In place at Pocahontas State Park Leaving Jacksonville just before the end of July, we said our goodbyes and made our way to Pocahontas State Park on a leisurely trip north. Arriving on Thursday the 30th, we pulled in ahead of the weekend rush. After settling in, we were ready to start work in our role as Park Hosts for August.
Finishing Up
With only a couple of weeks left to take care of unfinished projects at Faith, we had to be sure any new ones could be finished before we left. One that had been bugging Cathy since we arrived last fall was the sign above Asbury Hall that had been hanging down precariously by a single screw, as the wood was rotting. Entering Faith’s campus from the campground, it was the first building you come to. The one where all of our project meetings were held. Where the Ocean Roads class met on Sunday mornings. Where Cathy had done all of her sewing this year. Where we staged groceries during the pandemic. Where we went to have Zoom calls. Passing by it multiple times a day, the sign begged to be fixed, but other priorities kept getting in the way. Cathy decided she had a small window to take care of this before we left town.
With only a couple of weeks left to take care of unfinished projects at Faith, we had to be sure any new ones could be finished before we left. One that had been bugging Cathy since we arrived last fall was the sign above Asbury Hall that had been hanging down precariously by a single screw, as the wood was rotting. Entering Faith’s campus from the campground, it was the first building you come to. The one where all of our project meetings were held. Where the Ocean Roads class met on Sunday mornings. Where Cathy had done all of her sewing this year. Where we staged groceries during the pandemic. Where we went to have Zoom calls. Passing by it multiple times a day, the sign begged to be fixed, but other priorities kept getting in the way. Cathy decided she had a small window to take care of this before we left town.
The wood was rotting, so it was not just a matter or re-attaching it. With Dave’s help, Cathy found a pressure-treated board in the wood shop that was already cut to the right length. After priming and painting it white, she used the old sign as a template to create stencils for the letters and traced them onto the new sign. Once she had filled them in with black paint, it was ready to hang. With Dave’s help, the sign went back up easily and looks so much better.
"Do you want to try?" Barton's "yes" put him to work for a couple of hours cutting plexiglass. Lori and Barton from Beyond 90 sought our help with a small project that would help them in a big way. In an effort to serve more clients and still preserve social distancing, they wanted to create plexiglass partitions they could erect between computer work stations. The only catch was the shape required an L-shaped cut in the large plexiglass sheet. Our last foray into cutting plexiglass with a jig saw had worked, but left a jagged edge that wouldn’t do well with this finer cut. Dave studied YouTube for tips on making a smoother cut than we had made last time. Armed with that advice, he brought out his multitool with a semi-circular saw blade, which worked much better. This time, he managed to convince Barton to join the project. With his much steadier hand, Barton operated the tool to make the cuts, while we held the large sheet in place. In a few hours, all cuts were done, and the first partition was in place, working as they had hoped.
Installing the final lock (for this season) There was the occasional printer, computer or internet issue that Dave helped resolve. But we had one more locksmithing duty before we left as well. The church’s Mission House had recently been vacated and needed new locks. We re-keyed all of the exterior door knobs and deadbolts before we left. Since we had made so many lock changes, Dave printed up a cross-reference to leave behind that showed the key codes, locations and associated master keys, along with spare keys for each lock. Hopefully that will last until we return. Of course, by then, our skill will be pretty rusty.
Dave clears leaves from the roof and the awning Packing Up
The RV was demanding more attention as we prepared to move again. Some things were just easier to do in Jacksonville, like cleaning the roof, scrubbing and stowing the grill, defrosting the freezer and washing the truck. There were also some repairs that we had been “meaning” to get to, that finally made the priority list – like replacing the plug on the RV’s power cord. This had been taped up for more than a year. We had the replacement plug for almost as long. However, when we moved the RV out of our site and up to the parking lot a week before leaving, we noticed a blackened prong on the old plug. Replacing it seemed much more urgent now.
The RV was demanding more attention as we prepared to move again. Some things were just easier to do in Jacksonville, like cleaning the roof, scrubbing and stowing the grill, defrosting the freezer and washing the truck. There were also some repairs that we had been “meaning” to get to, that finally made the priority list – like replacing the plug on the RV’s power cord. This had been taped up for more than a year. We had the replacement plug for almost as long. However, when we moved the RV out of our site and up to the parking lot a week before leaving, we noticed a blackened prong on the old plug. Replacing it seemed much more urgent now.
Dave tapes up the covering under the RV, exposed by the water leak. We also had some unpleasant surprise repairs at the last minute. Like the sewer hose that had a leak in it. Luckily the hole was near one end of the hose and our Rhino system of sewer hoses makes it pretty easy to simply re-attach the fitting to the cropped hose. Then there was the steady drip of water under the RV that we discovered one night when returning from our walk. Being parked on pavement, the flow of water was more obvious than it would have been back in the campground. How long had this been going on? Was it fresh water? Grey water? Black water (ugh)? We determined that it was grey water from the galley sink. We apparently had filled the galley grey water pretty full and it was leaking from the pressure on the fitting at the top of the tank. We’d never encountered it before, because we’ve never eaten so many meals (and washed so many dishes) in the RV over the course of a week before the pandemic hit. Once we dumped that tank the leak went away. Being sufficiently warned, we will make sure not to get it too full in the future. The leak had caused the covering on the underbelly to sag. We taped it back up (it had been opened a few years ago to repair a different leak), and we were good to go.
