The Q Chronicles #81-11

February 11, 2008 (Mon)
Monument Lake CG, Big Cypress NP to Homestead, FL (103/1962 miles)

This is not where we wanted to be tonight nor what we expected to be doing. But we'll get to that. It was the coolest morning in a while (53°) when we got up at about 6:00am and there was no fog for a change. We had a quick breakfast and finished packing up. Our first stop was Midway campground about 8 miles East on US41. There are no dump facilities at Monument Lake but campers there are allowed to use those at Midway. That's what we did.

In Southwest Miami we found a much needed laundromat recommended by the Midway campground host. While there, we took advantage of the Walmart across the street then set out to find a Publix for some groceries. We had planned to eat our lunch in a Mexican restaurant in Homestead but by the time we'd found the West Kendall Regional Library where we could connect to the internet, we were famished. Fortunately the Asian Super Buffet was right there in the same mall. It was excellent!

Finally stocked up and ready for a week in the wild, we headed south for the Everglades National Park. Just as we entered the park Joy noticed that the refrigerator light didn't come on when she opened the door. Nor were any of the indicator lights on. Long nerve wracking story short, we opted out of going down the 38 mile desolate road  to the campground in Flamingo. Instead we came back to Homestead and are now parked in the Walmart parking lot for the night. Our road service provider found an RV repair facility in Miami who agreed to look into the problem for us tomorrow. Maybe! We called them as suggested, got no answer and left a message. We've gotten no callback yet. We'll head up there bright and early in the morning.

Q041596 Camp Walmart, Homestead, FL
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February 12, 2008 (Tue)
Homestead, FL to Flamingo CG, Everglades NP (84/2046 miles)

That was not one of the quietest Walmarts we've stayed in nor the loneliest. The  area of the parking lot assigned to overnight parking was next to greater Miami's designated bus route. Buses roared by every 10 to 20 minutes all night long and trucks came and went continuously. Sleep was scarce! There must have been thirty mobile residents crowded into that relatively small area maybe ten or twelve more scattered around the parking lot.

We took off at about 7:30 and with Hildene's guidance, went in search of Chuck's RV Service. We wanted to be there when it opened at 8:00 (we guessed). We ended up in the middle of a residential neighborhood not far from where we ate lunch yesterday. We could see three class A motor homes packed into what may have been someone's back yard but there was no apparent way to get to them and no sign. The proprietor of an ACE Hardware store in a nearby strip mall had never heard of Chuck's RV Service. He looked it up on the internet for us and found that it was, in deed, located in the middle of the adjacent residential neighborhood. We tried to call them, got no answer, left a message.

K&K Trailer & Recreational Vehicle Supply has a large advertisement in our Trailer Life Campground Guide where they tout all manner of repair and services. It was also one recommended by our road service provider. They are located only a few miles south on the route we'd be taking. When we got there, at about 9:15am, the place was closed and all locked up. A man whose only job appeared to be pumping propane informed us that the mechanic was only there on Mondays and Thursdays. Really? Only Mondays and Thursdays? And it's not a small outfit! He suggested we try a place down the road a bit.

Camp Out Inc. was one of the seediest places we've actually ventured to do business with. There were derelict and demolished RVs of every strip lying all over the place. Our first impression was that it was a junk yard. But it wasn't because scattered here and there and along the drive inside a fenced-in area there were newer units obviously for sale or awaiting repair. With great trepidation, Mark ventured through the disreputable landscape and past a sign that said "Do not enter without authorization from the sales office" (sales office? the only building on the grounds was inside the fence beyond the sign). He found a door into what looked like a dark over crowded parts warehouse with a couple of appropriately cluttered desks. The young woman sweeping the floor informed him that the mechanic would not be in until 11:00. When he explained that we had food spoiling in a dead refrigerator she asked a young fellow who would not have appeared out of place on the back streets of Cairo if he would take a look. It turned out that the young man was, in fact, Egyptian (with very little accent) and he did a great job of tracking down the problem. After working 2 hours checking all the fuses, which we'd done earlier, and tracing voltage through the circuit board and wiring, he found what looked like a resistor hidden under wire sheathing that was blocking current flow. He removed it and spliced the wire. And the refrigerator went on! He had no idea what it was or what it was for. Nor did any of his coworkers. Nor did the refrigerator manufacturer! Several calls to various technical departments of Dometic Corporation yielded the startling information - "If it was there, it must be necessary." We decided to take the chance that maybe it really wasn't and headed for the southern tip of Florida deep in the Everglades.

