We slept in yesterday morning, catching up on our rest from our fast trip from Raccoon Valley to Titusville. Then we spent a couple of hours following our normal routine of me checking e-mails and my favorite blogs, while Terry had her morning coffee and logged onto the internet to check her favorite blogs.

In the early afternoon we drove about 20 miles south to Rockledge to visit our old friends Tim and Ann Moran. We met Tim and Ann during our first months on the road, over twelve years ago, and they have been a part of our extended family ever since. Tim has been dealing with some terrible health issues the last few years, and they have hung up the keys. Whenever we’re in the area, we stop in for a visit, and always have a wonderful time with them. We’re looking forward to seeing Tim and Ann again while we’re here.

When we left Rockledge, we drove back to Titusville on U.S. Highway 1, a four lane road that passed through a couple of small towns along the way.

I can’t count the number of readers who have suggested that we have dinner at a restaurant called Dixie Crossroads, in Titusville, when we are in this area. We figured that many people couldn’t all be wrong, so we stopped there for dinner, and I believe we have a new favorite restaurant.

The waitress greeted us with a big basket of piping hot corn fritters dusted with powdered sugar, and they just melted in our mouths. The restaurant is famous for their rock shrimp, and we both ordered a seafood sampler that included broiled rock shrimp, broiled scallops, and fried shrimp. Terry and I agreed that it was the best meal we have had in years.  The portions were huge, the sides were fantastic to match, and we were both stuffed by the time we cleared our plates. If you’re anywhere within 75 miles of Titusville, you owe it to yourself to try Dixie Crossroads. It’s well worth the trip. 

When we scheduled our visit to Titusville, we didn’t know that the space shuttle was supposed to launch on Monday afternoon, but that was an added treat. Then the launch was rescheduled to Tuesday afternoon, and now they have postponed it until Wednesday. I sure hope they decide to do it in the week we’ll be here! The locals tell us that as many as 500,000 people are expected to come to the Space Coast to see the launch. I think that could be a real circus!

We are staying at The Great Outdoors, which is a very nice, very upscale RV resort with every amenity you could imagine, and some you probably can’t. The place is so big it has it’s own post office, restaurant, RV repair shop, beauty parlor, and more. It’s not our regular kind of hangout, we normally stay at smaller mom and pop campgrounds, or Escapee parks, but it’s sure a nice place!

We don’t have any real plans for today. We may visit some other friends in this area, or we may go out and do some exploring, or we may just hang out and do a whole lot of nothing. I’ll let you know what we decided tomorrow.

Thought For The Day – The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.

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In spite of noisy trucks coming and going, we slept soundly at the Georgia Welcome Center, and felt refreshed when we woke up yesterday morning. Before we hit the road, we turned on our Onan Quiet Diesel generator, and while Terry brewed herself a pot of coffee, I had a bowl of cereal, checked e-mail, fixed a typo in the blog, and logged onto Dennis Hill’s and Greg White’s blogs, to see if  either had updated them since the day before. Dennis hadn’t, but Greg did, so I was batting 50% for the day. For me, that’s darned good!

We pulled out of the Welcome Center just after 9 a.m. and traveled south on Interstate 95. The highway crossed over several rivers, some as wide as small lakes, and a lot of marshland. None of the bridges were high, most were the same level as the road, so I didn’t snivel even once!

Last year when we took this route, we traveled through road construction for several miles north of Brunswick, and it doesn’t appear that they have gotten much accomplished, because we again ran into construction in the same stretch of highway.

Traffic was heavier than the day before, and by the time we crossed into Florida, it was getting really busy, and stayed busy all the way to our destination.

We took the I-295 loop around the east side of Jacksonville, and I still didn’t snivel, even when we crossed this bridge over the wide St. Johns River, a major waterway in this part of the world. Maybe the bridge didn’t bother me because it was four lanes wide, and we were in the third lane, and maybe because it wasn’t awfully high except in one place.  The loop adds a few miles to the trip, but it’s a lot easier than dealing with all of the traffic in Jacksonville.

