Back in the Saddle

Well after the November debacle with the aborted run to Auburndale for the Smash 'em, Crash 'em, destructo derby, we finally got back out there as the holidays are well behind us.

I basically just replaced all three batteries to get us up and in service again, but still need to go through the whole electrical system, especially since the Solar Panel is throwing an error code. Although the house batteries are topped up, she was plugged into shore power, so not sure the solar is doing what it is supposed to (currently not connected to shore to test this out).

Having inherited my father's Celestron 8 and getting a small taste last January in the Kissimmee Prairie I thought I try again this winter.  Well even in November when I booked the spot, I got the LAST site for this past weekend, and the new moon weekend for February was booked out completely.   I think the word is out on our little secret state park...

With the holidays, work, my graduate coursework, etc. etc, I haven't really been putting the time into the coach that she needs.   As we are doing a long haul in August 2017, there is lots to be done before then and this weekend reminded me of the list of to-dos.   First of all while she drives great, she feels kind of bogged down and the gas mileage on this trip was 5.5 mpg which is far from the 9ish mpg she was getting a year ago.   A few posts ago, the distributor needed a new module, and somehow the timing or something isn't quite right now.  It was getting about 4, so advancing the timing helped a bit, but there is more to it as I'm putting out alot of black soot (unburnt fuel) too.

Now for the fun part!   I took a half day of work Friday and 'hoped' to be on the road by 1PM.  Well 2:30PM was more like when we left, then had to make 2 stops.  I had hoped to get out early enough to visit Sirum GMC in Okeechobee.  Mostly just to meet the folks and check out their operation as I drive by it all the time anyway.   Well, no time this trip as I wanted to be onsite before the big ball of fusion dropped out of sight.

Special guest Co-Pilot Ted E. Bear

On the way out of town on the Beeline Hwy, there was some construction and one of the 3 ft tall Orange cones and fallen into the lane.  I was slowed down to about 35-40 and hit it.  I heard a metallic noise that didn't sound very good.  I had my daughter stick her head out the vent window and she said the wheel flare in the rear was flapping.  I had to drive about 2 miles before there was a safe place to pull over (two lane blacktop).   First thing I noticed when I opened the door was my step was gone.

Yep, it's supposed to be right there under the door.  There was a piece left that I removed (before the pic) as I didn't want to rip my shins open on the jagged edge.  Luckily the the step was cast aluminum so it broke off fairly cleanly.  I feel REALLY LUCKY as my exhaust is intact and the tires did not get punctured.  Just out of frame above the water fill and outlet is a nice orangey smudge from where the cone must have flown up.  A quick roadside check over everything, and some tie wraps to secure the wheel flare (middle bolt got pulled through and was rubbing the rear tire) and we were back on our way.....

I did stop at the very same gas station where I was stranded back in November.  I pulled in next to the lawnmower man and he LOVED the coach.  I felt confident and sure enough she fired right up after taking on fuel.

We got to the park entrance at 5:15PM and right away saw the wife of a ranger that I spoke to alot last year.   I rolled down the gravel road (freshly graveled I might add)  and saw the ranger at the turn toward the campsites.  He waved and hollered at us and said he was working all weekend and we'd catch up.

As I pulled into our camp loop, I immediately recognized the Class C 4WD motorhome of the campground host from last year.  She saw us and was on our site before I even had us backed in all the way.  She was happy to see us and had just arrived the day before!   It was like homecoming!

As the week had progressed, the weather forecast kept getting worse and worse for astronomy.  It looked like our best bet was the first night, but as the sun was dropping fast, there were alot of clouds...75%+ coverage.   I hoped that it might clear up later and set about getting things all set up in the dying light as no moon and clouds meant DARKNESS would be on us soon and there aren't any lights other than what you bring.

We hopped on our bikes and headed over to the astronomy pads (open sky, no trees) and spoke with some of the other atstronmers. Nobody had great hopes for good viewing this evening, but I established ourselves, in case we might slink back later and have a peek through one of their scopes.

Back at the site, we ate our dinner and basically messed around for a few hours.  Around 9 I went out to look at the sky and while there was some stars, I could see it wouldn't last.  So I lit the campfire as the temperature was dropping fast.   At home I was sweating in shorts while loading and now it was about 50 degrees out.

 While I was setting up the fire, my daughter broke out all of the stowaways and they took over the inside of the coach.

Naturally I no sooner had a roaring fire than my daughter exclaims, "It's clear skies!"  After looking it over it was looking somewhat promising.  However, my telescope is from 1975 and completely analog. You need the North star to line it up and well it was pretty cloudy up that way.  I thought I might be able to use my phone to get things close......except I factory reset it this week and calibration is all wrong.  I'm looking at Orion and my phone has it about 90 degrees to the left.   I try to calibrate but it doesn't cooperate.....So more fire and off to bed.

Apparently insulation wasn't very good back in the 70s as I woke up  around 7 and it was 50 inside the coach (about 10 degrees warmer than outside).  When I finally got up around 8:15 the temp had come up a bit.

We ate breakfast and I took a couple of pics of the site.

That 40ft Allegro next to us made me feel tiny.   As it was a beautiful but cold and windy day, we set off on a bike tour of about 5 miles.  First we stopped at the park office and met up with the cool park ranger who had just come back from a buggy ride and was showing folks the old homestead of early settlers in the 1920s.  The house still stands but is in disrepair and not open to the public

Off we went to pedal and see some gators and birds.

For whatever reason, I didn't take any gator shots as there were about a dozen or so in the 6-9 foot range out sunning.  My daughter did get some good shots, so maybe she'll post some of them up here.

This was near the gators as the water was still in this area and there were alot of birds around.  My daughter tried to set up an action cam on her bike to take better stills with the 50x zoom

We completed the ride and then my wife (who had to work in the morning) and some friends of ours showed up.  The weather deteriorated and was completely overcast by sunset.  We had a good fire, drinks and fun to round out the evening.

It started raining during the night and was cold wet and drizzly so we canceled the two hour buggy ride in the morning as paying to get sick didn't seem like a good thing to do.   We had breakfast, and packed up.  It was the first time I used a dump station in a park (usually waited until I got home) and that was uneventful.

To finish it out, it rained pretty much the whole way home which got all the mud off the bottom so I skipped washing when we arrived at home.  That and it was 55 and raining......

Next trip is less than a month away!