2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 62

Day 62, Thursday, December 20, 2024, The Trolley Stop RV Park, Enigma, GA , Day 5 - 0 Miles, 2,696.6 Miles for the Trip

Quite a bit cooler last night, down into the 40's. After my morning exercises I changed the sheets & made the bed,  It was 47°F when I went for my morning walk. Didn't seem to bother the chickens, they were running around everywhere.

After breakfast I made a blueberry pie. One of the messier ones; the fresh blueberries didn't melt down as much as frozen ones, so it was a bit overfilled. It should taste the same.

After the pie came out of the oven I headed to Mama Nell's Kitchen for lunch. A pair of good fish tacos, and not so good French fries. $12.00 plus tax & tip.

Back at the trailer I packed up my dirty clothes and headed to the laundry. 2 Speed Queen stacked washer/dryers, Wash at $3.75 & dry for $2.00. I divided the clothes and sheets into both washers, put a pile of quarters into the first and started the wash. Try as I might, I couldn't get the second machine to accept any quarters. There was a sign on the machines for a pay app, and since I didn't want to wait until the first load ended to start a second or unload the machine, I added the app to my phone, Apple paid $25.00 (the minimum) into my account, and used the app to start the second machine. It worked on the washer as well as both dryers. Of course I now have $13.00 in an app that I may never find other machines that use it, but at least I got the laundry done.

Back at the trailer I put the laundry away & read for a bit. My current book is Robert McCammon's The Hunter From the Woods, a collection of short stories and novellas that, unlike Craig Johnson's fast reads, will take a couple of days to finish.

Dinner was a salad.

Until Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 61

Day 61, Thursday, December 19, 2024, The Trolley Stop RV Park, Enigma, GA , Day 4 - 0 Miles, 2,696.6 Miles for the Trip

Cooler for the morning walk at 57°F. The chickens, at least some of them are out running around the park. 

After my walk & breakfast I decided it was time for the annual frustration of trying to find out how much I'll be paying for the Empire Plan retiree health plan next year. After much searching, all I could find was a notice that the 2025 cost will be mailed to you and will be available on line. Of course no link or location for where it will be on line, and it isn't where it was last year. The New York State CSEA (the organization that handles retiree information) has a very disorganized set of web pages. 

Around noon I headed to Walmart for the makings of a blueberry pie. There is a pot luck on Saturday, so I'll do my usual.

Around 3:15 it was up to 67°F, so I headed for the showers. One in each bathroom; I used the bathroom on the right (it had doors on the toilets & shower; te one on the left doesn't). A large drying room with a shelf, bench & 5 hooks. The shower had a shelf, soap dish and 3 hooks. The shower head was an 8" overhead rain type. Plenty of adjustable hot water. While there is no shower curtain, the water stays in the shower due to the slope of the floor & drain location. Overall it it the best shower of the trip; a solid A. Some might complain about the aesthetics - painted cement block, but I base my ratings on practicality.

After that is was sitting outside reading. Current book is Craig Johnson's The Longmire Defense, #19 in the Walt Longmire series. As far as I know, there is one more, #20 left that I haven't read or listened to. My current audio book is Jeff VanderMeer's Borne.

I asked one of the staff where I could buy a half dozen eggs, and 10 minutes later she delivered them to my trailer. No charge.

I had a large salad for lunch, so dinner was a mishmash of stuff - a couple of pastries, a banana & grapes.

Until Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 60

Day 60, Wednesday, December 18, 2024, The Trolley Stop RV Park, Enigma, GA , Day 3 - 0 Miles, 2,696.6 Miles for the Trip

A warm (62°F) foggy morning when I went for my walk around the campground. Met the owner making his rounds, and a few residents. Not much going on. Today is my granddaughter Asher's birthday. I plan to give her a call after school. While rain was predicted for today, only condensed fog on the tree limbs made drops. Still, the skies never cleared until after lunch. Once the dripping from the trees stopped I moved outdoors to read. Current book is Craig Johnson's An Obvious Fact, # 12 in the Walt Longmire series. Very well written mysteries built around a Wyoming sheriff. The audio books are also excellent, wonderfully read by George Guidall. I believe there was a TV series based on the books, although I've never seen an episode.

