Our Adventure has Begun!

Friday morning we got our rig back over to the Service Center by 8 am. It was 9 before they actually took it to do the work. They still didn't have electricity or computers and were running on generator power but were determined to get the people serviced that should have been done the previous afternoon. It took better than 3 hours to get the damaged seals off, old glues removed, and the new seals put in place but we now have seals everywhere they're needed on those slide outs. And the tanks were dumped and cleaned. Mike was able to watch them do that so he feels more comfortable about doing it himself when the time comes.

While they were working on the rig, we picked up a few things we knew we needed for our adventure. By 1 we were officially on the road. Yay!!! We didn't make it out of Florida that first night but stayed in a rest area about 200 miles east of Pensacola. THAT was an adventure in itself. Most of the Florida rest areas have night time security so we weren't too concerned about our safety but it was NOISY! At midnight the semi next to us (a huge monster) started up to leave. It was so extra big and loud, I think Mike and I hit the ceiling when it woke us up!

Note to ourselves - If we're going to boondock while traveling, find a Walmart or Bass Pro or some other off the road place that's quieter. If we have to stay in a rest area, don't pull in between a bunch of semi's if we can help it. It may make us feel safer, but the noise isn't worth it.

Mike had unhooked the power/brake connection cord between the truck and 5th wheel before we settled in for the night. He was concerned that the batteries in the 5th wheel might go dead and the unit would start pulling power from the truck batteries instead. (Remember, we're very new at this.) When we got ready to leave the next morning, he hooked the cord back up in the bed of the truck where the dealership had put in the new receptacle. It didn't work. No brakes lights, running lights, nothing. We were not happy! He went over it and over it and couldn't not find the problem. Finally he crawled under the truck to see if he could find a loose wire and discovered the original 7-prong receptacle that the dealership said we didn't have. It worked fine although the cord had to go over the outside back of the truck bed to plug in. I have contacted the dealership in Florida about this problem (a Camping World) as we assume this plug is under warranty. We're hoping another Camping World can do the repair.

Saturday - did you hear the cheers? We were both yelling "Good-Bye!" as we rolled over the Florida line into Alabama. Although we do like the panhandle of Florida better than the rest of it, we don't plan on ever going back to Florida. It's just not our 'cup of tea'.

In Mobile we turned north on highway 98 and in Haittesville picked up highway 49 to Jackson. Just outside Jackson the highway turned into a total washboard. We were getting violently bounced and jostled all over the place and we knew this couldn't be good on the hitch and 5th wheel. We figured it would quit when we got on I-20 but it lasted another 5 miles West after that! Horrendous! If we're ever down this way again, we know to avoid those roads.

We rolled into our friends' place in Forest, LA about 5:30. They have a truly beautiful home filled with Southern Hospitality. We've had wonderful Scriptural discussions and lots of just good 'talk'. Drove us around on a tour of the area yesterday. Mike and Daniel have been on a few walks around the property but I declined when Daniel went and got his handgun and some bullets in case they encountered snakes. WHAT??!! There's lots of brown-back rattlers and cotton mouths around here. In fact they were telling us about an area not far from here where a bunch of men/boys found 200 of the critters and removed them. When they went back the next day, they found another 200. Jenny and I stayed here and just relaxed. :)

They were hoping we'd stay a week but we need to get back to the Joplin area and get things sorted out in the 5th wheel. We did decide to stay an extra day though. There's a storm headed this way from the Joplin area that sounds like it's very similar to what we experienced last Thursday in Florida. We would have been driving through it all the way up to Joplin. So we're spending an extra day here. Nice being retired....we can adjust our schedule as needed without a lot of problems.

Next stop.....the storage unit. Really looking forward to getting the 5th wheel organized and stocked.

Gloria - The Internet GADabout