May 17, 2012

Departure day, and we woke to rain!  I was disappointed, but knew that , this being Florida,  it could stop at any minute, so we had our coffee  and busied ourselves with last minute preparations. Friends came by to check out the new ride, and helped us tote things, but by the time we were loaded, we were sweaty from the exertion in the high humidity , and decided another shower was in order before we headed out!   The cats are always the last cargo to load, and this time posed a minimum amount of hassle.   It proved a day of scattered showers as we headed north, but the  good news is, it  kept the love bugs down!  Last years' trip left us plastered with their black remains, and caused us to stop 3 times to clean the windshield, and then another hour of scrubbing at our first camp site!  So we ended up being grateful for the rain!  We were also grateful we stopped when we did tonight, as huge black storm clouds rolled in while we were setting up, and the thunder and lightning brought downpours of rain for nearly an hour!  We enjoyed a glass of Asti Spumante to celebrate our anniversary, and before you know it, the sun was out again!  Only in Florida!  

We stopped in Jacksonville, at a nice campground with a big lake, but we are just spending the night, as we  are due in Savannah tomorrow, where we will meet our friends Bob and Judy from North Carolina and spend a couple days exploring.  

For those who missed it, let me recap, before we go on!

We left Portland last October with our 34'  gas powered RV, which we purchased March 1 in Florida, and arrived back in Florida with a 40' diesel powered Phaeton!   After traveling cross country to Portland last spring, I decided perhaps we needed the diesel after all, and suggested it all the way back across country in the fall.  Clem finally agreed to stop and at least test drive one.  I think his real intention was  to shut me up!!  But after experiencing the air suspended ride, he had to agree that it would be more comfortable, and we made the switch.  I appealed to our salesman, saying there was no way we were going to do this again next year, so we better get it right this time.    He advised that, in that case, we had better get a 40 footer!  So, on October 30, we made the deal!  This photo shows them sided by side, as we moved everything over.   We gained not only air ride and brakes, but also 4 slideouts, a bath and a half, and lots of niceties like tile floor and a residential refrigerator, and washer and dryer.  Not to mention a very cool air horn!!