While there are no train noises, there is a busy highway (US 82) on one side of the RV park and a less busy but active Brookfield Nashville road on the other. The traffic on both die down late at night, but both busy during the day. 

Around 1:00 I headed to Mama Nell's Kitchen less than a mile from the RV park for lunch. While they will make you a burger or what ever, no menu and most get the daily special. Today fried pork loin, mac & cheese, green beans and a cornbread pancake. With a glass of sweet tea, $12.42. Plentiful and good, but definitely home cooking style.

The sun peaked out amongst the clouds after I got back to the RV park. I sat out and ducked behind the trailer for shade when the sun got too hot. It hit 74°F at the peak.

Around 5:00 I did a video call (for some reason neither of my phones calls them Facetime calls since the last system updates) with Karin, Asher & Noah to watch Asher open her presents. 

Since I had dinner for lunch, just cheese & crackers tonight.

Until Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 59

Day 59, Tuesday, December 17, 2024, The Trolley Stop RV Park, Enigma, GA , Day 2 - 0 Miles, 2,696.6 Miles for the Trip

A light fog & 57°F for my morning walk. One loop around the campground is about a half mile. I may be the only short term resident of the campground, although there is a Harvest Host's section at the far end. 

After breakfast I read. Little warming up - still foggy and 61°F at 11:30. 

One thing I miss in commercial RV parks is they usually don't have picnic tables. I do have my roll up table for the grill or stove, but it is a pain to set up, and there really isn't much room on the site to set it up. I may stick with microwaved or cook inside food.

Around 2:30 the sun came out and it quickly warmed up to 68°F. I sat outside reading. I wandered over to the chicken coop to take a photo or two. Lots of chickens, ducks and geese. While it didn't hit the predicted 74°F, it made it to 72°F. 

The Chicken Coop

A Chicken

Ducks & Geese

Dinner was an Evol Portabella & Goat Cheese Ravioli Bowl.

Until Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 58

Day 58, Monday, December 16, 2024, The Trolley Stop RV Park, Enigma, GA - 164.6 Miles, 2,696.6 Miles for the Trip

My morning walk was in a light fog & 57°F. All the sites except the group site are full, although a Class B van pulled out of site 1 just before I left site 2. Most of the drive was on I 10 or I 74. I was traveling west on I 10 and saw 2 Escape 19's go by a couple of miles apart heading east about 30 miles east of Lake City. I stopped at a Pilot & filled up for $2.75 a gallon with my $.10 discount.

I arrived at the Trolley Stop around 1:00 & the owners guided me to my site. I'm in site AB13 for 7 nights, a full hookup site for $35.71 per night (with the various taxes it works out to $42.36 per night). Like most commercial RV parks, very tight to your neighbor. We even share the same sewer connection, using a bayonet connection to a splitter. The problem is I don't have a bayonet connector on the output of my sewer hose. I temporarily replaced the splitter with my hose, dumped, and reassembled it all. Looks like many of the folks living here are full time - lots of large propane tanks and permanent looking steps, etc.

Site AB13

I did a speed test for both AT&T & Verizon: AT&T 27.89Mbps down & 3.35Mbps up, Verizon 109.53Mbps down & 30.02Mbps up. While Verizon is faster, unless AT&T slows down I'll use it before eating in to my limited unlimited Verizon usage.

I fired up the AC since it was 77°F outside. The compressor is making a bit of extra noise - I won't be able to check it out until got home & a taller ladder.

I went for a walk around the park. Found the laundry & a pair of bathrooms without labels. I saw one of the owners at the chicken coop & she said they are neutral gender bathrooms. There are locks on the entry doors, but that would shut down 1 shower, 1c sink, & 3 toilets. 

After my walk around I sat outside and read for the rest of the afternoon. Current book is The Black Book, #5 in the Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin. On the drive today & during my walks I'm listening to Mark Dawson's audio book A Place to Bury Strangers.

Dinner was a Boston Market Sweet & Sour Chicken bowl.