Category: travel

My hubby, Mike, is the kind of guy that doesn’t like a lot of attention. “Doesn’t like” is putting it mildly. That’s why he retired with seemingly little fanfare. No party. No big family gathering. No big shindig at the office. No real hullabaloo of any sort. But his co-workers apparently were not about to let him slink away without making sure they’d clearly conveyed to Mike how much they liked and appreciated him, both as a person and for his work.

The lingering COVID pandemic limited the options for in-person gatherings. But that’s good. He would have hated any kind of surprise party. Really.

They tried to have a celebration, tossing out various ideas like a virtual happy hour, group lunch, etc., but he wasn’t budging. He didn’t want to be the guy in the spotlight. And this is despite his being the guy who was counting down, literally, for the last five years. He wasn’t at all shy about letting people know he’d be retiring soon, either. I heard him say it often during meetings with co-workers, team calls, one-on-one chats with colleagues, etc. (For a while, he was “updating” one of his youngest co-workers at the start of each week on just how many Mondays Mike had left to work.)

Anyway… when he went into his office to return his equipment and stuff, his plan was to say his goodbyes discretely and skedaddle. I think he was probably terrified that someone was going to surprise him with a party. In the end, they did surprise him, but in a very lovely and inconspicuous way. Many employees in the Engineering Department pitched in and presented him (both of us, really) with a very generous $700 worth of Camping World gift certificates. His division — Southland Mid-Atlantic — gifted us with two super-nice Yeti® folding lawn chairs (we both really, really like those!). Individual co-workers presented him with various, more-personal gifts. Numerous other colleagues communicated their thoughts via phone or e-mail;  each of those communications were gifts in their own right, too.

All in all, it was the perfect send-off for Mike. He was so happy with and surprised by the generosity of his co-workers and superiors, who really didn’t owe him anything more than a “see you later dude” and a final paycheck, respectively. Honestly, he was really very touched. So was I.

Mike loved working for that company and with those people. He’d only just joined them late in 2008, and only worked for them just under 13 years, but the experience was life-changing for him. For me and the rest of the family, too, because  he was so much happier working at Southland. Seriously, Mike flat-out loved working at Southland.

I was going to send his former boss, Scott, a nice e-mail thank you, but I decided pictures would be better. Saying thanks is one thing, but seeing is even better.

So here’s the collection of images I’ve been working on capturing to not only demonstrate how much Mike and I appreciate the thoughtful and generous gifts, but also to answer what I’m sure folks have been wondering… what is Mike actually doing? Is he enjoying retirement?

The first thing we did during Mike’s retirement, and the first time we used the awesome Yeti chairs, was go see my favorite band, Mipso, in concert (their first LIVE show since the start of the pandemic) just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Just 10 days later, we were loading up the RV as we completed all the final steps required to sell the Warrenton house and hand it over to the new owners.

 

Did I mention how much we like our Yeti chairs?

We enjoyed a few days of much-needed relaxation at Gifford Pinchot State Park (just north of York) before moving to Pinch Pond Campground in Manheim, Pennsylvania. We chose Pinch Pond due to its proximity to my Dad’s house. My Dad passed away, unexpectedly, on April 23, and there were things I needed to do to get his house ready to sell.

It’s good we didn’t have time for outdoorsy stuff at Pinch Pond. Brood X of the 17-year cicadas were just emerging during our stay there. We left before their singing started.

Our next stop was North Carolina to visit with the grandchildren. We got to stay with them for over a week while their parents enjoyed a much-needed vacation in Key West, Florida.

 

From there, we headed south to Ebenezer Park, a county-owned campground near Rock Hill, SC, just south of and across the state line from Charlotte, NC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed the lake at Ebenezer Park. I am more of a water person than Mike, but he enjoyed the lovely campground in his own way (bicycling, reading, napping, etc.).

From Ebenezer Park, we went south and east, heading to Florida. But first, we stopped just outside of Savannah, Georgia for a couple of days. We stayed at the Savannah South KOA in Richmond Hill, Georgia. That campground has a lovely 37-acre lake where we got to see lots of wildlife.

 

From there, we continued south to Starke, Florida, which is southeast of Jacksonville. There, we stayed at the Starke-Gainesville KOA while we took care of our Florida State residency paperwork and relaxed a bit. We also had a yummy Mexican dinner with huge margaritas to celebrate becoming Florida residents. (We are not yet residents officially, but the important paperwork was completed to start the process.)

After that, it was on to Yellow Jacket RV Resort (YJRR) near Old Town, Florida. It didn’t make sense to me not to spend some “fun” time in Florida. Mike agreed, but insisted I find a campground with shade. That’s how we ended up at YJRR. Finding shady spots in FL, with little notice, seemed like a pretty tall order, but I did it.

