And So Our 2nd Year of Fulltiming Begins

Thursday, 12 December
Oak Grove park — NAS Pensacola, Florida
Temps: Lo 38F (3C) / Hi 61F (16C)

Had we not pulled in headfirst to the back-in waterfront site we snagged when we arrived at Oak Grove Park yesterday, we likely would have missed the brilliant red sunrise belt that trimmed the horizon at dawn this morning.

Definitely worth the hassle of connecting the hook-ups on the wrong side of the coach!

It was only 6:30a, and it was still a quite chilly 45F (7C), but we quickly bundled up and made our way to the sugar white beach a short distance from our site to enjoy a few quiet moments.  Alas, it wasn’t long before the breeze drove us back to the cozy shelter of the Phaeton.  Beach walks are going to have to wait until later in the day until the temps warm up!

Our day was otherwise uneventful.  We came to Pensacola to do some chores and provision the coach after being away from our “condo on wheels” for 3½ months.  The story of those months away is yet to be told.  In the meantime, it’s time to begin the story of another year of fulltiming.

When we put the Phaeton in storage on 24 August, we knew that the rest of our first year of fulltiming would be spent away from the motorhome.  At the time, the map of our travels to date looked like this …

Our Phaeton Journeys … at the point when we called a temporary halt to our
days on the road, we had traveled 4,710 miles (7,536 km) in our home on wheels.

When we disembarked Celebrity Constellation following the TransAtlantic cruise that returned us to the US on 9 December, we wiped the miles-driven-slate clean to begin our second year on the road.  An easy drive brought us from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando.  We picked up the Phaeton from storage, stayed overnight at the Orlando Winter Garden RV Resort, and turned our wheels north and then west on 10 December.

As a side note, I should mention that we were very happy to find that no uninvited guests — I speak of the 4-legged critters known as mice — had visited the Phaeton during her incarceration at the storage facility.  As well, the solar panels had done a great job of keeping all the batteries charged up and the coach purred to life as soon as Mui switched the ignition on.  The toad’s battery didn’t fare as well, I’m afraid.  Mui had installed a solar panel to charge the CR-V’s battery, but somehow the connection got loose.  In short, the car was dead as a doornail.  Still, it wasn’t a huge problem as the storage facility had the means to give us a jump and the short drive to the campground in Orlando was sufficient to bring the battery back to full charge.

The only problem we had with the coach was a minor one — the doorsteps refused to extend.  Mui was all set to check that out in Pensacola, but a miracle happened at the end of our first full day on the road — I opened the door when we arrived at the campground and the steps extended of their own volition.  Ours is not to question why, but to accept when such gremlins work themselves out ;-)

OK … back to the story of these past few days.

Whereas our first year of fulltiming started in Virginia, our second year starts in Florida.

We split the 444-mile (710 km) drive from Orlando to Pensacola into two days, driving a little more than half the way on Tuesday.  We stayed at the Beaver Lake Campground in Quincy, Florida that night.  As we had stayed at this campground when we made the trek from Jacksonville to Pensacola in January of this year, we knew not to expect much.  In fact, this Passport America campground is little more than a big grass field with pull-through FHU sites ($20/night with the PA discount).  This time we were in site 4, which was identical to the site we had stayed in the first time around.  The campground served as a convenient overnight stop and we got a good night’s rest with no traffic noise despite our close proximity to I-10.

In her infinite wisdom, The campground manager bunched together the five rigs that are here.
No big deal; it’s for one night only and our neighbors are as quiet as church mice.

Wednesday morning we were up at 5:30a with plans to be on the road by 8:00a — wanted to give the 39F (4C) temperature to which we woke up a chance to warm up before we had to go outside to break camp!  We would have met that timelime if not for a stubborn jack that refused to retract.  No matter, going through the troubleshooting steps, we re-programmed the “home” position for that leg and were on the road after a mere 30-minute delay.

We drove the remaining 176 miles (282 km) to Pensacola in good time, arriving at the Oak Grove Park at NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola in time for lunch.  And who should welcome us but the Navy’s elite Blue Angels.  I had heard that they were grounded due to the sequestration, so seeing them whizzing about was a delightful surprise.  Alas, no photos as we were in the midst of setting up, but here’s a link to a blog post from September 2012 when we were lucky enough to catch another practice session.  One of these years we’ll time it right to see an actual show!

