QC21-04 Q gets an IV drip

February 7, 2012 (Tue) Juniper Springs (8) 58/78° - We spent the day in Ocala primarily working on the problem with Lamont's battery discharging while being towed. The Hitching Post, experts with the SMI supplementary braking system, said the system should not be using enough amperage to draw down the battery so quickly but could find nothing wrong that might be causing it to do so. They suggested that it was probably the battery itself needing to be replaced. Two independent shops (Pep Boys and Hurricane Battery) both said the battery is fine. A discussion back at The Hitching Post led us to the conclusion that while there must be something somewhere causing the battery to go dead, the best solution for now is to run a live wire from Q to Lamont to keep it charged. They have done this for other rigs, they said. We'll be getting that done over the next week or so.

While in the Ocala area we picked up supplies, did a laundry and found an excellent Mexican restaurant.

February 8, 2012 (Wed) Juniper Springs (9) 55/76° - Just another day in the park.

February 9, 2012 (Thu) Juniper Springs (10) 46/66° - Temperatures are on a down trend. TV weather said that it was 52° in Orlando this morning but our thermometer read 46° when we got up. Hot showers felt good. It's hard to get excited about doing things when it's cold (though those at home probably wouldn't think 66° is all that cold) so we didn't do much.

February 10, 2012 (Fri) Juniper Springs (11) 54/83° - We've been forced to watch something other than the NBC Today show in the mornings while we have been here and find that CBS This morning is what a morning news show should be. Charlie Rose is doing a really good job with it.

We spent the day in Ocala again. This time it was to have a wire run from Q to Lamont's battery to keep it from discharging while being towed. We also looked into hitch modifications to level the tow bar. There doesn't seem to be any practical way to do it though. The welder says no to the tow specialist's solution, the tow specialists say no to the welder's solution. We were hearing costs of over $300 to do anything. Probably the only solution (and the most expensive by far) is a new motor home (without a rear step). HA!

February 11, 2012 (Sat) Juniper Springs (12) 55/68° - The sun was warm but the breeze makes sitting out uncomfortable. Mark rigged a volt meter into Q's cab so we can monitor the voltage level in Lamont. It shouldn't be necessary to do that now but it will be good knowing that his "IV drip" is working.

Forecasts are that it will be getting cold tonight. It seems to be already headed in that direction.

February 12, 2012 (Sun) Juniper Springs (13) 35/56° - 31° over night in Orlando 50 miles (or so) to the south of us. We registered a 35° here, maybe because of the trees. Either way it's cold for Florida. We turned the furnace on and warmed the inside up to 50° before we got up and dressed fast.

TD Bank offered us 5% cash reward for 6 months if we got and used their VISA card. We did and have been using it for everything we buy ever since. Today we learned that there was a problem and to call them. Why? We could envision all kinds of unpleasant reasons. It being Sunday the offices were closed until 4:00 so we had to wait and worry. Then it was explaining the problem over and over again to various people who "weren't authorized" to help us before we found someone who was. Apparently our credit card statement was returned to them because we are having our mail forwarded and that made them nervous.

February 13, 2012 (Mon) Juniper Springs (14) 29/63° - 29° outside this morning, 35° inside, and no warm house/home to retreat to! A mid-morning hike on the Florida Trail warmed us up some which made things tolerable but not completely pleasant.

More problems with TD Bank. We got an e-mail saying we'd be getting no more electronic statements! We need electronic statements because mail forwarding may cause paper statements to get to us after the due date! Another call to customer service. We can start getting them again if we sign up for them in April. "America's most convenient bank" my foot.

We're off to Alexander Springs tomorrow. We'll be there 12 days or so.

Q083418 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #9 $9.50 dry A