Dave relaxes on a bench that is about to be consumed by sand. We spent about 10 days at Fort Pickens on the Gulf before turning back to the east and working our way to Jacksonville. There were bike rides and campfires and some sightseeing as we enjoyed our first trip to the Florida panhandle. And we got several chances to practice hooking and unhooking with our modified hitch pin.
Fort Pickens
One of 3 original forts guarding the entrance to the coveted deep-water Pensacola Bay, Fort Pickens sits on the western end of Santa Rosa Island. What is now a popular tourist site within the Gulf Islands National Seashore -- with miles of beaches, campgrounds, biking trails, picnic shelters, and, of course, the fort itself -- was considered something of a purgatory for those who were sent there when it was in operation. Its remoteness and exposure to the elements could be brutal.
One of 3 original forts guarding the entrance to the coveted deep-water Pensacola Bay, Fort Pickens sits on the western end of Santa Rosa Island. What is now a popular tourist site within the Gulf Islands National Seashore -- with miles of beaches, campgrounds, biking trails, picnic shelters, and, of course, the fort itself -- was considered something of a purgatory for those who were sent there when it was in operation. Its remoteness and exposure to the elements could be brutal.
Dave and Fred biking toward Battery Worth Not so for us. Although the campgrounds were full most nights, we didn’t feel too crowded and enjoyed the use of the excellent facilities. We biked several miles throughout the park, explored the fort and museum, walked the beach, and did a little bird watching. Climbing up on top of some of the old gun batteries gave us a commanding view of the gulf shore and Pensacola Bay. The weather was beautiful, but very windy. Luckily for us, not too windy. We didn’t have to evacuate as the campers that stayed there the last week of February did for a nasty storm front that moved through.
Fort Pickens' cannon still guarding the Pensacola Bay inlet We had a special treat when Bev and Larry (from Chandelle) arrived in their RV to spend 5 days in the park. We enjoyed their company for the time they were there, sharing experiences of possible places to stay and things to do as they headed further west and north. When not seeing the park, we were using the time to catch up on chores deferred while we were at Faith. We managed to finish our taxes and get some other mundane, but necessary tasks done. But we managed to find time every afternoon to break away and take in something new. And in the evening, we even had a few campfires, at least one of which had a (slightly overdone) dutch oven peach cobbler.
By the middle of the 2nd week of March, we had to hitch up and head out, but with Spring Break coming into full swing, where we would head next was not quite clear.
By the middle of the 2nd week of March, we had to hitch up and head out, but with Spring Break coming into full swing, where we would head next was not quite clear.
Heading to our campsite at Chattahoochee Way Down Yonder on the Chattahoochee
“Sure. There’ll be plenty of sites available.” We had heard such a consistent refrain of “nothing available” that we had to ask a second time. Are you sure? We were talking to someone from the city of Chattahoochee about their city park near the river and just below the dam. It looked like a beautiful spot. Why was everyone staying away? Well, maybe it was the fact that the 2 major employers were the state prison and the mental hospital. Mmmm. . .
“Sure. There’ll be plenty of sites available.” We had heard such a consistent refrain of “nothing available” that we had to ask a second time. Are you sure? We were talking to someone from the city of Chattahoochee about their city park near the river and just below the dam. It looked like a beautiful spot. Why was everyone staying away? Well, maybe it was the fact that the 2 major employers were the state prison and the mental hospital. Mmmm. . .
Dave and Fred enjoying a campfire We decided to take a chance and head for this tiny town mid-way on the panhandle snuggled against the Georgia border. We had our pick of sites and had very few neighbors during our 4 nights there. The town is very remote, and there was not much going on, but we managed to find enough to do. We checked out the nearby state parks and the dam that was just barely containing the swollen rivers that feed Lake Seminole. The nearby town of Marianna (Pat and Fred liked that name) had a couple of dozen historic buildings on a tour of its downtown that made for an interesting afternoon, topped off by some great southern cooking at Jim’s. And there was an abundance of wood nearby for campfires every night.
Taking a walk through the woods - prime snake habitat Of course, there was some wildlife here too, some more pleasant than others. While Cathy was collecting some wood for the last night’s campfire, she thought she saw a butterfly in the middle of the path ahead of her. No. Not a butterfly. She was looking into the open mouth of a cottonmouth snake – a very unhappy snake – only a step away. {By the way, it does look like a cotton ball.) How she got by without any close encounter still is not clear. But she was done collecting wood.