Site 50 has plenty of space separating it from 49 (left) and 51 (right).

We’re in site 50, which is described as a “waterfront” site.  Since we pulled in headfirst, we do have a glimpse of Pensacola Bay through the trees and brush that separate the campground from the beach, but the water is several hundred yards away.  No matter, the beach access is just steps away, and we’ve already walked out that way a couple of times.

Glimpse of Pensacola Bay through the Phaeton’s windshield.

The waterfront FHU sites are $27/night.  At first we debated paying the $4 surcharge over the daily rate for the standard FHU sites, but after this morning’s beautiful sunrise, we’re agreed that we made the right decision.

Left: The beach access is just steps away from the sugar white sands and the bay.

Right: Can you see the Phaeton in site 50 in the top photo?  If not, I’ve included a
close up of her to prove that she is indeed hidden back there amongst the trees.

Ah yes … this is the beach we remember from September 2012.  It was hot then and Mui
delighted in swimming in the bay.  With the temp much colder now, he has no plans for a dip.

White sand … tall trees … puffy clouds … blue skies … sunshine …
and a campground nestled behind the treeline.

Once we were settled into our site, we ran over to Walmart for a few essentials, then returned to the coach to tackle the chores awaiting us after being away from home for such a long time.  Today was similarly taken up with chores.  Mui drove to our Pensacola-based mail service to pick up 3½-month’s worth of mail and the boxes of Arctic gear we shipped back from Iceland in early October.  Next he finished provisioning the Phaeton with a much-anticipated trip to the commissary.  I got a head start on the laundry and the household bookkeeping.  When Mui returned to the Phaeton, we took a break for a short walk on the beach.  It felt good to be out there in the sunshine even if we did have to bundle up.

My first shorebird photograph as we begin year two of fulltiming is of a willet
on the beach at Oak Grove Park.  Hopefully many more will follow!

We’ll be in Pensacola a few more days before we continue west to Texas, where we plan to spend the winter.  Not sure if we’ll be doing much of anything fun during our remaining time here.  I’m nursing a cold and Mui’s battling a sinus infection, so it’s probably best we take it easy before we embark on our week-long drive on Sunday.

"Two to Travel" is Back Home

Monday, 9 December
Winter Garden, Florida

We concluded our 107-day vacation this morning when the Celebrity Constellation docked in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

By 3:00p, the Phaeton had broken her shackles and left storage.  She is celebrating her freedom at the Orlando Winter Garden RV Resort tonight. Tomorrow, we head to Pensacola for a few days of provisioning before heading further west for the winter.

We're back home!

“Phaeton” Goes into Storage … “Phaeton Journeys” Goes on Hiatus …“Two to Travel” Goes on Vacation

Friday, 23 August

If you have been wondering why we’ve fallen off the sightseeing and exploring bandwagon these past months, the time has come to reveal the reason.  While we might have been physically inactive, I can’t say the same for our brains — busy cogitating; or our fingers — busy surfing the web.  All in preparation for our 3½-month vacation from life on the road.

When I dropped some hints about our vacation plans, some of you guessed Iceland, which is indeed part of our plans.  But far from all of it.  In fact, we started out with Greenland [the picture above being our inspiration], then added Iceland, Turkey, and finally, a couple of cruises to return us to the US.

Our 2013 travels mapped out!

For those interested, the full story of how our vacation mushroomed from 2 weeks to 14 weeks is here.

Tomorrow, the Phaeton goes into storage — along with the toad.  And with that, the Phaeton Journeys goes on hiatus.  But I hope to continue blogging — or at least posting teasers — on the Two to Travel blog.  Sign up to follow us there … or just click the “Our Travel Adventures and Voyages” tab at the top of this blog when the mood strikes.  I’ll probably Google+ the posts as well, so there will be no lack of means for those interested in following us around on our travels.

See you when we get back in December!

R&R Over

Thursday, 22 August
Somewhere on I-95 south in florida

Our two weeks at Pelican Roost RV Park at NS Mayport is over.  And with it, so is our last two weeks of R&R.  At the moment, we are on I-95S.  After we arrive at today’s destination, we will have a busy day and a half preparing the coach for storage.

