Right now we are sitting in Tempy at Karick Lake, a little Blackwater River State Forest campground just north of Crestview, FL., relaxing. Bruce is reading and I am blogging of course and we are listening to the rain (and thunder)
We are on our way home from Tempy's Test Trip. She has had the springs reversed and hung on new perches, bearings replaced, wheels & larger tires from the car hauler were borrowed for this trip and there is a new companion 5th wheel hitch in the back of The Truck. (That 5th wheel to gooseneck adaptor ifea was discarded). She is still not completely level when towed but much improved. Since we did not put larger wheels on her, just slightly taller tires apparently we did not get all of the expected height, but that is still under evaluation.
We drove to Pensacola Thursday to attend the 50th wedding anniversary celebration of our dear friends, Herman & Ann Parker. A good time was had by all and we wish them many more years. To avoid hotels and bring Hazel we decided to make this our Tempy Test. We stayed in their back yard for 3 nights, with water and electricity of course, remember it is Florida and has been in upper 90s so AC is a must. We even managed to get Tempy fairly level and since the accomodations were provided gratis we beggars were not too choosey.
The results: Tempy pulled easily behind The Truck, provided a continually dry environment through the daily thunderstorms (it is a typical FL summer - note I said we were listening to the rain earlier), cooled adeqately (notice I used the word adeqately) with minimal shade and kept our groceries refrigerated nicely. We are pleased. Everything worked as advertized.
We moved here to Karick Lake Sunday since it is on the way home and convenient to my dad's place in Crestview. The campground is relatively empty so we picked a shady waterfront site under all the trees (cooling improves with shade-imagine that!) as we have no TV or satellite reception issues to worry about right now, and settled in. We had a short visit with dad this morning and hurried back to calm what would soon be a hysterical Hazel with the impending thunderstorms. Tomorrow we drive home.
So what still needs doing? We have evaluated our needs going forward and have a short list of things to fix or improve ( we think all our changes are improvements.) We definitely have decided to replace the missing awning. This will be the biggest item. We need to decide on tires and wheels (the car hauler called and wants these back) and the rest is small - we need to replace a sewer hose end to ensure no leakage when dumping, add shelves inside the small wardrobes on either side of the bed(remember I said they were little), change incandesent 12v bulbs in several of fixtures to LEDs for less battery consumption when not using shore power(not plugged in to electricity for you non boaters/campers), fix the cat restroom (cat pan in bottom of sink cabinet with new half door to cover the upper shelf), and figure out the storage in kitchen/living area cabinets. These overhead cabinets are long runs (6-8') and I want to break the runs up with small boxes or something comparable to contain the dry/canned goods so everything does not move around inside when we turn, bump, etc. Oh yes, we also need some couch pillows and a small side table for drinks, sounds like I can use old throw pillows and a TV tray for that. We had already stolen the mattress from The Beast, so nothing additional is necessary in that area. (Yes I realize I now have a bed problem in the beast.) I am sure there are some minor other areas we will work on, but all in all- we are very pleased with our little Tempy Test. Now to make it home tomorrow with no issues. -:)
