Stop Five – Good day, nice temps

We got on the road at 9:13 today to begin one of our shortest drives, a little shy of 300 miles.  Traffic along 95 to Jacksonville and then on route 10 to Marianna was good.  No stop-and-go traffic, moving at 65 mph most the way.  We make a couple of pit stops, both at rest areas along route 10 which were both expansive and clean.  A power-walk was included at both stops and the second rest area included a large picnic area behind the facilities building.  You could drive your car in a semicircle to gain access to the many picnic tables that covered with a roof.

We power walked the road around the picnic area and I noticed a small cat come out of the woods.  A pickup truck had parked up in front of us and the cat quietly just sat down across the road and near the woods.  The man in the pickup was walking around the front of his truck when we approached and I had a hunch.  I asked him if he saw the cat and he mentioned that there are 15 or so feral cats in the woods and sometimes when he doesn’t entirely finish his lunch, he tosses out the remainder.

We arrived at the campground around 2:00 CST and gaining an hour was nice.  The temp was 74.  We get the trailer unhitched and connected then I quickly jumped into a pair of shorts and tee shirt.  We both really enjoyed the warm temperature.  Rain was in the forecast but, except for a few drops, no real rain, yet.

You can find all sorts of RVs in a campground; Class A, Class C, Towable Trailers.  Class A is the type that looks like a bus, all self contained.  Most Class A RVs tow a vehicle behind to drive when they reach their destination because they can be quite large and running to the grocery store in your Class just wouldn’t work.  They tow jeeps, pickup trucks and anything in-between behind their RV.  Some Class A RVs have gasoline engines and some are diesel.  Diesel engines provide more torque so the really big Class As are typically diesel.  Class C RVs look like a trailer with a truck cab attached at the front.   Smaller and less powerful than a Class A and easier to navigate the grocery store parking lot.  Towables are trailers are the type you tow behind a vehicle.  A Fifth Wheel is a little different because the connection between the trailer and truck is made in the bed of the truck whereby, a Towable is connected at the bumper.  All have their advantages and disadvantages.  When we were shopping, looking at different types and models, we found there were always trade-offs and we had to decide what we couldn’t live without, and we could live without.

When I was busy getting us unhitched and connected, our neighbor and I exchanged hellos.   A little later on I was doing something outside the trailer and he had rounded the corner of his Class A.  We began to chat and learned about he and his wife’s travels.  They have been RVing since 2019 and had done a 6 month trip out to the west coast, another  they visited Acadia in ME.   Another trip they crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge and ended up in the city of San Francisco.  Mag came out and joined in and we shared our experiences on this trip.  It’s always fun hearing stories of RVers experiences and sharing ours.  I also like picking their brains about questions and challenges I faced.

We’ll be here until Sunday morning then we’ll be off to Lafayette, LA.  This will be our longest drive so far, about 430 miles.