Moving Day … Celebrated with a Glorious Sunset

Friday, 4 January
Fort Pickens Campground — Gulf Islands National Seashore (GINS), Florida
Temps: Lo 39F / Hi 57F (4C / 10C)

We woke up to cold temps again this morning — really cold — but we were comfy cozy in our home thanks to being connected to the 50A pedestal for the adjacent site.  So glad we spent the $$s to purchase a long 50A extension cord way back when — we might have been in for a propane night otherwise.

Mui bided his time until 9:00a before he walked over to the host’s site to find out the plan for the day.  After conferring with the “brown shirts” — as Judy fondly refers to NPS staffers — the host returned with news.  The work ticket had been processed, but the timeline for the repair was unknown and could be several days.  Staying put in A14 was not an option, because A15 was going to be occupied by campers beginning today.

We were given the option of moving to A26, a stand-by site reserved for disabled campers, or go to a stand-by site in another loop.  Although A26 seemed like a good option at first, the possibility that we might have to move out of it once the A14 pedestal was fixed did not sit well with us.  So, we hopped in the car to check out the other loops.

Do you believe in kısmet?  We do; and today’s forced move falls into that category.  I don’t remember why we dismissed loops B-E out of hand when we stopped by the campground last September on our recon trip.  But we did, and it turns out that was a mistake.  Driving through the loops today, we found this section of the campground to be much more to our liking — probably because the lack of short trees made it seem brighter and more spacious.

Taking the recommendation of the campground host, we opted for C29.  It is adjacent to the bathhouse on the driver side, but big bushes and trees offer us plenty of privacy and hide the foot traffic.  On the passenger side, we have twice as much space separating us from our neighbor as we did in A14.  We feel that we landed in a better site for sure.  Even the 4G connection we’re getting with our Millenicom mi-fi (Verizon service) is better here (not that it was bad in A14).

Site C29 — we like it even better than we did Site A14.
We won’t get sunset alerts from here, but we just might see the sun rise instead.

Clockwise from top left:
looking head on towards C29; looking to the right from our site; lots of space behind
the coach (we have our own shortcut to the bathhouse); view from our windshield.

The move itself was easy — we don’t have a whole bunch of knick-knacks scattered around the motorhome.  I think it took me about 10 minutes to get the inside ready for the short-distance move.  Since we were driving by the dump station anyway, we took the opportunity to empty our tanks again — not that there was much in them, but every drop counts when you don’t have a sewer hook-up — heh heh he!  By noon, we were having lunch at our new site.  And then it was time for some fun.

The sun had warmed the temps nicely, so we decided to take the trikes for a spin and ride over to Fort Pickett.  We had to bundle up against the light windchill, but it sure felt good to be doing something fun on what turned out to be a beautiful winter day.  There’s no bike path, so we had to share the road with cars, but traffic was light and we encountered just a few vehicles along the way.  It would be a different story in the summertime, of course.

A trike ride on a mostly-deserted road … what fun on a sunny winter day.

The trees are a testament to the devastation storms have wreaked on this barrier island.

A pretzel tree (not really) catches my eye; a body of water draws me into the landscape.

Of course no trike ride on this sunny day would have been complete without a stop at the beach.  We returned to the scene of the crime, where Mui — drawn irresistibly by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico — went swimming in his shorts last September (post here; scroll down).  In fact, that was the day we made the decision to return here as soon as we could.  It really doesn’t matter that it’s too cold to swim now; just being here and seeing these waters again — well, we’re in heaven

Summer outfits have been replaced by winter layers, but it sure feels good to be back ...

… on this beach, which is named for the nearby Battery Langdon (1923).

The sand here is easily mistaken for snow, salt, or sugar … it’s that fine and that white.

We returned home around 3:00p, put the trikes in their garages (blue tents in the collage above), and headed over to the Lowe’s in Gulf Breeze to run an errand.  We could not have timed our return to the coastal road leading to the campground better had we planned it.  We got to enjoy one of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve ever seen … such a riot of yellows, oranges, and reds over the Gulf of Mexico … it looked like the sky was on fire.  And it all started out with tinges of pinks and lavenders over Pensacola Bay ... a symphony in pastels.  I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves; every one of them was absolutely worth the bone-chilling cold we had to endure to get the shots.