When we made plans for this stay, we knew that the hot Florida weather would likely not allow us to do much more than walks on the beach.  And that’s exactly how it turned out.  Most mornings we were on the beach well before sunrise.  By the time we were back at the coach around 7:30a, the rising sun was increasing not only the temperature, but the humidity as well.

The bonus we were hoping for was that the near-constant breeze would allow us to spend at least a portion of each day on the patio.   We were not disappointed.  Between the breeze and the afternoon shade on the patio side, we managed to spend considerable time outside.  Even the daily thunderstorms cooperated so that we could enjoy happy hour as the sun set across from us  — most days.

When the thunderstorms cooperated, this was our view from the patio …

… When the thunderstorms didn’t cooperate, this was our view from the patio.

This was the worst of the thunderstorms we had, and it caused the gulls and terns to
fly off in a flurry of white feathers.  Yes, those white specs against the black sky are birds.

This afternoon thunderstorm was the exception rather than the norm;
most days, the rain and thunder came through in the overnight hours.

When it was too hot to sit outside, we took care of chores, packed our bags for our upcoming trip, and watched pre-recorded movies on TV.  Ships — navy, passenger, and freight — and small boats plied the boat channel daily, adding to our entertainment.  As did the pods of dolphins that swam around the channel day in and day out.

USS Taylor (FFG 50) leaving the ship basin at sunrise.

Here’s one for our USCG friends Paul and Chuck …
USCGC Confidence [I believe] returning to the ship basin after a day at sea.

While it may seem like we didn’t do much during our stay at NS Mayport, we were actually quite busy and the time passed in the blink of an eye.  On the one hand, we were unhappy with how quickly the days went by.  On the other hand, we were glad as it meant we were that much closer to this year’s off-road adventure.  A mixed blessing either way.

On that note, I’ll wrap up this making-the-blog-whole post with the last two photos I took yesterday morning at NS Mayport. 

Looking west, the moon is still high in the sky over USS Vicksburg
and the other ships in the boat basin …

… looking east towards the Atlantic, the rising sun bathes the sky a beautiful golden hue.

See you all for one more post before the Phaeton goes on hiatus.

What? Water in Fuel! Tell Me It Ain’t So …

Friday, 8 August
Pelican Roost RV Park — NS Mayport, Florida
Temps: Lo78F / Hi 87F [feels like 94F] (25.5C / 30.5C [34F])

When I clicked the “post” button on yesterday’s blog entry, we were about to pull into a Flying J in Georgia to fill up the Phaeton.  Little did I know then that our heretofore uneventful drive from South Carolina to Florida was about to take a slight turn towards becoming worrisome!

Our travel day had been dry up to that point, but just as we were approaching exit 29 on I-95, the skies opened up in a downpour.  Good timing, we thought — we can wait out the rain at the truckstop.  Turns out the canopy over the diesel pumps was leaking like a sieve!  No biggie; we’ve fueled in the rain before.  Except that when Mui finished topping off the tank this time and came inside to set the wheels rolling again, we got a much-dreaded alert: ! WATER IN FUEL.  Oh sh*t!!!!!

Mui drained some fuel from the filter and tried the engine again.  Same result — the amber light blinked on and off, but the text alert remained.  So, we vacated the truck lane we were in and found a parking spot amongst the semis.  Out came the phone and Mui dialed the number Mike Cody had drilled into our brains at Camp Freightliner — 1-800-FTL-HELP.  After discussing the problem, we were advised to get back on the road since the amber engine alert had gone off and all that remained was the text alert in the dash display.  It was strongly suggested that we head to the nearest Freightliner Service Center to get things checked out.  Turns out, that was in Jacksonville, Florida — our destination.

After filling out an incidence report with Flying J in case a claim needed to be filed, we got back on I-95 South.  We’d been told that water in the fuel would severely impact our speed, so Mui kept a close eye on the speedometer.  That we were able to maintain a speed of 60-65 mph (96-104 kph), and the Phaeton wasn’t handling any differently, gave us some comfort that perhaps the problem was minor after all.

