~Wednesday, March 3, 2021~
Day 262
Another yukky day in Jacksonville, FL. Not as much rain today, but all day cloud cover and cold. Lots of standing water outside with all the rain. With no sunshine and poor drainage in many of the spots, there really isn’t anywhere for the water to go. It would be nice to see a little sunshine ☀️at this campground, as both times we’ve been here, it hasn’t made its appearance known. I’m sure it would be quite stunning peaking through all of the lush vegetation.
We’ve got exciting things happening at site #166 today…….things like defrosting the fridge/freezer, cleaning the bathroom shower, greasing all of the exterior compartment key locks on the whole rig and greasing the awning joints. Here’s how it went:
Defrosting-the worst I’d ever seen it. We think it’s due to all of the humidity we’ve had as of late, and possibly at times, leaving the fridge/freezer door open too long.
Bathroom shower-Have you ever tried cleaning an RV shower the size of a cruise ship bathroom shower? This is already a mundane task and it doesn’t help that you have to be into yoga to get it clean. Seriously, what I have found is cleaning it while showering seems to be the best way to tackle the job. The clear, rubber shower door is always the most difficult to clean, making me want a shower curtain instead. I like the waterproofing aspect that the sliding accordion door provides, but it is not the best design in terms of cleaning it. At the base, there is a 2” flap on the inside, with stitching at the top of the flap, that traps water inside and thus mildew. I’ve tried spraying mildew spray down inside the flap, but it just doesn’t get in there well enough. I also thought of taking off the door to take the stitching out, but have no way at the moment to restitch it, which we would need to do to have the door slide smoothly. If any of you have suggestions, I’m all ears. It’s silly that we would have to replace a completely workable door just because of unsightly mildew.
Key locks-most RV exterior compartment key locks get harder and harder to open over time...especially with humidity. The goal at some point, is to replace them all with better locks. So to prevent rust and stickiness, Jeff lubricated each one. Ahhh, so much better.
Awning joints-just a little too much squeaking lately, so let that be a sign.
While working on our projects, we were visited by our new friend from the laundromat, Rick. He and Jeff exchanged RV repair stories and what they like/dislike about their Lance’s. All in all, there’s not too much to complain about. They are a solid trailer! EVERY new trailer has kinks that have to get worked out. Our stories are no different. He offered us to come over to their place to check out their Lance as well. So after we wrapped up for the day, we walked over with Sadie and had a look around. Jane and Rick’s Lance is a 19 footer, perfect for weekend or week long getaways. They just picked it up a few weeks ago, just breaking it in. We noticed a few upgrades in the 2021. The ceiling fan has sensors telling it to automatically close if a rain comes and is also operated by remote control. Our model is manually operated and does not have a water sensor, though we have covers on all of our vents in case of rain. Anything that is white or steel/aluminum on ours, is now black on the new models. We like the look for sure. Before we left to head back, Rick mentioned to Jeff that he was having trouble getting his oven to work. The first thing we noticed is that it wasn’t a Dometic oven/stove like ours. They have a totally different brand, which tells me Lance didn’t want to deal with the recall issues that Dometic has had on their ovens as of late (our oven model was not part of the recall). Jeff and Rick tried troubleshooting a few things but to no avail. Unlike ours, theirs has an electric starter for their oven. But you could tell there was no propane getting to the oven itself, even though it appeared things were connected properly. A mystery. While outside waiting, Sadie had lost the tennis ball she had found in the forest earlier in the day (I swear, it was like finding the “golden ticket”). It appeared to have gone under their rig between boxes and things. Unable to get to it, it was driving Sadie insane. Hopefully when Rick and Jane leave on Friday, they’ll find it and drop it off to us. Time to head back. We noticed many more campers enjoying their outdoor time and campfires thanks to no rain. Yeah!
After we started making our ahi tuna dish and guacamole, we discovered we were a little short on ingredients. My choices…...Winn Dixie, Publix, or Trader Joe’s. Of course my first choice would be Trader Joe’s but was just a little too far and a little too late in the day to drive there. So I opted for Publix. We really like these stores and they are EVERYWHERE! Jeff and I had never heard of them until we arrived in Florida.
After a delicious dinner, we enjoyed a nice chat with Hannah, Devin, Carson and Easton…..the perfect way to end our day. Missing our family!