World United States Florida Ocala

On the Road Again

Silver River SP, Ocala, FL Mar 10, 2011

From Silver River State Park in Ocala, FL …

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

We left Alva, FL this morning right at 10:00 which happened to be our target. We could have just followed I-75 for practically the entire trip, but Charlie really didn’t feel like fighting the mad traffic through Tampa. So we opted for the “back roads.” It worked out pretty well too with the exception of driving through Lakeland where the traffic was really busy. We made only two stops and ate our packed picnic lunch at a rest area once we got on I-75.

We arrived in Ocala at Silver River State Park just before 3:00pm. And now we are quite tired. After all, we did travel close to 250 miles today. And we were in a lot of stop and go traffic which also tends to wear on you. But thankfully, we had an “uneventful” travel day.

As part of our routine, as soon as we get the RV parked in the right place, Charlie plugs in the power cord, and I go inside to make sure the power is on. This way, if the power was not working on our campsite, we won’t waste any more time setting up. The way I can always tell is that the microwave is powered on. So today, I go inside to check … and no readings on the microwave. I then checked a couple outlets, and they worked, so we had power.

So at this point we thought something must have come disconnected on the microwave. Charlie checked all the fuses before we tried removing the microwave to see if it was still plugged in. All the fuses and circuits appeared to be fine. Then we noticed that some of the outlets in the RV weren’t working. Well, we almost made it through the winter without running into any maintenance issues.

After getting settled in and resting for a little while, a quick shower passed through the area. We researched and identified a pizza place to try, so we drove about 11 miles through Ocala to get there. It was a local restaurant called Lorenzo’s Pizza. When we pulled up in front of the place, we could see there was only about one table of diners inside. We were hesitant but decided to give it a try. And boy was it good. The pizza crust was very tasty along with all of the other ingredients. We shared a very good Caesar salad as well. By the time we left Lorenzo’s at 8:30pm, the place was packed. We would definitely go back here again (who knows, maybe even before we leave Ocala).

We made it home safe inside just before the rain started to come down in buckets. And it rained, and it rained … all night long. After dark we noticed that all the lights in the RV were running on battery power as they were much dimmer than usual. We will have to research our problem further tomorrow …

Thursday, March 10, 2011

We woke up to more rain this morning. The RV seemed even darker since our lights were not working properly. None of the outlets in the bathroom were working, so I had to dry my hair in the bedroom. We couldn’t use the microwave for breakfast, and we had to move our coffee maker to a working outlet. We couldn’t help but have our spirits a bit dampened.

After breakfast, the rain stopped. Charlie checked a couple more things on the RV and then called a Mobile RV Repair place in town and left a message for a return call. Then he decided to go outside and try plugging into the 30 amp outlet at the power box instead of the 50 amp. And voila! All power was restored! We were so relieved to realize that the problem was with the power source and not our RV.

Charlie then spoke to one of the campground volunteers to report the problem with our 50amp plug. Within an hour or so, a park ranger showed up. He eventually verified that the plug needed to be replaced. He had to turn the power off for an hour or so while it was being repaired.

While he was working on the plug, Mom and Dad arrived. They will be here with us until Saturday, and we were glad to see them again.

We all relaxed outside. It is much cooler today and only in the low 70s. But the rain has stopped and moved out, and it should be nice for the next several days.

We actually had to put on a light jacket when we out for dinner tonight. We decided to try a place called Sky Asian Fusion which has been voted in the top 2 restaurants in Ocala. It is located in the Holiday Inn, would you believe. We drove there and rode in the glass elevator up to the sixth floor. The hotel lobby was surprisingly beautiful and decorated in a contemporary Asian theme. The restaurant also has a very unique and impressive décor. The views from the large windows of the restaurant were very nice too, especially after dark as you could see the lights of the city.

And the food was incredible. We all agreed that it was up to par with PF Chang’s. Once you are seated, they bring out some type of fresh baked flat bread which was delicious and served with a chile sauce. I loved my Szechuan Shrimp, and everyone else enjoyed their entrees as well. I must say, we were both surprised and impressed to find a restaurant of this caliber in a town this size.