South of Saint Augustine, we pulled into the Flying J to get fuel, and our Rewards card wouldn’t work. This sign on the pump said the problem was due to “technology changes.”

Like the Pilot the day before, the pump would only let me put $75 worth of fuel in before it cut me off, and when we tried to pay for more, the message on the screen said to see the cashier. Terry went inside, and they charged $200 to our credit card. We didn’t need $200 worth, so now they have to charge the difference back to our card. The clerk did give Terry a discount off the pump price. This is getting to be a real pain. I wonder how many forms of ID they would require if I just paid cash?

Now here is an example of the kind of RVer that makes us all look bad. 12:30 in the afternoon at Flying J, and he has his jacks down, awning out, and satellite dish up. And he wasn’t even in one of the designated RV parking spaces! Why do people do that? When it comes to losing the courtesy parking so many companies offer, we are our own worst enemy.

Back on the road, we arrived at The Great Outdoors in Titusville, Florida a little after 2 p.m., and got settled into the lot our friends Peter and Connie Bradish own. Soon after we arrived, Connie came by to make sure that we had arrived safely. Thanks for your hospitality, dear friend.

It was pretty hot, and by the time I had the RV hooked up and Terry had things unpacked inside, we were both tired and hungry. We ran into town and had an early dinner at Sonny’s Barbecue, a regional favorite of ours, and then it was back to the motorhome to veg out the rest of the afternoon and evening. We’ll be here a week or so, and I hope to be able to get some pictures of the space shuttle launch, which has now been delayed until Tuesday.

While I was writing this blog post, I got an e-mail from Dish Network that they have settled their pissing match with Fox, and that our FX and National Geographic channels have been restored. Yay, I can watch Sons of Anarchy again! Of course, then I got a message from a fulltiming friend who uses DirecTV, who said the company told him his monthly fee for distant networks is going up.

Thought For The Day – When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.

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For some reason, neither Terry or I sleep well the night before we hit the road for someplace new. I’m not sure why that is, but Wednesday night we tossed and turned most of the night, and only got four or five hours sleep.

We were up early, and while I answered a bunch of e-mails, Terry made final preparations inside the motorhome for traveling. Then I disconnected the campground utilities, we said goodbye to some folks who came by to see us off, we hooked the van to the Blue Ox tow bar, and pulled out of Raccoon Valley about 9:45.

We took Interstate 75 south to Interstate 640, then followed that east to Interstate 40, making good time all the way, with light traffic around us. We followed Interstate 40 as it turned south into North Carolina, and were treated to some of the prettiest fall colors we could ever remember seeing. Here are some pictures Terry took along the way.

We had never been through this part of North Carolina, but we both said we’ll have to come back some time and do some exploring. It’s absolutely beautiful!

The road had a few 6 and 7 percent downgrades, and a lot of curves. In some places the truck speed was only 50 miles per hour, which usually means that the truckers blow through at 70, but not here.

And what’s a trip without road construction, right? In several places the highway was down to one lane, but even though there was a lot of traffic, we didn’t have any delays.

We even went through two tunnels! I don’t mind tunnels if the road lanes are wide and the traffic is not too heavy. These were no problem.

In Asheville, we picked up Interstate 26 and followed it into South Carolina. We stopped at a Pilot for fuel, and I was reminded that Pilot is my least favorite truck stop. I think the employees must all hate their jobs, because they are always surly and never smile. And what’s with having to pre-pay a selected amount? I don’t know how much fuel I’ll need, but they won’t just turn the pump on, even with Terry standing there with her credit card. We bought $200 worth of diesel, and could have put in another $25 or so, but it wasn’t worth holding up other drivers while Terry stood in line to repeat the process all over again. I wonder how much money they lose every day because other drivers feel the same as I do? I could understand if they were worried about cars driving off without paying, but eighteen wheelers and RVs are not exactly fast  “getaway” vehicles.

