Monthly Archives: January 2013

Back to overflow at Patrick AFB

Ahhh, another lovely moving day here in sunny Florida. They have a rotation policy here in this military campground. If you’re on a partial or full hookup site and there are other people on a waiting list, you can only stay on that site for 30 days. My 30 on a partial hookup site was up this morning so I got to swap spots with someone in the improved overflow. So, the morning started with gathering up the outside stuff (bike, kayak, racks, etc) and tossing it all in the back of the truck to put on the new site. Then back to the RV, finish securing stuff inside, disconnect utilities, bring in slides, hook up and head for the dump station. Wish I’d had more time at the dump station to flush the black tank real good but it was good enough for a few weeks in overflow.

I said ‘improved’ overflow because they’ve added electricity since my last visit. My new site was very narrow, just barely long enough for the RV, the power pedestal was too far forward and there was an electric panel on the door side of the RV. Oh, and it was angled so I had to back in from the blind side. With the help of a couple of neighbors, I got situated OK in about 15 minutes. I had to make several adjustments so that I could still open one of my storage compartment doors and the big slide would have room to clear the electric panel. When all was said and done, my RV door opened on to fairly new sod instead of the concrete patio but I can live with that. Dakota is happy that it was such a short move.

I’m back on the waiting list, this time for a full hookup site. That will really be nice to have sewer again. I’ll probably be here in overflow for 2-3 weeks. After my move to a FHU site, some of the other RVers should start traveling again so I may be able to sit there until I head back north. I’m also much farther away from the bath house in my new site so I’ll be getting more exercise walking back and forth.

♫♪Back on the water again ♪♫

I woke up this morning, looked out the window and decided to put the kayak in the Banana River for a paddle. Weather conditions were overcast with a light breeze, perfect for a speed paddle across the river and back. I was almost all the way across when I noticed a large flock of birds overhead flying north. I couldn’t identify them but ruled out geese or duck since I didn’t hear any honking or quacking. They were flying in sloppy V formations but what made them really stand out was their sheer numbers. This flock took well over a minute to pass by and I’m guessing it was about 1/2 mile from start to end. Before my paddle was finished I saw 3 other flocks of similar size, all heading in the same direction. While I was watching one of these flocks I also caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. 3 dolphins had snuck up on me and were just cruising past looking for their breakfast. One of these days I’ll figure out how to signal a dolphin to turn around and inspect my kayak. All in all, a pretty good way to start the day 🙂