RV-Dreams Journal

Three Days of Takin' It Easy - (St. Mary's, Georgia)

Well, it's been three days, and we haven't done much.  It was a little chilly the last two days requiring a couple cycles of the furnace and, by the time it warmed up each day, we were entrenched.

We haven't been very purposeful in getting out and about.  I've been reading until 8:00, 9:00, or 10:00 before getting out of bed.  After our morning routine, it seems one phone call or one email triggers another hour or two on the laptops.  And then before we know it, the afternoon has arrived and we're still in our PJs.

We have a little lunch, watch a little TV, and keep our laptops open checking emails and doing research on whatever particular idea suddenly appears.  Soon, it's getting dark, and Linda throws something together for dinner.

The night continues the same way.  We watch sports or some other show we've recorded on the DVR and, at the same time, we return more emails or do another internet search on the latest stream-of-consciousness idea that has popped to the forefront of our scattered brains.

However, none of it feels like we've wasted any days.  We're either planning for some future event or updating a web page or answering emails or strengthening a business relationship.  But we're doing it at our own leisure - nothing is rushed or urgent.

It's pretty boring to read about, but it's life this week.  :)

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Relaxing & Ugly Financials Finally Posted - (St. Mary's Georgia)

Crooked River State Park

I've been waking up around my usual 6:00 a.m. time.  But I've been staying in bed reading until 8:00 or 9:00.

This weekend, we did what we tend to do in state parks - we stay inside and let the weekenders have the park, knowing we'll be able to enjoy it more during the week.

Saturday

We returned emails and I watched college football on Saturday.

We did book an hour and a half nature tour on a pontoon boat limited to eight people, but when we arrived at the park office, they canceled the tour.  Apparently, the steering went out on the boat while they went on a test run this morning, and the boat was stranded out on the river somewhere.  So, we got a refund and went back to our campsite.

In the evening, Linda prepared part of the grouper we got up in South Carolina.  She baked it with some parmesan cheese and a coating of honey-nut granola to give it some sweetness and crunch.  It was good, but it was even better the next night with a little additional honey added.  :)

Not much else to tell for today.  :)

 

 

Sunday

Today was another day much like Saturday.  We returned emails and I watched football.  Linda did some purging of our files and got rid of a couple of old laptops we'd been carrying around as "back-ups".

Speaking of back-ups, I backed up both of our laptops on an external hard drive.

We also received an email from our reader, Dave.  He sent a reminder about checking electrical connections in our RVs to make sure that wires haven't come loose.

He had a problem in his transfer switch box.  A transfer switch in RVs determines what power source is being used by the RV.  In other words, if you are plugged into a campground pedestal (aka shore power), it is the campground's electricity that is running your electrical appliances.  However, if you turn on your generator while plugged into shore power, the transfer switch "switches" or cuts off the "shore power" and your RV runs on generator power.

In older RVs, the transfer switch was "manual" meaning you had to actively flip a switch to make this happen.  In newer RVs, there is an "automatic transfer switch" and the switch from shore power to generator power happens automatically as soon as the generator is turned on.

So, if you have an older RV and you are NOT plugged into shore power and you turn on the generator, you may have to flip a manual transfer switch to get power to your appliances.  However, most of you will have an automatic transfer switch and the switch over should happen .... well, automatically.  :)

Note that new towables do not have a transfer switch unless you ordered the unit with a generator from the beginning or ordered it with "generator prep" for a future "built-in" generator installation.  If you are using a portable generator with a towable and plugging your RV directly into the generator, you don't need a transfer switch, however, it may not work if you have an electrical management system (low/high voltage and proper pedestal wiring protection) - see this article When A Portable Generator Won't Power Your RV.

Assuming you have a built-in generator, why would you ever have a need to run it while plugged into shore power?  Well, if you are parked in 90-degree weather in a campground with 30-amp electric or less, you may want to run your generator (assuming it is not against campground rules) to be able to run two air conditioners.  So, the transfer switch allows you to do that without unplugging from shore power and then plugging back in at night when the temperatures cool down.

