<<< Friday, 1 March 1996
Today it rained for most of the day. Instructions for Telecoupler arrived, but came to the conclusion that the coupler was faulty. Tried to contact the company but nobody there. Now looks like it will be Tuesday at best before we get a replacement.
Saturday, 2 March 1996
Went to a very large indoor flea market but did not buy anything. Out for an enjoyable Chinese buffet meal in the evening.
Sunday, 3 March 1996
A quiet day looking around an open air flea market and a Mall. Cleaned part of the RV.
Monday, 4 March 1996
Long talk with Don Skinner from Michigan.
Moved from Lady Lake to St. Augustine which is about 120 miles. The site is not on the beach as we expected and even though they claim it is a luxury site, it is very bare in places. Excellent cable TV for $1 a night. It now seems that the Telecoupler will not work with the US Robotics modem as it draws too much loop current, so do we buy a new modem, go cellular or what?
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Went for a long walk along an almost empty beach. Miles and miles of golden yellow sand, sea birds and shells. we assume that during the main season it gets busy but we hardly saw a soul. |
| Spent the day visiting St. Augustine which is the oldest continuously occupied town in the States. It is a beautiful town with a mixture of traditional wooden single-story houses and enormous fine brick built buildings. | ||
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The major building was undertaken by Flaggler who went to St. Augustine for his honeymoon and liked the town and area so much, that he decided that it was an ideal area for his rich friends to take a holiday. Amongst others he built an impressive hotel which today is Flaggler College. |  |
Thursday, 7 March 1996
Spent most of the day at Computer City, eventually buying a modem and trying to get the acoustic coupler working using their in store phone - still no success.
Friday, 8 March 1996
We are now in St. Augustine which has miles of wide flat beaches, so long walks have been the order of the day. The sand is firm, so it is possible to drive cars for miles on the beach so guess what, we did the same and it is quite an experience. The weather has changed in the last 24 hours, having had hot days and warm nights for the last week or so, yesterday we were put under a tornado watch and it turned very black and then we had heavy rain.
***Weather***
The temperatures have dropped from yesterdays 80F to today’s 50F and tonight it will be less than 30F. For this part of the world that's cold.!
Saturday, 9 March 1996
Replacement acoustic coupler arrived but still did not work. However spent some time playing with various setting and finally - success. We can now send and receive Email from most pay phones. This made George's day.
Sunday, 10 March 1996
It rained all day with strong winds gusting up to 50mph. We did some shopping, watched the rough sea but spent most of the day writing letters to send back home. Acoustic coupler worked for the second day running!
Monday, 11 March 1996
Cloudy windy. Mail package arrived but nothing of interest. Went to Jacksonville and purchased the Map & Go route planning CD for the computer,which seemed to work well when we plotted out our next trip to Carrabelle FL.
Our car insurance company are chasing for an experience letter from our UK insurers. Phoned June who offered to chase for us.
Tuesday, 12 March 1996
Waited until early afternoon in case our missing mail arrived. Unclear if our mail box service had made a mistake or if the mail had got lost in the post. Moved on to Perry near the Florida pan handle. Good run on quiet and very straight roads. Stayed for one night at West Gate Motel and camp ground. Nice site spoilt by the view - a recycling plant!
Wednesday, 13 March 1996
Travelled from Perry for 85 miles to near Carrabelle. When we stopped for coffee at a beach side lay-by we noticed an RV site overlooking the sea. Decided to stay for two days, going for a long walk along a deserted beach. Along the beach were the stumps of large trees forming weird shapes. Beach erosion over the years is slowly destroying the forest along the coast line. Thanks to June the experience letter has arrived and is OK, so policy is being issued and should arrive at our mail box in 5 to 10 days.
Just heard on the news about the shooting at the Scottish nursery school, how awful. Even over here where this sort of thing is more common, it was the main news item.