When Bob and Pat got here yesterday, they were told that since their motor home was longer than 21 feet, they had to select a site in the "T" loop. Q is longer than 21 feet so we expected that we'd be sent there too, although we'd never had to go up there before. But we were told that no, we were too small to go there!That left us nowhere we could go! Actually the yesterday's gatekeeper was wrong. Although the "T" loop is reserved for big really rigs (trailers and motor homes with cars in tow) the rest of the campground is open to any rig that will fit on the short parking pads.

February 13, 2008 (Wed) Flamingo CG, Everglades NP (2) - The campground host came around last night to advise us that the area was under a tornado watch and to take cover in the restroom if one actually came near. It rained heavily during the night but the expected strong winds didn't materialize. This morning was sunny and beautiful. Another storm came through about 1:00pm and this one had some pretty strong gusts of wind - and thunder and lightning. Of the four units in this loop, one is a tent. The residents were away for the early part of the storm but got back before their tent was completely blown down. They moved it to the lee side of the restroom and, for some reason left again. That's when the wind really began to blow. They came back again, this time to a pile of sticks and flapping canvas. They packed everything into their car and left.

February 14, 2008 (Thu) Flamingo CG, Everglades NP (3) - It's been another lazy day. About the only thing we've done is dump our holding tanks and take on fresh water. This was not strictly necessary yet but since we used the trip down here to wash the tanks (with detergent) they were already half full when we pulled in. We wanted to get them rinsed out before the dump stations get busy with weekend traffic.

It's been one of those days when the sun is almost too hot but the shade is a little too cool but we are really enjoying the now beautiful weather.

February 15, 2008 (Fri) Flamingo CG, Everglades NP (4) - This part of the campground - loops "B" and "C" - is a huge grassy area with a few trees scattered here and there. Loop C and half of loop B have been blocked off to limit occupation. This makes sense because after two tenting units left this morning, there are only 3 of us in the more than 100 sites. It's been great having so much space all to ourselves. But the long weekend has begun. About noon the sites around us began to fill up and after a while the barrier was moved back to open up loop B. By late afternoon the whole area was alive with the sounds of kids at play, the boom boom boom of radios and pop of beer bottle caps. We expected the partying to continue well into the wee hours but everyone seemed to respect the 10:00 "quiet hour" rule.

February 16, 2008 (Sat) Flamingo CG, Everglades NP (5) - A Chinook siting report: Yesterday a couple came by on bicycles and stopped to say that they too had a Chinook motor home, an old one. We thought we might have seen it up in the T loop as we came back from hiking the Coastal Prairie Trail along  Florida Bay so this morning, on our way to the marina complex (store, gas station, visitor's center, etc.) on our bikes, we detoured up there for a closer look. It wasn't there. We later saw it parked in the marina parking lot with an empty boat trailer attached. We also saw a Chinook Concourse (like Q1 but with a fancy paint job) occupying a site in A loop. No one was around, so no comparison of notes.

February 17, 2008 (Sun) Flamingo CG, Everglades NP (6) - We had french toast made with french bread for breakfast on this last day in the Everglades. It was truly delicious! And the sun just beginning to come through the trees and a warm breeze off the bay, the weather was perfect.

There are three military families camped in sites next to Bob and Pat. They have been very good neighbors - even to the point if one of the fathers giving a short lecture to all the kids about campground etiquette. They complimented us on our music (guitar and banjo practice) and even invited us to join them to play at their campfire Friday night. But they seem to have a routine that is, at best, curious. Two of the fathers apparently have the duty of taking their daughters to the restrooms - the men's room. At the risk of sounding sexist, it would seem that that should be a woman's job. Mark finds it a bit disconcerting - and distracting - to be in the men's room wondering if at any moment a couple of young girls might pop in. He found it downright annoying tonight to have to wait while an eight year old (approx) girl washed her hands and primped in front of the mirror. Bob called him chicken for not saying anything to the father who did nothing to hurry her along.

Q041780 Flamingo Campground, Everglades National Park #B16 dry $8.00 A (x6)