However, the transfer switch is designed to just transfer from one power source to another.  It is NOT designed to transfer heavy electrical loads.  So, before you turn on your generator, make sure your air conditioner, microwave, electric heaters, water heaters in electric mode, and multiple appliances are turned off so the transfer switch won't be overloaded.

Now, getting back to Dave's issue.  Dave emailed me this link to a blog post where he described how the transfer switch box in his motorhome melted due to loose connections within the box:  Problem Spotted, Fix Comes Later.

I forwarded this on to Jack (Living The Full-time RV Lifestyle), our technical mentor, and he had this to say:

"This is typical of the results of a loose electrical connection. ALL electrical connections - solar panel boxes, transfer switches, the main loadcenter and the subpanel - should be checked EVERY year for screws that work loose.

 

The screws work loose even in a residential environment due to heat/cool cycles. In an RV environment this is amplified by vibration so it is more common. Use of solid core wire by the RV industry, instead of stranded wire that is called for in Marine environments, also contributes to the issue. But solid core wire is not the entire root cause. It is a combination of factors."

So, in the interest of RVer safety and education, I pass this along to you.  :)

For dinner, Linda re-heated last night's grouper dish and added some more honey and more granola.  Delicious.  :)

Again, it was another day of hanging around our rig and taking care of a few things as they popped into our heads.

 

Monday

Happy Veterans Day and thanks to all of the veterans out there!  I know we have many in our audience and we appreciate your service very much.  If not for you, our life and this Journal may not have been possible.

 

This morning, I finally got caught up on posting our financial results from August, September, & October - Our 2013 Actual Expenses.

With my health issues and hospitalization back in August, the last three months were brutal on our budget.  Of course, August also was the month when our RV refrigerator went out, Linda lost a crown on her tooth, and big ol' tree limbs fell on our Jeep causing our insurance company to total it out.

As of the end of October, we were $15,650 over budget for the year with about $8,500 of that being in Medical Expenses.  The rest of the overage is due to 1) expenses related to replacing our Jeep and other vehicle repairs/maintenance, 2) paying more in estimated taxes due to a very good business income year, and 3) splurging in some areas because we wanted to and had the extra cash flow do it.

With our truck engine replacement last year, and the medical and other expenses this year, we're glad we've maintained an emergency fund of about six months of expenses.  And we're glad we had our Health Savings Account funded to a level above our $10,000 health insurance deductible.

On the medical expenses side, the total bills came in at around $13,000.  Our insurance company reduced many of those bills and paid 100% once we reached the $10,000 deductible.  Additionally, the hospital offered us a 15% discount if we paid that bill in full, so we paid it out of our Health Savings Account.  But we also used our emergency fund to replenish our Health Savings Account up to the maximum allowable deductible amount for 2013 - $6,450.  We're going to need that deduction this year, and we can add the rest back next year.

I hate telling our audience that you can live a comfortable, moderate RV life on $36,000 a year and then we have two years in a row where our expenses will exceed $50,000.  But it is what it is, and it just reinforces the need to have an emergency fund or at least an emergency financial plan.

But what if we didn't have an established emergency fund or Health Savings Account or a good income year?  Well, if we never would have started RV-Dreams and never have established the many sources of income we now have, we would be parking the rig and working somewhere to cover these additional expenses.  We might be workamping, where our annual expenses were more in the $28,000 a year range (and could be less than that if necessary), and where we could earn a paycheck.  Or we might be parked in a seasonal campground and working a more traditional job or being a Walmart Greeter.

The bottom line is this life is simple and adjustable and, especially because we have no debt, we can easily pick up jobs to both sustain the lifestyle and pay for financial blips like the last two years.  It could come to that in any particular year for us.  So what if we have to take two years off from traveling to pay some bills?  Yeah it wouldn't be ideal, but it would be doable without a whole lot of stress.  And then we'd be back on the road again.

I guess my point is it's great to have a fixed income where you don't have to worry about the expenses of life on the road, and it's great to have saved up an emergency fund, and it's best if you don't have any debt, but with some forethought and some planning and knowing what you are getting into, you don't have to have perfect finances to be a full-time RVer.  If you have a positive attitude, are physically and mentally capable, and are willing to work hard at what may not be the best jobs in the world, you can make it as a full-time RVer.

