Summer 2012 - To Colorado and Back

May 15 – It’s the first day of our 4 month summer experience. I hesitate to call it a vacation since we will be volunteering from Memorial Weekend through Labor Day weekend at Navajo State Park east of Durango, Colorado and will be “working” to be given a full hook up for the summer. We are going to be Campground Hosts this summer, but I was asked to help out in the Fee Station, so I guess I’m splitting my duty.

We didn’t get on the road as early as we had hoped, which is pretty much the norm. We left the warehouse at 8:40, heading north on the turnpike. Although we arrived safe and sound to our first destination, Sunset King Lake Resort in Defuniak Springs, it has not been the ideal first day. When we were loading the RV this morning the little storage door below the fridge was open and would not close. Apparently it opened as I was closing the slide the last time and I think it has sprung the hinges, so Bill removed the door. I guess once we settle in I will check into getting 2 new hinges. Ok, it’s not the end of the world. It will not slow us down.

We stopped mid-morning for a walk and bathroom break. There was a swarm of love bugs right around Gainesville, so we got hit pretty hard. At least it wasn’t anywhere else. We decided we would make Tallahassee before lunching. We called our friend Jean and let her know what time to expect us at her thrift store. I packed a load of great things for her to sell in her shop, which funds families with autistic children. We had no problems negotiating the tight shopping area and were glad to see Jean, even for just a few minutes. We got unloaded and pretty much got right back on I-10.

We only went 7 miles to the Flying J where we fueled up and parked in their lot and had lunch. Along the way something sparked an “uh oh” from Bill. He remembered we didn’t bring the new inflatable kayak we bought specifically for this trip. DARN IT! Guess we will call the Park and see if they will accept a Fed Ex package for us. OK, problem number 2 for the day.

I was getting really sleepy with only about an hour to go, so we stopped and I got a caffeinated coke and some fresh air. I told Bill he needed to turn off the radio and talk to me so I’d stay awake. Before we knew it we were at our exit. I had complained that I forgot my bag of fresh lettuce I had picked last night and washed to take, so Bill said we could stop at the Wal-Mart, and maybe get a rotisserie chicken for dinner. Sounded good to me! I parked way out in the lot and hiked into the store. I got Bill’s bananas, a carton of artesian lettuce, some yogurt and the chicken. I thought the cashier put the chicken (hot item) in one bag and the other 3 items in the other bag. I got to the truck, we drove to the park, got parked, got the electric going and I went in to put things away that were still in bags, the groceries being one of them. Imagine my dismay at realizing the cashier used a third bag and didn’t give it to me. No lettuce for Kelly and no bananas for Bill. It doesn’t look like I’m meant to have a salad! Problem number 3.

Bill had a time with our water, hardly could get any to come in. Worked fine at the faucet outside. If we have the same trouble tomorrow we will call our technician and see what he might have buggered up. Problem number 4. Bill bonded with our neighbors. One couple is from Ohio and the other are full time RV’ers who are retired military. Sunset King is a really nice RV Park. They have 10 private bathrooms, so it’s just like being at home except there are no tubs, just showers. Bill wants us to use the showers here to avoid carrying the water as he doesn’t want to drain our tanks until we get to Texas. We have stayed here before and parked in the same area.

While I was getting dinner and putting things away that we left in bags, Bill managed to get the love bugs off the front of the RV and the truck. Looks shiny and clean again. For dinner we had the chicken, steamed zucchini and a bowl of peppers and tomatoes from our garden and some cucumber slices chilled in balsamic dressing. For dessert I brought 4 Slim a bear ice cream bars so we each had one. Yum! These freezers are not the most efficient so with the bars you can line them along the back of the freezer and they stay frozen. I’ll have to remember to take something out for dinner when we stop for lunch tomorrow.

They had cablevision and we didn’t want to miss the season ender of “NCIS” but it was the only channel that was fuzzy! We took our showers so we could save some time in the morning. I tested my new I Phone WIFI Hotspot feature and it works really well. Hope that holds true when we get to the woods in the middle of nowhere all summer.