January 7, 2015. Camping World, Our New Home.

January 7, 2015.  Camping World, Our New Home.  Here we sat for nine hours Monday while Arlen, the tech, worked on our heat pump, consulting 3-4 times with the techs at Dometic, manufacturer of the pump.  When we got back to the RV park Monday evening, I turned on the heat pump and it did what it was doing before we spent nine hours at the repair shop.  It stuttered upon start up.  It would start, stop, start, stop, sometimes up to 10 or more times. When it finally comes on, it works.  But, it shouldn't be starting and stopping.

This is Wednesday and we are back at Camping World.  This time has been much like Monday in that the tech says the heat pump is working just fine.  IT IS NOT WORKING JUST FINE!  If it were working fine, I would not be sitting in the waiting room.  Again.  

Later:  Arlen has talked Dometic into replacing the control board and thermostat in the heat pump.  I agreed to pay the cost of overnight shipping so we can have the repairs finished before leaving Gulf Shores on Sunday.  We'll see.

Because we spent most of the day at the repair ship, I've borrowed pictures from earlier in our stay here.    Some of the campers decorate their campsites.  The camper above is proud of his Kansas City heritage.  I mentioned the street icons being dressed to celebrate the season.  These are the icons as they were dressed December 31, when we arrived here. 

Finally, the temperature is supposed to drop into the teens tonight.  The gas furnace will have to get us through the night.  The heat pump doesn't work when the outside temperature is below 40, or so I've been told.  It isn't supposed to be cold on the Gulf of Mexico, even in January.  The consolation is that the temperature in Kansas City will be below zero tonight.

January 6, 2015. Bike to Eat.

 

 

January 6, 2015.  Bike to Eat.  Here at Gulf State Park the volunteers like to decorate the street icons.  We are staying on Gator Road.  The icon is, of course, an alligator.  When we first arrived, the gator was dressed in Christmas garb.  I noticed today that he is wearing Mardi Gras beads and a mask.  I noticed that while we were on our way to Doc's Seafood Restaurant.   Doc's is known for its shrimp and onion rings.

Doc's is about five miles from our campsite.  Four miles of that is a biking trail within the park.  The last mile is also a bike trail that is currently closed.  That means that bikers have to cross two busy streets.  Annie doesn't like crossing streets.  She says cars make her nervous.

You see where this is going don't you.  I darted across four lanes of traffic as Annie followed.  She didn't dart.  She didn't amble.  She was moving so slowly that the bike nearly failed to remain upright.  Two oncoming vehicles had to slow so she could cross the street.

But, that's not all.  We had to cross another street at an intersection in front of Doc's.  The same thing happened.  I darted across.  Annie caused two trucks to slow down to avoid hitting her.  She wasn't happy as we parked the bikes at Doc's.  Somehow, the fact that she almost got hit by oncoming traffic, became my fault.  On the way back, we stopped at traffic lights and walked the bikes across the streets.  The trip back to the campground was much less stressful . . . for both of us.

All told, we biked about 10 miles for our seafood lunch.  The food was good and the bike trip was invigorating.  The peddling allowed me to have the fried onion rings without guilt.  Of course, I have eaten a lot of stuff, guilt and all.  Guilt and I have been long-time companions.

January 5, 2015. A Day Wasted.

January 5, 2015.  A Day Wasted.  We've had heat pump problems with T-Harvey since last October.  When we finished the fall trip, I took T-Harvey to a Dometic dealership to have it repaired.  As often happens, once I got it to the shop, it worked perfectly.  They can't fix what they can't see.

As we started this trip, the heat pump began to misbehave again.  It would stutter, then work for a while, then stop.  So, I called Camping World and made an appointment to have the pump checked out.  We did that today, arriving at the dealership at 8:00 AM.  Initially, the technician could find nothing wrong with the heat pump.  After several hours or so the pump began to stutter, just as I had described to the tech.

He thought there was a leak in the sealed cabinet, whatever that it.  He resealed it and retested.  The heat pump again misbehaved.  So, the tech spent the rest of the day talking to other diagnosticians at Dometic.  By 5:00 PM, the tech announced he had completed the repair.  We got back to the campground ten hours after leaving this morning.

Of course, I was anxious to test the heat pump.  I set the dial correctly and the pump came on.  Then, it went off.  Then, it came back on.  Then, it went off.  Then, it came back on.  It heats, but it isn't supposed to do what it is doing.

The good news - I wasn't charged anything for the non-repairs.  I think I got exactly what I paid for.  The picture above is exactly what I got.

January 4, 2015. 1:15 AM - Tornado Warning! Go to Safety Immediately.

January 4, 2015.  1:15 AM - Tornado Warning!  Go to Safety Immediately.  Do you have a severe weather alert on your cell phone?  You do.  Good.  Has it ever alerted in the middle of the night?  What did you do?  Did you have trouble getting oriented? 

Imagine how much worse the disorientation would be if you were 1000 miles from home in a 24-foot motorhome.  The alert told us to get to a safe place within 10 minutes.  Annie began to get out of her pajamas.  "What are you doing?" I asked.