We had a delay at Pilot because a trucker who was either very new and/or very dumb, had swung too wide when he pulled up to a pump, and was about to hit the concrete island. So we had to wait with several trucks while he carefully backed up, then tried to pull up to a different fuel island. This time he didn’t swing far enough, and wound up with the front end of his truck wedged kind of sideways in the island, but his trailer at about a 45 degree angle to it, blocking two fuel islands.

Than he just sat there contemplating his navel or wondering why he gave up his glamorous career in the fast food industry, until the trucker in front of us finally got fed up and yelled at him to get his attention, then  guided him as he backed out again. Actually, it took two guides to get him out without tearing up the fuel island. On his third attempt he managed to get into the island straight, but he kept right on going and didn’t stop. I think he feared the wrath of several of his fellow drivers who had to sit there blocking the road while he figured out which pedal was the brake and which was the clutch. Or, maybe he never did figure out which was which and he couldn’t stop. Who knows?

Back on the road, we passed Columbia, where I spent some time at Fort Jackson as a young soldier, and then out into the countryside again. We crossed the state and hooked up with Interstate 95, turned south, and just continued to put miles behind us. It was a nice day, the driving was easy, and before we knew it we were crossing the state line into Georgia.

We pulled into the State Welcome Center about 5:30 p.m., with 414 miles behind us this driving day. We parked overnight here last year when we came through, and I went inside to see if it was still okay. I think the same lady was behind the desk this year, and she told me the same thing as before – camping overnight is not allowed. But “resting” is just fine, and the police who regularly patrol the Welcome Center encourage RVers to “rest” comfortably in their beds until they are refreshed and ready to drive again.  

Yes, it was a lot of miles, and no, I’m not going to change my ways. When we’re in “get there” mode, this is what we do. I like driving my motorhome, and we don’t see any reason to stop early and sit around waiting until we’re tired enough to go to bed, if we’re just going to make a quick overnight stop.

Today we’ll have an easy run of about 275 miles, and we should be in Titusville by mid-afternoon. We’re looking forward to seeing our friends Peter and Connie Bradish, Tim and Ann Moran, and Walter and Amy Cannon, who all live in the area.

Thought For The Day – It’s better to have loved and lost, than to have lived with that sick, twisted psycho one more day!

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With the storms gone, we have sunshine and blue sky, and it’s time to hit the road. We are leaving the Escapees Raccoon Valley campground today and heading for Florida. We’ve enjoyed our time here, but we have a lot we want to do in the Sunshine State, and we’re eager to get there.

We have decided to take Interstate 40 through North Carolina, and then pick up Interstate 26 across South Carolina. This will be a pretty fast trip, so we probably won’t do any sightseeing along the way. We want to be in Titusville by the weekend.

We’ll be bouncing all around Florida, from Titusville to the Thousand Trails in Clermont, and down to Key West. We also want to spend some time at the Escapees RV park in Bushnell, and I have some family members I want to visit in the St. Petersburg area We don’t have to be in Arizona until mid-February, so we’re just playing it by ear for the next couple of months.   

It’s been over a year since we’ve had our kayaks in the water, which is way too long, so we definitely want to get some paddling done. I also really want to try kayak fishing. Two years ago we paddled with fulltime RVers Dennis and Cindy Henderson off of Little Duck Key, at the south end of the Seven Mile Bridge, and watched Dennis catching fish from his kayak, and I was hooked.

Lately I have been seriously thinking about going to an inflatable kayak. We currently have two Native Watercraft Manta Ray 12 foot rotomolds, and we like them a lot. They are very stable, they track well, and they’re comfortable. You can see from the smile on Miss Terry’s face how much she likes her kayak.

However, I have a very bad back, which my doctor says will only continue to deteriorate, over time. We carry the boats inside our van, on a platform built over the wheel wells, and they weigh 64 pounds each. Lifting them up is going to get harder over time. Hence the thoughts about inflatables. I’d be interested in any feedback from those of you who have an inflatable kayak, about your particular boats, the pros and cons.

