We had slept a very long time.
By the time I was awake, dressed, and somewhat coherent, fourteen hours had passed. I thought for sure the battery would be dead and I would not know how long it had ran so I figured, 'Why hurry?"
I shuffled out to the trailer and turned on a 12v light, it was bright so, I was encouraged. I opened the refrigerator door and was happy to find the freezer still frozen and the thermometer in the bottom of fridge read 34 degrees! This was very good news. With the help of the Electrical Engineers at AM Solar in Oregon, this system had been designed on the fly and over the phone then shipped to us and installed by an RV Service Dept. right after the lead technician had taken a class on how to install Lithium Iron Phosphate battery banks. A previous shop had freaked out over the notion and sold us batteries that looked like the monolith in 2001 A Space Odyssey, because that's what they were familiar with, even though it's not what I wanted. They never would have worked because of the weight being installed under the bed in the rear of the trailer behind the axle would have been too great. I gave those batteries to one of the guys in the RV shop to use in his deer camp. It was a generous gift but he had been kind to us and we had no use for them.
The notion was that with a high output alternator from Nations Starter which could produce 270 amps at highway speed and 175 amps at idle, there would be plenty of excess power to not only operate my cute little 1950's electric refrigerator while tooling down the highway but to charge the battery as well.
In theory.....
Well, it worked! Our idea was if we ever got stranded by weather or circumstance, we would have overnight power without the need of a generator. Also we could boon dock if we chose to do so. The truck at idle could also be our generator without the need of carrying a separate one with us. We installed a 3000W Go Power inverter and had the microwave, tv, and refrigerator hooked up to it. The next test will be to heat up dinner, watch a movie, and leave the refrigerator run and see if we make it through the night with power to spare! I'll let you know how that goes.......
Back to the shop to deal with the leaking drain. They fixed it at no charge. But, the belly pan was a little worse for wear on the reinstall. We had a weekend camping trip and a rally to go to so, I put this part of the redo off until we had done these things. It would keep.
We took a spring trout fishing trip to the Little Red River here in Arkansas. Dear Dave had fond memories of fishing there as a child so, he was especially excited to go. Me too, I love to fish!
This was a 5 day weekend trip in March and it was still cool so, I took the opportunity to test my lovely vintage Dixie Stove. There is no better test for a "new to you" stove than to bake a yellow cake. You can tell by the browning of the edges if your oven bakes evenly. It took a minute to figure out how to light that sucker. I cook with electric at home, a 1926 Hotpoint to be exact, and it heats like a dream. I have never regularly cooked on a gas stove. I had a little experience with our small stove in our Shasta Compact but the Dixie was larger and more capable of baking.
I giggled the whole time working in my little kitchen! What fun it was to actually a cook in the trailer. There is a pull out cutting board and I had plenty of counter space. I didn't have to take a single step, just pivot and grab whatever I needed the whole time. It's a good thing it was a cool day, that little stove got hot as a furnace so, I had all the windows, doors, and roof vents open to dissipate the heat! I used two round tins to bake the yellow cake and there was just enough room for both pans on one shelf placed tightly at an angle. I figured this would show if there were any hot spots. There were none. Those cakes were so evenly baked that it stunned me! We did not intend on eating all of it and ended up feeding the rest of it to the geese!
Dave loves when we destination camp because I cook from scratch, something I don't usually have time for at home but love to do. We had fried chicken and skillet potatoes one night. Swiss steak and mashed potatoes the next.... which brought the comment from the neighboring camp site, 'What are you cooking? It smells so good..... you're killing me!" I was outside under the big awning at this point, with my hot plate and electric skillet fired up. We had designed our electrical system with plenty of outdoor plug ins. I was happy as a clam at high tide! Memories of my Great Aunt Wilma flooded my thoughts. She always had fried chicken going in her electric skillet. It's great for pancakes, too, which we had on this trip one morning and waffles the next. We met a lovely lady in her Airstream Bambi and ended up giving impromptu tours of our trailers.
