Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort

The Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort was recommended by someone who was getting repairs done at Alliance.

This resort was quite different from others in that it only allowed class A or C motorhomes, so no park models, no trailers and no 5th wheels. Each site is owed by different folks and had different landscaping, chairs and full hook up. 

The recreation area with pool, jaccuzzi, laundry, exercise room, meeting room and yeah pickleball courts (well tennis courts that had portable pickleball nets)! Everyone was very friendly and would strike up a conversation just in passing. 

Theresa called and signed up for an afternoon pickleball meet and greet combined with a BYOB happy hour. Laundry was completed in between walking tours of the resort and lunch. There were a enough players at the meet and greet to get in a few games round robin style. Kevin and Theresa were a little rusty but held there own. Debbie and Don quickly took the newbies under there wings and showed them around, as well as providing intel on ownership in the resort. Confirming once again that RV folks are the nicest breed! 

Since this location is about halfway from Home to The Villages, this will defiantly be a destination for the November trip to Fl. 

Theresa will now include Motorcoach resort in her search terms for future trip plans!

Florida Visit

To jumpstart the items on the Smitanic repair list a Thursday PM check-in at Alliance with a Friday AM meeting with the service manager was scheduled.

The list included some minor repair and maintenance plus some estimates for future possible upgrades. See the line of folks waiting for service by watching the video. 

The early arrival also left time over the weekend to explore a nearby park with a walking trail, hunt down a public Pickleball court, and even layout a make shift Pickleball court in an unused loading dock area next to the repair facility.

Early in the week, a trip into Tampa allowed for a nice lunchtime visit with Theresa's cousin Lynn as well as more RV envy at Lazy Daze RV sales center.

While repairs were being done Kevin and Theresa would make the daily trek into The Villages to visit with Kevin's mom, Glorianna, and sister, Torreen.

The repairs went quicker than normal 1 week vs the normal 3 weeks. So for the second week of the stay the Smitanic would move to the Grand Oaks RV resort, touted as "pastoral equestrian-themed retreat".

The Resort was situated in the rolling hillside with large sites with cement pads for RVs and paddocks for visiting horses. It really had the feel of a Kentucky horse farm. (See flyover )


It did indeed match and exceed it's description!

It's main attraction was a Carriage museum as well as a Bistro with live entertainment.   Horse drawn carriages would circle the grounds in parade style including this interesting breed pictured called a Gypsy Vanner.

Early morning strolls allowed Zin to meet several friendly horses nose to nose.


Kevin and Theresa were able to enjoy the Bistro on Saturday night for a wonderful meal and awesome entertainment by Joe Hand. This will definitely be the first choice for the next stay in this area hopefully in November.

The Ladies

Glo and Torr have now been in the Harbor Chase Assisted living facility for 1 year.

They introduced Kevin and Theresa to some of the residents. One man, Al is 95 and plays piano as his his wife of 60 years visits daily and sings with him as he plays. And then there was Betty and Sunshine her dog, who hang out in the bar area for Happy Hour.

Introductions to the Staff were also made. They seemed to know the preferences of each resident and were very hardworking and patient with the very high maintenance and demanding clientele.

The facility allowed dogs and pets and even had a place to walk them in the back! So Zin visited on a few days and all the residents seemed to want to give her some lovin'. She seemed to know that the folks just wanted to pet her and not jump or play. She did very well around everyone.

Theresa helped Torreen go thru boxes of artwork and supplies to consolidate into what would fit into the very small space in the closet. After a few trips to Goodwill, success was proclaimed!

Kevin helped his mom organizing what seemed to be an unending amount of paperwork as well as eliminating a few unneeded items.

During the visit Kevin and his mom both celebrated their mutual March 15th birthday with a dinner out and a surprise celebration back at the Facility.

Glorianna, as expected, is the socialite and pretty-much knows everyone! She has even accepted the position as president of the residents association! Torreen motors around on her scooter to all the facility activities like Bingo, Wii Bowling and weekly entertainment.

The facility seems very comfortable and accommodating for Glo and Torreen and they seem to be enjoying the people, food and activities.

Much was accomplished in the 2 week visit but it was time to turn north for the finale of this 9 month journey.