Of course, if you don't have perfect finances, and you prefer no risk, no work, no stress, and don't want to have to adjust to your financial situation, .... well, then perhaps it's best if you leave the RVing life to others.  :)

Moving on.

Today was beautiful, and almost all the other campers in our part of the loop left.  It was quiet and peaceful.  I took a few pictures of the campsites in our section (Sites 45 - 62).

 

 

The sites on our side of the road are wide and extremely long and separated on each side by native vegetation which provides wonderful privacy.

 

 

 

The sites on the other side of the road are very long, angled pull-throughs.

This first one is the ADA site next to the bathhouse.

 

 

Here are a couple of the other pull-throughs.

 

 

 

Sites in the other areas of the campground are also nice, but they don't provide near the level of privacy of this stretch.

As the afternoon passed, I got out our ladder and climbed up on the roof.  Our satellite internet has a good signal, but is not connecting.  I did a cable "by-pass" to see if we had a cabling issue and I called our tech support at Mobilsat.  It turns out we likely have a bad receiver - a big gray piece connected to the dish arm.  I can have one shipped to us.

For the next hour, we discussed getting rid of the satellite internet all together since we've had more problems with it recently.  But we just couldn't pull the plug.  The more I looked at the Verizon data coverage map, the more I recalled the many places across the country where we didn't have cellular service.  Though we have double expenses for internet, we'll hang on to the satellite option as long as the "fix" works and keeps us working where we need it.

As the sun started going down, the subject of dinner came up.  Linda wanted a campfire, so we decided to have fire-roasted brats.

We got the fire going and sat out enjoying the silence.

 

 

A pair of wrens came to visit us, and later a pair of cardinals came by to check us out.

As it got dark, a critter was shuffling in the pine needles and palmettos, but never showed its face.  We were guessing armadillo, raccoon, or skunk.

As the fire got going, we listened to the crickets and frogs while reading our Kindles.  And Linda posted photos of the campfire on Facebook.

 

 

Eventually, I roasted a brat apiece.  We saved room for s'mores.  :)

 

 

Our wood isn't the best buring wood and results in a lot of smoke if the fire is neglected for even a few minutes.  By 8:00, we were ready to call it a night, but we were in serious need of showers first.

Since we're here for nine days and need to conserve gray tank space, we've been showering in the bathhouse right across the street.  After long, hot showers, we put on our pajamas and settled in to watch some recorded shows.

I didn't make it through the second one and fell asleep in the recliner.  Once I woke up, I moved to the bedroom to watch the end of Monday Night Football, but I didn't even make it through the first commercial.  Since we've been back on Eastern time, I haven't seen the end of very many late ballgames - unless, of course, I had an afternoon nap.  :)

Tomorrow, we might just do something somewhat ambitious, but don't hold us to that.  :)

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Breezy, Lovely Day - (St. Marys, Georgia)

Today was clear and cool, but a little windy.  We spent all morning returning emails.  It's hard to keep up and, although Linda has been doing a great job, it takes both of us.

Around noon, we went for a walk around the campground and along the Crooked River.

 

 

Around 1:30, we got the call that Jim & Terry and John & Linda, were nearing the exit.  We were weighing Jim & Terry's new, custom-built 43-foot fifth wheel manufactured in Elkhart, IN by Recreation By Design, LLC.

So, we headed over and were ready when they arrived at the K-mart.  Jim was quite concerned about their weights, but they turned out to be just fine.  :)

After we finished the weighing, we joined our old friends for a late lunch and got caught up.  Always great to see the twins and their wives.  :)

We drove back to Crooked River State Park and stopped at the office to see if there had been any cancellations for Saturday night.  Well, it just so happened that someone came in about 20 minutes prior and left early opening up a site for tomorrow.

Since Georgia State Park reservations aren't for any particular site, that's all we needed.  We quickly booked six more nights, and now we don't have to leave for one night.  Our gamble paid off and we're very happy.  :)

Back home we relaxed as the wind died down and made for a very pleasant evening.

Again, no plans for tomorrow.  So we'll see how it goes.  :)

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A Little Rain & A Fundraising Dinner - (St. Marys, Georgia)

It was overcast and a little rainy, so we pretty much stayed inside except for a brief trip to fuel up the truck and another to fuel up the Jeep and look for a weighing site near the interstate.

