2014 Jan 22 - 27 Traveling From Cold to Somewhat Warm

This year, we're headed to Florida earlier than usual because we have to take care of my dad's estate business and do a few things around the house before my brother, Scot, takes possession in early March. We intended to leave home on Tuesday, January 21, but due to snow covered Interstate highways, we ended up leaving a day later. It was about 12 degrees at 7:15am when I backed Dad's Prius out of the driveway.

I was in a hurry to get our car out, hook the camper up, drag it out of the garage, put the Prius in the garage and hit the road. All went well until I turned the key on our car which had been in the garage for two or three days. Click-click-click-click. Crap! Dead battery. I hooked op the charge for about 30 minutes and dumped enough juice into the battery to get the car started. We were on the road by 8:00am.

We stopped to gas up in Lebanon, IL because we didn't have a full tank when we left home and I planned to stop at Sam's Club, where we usually get gas, in Paducah to get a new battery. We got to Sam's, but they were busy and there would be a two hour wait before they could get us in. So, it was on to Walmart where they got us in and out in less than an hour while we grabbed a sandwich from the deli for lunch.

I drove a total of 666 miles (scary number, huh?) that first day, stopping in Locust Grove, GA at a Super8 for the night. It wasn't really too cold (about 30) to sleep in the camper, but Marsha would have to make the bed up and I was ready for a motel. We had a nice room and brought in some food from the car to have for dinner. There was a fridge and microwave in the room, so that was handy.

The next morning, Thursday, the 23rd, we had the "free breakfast" (because they were too embarrassed to charge for it), supplemented with our regular Brad Buds. We were on the road at 7:00am and drove quite a ways into South Georgia, probably 75 miles north of Macon, before we found a gas station with a windshield washer bucket that wasn't frozen solid!

The rest of the trip (503 miles) was uneventful. We stopped at our favorite biker bar about ten miles from Dad's house for a late lunch before backing the camper into the driveway.

We usually walk , but on Friday morning, we drove to the 2002 Restaurant for breakfast. It was in the 50s with a pretty stiff wind, but a lot warmer than home! After Breakfast, we went grocery shopping, ran a few errands and dropped a load off at Good Will. We spent what was left of the day doing chores around the house.

Saturday morning, we rode our new (to us) folding bikes to the restaurant for a breakfast snack and road around Barefoot Bay a bit before going back to Dad's house to get busy. Marsha worked in the house and I washed some Algae and mold off of one side of the house, using the Jomax that I brought from home. Beautimus! Then I trimmed shrubbery and picked up palm fronds that had fallen in the yard. I don't know why we're doing all this work before my brother moves in. I guess we're just nice folks!

Saturday evening, we went to Marsha's cousin Mary Ann and her husband LeRoy's 50th wedding anniversary party about 20 miles north in Melbourne. Sunday morning, we went to their house in Palm Bay for breakfast and a visit. Mary Ann's sister, Margaret, and her husband, Tom, just bought a house in Palm Bay, so we went to see it. Nice! They moved down from Addison, IL a few months ago and have been renting a place while they spruce up the new house. They'll move in next Monday.

Sunday afternoon, we went to Home Depot and Walmart to pick up some clean-up & fix-up supplies. I replaced the latch to the screen door before having a few beers while watching TV.

That brings us to today, Monday! I spent about an hour trying to make the TV we brought with us work with the Dish Network. We traded our bedroom TV at home for a larger second TV my dad had. Now our small TV in the sitting room is working here.
I'm at the library getting rready to post this on the blog. No pictures with this post, but there will be plenty soon.

Later!