Memories to be treasured to be sure.

Fort Pickens Campground … Our New Home

Thursday, 3 January
Fort Pickens Campground — Gulf Islands National Seashore (GINS), Florida
Temps: Lo 41F at Fort Pickens / Hi 50F in Quincy (5C / 10C)

Today was a travel day.  After another good night’s sleep at Beaver Lake Campground near Quincy, Florida, we woke up to a morning that started out with a temp of 50F (10C) — and light rain.  By the time we pulled out shortly before 9:00a, the temp was down to a damp and chilly 43F (6C).  It did go up from that low later in the day, but not by much.

We drove through light rain for a couple of hours, but by the time we stopped at the Okaloosa Rest Area for lunch, we were in the clear — from the rain, but not the overcast that dogged our path all the way to the Fort Pickens Campground in the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

An easy 182-mile (291 km) drive brings us to our new temporary home on the Gulf of Mexico.

Both the GPS and Streets & Trips routed us here via FL State Road 281 (toll of $11.25; worth it IMHO to stay out of Pensacola traffic) and US Route 98.  We also had a $1 toll to cross over to Santa Rosa Island, but we would have had to pay that anyway regardless of which way we came in.

Green marks our spot close to the tip of Santa Rosa Island.

Having passed into a new time zone, we gained an hour, arriving at Fort Pickens around 1:00p.  Another 30 minutes saw us settled into site A14 (with way too many bystanders coming out of their rigs to watch Mui back in; and one very helpful camper who gave him actual help negotiating a tight turn into the site).

Two things to watch out for when maneuvering into the site: branches in the open area across the road, and the position of the tree on the driver side of the site in relation to the slides.  Hugging the passenger side of the paved pad gave us plenty of room for the slides to open without any issues.

A14 is an electric and water site; no sewer hook-ups here.  It’s also fairly level — important to us since we continue to operate without levelers until we get to Red Bay next month.  The nightly rate of $20 is quite reasonable, we think.

Oh, and we’re conveniently situated across the road from the bathhouse, which we will be using to minimize the water going into our grey tank.  After all, it would be no fun to have to pick up stakes part way through our stay just to dump the tanks.  We successfully used this strategy during our stay at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina last month.  If we can manage for 10 days, surely we can manage for 14 days, too.  The challenge is on ;-)

Since our site faces west, we will get advance warning of the colorful sunsets we’re hoping to see while we’re here.  In fact, the sun did break through the overcast today and we did have a very nice sunset.  We opted to enjoy it from home this time; next time, we’ll go to the beach.

After all that, I’m not sure if we will be in this site come tomorrow.  Just as we were about to sit down to dinner, the 50A electric pedestal went on the fritz.  The surge protector did its job and shut the system down.  Of course, our “roughing it not-so-smoothly” experience from a few years ago immediately sprang to our mind.  Luckily, this time we were awake to deal with it.  We reported the problem to the camp host; someone will look into it tomorrow morning.  In the meantime, we are hooked up to the pedestal for the neighboring site, which is empty tonight.  If the problem can’t be fixed, we may have to move.  Keeping fingers crossed.

Tallahassee: Roaming the Capitol(s) in the Capital

Wednesday, 2 January
Beaver Lake Campground — Quincy, Florida
Temps: Lo 58F / Hi 69F (14C / 21C)

For a campground that is just off the freeway, Beaver Lake provided a quiet, restful night’s sleep.  Despite the overcast skies and dropping temps (the day’s high was at 5:00a), we proceeded with our plans to explore downtown Tallahassee, the capital of our adopted state.  It was an easy 20-mile (32 km) drive to backtrack from Quincy on I-10 East.

(Most photos in B&W in keeping with the day’s dreary, blah light conditions.)

First stop, the visitor center downtown, where the friendly volunteer gave us maps and information about the Capitol Complex, named a few restaurants when we asked for suggestions, and directed us to the nearest parking at Kleman Plaza — budget friendly at $3.50 for five hours.