We have a weighing for tomorrow, and we selected an empty section of the local K-mart parking lot.

While we were out, I got a phone call from our Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield.  My health issues this summer apparently triggered their special 360-degree Health program.  Now I'm enrolled in this deal that includes a "HealthCoach", a 24/7 Nurses line, and more "benefits" to help me stay healthy.  It's a decent concept, but I can't help but wonder "what's the catch?"  :)

The only other thing we had on the agenda was to attend a fundraising dinner here at the park.  The Coastal Conservation Association of Georgia has a brand new chapter and they were trying to raise some funds via a Low Country Boil Dinner and raffle.

The Coastal Conservation Association is sort of the fisherman's answer to the waterfowl hunter's Ducks Unlimited.  Both organizations promote habitat conservation for the long-term sustainability of sport fishing and hunting.

We arrived right at 6:00 for the dinner and paid our $10 per person.  The fee covered all you could eat and drink (they were well stocked in beer).  We were hungry but, unfortunately, dinner was still an hour away.  So I took some pictures while we waited.

 

 

This little dinner was run by guys, and I have to admit it definitely could have used a woman's touch.  It wasn't very well organized.  :)

Eventually, it was almost time to add the shrimp.

 

 

When it was finally ready, we were near the front of the line and filled our plates.

 

 

It looked delicious.  However, they apparently didn't use any seasoning as it was really bland.  Also, the shrimp didn't taste very fresh.  They claimed to be "purists" and let the shrimp speak for themselves, but that didn't turn out so good.

It would have been greatly improved with some Old Bay seasoning or just some salt.  And these shrimp certainly needed some cocktail sauce.  But none of that was available.

It wasn't nearly as good as the Low Country Boil we did with our group at Huntington Beach State Park last week.  Oh well, it was for a good cause.

We didn't buy any raffle tickets and didn't stick around for the raffle.  Back home, we checked the state park website to see if there were any cancellations for Saturday night.  None so far.

We watched a couple of recorded shows, and then I slipped off to the bedroom to watch some football.  Of course, I didn't last very long and fell asleep.  :)

Other than an RV weighing, we don't have anything planned for tomorrow.  And that ain't a bad thing.  :)

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Back To A Familiar Campground - (St. Mary's, Georgia)

Having made plans to make the 215-mile drive from James Island County Park in Charleston to Crooked River State Park in St. Mary's, Georgia, we didn't want to wait too late to get going.

So, after our usual morning routine, we got up and started getting ready a little after 9:00.  We wanted to be on the road by 10:00, but we were delayed by a couple of phone calls.  And then I saw Christian & Alayne out, so I went to talk to them.

Christian & Alayne are younger, new full-timers and are documenting their experiences on their website "The RV Nomads".  They just posted an entry called "Fulltime RVing For Non-Retired Couples".  Currently they are workamping at James Island County Park.  It was nice meeting them.

Also, we learned last night that a couple we recently met at the North Carolina RV Show are also workamping at James Island.  Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see them before we pulled out around 10:30.

Getting to and from James Island with a big rig (especially a tall rig) is a bit dicey.  The tree limbs over the roads just barely cleared our rig (12'4"), and I'm sure they brush (or worse) the vent covers and air conditioners on taller RVs.  Linda was relieved when we finally got to U.S. 17 heading south.  :)

It was a pleasant drive on U.S. 17 for 50-something miles until we picked up I-95.  I-95 wasn't bad at all and we drove it to Georgia Exit 3 where we turned off to drive the last few miles to Crooked River State Park.

We never realized this was a three-day weekend, so that explained why all the sites were already booked for Saturday night.  Since we only knew we were coming here yesterday, we didn't book in advance to make sure we'd have a spot for that night.  Oh well - we're still hoping for a cancellation.

We used our recently purchased Friends of Georgia State Parks Family Membership so we got a 10% discount on camping and we didn't have to pay the $5 parking pass fee for each vehicle.  Also, by the end of our stay, we'll have earned a free night of camping.

