Fri - Jan 3/14

The cold front has rolled in giving use the sun and temps only in the high 50's F. That's the sun trying to shine through the mist inside the windshield.

The sudden drop in temp along with the high humidity from yesterday left a lot of moisture on the inside of the windows.

The warmth of the sun cleared the moisture in half an hour with the help of the RV fans.

We spent the morning packing the frozen chicken breasts, hamburger, sausages and hot dogs, purchased yesterday at Sam's Club, into meal sizes using Zip lock freezer bags.

We cooked some of the loose hamburger to use in spaghetti sauce, hash or shepherd's pie using our Salton induction cooktop. It is much better than a regular hotplate. It is really quick, saves propane and adds very little heat to the RV.

Induction cooking uses induction heating, as opposed to heat transfer from electric coils or gas flame to directly heat the cooking utensil which is made of ferromagnetic metal. Non-inductive cookware can be used on units that have an interface disk.

In an induction cooker, a coil of copper wire underneath the cooking pot uses electricity (AC) to produce an oscillating magnetic field which induces an electric current in the container. Current flowing in the metal container produces resistive heating which heats the food. While the current is large, it is produced by a low voltage.

An induction cooker is faster and more energy-efficient than a traditional electric cooking surface. It allows instant control of cooking energy similar to gas burners. Turn off a boiling pot and the bubbling stops within seconds - amazing. Other cooking methods use flames or red-hot heating elements; induction heating heats only the pot. Because the surface of the cook top is heated only by contact with the vessel, the possibility of burn injury is significantly less than with other methods. The induction effect does not directly heat the air around the vessel, resulting in further energy efficiencies. Cooling air is blown through the electronics but emerges only a little warmer than the ambient temperature.

The magnetic properties of a steel vessel concentrate the induced current in a thin layer near its surface, which makes the heating effect stronger. We love it!

I spent a half-hour mid-afternoon pumping out the sewage tanks. The "Black Water" (sewage) tank are closed when hooked up at a campsite until it fills. During a lengthy stay the "Grey Water"  tank (sinks and shower) are left open to drain. I forgot to open the Grey Water and after a few days of showers and dishes it was now full. So I cleared both and then left the Grey Water tank open.

Today was round 2 of shopping. We left for the Walmart in Mt. Dora around 5 pm. The little towns run together. The distance From Umatilla through Eustis to the Walmart in Mt. Dora was less than 12 miles. I looked up the Walmart on the GPS; however, when we arrived it was just the old building. They recently moved (virtually next door) and built a new Supercenter. Today we were shopping for the items that we did not require in the large lots that were at Sam's Club or the specialty items that were not available there.

Walmart did not have a few things we needed so we went next door to Target. Charlotte picked up a latte at the in-store Starbucks while I went through the checkout.

We had hoped to be back at the RV in time for Bingo at 7 pm; however, the little jaunt to Target delayed us enough to miss the start. Maybe next week?

Once back, the freezer items were stored quickly. The remainder would be put away after supper.

Hurray! We got a text message from our daughter Liz. Our grandson's team won their second game in the hockey tournament. Two wins in a row - way to go, Marty!

It was then TV until bedtime.