April 1, 2022 - We Made It Home

We left Roberts RV Park at 7:45 a.m. on the 31st. I was able to get out of the tight lot with the help of George Arnet. He warned us of bad weather ahead on the road but as it turned out we only had a little rain and a little wind, neither of which bothered us at all. We ate supper at the Cracker Barrel in McDonough, Georgia, and stayed on their lot for the night. We both had a good night's sleep after driving all day.

Friday morning we left McDonough at 7:15 a.m. and headed home. While there was traffic in downtown Atlanta, it moved at a regular pace so no problem. We drove through Chattanooga with major traffic but it kept moving slowly as well. Our first traffic problem was road construction traffic just north of Nashville. It took us over one and half hours to go ten miles. Totally unnecessary in my book for the work being done. The truck traffic out there is incredible. They are always talking about needing truck drivers. If they hired all the drivers they wanted the Interstates would be deadlocked!  After Nashville we sailed at the speed limit until we got north of Paducah on I-24 where we once again rain into road construction backups for twenty-five miles. Those delays cost us at least another half hour to hour.

We pulled into the driveway at 6:15 p.m. Central Daylight time. Thus we were on the road for twelve hours instead of the ten hours we planned. Needless to say we did nothing upon getting home except to empty the refrigerator. The house was 55 degrees so it took the heat pump three hours to warm the place up. 

Upon arriving home I found the cover off the gas grill and stuffed behind it. I found damage to the front of the grill in several places. There had been some very high winds on several occasions over the winter and apparently one of the winds blew an iron rocking chair nearby on the deck into the grill. Here is a picture of the dented corner and a picture of the other end to show you what it is supposed to look like.

Also the piece on the front of the cabinet on which the catches for the doors are mounted was completely blown off and laying nearby. This piece was screwed on but apparently was loose and blew off. Two of the mounting screws were missing and one was found in the cabinet.

I fixed the grill as best I could. I'm glad this wasn't a new grill. I am assuming one of my neighbors saw the cover out in the yard and stuffed it behind the grill. I haven't had a chance to check around yet.

Last summer I bought a small used mini fridge for $35.00 to use in Florida. It was working in that it was full of beer when I looked at it. I brought it to Florida and quickly found out that the thermostat didn't work right and the unit ran constantly, freezing everything inside. (Of course it didn't freeze the guy's beer.) To deal with the problem in Florida I put the fridge on a timer so that it ran half time thus not freezing things. A temporary fix. Rather than throw it out I decided to bring it home and see if I could repair it cheaply. I got online this morning and found a replacement thermostat for $9.99 on Amazon. I ordered it. We can't use an outside fridge at our RV resort next year. If I can fix it I will put it in the shed at the lake with beer and water in it for when we go out to mow, etc. If the thermostat doesn't fix it I'll recycle it and chalk it up.

It is good to be home but we are not looking forward to the days it will take to clean the RV inside and out. At Roberts RV park the sand and dirt are awful and permeate everything. Parked under oak trees the RV looks like it hasn't been washed in years as does the truck. (The car we were able to take through the car wash on a regular basis.) Fun jobs to keep me out of the bars! 

We will have a lot less to pack for Florida next year due to the rules at the new park. They do not allow outside appliances so I will not take the mini fridge nor the table it sat on. Each lot has a 10 foot by 50 foot concrete pad and there are no trees so I will not need to take any rugs to keep from dragging dirt and leaves inside. They do not allow anything out front so I gave my small lighted palm tree to David before I left and will put the larger palm tree on our deck at home for ambiance. The new park has lots of activities. I hope they will be as much fun as those at Roberts. I doubt there will ever be another "Audrey Street Vibe" for us. We will miss that for sure.

 

March 29, 2022 - Final Season Social Event - Hamburger Dinner and Dance

The last social event of the season was the "Hamburger Dinner and Dance". Kelly and I did not buy hamburger tickets because we had a couple of steaks that needed to be grilled. After dinner we went up to the pavilion for the dance which started at 7:00 p.m. Here are a couple of pictures of everyone enjoying themselves.

There was free beer as long as it lasted and the Audrey Street table decided to line their empties.

Kelly and I got up to dance to a song I thought I recognized. It ended up not being that song. In fact it was a bad song that no one ever heard of so no one got up to dance but us!

The music for the danced was provided by Wayne, who has the equipment to be a DJ. Wayne and Charlotte are from Newfoundland, are the friendliest people, and do a great job with the music.

It was a very nice ending to the snowbird season. Many of our Audrey Street friends are not coming back to this park next year for various reasons, most of which have to do with management. Those not coming back are Don and Brenda from Indiana, Don and Anita from Ohio, Dick and Electa from Ohio, Marianna from Ohio, MJ from Ohio, Tom and Joan from Pennsylvania, Annie from New Jersey, George and Sherrie from Florida, and Mike and Kelly from Missouri. It is sad to think that most of these folks we will never see again after spending the last six winters visiting and partying with them almost daily. Audrey Street will a different place. 

The park we have reserved for next year is Adelaide Shores RV Park in Avon Park, Florida. It will be a completely different experience for us. It is in the middle of the state, thus a two-hour drive in either direction to get to the beach. There are no large towns nearby so the vibe will be quite different from St. Petersburg, which has everything you need and hundreds of restaurants in close proximity. We only know one couple at the new park and they now live in a permanent trailer so they won't be part of the "RV crowd". 

Leaving Roberts RV Park we will particularly miss our wonderful Michigan friends, David and Jean, Chris and Marg, and George and Janet.  We plan on making several trips back to see them next winter.