October 20th, 2024
The kids here call Buddy Oreo.

This is how jayco puts a hole in a wall for wires. Wouldn’t it be better and easier to use a hole saw.

How do they do that?

October 21st, 2024
We ran out of LP last night. I got up around 2am and it was 66°. The nights cool off even at Lake Jackson in southern Alabama, and the heat goes on. Buddy was cold and decided to sleep with us. I switched over to a full tank and life was good again.
We have not seen any snakes or alligators but there are more turtles in this small lake than I have ever seen.

10/22/2024
USPS lost our mail forward form. Our realtor has our mail and the post office will hold future mail until we file again.
Carol has spotted a Great White egret and a Bald eagle. She is good at spotting wildlife but no alligators yet.
The ants seem to be gone. We haven’t seen any for a couple days.
We filed for mail forwarding on line this time and it is a process. This will take a couple weeks to complete without problems.
We head back to Avon, IN in a few days for my pre-surgery work-up and than we are going to South Carolina for a week and a half.
We had a real relaxing day. After we re-filed for address forwarding, Carol made Blueberry scones, I fell asleep in a chair outside and then we took Buddy for a walk in the city park.
The temperature is in the 80s during the day but there is a nice breeze. We rarely use the air conditioning.

October 23rd, 2024
Nice quiet day, not a lot to do. I started cleaning up the truck and removing old stickers from the windshield. After lunch I received a call from Tammy from the pre-admission testing for my surgery. We talked for about an hour to get ready for my Monday morning screening. Tammy called back about 3pm Alabama time to tell me that my surgery was going to be canceled due to a shortage of IV fluid that comes from the Baxter factory in North Carolina. The factory was damaged by flooding from Hurricane Helene. She said that my doctors office would call to make it official but since she knew we were in southern AL she wanted to let us know what to expect.
We decided to walk through the park to relax for a while.

WHAT NEXT?

So far this adventure hasn’t been what I had hoped for.
Well, you know what they say. “At least we have our health”.
We went for a walk tonight to see the lights in the park along the walkway. Day or night it is a nice area.

Wait and see what tomorrow brings.

October 24th, 2024
Went to DeFuniak Springs today to do some shopping. Went to Ace Hardware, Walmart, and washed the truck for the trip home. After lunch, we talked to my sister Carol and our son Timm. I enjoyed talking to both. I started packing up the truck while Carol worked inside and did laundry after the person who was hogging the washer and dryer came and removed their laundry. We decided to take a break and go for a ride around the south side of the lake and take some pictures in town. By the time we got back, the washer and dryer were empty, so Carol washed what she had, then we went for a walk and had dinner.
My urologist office called to verify that my surgery was canceled until January. We set dates for the pre surgery work-up and surgery, but since we’ll be in the keys, I’m not sure I will keep them.
After we leave Indy this time, I won’t be in any hurry to go back.
We had a good day today, so we’ll get on the road tomorrow and see how far we can go.

What a combo. Drugs & guns! How about throwing in a first-aid kit?

The corner building is for sale with no roof, no floors and no windows or doors

Use your imagination

Cool old gas station

You can stay in this park for up to six months then you have to leave for a month. The park is booked for the winter and there are a few people that live here year round minus a month. There are a lot of people living in RVs. Some of these places you don’t need ID and they like cash.

October 27th, 2024
Fairly Uneventful ride Friday and Saturday morning. I drove for thirteen hours on Friday because I wanted to be in Avon, IN (697m) early on Saturday. The original plan was to drive about eight hours and stay at a Love’s Travel Stop south of Louisville KY. With all the traffic we had in Nashville, TN, and Love’s not having a space for us, I ended up driving to the first Love’s in Indiana. Once we got there, I got a good night’s sleep, and we were close to Avon. They should rename Love’s to Love’s RV resort.