We hired a guide for our fishing trip on The Little Red. It was a beautiful day and we both caught our limit! Nothing really big but great for a Trout dinner! We had so much left over, I brought them back for Dave's assistant, Keo, at work. She told me, 'Oh Miss Billie, I would love to have fresh fish!"
She got a bag full!
We camped at JFK State Park which was named after our President. As it turned out, the large dam that was built and it's attending generating plant had been dedicated by John and Jackie on their way to Dallas, TX. His last official act as President.
The next month we had scheduled to attend a vintage trailer rally in Jekyll Island, GA. This would be "The Groovy Beach Bash" hosted by Southern Vintage Trailer Friends and promised to be a lot of fun. Rally's are great occasions and this particular group knows how to host a good time. We had camped with this group before and they are a happy, positive, and fun group of folks! There would be a Vintage Prom, Open House, Vintage Trailer Judging, and more.
We were definitely looking forward to it!
On our departure day we felt relaxed and ready to have a good time.
The decision was made to break the trip to Jekyll Island into a four day trip so, the first night and next day was in Tupelo, MS to see Elvis' birthplace and tour the car museum in town. We had a lovely dinner downtown and it was during Prom. It was fun to see the cute young couples all dressed for the occasion.
The Campground at Barnes Crossing was just North of town and was just off The Natchez Trace Parkway. It is a lovely spot in the woods, beautifully landscaped, and terraced in a charming way.
Off we were to Georgia for a stay at Stone Mountain Park. While lovely, it was off season and many attractions were closed including the sky lift to the top. The cloud deck was so low, we couldn't have seen the view anyway.
We poked around Atlanta and quickly grew tired of the traffic and retreated to our campsite after some antiquing.
The next day, we were off to Jekyll, Island GA via the Peaches to Beaches highway. This was a very pleasant way to travel.
Once on the island, we found the lovely tree covered campground where the rally was being held. We arrived just as the sun was setting and once we backed into our site, readied ourselves for sleep and set up first thing in the morning.
That's when we felt it.
The first bite. OUCH!
We were under attack by unseen bugs...... A mad dash into the trailer and frantic search for Deep Woods OFF yielded the relief we were hoping for! It was OPPRESSIVELY humid. Later during the rally, we would find last year had been beautiful weather.....
Dave and I pow-wowed about the circumstances. It was early enough to do the set up that night because with the sun beating down it would not be good. So, armed with DEET we trod into the night to perform the installation. The Palm Springs display had gone well so, we would duplicate it but without the cement filled pots. This was a real campground and we used stakes and ropes to anchor the large awning. Using a flashlight and headlights from the truck, everything went smoothly. The next morning, we put out the finishing touches, looked at them, and then put it away. We arrived early and there was sight seeing to do!
Later in the day, we had a reservation for Afternoon Tea at The Jekyll Island Club. They had set the whole thing up just for us as nobody else came that day. It was lovely and we dressed the part. People were sneaking peeks once word got out that we were dressed up.
Who knew?
Until.......
In the wee hours of morning I awoke with a raging fever which morphed into a bone chilling chattering of teeth. "I must be coming down with the flu..." I thought. I had planned a day trip to St. Augustine, FL the next morning and when I woke after taking cold medicine, I did feel well enough to go. So much so, we stopped at Mc Donald's for a Breakfast Burrito and Sweet Tea.
I nibbled and sipped all the way there and was feeling much better.
That is........
until I didn't.
Somewhere midpoint through the General Store Tour at the Olde Town Trolley Company, I became light headed. So, I sat down. Better. For a few minutes until the swirl of nausea spun my brain.
I turned to sweet Dave and said quietly and quickly enough to induce mild panic, "I need a bathroom, now."
His eyes flew wide and we exited via the side portal of the building making a bee line for the restrooms across the common area on the far side.