We left the fifth wheel at the office and drove through the campground with the Jeep.  Although we were familiar with the campground (from our visit back in March 2010), we still wanted to make sure nothing had changed and to pick out our site before bringing the rig in.

The campground has a road down the middle with sites on it and then you can turn right or left to go to the other sites.  We knew we wanted to go right to the large sites separated by lots of vegetation where we were before.  We selected Site 48 right across from the bathhouse.

It's a large back-in site that is a little more open than others.  After being in the dark, heavy tree cover at James Island, we were ready for the light to get to us.  The site has water and 30-amp electric, and it has very nice privacy.

 

 

We back up to a wooded area and we have a large "back yard" with a picnic table, fire ring, and lantern post.

 

 

We have a good 4G data signal, and I set up our TV tripod because a tree was blocking our rooftop dish.  Today was overcast with highs in the upper 70s - much warmer than we prepared for when we left Charleston.

Now to just sit back and relax for a few days.  We visited Cumberland Island National Seashore and the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge the last time we were here, so it's not likely we'll do either this time around.  If you would like to read about those experiences from 2010, here are the links:  Visit to Cumberland Island and Visit to Okefenokee NWR. 

Linda cooked some of the fresh shrimp we got yesterday, and made some delicious shrimp tacos for dinner.

Afterwards we just watched some TV and enjoyed our quiet surroundings until bedtime.

Tomorrow we'll just hang around the park and probably do very little.  :)

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Cool Rainy Day - (Charleston, South Carolina)

It was a little cool and overcast this morning.  And since our monthly bank statements weren't available online yesterday, I had to wait until today to do our reconciliations.  That took up the morning for me, and Linda returned as many emails as she could.

Oh, by the way, Wholesale Warranties is having another Facebook photo contest.  This time they are looking for photos of RVs decorated for the holidays.  And, once again, we are judges.  Check it out:  Wholesale Warranties 2013 Holiday Photo Contest.

 

  

Prizes include gift cards, gift baskets, and Happy Camper 50% discount camping memberships.  :)

 

Around noon it started raining as we headed out to pick up some groceries, some fresh shrimp, and mail a couple of letters.

We made our first stop at Crosby's Fish & Shrimp (not to be confused with Crosby's Seafood in Charleston) on Folly Road heading toward Folly Beach.  We picked up a couple of pounds of shrimp from this dockside market, and then made a quick stop at Walmart for a few other items.

While we were out, we made plans to join Belinda and her family for dinner at her place.

Back home, I continued on financials and worked on our next stop.  I looked hard at Edisto Beach State Park and Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina, but they were both booked for the weekend and we didn't want to just stay two nights and move again.

So, I looked at the Georgia State Parks - Magnolia Springs, George L. Smith (which we've been to before and really like), and Fort McCallister Historic Park south of Savannah.  Any of them would have worked, but we ultimately decided to make a longer drive and stay at Crooked River State Park in St. Mary's near the Florida border.  We've also been there before and like the layout of the campground.  Plus it will be close to the north Jacksonville Camping World where we'll have some work done at the end of next week.

We're taking a chance that there will be a cancellation for Saturday night at Crooked River.  If not, we might have to move to the RV park across the road for Saturday and then come back on Sunday.  If it works out and there is a cancellation, we'll stay put for nine nights - a nice length of stay.

Around 6:30, we drove over to Belinda's house where we had dinner with her and the kids and Belinda's parents.  Belinda, her sister, and her parents lived in the same neighborhood as Linda back in Louisville, and Linda stayed with them once in awhile.  So tonight brought back more memories.  :)

Though we're moving on tomorrow, we'll certainly come back to this area in the years to come to spend more time with Belinda and her family.  But right now we're looking forward to several days of just relaxing and a few days of doing nothing.  :)

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Chores & A Walk In The Park - (Charleston, South Carolina)

Well, we got plenty of sleep.  After an early bedtime last night and getting up around 8:00, we were prepared for the day.  It takes us a few days to get used to the time change. 

Being in the thick trees, it stayed dark in our site for quite awhile.  And we took the opportunity to get some work done.  Though there are washers and dryers at the nearby bathhouse, Linda headed out to a laundromat that wasn't too far away.

