OK, I had to look twice to really believe the outside temperature was actually at forty eight degrees!  This was the coldest morning we’ve had in months.  I’m sure more

mornings like this are coming but for now the temperatures are supposed to go back up a bit, at least into the mid fifties.  Now, where is that extra blanket?

So we’re settling in and getting comfortable.  Today was back to back football games.  Hey, one has to watch while one has the channels that come in.  The Packer and Rams

game was an interesting one.  It went right down to the wire.  It was a great finish and the Rams remain unbeaten.

As of today our batteries are remaining charged.  Still no answers.  I’m sort of believing that the built in volt meter is no longer working.  I’m going to have to keep a close eye on the batteries over the next couple of days using my multi-meter.  There is a mobile RV tech in the area but I’d rather wait until I get to Bushnell and contact the RV tech there that I’ve dealt with in the past.  Just have to take it day by day.

Another project tackled today was the left rear brake light.  Coming in someone noticed that the top portion was out.  A couple of minutes with a screw driver and the lens was

out and I had the bad bulb in hand.  Tomorrow when we go to Walmart I’ll pick up a few new bulbs, one for the bad light and I’ll keep the others as spares.

The rest of the day we spent playing Mexican Train.  Try as I might over the last several days Barbara has won every game.  I believe I’ve lost my touch.  Sooner or later the tides of fortune have to change.  Unfortunately, I believe it will be much later than I care to believe!

OK, that was the sum total of our day on The Road of Retirement.  A rather quiet and relaxing day that we both enjoyed together.  Till tomorrow and who knows what we will be getting into.  That’s what makes this lifestyle so much fun, one never knows what a new day will bring.  Sometimes good, sometimes not so good but always interesting!

So I’ll say goodnight for now.  As I leave you let me do so with a thought for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

 

Before getting into our day’s activities let’s together offer up a prayer for all those who were either injured or killed during that horrific attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh today.  So many promising lives lost and so many families torn apart.

Today was moving day.  However, since we were in essence already packed and only had to put things back on the bed we slept in and took the morning easy.  We had breakfast, played Mexican train, then we threw everything back on the bed and hit the road.  On the way out we stopped to dump the tanks since we will not have a full hook up site where we are going.

We elected this trip to take the back roads.  This kept us on Florida 301 up through Starke

to Keystone Heights.  It added about twenty minutes to the trip which gave us a total travel time of just a little under two hours.  Traffic was light and except for several small towns we passed through which slowed us down the trip was an uneventful one.

In due time we reached our destination which is Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park.  One of Florida’s first state parks, Gold Head Branch became part of the Florida state

park system in 1935. The initial property was donated by Martin J. “Mike” Roess (pronounced “Race”) and developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  Gold Head is located on rolling sandhills on the North Central Ridge of Florida. A steep head ravine with seepage springs forms Gold Head Branch and bisects the park. Marshes, lakes and scrub provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.

The ranger station is immediately off the road and easy to locate.  Check in was quick.

There are two main sections to the park, there is the Turkey Hill section and the Sand Hill section.  Take the wrong turn toward Turkey Hill and we were told we would probably

take the roof off of Graybeard.  Yes, we made the right turn but man oh man did you ever have to be careful.  There are all kinds of trees hanging over the road and you have to zig and zag to miss them.

So as we always say Home Is Where We Park It, here is our new home for the next twelve days.  It is hard packed sand, long enough that I was able to find a section that was reasonably level, and yet at a comfortable distance from the power and water connections.  It is far from perfect, the water pressure is nill, the sun is on the

refrigerator most of the day, and you have to be really careful not to track sand in when you are coming and going.  Also, like most Florida parks, it is not full hook up.  It will do for now.

This is a picture looking down the road from us toward one of the few occupied sites.

This is looking through the trees across from us toward the bathrooms and showers.

 

So we’re settled in for now.  Tomorrow we’ll start looking for places to visit and shop.

Remember I said yesterday that we were finished with maintenance for now?  I spoke too soon.  When we arrived here I noticed that the coach batteries were not charging either via the engine alternator nor the converter.  Later I was able to determine that despite what the volt meter said, yes, they were being charged by the engine alternator.  But not by the converter.  For now I have the battery tender on the coach batteries keeping somewhat of a charge in them until I can figure out what is going on.  Oh life in an RV is never, ever dull!

