Off to Florida

The Great Outdoors RV Resort, Titusville, FL (28.550412, -80.861442)

We left Wagon Circle RV Park Saturday morning 26 Oct 2013. I layed out the trip based on our usual rule that we travel no more than 300 miles per day. That made a four day trip. However, when it comes to getting to Florida that rule seems to go out the window. We kicked it up in order to make it a three day trip:
** Saturday, 26 Oct 2013 -- Heber Springs, AR to Alabaster, AL -- 380 miles, 9:37
** Sunday, 27 Oct 2013 -- Alabaster, AL to Macclenny, FL -- 399 miles, 9:06
** Monday, 28 Oct 2013 -- Macclenny, FL to Titusville, FL -- 164 miles, 4:15
** Total trip was 943 miles

We arrived at The Great Outdoors RV Resort about 1330 EDT and spent the afternoon getting set up. A few folks stopped by to visit and welcome us. Of course that included our good friends Carole and Nelson Hommel. Glad to see them again.

So now we are settled in for the winter.

Now I have to put up with all the traffic going by my front window -- the things one has to tolerate while trying to climb into the middle class.

On Our Way Again

Walmart Supercenter # 659, Nashville, TN (36.130474, -86.905840)

We slept in the Cougar last night. That felt good because it means we are about to take off on a new adventure. All pre–departure chores were completed yesterday so this morning was easy. We hit the road at 0845 and spent most of the morning driving in the rain. We got out of it about noon as we traveled through Kentucky. My plan was to stop at Franklin, KY just under 300 miles but we reached Franklin early and picked up an extra hour by moving into central time. So we decided to press on to Nashville and stay the night at a Walmart Supercenter (I-40 exit 201). For the day we covered 344 miles in 7:50.

This Walmart parking lot is very busy -- it looks like a truck stop. The word is really out about Walmart's hospitality for overnight parking and truckers are taking advantage of it also. I can't complain because we often take advantage of their space.

During the day at one of our stops, I saw water dripping from the underside of the Cougar. Later I also discovered that one LP gas tank was empty. Shame on me for not doing a check and fill while we were home in Ohio. Another sign that my memory is just about gone. After we got parked, Michelle told me that the truck was almost out of gas. One 12v battery in the Cougar, a water leak from an unknown source, an unknown amount of LP gas, and the truck almost out of gas. Guess what I thought about all night?

It's cold tonight and it would be nice to have unrestricted use of the furnace. We ran it for a little while before bed with the truck running; then shut everything down and relied on body heat to keep us warm in bed.

On The Road Again -- Finally

Travel Day 1 -- Flying J Travel Plaza #707, Brookville, PA (41.173200, -79.096300)

The day broke crystal clear and cool; a welcome relief after the muggy weather of earlier this week followed by a couple days of very serious storms that killed a few people on the east coast.

We were in pretty good shape for an easy morning and early departure. Yesterday was the big day of activity knocking the last chores off the "to do list". There are still a lot of things undone in the house but they moved from the "to do" list to the "ain't gonna happen" list. Nevertheless we had three lists to work off. First was the "Get Out Of Dodge" list. That is my list of things that need to be done for us to leave the house securely and comfortably. It has four columns -- Cougar, Truck, House, Other. Yesterday we got rid of the biggest item in the other column when Michelle finally got cleared by Dr Shannon (our dentist). She has been wrestling with a long series of dental appointments that just would not end. She broke clear yesterday. The remaining items on the Get Out of Dodge list have to do with final preparation for departure during the last five days. We know about these way in advance so there are no surprises -- just step by step activities to move out of the house and into the Cougar.

This time we had another list to work off at the same time. This one I named "Show Prep". It is the list we use to get the house ready after a short notice call from the real estate agent for a showing to a potential buyer. This list includes tidy up items we can accomplish in less that an hour. Going through that ckecklist assured us that we left the house ready for the agent. The only thing the real estate agent has to do is turn on the lights and the air conditioning. The third list is the one we use to close up and hitch up the Cougar whenever we leave a campsite. All said we felt pretty good about being ready to leave early with no last minute hassle.

Dave and Jennifer Bennett stopped by to wish us well in our travels. Dave always tries to be helpful and this time he presented me with the gadget in this picture to help align the truck and trailer for hooking up. I didn't get to use it this morning but I will try it during our next hook up.

Judy Hobbs also came over to say goodbye. She and Michelle had a nice conversation of well wishes and promises to stay in touch and keep her informed about our adventures.

All check lists complete and social obligations fulfilled, we got on the road at 0906 EDT and traveled 321 miles, northeast then east, in 7:41 making our average for the day 42 mph. We arrived here at Flying J at 1647 EDT. The trip included two gas stops and was uneventful. I love uneventful travel days.

