Time to get back on the road.....

June 5 – Not the worst first day of our annual summer trip, but very close behind it!  Since we were only going as far as Tallahassee there was no reason to wake up at the crack of dawn, so once we got up, ate, dressed, shut off all the water, unplugged the TVs and cables, ran the last load of dishes, cleaned the litter box, took out the trash, took the can to the curb, emptied the fridge, loaded the car….phew…. we were tired but ready to head out to the RV.  Unloading didn’t take long and we said our good-byes to the family.  I have mixed emotions about this trip.  I really want to go but at the same time with my mother’s current condition I may not see her again.  Being a hard core traveler, I know she would send me on my merry way and tell me to have a wonderful time as at some point the time runs out.  I don’t want to sound glum about what should be and will be another great adventure for Bill and I, but I write from my heart and take my mom with me every day.  I leave her in the best possible hands of my 3 siblings.

So our first stop was to fill up the diesel, the second stop was to fill up the propane, our third stop was to hook up the car to the RV.  That’s when the problem started.  We were not getting a connection for all of the tail lights so I tried (like my brother told me) to move the contacts in the plug out so they’d make contact. Well, then I couldn’t get the plug to go back in at all and it was getting so darn hot out and I was truly getting testy and hadn’t even experienced any road rage yet!  I told Bill I was done trying so we drove back down the block to Giant Recreation World who has been working on our RV correcting several issues over the last month and they said as soon as one of the techs got back from lunch they’d get right on it.  So while we waited we got out our lunch and ate so we’d be ready to hit the road once the repair was done.  Turned out one of the contacts in the plug was too far down in and the plug had to be replaced and the connection on the RV had to be adjusted.  So $100 later we were finally on the road.

We had some showers for the first hour but then it cleared off but we didn’t make it to

Hog in the Henhouse

Tallahassee until 6 and we had plans to have dinner with Jean and Paul and Missy and Tom.  We’ve stayed 2-3 times before at the Tallahassee RV Park, right off I-10 with large pull thru lots.  We were already so pooped but that’s one of our “things” when heading west is to stop there and see Jean and Paul on the way.  Normally it makes for a short day but this time was an exception to the rule.  We set up and showered and Jean and Paul picked us up while Missy and Tom went to Backwoods Crossing, a farm to table restaurant.  The menu had such an interesting selection it

Seafood Heaven

was sooo hard to decide.  It was  right down the road from our campground.  Missy and Tom had been there before but the rest of us were newbies!  I had Seafood Heaven, which is a spin off of shrimp and grits and Bill went with Hog in the Henhouse which was pork stuffed in a chicken breast deep fried on fresh picked broccoli with a cheese sauce.  Needless to say, not a crumb was left on our plates!  We had a great meal with great friends and great conversation, but it had to end and we said our good-byes to Tom and Missy.  The 4 of us made a McDonald’s stop so Paul and I could enjoy a soft serve and a milkshake to top off our dinner.  Not as good as Culver’s by along shot (I’ve become quite fond of their custard at our new one in Winter Garden).

Paul and Jean brought us back to the campground and we loaded their van with boxes and bags of stuff left from the dissolving of our Civitan Club and some things I had been saving for her thrift store.  It was a sad good-bye knowing it will be December before we see each other again!