The first service for the RV was due at 3,000 miles so off we drove to Bill's Lube. Over here they have specialist service bays to do oil and filter changes. We drove into the service bay with just two inches to spare as we are 11 foot ten inches high. The service took only 15 minutes with three people working on it at the same time. The service included checking gearbox, rear differential, brake fluid, power steering, washer, battery, cooling levels; checking air cleaner, greasing and washing the wind screen as well as changing the oil and filter; the whole service only cost £24.00 including oil and filter, which we thought was excellent value. (It also kept George's hands clean!)
Gas (petrol) consumption is as we expected about 6.8 miles per gallon, so when we fill up we normally need 60 to 70 gallons! and fifteen minutes. The RV weight is about 9 tonnes and with the car in tow we are about 55 feet long.
Thursday, 14 March 1996
Had a 2 miles walk along the beach just after breakfast, the sea was very calm. Brilliant white sands and blue sky. We then went food shopping and a drive further along the coast. Returned to camp and started talking to a lady who originally came from Epsom but now lives in Michigan, where they run a bed and breakfast place. They gave us their name and address in case we get anywhere near them.
Friday, 15 March 1996
Left campground about 10.15am to make our way westward towards Pensacola (157 miles).
Journey went very well right along the Mexican Gulf coast through Panama City but we came to a complete halt for an hour and a half in Destin. The road was blocked off by police and fire engines; apparently someone had planted a large bomb outside the house of somebody they had a grudge against. Eventually we were all diverted around the area and were on our way again, after a two hour delay. The campground called Navarre Beach camp is quite busy - we were put next to a couple from Texas (Larry and Lydia) and they invited us to eat with them tomorrow evening.
Saturday, 16th March 1996
Did the laundry and then drove to Pensacola - George wanted to get paper and colour cartridge for the printer. After driving around and around we eventually came across the right store! Valerie got some new shorts and top. We had a delicious steaks and jacket potatoes this evening which Larry BBQ'd. They own a second hand car business and travel around attending car auctions. They invited us to go to Birmingham, Alabama with them for a couple of days on Monday and to meet some of their friends.
Sunday, 17 March 1996
St. Patrick’s Day and Mothers’ Day. We went out to lunch with the Texans who knew of an Irish Pub in Pensacola which was full of people obviously celebrating in style. The pub was festooned with thousands of one dollar bills which people over the years have signed and stuck on the walls and ceiling. We got back to the campground and found a note pinned on the door saying that there were two English couples camped near us. We went over to see them - they had emigrated to America 40 years ago from the Lewisham area They go back to England every few years.
Monday, 18 March 1996
Left campground at 10am ahead of Larry and Lydia and took the preferred route recommended by the computers "Map n Go". Arrived 3 hours later at Pelham, which is just south of Birmingham, Alabama, just before the sky darkened and we were surrounded by a terrific electric storm which lasted a couple of hours. The television was also giving out tornado warnings in the area! We managed to go out later for a meal.
Tuesday, 19 March 1996
George went off at 9.30am with Larry and his mate Charlie to look at second hand cars for their business. After the laundry had been done Lydia and Valerie went to the local shopping mall which was the largest she had seen so far. Managed to spend a bit.
Wednesday, 20 March 1996
George went out at 9am with Larry to experience a car auction. There were ten lines of cars being auctioned off at once! We had lunch out for a change and then in the evening they came into our RV for a drink and chat. We exchanged addresses and they told us to contact them if we ever needed help or if we were in their area - southern Texas.
Thursday, 21 March 1996
Travelled 320 miles from Pelham AL to Bay St. Louis near Gulfport, Mississippi. On this occasion we used the main roads which had fairly light traffic for most of the way. Worst camp site and most expensive so far. Dirty, untidy, and we are surrounded by sheds, mobile homes and a number of roads and tracks. Arranged to meet Sikko tomorrow and visit the factory, that is after changing campgrounds.