Ho Hum

The final stop on Florida's Gulf coast was at Ho Hum RV park near Carabelle,Fl.

The motto of the park sums the location up well, “it's just another Ho Hum day in Paradise”. The park was small and had a fishing pier as well as access to a narrow shoreline where dogs were allowed to be off leash! Zin loved that!

There were a few waterfront full hook up sites that were unfortunately not available for the Smitanic stay. However the assigned pull thru site still had nice views of the water and sunsets.

Theresa did a few loads of laundry while Kevin continued work on taxes, just another Ho Hum day!

A longer term park resident stopped by while Kevin was doing his drone flyover. Peter introduced himself and began to discuss his hobby of sailing. Kevin and Theresa love sailing and were quite impressed with the 2 sailing vessels Peter was working on at his winter Ho Hum stay. One boat was a vintage wooden haul and mast which he took out for a brief afternoon cruise. Another boat was a 2-mask dual-bow Proa (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proa). Theresa and Kevin had never heard of this type of sail boat which also had an outrigger attached. It was currently in pieces as Peter was in the process of restoring it to a seaworthy status.

Only one night was planned at Ho Hum. Theresa and Kevin were relaxing watching some news when all of the sudden everything electric went dead! Kevin jumped up went outside to investigate. He first checked the breakers on the RV's inverter, he then checked the surge protector. The surge protector was indicating that one of the two lines on the 50 amp service was dead. Kevin elected to quickly solve the issue buy plugging the RV into the 30 amp service. No power. Kevin then began to look for a staff member to report the issue. It was 10 pm and the office was closed, a service shed was open with lights on but no one was inside. Kevin then stopped to visit with all others who were out and about at that time of day.

“Do you have power?” he asked. “Yup”. Kevin noticed that everyone around the Smitanic appeared to have power, he also noticed that none of them used surge protectors and had their shore power plugged directly into the power outlets. “Where are the circuit breakers” he inquired. The commotion generated others to try and help. One of those that arrived was the park maintenance person. He immediately went to the circuit breakers to see if the site's breaker had tripped. Nope. He immediately grabbed his tools and headed to the Smitanic's site. Once at the site he tore into the 50 amp receptacle to replace the fitting. Once replaced Kevin plugged the surge protector in and the lights and TV came on. The repair was completed. Kevin then entered the RV just as he head a click and all power was lost. He bolted from the RV to race after the maintenance person and explained what had happened.

Upon return to the scene the new outlet was tested for proper power levels. There was still no power on one of the two lines that supplied 50 amp service. Kevin then explained he had attempted to use the 30 amp service to solve the issue and found no power at the 30 amp service. The 30 amp was then tested and sure enough no Power. The maintenance person then tested 30 amp and 50 amp on another site. Same issues. The folks plugged into that service did not have a surge protector and did not know they were getting low voltage and limited service. The maintenance person then tested breakers to see that the power to the panel was missing one full line of power. They then walked around the park to eyeball the power lines from the transformer the the power panel to see at least one if not more broken power lines. Not sure how long the park was running on limited services. To solve the issue for the Smitanic it was decided to switch the lines at the power panel from the 50 amp the the 30 amp breaker. This would properly power the 30 amp service and by pass the 50 amp.

Once this was completed the Smitanic was connected, with surge protector, into the now active 30 amp service. Success. Since it was now after 11:30 pm 30 amp would be enough to run the evenings power needs. Ho Hum.

The next day would be the drive to the Smitanic repair destination about 30 miles from Kevin's mom and sister!

A Walk on the Beach

The Redneck Riviera tour continued with just a short drive to Camp Gulf (Camping on the Gulf) RV resort in Miramar Beach, FL. 

This was a return stay for the Smitanic to this park. The main attraction of the park is the ability to park big rigs on the Beach (for a premium price of course). 

Theresa had made reservations for one of the 2nd tier pull thru sites with full hook up that had a very short stroll to the white sugar-like endless beach. 

All systems were connected, chairs set out, and grill assembled for the five night stay. 

The first few days were a bit cold and windy, but the beach still beaconed the two travelers for a walk one direction and then the other. 

A lunch spot (Surf Hut) just a 1 mile walk to the west provided an enjoyable view and ambiance to just relax and peer on the hypnotic Gulf waters stretching to the horizon. Another lunch spot 1 mile to the East, the Beach House, had similar experience with matching ridiculous beach prices.

