May 1-7

May 1, 2017

Travel day from Little Manatee River State Park, Wimauma, FL to Lake Magic RV Park, Kissimmee, FL.

After almost three years of workcamping we were finally on our way-but only as far as Kissimmee, FL.  We had an appointment scheduled for the following morning at Camping Connection (an RV repair shop owned by Lippert Components).  Lippert is the manufacturer of the frame on our RV. 

While we were in residence at Lazy Days (for 32 days) part of March and into April waiting for our new grey tank to be delivered (It was only coming from Indiana-we could have had a faster delivery if it was coming from China) Monte noticed a separation of the frame from the housing on the cap every time we were moved from one spot to another by the forklift.  Lazy Days does not do these types of repairs so we contacted Lippert who referred us to their shop in Kissimmee.

Originally we were supposed to spend the night prior to our appointment in the parking lot of Camping Connection.  The lot is very small and there is no hookup.  With temps still in the high 80s we opted to spend the night down the road at Lake Magic RV Resort.  They accept Passport America so the nightly rate was only $22.82.

 

We had the choice of two pools.  The closest pool to our site did not have a Jacuzzi so we took the long walk to the second pool all the way on the other side of the campground.  IT was worth it as the pool was bath water warm and the Jacuzzi was very hot.

May 2, 2017

Travel day from Kissimmee, FL to Stephen Foster State Park, White Springs, FL.

It rained as we traveled the short distance to Camping Connection the following morning.  I noted there was a vulture on the power line pole next to our RV.

  I hoped it wasn’t an omen of things to come while getting our estimate for repairing the frame.

Lippert had sent a traveling mobile tech to inspect the frame.  He said the frame needed to be repaired.  This would entail removing the cap, installing additional supports and putting the cap back on.  I was holding my breath as he quoted a loose estimate based mostly on labor.  (LazyDays had guessed that we might be looking at eight to ten thousand dollars.)  The tech said it would probably run around $1,300.  WHAT?  He also suggested that once we have the repairs done we should change out our pinbox from our current Mor/ryde model to Lipperts Trailair model.  This would cut down on the stress as we travel on bumpy roads.

We were all set to have the repairs done but Camping Connection would not have an opening for another three weeks. 

We asked the tech if it would be safe to continue on our travels until the fall at which time we would make an appointment at the Lippert plant in Goshen, Indiana on our way back to Florida. 

He said he didn’t think it would be a problem so that is what we opted to do.

Our next destination was Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs, FL. 

 We had stayed at the park a couple of times so we knew what to expect.  I called to make sure they had available sites.  The nightly rate is $20/plus tax. 

With Monte’s Florida resident senior discount our stay only cost us $11.

May 3, 2017

Travel day from White Springs, FL to Barnwell State Park, Blackville, SC.

I was excited to see the Georgia State line sign.

We only planned on traveling between 150-200 miles a day. 

 Traveling mostly back roads to avoid busy highways gave us little choices of places to stay at the 200 mile mark so we ended up traveling 300 miles on Wednesday.  I checked my Passport America App, Park Advisor app and Overnight RV parking app to see what our options were.

We crossed into South Carolina and ended up staying at Barnwell State Park in Blackville, SC.  I had called to make sure there was availability.  I kept losing cell service so I wasn’t able to find out if we would be able to get a site.  We took a chance and it worked out. 

 With tax the site fee came to $22.83. The site was very unlevel.  We were unable to get a signal on our rooftop satellite.

After dinner we took a walk down to the lake just in time to see a guy reel in a large mouth bass.

May 4, 2017

Travel day from Blackville, SC to Mr. Z’s RV Park, Gilbert, SC

After checking the Passport America app we opted to travel to Gilbert, SC and stay at Mr. Z’s RV Park for 4 nights.  We have had pretty good luck finding inexpensive campgrounds using the PA app.  My only criticism is the amount of restrictions on most of the parks including amount of days the rate is given, restricting weekends and holidays. 

Mr. Z’s is an exception.  They do not restrict the amount of days and they accept the discount on weekends and holidays if space is available.  All sites include a full hook-up. There is a clean pool (it was too cold to use) and a laundry room.  There are no restrooms or showers and Mr. Z only accepts cash or check for the $20/night fee.

Upon our arrival at Mr. Z’s RV Park, we set up quickly and searched for a nearby vet.  We wanted to take our cat, Anne, in to get checked out.  She hadn’t eaten in several days and was having issues with incontinence.  We also noticed she had lost weight. 

We find a vet who accepted walk-ins ten miles drive from our location- Batesburg Leesville Animal Hospital in Leesville, SC.

After running labs our worst fears were realized-Anne was in stage 4 kidney disease.  The vet gave us our options.

  Take Anne home where most likely she would not last the weekend and be in horrible pain or have her humanely euthanized. 

With painful hearts we held Anne while the sedative took effect and stroked her as the Vet gave her the injection that stopped her heart. 

The Vet and his staff were so wonderfully compassionate.  Even though it was past closing time they did not rush us allowing us to take our time with Anne. 

She was such a wonderful cat and a really big part of our daily life so it is going to take time and distance for our hearts to begin to heal.

 May 5, 2017

Columbia Canal and Riverfront Park

I wanted to go for a bike ride so I checked out places in the area with paths.  After reading glowing reviews about the Columbia Canal and Riverfront Park I knew that is where I wanted to go.

The Riverfront Park located at 312 Laurel St., Columbia, SC was opened in 1983 for recreational usage of the land where the original waterworks for the city of Columbia was situated. 

It is the site of the world’s first electrically operated textile mill. 

 The park, which separates the Columbia Canal and the Congaree River has a walking/jogging/biking paved 2 ½ mile trail.

After leaving the park we stopped in at Camping World to see if they had the GPS that Monte wanted in stock.  Our current RV Rand McNally GPS purchased 5 years ago is no longer being supported for map updates (even though we are supposed to have lifetime maps).

We purchased the new Rand McNally Tablet 80 that ended up costing close to $600 by the time tax and the extended warranty was added.

May 6, 2017

Congaree National Park

We got an early start to Congaree National Park because I wanted to arrive prior to the Ranger led walk scheduled for 9:30.  Within 10 minutes of using our new GPS we knew we would be returning it because of the glare from the sun.  When Monte put on his polarized glasses on the GPS screen appeared black.

Arriving at the park at 9:00 gave us time to watch the 18 minute film in the visitor center. 

Congaree National Park received its official designation in 2003. 

The park preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States.  The trees growing in the floodplain are some of the tallest in the Eastern United States.

The volunteer who led the walk was delightful and very informative.  Being volunteers ourselves we have witnessed firsthand the contributions made by volunteers and truly believe the Park systems (Federal, State and County) would not be able to operate without them.

We returned the GPS to Camping World and then ate at Hudson’s Smokehouse in Lexington.

  Monte ordered the BBQ pulled pork sandwich and I went with the chopped beef brisket. 

When the order arrived both looked delicious so we decided to split our orders so we could each enjoy both sandwiches.

Our plan for Sunday is to do laundry, house chores and relax before continuing on our journey Monday morning.