The construction and traffic in and around Indianapolis in not to be missed. It’s difficult going anywhere because of it, and the traffic congestion it creates.
We got the trailer parked in time for Carol to go to the post office and take care of the mail problems. I went to our realtors house in Carmel and picked up our mail while Carol also went to Walmart. We got a room at Home2 Suites by Hilton in Brownsburg, IN and took the rest of the day off except for taking Buddy for a walk at Gibb’s park and charging the battery on the trailer to keep the refrigerator and heater running.
They were preparing for a Halloween event at Gibbs. They always have something going on for the kids.
I drove down and checked the battery this morning and charged it then called Carol to meet me and get the truck and car washed. On the way back from Kopetsky’s car wash she stopped at Fresh Thyme market and picked up some diary before going back to our room. Now she is getting her flu shot and going to visit her sister. We will finish most of what we have to do today giving us an easy Monday. We will drop off the Escape at Lawson’s auction house in Danville IN for them to sell, pick up some mail at our new virtual mail box and be on the road to South Carolina.

Relaxing after a long ride. Buddy likes his own bed.

October 28th, 1024 – 2:29pm
We are leaving Avon, IN again!
We ended up taking the car to Earl’s Auction in Indianapolis, IN. I talked to Brandon at Earl’s on the phone and I think this is the best place to auction the car.
We drove 6.5 hours today and the traffic wasn’t bad. We took I70 across Indy instead of 465. The traffic in Cincinnati OH and Lexington KY wasn’t bad at all. We are at Love’s (RV resort) at Corbin KY (284m). This is not the first time we’ve been here.

October 29th, 2024
We are headed for Colleton State Park in South Carolina (412m). We would have gone back to Givhans Ferry State Park in South Carolina but they were booked. Colleton is farther away from Charleston but I am sure we’ll enjoy it.
We’re off of I71 now, on four lane highways and two lane roads through the mountains. Beautiful ride, I think of the song by John Denver, Take me Home Country Roads. This ride reminds me that we are on, a journey that will have no destination until we decide on the journey’s end.
On our way through the Cumberland Gap tunnel we entered the tunnel in Kentucky and exited the tunnel in Tennessee and about a quarter mile later we were in Virginia. We stopped in Duffield Virginia to get some gas, stretch our legs and get rid of some coffee. Very small town, friendly people.
With some of the interstates and roads being washed out from the hurricane we are taking detours down old mountain roads. The detour took us through a small town, Edwin North Carolina, that I took the wrong detour. I should have gone straight to go on the truck detour but Carol had me turn right, the car detour. We ended up going down main street of this beautiful old town that was designed for the model T, and very busy. I think Carol did it on purpose so she could window shop. Real nice town, unforgettable ride! There was another town that looked real nice so when I found a street leading to it from the highway, I took it. The street was open but the pavement and sidewalks had been removed. We were driving on gravel. They were working to replace it as we drove down it. The street got narrower and ended up being one way the other way. We managed to squeeze our way out of town on extremely narrow streets. These towns weren’t made for RV’s. We’ve had a little rain in the area of the park but that’s OK. I’ve had to setup and tear down more in the rain this year than not.
We are at the park and have found our site. We are all set up and it is time to relax. So much different than I am use to. The park locks the gate at night like most do, so they gave Carol the combination to the lock so we could let ourselves in if needed. Sorry, but I can’t tell you what it is.

October 30th, 2024
Interesting park. The road through the campground is very narrow and winds around about every tree they have. I didn’t have any problems but after we were setup, a fifth wheel went by our site. The trailer was at least thirty five feet long.
Carol is planning our time here and some of our time at Tybee island. I know we are going to the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. I hope she finds a lot to do.
Shopping is good here, there is Walmart, Dollar General and Ace Hardwares near us.
They have IGA grocery stores here. The only IGA I have seen in years is in Morgantown IN.
When we were in Alabama, Carol started making raisin bread toast with butter on the griddle for breakfast. I miss it! I am having a hamburger bun with butter. Buddy wants some, so he is waving his paw at me and crying.
Weather is great. Even with us being in a wooded area and no breeze, we haven’t had the AC on. We did do some shopping today. I went to ACE Hardware and Carol went to Walmart. This ACE sells a lot of hunting equipment in addition to to all their normal. ACE Is the Place, they have everything!