We checked in at the store counter about overnight parking. The manager was OK with it but seemed a bit surprised. When we looked over the RV parking area I could see why. This Flying J facility is on a hilltop so there is not much level space. The few RV spaces are in the middle of a high traffic area and uncomfortably sloped. We would be rolling out of bed all night. So we opted for a space in a far corner of the truck area. Pretty flat but noisy as most truck parking areas are.

We had dinner at Denny's in the Flying J where we will spend tonight. Denny's is Denny's. Not much more to say. When we “Blacktop Boondock” like this, I try to avoid unhitching. So we eat where we are and it is what it is.

The truck area filled up rapidly as the end of the day approached. By bedtime there was not a parking space to be had. I wondered if we might be thrown out as being unwelcomed guests occupying a trucker’s space. No problem. The hum of idling diesel engines did not penetrate our Cougar and this busy place settled into its late night rhythm of a few night time drivers gassing up and moving on, while others had settled in to their sleepers for the night. We slept well and the night was uneventful.

This Flying J is one of the sites covered in the website "Overnight RV Parking" to which I subscribe. I will log in and update their listing and hopefully get a few week extension to my subscription which will soon run out.

Now This Is Boondocking

Jamestown, OH

I follow several blogs on the web related to RVing. One of them is called "Boondocking Locations".   I get an email whenever someone posts something. This morning I got one telling me that fp_burns just posted a photo album titled "Chasin' Our Dream Fulltime". It included this picture and caption.

Now this is boondocking. The last RV on the face of the earth

This is too cool. I couldn't resist.  Thanks fp_burns, whoever and wherever you are.

Where to Stay During Decorating Week

Fiesta Parade Floats, Irwindale, CA Parking Lot

PROXIMITY OF CAMPGROUNDS
How close to the build site you want to be is a matter of personal choice. How far are you willing to drive in the dark, in unfamiliar territory, after having a long work day? And then repeat this twice a day for a week? My choice developed like this. Decorating the float was our reason for being there. Long drives, dining out, evening sightseeing, etc. was not part of the considerations. So getting as close as possible was more important than quality of accommodations. I decided on a ten mile radius.

I am retired military so I investigated campgrounds at area military facilities–none available within my radius of consideration. A few commercial campgrounds fit the bill, but the prices reflected the fact that we were looking at the busiest tourist week of the year for the Pasadena area.

When I began researching this project, I quickly noted that both the Angeles National Forest and San Bernardino National Forest are within reach of Pasadena and surrounding communities. Both have many campgrounds that will accommodate most RVs. I considered the problem solved and moved on to other subjects. When I later returned to get more specific, I discovered ALL CAMPGROUNDS WERE CLOSED FOR THE WINTER!. Don't count on staying there during decoration week.

My early emails to float builders always included a query about boondocking on their site. Fiesta Parade Floats was the first to answer my email and the only one to invite me to park my rig in their lot. That won my allegiance. We stayed with them, boondocked in their parking lot, and walked back and forth between our rig and the work building. I cannot provide any information or give advice on other organizations and their facilities. Chances are that if you call you will probably talk to someone who knows nothing about RVs and their requirements. Be very cautious and question extensively.

Fiesta stated in their email response that I was welcome to park in their lot while we were working. I took that to mean arrival no earlier than 26 Dec and departure no later than 31 Dec. I learned after the fact that they were not hard over about those dates. Not knowing that, I made reservations for 31 Dec and 01 Jan at the Los Angeles/Pomona/Fairplex KOA, which was reasonably close. During the afternoon of 31 Dec we moved there from the Fiesta parking lot. We spent New Year's eve and New Year's afternoon after the parade and night there. On the morning of 02 Jan 2013, we called this adventure complete and headed on our way.

LOGISTICS
Based on our experience boondocking in the Fiesta Parade Floats parking lot, I will offer the following to inform your decisions. Fiesta Parade Floats occupies two buildings in an industrial park. They share a large, well lit, fenced parking lot with several other companies. The parking lot is patrolled by security personnel 24/7. Employees walk between their cars and their workplace at all hours of the day and night. They allowed us to park along one edge of the lot. Four rigs parked there.

I must emphasize that this was a vehicle parking lot with no provisions for RVs. I arrived with all water tanks empty, propane tanks full, and several containers of gasoline for my generator. Once set–up I did not move my rig for the duration. On our way in, we did a grocery shopping to be sure we had enough food to get through the week without having to leave the parking lot. Fiesta Parade Floats allowed me to use their fresh water source to fill my fresh water tank with my bladder. So we were set for the week.

I even set out my Tailgater so we could watch a little TV in the evening while the pain killers took effect. Nights were cold enough for the furnace to kick on.

Snug–as–a–bug–in–a–rug.