This is where my accounting of the events grows fuzzy....
Somewhere in my addled brain the notion of, "You're not going to make it!" flashed in dim sporadic neon....
Dave said I was going straight for a few seconds and then began to weave like a drunk sailor.
I was desperate in the moment to make it to a park bench and buckled as Dave caught up to me. His first words were, "Do you need an ambulance?" "Nooooooo.... ugh....let me sit for a minute." I slurred.
Right then I turned and spewed over the back of the bench. I like to maintain a certain amount of decorum and grace in my life and throwing up in public would be near the bottom of the list of things I regularly do.
I hurled and cried and hurled and cried and hurled and cried.....
At one point I barely heard Dave as if he were far off apologizing to the people on the other end of the bench. They offered assistance.
Did I mention there were A LOT of people milling around....
SHOW'S OVER HERE FOLKS!
I cannot tell you how long it lasted. I had been really cute before this event but when I came back around I knew I was a lavender mess!
Dave eventually escorted me to the ladies past glances illustrating, "What happened to her?!", with every step.
It was getting warmer which did little to help my situation. So, covered in flop sweat, Dave and I made it back to the truck and turned the air conditioner on BLAST and sat for a while.
I fixed my face and hair which had gone through a blender. I was a hot mess. We decided against riding the trolley after considering the heat and the inevitable bounce, bounce, bounce of the ride.
I was feeling better.
We drove downtown and toured Flagler College, a Tour Home, and the Museum. After the Museum, I was feeling tired so, we went back to the truck and the air conditioning. We drove to the Presbyterian Church to take in the tour. Absolutely beautiful. And brief.
Uh huh........
We no sooner sat down and met the Docent, when I turned tail and ran outside barely making it to the side garden, sat down on a bench, and hurled! There we were, Dave holding back my hair and me wretching in God's courtyard! Not as severe as the first but there I was, puking in public again. Twice in one day, that should be enough for a lifetime.
I couldn't even keep ice tea down. Which got me thinking..... I had a crab cake as an appetizer the night before. Seafood is always a gamble, even in the nicest of places. Food poisoning. Miss Keo, Dave's assistant at the office put it best, "Hmmmmmmm, been dead too long." It turned out someone else in the campground was in their bed for two days with similar symptoms.
I had always wanted to see St. Augustine, America's oldest city. Even as I teetered, I found it beautiful. Unlike other Florida cities I've developed disdain for, like Panama City, which doesn't seem to work hard enough, in any organized fashion, or possibly even possess the skill set or inclination to please the populous by preserve their history.
Participant open house for the rally was the next day and the Vintage Prom that night. I wanted to feel better the next day and I did. The local newspaper was coming out to do interviews and we were tapped to participate. A lovely article was in the weekend addition highlighting the rally's open house on Saturday.
The young reporter seemed genuinely interested, asked a great deal of questions, and published this article:
I will tell you, I was not in that wool suit I wore in Palm Springs more than the time the interview took. It was still hot and humid, even at 9 am!
The participant open house was so much fun, a time to see each other's trailers without the crowds of open house.
I had planned ahead for The Prom. I had never been to a Prom and Dear Dave had been to two. I had so much fun shopping for a dress. It had to be 50's inspired and appropriate to the locale, a trailer campground. What was I to do ?
This is what I found!
The next day was early judging and the open house. We were ready.....
WE WON BEST 1950's !!!
I was surprised as there were some great trailers representing the decade present. Another accolade to ease the sting of a really rough, expensive, and drawn out renovation process.
Happy we were retracing our path home, with a trophy in hand and a glow in our hearts. This was our second win with Southern Vintage Trailer Friends but even if we hadn't won a thing over these past few years, it is great being a member of this group!
Now is was time to deal with the belly pan once we got home.......
And plan an epic trailer trip vacation to Quebec, Canada in the Fall !!!