It was a lovely site right on the bank of the Suwannee River. The boat launch was right next to our site, which meant we got to see lots of people coming and going with their boats. It was also convenient for me and Belle to swim in the river. Unfortunately, the water in the river is very dark in color due to the cypress trees alongs its banks. I was too leery of not being able to see approaching alligators, snakes, and snapping turtles to have a relaxing swim, so I used the pool instead. I’m not sure yet if Belle likes swimming or just does it to humor me, so I decided not to risk her life for my amusement.

We got to watch nature there, too. We saw birds, lizards, giant grasshoppers, turtles, snakes, and frogs. We did not see any alligators while at the campground. We did, however, see some pretty big Gulf Sturgeon jumping in the river, which was very cool.

The site gave us a great view of the river. Even from inside of the coach, which was good because it rained a lot while we were there. We also had plenty of nice weather, which is when we really enjoyed being able to just sit outside and watch for fish and other critters.

The campground was beautiful, tucked under what seemed like an endless canopy of Live Oak trees draped in Spanish Moss. It was very relaxing.

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed YJRR so much, we decided to return for the entire month of December! We are also going to spend January at another campground about 25 minutes from YJRR, which features one of Florida’s many fresh-water springs. That’s where the Manatees tend to hang out in the winter, because the water in the springs is a constant 73 degrees F (about 23 C) year-round. If you want to learn more about the springs, you’ll have to follow along for future posts.

After a very, very enjoyable eight days at YJRR, we left for the mountains of southwestern Virginia. We drove halfway on Saturday and spent Saturday night in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel in Chattanooga, Tennessee. On Sunday morning, we continued the drive to Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

The campground is actually within the town of Big Stone Gap, adjacent to the town’s very nice greenbelt biking trail.

The Big Stone Gap Greenbelt is about three miles (4.8 km) long and goes around and through town. About half of the trail runs along one branch of the Powell River or another. Most of the trail is in the shade. There are a few spots that provide handicap-accessible fishing, too.

 

 

 

We ended up buying a bunch of cool stuff with the gift certificates: the screen house, a tablecloth, fancy quick-dry towels, camping guide book (state parks), a pie iron and cookbook (for campfire cooking), the adjustable step, and roof vent covers (so we can keep vents open when raining and when driving). And we still have about $100 left!

To the folks at Southland, a great big thanks from both of us. Y’all really went above and beyond to kick-start Mike’s retirement.

He and I both really appreciate everything. If you’d like to follow along and keep tabs on our whereabouts, sign up for e-mail alerts letting you know when new posts are published. Look for the link to the right (if you are viewing this on a computer or other wide screen) or scroll down to see SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW POST ALERTS. Feel free to dig through older posts, and don’t be shy about leaving comments.

We are in Big Stone Gap for seven more nights, then will be off to Pocahontas State Park near Richmond. If you’re in the neighborhood and want to meet up, let us know.

While it may seem like we are living the dream, life in an RV is still life. And that means shit happens unexpectedly. As it did for us a couple of weeks ago when we were driving from Amy & TJ’s house to our next destination, the Ebenezer Park campground in York County, South Carolina.

It should have been a relatively quick and easy 2.5-hour drive. One minute, we were cruising along enjoying the scenery as we approached the South Carolina border, talking about Belle entering her 13th state. (She didn’t care, but we were excited for her.)

Not long after that image was taken, we turned toward the south and saw thunderstorms gathering. And then, as we cruised smoothly along at highway speed, the engine suddenly lost power. All Mike could do was drift and steer. Lucky for us, we were close to a side road. Mike managed to use the coach’s momentum to get us off the busy highway, but the coach died right in the middle of the side road. That was about 2:45 in the afternoon.

As soon as we opened the door, we were hit by the smell of diesel. Sure enough, fuel was leaking from the passenger-side rear of the coach. When we opened that engine compartment, diesel was still trickling out, but had clearly been spraying out when the engine was running. The hood, windshield, and entire passenger side of our poor little Mini were covered in diesel fuel.

We hurriedly unhooked the Mini and moved it to a nearby parking lot. Then I looked closely at the engine while Mike called our roadside assistance provider. I thought maybe I could figure out where the leak was coming from. LOL. I am no mechanic.

It looked to me like the thing pictured was the source of the leak. I had no idea what the thing was, but, based on the spray patterns I observed, it looked like the source of the leak. So I took a picture and told Mike to let the roadside assistance folks know to send one along with the mechanic.

The next picture shows where the coach died. Vehicles could get around us on the right, barely. Lucky for us, it wasn’t a busy road. Also, it was a Sunday afternoon.

When Mike called the roadside assistance folks — CoachNet — their first question was, “Are you in a safe place?” To which Mike replied, “No. We are in the middle of a road.”

The representative got our info and let Mike know she’d get someone out to help us. The wait began…

Remember, it was a Sunday afternoon. We were in a very small county near the southwestern corner of North Carolina. There was no large metro area nearby.

