Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

One of THOSE Days

Wednesday January 4, 2012
Salt Springs Recreation Area Site #79


Not sure if it’s Murphy or not but Handy wasn’t much help today.
Things started out great. We were up, battened down and left
Walkabout by 9am. Not TOO much traffic on I-95 South.

Leaving Walkabout 001

Since we couldn’t find our Florida map from last year,
we took the opportunity to pull into the Welcome Station
and get another.

Just as we pulled into the parking lot, we got
a call from David’s Charlottesville Primary Care physician
saying the latest specific blood test they’d done
to further check out some slightly elevated protein levels
indicates that he has Monoclonal Gammopathy
and needs a consultation with a Hematologist to get it checked out.

This condition often has no symptoms and needs nothing but
semi-annual blood level checking. But you have to have a specific M-protein check
to find out how serious the condition is at present in order
to know where you are starting. 
It has a 1% each year chance of progressing
to a blood cancer called multiple myeloma.

Consultation is rather a problem
if you are on the road traveling around Florida
seldom in one place for longer than a week
since you didn’t do your reservations a year in advance.
 
So we spent the next hour trying to get something
set up with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.
There was nothing available until early March
so assuming that he is one of the many
for whom this disease will mean nothing
but check ups twice a year, he made the appointment.

Into the Welcome Center we went,
got map and free orange or grapefruit juice…mmmmm good.
Came back, out started up and
DING DING DING DING DING.
Something’s wrong.
It’s a jack down. WHAT?
All the jacks went up fine when we left Walkabout.

But inspection revealed the right rear
(one of the two jacks with which we have NOT already had trouble)
was down about ½”.
No amount of hammer or prybaring would force it up.
 
P1000380
 
So now we are pulled over on the side of the Center’s exit
and on the phone to HWH corporation
who of course has to call us back.

P1000379


We wait and in less than an hour they do.
Suggestion is to let the pressure off  the solenoid.
David did and the jack went back up.
He closed the valve back down and off we went.

We’d planned to stop on our way around Jacksonville
at Coastal Industries to pick up a new shower door latch
so we wouldn’t have to tie up the doors every time we move.

We got off the Interstate and on the way to Coastal
was a grocery store.  We stopped, stocked up,
jack did not come back down.  Lookin’ good!

Drove on to Coastal. 
Got the part from Tim Griffin and talk about service,
he brought it out to the RV so we wouldn’t have to negotiate the parking lot
AND showed us where and how to install it.
Thanks Tim!

P1000381

The jack didn’t come down at all.  Whoopeee!!!

On we went to Salt Springs Recreation Area in
the Ocala National Forest where
they did have a “walk in” site.
We pulled into Site #79,

Leaving Walkabout 006

hooked up the electric and started leveling.
The luck ran out.
Now that jack won’t come down. Not even an inch.

Out comes the bottle jack.  Talk about a bother.

Leaving Walkabout 013

So today it’s back to calling the supplemental insurance company
to make sure they will pick up the 15% of this medical visit
and labs that is not covered by Medicare.


Another call to HWH to see what will make this jack come down.
AFTER checking the fuse this time. J

AND we need to move by 1:00 to Silver River State Park.
So I’d better get out and get some exercise in this lovely spot
and get back to pack up.

See you at Silver River where we’ll be for the next 5 days!

15 comments:

  1. i would say welcome to Florida but after that start... oh well Welcome to Florida at least it is going to warm up!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You just never know when it's going to be one of those days. At least the jack doesn't seem to be anything too serious.

    We love Silver River SP...enjoy. I hope you get to kayak the river.

    ReplyDelete
  3. One of the nice things about being and RVer: all your situations are transient. (Pun intended.) I hope that the jack just requires a simple call back from the manufacturer. And that any health issues are cleared up.
    By the way, nice pictures of the marsh and waterways from your previous post. Very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We just added a link to your blog on our blog. I hope it helps your site traffic.
    Tom & Ella
    www.HomeIsWhereThe5thWheelIs.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those HWH jacks are a pain:( Could be the solenoid valve is sticking, but there are lots of other silly parts that could be a problem too.

    Hope the fix is easy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sorry to hear about all your problems ... but especially the medical problem. Keeping fingers crossed that it isn't serious and requires little more than the check-ups.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, just said to Bill, "haven't heard anything from Sherry and David, hope everythings is OK." Then I log on to find out all this ;o(( Sorry about the jack problem but more concerned about David!! Looked up Monoclonal Gammopathy and an appointment at Mayo does seem like a good choice :o)) We know it will all work out!!

    We are packed...almost over that packing disease...and heading out early (5am) tomorrow for Blythe Island County Park near Brunswick, GA. We are leaving early and hopefully get there about noon. Then maybe we can get out to kayak in the afternoon.

    See you Saturday, keep our site WARM;o))

    ReplyDelete
  8. Glad you guys arrived to FL safely albiet with a bit of nuances! Sounds like a consultation is in good order for David. Hope to see you in FL!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hope all shows well for David. Will keep him in our prayers too! As for that nasty jack..give it a swift kick :)

    Hope it's warmer in FL than it has been lately!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Glad you made it to FL and all that warmth.

    That sticky jack seems to be a common problem with HWH systems, but can be caused by a wide variety of things.

    Thankfully you got it up. David is very resourceful with all the challenges that come along.

    Hopefully, getting a dr appointment will go smoothly.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ugh, I hate days like that. Enjoy your next 5 day stay.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hope that things level out for you motorhome-wise, sooner rather than later.
    A consultation appointment for David is a must. So sorry it has to be 3 months away.
    Hope everything works out.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Pain in the a__ days happen. They just make me appreciate the smooth-sailing days even more. I have camped quite a bit in the Florida springs area. It has been an adventure every time.
    I pray the protein levels come back down.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hope your day goes better today. We loved Ocala National Forest. The springs there are lovely.

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sincerely hoping that you don't have another one of THOSE days anytime soon and that the jack problem is easily solved. Especially hoping that all goes well for David at his doctor appointment.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are the best part of this blog for me.
I LOVE hearing from you!