The parking structure is underground; pedestrian entrance is beneath the domed structure.

The area around the Capitol Complex was surprisingly deserted for a work day.  I guess that’s what happens when the Legislature is not in session.  We were happy to have the sites we visited to ourselves.  In fact, except for an extended family that we kept crossing paths with, we didn’t encounter any other visitors.

Our first stop was the 22-story Capitol Tower, flanked by the domed House and Senate chambers.  Constructed behind the more traditional Historic Capitol, the first legislative session was held here in 1978.  Even though it was a dreary day, our goal visiting here was to check out the city views from the observatory/art gallery (free).  Inviting us to “Roam freely, you can’t go anywhere we don’t want you to go,” the attendant at the info booth encouraged us to also check out the House and Senate chambers on the 5th floor, as well as the state seal on the 2nd floor.

Visitors to the tower are welcomed by dolphins playing in the fountains on the plaza.

Looking back at the Florida Supreme Court from the tower plaza.

Two of several murals that can be found around the Capitol Tower; these are in the lobby.

Tallahassee doesn’t have much of a skyline, so the views were disappointing … especially on an overcast day.  But our trip up to the 22nd floor yielded photo ops in the art gallery.

Clockwise from Top Left:
Conquistadores; Final Boarding Call; Raices (Roots); and Return to Picnic Island

Clockwise from Top Left:
The Great State of Florida; The Knappers; Ponce de Leon Landing; and Connections

Although we stopped off to check out the House and Senate chambers on the 5th floor, we could only view them through glass paneling.  The dim-to-dark light inside the rooms was not conducive to photography, so we didn’t dally long there.

Our next stop was the Florida Historic Capitol Museum, housed in the old Capitol.  (Free; donations appreciated.)  Located a few steps from the back entrance of the Tower, we didn’t have to go far to get to it.

With its cupola and dome, the Historic Capitol is more charming than the
new building rising into the sky behind it.

The building was constructed in 1845, just before Florida entered the Union as the 27th state.  Slated for demolition after the Capitol Tower was built, it was saved through actions of the citizens and was restored to its 1902 appearance.  In addition to the House and Senate chambers, the Supreme Court was also located here.

The museum staff was busy taking down the holiday decorations, but willingly answered a few questions before we set out to explore the building on our own.

Several of the old offices house exhibits on Florida’s legislative history;
One room has a small theater where a brief video welcomes visitors.

Governor Jenkins (#18 – 1901-1905) was not in, but we stopped by and peeked into the
stenographer’s and secretary’s area (top left) as well as the governor’s private office.
(Between the two was the Cabinet Room.)

A small glass case displays some of the items found in the 1970s when the foundation
for the new Capitol was excavated; additional artifacts surfaced during the
archeological survey of the Historic capitol in 1979.

It’s easy to step back in time at the Historic Capitol Building.

House of Representatives Chamber

Senate Chamber

Added in 1902, the artglass dome almost immediately started leaking.  by 1923, it was removed and
replaced with a frosted glass skylight.  During the restoration of the building, one hundred
pounds of stained glass used in the original artglass dome was discovered inside one of the walls.
(Photo on the left is dead center from the first floor; looking at the dome from a
slightly angled perspective on the second floor reveals changes in the colors.)

Our self-guided tour complete, we took a meandering path to the restaurant recommended by the staffer at the visitor center.  Along the way, we found more opportunities to click the shutter.

The Vietnam War Memorial consists of two granite columns with the American flag
suspended between them.  On the columns are engraved the names of 1,942
Vietnam War dead and 83 men listed as missing in action.

The Leon County WWII Memorial is installed in front of the courthouse.
The bench is inscribed with the words: "Greater Love Hath No Man Than This.
That a Man Lay Down His Life for His Country."

Also in front of the Leon County Courthouse is a memorial inscribed with the words:
“In memory of those killed on Florida roadways by drunk drivers.”