Shortly after 4:00p, we pulled into the Tom Nehl Truck Center.  Mui had already spoken to the manager of this 24/7 Freightliner service center and had been assured that they would somehow fit us into their already packed service calendar … if only to verify the extent of the problem.  So, we completed the paperwork, unhooked the toad, found a spot out of the way of the trucks buzzing around, turned on the generator to get the A/C units humming, and settled down to wait.  Long story short, it was 9:30p before we got our turn at a bay.

The tech drained some fuel and then hooked the Phaeton up to a computer to run diagnostics.  The result: replacing the fuel filter and sensor should clear the problem.  And it did.  We both heaved a huge sigh of relief when 30 minutes later Mui turned on the engine and the text alert was gone.

It was nearing 11:00p by the time we were ready to pull out.  We had already driven more than we had planned for the day and debated staying overnight in the parking lot of the service center.  In the end, we decided to push on to the campground instead.  Of course, had we known that the exit we needed to take for the most direct route to NS Mayport was closed for construction, we might have reconsidered that decision.

What should have been an easy 338-mile (540 km) day,
turned out to be a not-so-easy 381-mile (610 km) day.

So, with Murphy striking a second time, we found ourselves taking a convoluted route to get to the base.  The good news — the roads were sort of familiar from our stay at the on-base campground last December, so we weren’t freaking out about getting lost.  Once we turned onto Mayport Road and saw the NS Mayport gate ahead of us, we heaved our second huge sigh of relief in as many hours.

Not so fast.  Murphy had another hurdle for us to jump — namely, the barriers that you find at the entrance to every military facility these days.  During the day, the barriers are easy to negotiate, but they place them in a tighter formation at night.  They’re OK if you’re just driving a regular vehicle; it’s more of a challenge when you’re 40 feet (12 m) long … and you’re towing to boot.  Anyway, another long story short, they had us go around the barriers, but the turn into the gate lane was just too short.  So, we had to hurry up and unhook the toad before we could make it through.

Finally, we were in the clear.  Despite the dark roads on base, we had no problems finding our way to Pelican Roost RV Park where we had reservations.  Of course, at 00:30a, there was no one around to check us in.  As luck would have it, however, one of our preferred waterfront sites was sitting empty.  We pulled in without wasting time, hooked up the electricity, opened the bedroom slides, and called it a day.  Dropping the jacks and completing the rest of the set-up chores could wait until morning.

Put on the breaks!  Murphy had one more trick up his sleeve.  I’d been reading in bed while we were waiting to be called into the service bay at Tom Nehl’s.  When the tech knocked on the door, I didn’t give the cup of water sitting on the ledge next to the bed another thought.  Yes, you guessed it.  It had fallen on the bed when we put the Phaeton in motion and there was a great big wet spot right where I was about to lay myself down!  So, to top off everything else, I got to sleep on the sofa last night.  Too tired to mess with making the sofa into a bed, I just put a spare sheet on the cushions and fell into bed.  Good thing I’m short enough to fit on the sofa ;-)

Despite the late bedtime, we were both up before sunrise this morning.  The perfect time to be out enjoying the cool morning and the light breeze.  We were too tired to head to the beach, but we did go out for a walk around the campground to take a look at the available waterfront sites in the light of day.  It didn’t take us long to realize that Site 11 was the best of the lot — FHU with more patio space than most of the other sites, and a clear view of the boat basin, which is surprisingly empty of vessels this time.  (Daily rate of $21.)

Once quiet hours were over, we unplugged from the electric pedestal, pulled in the bedroom slides, and properly positioned the coach on the concrete pad.  Before long, we were settled into our site, ready to make the most of it for the next two weeks.  While we got the afternoon sun at our site at Lake Greenwood, here we get the morning sun.  So a shift in routine is going to be essential.

View from the front of our site.

When the sun is out, it is hot, hot, hot.  But we knew that would be the case when we made the decision to return to Florida for a couple of weeks before our off-road adventures, which will commence on 25 August.  The good news is that we’re in full shade in the afternoon, and a lovely breeze makes it possible to sit outside in comfort.  In fact, I’m writing this post on the patio and loving every minute of being outdoors on a beautiful blue-sky day.

Not bad … not bad at all!

The beach is just down the road from the campground.  We skipped it today, but I see daily beach walks as part of our routine here.  There were a ton of birds on the beaches when we came here in December; hopefully they are still around.  I guess I’ll find out.  In the meantime, we’ll just let the dolphins in the boat channel entertain us.