Not long after she returned, we received a visit from locals Renee & Jim.  Renee had emailed, and we had some time this afternoon, so they came by.  They have a small Winnebago and are getting their feet wet in RVing.  Renee would be a full-timer tomorrow, but they are going to do a little practicing first.  :)

They asked questions and we chatted for about an hour and a half before they had to get to an appointment.  We departed with hugs and handshakes, and we'll probably see them in Florida this winter.

After our visitors left, we decided to walk most of the three trails that run throughout the James Island County Park.  Each trail is paved and each is over a mile.  They all intersect at various points, and you can walk, jog, or ride bikes on the trails.

We were going to ride our bikes, but it was a little cool, so we decided to walk.  It was a lovely afternoon, and a nice walk.  Here are a few photos of the "Green" trail.

 

 

 

 

The typical South Carolina spanish moss-covered trees lined the trail as it led to a spur to the fishing/crabbing dock that juts out into the marsh.

 

 

We walked out to see if anyone was catching anything.

 

 

 

This couple was doing very well and pulled up this beautiful blue crab while we were there.

 

 

They had about a dozen in their cooler.

 

 

Another couple wasn't using a basket.  They just tied chicken parts to a hand line, and pulled the crabs up when they grabbed on to the chicken.  If we were going to be around a few more days, we'd be out there crabbing too.  :)

We continued our walk and sat on a bench across the lake from the island dog park.

 

 

All the happy dogs entertained us for several minutes.  Well, the dogs, and the jumping mullet in the lake.

We continued our walk.  The park holds a Holiday Festival of Lights each year, and all the many light sculptures are in place.  They were starting to light some of them up as we walked back to the campground.  It looks like a pretty big deal, and it officially begins Wednesday night.

Back at our campsite, we waited for Linda's friend, Belinda, to get home from work and to see if we were going to get together.  Later on, Belinda came by with sushi for the three of us, and we talked in our rig.  Eventually, we were all yawning, so we called it a night. 

Tomorrow, we don't have anything planned other than getting some work done and figuring out where we're going next.  We'll see how it plays out.  :)

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Travel Day & Reunion - (Charleston, South Carolina)

On this beautiful, cool morning which got light at 6:30 instead of 7:30 due to the time change, we did the RV weighing thing for two couples in our group - Jim & Dee, and Jim & Judy.

They were leaving earlier than we needed to since we only had an 80-mile drive to our next stop in Charleston, South Carolina.  So we weighed them around 9:00.  After getting them weighed, we said more goodbyes and they went on their way.

Back at our site, we got packed up and pulled out around 10:30.  The park has a three-site dump station, so there was no waiting.  I dumped the tanks and noticed a bright, shiny, tiny Airstream pulling in at the dump next to me.  Linda had commented on how cute it was when we passed by it in the campground.  :)

 

 

Two ladies got out of the tow vehicle, and I could tell right away they were new at this.  They asked for tips, so I stopped what I was doing and walked over.

Fortunately, they had good supplies - unused, but good quality.  :)

They videoed me while I showed them how to connect everything together and while I explained the reasons for doing it the way I did it.  They have a combined black/gray tank, so there was only one valve to open.  With a small, single tank, we were finished in just a few minutes, and they continued to video the rinsing and clean-up.

They thanked me and asked about books on basic RV etiquette.  I handed them a business card and told them to check out our Forum and to feel free to join and ask any questions they may have about anything.

And with that, they were on their way, and I went back to finishing up my processes.  We were on the road around 11:00 and heading south on U.S. Hwy 17.

It was an easy trip all the way to Charleston.  It only got a little dicey the last few miles to James Island County Park where we'll be staying the next three nights.  In order to get to the park, we had to go over some narrow roads with low hanging branches that just barely cleared our rig as we went under.

From what I could find, the James Island County Park, though a bit pricey at our Good Sam rate of around $40, seems to be the best option in the Charleston area for RVers.  And it was certainly the best option for us given our reason for being in Charleston.

You see, Linda has been searching for a childhood friend of hers for years.  In the fourth and fifth grade, Linda and Belinda were inseparable, but then Linda's family moved away from their neighborhood and school and they lost touch.