On a completely different topic, Walter Cannon from the Recreational Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF), has set the dates for RVSEF’s 2011 RV Lifestyle, Education & Safety Conference. It will be held May 6-8 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The RVSEF program, designed to be more like a college course than an RV rally, provides a unique educational opportunity for new and veteran RVers to learn about RVs and the RV lifestyle from expert instructors. For more information, call (321) 453-7673, or visit the RVSEF website at www.rvsafety.com and click on the Conference button at the top of the page.

We all can learn new things, and even an old warhorse like myself can pick up a valuable idea from relative newcomers to the lifestyle every so often. My friend George Stoltz had a post on his George & Sandy’s Great Adventure blog yesterday about how he saved $295 on a quick and easy RV repair. Check it out, and you may be able to save yourself some money too, if you run into the same problem.

I don’t know where we’ll end up tonight, but it will be somewhere in the Carolinas. We’ll drive until we decide to stop, wherever that happens to be.

Thought For The Day – When you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results.

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As massive storms moved across much of the country yesterday,  we spent the day and evening monitoring the weather. This area of Tennessee was under a tornado watch, and we were braced for whatever Mother Nature decided to throw at us.

We’ve been in some really nasty weather in our 12+ years on the road, and we take it seriously. RVs don’t provide much protection against severe weather, and to ignore warnings is just plain foolish. We knew that the bathroom on the west side of the campground is the designated tornado shelter, and we were prepared to head there on a moment’s notice. We were glad that we weren’t out on the road someplace, or sitting out the weather in a rest area or WalMart parking lot. We’ve done that, too!

I post this blog a little after midnight local time, and we were still under the tornado watch at that time, so if you don’t see a blog post tomorrow, it may be because we were blown away to the Land of Oz. If we do, and if we land on a witch like Dorothy did, I hope it’s one of my ex-mothers-in-law!

We enjoy this area of Tennessee, but we are looking forward to getting down to Florida, so we will probably leave here Thursday or Friday. The most direct route is to take Interstate 75 south, but we’ve been over that route so many times that we could drive it in our sleep. Plus, we really don’t like driving through Atlanta.

So, for a change of scenery, we may take Interstate 40 east from Knoxville to Asheville, North Carolina, and then Interstate 26 across South Carolina to Interstate 95, which will take us south to Titusville.  The mileage is about the same as taking Interstate 75, and we’ll pass through some areas we haven’t been to before.  

During the afternoon, our friends Vince and Judy Douglas pulled in, and parked right across from us. It has been several years since we crossed paths, so when Vince and his little dog Lady came by to visit, it was a nice treat. I don’t like yappy little dogs, but I do like dogs of any size that are well mannered and have a good personality. And Lady has a great personality! I played with her for an hour or so as we chatted with Vince, and that little critter sure has a lot of energy! It was kind of like having my grandkids over; I enjoyed the visit and had fun playing, but I was glad Vince took her with him when he left. I like loaner dogs like Lady rather than having the responsibility of caring for one myself.

Speaking of dogs, I exchanged e-mails yesterday with a lady who got upset with us at our first Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally because we wouldn’t allow her to bring her dog into the seminar buildings, or to morning coffee and donuts. Since then she has contacted us every year wanting to attend our Arizona rally, but insisting that her dog be allowed to accompany her to all of the events, because it suffers from separation anxiety when left alone, and destroys things in her RV. And, just as I have every year, I told her that only service animals are allowed in any of the buildings. It’s our policy at every rally, and our insurance company insists on it.

I guess this time I really ticked her off, because she informed me that she will be in the fairgrounds parking lot with a sign saying “Nick Russell Hates Animals!” Actually, I like some animals much better than I do their inconsiderate owners.

Before I close this blog, I want to tell you about a neat website that my friends Orv and Nancy Hazelton discovered, and shared with me, called Mile By Mile. It lists state and interstate highways in every state, as well as Canada and Mexico, with mile by mile descriptions of what you’ll see along the way. I know I’ll spend a lot of time exploring this one, and I bet you will too!

Bad Nick laughs in the face of bad weather! He spent part of yesterday posting a new Bad Nick Blog titled Cruel And Unusual? Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Go where you are celebrated, not tolerated.

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