Tampa 2014 Trip: Final push for home (Day 16, 1/19/2014)

Return to winter

We slept well and warm last night. The temperature outside is about 30 F, with an inch of snow, but inside the furnace kept the camper at a comfortable and quiet 60 F. After coffee at Duke’s and breakfast at another Cracker Barrel, we push for the last few hours, arriving home about 11:00am to 20 F and 3 inches of snow. After a two-week adventure in the new camper, it is fine to return to winter and home.  

Tampa 2014 Trip: Cruising back into winter (Day 15, 1/18/2014)

Winterized and ready to head north

We head out at 7:30AM before the free waffles and coffee, having dumped all our tanks before heading north. We stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, deciding to forego breakfast at the Jekyll Island Club or other resorts closer to the coast. The flat, coastal waterways, rivers, and meadows off to the east look peaceful and inviting, but we are anxious to make time. I drive six hours while Mike catches up on emails and work.  We stop about 4:00pm at Shelton Vineyards just into North Carolina to stretch our legs, enjoy the vistas over the hills planted with grapevines, and share a wine tasting. Mike takes over driving. I read to him a while and then we listen to Spectrum on Sirius XM. As we cross into Ohio, a driving snow has started and the temperature has plummeted.  About 10:00pm we stop at a Duke Truck Stop, use their bathroom and sleep in the parking lot. 

Tampa 2014 Trip: Heading north (Day 14, 1/17/2014)

It is in the 30’s this morning, but projected to reach the 60’s by afternoon. We show the campers to two customers, do a quick last tour of the Class B’s we want to see, and set out for Cleveland about 1:00pm. It is slow going on Route 4 East through Orlando. We camp about 7:30pm at the Jacksonville/St. Mary’s KOA just over the Florida line into Georgia. The hosts here are friendly and warm, inviting us to free waffles and coffee in the morning. The evening is beautiful under the tall pines with dazzling stars and almost full moon. I wish we had time to explore Amelia Island and the other islands and coastal waterways around here. 

Tampa 2014 Trip: A day of firsts (Day 13, 1/16/2014)

I shower in the motor home for the first time! Although I am careful not to use much water, thinking “bird bath” as one customer described it, the water is hot and the pressure is good.  Even the cleanup is easy. I’d rate this experience an A+. We are busy most of the day showing the RVs to potential clients. At the end of the day, I get to tour some of the show and enjoy seeing the other Class B campers. For dinner, we are joined by Rob, one of our cabinets makers who drove down to Florida separately, and we go back to Ybor City, finally getting into the famous Columbia Restaurant, established in 1905 to serve the Cuban cigar makers working in the factories set up here. We share the 1905 salad made at our table and enjoy the Cuban/Spanish fare. The restaurant itself is amazing: spread over a city block, it is packed with customers and the hundreds of industrious staff weaving between tables carrying trays aloft in an amazing choreography.  It is decorated with colorful tile; plaster arches, columns, and statues; and pictures of the family owners, now fifth generation. In the background we hear the Flamenco music from the floorshow in the next room. 

Tampa 2014 Trip: Meeting with clients (Day 12, 1/15/2014)

Brittany, who is staying in a hotel, meets us at the campground for a short run and early tour of the RV show. It is a sunny, crisp morning. Brittany has lined up several customers to see the Advanced RV motor homes today so we spend most of the day talking with them and demonstrating the features of the RV. As usual, they have great questions and good ideas for their own designs. One couple joins us for our return to Ybor City for dinner at Acropolis, a good Greek restaurant.



With friends at the SuperShow



 

Tampa 2014 Trip: Arriving at SuperShow (Day 11, 1/14/2014)

We leave our friends’ Sarasota home and about 4:00pm check into our campsite at the Tampa RV SuperShow.  We camp in the show’s campgrounds next to another Advanced RV motor home, owned by Bob, and we two Class B’s are surrounded by a sea of Class A’s.  We only have an electrical connection here, so we will be careful with our water supply. Mike, Brittany (our main sales person), Bob and I head to Ybor City and enjoy a good Middle Eastern dinner at Istanblu Restaurant.

Tampa 2014 Trip: Enjoying the oasis (Day 7, 1/10/2014)

Eating at Café Croissant

We start the morning with a senior yoga class in the campground and then bike down to Café Croissant where we enjoy cappuccino and a delicious spinach quiche. We take a two-hour bike ride on the Pinellas Trail, along with other bikers and walkers.  The smell of the bougainvillea overhanging the trail is delightful. We pack up and leave this oasis, heading to meet friends for lunch in Sarasota and move out of the camper into their home until we head to Tampa on Tuesday for the RV show.  

Tampa 2014 Trip: Rain, rain, go away (Day 6, 1/9/2014)

Lots of counter space!