Even though it was a dreary day, with our layers keeping us warm, we opted to dine al fresco at Capital Andrew’s Bar & Grill.  We weren’t the only crazy ones eating on the patio — the family that dogged our trail at the Capitol Complex were there as well.

From the website Andrew’s looks like a happening kind of place, but with the Legislature on vacation, it was a place to enjoy a quiet meal today.  We both enjoyed our selections —  Bring it Home to "Jerome" Falafel Burger (on grilled naan) for me; "Jimmy the Greek" Zesty Mediterranean Salad (romaine lettuce, artichokes, peppadew, black olives, garbanzos, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, red peppers, pita crisps, feta vinaigrette, with grilled chicken) for Mui.

We wrap up our day of sightseeing with a nice meal at Andrew’s.

It was 3:00p by the time we picked up the car from the parking garage to head home.  But first we had one errand to run — pick up our membership cards from the local Sam’s Club.  The bonus — a military benefit that keeps on giving every time we renew … a $15 gift card … which we promptly used to top off the toad for $3.17/gallon … such a deal!

We arrived at Beaver Lake to find a full house in our section of the campground with several Class A big rigs and a couple of small RVs joining us for the night.  No one can say this place isn’t popular with overnighters.

Tomorrow we continue heading west.

TireTraker TPMS

Tuesday, 1 January
Beaver Lake Campground — Quincy, Florida
Temps: Lo 54F at NS Mayport / Hi 73F in Quincy (12C / 23C)

We left NS Mayport today and are en route to our next destination — Pensacola, Florida.  We would have preferred to extend our stay at Pelican Roost RV Park by one more day and have just one night on the road en route, but it wasn’t meant to be.  So we pulled up stakes this morning and made an uneventful 220-mile (352 km) trek west via I-10 to land at a campground near Quincy, Florida (west of Tallahassee).

We made the 220-mile (352 km) drive in about 5 hours — two rest stops included.

We debated staying at a campground with amenities, but decided instead to take a chance on Beaver Lake Campground.  This is a Passport America park with a 50% off rate of $20/night (including tax; cash only) for a 50A FHU site.  First impressions notwithstanding, it’s a decent park for an overnight stay at this reduced rate.  Since we plan to spend the day in Tallahassee tomorrow, that’s all we needed — a place to sleep, albeit for two nights.  We’re in site 6, which is a pull-through with plenty of space behind and in front of us — the campground sites are located along two sides of a huge field.  We have no neighbors on the passenger side, and there are two empty sites between us and the neighbor on the driver side.  This makes our site feel especially spacious.  If those sites were occupied, it would be a different story.

Site 6 (left) and our view out the windshield.

Since I have nothing exciting to report from today, I thought it would be a good time to write about the TireTraker Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) that Mui installed last year.  After all, we got to see it in action today.  In this case, it was a false alarm because Mui has yet to re-program the baseline for a replacement sensor, but it was good to know the system was doing its job.

A tire blow-out is a major safety concern for every RVer, so after debating the pros and cons of having a monitoring system, and researching the various options, Mui settled on the easy-to-install TireTraker.  The TT-400C is a “full-time wireless electronic tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) designed to monitor and display tire pressures from 0 psi up to 145 psi, and also to monitor tire temperatures from 14°F to 185°F.”  The system he purchased monitors not just the Phaeton’s tires, but the ones on the toad as well.

These sensors are mounted on the air valves on the tires.

The display unit is programmed with tire pressure information for each tire
to ensure accurate monitoring.

Once the sensor is mounted on the air valve, a couple of clicks ensures the monitor recognizes it.	The black blocks on the monitor show that the sensors are installed and they are working.

Verifying that the monitor is displaying accurate pressure (left) and temperature
Information for the front driver-side tire.  (THe black box for the tire being tested blinks.)

A signal booster (white box) placed in the cabinet under the dining room table amplifies the signal from the sensors on the toad's tires.

A nifty cradle with a suction cup keeps the monitor in place where the driver can easily see any alerts.  (An Audible alert is also issued.)

System installed and operational.

This is not a Phaeton mod per se, but I’m posting it under that category for anyone interested in such things.