A nice highway patrolman — officer or trooper Kahl — stopped by around 3:15. We told him a tow truck should be on the way soon. He said he’d check on us again in about an hour.

CoachNet was not as communicative as they could and should have been. An hour or so went by with us hearing nothing and no help showing up. Mike called back only to learn that the were having difficulty locating a tow truck. The plan was to tow us to a safe place where we could spend the night. Then, they would send another truck to tow us to a repair facility the next morning. They never said anything about sending a mobile repair service our way.

A few more hours went by. At one point, CoachNet contacted the local authorities and were told that we were not in a dangerous location. That meant getting us help was no longer as urgent for them. So we waited some more…

There was a train track and railroad crossing just up the street and grassy areas to walk Belle.

At least it was sort of safe to get out and walk. (Mike managed to step on a small fire ant nest. Yes, he was bitten, but “only” got about 10 stings.)

 

By around 7:00, even I was getting tired of waiting. It’s not like we didn’t have a place to sleep, but we were not prepared for boondocking (overnighting in a place without hookups [electricity, water, and sewer], usually for free). Remember, we were expecting a short ride. We had no fresh water in the tank and our diesel was only just over 1/4 full. In this coach, the generator will not run when the tank reaches 25% or less. No generator not only meant no refrigerator (once the batteries ran out), it also meant no air conditioning.

I started calling potential towing services. One guy that I reached, Robbie of Rock Hill Towing, was actually on vacation in Key West, Florida, but talked to me anyway. As it turns out, he owns a Class A motorhome, too. He said that towing was not the best option, that we should be looking for a mobile repair service. Apparently, towing big rigs like ours can wreak havoc on the frame and body, causing issues like windshield breakage, or popping the windshield out of the frame. It might affect alignment of the slide-outs and cause other problems, all of which we would like to avoid.

Robbie gave me some other numbers to call. He also offered to send one of his guys, but his shop was an hour and a half away. I thanked him and let him I know I’d call back if we couldn’t find help elsewhere.

One mobile service I spoke to said they could help, but they charged $130 an hour and the clock started ticking when the tech left his house and stopped when he got back. The tech was an hour and a half away. The clock would continue ticking if he had to go get parts once he diagnosed the problem. So, at minimum, we were looking at a $400 bill. Just to get the tech to travel and diagnose the issue. Ugh.

While I was making calls, the highway patrolman returned. He told Mike he’d call a mechanic friend of his that only lived about fifteen minutes away to see if he could help. Lucky for us, the guy agreed to come. About an hour later, the guy appeared. He may have lived close by, but his shop and tools were not so close.

It didn’t take long to diagnose the problem… a cracked fuel filter housing. The other hurdle became where to get one of those on a Sunday night. By then, it was about 9:00 p.m. The mechanic, Wayne, wondered aloud if another friend of his had the part in his shop. So off Wayne went with our fuel filter housing to wherever his friend’s shop was. About an hour and a half later, he came back with the replacement part, installed it, and we were good to go.

Mike and I sat in the coach waiting with dread as Wayne wrote-up the bill. RVs are like boats in that repairs, parts, etc., can sometimes be very expensive. We were afraid it would be a huge bill, but were pleasantly surprised when he only charged us $205, parts included!

We really have been blessed in so many ways. What if we’d broken down when that officer wasn’t on duty? What if Wayne hadn’t been available? What if he’d been a shyster and charged an extra $500 for Sunday service? What if we hadn’t gotten off the highway? We would surely have been towed then because it was a really busy road.

Anyway… all worked out in the end. We did not continue to the campground that night. We found the closest Walmart and spent the night in the parking lot. Another first!

It wasn’t a restful night, since we couldn’t keep the generator running, but we did manage to get a little sleep. I went to Bojangles at 5:30 a.m., grabbed us some breakfast, which we enjoyed before setting off for the campground.

I had let the campground know about our delay the night before. The ranger station wasn’t open when we arrived, so we just went to our site. I called and let them know we’d arrived and let ourselves in, which they later said was fine.

Everything worked out in the end.

And, before I forget… remember that thing I had no name for, but diagnosed as the problem part? I was right. Apparently, fuel filter housings on Cummins Diesel engines are known to have issues. We will be buying a spare to carry along for future use, just in case.

As for CoachNet… they went “radio silent” around 6:00 p.m. Sunday (they couldn’t find us help), and we didn’t hear from them again until about 11:00 a.m. on Monday. That’s when they called to let us know they’d found a mobile tech available to come out to help. The jury is still out on whether we cancel that contract.

In the meantime, if you are ever in or near Peachland, North Carolina and need a mobile repair tech to help, call Wayne Morton, Jr. at Junebug Mobile Truck Service, (704) 465-4106.