Well, that was our day on The Road of Retirement, the two of us as always spent the day traveling along, hand in hand, singing our song.  Thanks again for joining us today it was great having you along.  We hope your day was as great as ours.  If not, why then grab hold of tomorrow and make it the best that you can.  Going to say goodnight at this point and go find an extra blanket, temperatures are supposed to drop into the mid forties tonight.  Really?  Yup how un-Florida like.  And now a thought for each of us to ponder upon:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Oh yes we are really and truly done with our long overdue maintenance punch list.  At

least for now.  If owning an RV has taught me anything you are never really done.  There is always just one more thing that needs to be taken care of.  Not complaining , just commenting.  I truly like to putter about Graybeard taking care of this and that.

The Good News is we came in significantly under what we had budgeted.  Which was a most pleasant surprise.  After all when you see a sign stating labor is $155/hour you can’t

help but believe your bill is going to hit the roof.  Of course not having to take the slide out nor replace the brakes saved us a substantial amount of money.

A bonus is that I also finally figured out how to adjust the anti rattle clips in each rear view mirror.  The right one of course is now new so doesn’t need any attention, however

the drivers side mirror glass shakes but I can fix that now within the next couple of days.  Another bonus is that I had them give me the old right side mirror head so I also have a spare should something hit it while on the road.

So as of tomorrow we are out of here!  We’re heading about an hour further north east to a state park for the next twelve days.  Why north east?  Why a State park?  Well, why not.  We’ve never been there before so that seems a good enough reason to go.  Furthermore, since we are in essence already packed we can make tomorrow a late morning.  Now that I like!

Barbara also had a chance to take our laundry to the Wishy Washy before we leave.

They have a nice one right here on site. It gave us a chance to get things done now instead of having to spend time once we moved finding someplace to go.

Honestly, if you need work done on your rig this is the place to come to.  The campground is well taken care of, there is no site charge, your neighbors are nice, you have a laundromat on site, and there are all kinds of stores and restaurants within 30 minutes.  Not a bad deal at all.   In addition everyone from the ladies at the front desk, to the service manager and service advisers, as well as the mechanics are totally customer oriented.  Furthermore, my impression is that those working on your rig know their stuff and take the time to do things properly.  I’m leaving believing the work was done in a professional manner and that I was not overcharged.   Can’t beat that.

So that was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Time to move along.  Time to begin planing for our tour America trip next year.  We are going to New Orleans.  Maybe Nashville.  Could be Lexington, Kentucky.  The Motorhome Hall of Fame.  Out west we’re thinking but not sure yet.  In another month we’ll have the basics of it all in place.

Thanks for joining us once again.  We hope your day was a good one and that you were able to accomplish some things that you wanted to get done.  We’ll be back tomorrow with some pictures of our new home.  Until then, here is a thought for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Once again we are on hold with only two things left to do.  What’s the saying, The squeaky wheel gets the grease or in the case of this place He who owns the high end rig goes first before anyone else.  It’s great that we have a free site that is really nice, it’s great that we have all the time in the world to wait this out but the bottom line is I don’t believe I would come back here for service.  Everyone here is first class, my service writer has been terrific and has kept me informed every step of the way, and I have the greatest confidence in the mechanic that has been assigned to Graybeard.  Yet, I feel like I’m back in the Army again – hurry up and wait.

Bottom line what this means is another unretired like morning tomorrow.  Up at 6:30 am since they are they say absolutely coming for Graybeard tomorrow morning between 7 and 7:30 am to finish things up before the day is out.  Sure hope they get the mirror in and they can mount that as well.  I really don’t want to have to come back for just that.

However, I did keep myself occupied today.  I managed to mount the back awning rail but not the awning.  Putting the awning up is going to take two people each on a ladder.  Probably when we are back in Bushnell.  For some reason I didn’t get the front awning rails mounted but that will happen next week.  Trust me.

Other then that the only thing to do was sit and read a good book.  Which is exactly what I did.  I can’t remember the last time I allowed myself almost a whole day to just read and relax.  It’s sort of dangerous, though, in that one can get sort of lazy which leads to nothing else getting done.  I definitely have to guard against that.

Ah, one thing different today.  A gentleman arrived mid morning and set up a barbecue tent.  Complete with a smoker and all other kinds of good things.  Barbara had brisket and I had a side of ribs.  Lip smacking good.  He mentioned he would be back next Thursday, well if I’m here next Thursday I will be pulling my hair out!

That then was the sum of our day on The Road of Retirement.  Really exciting, hey?  Yet some days, some weeks are just like that.  They can’t all be a whirlwind of activity and sightseeing.  Some times you just have to sit back and let things unfold at their own pace.  That’s kind of where we are right now.

Well, thanks for joining us again.  We hope your day was everything you hoped it would be and perhaps more.  Time now to say goodnight but before I go a thought for all of us to ponder (especially me!):

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before