Time in Tampa - Jan 2019

We've been in Tampa for a few days and are getting used to the cooler weather.  It seems when we are  in Florida for the winter, we usually find warm/hot weather and then face reality when we make our way north.

We were in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park before continuing down through the Keys to Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West for three great weeks.  (More about that in future posts).  The weather was unseasonable warm and near the high 70's and low 80's for most of our time there.  I think we may have had 2-3 rainy/windy days but on balance it was terrific.

As we moved north to Bonita Springs for a few days, the weather got cooler and here in Tampa it is in the low-mid 60's.  Last night it got down to the high 30's.  But whose complaining?  Not us!  We are glad to be here and can put on another sweatshirt or jacket.

The MacDill AFB FamCamp is a large one with a lot of moving parts.  They take reservations but also have procedures for people like us who arrive and want to stay.  Similar to the process at NAS Key West campground, since they had no sites with full hookups, we stayed in dry camping.

Gladly it was only one night.

We were notified along with 4-5 other people that spots with full hookups had opened up and we moved over there and got set up.

We have a good site pointed north.  That means we get some shade for our front door and awning in the afternoon when the sun is pointing at us from the west.  Pam noticed during our final test check before we departed Bonita Springs that our tail light is out for the coach-car brake system.  She took off the taillight and tighten up some wiring connections.  We'll know if it worked when we leave here and hook up the car to tow behind the Roadrunner.


Since we are in the Tampa area for a few weeks we made sure we visited the Tampa RV show.  I think this may be the 4th time we have attended.  This time we wanted to check out Class C's and also look up friends who were manning the Habitat for Humanity booth next to Camping World.

To our surprise, friends from a long time ago contacted us and asked about our blog to pass on to a friend and mentioned they had been to the Tampa RV show earlier in the day!  Ugh.  Not surprisingly, we did not see them.  Tampa attracts about 70,000 people during the course of the show and yesterday I think half of them were there with us!

It was fun and since our tickets are good for two days, we will return later today.  We have some Freightliner Independent Front Wheel Suspension questions (asking for a friend...)

It always interesting at these huge shows and we saw a few RV setups that are new to us.  They are pricey.  I read a piece last week that said there are 500,000 new RVers each year.  That includes everything from a pop-up to a $1M Prevost but still it is a staggering number.  No wonder getting into campgrounds is getting a little tougher?

I don't remember what version of a Class B this was (Phoenix?) but it was interesting because it had a drop down bed.  And plenty of space for a pet underneath. 🙂

On a more serious note we looked at the Jayco Redhawk and thought it has some very good features.

We need to pick some brains of you folks that have downsized.  What do we need to look for?

That's it for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Hope to see you today at the Tampa RV show!  If not, drop us a line anyway.  Thanks for stopping by.

Spending Overnight in Key Largo and on to Key West - Dec 2018

We were up early and ready to roll out of our campsite at Fort DeSoto campground in St. Pete.  It was a little tight but we went slowly and negotiated the turns fine.  We had to dump tanks so that took an extra 15 -20 minutes.  It was a fairly easy drive to catch I-275 and then I-75.

We were planning on spending the night at the Miccosukee Resort and Gaming Casino parking lot that night.  We made pretty good time even though we caught the morning traffic in Tampa and found more near Fort Myers and Naples.

About mid-morning we were talking about dry camping in the casino parking lot.  We are not big fans of casinos but many have RV accommodations or allow overnight stays.  Each of the three previous visits to Key West we have stayed at this casino.  Pam wondered out loud if there might be a campsite at John Pennekamp State Park which was another 40 miles down the road.

We called and to our surprise we were able to get the only reservation they had for the night.  We made a diesel fuel stop at our favorite Tom Thumb convenience store along the way and arrived at the state park for check-in about 2:30 PM.

We had some tree issues but were able to move the Roadrunner forward in the campsite and park it to one side so our DirecTV dish somehow missed the nearby trees.

It's always a good day when we have good wifi, a level site, cell phone service and satellite TV.  All the comforts of home.

We were parked in between three couples who were all from Quebec.  We talked with Diedre and Dianne who were a real nice couple.  They had a Monaco which they purchased in Toronto.  We compared motorhome stories and could relate to different issues we've experienced.

They were off to get some time near a sandy beach while I was setting up.  When they returned we talked some more.  They asked if I wanted to learn or improve my French? and invited me to Happy Hour with their friends.  It was nice of them but it had been a long day so I declined.

We had a great night's sleep and pulled out of our spot into an open area to connect the Honda behind the Roadrunner.  Pam noticed something in the back of the motorhome engine compartment.  I opened both doors and realized some of the insulation on the engine compartment was laying on the engine.  The insulation tape (looked like regular HVAC tape to me) had come loose.

