November 27, 2013

Travel day from Spring Hill

To Englewood, FL

I woke up several times through the night from the sound of the rain hitting the roof. 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought we were going to have to hitch up and drive in the rain but luckily the rain stopped and the sun came out when we were ready to pack up.

 

 

 

The 120 mile drive down from Spring Hill to Englewood was uneventful and we pulled into the RV Park where we will be wintering at 1PM.

We had been given the choice of two sites so Monte pulled to the side at the entrance to the park and got in my car so we could check out the sites.

The first site was gravel and had a concrete patio area but was too small.  The second site (our home for the next four months) was deeper and wider but the ground was mostly dirt and sand now soft due to the rain from the last couple of days.

The site formerly housed a mobile home so the sewer and electric connections are set far back. 

John, one of the permanent tenants who stopped by to offer assistance, told us that he is a volunteer greeter. 

Before we could begin getting set-up, the woman who lives in the mobile home next to our site came out and told us we would have to move over because once we bring out our slides we would be on her property.  WHAT!

Okay, but there is a tree on the site that was going to make moving over difficult.

Monte pulled out and backed in several times trying to position us but the ground was so soft that the thing he feared most happened-he got stuck with the rear tires on the truck just spinning and spitting up dirt.

After placing two wide wooden boards behind the rear tires, Monte tried backing up with no luck.

Monte thought if we unhitched the rig we would have better luck getting the truck out of the rut.  But when we pulled on the hitch handle, after bringing down the landing gear, we couldn’t get the hitch to release because we were on an angle.

This problem was solved by extending the landing gear to take pressure off the hitch allowing Monte to remove the pins holding the top part of the hitch.

 

 

 

 

Without the weight of the rig, Monte was able to easily drive out of the rut.

 

 

 

 

 

After smoothing out the dirt, Monte placed the wooden boards down, backed the truck up and re-hitched. 

I crossed my fingers as Monte backed in and out again that we wouldn’t get stuck again. 

 

 

 

We came close a couple of times but finally we got situated in a position we were satisfied with. 

 

In the middle of all the backing in and out, a crowd of residents began gathering to watch the show.  I am ashamed to admit I was a little annoyed thinking they were there just to be nosy.  BUT, I found out later from John, they had all come over to make sure we knew we were invited to the big Thanksgiving meal being served tomorrow at the clubhouse.  They just wanted to make sure we weren’t going to be alone on the holiday.  YUP, I felt bad for misjudging their intentions.

I had left off with my parents that I would call them when we were set up.  The main reason we chose our current location to winter at was the close proximity to my parents’ house.

When I called to tell them we would be ready to see them after we set up in around an hour, my mom said they were already in the park and would be at out site in a minute.

Getting hugs from my mom and dad was one of the best feelings in the world.

I had a feeling we were not going to be able to get satellite because of the large tree blocking our signal.  And, sure enough, I got that message when I turned on the satellite.  We were able to get all the local channels when I raised our TV antenna.

I was relieved to discover we were able to receive a good WiFi signal as free WiFi is included in our monthly rent.

After saying goodbye to my parents (we will be spending Thanksgiving with them) Monte called Dish up to see what our options were.  They gave us the telephone number of a local Dish retailer located only a few miles away.  It was already after 5PM on the night before a holiday so we really didn’t expect anyone to answer the phone.

BUT, we lucked out.  Richey from HI-Tech Integrated Systems gave us some options.  He said he had to make a service call and would call us back when he was back in his shop. 

By 7:30PM we were already back home after buying a portable dish, tripod and triple LNB. 

We have been spoiled having the roof mounted satellite with self-seeking signals but the biggest disadvantage has been our limitations on where we stay due to trees blocking our signal.  We had discussed buying a portable satellite sometime in the future and had budgeted for the purchase.

Now Monte will have the fun job of setting up the portable satellite and trying to find the signal.