Sun – 18 Dec/16

We were up early and on the road as soon as dawn began to brighten the sky. Sunrise would not arrive for almost half an hour; however, the sky was beyond the “Pitch Black” of night.
The “Check Engine” came on in the motorhome. The last time this happened one of the two “Oxygen Sensors” had failed. I felt this was the same problem. The RV can still be driven except the operating parameters had changed. The failed sensor along with the extremely high moisture content (droplets were still coating the windshield) caused the transmission to delay shifting to a higher gear at the usual speed. This caused the motor to run at a higher RPM than usual. After a few hours the dew point dropped due to the raising temperatures and this became less of a problem.

We stopped at the Brunswick, GA Flying J to fuel up before entering Florida. Again this saved $$ compared to Florida’s higher gas tax rate.

I feel another rant coming on! The previous Flying J’s filled better than in the past. I have trying to tell Flying J for years that they should reduce the high speed pumps at the RV islands to the same speed as the car pumps. They (wrongly) figure because motorhome tanks are at least 5 times the size of most car tanks that faster pumps would be a good idea! WRONG! This causes the gas to foam and kick off the automatic nozzles on many RV’s. I have to fill at the most minimum speed setting which still cuts off every 10-15 seconds. I then have to let the foam bubbles go down (a 10 count) so it will be able to fill again. Then the pump handle completely stopped working. I told this to an attendant who couldn’t have cared less. He said it quit because the tank was full. Since it wasn’t I went inside to see if someone else could start the other pump so I could finish filling.

That is when I was told that the pumps were programmed to shut off if you take too long to fill-up. Somehow; the rocket scientist they hired to figure this out, concluded that this would most certainly clear the lane faster??? (Remember – for years, I have been trying to tell them that slower speed pumps would actually be faster). Now, by my calculations, the20 minutes I took to get someone to solve why my pump was not working, did not speed up my clearing the island. I was also told that if I wanted slower speed pumps I should use the truck lanes. Brilliant! Except that you can’t put diesel fuel in a gas motor! (I don’t think this one was even an unemployed rocket scientist).

They told me they could restart the pump and I could finish. Needless to say, I told them that I wasted enough time there already.

Once we entered Georgia, I-95 was 3 lanes (each side) all the way into Florida. I just set it at the speed limit and get into the center lane. This way I avoid having to worrying about being cut off by vehicles entering from the on-ramp and the faster cars can pass on the outside lane.

At Jacksonville, I take the I-295 (East Loop) around. This is an easier drive with less traffic and only a few minutes longer. We always enjoy the view of the cranes at the docks as we go up the high suspension bridge over the harbour entrance. The new extension near the reconnection with I-95 that they were working on as we were leaving last year has now been completed. It maked it even easier to get back on I-95 than in the past. A most welcomed addition.

We usually take a more leisurely route to our final destination; however, yesterday’s delays put us hours late already. I stayed on I-95 until the Bunnell, FL exit instead. We managed to get into Olde Mill Stream RV Resort in Umatilla, FL just before 5 p.m.

This is the best RV park in this area of Florida. It is no wonder that they have an extremely long waiting list. If you don’t reserve for the prime months a year in advance you will be out-of-luck.

As usual, the service was exceptional (even on Sunday) and we were set up on our site just before dark.

Once we put the RV on the cement pad ,I hit the automatic levelers, put out the 3 slideouts, hooked up the power, water and sewer, set up the TV’s, turned on the A/C, refrigerator and the hot water tank. We then tucked ourselves in bed and said, “The rest is for tomorrow”.