One of the oddities of our location was that it sat right next to the border of the central and eastern time zones. This created all sorts of confusion about the time. Although we were physically in the eastern zone, our cell phones were picking up towers in the central time zone. And every time we took a road trip, we crossed back and forth across the river and had to remember what time it was. How do the people who live here deal with this? To make matters even more complicated, we stayed here over the change to daylight savings time. So, it was somewhat of a relief to leave the time zone limbo and head further east.
First UMC in Marianna We got some help in deciding what our next stop would be. Pat and Fred had what appeared to be a serious problem with their driver’s chair. They would need to dismantle it in order to fix it, since finding a replacement was not proving successful. That meant they needed to be in one place long enough to do this and have some room to work on the chair. We were having a different sort of problem. Cathy had been increasingly concerned over a painful bump on her back that seemed to be getting worse not better. She wanted to see a doctor, but it made more sense to be in one place so there could be follow-up if necessary.
So, we headed back to Jacksonville and Faith UMC.
So, we headed back to Jacksonville and Faith UMC.
RV Stuff
While we were staying at Fort Pickens, because the campground was so full, we had to do some maneuvering to find a site for all 10 nights, which had us moving twice during our stay -- 3 sites in all. That meant hitching and unhitching. Since our arrival had been something of a disaster, we weren’t sure how this was going to work.
We had 5 days at our first site, so we wasted no time in contacting Reese, the hitch manufacturer about our difficulties unhitching. In addition to some process changes in the unhitching process, we were encouraged to get the custom wedge for our particular hitch. The wedge is a guide the sits on the underside of the hitch pin that guides the hitch (in the bed of the truck) to capture the pin. If that would make it easier, we were sold. Dave ordered it the same day and we picked up on Tuesday.
But installing it could be problematic.
While we were staying at Fort Pickens, because the campground was so full, we had to do some maneuvering to find a site for all 10 nights, which had us moving twice during our stay -- 3 sites in all. That meant hitching and unhitching. Since our arrival had been something of a disaster, we weren’t sure how this was going to work.
We had 5 days at our first site, so we wasted no time in contacting Reese, the hitch manufacturer about our difficulties unhitching. In addition to some process changes in the unhitching process, we were encouraged to get the custom wedge for our particular hitch. The wedge is a guide the sits on the underside of the hitch pin that guides the hitch (in the bed of the truck) to capture the pin. If that would make it easier, we were sold. Dave ordered it the same day and we picked up on Tuesday.
But installing it could be problematic.
Torquing the bolts on the hitch pin to spec The layout of the campground was such that every vehicle had to pass by our campsite on its way out. To hook up to the camper, the truck would extend into the road and would block the road. If we attempted to install this while in our campsite, we could be blocking everyone. And if something went wrong, we might not be able to move for a while. We decided to take a chance and try to do the first move without replacing the wedge. Since Pat and Fred had to move the same day, this wouldn’t allow Fred to help us with the installation. Our 2nd move was a couple of days later and would give us the time and Fred’s help to make the change.
Tapping the wedge into place We were up early to get ready to go, but found ourselves frustrated on 2 fronts. There was an oversize camper blocking the exit for all of the campground. There was also a truck parked in the dump station. Sigh. It took until 10am, but both were finally clear and we made our way to a nearby parking lot to do the install. It went amazingly well. The trickiest part was making sure the bolts were torqued correctly, but Dave had made sure he had a torque wrench big enough to do the job. When we attempted to hitch and unhitch after making the change, it was almost too easy. Since then, we’ve done it a couple more times and it has been so much smoother than before. We’re glad we made this change!
New water softener The other addition to the RV was a new water softener. We had been cautioned by some more experienced RV’ers to be careful about hard water and its impact on the RV’s plumbing. To avoid this, a water softener is a relatively straightforward solution. It sits in-line between the spigot and the RV inlet. It needs to be reconditioned with table salt after several hun dreds of gallons have been softened. The only difficulty in installing it was to find a female to female connector to put the softener in place. In the end, we had to modify a water hose to put a 2nd female end on it. It works fine now
Back at Faith
It wasn’t long after returning to Faith that Cathy had made a trip to the doctor and gotten some medicine for her sore back. And Pat and Fred quickly had the chair out to start their repairs. We connected with Barry and got a list of new projects to tackle for the next couple of weeks.
It wasn’t long after returning to Faith that Cathy had made a trip to the doctor and gotten some medicine for her sore back. And Pat and Fred quickly had the chair out to start their repairs. We connected with Barry and got a list of new projects to tackle for the next couple of weeks.
