Awake: 6:02am Temp 42 sleep 6+02 sunny-breezy overnight @ Theodore, AL.
K & I write Thanksgiving cards to grandkids, goddaughter & a few friends; then Kathy mails them from the campground.
We leave Paynes RV Campground @ 10:45am following I-10 east to Pensacola; stopping (22) min @ the Florida Welcome Center for Kathy to load up with guides & many brochures. Then continue on I-10 to US-87 to Milton, arriving @ the Cedar Pines RV Park @ 12:55pm.
Today’s Travel: 1+57 time 89 miles 15.4 gal used 5.8 mpg 45.7 avg speed.
The campground owner Steve, said he would leave a note on the office door if we should arrived & he was not in; he did & had the site marked on their campground map.
Kathy plugs into the electrical power box, we disconnect our Suzuki while the coach levels, check a few items inside & then, using our Lady Garmen GPS, start driving the Suzuki back to the town of Milton, to see what we can see & find a Catholic Church for later.
Milton’s population is 7000 & advertises an historic downtown. In lieu of exploring the historic side of Milton, Kathy encourages me to drive to the address we have for Ted & Jane in Pensacola & get it over with; she is just as curious as I am.
About (30) miles later, we find the address marked in our address book; we really don’t know who lives here but we’re about to find out. Keep in mind, during my research, the only article I read about a Ted & Jane couple these last few days was not good; a serious motorcycle accident about (3) yrs ago put them both in the hospital for months.
As I approach the door, I brace myself for “either/or.” Either they are not the couple I’ve read about or they are. Even before I get to the front door, it opens & Jane appears; I knew her immediately. “May I help you?” she says. I introduce myself & she replies: “I’m sorry but I don’t know you.” I tell her: “I know your husband, Ted; we flew together in Alaska about (8) yrs ago!” At this point she wheels around & calls for Ted in the living room. Ted appears @ the door wearing shorts & a prosthesis on his left leg. Oh my gosh! It is them.
Kathy is still in the Suzuki but emerges when Ted comes to the door. We had planned to attend the 5:00pm vigil Mass in Milton this afternoon but instead, talked for hrs about Jane & Ted’s struggle with recovery after their motorcycle accident. It was a long (3) yrs they tell us. “We had a lot of help” recalls Ted. “Without that help, we would not have made it” he says.
On September 4th, 1996, on a trip to Honolulu & Sidney, Australia, co-pilot Ted, introduced me to my 1st Guinness dark beer; according to my aviation log book. I still, on occasion, like a good dark beer as does Ted. This leads to a plan suggested by Ted: a visit to their local, “McGuire’s Irish Pub.”
McGuire’s was exceptionally busy this evening; after putting our name on the dining wait list we hung out in the bar area until called. Jane does not drink beer so Ted ordered (3) Scotch Ale beers; quite goooood. This beer was a 3rd place winner @ Best Florida Beer Championships & I won’t deny that. We continue our talk & eat a casual dinner for hrs.
Before we leave Jane & Ted, they “twist our arms” & invite us to a Thanksgiving dinner at their house on Thursday which we gladly accept. We are back to our coach @ 9:32pm.
When leaving the coach early afternoon, I did not turn on the heat, so tonight…the house is cool. About (10) min after turning on the electric heat to start the hot fluid circulating thru the small radiators, we had a low voltage “kick off.” I reset the back-up battery system & the Outback Power System & then carefully watched the voltage when I turned on the heat again. Low voltage showed up on both lines of my (50) amp circuit; oh well, “we’ll sleep without heat for tonight & just add another cover,” says Kathy.
We could have easily turned on our diesel Aqua hot system & had plenty of heat…but that would cost us some diesel fuel & Steve told me over the phone he would have good (50) amps for our campsite. I will be talking with him tomorrow.
Lights out: 10:43pm
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