Treasure Island...

Well not exactly... but I think I might need a little more 'treasure' while staying at our new location on Hilton Head. Not exactly the WalMart of tourist stops, it is however a nice place to vacation. We've had the opportunity to visit the island several times before but this was the first time we've had our coach here.

We'd planned on arriving here in mid-afternoon after a 300 mile ride north from Titusville but as things tend to go, we did have a little hiccup along the way. I'd noticed on the trip from Alabama to northern Florida, a couple of weeks ago, that I didn't seem to have quite as much power in the coach as I thought I should have. It was a little sluggish as I started to find the terrain a little more hilly than previous legs of our trip. I suspected something was up so I called Cummins engine people to talk over the situation. Several causes were offered up. Having had work done on the engine before, I knew that nothing is free (except their advice) and I had better brace for the worse so as anything less would seem good. I made an appointment at the Jacksonville Coach Care shop and pulled in around 10:00am. After a tense moment watching the technician wedge the coach into an extremely small bay, we settled in to find out what was wrong. I'm here now to formally ask my readership for donations. Anything will do as this whole ordeal turned instantly ugly as the technician reviewed the quote with us. What I had fixed about two years ago has once again failed. My charged air cooler (sorta like a radiator for the turbo charger) had again split a seam and I was loosing half my turbo output. So instead of 400 horsepower I had probably 150 less. Probably doesn't sound like a big deal to non-diesel motor home users but let me tell you this is a doosey. So I called Monaco and they said the part was no longer in stock (ugh) and to expect a 10-12 week wait until they could get the supplier to make one and ship it. The price plus installation was sort of like making a down payment on a house. The good news is I can still drive it and get home so it doesn't mess up our travel plans. Anyway it's something that is fixable and things like this happen regardless whether its a motor home or a summer house that needs a new roof or new furnace or.... You don't wish these things to happen but they do, so get over it.

Anyway we cruised on up to the island, got parked just before dark and then discovered they put us in the wrong site. Not a big deal but it did require us to relocate this morning. The park is tucked into heavily wooded parcels of land near the round-about (for those who know the island).
The gnarly live-oaks are draped with Spanish moss, the many azaleas are in full bloom, the flowering plum are vivid pink and tall palms are everywhere. The place is easily at the same level of luxury as the last place we were at but within elbow-reach of the all the neat places on the island. I'd like to take credit for picking this place but I actually had picked a KOA about 20 miles from here. Thinking a little cheaper I suppose, and a little closer to my sister's place in Beaufort. Sharon, on the other hand, did a little more research on the web and began to develop a bad feeling about the place and began to look elsewhere. You know... women's intuition or ... there are no malls nearby so it must be a bad feeling. Being so persuasive, I lost my control and gave in. Sorry you guys out there. But you know how it goes.

We both knew the island had RV parks but considering that it was near Easter weekend and spring break, I would never have thought that we could find a spot to camp. As luck would have it, she did find an opening (actually there were a few) so we took it. Along with all the pretty scenery and proximity to shopping there is the pool, tennis, golf (of course), and more than a few nice restaurants. As it turned out, the place was the same price as the other place (so there went my lame argument) so maybe fuel costs really have put a damper on travel. So we're here, Sharon made a great decision and we're looking forward to re-assume relaxing.

I've been hearing from a few of you lately and really appreciate the feedback. If you notice the small world map, with the red dots, beside my column you will see that we have readership from many places around the world. This has been quite a surprise to me and find it very interesting. I would really be interested to learn more of who is reading this blog: how they learned of the blog and what cities and countries they are located in. If you could return a short one-liner with this information it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.