"We are going to the cement block restroom," she said. 

"But, I don't want to do that.  We'll be fine here.  You are just going to get us both wet and cold in the middle of the night." 

"Get dressed!"  From the tone of her voice I judged she was not to be trifled with.  So, we were dressed and out the door in two minutes.  There were several couples already in the women's restroom.  There were also dogs in the restroom.  You probably have never been in a position to make this observation, but old people wear pretty unflattering pajamas.  Many of our storm companions didn't bother to change from their bed clothes. 

By 2:00 AM, the "all clear" had been given.  There was no tornado, just a few heavy drops of rain.  As we walked back to T-Harvey, I noted that of the 30-40 RVs we passed, the lights were off, the interiors dark and the occupants likely sound asleep.  Annie explained to me that we had just made several new friends and that I should stop bellyaching.  The picture above is what you get if you try to take a picture of a tornado in the middle of the night on the Gulf of Mexico. 

January 3, 2015. A Nice Day in Gulf State Park.

January 3, 2015.  A Nice Day in Gulf State Park.  We did nothing special today.  The predicted rain didn't come and the temperature was a room level 72. We took a ten-mile bike ride, then walked to the on-site store for some ice cream. Add an afternoon nap and it was a nice day.

There are some interesting names for trails here.  One trail is called Rattlesnake Ridge.  I don't think the dead snake is a rattlesnake, although there are brown diamonds on its back.  Then, there is Alligator Marsh Trail.  I am guessing there are alligators in the area.  So far, we haven't seen one.

If we do see one, my guess is that we will be moving pretty soon afterwards. Annie Farkely doesn't like alligators.  To be honest, Malachi Farkely isn't crazy about meeting one either.

January 2, 2015. Wax on, wax off . . .

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January 2, 2015.  Wax on, wax off . . .  Maybe this is why we don't camp in one place for a long time.  This is our second day in this camp site.  After sleeping late, I got up and modeled the Griswold Family shirt that Casey and family gave me for Christmas.  I am not much of a model, but the shirt turned out nice, don't you think? 

Today's feature attraction was a two-hour bike ride in 65-degree temperature.  Oh, I was talking to Casey on the cell phone when five Blue Angel fighter jets flew over.  I grabbed for the camera and thrust it into Annie's hands, pointed toward the sky and said, "Thas some bl angels!"  The look on her face told me she didn't understand a word I had said.  Looking back on it, neither do I. 

"Thaaa!"  I pointed emphatically at the sky.  "Tha - Blu Angels!"  She simply wasn't understanding me. So I grabbed the camera and thrust the phone in her hands.  "Who is this?" she asked. 

"It is Case . . . " I realized the jets were gone and I had no pictures.  The whole experience was pretty unsatisfying. 

So, you are stuck with pictures of me waxing the bikes, "Wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off."  That adventure took about an hour and ranked second on my list of exciting things accomplished today. 

To quote Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day."

January 1, 2015. Gulf Shores, AL. Here for a While.

 

January 1, 2015.  Gulf Shores, AL.  Here for a While.  The first night out of New Orleans we stayed at the Buccaneer State Park, near Gulf Port, MS.  Yesterday, we drove the 150 miles separating Gulf Port and Gulf Shores, AL.  Upon arriving here, we were able to get a campsite for last night only. 

We were told to check again today to see if additional days are available.  So, we did and found a slot for the next ten days.  There are miles and miles of bike trails here.  We have been on several of them, but we will likely explore them all during our remaining time here.

This is different.  We are accustomed to staying a night or two in one campground, then moving on.  We have never stayed ten nights in one place before.  We actually set up the screen tent, set up the chairs and have made ourselves at home.  However, I just saw the weather report and it is supposed to rain for the next several days.  And, then, it is supposed to turn cold.  Not Kansas City cold, but mid-50s cold.  For those of you in the mid-west, that probably sounds like a heat wave.  But, it is unseasonably cold here. 

Most of today's pictures speak for themselves.  You may recall there is a Lambert's Cafe here.  Lambert's original restaurant is in Sikeston.  The second is in Ozark, just south of Springfield.  This is the third.  The food is the same at each.  One server walks around the tables tossing big, hot rolls.  Other servers pass around black-eyed peas, fried okra, fried potatoes and onions, macaroni and tomatoes and more.   I ordered the country fried steak and brought most of it back to the campground.  I filled up on all the pass-arounds. 

There is a John Deere peddle car on display at Lambert's.  We had one of those until the move to Kansas City.  We auctioned off a lot of stuff we didn't want to take with us.  The peddle car sold for 4-5 times what we originally paid for it.  That doesn't happen very often.

So, the blog will originate here until the 11th of January.  There may be days when I have nothing to say.  Or, what I do have to say isn't worth saying.  On those days, I will remain quiet.  I heard that, Bob.  Bob just said that will be a relief.  Maybe, Bob should remain quiet, too.  I'm just sayin'.