Well, earlier this year, through some diligent internet research, Linda found Belinda and learned that she is now living in Charleston, about a mile from James Island County Park.  They made contact and Linda has been waiting to have this reunion all summer.

I made reservations at James Island a couple of days ago after talking to someone on the phone and viewing the campsites on their website.  I selected Site 84, although when we arrived it wasn't nearly as "open" as the website photo (below) led me to believe.

 

 

The site is 83 feet long, and only the very front of it is out in the open - it goes way back in there.  :)

 

 

  

Rooftop satellite was definitely out, but there was an opening in the trees for the TV tripod.  And we have a great 4G cellular data signal, so internet access is no problem.

I plugged in to the 50-amp outlet, but our SurgeGuard RV Power Protection wouldn't allow the electricity into our rig.  Apparently there was either a voltage or wiring issue.  That hasn't happened for awhile.

I got out our adapter, and plugged into the 30-amp outlet.  That worked.  We don't need the 50 amps and we didn't want to move sites, but we'll report the issue to the office so they can test the pedestal.

The site is level both side-to-side and front-to-back, so no leveling was necessary and we could keep our truck hitched.

Linda went to work on the inside while I connected the water and the sewer.  Though we were pretty far back in the site, I still needed to add extra marine hose and and splice in extra sewer hose to make the connections.

 

    

Once all that was done, I set up the TV tripod.  Now that I have the set-up procedures down for our relatively new heavy-duty tripod, getting the signal is very easy.  I always seem to have to reset the DVR, but at least getting the dish set up and pointed is quick.

With everything set up and working properly, we got showers and prepared to drive over to Belinda's house.

With our easy directions, we arrived and the two were embracing before I was even out of the Jeep.  :)

We went inside and met two of her three very talented children.  Belinda is a single parent after the tragic loss of her husband, so she's had some rough times.  But her parents live in the area having followed her to South Carolina from Kentucky, so that helps.

Her middle child, Carly, is an artist and singer, while her youngest, Tucker (age 10), plays football, baseball, and golf and is an amazing hip-hop "animation" dancer.  He demonstrated his self-learned, self-choreographed style for us.  Wow.

The five of us decided to go out for dinner, so we followed Belinda out to Folly Beach to a place called Rita's.  We had an interesting meal of blackened shrimp quesadillas and blackened tuna nachos with a watermelon pico de gallo.

The gals chatted and caught up while Tucker and I watched football on the TVs behind the bar and talked sports.

After dinner, I finally felt the opportunity was right to get a pic of the two friends nicknamed as kids as Pee Wee (Belinda) and Wee Pee (Linda).

 

 

We departed for the evening with no solid plans for the next couple of days, but I'm sure we'll be getting together again.

Belinda works at a hospital and has a side job selling classic "muscle" cars online for a local dealer.  She's a busy lady.  :)

Back home, it was another early night for us.  I fell asleep before we finished watching a recorded show.  I don't think it was 9:00 yet.  :)

Tomorrow is laundry day and financials catch-up day.  I'm hoping to get out on the walking/biking trails here in the park, but that may have to wait until Tuesday.

I also have to figure out where we are going from here.  All I know at this point is it will be south.  :)

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Last Full Day With The Group - (Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina)

The wind and rain woke us up about 2:00 a.m., and we had trouble getting back to sleep.

By the time 7:00 a.m. rolled around, the rain had just ended, it was still cloudy, it was much cooler than yesterday, and I couldn't pry myself out of bed for the remote possibility of a pretty sunrise.

So we slept in a little before getting up and doing our usual morning routines - Linda had her two-hour coffee time while checking emails and Facebook while I wrote the prior day Journal entry full of photos.

Eventually, we took the Jeep and left the park in search of a good place to weigh a couple of RVs in the morning.  While we were out, we made stops at the local Goodwill Stores, and I picked up a few pairs of $3.98 jean shorts.

Back at the park, a few of us started to gather at Jim & Dee's site across the street.  Mike got the fire started - we still had half a truckload of wood to burn.

Linda peeled the last pound of cooked shrimp we had left over from yesterday, and we devoured that pretty quickly.  The sky finally started to clear, but it was too late in the day to drag a chair out to the beach to read.

