Trouble On Travel Day & Wrapping Up Florida

Trouble Travel Day.

The morning we left Florida I got things put away inside HOWE (footnote 1). Then I went outside to help Kevin. The day before he had strained his back while lifting something. He was in a lot of pain. I unhooked the water, helped him carry the water softener to the truck, and then we were ready to unhook the power. To do this you just turn the cord slightly and pull it from the socket on the 5th wheel. Kevin tried to unhook the power cord from HOWE but it wouldn’t come out. He tried and tried. Even tried with some tools. Nothing. I tried to help by holding the plastic around it as it was coming away from the side. After a while, the whole cord and outlet came out. What did we discover?

Burned Power & Outlet, Florida SKP Resort, Wauchula, FL 03/02/24

There was a place on the top where the cord and plug had melted and soldered together. Oh no. Kevin cut the plug cord because there was no way to get it apart. Neighbor came over and said that happens often and is from all the humidity. (We do watch the power we use and have a heavy duty surge protector.) I was so sad because of the problem and Kevin’s hurt back. We were thankful we were safe, we have our home (footnote 2) with us, and things can be fixed.

Holding Cut Power Outlet, Florida SKP Resort, Wauchula, FL 03/02/24

We pulled out at 8:03 a.m. Kevin said we would get parts at Camping World. We decided to go to one that we knew of since we don’t know where one is near our next campground. It was on the way. We headed north on Hwy 17. It was foggy out but no warnings and we could see the road just fine. At Bartow, the fog got heavier, but again, we could see fine. As we approached a bridge we saw the sign flashing showing an intersection with stop lights coming up. As we topped the bridge we saw brake lights and the traffic was stopped. We thought it was for the stop light. But soon realized people about 4 vehicles in front of us were out of the car and looking into the side door. It was a wreck. We don’t know what happened. So thankful we weren’t 30 seconds sooner. The road was completely shut down. 

Closed Road, Get Out & Figure Burned Power Cord & Outlet, Bartow, FL 03/02/24

What else do you do when the road is shut down? Kevin got out and looked at the plug and cord and figured out what needed to be done. He said the wires just fell off when we took it off and that should never happen. Grrrr. We saw a firetruck come. Instead of going in front of the wreck, they went way behind us and then made their way up to the wreck. They parted the traffic down the middle. Thankfully we were able to get HOWE pulled over because Kevin had some room from the car in front of us. The road was closed for over 40 minutes. We hope everyone is okay. Then we were on the road again and the sun was out.

Bought Parts, Fixing At Camping World Parking Lot, Bartow, FL 03/02/24

We went to Camping World and thankfully they had the parts we needed. Kevin was so good to catch that the guy first handed him a plug that was only for 30 amp. We need 50. Whew. Kevin had the best best best idea – fix it in the Camping World parking lot. Then we are there if we need other parts or whatever. Plus, he asked them and was able to drive HOWE to the back of the building and plug it in to make sure it works. So grateful. And it did.

I am so proud of him – knowing what to do, what parts were needed, and having the best attitude.

WRAPPING UP FLORIDA:

As you have been reading on previous blog posts, we had a great time “wintering” in Florida. We covered so much of the state. While at Florida SKP Resort, we made friends with some very sweet people. The six of us would get together several times a week to play games, eat, visit, laugh, and tell stories. We even picked strawberries together and ate lunch a few times at Martin’s Country Store. Our Friday evenings were full of food and games – we went each Friday to St Michael Church Fish Fry. The food is delicious and is served by young people who benefit from the proceeds. Paul’s passion is genealogy and we found out we are 8th cousins 3 times removed. I called him “cousin” from then on. HAHA Chris has a heart of gold plus makes the best lasagna! If you look for Dawn, you can usually find her out helping someone no matter what they need. Cathy and Kevin had a blast talking about farms, cows and pigs. See you down the road, friends!

This “full-time traveling the country” lifestyle has blessed us with so many precious friends. After meeting up with Bridget and her husband, we now have a weekly video “chat” online so she can practice her American Sign Language.

Here are a few more pictures from Florida…

“Let Me Tell You A Story…” I am sure James Kenny had a lot of stories to tell. This was at Sarasota National Cemetery.

While driving through Tampa…on the way to Costco HA… we saw a ship dry dock. Talk about timing of a photo while moving down the road!

Fun to see a draw bridge go up. This was at Treasure Island.

We are fascinated by the different bridges and designs we see. This one is Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay.

That wraps up Florida. OH….and by the way…after the “trouble travel day” we got to our overnight campground that evening in Brunswick, GA. The site was so tight we literally couldn’t put out our main slides on HOWE. We had to put out the bedroom slide so we could sleep. It literally hung over the neighbor’s picnic table. We apologized to him and he said it was fine and he completely understood. This place is a one and done! 🙂 But again, so much to be thankful for, even on trouble days. Thank you for reading.

1. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country.