Friday, 22 March 1996
Moved from KOA to Five Star Resort at Pass Christian, MS at Sikko's suggestion, however the campsite is part of The Presidents group which sell sites to campers. So we are expected to attend a 90 minute selling presentation at some point. Met Sikko and visited the (new to Philips) Regina factory, which has a good layout but with a low order book the future does not look too bright. Sikko and family then came to see our RV.
Saturday, 23 March 1996
Went to Walmart Super Centre for shopping in the morning and then Sikko came to pick us up and take us to his house which they are renting at Diamond Head. It is a very large bungalow in an area with two golf courses and a private air strip. Their baby-sitter arrived at 7pm and they then took us out for a nice meal at a fish restaurant.
Sunday, 24 March 1996
We made an early start in the car for New Orleans which is about 60 miles from our campground. We parked very near the French Quarter ($10 a day) and went to the nearest cafe for elevenses (also expensive) being a lot like Paris. Lots of jazz bands were playing in the streets and cafes. Street entertainers started in the afternoon. The market was also very interesting selling local produce, including Cajun spices and the like. Watched the Mississippi steamboats departing and then went on the riverside trams.
Monday, 25 March 1996
Woke up about 5am to a very loud storm raging with torrential rain. We had to take the RV to Express Lube for an oil change, luckily by which time it had stopped raining. We then moved to a new site called San Beach Park - we will here until our mail arrives.
Tuesday, 26 March 1996
Woke up to heavy rain again which did not stop until early afternoon. Rang Olga but the mail still had not arrived! Means another night here. Went to have a look in one of the many Casinos along the front - lots of people putting their money into slot machines.
Wednesday, 27 March 1996
We awoke to find a soggy wet carpet - it had poured hard all night and unbeknown to us our so called "Fantastic fan" which is meant to close the vent in the roof when it rains, had not worked. Tried to blot the carpet dry but in the end George had to take it all up and direct the fan heater onto it. Not a good start to the day but at least the mail arrived at 0lgas which we went to collect and stayed for a cup of tea. She is worried about the future of the new Philips factory and the security of Sikko's job.
Thursday, 28 March 1996
Moving to Natchez today and after George made several phone calls about our still missing car licence plates (tags) we left about 10.30am for the fairly straight forward journey north up the Mississippi. Arrived at the Plantation Park about 4pm. Very nicely laid out camp with lots of trees and shrubs. Girl in office gave us a lot of information about local things to see.
Friday, 29 March 1996
It is Spring Pilgrimage time here when people come to see the azaleas and tour round the old and very large plantation houses. There is also a Confederate pageant which we went to and enjoyed seeing how the Southerners used to live prior to the civil war. George was sitting next to a local lady who gave him all the inside information about the people taking part! Left the auditorium about 10.30pm to be greeted by another of their very loud storms.
Saturday, 30 March 1996
Several of the big motor homes had already left when we got up this morning - guess the Canadians are on their way home again now that their winter is nearly over. Decided to go to the local POW WOW which is held once a year in Natchez on the site of a ceremonial ground of the now extinct Natchez tribe; they were wiped out by the French invaders. A lot of people there were of apparent Indian descent (some Cherokee) and were selling craft work and a lot of silver and turquoise jewellery which Valerie quite fancied. At 12 noon they started their ceremonial dancing and chanting to drums, they must have felt pretty hot in their colourful blankets. (It was very warm and humid). We left about 1.30pm but the activities were continuing until 9pm. Went back to campground and George started to rewire the lights on the car because he does not consider them to be bright enough when being towed!
Sunday, 31 March 1996
Finished off the wiring and we left Natchez about 11am to travel just a short distance (90 miles) to Vicksburg, also on the Mississippi and site of one of the big Civil War battles. Had previously booked to stay at the Isle of Capri RV park which is owned by one of the many casinos in the area. Several the American Eagle and Provost RVs are here which cost in excess of $300,000 (£200,000) plus they tow the American Jeep type of cars! Discovered we have a free phone hook up to the RV and made the most of it by making several calls home. Visited the Casino in the evening and played the slot machines without any success. Left them all to it after about an hour. >>>