Dispatch from the Road 2026

  Wednesday May 6 2026 I don’t know why I procrastinated until the last minute, but I worked two full days getting the house ready to leave and the RV ready to transport us on another journey. It’s not like I didn’t know the trip departure date was right around the corner, I made some of our reservations back in February. Besides the normal departure check list, I had to add to our irrigation system. Besides the lawn, we irrigate our blueberry patch and flush the birdbath every morning. The new addition is for tomato plants and some flowers, both which are being grown in pots. It required its own control system because of the different water requirements. I don’t use big box store irrigation plumbing, it’s cheap junk from China and doesn’t hold up well, plus the Chinese don’t seem to adhere to any standard plumbing size. I use PEX tubing, its tough stuff and I have the tools and a stock of fittings. It just makes everything easier for me. I even fabricate my own spray heads, each s...

  Stuart to Sebring/Avon Park We decided to extend our stay here four more days to let the cold front pass over. On February 5th we departed Phipps Campground in Stuart and drove to Sebring Florida. We stayed at a new to us campground called Glenda Lake RV Park. It is an older campground but very nice, at this time of year it is mostly full of snowbirds, but they hold a few sites for travelers.  View down the street from our site at Lake Glenada We stayed in Sebring for three nights, we mostly drove around and inspected other campgrounds, looking at potential long term stays in coming winters. We did eat at the Avon Diner a local eatery we discovered in previous times here. It did not disappoint, good food at reasonable prices. good eating! On Sunday February 8th we drove to Blythe Island County Park Campground just north of Brunswick Georgia. If it wasn’t for having to go home for my eye injection, we would have stayed in Florida longer, in fact we would probably gone further...

  Phipps Campground is under the red arrow January 2026 in Stuart Florida Over the years Millie and I have spent a lot of time in Florida. We used to spend three months each winter in the sunshine state. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we’ve seen it all, but we’ve seen enough that we don’t act like tourists. We spent most of the month hear going to Planet Fitness or exploring for thrift stores. Some of the Thrift stores we went to in West Palm Beach were huge. Neither one of us bought much during our thrifting, it’s just fun looking for that big bargain. It happens sometimes, I once bought a brand new, still in the box, RV cover for our Travel Trailer for $20. It would cost $300 at any RV dealer. Planet Fitness is the same wherever you go, they are clean and mostly patronized by the same mix of people. There are never more than a few teens, and they are always there with a parent. The kid is usually out of shape, and the parent is hovering to make sure he/she is doing something othe...

  Still smiling after several expensive repairs This is the continuation of our 2025/2026 Florida trip. The earlier part is at the end of the 2025 Dispatch from the Road. January 1st, 2026 We departed Lake Saunders RV Park this morning, driving route 19 down to the Florida turnpike. For some odd reason we got on the Florida turnpike. We usually prefer country roads, and I guess I wasn’t feeling adventurous that morning. The turnpike was a no thinking route; we would not have to make any route decisions and would get off about a mile from our next campground. It was smooth sailing with light New Years Day traffic, and the 150 miles went by quickly and without incident. Little did we know the 9.5 ZF rear axle was planning an incident of it's own and soon we would be searching for a repair shop.  In 2024 with about 130000 miles on the truck, we experienced differential carrier bearing failure in New Mexico. We had it repaired in a local shop and thought we wouldn’t have to worry ...