As 5:00 rolled around, the rest of the group of 20 filled in around the campfire.  For dinner, we roasted hot dogs and enjoyed leftovers from yesterday's potluck.

Before it got too late, the guys helped me load some of the firewood into the back of our truck. 

We chatted around the fire as it got dark.  About half of us are leaving tomorrow, so we said informal goodbyes just in case we didn't get to in the morning.

Linda & I were pretty tired from our early morning weather wake-up, so we exited the circle around 8:00.  With the overnight change to Standard Time (Fall back), I went ahead and reset all our clocks.  We'll change our smoke detector batteries tomorrow.

So that pretty much ended our week-long stay here in Huntington Beach State Park with nine other wonderful couples.  It was a grand time here on the "Grand Strand" of the South Carolina coast.  :)

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Sunrise, Golf, Movie, Potluck, & Campfire - (Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina)

Whew, it was quite warm last night.  I don't think the temps got below 70 and Linda had to get the fan out in the middle of the night.

This morning was cloudy and it was supposed to stay that way all day.  But it was still quite warm, and it was the first morning I walked to the beach in just my shorts and t-shirt.  However, out on the beach, it was quite windy, and I was wishing I had on a jacket.

This morning's window of color was brief but still beautiful.

 

 

And the ocean was churning quite a bit more than the prior mornings.

 

 

Shortly after those photos, the colors started to fade, and the clouds hid the impending sunrise.  So I returned to the campground and got ready for this morning's golf game.

Ray made tee times for three of us at the Indigo Creek Golf Club.  The greens fee rate for this time of year was $75, but Ray asked if they had any specials and they let us on for only $30 (including cart).  That was a heckuva deal for a really nice course.

Ray, Neil, & I arrived at the golf course early and hit a few balls to get warmed up.  I hadn't played since January, if I remember right.  And it showed.  :)

We teed off a little after 10:00 and enjoyed the course and the company more than our individual games.  My goal after such a long layoff, was to break 90.  But that didn't happen.  I had my usual pars and bogies with a couple of blow-up holes mixed in for a 94.  But we had a good time.

While we were gone, Linda and several of the others went to a movie since it was cloudy, hot and humid.  The group had rave reviews for "Captain Phillips".

Linda arrived home about five minutes after I did, and she had our package of mail we had sent to us general delivery at the post office down the road.

In the package there were debit cards for a Health Savings Account (HSA).  However, on closer inspection, these weren't for our current Health Saving Account.

Our insurer, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has a relationship with Bank of New York/Mellon for the establishment of Health Savings Accounts in conjunction with their insurance policies.  However, as we teach in our seminars, you don't have to go with the insurer's recommended banking partner and you can establish a Health Savings Account with any financial institution that handles them.  We have ours elsewhere.

But that didn't stop Bank of New York/Mellon from sending us debit cards on an account we don't have.  Even the Anthem website shows that we have no open account or balance with their "partner".  When I called Bank of New York/Mellon, they wanted the last four digits of my Social Security number before they would give me any information - I refused.  Let's just say I'm not very happy with either the bank or my insurance company right now.

And what may be worse is the literature that came with the cards talks about prior HSA cards being automatically deactivated and that they should be cut up.  So, I can see how unsuspecting folks that, like us, don't have an actual account with Bank of New York/Mellon and have HSAs with other banks might cut up their perfectly valid HSA cards and try to use these worthless debit cards instead.  It could cause mass confusion for people thinking these cards are replacements for their "real" cards.

I'm waiting for some responses to explain how this happens.

I spent an hour on that and then another hour or so on a couple of other administrative items.  At 4:00, Linda started preparing her dish for the group potluck at 5:00.

She made "sliders" and boiled some of the leftover shrimp from last night.  Soon, we were gathered for another feast.

 

   

 

Well, nobody should be walking away hungry this week.  :)

After dinner, we sat around the campfire.  However, this one broke up a little earlier than the other nights.  It was pretty clear that we were going to get some overnight rain, so folks were preparing for that.

Tomorrow, a few people are going to do some geocaching.  And I'm hoping the weather clears up enough to do some reading on the beach.  Other than that, we don't have much planned ... and I'm quite all right with that.  :)

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