Under Attack!

When we were at Fort De Sotto Park last month we were plagued with ants when we packed up to leave. We placed ant baits in the coach and sprayed some, too, but a few were still hanging on when we left Sunday. This morning we found that we were under a full attack! The campground in Jackson, GA had paved pads and nice grass medians between the pads. We sure did not expect to wake up to see an ant freeway running up the side of the bedroom wall. When we went to the kitchen they were swarming the baits we had down when we left. Checking outside I found them swarming up the left rear tire and resorted to chemical warfare! Sometimes organic does not cut it, and this was one of those times! Tonight as I write this it appears that we have one, but I will reserve judgment until the morning.

We had a long day on the road today and pulled in to Marion, IL a little after five in the afternoon and got situated quickly. That is grown up talk for having a beer.

The drive here was through some very pretty countryside. We even saw a few Amish on horse drawn wagons. It was very hot, too. The dash thermometer was over one hundred for the better part of the afternoon and reached as high as 103. Granted that was while driving on hot blacktop, so that probably boosted the reading some, but it was hot enough that the refrigerator has not done well and we ended up starting the genset to run the house A/C to assist the dash A/C.

The Marion RV Park is a friendly place with nice sites even if they are a little close. Unfortunately, the town of Marion had a water main break this morning putting them on a “boiled water” alert so we will not be hooking up and will use on board water for showers tonight. Glad I added some water this morning. We do not normally carry much water since it is just that much more weight to haul down the road. Wednesday morning we will fill the tank for the first time so that we will have water while parked at the farm. We can hold 93 gallons of water, so that should get us through the visit. It is getting rid of the water that will require us to break camp mid-visit to dump the grey (sinks and shower) water tank since it only holds about 50 gallons. Luckily there is a campground with a dump station about ten miles from the farm.

We will hit the road again early in the morning for another long run to get us in position to arrive at the Bissen farm mid-day Wednesday.

And We Are Off!

We are on the road again! We are shooting straight north with the ultimate goal of Adams, MN and the home of the Dale Bissen family. Dale is Elly (Bissen) Anderson’s brother. Well, one of many brothers. We are heading north to join the Bissen family for one of their annual tractor shows/rides. The family members are serious collectors of older Ford tractors and between the father and his many sons the collection numbers eighty or so. Close friends Curt and Elly Anderson have been attending these for years and Curt now has his own restored Ford tractor that he drives in these rides. This is the heartland of America, folks. And these people are the bedrock this country is founded on.

My ancestors were farmers up until my grandfather broke away and became an engineer. My father was an airline pilot, so I am two generations removed from the earth. Granted there was the occasional family reunion on cousin’s farms, but for the most part I am a city kid and I look forward to touching, in some small way, the roots of my heritage. OK, my ancestors did not have tractors. It is the people I want to be close to.

The first three days of this trip are pretty much travel days. We held up short of Atlanta today because to get past the city would have been too long a day. We elected to stop in Jackson, GA located midway between Macon and Atlanta. We will delay our departure in the morning a bit to get on the backside of Atlanta rush hour.

We are staying in Forest Glen Campground right on I-75. It is a nice campground that seems to cater to transients like us, but there are some folks here that appear to be semi-permanent. We pulled in around five and started dinner. Despite tonight’s wine, we will be on our way north by nine in the morning.

Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg, FL

It was another beach day and our last full day at Fort De Soto Park. The ladies wish was to spend our last day at the beach. There were quite a few people at the beach today and lots of colorful umbrellas and shelters.   As big as this beach is it was still not very crowded. Jocelyn met a young girl her age and the two of them spent hours in the water. It was all we could do to drag her away at the end of the day.

I thought you might like a few pictures of the campground. A bayou divides the campground, and many campsites are on the water. The water is deep enough that campers can tie boats up at their campsite in this area.

I mentioned earlier that the sites are pretty private. Here is a shot of our campsite as seen from the site across the road. Unless you look directly in the entrance of the site you would not see us, and visa versa.

On our final evening Jocelyn did the sunset conch salute and did a fine job of saluting our last day in camp.

I asked her if she wished to contribute to the blog by saying how she enjoyed the trip:

“It was fun at the park. I went to the beach three times, went snorkeling, and even met a new friend. I also went bike riding. I got scraped up by shells today. I saw a crab. Yesterday fish were swimming with me. The new friends I met are named Alexis (Lexi) and her little brother Jacob. It was fun camping.” Jocelyn Arcara, age 8.

We enjoyed having Jocelyn with us and had a great time at the park. When Barbara read Jocelyn’s statement she said that she sees a crab everyday. What do you think she meant by that? You can see TODAY’s crab and other photos in the gallery.

Egmont Key, FL

The ladies headed out to Egmont Key on the 11:00 ferry and spent the full day there hunting for shells, swimming and snorkeling.That is Barbara and Jocelyn waving in the bow. (You know you can click on these pictures and make them bigger, right?)