Any adventures via car required an exit on the very busy HWY 98 without a stoplight to assist in creating a break in the traffic pattern. The team elected to limit the number of times they needed to tackle the exit challenge. A pact was made to combine any required grocery trip with site seeing via car. 

Updates for the Blog, as well at Mr. Opinion podcast, and Taxes consumed all of the newly restored Verizon mifi data allotment. With mifi data depleted the team elected to head back to the beach.

The beaches were just incredible with a unique quality of sunrise as well as sunset views. The Smitanic was docked at this location in February-early March. The spring break was not yet in full force resulting in limited numbers of families and college kids. The park staff members were however busy preparing for the upcoming mass migration. 

As usual conversations with other RVers lead to many shared stories. One gentleman and his wife came by walking their three dogs and stopped to visit. He was a Nuclear Physicist who worked for President Reagan on the Star Wars project and she was a breast cancer survivor who had been a singer in a Rock and Roll band during the early to mid 1970's.

Once again RV People are very eclectic group you just never know who you will meet!

This destination will remain on the list for future adventures and perhaps an even longer stay to allow for more beach walks and sunsets.

Storm Dodgers

The latest weather report led to a debate whether to jump over the next stop at Frog City or spend the night and get an early start. Theresa made a call to the next campground to see if they had any availability for one day earlier... No there were no sites available. That settled that. Frog City would be the next stop on the adventure. The Frog City RV park had a pool and jacuzzi... however the crew did not utilize this feature. The Park also had a fairly good wifi as well as cable TV. This allowed for more blogging, weather channel updates, as well as a viewing of the evening's debates. Continuing to watch the weather, it became imperative that the Smitanic needed to set sail of this park as early as possible in the AM to hopefully get a jump on the approaching storm.

The Smitanic Captain and Navigator leaped out of bed early to shove off before the toll of 8 bells. The weather radar map indicated that the worse part of the storm would hit in the destination point of Bay St Louis after high noon. The drive was 3 hours down I10 with a diversion to I12 north of Lake Pontchartrain. A very brief fueling stop added little to the target time as a bit of light rain triggered the front wipers to be put into action. At 11am the Smitanic pulled into the Bay Hide Away RV Park & Campground where the park attendant was hailed to make way for the arrival. The assigned pull thru site had a gravel surface . The team guided the large vessel into the narrow slip. Theresa provided signals to the Captain to steer the 18 ton vessel slightly forward. Kevin took his foot off the break to let the Smitanic slowly walk its way forward. No movement....that was odd. Kevin checked the transmission to ensure it was in drive. The instrument panel confirmed Drive and 1st gear. No movement, Not Normal. Kevin coaxed the vessel to proceed forward by adding pressure to the gas pedal. No reaction, then slowly the Smitanic slugged its way forward. Kevin had seen this before when the air brakes had not fully disengaged. He applied more pressure to the gas and the Smitanic still responded sluggishly. “CRAP now what?”, thought Captain Kevin. He decided to put the vessel in reverse in an effort to break the perceived lock on the tires by the air breaks. Still the Smitanic did not respond as expected. Theresa was watching with confusion as to why the Captain was not following her explicit directions on how to dock the Vessel. Kevin then put the gears into drive and stomped on the gas. “Damn the Torpedoes full speed ahead”. The Smitanic was slow to respond than lurched forward as if freed from a tracker beam that clearly had it in its grip. The team then slowly nudged the vessel into an ideal placement in the slip. The engines were shut down, boards placed under the jacks, in anticipation of heavy rains, and jacks lowered. As the team performed a walk around of the vessel it was discovered that the pad the vessel was on had a very wet/soft spot just behind the rear wheels. The Smitanic had dug deep ruts into the pad This is what had been dragging the vessels momentum during the previous slow maneuvers. The Smitanic lives up to it's name :) With the mystery solved the slides extended, water connected, and shore power secured. 

Theresa then took Zin out for her last outing as rain started. As the evening unfolded the crew was entertained by the political debates as lightening illuminating the sky to the south west followed by a accompanying rumble of thunder. The storm was nearing. 