I knew I should have at the time, but the was a little disconcerting, so I didn't take a single picture.  I was more concerned with assessing the damage.  We could not reach far enough into the compartment to cut away the portions of the insulation that were hanging down and knew that we had to access the area from inside our bedroom.

We had new carpet installed last year so it made it a little more difficult to find the four screws securing the compartment access lid from the bedroom.  We were not on a schedule so that was good.  We were able take our time and remove the large trim wood board underneath the closet door and then take out the screws.  Lifting the bed, we pulled out the lid and shined a light into the engine compartment.

We cut away three pieces that were hanging down and removed them.  There were three pieces of insulation on one side of the compartment that we cut way.  I inspected it all and didn't see any more out of place and buttoned it all up.  Later, I called Brannon at Custom RV in Red Bay and asked if there was any risk and he said we'd be OK like it was until we got it all replaced.  The bedroom closet floor was likely to be hotter than usual during our travels but we should be safe.

Another noteworthy start to our driving day.  Off we went toward Key West.  We passed through Key Largo, Islamadora, Marathon and the rest of the Keys on a beautiful day.

It is one of the scenic drives in America and a favorite of ours. The water is clear and blue and just what you'd expect in a tropical place.

We looked closely for hurricane damage from Hurricane Irma that hit landfall in Sept 2017.  It was pretty amazing, but we could see very little of the hurricane's effects.  We hardly saw any debris and only a couple of buildings that were damaged.  We did some a lot of new construction since our last visit to Key West in 2016.  There obviously was major destruction going on during the hurricane.  The cleanup was a testament to the hard work and ability of the cleanup crews to get it all back to normal.

Our campground is the at the Sigsbee Naval installation at Mile Marker 3.  We checked in were able to extend our original reservation through January 8, 2019.  They have 90 sites with full hookups and 310 dry camping sites.  If all the spots are taken in full hookups, we spend time dry camping until our turn comes up.  Campers get two weeks of full hookups and then rotate again to dry camping or leave.  It is very organized.

Our first order of business after we got our site was to grab some lunch at one of our favorite places:  Sandy's Cafe:

Then we went over to Island Bicycles where I rented a seven-speed hybrid with airless tires. They are solid and work surprisingly well.

The next morning I set off on one of my most favorite things to do in all our years of full-timing.  Ride my bike around the island of Key West.  I just love it.

The 13+ mile route around the island was full of memories from our previous three visits here over the last 10 years.

I took a lot of pictures and had a nice leisurely ride.

We were able to extend our stay and intend to be here for three weeks.  We are off to a great start.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

4th Cliff and Heritage Days in Scituate

We've been at 4th Cliff military campground for a few days.  We are about 1/2 way between Boston and Plymouth.

It's a great location.   We've taken a couple of day trips into Boston/Quincy and another down to Plymouth and Hyannis Port (Barnstable) on Cape Cod.

This is a return trip for us to Fourth Cliff.  Our family, along with Kirk and Susan and their two kids, camped here in tents.  It literally is on a cliff overlooking the ocean.  I remember having the best time here with them.  We walked along the beach and bought some lobsters which we cooked in a large pot for dinner.

I remember waking up and looking out of the front of our tent and watching the sun come up.  Something like this.

For some reason, I don't remember the marsh and river behind us that is also very beautiful.

The compound has a number of new cottages that are full.  It has 16 RV sights but has lost a few because of erosion.  The tip of the loop fell into the ocean last year during a storm.  We wandered over to the beach at low tide and walked around to see the damage.

The next day we took the car into the city for a day trip.  On the return, we stopped at the little village (Humarock) near our campground and peaked inside this warehouse, hoping to find some seafood.

It looked like a wholesale commercial seafood market, but we found it also sells retail.

 We opted for two lobster after we found out they would steam them for $5.  It was money well spent.

The big tanks hold almost 25,000 lobster in their busy season we were told.  Wow.

The closest town to us is Scituate (SITCH-yoo-it).  We stopped on the way back from Quincy to pick up a few things at the grocery store and we heard the town was having "Heritage Days" on the weekend.  It started on Friday night with some bands playing and "luminaria"/lights around the Scituate coastline.  

We ventured in on Saturday to see the booths and happenings.  They had the downtown area closed off so we parked in a large church parking lot a couple of blocks away.   

We found the booths and slowly made our way along some. 

The first one that really caught our interest was "Woodmont Circles".  We stopped and chatted with the vendor who was really nice.  

Lindsey does all the woodcutting and design work.  A lot of great looking offerings.  She told us all about their vacation out to Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks a couple of weeks ago.

