Waiting for a rainy day

The two Thousand Trials campgrounds are about 70 miles apart in central Florida

I've been waiting for some inclement weather to write a blog posting. It didn't seem as if I had much to say and I waited for a rainy day, thinking having nothing better to do would motivate me. I'm always trying to think of something interesting to write about and sometimes that's not easy. The truth is, snowbirding is not that much different than retired life anywhere. This yearly mass migration of RV's is for the most part not seeking adventure, but simply escaping the cold winters up north.

Peace River Campground in Wauchula, part of the Thousand Trails camping timeshare

As you know Millie and I have the blog printed into a hardbound book every year and because of that I chronicle some mundane things. It's a printing of one book for our own reminiscing so don't worry, you won't get any ad's offering it for sale. Anyhow my dilemma as the author is trying to make a diary interesting for you blog readers. Sometimes when I finish a posting I think, well that's pretty boring and not something anyone would be interested in. Then I get some feedback, thanking me for writing the blog and I'm inspired to keep it going.

Anyhow, hang in there, spring has sprung, summer will be here before we know it and our trip to Canada will provide some interesting topics. 

Route for our caravan tour later this year.

As I write this we are sitting in site B24 at Orlando Thousand Trails after being gone for our mandatory seven days out. With timeshare camping after a fourteen day stay you must leave for seven, that's how they keep spaces available for the members. With the membership I have I can go park to park, meaning I must leave but can go directly to a sister campground. I can spend the whole winter bouncing back and forth between the Orlando Campground and a smaller park about 75 miles away in Wauchula.

Site B24 at Orlando TT

Millie loves the Peace River Thousand Trails campground in Wauchula. She's a country girl and is about as happy as can be when we can get a waterfront site. We spent a week in site P77 under a canopy of live oak and palm trees, our motorhome just feet from the Peace River.

Backed up to the Peace River in Wauchula

Because Peace River Campground is in a rural area with not much to do, I scheduled three projects for the week.

Project One: On nights that are cold our bathroom gets uncomfortable. This is due to the heat loss through the shower skylight and the roof exhaust fan. In the past when heat was needed we have used a small portable electric heater, but the bathroom has little floor space and there was just no good place for it. I installed a small wall unit in the vanity. It has both a 60 minute timer and an adjustable thermostat, it is just right for the space.

New heater in the bathroom

Project two: The vinyl graphics on our motorhome have deteriorated. From my observations a lot of Winnebago motorhomes from the early 2000's suffer from the same defect. While the vinyl outer surface has shrunk and cracked the adhesive is like epoxy and is near impossible to remove.

repainting a stripe

I tried adhesive removers, heat gun, rubber wheel, razor scraper, the new plastic razor blade scrapers, all to no avail. The daunting task of removal at the minuscule pace I was achieving with the aforementioned methods drove us to desperate measures. Last year we taped off the large graphics and painted them. We used exterior latex paint we had mixed at Lowes to match the original color. After we rolled the paint on with a trim roller and let it cure for several days we sealed it with acrylic floor Finish. I'm not going to sit here and tell you it looks like new but I will say we were quite impressed with how nice it looked. After a year of exposure and washing's it has no signs of deterioration so last week we did the small narrow stripe. It had the same cracked finish and was equally resistant to removal. Millie helped me tape the top and bottom edges if the stripe, all 87 feet, it ran all the way around the RV.

In case you're wondering about the floor finish we used to seal the latex paint, I will let you in on one of our maintenance secrets. Our coach exterior, like many old RV or boat finish's, after long expose to the sun oxidizes resulting in a dull appearance. Many companies sell “Miracle in a bottle” waxes, oxide removers, buffers, polishers, etc to bring the original gloss back. None of them work and any shine they do produce won't last long.

I learned of using commercial floor finish on the internet and we've used it on this motorhome as well as the previous one. With the present coach the finish has been on for three years now with no fading, yellowing, cracking or peeling. Strong detergents will mark it so after cleaning bugs off the front I re coat it. Applying the finish is very easy, no rubbing or buffing. You wipe on three thin coats with a microfiber cloth, it's that easy.

If you research online, there are several articles about it, they name the product as Red Max Pro.

It was marketed under that name at Lowes Home Improvement stores. It is now sold both at Lowes and Home Depot under the manufacturers name Zep Wet Look Floor Finish. $25 a gallon and that will last a long time.

Project three: My last project while at Wauchula was to refinish our camping sign. Funny, I just wondered why I didn't just coat it with Zep. I guess I never thought of it because I was taught to only re coat lacquer finish with lacquer. Anyhow, it had a few dings in it and the wood underneath was darkening. I didn't want to completely strip the finish because I would have lost the painted portions in the process. I lightly sanded the damaged areas and resprayed with clear lacquer. It's not perfect but like a lot of my handy work, looks great from about fifteen feet away!

Millie bought herself one of those wrist ban gadgets that monitor steps, miles, pulse, etc. In addition to her morning power walks she joined the dance exercise group at the campground. Millie and Rebecca, who also has one of the Dick Tracy devices text-ed results to each other daily. That lasted for a week or so until Millie's back started complaining. She was laid up for a couple days is now just doing the morning walks.

home made vests for the grand kids

While she was recuperating she completed a sewing project, and as usual it came out perfect. When we were in the Everglades our tour guide gave everyone a sew-on patch from the Everglades National Park. Having two of them Millie started thinking of what she could make with the patches for the New Mexico grand kids. She designed and crafted “Wilderness Vests”. Evan and Marcus are typical six year old boys and I know they will like them, especially knowing they were made by “Grandma”!

Maggie in the pool with baby bubble bath

Our dog Maggie is well, she's still terrified of the hot air balloons that pass over the campground, doesn't care for big dogs and is obsessed with playing in her swimming pool.

In another week or so we'll head towards home, I have a couple stops I'd like to make along the way, stay tuned!