The team switched to the local weather station just as it announced tornado warnings and spotting of funnel clouds that had crossed I12. The Smitanic had just sailed past that location less than an hour ago, Yikes, that was the right call to leave the mornings port early, and to be docked prior to the current weather situation! 

One cell of the storm was on a path to possibly hit the park so Kevin opted to turn off the main power supply and wait until the major threat was past. Thank goodness it was a quick moving storm. The power was turned back on and the news video showed tornados crossing I12 with semi trucks and cars scattering everywhere. Kevin and Theresa were relieved to be in a safe harbor. The next morning would allow the team to explore the new port of call.

The Port of Bay St Louis, MS was technically the start of the 'Redneck Riviera' so Kevin and Theresa were anxious to see what the coastline had to offer. Just a few miles drive from the RV park was the main waterfront community of Bay St. Louis. There were no high rise condos nor resort hotels, just a local marina, a college and several churches. Kevin parked near a pier with a restaurant. Theresa asked a local who was walking his dog,”where is a good place for b-fast?” He replied, suggesting a few places around the next block. 

Some other locals, who overheard the question, also offered that the restaurant across the street, The Blind Tiger, also was serving b-fast. The original gentleman agreed that The Blind Tiger had good food and did not know it was now serving b-fast. Kevin and Theresa, wanting the local color, headed across the street to investigate. It was true, there was breakfast and it was free??? what?? yes the restaurant serves free b-fast on Wednesdays. Well that was luck! Kevin and Theresa dished up some sausage, eggs and grits as well as some freshly brewed Community Coffee (Theresa's favorite). Kevin suggested to the manager that they ought to serve bloody Mary's along with b-fast... the manager replied that he did not know how to make a Bloody Mary, however he knew someone that may be able to handle that request. About 5 min later a 'Bloody Buddy' appeared for Kevin's delight! The manager and Kevin exchanged cards and Kevin promised to highlight this experience in the blog (done). What a great local color experience! 

Oh but it was not over! After a Walmart and resupply of adult beverage run, Kevin and Theresa headed back the park. The parks planned activity for the evening was a potato potluck. The park provided the baked potatoes and everyone brought something to go with that. With everyone swapping storm stories, Kevin and Theresa were encouraged to attend the potato bake. 

One gentleman, AKA the park troublemaker, felt like he meant his twin when Kevin began his usual banter. The majority of seasonal residents hailed from Wisconsin or Michigan where no one takes them selves to seriously. The dinner was lively and welcoming. What a great group of folks! This area demands more exploring on a return visit.

Last stand in Texas

Sunday morning driving thru Houston was busy but uneventful. The target for the day was on the east side of this metropolis. The strategy would make for an easy exit the following day. The San Jacinto Riverfront RV park was about 2 miles off I-10 that promised a water fix for Kevin, the Pisces. The first 2-3 rows of RVs were the only spots with any water view and were designated 'premium' sites, as a bonus many of these sites had their own stand-alone jacuzzi! That's a new one! The Smitanic glided into the check-in location, Theresa worked with the staff to check in the new arrivals, Kevin detached the Toad. Once the the Smitanic was secured in its non-premium spot close to the exit, Theresa ventured out to scope out the laundry facility, only to discover that Sunday must be laundry day for everyone! She then elected to venture with Zin around the circumference of the park. In doing so she conclude that most of the 5th wheel and travel trailers were occupied with transient workers. She also noticed an unusually large number of kids riding bikes, playing on playground, and fishing off the pier. A very different life style, but you do what you got to do as a mobile employee. The park offers a great deal for those families staying any length of time. Theresa recalled that her mom survived in a 25ft by 8ft travel trailer with 4 kids (including Theresa as an infant) during one of her dad's many military deployments. “Bet the parks were not nearly as nice back then!” she thought.

Kevin was able to get the Drone out and capture some brief footage that went undetected by most of the park's preoccupied residents.

With everyone busy doing their thing, Theresa seized a couple open washers and loaded them up with the soiled Austin attire. In between trips to progress the laundry to a clean, dry, and folded status, she and Kevin started the arduous Tax preparation task (yuck)! Taxes seemed to consume the remainder of the day. The next day's plan was to finally exit Texas and enter LA.