The Latest Update

We left the South Carolina Good Sam Samboree and headed to Golden Isles RV Park in Bruswick, GA.  We only spent one night there,  but it was uneventful.  The next day we headed to NAS Jacksonville to stay for a few days to get the slide out fixed, again.  The parts were supposed to be there, but, when they opened the box, the part was the right shape this time, but several feet short.  They found that they no longer make the part we need, so it was decided to order another part like the one they got in, and splice the two to make the right size.  It was ordered from Cedar Creek and requested to be over nighted.  It did not come in and we waited until we had to leave to go to our Good Sam Chapter camp out.  We went to Wilderness RV Resort in Silver Springs, FL.  Nice park, except the sites are narrow and the roads are even narrower, making entry VERY DIFFICULT when you're 56.5' long.  I almost took a fence down with the side of my coach as the Residents are allowed to make their sites their own.  I doubt if Debby and I will go back there.  We were suppose to go to Thousand Trails in Orlando, but the part was suppose to be in on Monday, so we went back to NAS Jax and spent the night there, hooked up.  We went to General RV on Tuesday, and the part was not there.  The parts man called Cedar Creek and found that the part had been shipped, but UPS crushed it and returned it to Cedar Creek.  They then reordered the part and it came in on Wed morning.  General RV then proceeded to tell us that they could not get us into service, even though we have been dealing with them on this problem since April!  Once this problem is fixed, they will be last on our list to take our coach to, even though they have done good work.  Obviously, we are not on their priority list.  Hopefully you may have better luck with their service than we have.  We headed to Thousand Trails, Orlando and arrived safely on Thursday.  We have a nice site with 50 amp service.  So much nicer that the other Thousand Trails preserves we have visited.  Of course, our $12,000 membership is no longer the best and they feel we need to upgrade from VIP to Elete.  NOT A CHANCE!  This morning we woke up and were having our tea, when I heard a noise that sounded like an air balloon.  Looked outside and we discovered 2 air balloons giving rides.  I have attached pictures of the balloons.  You just never know what you may wake up to.

We will be here for the next 3 weeks, then on to the Escapee Chapter 57 rally.  After that, to the Florida Good Sam Samboree.  For now, it is time for some maintenance on the coach.  I re-sealed some seams last night, and will repair the steps today.  We received our Magne-Shades Wed, so I need to install them also.   We are really hoping that will help the heat when we are out west. 

Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later

South Carolia Good Sam Samboree

We moved from the North Carolina Good Sam Samboree to the South Carolina Good Sam Samboree on Sunday.  It was only a little over 200 miles.  The South Carolina Good Sam Samboree is being held at Ocean Lakes Family RV Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  This is BY FAR the nicest RV park I have ever been in.  Ocean front, paved sites 50 amp service with 70 channel cable.  There are over 3000 sites here, over 890 transient sites.  The recreation center is fabulous with all sorts of games, an indoor and outdoor pools.  I am adding a picture of the campground map.

It is easy to get lost in this park.

Once we checked in, we have cleaned the rig and today we washed the truck after going to breakfast with about 20 friends.  We went to the Golden Egg.  Really nice place with LOTS of parking. 

We had dinner the other night at the observation deck on the ocean.  It was a really nice evening and we enjoyed it immensely!

On Sunday after we arrived, we went to dinner with friends and enjoyed the band and boardwalk.

We also have enjoyed the sunset from the observation deck.

Overall, we are having a very good time.  Last night we went on a tour to Legends and saw performances from Johnny Cash, Berry White, Adalen, the Blues Brothers and, of course, Elvis.  All were really good, but the Blues Brothers were the high energy act.  They came to our bus afterward and we were able to take pictures.

I think that pretty well brings us up to date.  We did make our reservations for the 55th Escapade, and they are all out of full hook up sites, so I called and asked to be put on the waiting list for full hook up.  We just found out tonight that "The Rally" dates have been changed to Feb 26 through 1 March.  Debby and I have not made our reservations yet, but I'm sure we will soon. 

We will head back to the Jacksonville area on Sunday for medical appointments and slide out repair.  Then on to Good Sam Chapter camp out and other rallies/samborees!  Debby and I highly recommend this retired life style!

Travel Safe, and I'll type more later.

Having Fun at North Carolina Samboree

Debby and I drove from Carolina Landing in Fair Play, SC to Advance, NC on Wed and are enjoying the North Carolina Good Sam Samboree!  This is a 1000 Trails park.  I don't know what Thousand Trails is doing with all of the membership money the take in, but maintaining the roads and sites is DEFINITELY not what they spend it on.  Once again, the amenities are really nice here, but the sites and roads are not in to good of shape.  As for the samboree, we are really having a good time.  Tonight the entertainment was "The Hinton Girls" who were very good.  The Mandolin player is 14, the bass and banjo players are twins and are 16 and the guitarist is the oldest at 19.  I was really impressed with their abilities.  I predict that they will go far in the entertainment world.  They play bluegrass and gospel music.  I have included a picture of them.

I wish I had the energy of the 14 year old, who is the lead singer as well as the mandolin player.  She has a really nice voice.   They seem to really have a good time.
From here we are headed to the South Carolina Good Sam Samboree on Sunday.  Debby and I are planning of enjoying all of the optional items available at that Samboree.

Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later!

The Latest!

Today was a GREAT day!  Not only was it my birthday, and we enjoyed that very much, but we also closed on the house!  That means we are now HOMELESS!  Home it truly where we park it!  This contract was signed in early MAY and took this long to get complete, along with 5 extensions!  At least it is finally complete.  We were starting to worry as State Farm had notified us that we were being non-renewed as we have a manufactured home and they no longer insure them in Florida.  At least we will not have to worry about finding new insurance.  Anyway, we have a pretty packed schedule, so that is just one more item we will not have to worry about.  Just wanted to let everyone know, and I will update you as we travel along.

Travel safe and I'll type more later.

Update

As it has been a few days since I posted, I thought I would update everyone on what has been going on.  We enjoyed the Georgia Good Sam Samboree and left Sunday to go to Carolina Landing, a Thousand Trails Preserve.  The amenities here are very nice, however, the sites are not any where near level and in dire need of repair.  They are terrible!  Before we left Perry, I took a couple of pictures of the peaceful lake at the fairgrounds.  It was very nice.

We have ventured out here and gone looking around.  The area seems nice, but nothing is close to the preserve.  As some of you may know, I was having trouble with the kitchen slide.  It would not go all the way out.  I tried to get someone to come out to look at it, with no success, so, I got under it and replaced the bolts on the drive shaft, which were not bad, and manually extended the side that would not go all of the way out and it is now even.  I think the clunk we hear when we put it out or take it in is the slip joint in the drive shaft twisting inside of itself.  If I find that that is the case, I will drill a hole in it and put a bolt through it.  Debby is happy now that the slide is completely out.
While out and about, I had to stop at the local rest area to sign another extension for the house.  This is the 5th (I think) extension for this buyer.  It appears that they are closer now than they have ever been to getting the loan completed.  They have met all the conditions and hopefully we will close tomorrow.  I can not believe all of the hoops we have had to go through, and of course, we have to feel for the buyers as they had given notice where they rented and are now homeless.  Anyway, I took a couple of pictures at the rest area of the very peaceful lake the rest area was on.

Anyway, that pretty well brings everyone up to date.  We will be going to the North Carolina Good Sam Samboree next followed by the South Carolina Good Sam Samboree, then headed back to Jacksonville area for medical appointments.  I will keep everyone updated. 

Travel Safe, and I'll type more later!

At The Georgia Samboree

We left Stephen Foster State Park on Monday and spent Monday night at Twin Oaks RV Park in Elko, GA.  Nice park!  We didn't even unhook and left it ready to go as we went into the Samboree at Georgia State Fairgrounds in Perry, GA. on Tuesday.  We got settled in and set up when Debby went out to clean the Love Bugs off of the front of the rig when H-Town Detailing drove up.  We negociated a deal as there was going to be 2 rigs cleaned, (turned out to be 4 of us right there), so they also washed our truck and Ken and Sherrie's car.  They did a good job and they are recommended if in this area.  The rig really looks good!  Having problems with the kitchen slide out.  One end is not going out all of the way.  It lacks about 2 from going out.  It appears that the hydraulic fluid tank may be low, but I'm not sure that is the problem.  I got burned to a crisp yesterday, watching the crew clean the rig.  I know better, but still got really burnt! Still no closing date on the house, but we did get good news yesterday, the buyers have met the major conditions and only have some of the normal conditions still to meet.  Hopefully, all will go well and we will close SOON!  We also found out that the buyers are now homeless, so we know that they are anxious to close.  Keep your fingers crossed!  I'm including a couple of pictures of some of the wildlife here at the fairgrounds and work in progress on the coach.
Y'all travel safe and I'll type more later!

Moved to Stephen Foster State Park

We had a wonderful time at the North Florida Lifetime Sams annual camp out with Sunset Ramblers.  Both are Good Sam Chapters we belong to.  This was our 6th year at Grand Lakes RV & Golf Resort, but it will be our last.  The management there has decided that the Wagon Master will make all of the reservations, pay the deposits and 2 weeks before the event, has to pay for the remainder of the event camping fees.  The individual can not pay, they must pay the wagon master.  We decided that we would not ask anyone to do that.  As the wagon master of North Florida Lifetime Sams, I would have had to pay a deposit of $440 and $1320 in advance camping fees.   Not in my budget.  This is really unfortunate as we really like the facilities there for our group.

The chapter has decided to go to Wild Frontier in Ocala next year.  We got to see some wild life while we were at Grand Lakes.

We even got to see a beautiful rainbow while we were there.  In some ways we will miss that park as we have been there so many years in a row.

We are now settled into our site at Stephen Foster State Park in White Springs, FL.  This is a beautiful park and we have a wonderful site.  50 amp and water.  The only issue is lack of sewer.  There is a dump on the way out, so conservation is the key as we are staying here for a week, and I don't want to hook up just to dump.  It seems to be a little cooler here as we are in the trees and were out in the open at Grand Lake.  I am hopeful that the A/C will be able to keep up a little better here.  Anyway, we are on a loop.  When we leave here we will go to Twin Oaks in Elko, GA, followed by the Georgia Samboree.  I'll keep y'all posted!

Travel Safe, and I'll type more later!