Lots of booths

Before we left, we stopped at a booth were a candidate was running for State Representative.  He had a whole group of volunteers manning the booth and passing out cold bottles of water.

It was fun talking to these two high schoolers.

We saw all we wanted to and left after about an hour.

On the way back to our car, we saw the sign that indicated the name "Scituate" means "cold brook".  It was founded in 1636.

We love checking out small towns (18,000 pop.) in America!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Adams National Historical Park Visit

It was about a 40 minute drive into Quincy MA from our campground at 4th Cliff  MWR Campground.  We left about 9:15 AM and were in no rush since this was the only place we were going to see today.

We took the backroads and did a lot of winding around and went through some old neighborhoods before we finally ended up at the birthplaces of both John Adams and John Quincy Adams.  The buildings are in their original location and 75 feet away from each other.

My first impression was that the buildings were probably relocated and place on the same corner of the block which was a barely large enough for them.

We were surprised the buildings was closed and only "open for tours."  Hmm.  Wonder what that meant?  We rechecked our Google Maps and found we ended up at the Birth Place and not the actual Adam's National Historical Park.  

Turn's out the National Park Service Visitor Center  for the Adams National Historical Park is in an office space rental in a corner of a large building in downtown Quincy which also has a parking garage.  This was unique and different than other historical sites we've visited.  Once inside, we learned there was a trolley bus that took visitors to the birthplace site and John Adam's retirement home ("Old House at Peace field").

We were scheduled for the 11:15 bus and had some time to kill.  We saw the orientation film on the Adams and their contributions to America.  The tiny center had one display that had a lot of information.

We all boarded the trolley bus and made the 15-20 minute drive to the first stop:  the birthplace homes of John Adam's and John Quincy Adams.

Pam and I were in the front seats and at the first intersection, the driver turned to me and asked if I could tie a tie.  ?Yes, I said, I knew how to do that.  He asked if I wouldn't mind tying a 'double knot' in three ties that he handed me!  

I was glad to help and felt as if I was on some gameshow in a race against the clock.  I tied the first one, it was too short, so I retied it.  That took a few minutes.  I managed to get it the others tied, slipped them over my head and handed them back to Stanley when we pulled up to our stop.  He was from Haiti and thanked me.  It was my pleasure!  

I was glad to help and thought of all the times I watched my father and older brothers tied their ties and taught me.  Its nice to be useful.

At the first two buildings/birthplace homes, we had a young lady who really knew her stuff.  She did a great job of giving us a history lesson.  

In 1735, John Adams was born in the smaller home.  Years later he married Abigail Smith and they moved into the larger home/farmhouse next door.  They had four children one of which was John Quincy Adams, born in 1767.  John Adams was our second President, John Quincy Adams our sixth President.

John Adams was quite an accomplished statesman, serving as the first Vice President under George Washington and later becoming the second President of the United State.  He collaborated with Samuel Adams, served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, and assisted in drafting the Declaration of Independence.

After an hour, we boarded the trolley bus again and went over to the Old House, also know as Peacefield.  After John Adams served as ambassador to England, he and wife Abigail purchased the Vassall estate and 40 acres.  They moved into it in 1787 and over the next 12 years made additions.
After failing to win re-election in 1801, Adams returned to the Old House where he resumed farming and writing.

We got another really good Park Ranger for our tour.  Very interesting and informative.

Abigail furnished the house in the Victorian/English style with many reminders of European influence.  She had grown accustom living in Britain while John Adams was ambassador and referred to her knew home as a wren's nest.  I

Unlike some other historical places we have visited recently, this home was furnished with many original and precious pieces.

The paneling in this room was solid mahogany.

 This was the study where Adam did a lot of writing.

In one of the back hallways, Abigail's china was on display.

Before we concluded our tour, we took a look inside the Stone Library which was separate from the Old House.  To guard against potential fire destroying his collection of books, he had a building created in 1870 which housed 12,000 volumes in his collection.

Four months before he left office, John and Abigail Adam's moved into the "President's Mansion" later know as the White House in 1800.  Abigail died in 1824 and John Adams died on July 4, 1826 - a few hours after Thomas Jefferson died.

My impression of the Historical Park changed after taking the two hour tour.  The two birthplace buildings were in their original location for us to see.  The 200 acres of Adam's property has been swallowed up by 'progress' and is now hidden among the busy streets and residential neighborhoods of Quincy.  The Visitor's Center is a bit odd.  But I'm glad we took the time to see it all.  It was better than I thought it was going to be.  I learned a lot.

That's all for this time, on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Thanks for joining us!