October 31st, 2024
This is our second day here. I am still a little tired from driving but do feel better. I sleep great in our trailer (The Dreamcatcher) especially with our new mattress.
I used the X chocks this time to stabilize the trailer and they do help. I also bought some RV stackers to reduce stretching the stabelizers.
We are in site 20, real nice. We have to move to another site on Saturday and it is as nice.

Site 20

Colleton State Park map

Not sure how long people can camp here without leaving for a while but it looks like these people are here for a long stay.

Carol has baked pizzas, potatoes and scones in the oven but never a cake. Since the temperature was in the high fifties this morning she decided to bake a cake.

The cake turned out great, even better once it was iced. We weren’t sure how the oven was going to work with it being so small but she has made it work well.

Before lunch

After

You can never have enough tools as an RVer. I have one mechanical toolbox one electrical and a small set of sockets.

We have been having problems with the low voltage circuits on the trailer for a while. I am going to clean the 12 volt terminal connections today to see if that helps charging the battery. The battery seems to run down quickly and doesn’t get a good charge. I have replaced the battery because Camping World put in such a small one. I went from a SRM-24 to an SRM-31 which test good. The terminal connections are outside so I decided to clean them to see if corrosion was the problem. I cleaned the first two circuit breakers and the ground connection.The first one is where the battery connects. These connections are automatic reset circuit breakers. I turned the electricity off while I was doing this and left it off to see if I did any good. Looks like it helped but it will take more than an hour test.

Poor place to put electrical connections

I also replaced the bathroom light today and put some magnets on the door for our Pet Alert sign. The sign will only be placed on the door when Buddy is home alone.

November 1st, 2024
The weather is great. Eightys during the day and sixtys at night.
We will have a little coffee this morning, talk to my sister, and go to Magnolia Plantation.
We left for the Plantation around 11am, and GPS took us the wrong way. We went north, and then GPS had us loop around and go south.
The Plantation was beautiful, and we saw a few small alligators and some turtles at the main gardens and nothing at the Audubon swamp. We walked for close to four hours.

Plantation main house

Can you spot the alligator in this picture

Turtles and alligator sunning together

This is where Rev. John Grimke Drayton meditated and composed his weekly sermons

A site from the family cemetery at the Audubon swamp. She was a decendant of a slave

November 2nd, 2024
The move. We are moving from site twenty to site twenty two, about two hundred feet. Still have to do a complete Teardown and setup.

Long ride but we made it

Our neighbors

Nice cool afternoon. We went to the park office/camp store and bought a decal for the trailer, magnet for the fridge and firewood.
We ended up going to Walmart before dinner and I saw our neighbors from the RV park next to where we parked at Walmart. They’re on motorcycles and they are pulling pop up campers. One of them had a side car with a hardtop and wraparound winshield that looked like a space capsule.

November 3rd, 2024
Lazy morning, we were sitting around drinking coffee and Carol decided that it’s time to defrost the freezer. We removed everything from the refrigerator and freezer to defrost and clean it out. Carol uses the Hairdryer to defrost it quicker, so we had to stretch a four foot extension cord from the living room all the way into the kitchen to to use the dryer.
Talked to my sister Carol today, everything seems to be good with her. We gave her a rough schedule of what we are doing.
The people next to us had a motor homes that has a diesel engine. I have noticed that they have a tendency to let their engines run for a long time before leaving. They don’t seem to have any regard for their neighbors or the dangers of their exhaust.
Buddy got his hair brushed, nails trimmed and a bath and he isn’t mad at us. We took him outside on the area rug to dry him off and play with him to get him completely dry.
He and I are relaxing while Carol vacuums, shakes out the throw rugs and hangs all the wet towels. Tough day!

Great dinner! We had sloppy taco joes and veggies. Very simple but good, has a lot of flavor.
After dinner and dishes, we went for a walk around the park. Very quiet and peaceful. The weather is great, high sixtys. Very relaxing day.

We are getting good at being RVers. I haven’t done any four wheeling or off roading since spring.
Four wheeling (off roading) is when I climb a curb or median by accident or take a shortcut. Sometimes you just don’t have a choice.