Leaving the Keys with Mr. Murphy

 

Naples, Florida at Club Naples Rv Resort  (high 92, low 70)

 

After 3 1/2 months, we finally felt that we were ready to leave the Keys.  Every other time we’ve been there, we were very sad to leave, but I guess we finally got our fill of the Keys…..for now.   We’ll be very glad to go back next winter.

The boat is all wrapped up and waiting for our return.  It’s at a storage facility on Big Pine Key.  This year we splurged and had them cover it for us.  We have a canvas boat cover, but you can’t just throw it on and go.  You have to make sure no water will pool on the canvas, so you use ropes to make a little tent.  Then of course, it has to be tied securely for those summer storms. It’s then topped with a plastic tarp.  They said they would do all this for $75, so we jumped on that.

 

We finished packing up for our move and were ready to go.  We always breathe a sigh of relief when the slides retract, the coach engine starts and things are all good.   All was well, so the next challenge was to pull out of our site.

With some difficulty, we managed to pull forward out of our site.   We were parked close to the concrete pad in order for the slide to clear the power pedestal.  He had to pull forward until he cleared the concrete and we also had some bushes on the drivers side that needed to be considered.  We had trimmed those bushes, but evidently not quite enough.  They are on the site next to us and are planted right up to the edge of the road.  They aren’t ours, or I’d remove the ones next to the road.  They are growing over onto our side, so we feel we are within our rights to trim them.

I’m writing this mostly to remind myself of the difficulties we had getting in and out of the site.  The site is a pull  through site. You have to make a sharp left turn getting in from a curved road, and you have to clear the power pedestal pulling in and be far enough for the slides to clear it, but not on top of the concrete deck on the other side.  It’s tricky, getting in and out.  The lot was not designed for such a large rig.  It’s do-able, but we ended up driving on the concrete (and cracking it) when we pulled in. We were determined not to drive over the concrete pulling out, and we succeeded, but we’re thinking of having the concrete pad cut off about a foot on the side nearest the coach and extend it a foot on the other side.  Wonder how expensive that would be?    I guess we’ll try to get an estimate.

Anyway…..after breathing another sign of relief that we got out of the site unscathed, we proceeded to hook up the truck to the motorhome.  We got it all hooked up, but when Al went to release the driveshaft disconnect, the lever came out in his hand.   That’s NOT good!

Our new Nissan Frontier was not flat towable like our older model, so we ended up having to have a special driveshaft made. There is a lever on the drivers side that you pull to disconnect the driveshaft prior to towing.  It’s worked well for nearly two years, but yesterday something happened, so we could not tow the truck.  I would have to follow along behind Al in the motor home.  Not our favorite way to travel.

We enjoyed our last drive through the Keys.  The most beautiful island is Islamorada and we don’t get up there as often since we moved down to Cudjoe Key.  The water is always beautiful shades of blue and turquoise. 

After many bridges and a lot of pretty water, we finally got out of the Keys after about 75 miles.  We planned on fueling up at a truck stop that we have been to several times.  It’s easy to miss and you have to remember you have to exit left from the interstate whether you’re heading north or south.  Don’t you know, we ended up missing the station!   Our fuel gauge quit working on the way down, so we’re not sure exactly how much fuel we have left.  We wrote down the mileage the last time we fueled up, and we should be fine, but we would feel better with some diesel.   

We had another little incident and I had to keep an eye on my mirrors so see if the police might be chasing me.   We have a Sunpass  account with a gadget on the mirror.  It automatically charges our account when we are on a toll road.  When the truck is attached, it picks up both the coach and the truck.  Since I was driving along behind Al, and HAD NO MONEY WITH ME, I had no choice but to blow through the tolls without paying!  Of course, that’s when I realized my drivers license was in the coach.   I’m sure my license plate was photographed.  I’ll have to call them and see what I need to do.  Don’t want to get arrested!

We arrived at Club Naples Rv resort on the west coast of Florida. We’re in pull through site #J8.  It’s a nice place to spend a night and with the Passport America rate, only $20.  

We should arrive back in Tampa later today.  The nearest truck stop is 30 miles from here.   I hope we make it!