Fort De Soto on Mullet Key and Fort Dade on Egmont Key straddled the entrance to Tampa Bay and provided the harbors defense until they were decommissioned in the 1920s. There is an automated lighthouse on Egmont Key that replaces the original light built in 1858. The Key was used to confine Seminole Indians during the third Seminole War, and the Union Navy occupied the island during the Civil War. The fort itself was constructed during the Spanish American War.

Today the sea has reclaimed most of the fortifications, but you can still walk the brick roads that served the cantonment area, and volunteers man the small museum near the lighthouse. A small port serves the Tampa Bay Pilots that guide the large commercial ships into the harbor, but the vast majority of the island is a bird sanctuary now. We have anchored near the Harbor Pilot dock in the past and can attest to the racket the birds make, especially during the rookery season. Seems like they go on all night.

The girls returned by four and got a short bike ride in before getting cleaned up for dinner. At sunset Jocelyn saluted the end of the day with the conch horn. She is getting pretty good at it now that she has had two nights to practice.

Me? Coach work in exotic places, what else. Still, it is all good.

Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg, FL

We had a great time last night. Good sailing friends Ted and Linda Seefeldt and Pete and Pam Peters joined us here at Fort De Soto park. We got to eat good BBQ ribs and tell sailing stories. As the sun set in the west we saluted the day with the conch horn.

I got the group together for a photo, but the exposure seemed dark. Aren’t digital cameras great? You can see these things while you can still do something about it.

I figured it was because the open sky was in the background, so I decided to take the shot again facing the other direction. That did not help, still too dark.

So, I got the flash in the act and it seems like we finally got a good group shot. Good thing the iPhone4 now has a flash. 

Barbara has a birthday next month so we will get her a replacement camera so she can take over the photo chores again. She has issues with my picture taking.

The coffee maker woke us up this morning. Well, it woke Jocelyn up this morning since it was right next to where she is sleeping. We have seniority and claimed the bedroom. She gets the sofa.

The girls spent the morning helping Jocelyn learn to ride a two-wheeler, and after lunch we set out to explore the park. We saw several dolphins from the fishing pier and the pelicans were having a field day catching the bait fish that were trying to hide under the pier. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the beach with the girls hunting shells and me snoozing in the shade of a tree.

Life is good!

Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg, FL

We were off in a cloud of dust at the break of Noon. Did I mention we have not had much rain? We are taking Jocelyn (Barbara’s grandniece) camping!

We had an uneventful trip to Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County, FL. The county has a wonderful park. The campsites are very private with plenty of foliage between them, and many open on to the water. Some of the sites are bordered by a sea wall that campers can tie boats up to. The park has a very large launching ramp area a short distance away, so many people do bring boats. The management of the campground does a nice job keeping the place clean as a whistle. This is our second time here as campers. We really enjoyed the last visit and fully expect to enjoy this one as well.

Rear of our campsite viewed from the high water mark. We are protected from high winds by mangroves, but there is access to the water if we brought the kayaks.

We are all set for dinner guests this evening. Hopefully it will cool off some by the time they get here. Typical Father’s Day picnic fare: Roasted Jalapenos, ribs, potato salad, baked beans.

Jocelyn prefers the A/C, but tomorrow, ADVENTURE!

Happy Father's Day to all of the Dads out there.

Bedroom TV Project

My latest project on the motor home was the replacement of the bedroom CRT TV with a new LED/LCD flat panel unit. The TV is mounted in a pivoting cabinet that allows the TV to stow facing forward, but be pulled out to face more directly towards the head of the bed for viewing. While it does not pivot a full 90 degrees, it does provide improved viewing.

The first order of business was the removal of the old TV and donating it to the guys in the office of the storage yard. The next, and perhaps most time consuming phase, was measuring the available space and coming up with a workable design providing a means of mounting a flat panel TV. As you can see, once the old TV is removed there remains an irregular flat surface and the front wooden frame. Not much vertical surface for mounting a flat panel unit, but the underlying steel framework is solid.

My solution was to build an elevated shelf that would serve two purposes:

One, it raises the TV towards the upper portion of the frame more efficiently filling that space, while leaving suitable space below the shelf for placing a DVD player or satellite receiver.

Second, it allows a solid base to support a vertical frame element holding the TV itself. The open area to the left rear is for access to the rear of the receiver or DVD player without removing it. Well that, and I did not have the right tools for cutting the complex angles required to miter in the piece that would be required to complete that fourth side. I have installed a piece of the same carpet covering the base as a light shield over that opening to eliminate distracting light if watching TV during the day. But, who does that?

We originally planned to use a 26” TV, but since we seldom watch TV in the bedroom we elected to economize and go with a 24” unit. The mounting will accommodate a 26” TV should we or a subsequent owner want one. Rather than try to shave away the raised square of fiberboard in the center of the shelf I elected to retain it to hold the future DVD player in place with Velcro.