in the locks. This added an additional thirty minutes for each lock
(three hours). We ate lunch on the ferry and finally reached Panama late in the afternoon.
During our ride on the shuttle we sat next to a couple and had an interesting conversation. Bob asked where they were from and the woman responded they were from Nova Scotia Canada.
Bob mentioned he had visited Kentville in Nova Scotia and she said they lived there. Bob told the story of the time he visited Nova Scotia. He was in high school and one of his friends, Carl Gates,
talked about how much he wanted to visit his two grandmothers that lived in Kentville.
(When Bob was telling the story, the woman mentioned they knew a Gates family in
Kentville. We couldn't decide if it was the same family.) Bob decided they should go on a journey that summer. He
recruited three other boys for the trip. Since no one
would rent a car to teenage boys, he had another friend (name withheld for Bob's safety) "obtain" a car for the trip. It was an old Dodge Dart convertible.
They rented the car from Bob's friend and started out. The five of them drove
nonstop to Nova Scotia from Chicago and stayed two weeks in Kentville. They met the locals, visited the Bay of Fundy and stayed a week with each of Carl's two grandmothers.
Bob has always wanted to return to Nova Scotia and that trip is currently on his
bucket list.
We docked at the far side of Panama, at the Pacific inlet to the canal. We boarded the same bus
we took in the morning. The bus is large, but the legroom was cramped and we were tired from the long day. Our bus ride took us through the beautiful city of Panama. The traffic was
crowded and busy during rush hour. The road from Panama to Colon, where the Zuiderdam was docked, was a four lane highway, but not as wide as an American interstate. Traffic eased up as we turned off the city road and headed toward
Colon. We drove through rainforest national parks for much of the ride. We reached Colon and boarded the Zuiderdam tired and hungry. Not to worry, the food on board
was excellent. The Wikipedia history of the Panama Canal is here.
Notes added March 7, 2013.
On our way from Half Moon Cay, we sailed by the east side of Cuba, where Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located. On our return route to Fort Lauderdale, we passed
by the west side of Cuba, where Havana is located.
The excursions director told us the fee for the Zuiderdam to enter, pass
through, and exit the locks was somewhat less than a half-million dollars.
While traveling in the
river on the shuttle boat through the Gaillard Cut , we passed the prison compound where Manual Noriega is incarcerated. We could see the actual building in which he was housed.
Bob and Sue's
Panama Canal video below.
YouTube
videos on the Panama Canal
Wednesday, February 20, 2013 At Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Today was a typical day at sea. Reading, audiobooks, eating, relaxing on deck.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013 Willemstad, Curacao
We arrived in Willemstad around 8:00 AM. Again, we walked around the city after breakfast. We liked this more that Aruba. It was less touristy and much more interesting.
In the opening to the harbor, there was a floating pontoon bridge that spanned across the inlet. It was "hinged" at one end and would open and close for ships entering the
harbor. The pontoons looked like boats and a pedestrian bridge was constructed on top of the boats. We passed many open air markets with fresh fruits and vegetables. At the
end of one market, fishing boats would dock and clean and sell fresh fish. We returned to the Zuiderdam early afternoon and had lunch. We left port around 4:00 PM.
Monday, February 18, 2013 Oranjestad, Aruba
In the morning, the Zuiderdam docked at Oranjestad, Aruba. We decided not take an excursion here in Aruba. After lunch, we
walked around Oranjestad near the port. There were many kiosks and markets for the tourists. Casinos are a major attraction here and the architecture is ornate and
colorful. We left port late in the evening.
Sunday, February 17, 2013 At Sea, Gulf of Mexico
We spent the day at sea today on the way to Aruba. Our usual routine on
sailing days is for to Sue to read on her Ipad and Bob to listen to audiobooks
on his IPhone. Breakfast and lunch are buffet style meals and dinner is a sit
down affair. Three evening dinners on this cruise are formal dress. The
remaining dinners are "smart casual" which means no tank tops or shorts.
Breakfast and lunch have no restrictions on shorts. We chose the early dinner
and eat at 5:15.
Saturday, February 16, 2013 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
After breakfast, we boarded the tender for Half Moon Cay. When a ship cannot dock, they use lifeboats or other available boats to transport passengers to shore. We had
reserved a "clamshell" on the beach. This is a umbrella shaped like a clamshell
and provides shade from the sun. We relaxed until early afternoon at the beach. We walked to the food pavilion and had a barbecue lunch. After lunch, we walked through
the shopping area and returned to the Zuiderdam in the middle of the afternoon via the tender.
Friday, February 15, 2013 Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
The motel shuttle took us to Port Everglades and we arrived around 11:00 AM. We entered the Holland America Lines (HAL) terminal and completed our check-in. Not long after that,
we boarded the Zuiderdam and found our room. We had booked an inside cabin without a window or balcony. HAL upgraded us to a larger outside cabin with a large window. The view
was blocked by a lifeboat that hung in front of the window. We could see through
our window and the windows of the lifeboat and could make out what was on the
other side of the lifeboat. Still, it was unexpected and provided a much larger room for us. This cabin had a sofa and table and much more
interior space. We were pleased with the upgrade! We had our mandatory lifeboat drill around 3:00 PM and left port by 4:00 PM.
Thursday, February 14, 2013 Hampton Inn, Plantation, Florida
We drove from Kissimmee to Plantation and stayed in the Hampton Inn for the night. The motel provides short term parking for those staying at the motel and embarking on a
cruise from Ft. Lauderdale. We arrived mid afternoon and had supper.