It is raining so we sleep in. Mid-morning, we go for an easy run/walk on the Pinellas County Fitness Trail and stop in Anytime Fitness for an hour workout. In the strip mall next door we discover Café Croissant, a tiny French cafe where we have homemade soup and delicious French rolls. Finally, it has stopped raining and it has warmed up. We swim at the campground pool and bask in their hot tub. For dinner I microwave soup and make a salad, enjoying the long countertop in the camper, without the stovetop chopping up the space.

Tampa 2014 Trip: Exploring St. Petersburg, Florida (Day 5, 1/8/2014)

At the Dali museum in St. Petersburg, Florida

It is still only 40 degrees, windy and grey. We stay cozy in our camper in the morning and then meet a friend and his wife for lunch in downtown St. Petersburg. They give us a quick tour of the downtown. We enjoy the Dali museum, discovering that the wife of the couple who founded this museum was from Cleveland and they saw their first Dali painting at the Cleveland Museum of Art. We walk around the harbor and duck into the beautiful Vinoy RenaissanceResort for a drink. We stay for dinner, enjoying the “early bird special.” 

Tampa 2014 Trip: Practically balmy (Day 4, 1/7/2014)

Our motor home

We linger at our friends’ home, catching up on emails, and set out about 11:00 am. We head for St. Petersburg, where the temperature is only 45 degrees—but still the warmest location within a few hour’s drive. We settle into the St. Petersburg/Madeira Beach KOA and hike on the Pinellas County Fitness Trail, built over an old railroad bed. We get four miles in, but it is still cold and windy.

Tampa 2014 Trip: In out of the cold (Day 3, 1/6/2014)

From the road, we call friends near Gainesville, Florida and are invited to spend the night there. It is good to get out of the cold. We enjoy spreading out in their beautiful home, sharing a leisurely dinner, and watching the Florida State vs. Auburn football game. 

Tampa 2014 Trip: Not so warm in the south (Day 2, 1/5/2014)

Selfie: reflection on side of the RV

For breakfast, we microwave our leftover enchiladas from yesterday’s lunch, add hard boiled eggs, and set out about 8:00am Central Time. We meet a potential client and enjoy talking with him about the new features of the 2014 Advanced RV.

 

We then head for Chattanooga to visit my nephew, his wife Lynda, and their four kids. Lynda texts us that the temperature in Chattanooga is predicted to drop to 0 Fahrenheit with three inches of snow. We decide to meet them for lunch and keep moving south. We stop for the night at a KOA in Forsyth, Georgia, north of Macon. We walk, all bundled up, through the camp under the pine and pecan trees. It gets down to freezing overnight.

Tampa 2014 Trip: The Big Freeze-up (Day 1, 1/4/2014)

Last night the Advanced RV team completed the 2014 model that we have been calling “Mzungu,” the Swahili word for one who wanders aimlessly, originally referring to the white explorers searching for the source of the Nile. Our aim is to head south, out of the Cleveland cold, ending up at the Florida RV SuperShow in Tampa, which starts January 14.



This exposed outlet pipe from fresh water
tank is possibly where the system froze up

This morning, as we pack up and head out at 6:30am, it is 12 degrees Fahrenheit with a stiff wind. We think the motor home is sufficiently insulated to keep the water system from freezing up before we get to warmer temperatures. But, two hours into the trip, with temperatures still in the teens, we realize that water won’t come out of either the kitchen or bathroom faucets. Another hour later, I see that the rugs are soaked and our toiletry bags, stored on the floor of the bathroom, are floating in four inches of water. The water is sloshing over the lip of the bathroom floor into the hall, while the bathroom faucet is dripping slowly. Apparently, I left the faucet on when I checked it the first time; when the water thawed, our 40 gallons of fresh water overflowed the grey tanks, which then backed up to flood the RV. 

Mike pulls over quickly and tries to open the grey water tank, but the valve is frozen. We frantically grab the plastic waste-basket, and I start I bailing out the, passing the bucket outside to him. After a few quick relays, we start laughing. We sponge the water out of the hall rugs with our bathroom rug and paper towels. The floor underneath is fine. 

Warm running lights on a cold night for camping

About 1:00pm., we meet Mike Wendland—a prolific Class B RV lifestyle writer and blogger—and his wife, Jennifer, for lunch at a good Mexican restaurant off I-75 south of Lexington, Kentucky. I think my Mike is not going to tell him about the flood, but well into lunch, he gets Mike W. to swear not to blog this story. They discuss all the factors that might have contributed to this problem: not enough heat in the back of the coach (the heat was cranked up in the front), the wind chill factor on the pipes and tanks underneath, not enough antifreeze in the tanks, the outlet valves being wet from testing and then freezing. Thankfully, they gloss over my leaving the bathroom faucet on. 

We camp just over the Kentucky border into Tennessee at Standing StoneState Park.  It is late and we are tired. We eat crackers and cheese and a couple beers.  We have no water, but the campground bathroom is fine and well heated.  We stay warm and comfortable all night.