Roadrunner Days - First Day in Fort Walton Beach Area

We were in no rush to leave Pensacola and got underway about 8:30.  Instead of taking a direct route to Fort Walton Beach on Highway 98, we opted to head north a few miles to catch I-10.  There was much less congestion this route.

We made it to Eglin AFB FamCamp about 11:00 and picked a spot on the water at Postal Point.  We have been here before and like it.  We laid out all our stuff and got set up and hit the Power Button the satellite controller box to get it set up.

Hmmm.  It tried to lock on for about 35 minutes and we closed it down, unplugged it and fired it up again.  Sadly, this is a recurring theme.  It has trouble locking on when we move locations.  After working with it for about an hour or so, it usually locks on.  It did not do so at Pensacola, but we had cable at the campground so we did worry about it.

The view at Postal Point is outstanding.  One of our favorite spots anywhere.  The only downside is there are no sewer hookups.  The dumpstation is 200 yards away so it is completely manageble.

Next, we drove over to the main campground where the office is located and dropped off our self registration forms.  Curiously, the office does not answer the phones.  Maybe we just don't catch them at the right time but we also did not find anyone here at the office over the Labor Day weekend.  Something is broken here...?

After we got that done, we drove out to Crestview which is about 30 minutes away.  Our goal was to find someone to talk to at MyRVmail.com.  We are still thinking about becoming FL residents even though it is a little more costly than being residents of SD.  I have an overdue action item in my mind to update my spreadsheet comparing costs for setting up domiciles in SD, TX and FL.

Right now we are thinking if we do that, it would not happen until next year around Sep/Oct since we have already registrered our vehicles in SD.  That reistration is good until next November.

We got the information we needed, talked to a friendly person and walked next door to Passport America.  We had no idea Passport America resided here in Crestview.  We have been members since we started out seven years ago.  And...

We found out the owner of Passport America started MyRVMail and this son now owns the mail business.  We had no idea they were related.  And to have two successful businesses - very interesting!

Our day got more interesting...
Next we went to a car wash, got that done, got back on the road, pulled up to a red light and waited. Then Whamo!  A couple of minutes later we got rear ended!  And we bumped the car in front of us. No one was hurt (although my neck was sore for a couple of days).  I called 911, three police cars showed up and moved us over to a parking lot.

We called USAA, gave information to the policeman and talked with the other two drivers.  The guy behind us pulled up to us, then thought the traffic moved and floored it! He said it was all his fault and we all agreed.  He was a in his early 20's, well mannered and apologetic.  Since no one was hurt, we were able to determine our car (which had the most damage) was drivable.  After an hour, we were back on our way.

That was how we started the weekend in the Fort Walton Beach area.  We have lots to do and we are going to enjoy it here as we work through this.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!