Thursday, February 7, 2013 Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee, Florida
We arrived in Kissimmee by mid afternoon. Our site is near the space we had last year. This site is on the corner and is much larger. We set up camp and relaxed before supper
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 Lake City, Florida
We are in Lake City Florida. Lake City is near the junction of I10 and I75
in northern Florida. We spent the night here and will head to Kissimmee Thursday. We haven't posted any journal notes during our
stay in Destin. Our days there were relaxing and enjoyable. We usually spent time in the camper looking out at the gulf. The weather was on the cool side, perfect for enjoying the beach
from inside our camper. Our site was where many of the campers away from the beach came to see the sunset. Sue worked
a lot on our family history. She is using Ancestry.com to research and
record the family history and found more information each day. Bob didn't have a project, but he practiced his golf swing at the local driving range. He had to stop swinging recently
because his right hand and middle finger became sore. Sue told Bob he should quit using his middle finger so much when he drives
(the truck). He hopes it is an overuse injury and not arthritis.
On January 30, a storm passed through our area. Bob took video from inside the
camper. The videos are below:
Thursday, January 17, 2013 Camp Gulf, Destin, Florida
This morning Bob awoke early as usual. At first light, he opened the back day-night shades and looked out over the ocean.
At dawn, the cold front passed through, with wind gusts of twenty-five to
thirty-five miles per hour. The clouds were dark and ominous. This is the back
end of the cold front from the north west and we caught the clock-wise tail end.
The camper was sideways to the wind and really shook from the force of the wind.
The blast of the wind woke Sue and she got up. The temperature had fallen to the
lower forty degrees from the mid sixties. After the sun rose, the winds
calmed somewhat, but the ocean has whitecaps all the way to the horizon. We
decided to stay in the camper today instead of doing laundry. Any excuse to skip
the laundry!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 Camp Gulf, Destin, Florida
Today, Sue decided she wanted her favorite meal, fried oysters. We went to the Back Porch, a seafood
restaurant on the beach in Destin. After the meal, we stopped at Publix and
returned to the camper to put the groceries away. We then drove to the theater
in Destin and watched the movie "Lincoln". When we left the theater, it had started to
rain. Cold and windy conditions are predicted for tomorrow.
Thursday, January 10, 2013 Camp Gulf, Destin, Florida
We decided to drive to Fort Walton Beach Florida. The weather has been cloudy and windy but the only rain came at night. Bob
wanted to see the Fort Walton Beach Golf Course. It is a city owned and managed
municipal course. There are two eighteen hole courses, an excellent pro shop and
was well maintained. Bob hit some range balls and will play the course when the
weather is better. We stopped at Kohl's department store on the way back. Sue's
purse needed to be replaced and she found one she liked. On the way back to the
camper, we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for lunch.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Camp Gulf, Destin, Florida
Today we had breakfast at Panera's and took a short ride to Santa Rosa Beach.
We visited Destin four or five years ago over Christmas break. Santa Rosa Beach
looked different, but may have suffered hurricane damage since we were here
last. We have cloudy skies, but warm temperatures and best of all, no neighbors.
The sites are very narrow, but we have the whole beach area to ourselves for
now. Even with the cloudy weather, the gulf looks beautiful. This section of
Florida is called the Emerald Coast and despite the clouds, the water still
looks emerald.
Monday, January 7, 2013 Camp Gulf, Destin, Florida
We called Lacey's RV Repair this morning and Rick Campbell came out around 12:00 noon. He
repaired the leveler support. We moved the camper, but the release bar kept
sticking again and we were really frustrated. Two more campground
attendants came by in their golf carts and tried to help us. One of them
suggested we move the camper to a higher height over the hitch. When we did, the
release bar slid out easily. Now we know what we were doing wrong. The height of
the camper just has to be higher before we release! We wish we had known that a
long time ago! Anyway, we moved - not just 6, but 12 just to keep the
peace! There are fifteen sites that face the water and we are the only campers
here. However, since we are staying a month, we expect to have some neighbors
eventually. Camp Gulf is a good campground! They have made many improvements
since we were here, about four or five years ago. If you think it's hard to keep the
speed limit at 55 MPH, you should try when the limit is 4 1/2 MPH and no cruise
control! There are
signs in the campground that say "Slow Down, We Are Watching You!" and
electronic digital readouts that show your speed. Once, when we went down a slight
decline, we reached 8 MPH before Bob could hit the brakes. Oops, we hope they
weren't
watching then. Actually, the good news is that at the stop signs. Bob doesn't have
to hit the brakes, just take his foot off the gas. The best part of the
campground is that there are no berms between the sites and the beach. Usually,
in most ocean shore campgrounds that we have camped, there are high sand dunes that prevent erosion
but block the view. We can see the ocean from our rear window. That's a treat!
Sunday, January 6, 2013 Camp Gulf, Destin, Florida
We left McKinney Campground this morning at 7:00 AM. That is when the campground
gates are opened. We had an uneventful trip in mostly cloudy weather with some
light showers. The excitement began when we set up camp at Camp Gulf in Destin.
Bill, the campground attendant helped us into our site and left. We always check
the level and found that we needed to add 2"x4" blocks under the left tires.
Then, when we tried to unhitch from the truck, the release bar in the hitch was
stuck. We could not uncouple the truck from the camper. We decided to relocate
the truck a few inches to the side and try again. The release bar still refused
to uncouple. Bill returned and noticed we had moved the camper. We
inadvertently
encroached on the next site (by 6") and he told us we had to move back to the
original location. When we started to relocate, the front left leveler support
would not recede and we were unable to move as requested. We agreed to have a
repairman make a service call the next morning. Bill recommended Lacey's RV
Repair. We spent the night coupled to the truck.