Then there were the things we wanted to upgrade, but had never gotten around to. We have an internal router that connects to a stronger antenna to pick up distant wifi signals. We had been having some problems with this becoming increasingly unreliable. Dave spent some time devising a better solution using the satellite connection pre-wired into the RV. By connection the internal wifi adapter to the one end of the satellite cable, he could connect the external high-power antenna to the other end of the cable outside. With the set up, the internal unit was more accessible in the center of the RV, and the outdoor antenna could be moved to take advantage of nearby wifi. The result is that the network rarely goes down any more. And we could mount the wifi adapter out of site under the TV. Cathy likes that particularly well.
A few years ago, we upgraded our TV, only to discover after the fact that it didn’t have a connection to the RV’s stereo speakers. However, with our noisy AC running most of the time, it could be difficult to hear the TV sound. Dave was considering a new TV, when he discovered a simple solution with our existing TV. He bought a cable that connected the TV’s fiber optic port to the sound system. And magically, the speakers work again. How many years ago did we buy that TV?
A few years ago, we upgraded our TV, only to discover after the fact that it didn’t have a connection to the RV’s stereo speakers. However, with our noisy AC running most of the time, it could be difficult to hear the TV sound. Dave was considering a new TV, when he discovered a simple solution with our existing TV. He bought a cable that connected the TV’s fiber optic port to the sound system. And magically, the speakers work again. How many years ago did we buy that TV?
Tightening Up
Then there’s the boat. Despite her best attempts to ignore it, Cathy drug herself up the ladder to check out the cover and the boat’s interior. It was still dry inside, but it needed some attention. One of the cover supports had bent back so that it wasn’t supporting the cover. Also, there were more spots where water was accumulating, blackening the cover and causing more leaks. Then, there were the bugs. Ants from the nearby trees had found their way onto the boat.
Then there’s the boat. Despite her best attempts to ignore it, Cathy drug herself up the ladder to check out the cover and the boat’s interior. It was still dry inside, but it needed some attention. One of the cover supports had bent back so that it wasn’t supporting the cover. Also, there were more spots where water was accumulating, blackening the cover and causing more leaks. Then, there were the bugs. Ants from the nearby trees had found their way onto the boat.
So, having made sure the nearby bushes and trees were away from the cover, Cathy treated the interior more than once to reduce the ant population. Next, she and Dave scrubbed the cover to remove dirt and mildew. To remove the low spots on the cover, she fixed the support bow, tightened all the exsting lines between bows and added some, along with balls to boost the height even more. Much better. Then, she sprayed waterproofing on the upper half to keep the interior dry. This last step was a little tricky, given the daily showers in Jacksonville. To her surprise, within minutes of finishing the job, the skies opened up on her. Hardly the 6 to 12 hours of drying time. So, we bought some more and she did it again. Hopefully, it will remain dry for the next few months while we’re away.
New Green Acres RV Park in Walterboro SC Traveling Up
With the sweltering summer heat, we couldn’t face sleeping in an RV with no or limited A/C, so boondocking on the trip north was out of the question. Cathy found 2 campgrounds, close to I-95 and reasonably spaced to make for shorter days. The first was in Walterboro, SC about 50 miles north of the GA line. And the 2nd was in Roanoke Rapids, NC which gave us the opportunity to see Christina and Serenity for the first time in a long time. Both campgrounds allowed us to check in over the phone and stay no-contact. We limited our stops en route to fuel and rest areas, keeping away from others successfully, and making for an uneventful trip.
With the sweltering summer heat, we couldn’t face sleeping in an RV with no or limited A/C, so boondocking on the trip north was out of the question. Cathy found 2 campgrounds, close to I-95 and reasonably spaced to make for shorter days. The first was in Walterboro, SC about 50 miles north of the GA line. And the 2nd was in Roanoke Rapids, NC which gave us the opportunity to see Christina and Serenity for the first time in a long time. Both campgrounds allowed us to check in over the phone and stay no-contact. We limited our stops en route to fuel and rest areas, keeping away from others successfully, and making for an uneventful trip.
Serenity and Christina at Carolina Crossroads RV Resort We were excited to see Serenity, who has grown a lot since we saw her last. We were lucky to arrive between softball nights. We kept our distance and donned our masks for the visit, as we sat outside Mother Nature smiled on us with a cooling breeze at the end of a hot day. Hopefully, it won’t be so long before our next time together.
Dave and Kerstin discuss the work to be done Starting Up
Shortly after arriving at Pocahontas, we met with the new volunteer coordinator, Kerstin and her boss, Dustin to discuss the work for the coming months. The Appamattuck group cabins that had received so much attention last fall had some minor painting tasks to consider them complete. Our primary focus for this year’s Cabin Work Week would be its neighbor, the Chickahominy group cabins. There would be some smaller volunteer groups between now and October, so we agreed on some suggested projects for them that varied to accommodate their skills.
No question we’ll have plenty to do.
Shortly after arriving at Pocahontas, we met with the new volunteer coordinator, Kerstin and her boss, Dustin to discuss the work for the coming months. The Appamattuck group cabins that had received so much attention last fall had some minor painting tasks to consider them complete. Our primary focus for this year’s Cabin Work Week would be its neighbor, the Chickahominy group cabins. There would be some smaller volunteer groups between now and October, so we agreed on some suggested projects for them that varied to accommodate their skills.
No question we’ll have plenty to do.
Parting Shot
Our last walk on the evening before we left Jacksonville was during the remnants of a rain storm. We got a blessing as a result with a beautiful rainbow (with a faint double as well). Guess that means it’s OK to move on.
Our last walk on the evening before we left Jacksonville was during the remnants of a rain storm. We got a blessing as a result with a beautiful rainbow (with a faint double as well). Guess that means it’s OK to move on.
