Shields RV Park, Gulfport, MS

We have finished our third day on the road, on this our first long haul trip in the Phaeton. Our first day saw us in rain for a great deal of the trip. We had just washed the coach and got it looking great for the trip. Now it has the usual grime from the road. So much for trying to look nice.

Speaking of nice, the rain had stopped as we approached Niceville to visit with Jim and Phyllis Kaiserski. Niceville was, well, very nice! Niceville is nestled in around Ft Walton Beach, Destin and Eglin AFB. It is a great area and Jim and Phyllis’ home is especially nice. It is on a short cul de sac with room for us to park the motor home while we visit.

We drove on to Gulfport this morning in perfect weather. We are staying in the campground of a Navy Sea Bee base. It is a well cared for campground with paved sites that are widely spaced and separated by lawn. While quiet as I write this, the afternoon was very noisy will trains and sirens.

Those of you that follow this blog know that RVing for us is “repairing our motor home in exotic places”, and today was no different. When we attempted to plug in shore power there was a very loud clattering sound coming from the electrical bay. The sound was coming from our Progressive Industries electrical management system, which is a device that acts as a surge protector, but also protects the coach from dangerous campground power conditions. The issue today was not with the campground’s power, although that was the first thing I checked. This system senses the quality of the power coming into the motor home. Once it finds the power acceptable it closes a relay allowing electricity into the coach. This afternoon, rather than closing, the relay was opening and closing quickly making the chattering sound.  After much discussion with the manufacturer we finally got the thing working properly without extensive dis-assembly or ordering new parts. The technical support folks at Progressive Industries are knowledgeable and very willing to help.

Progressive Industries EMS in background

Power enters through the cable on left, passes through the EMS to the transfer switch.

We will be off in the morning for Natchitoches, LA. We found this great little spot while driving out to California when we first retired. The small downtown riverfront is well maintained and sports a few nice restaurants. Our favorite has wonderful Cajun food, and I will report more on that later. Natchitoches is home to a small college, but was put on the map when the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed there. The campground is out near the interstate and is nothing special, but we go there for the food.

Friday we arrive in Dallas to see the grandsons, Ben and Jack. It will be wonderful to see them and their parents even if it is just for the weekend.