Normally, itchy feet for an RVer refers to being ready to roll on down the road to the next campground. For me (this year), the phrase means that plus healing from my broken ankle.

Since I’m committed in this area for an undetermined amount of time, I can’t really look forward to hitching up and pulling out. So, I took the next best option and drove across the state to visit the Tampa RV Super Show. I guess that’s a vicarious pleasure for a stationary RVer. I’d been thinking about getting a different type of RV for awhile so the show was a good place to do some research. The type I was interested in is a Super C. No problem. I spotted a great looking Super C within a few minutes and headed straight for it. It certainly looked big enough to fulltime in and tow a decent vehicle behind it. Then I noticed the price tag. Wow!! It was marked down for the show to $465k. List price was over $500k. Hmmm, I probably need to start buying lottery tickets again.

After that I stuck more to my price range and looked at the towables. In the last few years, they’ve definitely made some changes in standard features and options. I still may need to buy those lottery tickets though to get all the options I want, then maybe a bigger truck to tow it.

Now for the other meaning of itchy feet. In December, I had my last ortho appointment and the doctor announced that I was at maximum medical improvement. I guess in English that means ‘you’re as good as you’re going to get’. Over the last 3 months, it seemed like I could feel the bone mending. It wasn’t painful, just a sensation in the spot where the break occurred. Well, I’m still feeling that sensation and there’s still some swelling in the ankle. Maybe there’s still some improvement going on. I sure hope so. In the meantime, I’ll keep exercising without going overboard and trying to lose more weight to take it a little easier on those joints.

Well, it’s over for me and a lot of other seasonal workers anyway. I left MN a week ago so I could get to Campbellsville KY on time to start my next job.

It was a strange season for the harvest, at least for me. First, the start of the harvest was delayed due to warm temps. Then we got to work for a day and went into another hold for snow. The rest of the season was very slow due to wet and cold conditions. As of today, they’re still trying to finish the harvest but the farmers may have to resort to collecting crop insurance. Even if enough people stay to work, Mother Nature may have the last say.

So, I had an uneventful drive to IN to visit family. It was a little dicey driving around the twin cities in MN since it was the tail end of rush hour, rainy, dark, construction zones and several Interstate merges. I stayed at Caboose Lake Campground in Remington IN again, always a nice place to stay. The owner was testing her customers by putting a special line in the campground rules. I caught it and was only the 6th person this year to claim a 10% discount in the store for reading the rules.

Finished the drive to KY and got into my campsite. I was catching up on some computer stuff when I noticed another 5th wheel backing into the site next to me. A little while later I went outside and discovered damage to my kayak racks. After surveying the situation I decided that the neighbors must have hit it. I knocked on the door and explained the situation to the wife. She assured me that they couldn’t possibly have hit my kayak or racks and invited me to inspect the rear of their RV. We both walked back there and discovered a 1 ft gash in the endcap, at the exact same height as my kayak rack. What a surprise!! We’re dealing with insurance now for repairs.

Just started training with Amazon this week but it doesn’t look terribly difficult. Can’t wait to get back to warm weather in FL.

Well, for the second time here at Patrick AFB famcamp I’m back in the field dry camping. That’s not quite as bad as it sounds since the bathhouse and laundry are just a short walk away. But it can get interesting. I needed to print out a shipping label today. Hmmm, printer works off 110v but I only have 12v in the rig. I could cart the printer and laptop down to the laundry and plug in there, or I could take both out to the truck and use the 400w inverter in the cigarette lighter. Wait! I have a 12v outlet at the computer desk. Voila! Reposition the truck in front of the 5er, hook up umbilical and leave truck running to recharge RV battery. Bring inverter inside, plug into 12v outlet, then plug printer into inverter. Hold breath, turn on printer. Works like a champ. Print shipping label, go to post office. Another satisfied customer of Symptom Tracker Software.

Other than that, I’ve pretty much been acting like I’m tent camping. Lights and heat are provided by candles and headlamps. I do have the frig running on propane and enough water in the fresh water tank for late night toilet flushes and a little dish washing. But at least I stay dry and have an actual bed to sleep in at night. Life is good. Hopefully only 8 more days, then I move to a partial hookup site.

For those who haven’t gotten the change of plans for this summer, I’ll be working just north of Bryson City NC at Deep Creek Campground. With any luck I’ll find time to wander down to NOC and see what they have to offer, maybe 1 trip to Helen GA for a fudge run. 🙂

Last weekend I got to backpack with friends near Lorida, Florida (not a typo). From the first trailhead, we had a leisurely 2.5 mile hike to the Hickory Hammock campsite. The trail and campsite were well maintained but the weather was hot and sunny, about 82 degrees. Even though most of the hike was in the shade, there was still a lot of sweating. There was a water pump near the campsite (non-potable) but we only used it for cleaning dishes. We did find an interesting sight after dark – Carolina wolf spiders. They were all over. The way we first noticed them was by shining our headlights on the ground. They have 2 eyes that reflect light – like little diamonds. 3 of my co-hikers decided to walk away from camp that night to watch the full moon rise over the prairie. After arriving at their destination, they all turned off their headlights. Soon after the headlights came back on, when someone heard a raccoon charging towards them.  The rest of the night was uneventful but the following morning brought rain. Fortunately, we’d already packed all our gear and mostly finished breakfast. The rain lasted about 2 hrs into our hike so it wasn’t that bad. We took a break at an equestrian center that had a large covered pavilion and composting toilets. That’s downright luxurious to a backpacker. While on our break we got to watch a red shouldered hawk for a while. For the remainder of the hike, we also spotted wild pigs, a crested caracara, a fairly large gator and the usual assortment of vultures, herons, egrets, and osprey. We took another break at the next trailhead and replenished supplies for our second night in the wild. While there, a visiting French backpacker stopped to chat on his way through. He started in the Keys and was averaging 20-22 miles a day (our total mileage for 2 days was probably 14), including hiking after dark in the Everglades with only his headlight. He was definitely on a mission to complete his hike before returning home. We continued on to the next campsite and found the trail in pretty bad shape. It hadn’t been cleared in awhile and was poorly marked. I think we found the campsite by accident and it wasn’t very appealing. By majority vote, we hiked back out to the car. The plan at that point was to drive to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park and camp one more night. Unfortunately, the campground was full so we all returned to our respective homes.