Unexpected Home Repair Expense

The week after we got home from Jonathan Dickinson State Park, I attended a D.A.R. luncheon at the Vero Beach Country Club. I chose the Turkey Dinner with Mashed Potatoes, Dressing and Cranberry Sauce. This was the 50th Anniversary Celebration Luncheon of the Treasure Coast Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution.

Then a few days later Mike and I went to the MOAA (Military Officers of American Association) luncheon at the Vero Beach Yacht Club. Mike and I both the Chicken Marsala Fettuccine for lunch. Our speaker was Col. Stephen Norton (USA Ret) and he spoke on his experiences in the Defense Intelligence Agency. 

I've been nominated for the office of Treasurer for the Indian River Genealogical Society. Tomorrow I'm meeting with the current Treasurer to go over the duties and what types of paperwork and all is involved in the position. I'm excited and Mike is pleased that I was nominated.

Mike cancelled our camping reservation in December for Ft. Pickens. It is still damaged from Hurricane Irma and they aren't sure whether or not the campground will be open for the time of our reservation.

Then 3 days ago we had some problems with our septic tank and called the company to come check it out. They pumped out the septic tank and after checking the drain field found out that there was a problem with it. So we had them blast and hydro-jet the drain field to see if that would help and hopefully postpone for a few years of having a new septic system put in. The cost came to $2025 which is much cheaper than a new septic and drain field system. This comes under the heading of - The Joys of Home Ownership!

Back home from Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Since check-out wasn't until 1:00 today, Mike and I slept in this morning and took our time breaking camp.

The couple that came in yesterday and needed help with their awning, had already left this morning when we got up. So I never did get a chance to get their names, which I had forgotten when I wrote last night's post.

We left Jonathan Dickinson State Park about 11:00 this morning after dumping the black and gray water tanks at the dump station. Then we drove north on US-1 to County Road 708 and then west to I-95 North. We stopped for lunch at Hardee's at Exit 131 at Love's Truck Stop at Ft. Pierce about noon. After lunch we walked Tinker and fed him his lunch with a few pieces of hamburger from our lunch.

We arrived back home a little after 1:00. After backing the trailer up the driveway, we unloaded the frig and a few things from the trailer before we leveled it. Then we unhitched the car and Mike connected the trailer to the RV electric box. 

We finished unloading the stuff we'll need for tonight from the trailer and we'll finish unloading tomorrow. 

We had a good time at Jonathan Dickinson and will go back sometime, we'll just be sure our campsite isn't near a swampy area!

Our Last Day at Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Yesterday we drove over to the Pine Grove campground here in the park to see what it looks like. The campground is near the entrance to the state park and has 90 campsites. The River Campground where we are at has 52 sites. 

There are no trees to speak of at Pine Grove. It is right at the state park entrance on A1A and I'm sure that the hurricanes from this year and last year destroyed any trees that were there.. But the campsites are nice and they are larger than the ones at the River Campground. I think the main reason is because they have been upgraded because of the hurricane damage. We would like to stay there the next time we come to Jonathan Dickinson, just not in the summer since there are no trees at the campsites for shade.

We've been having problems with gnats and mosquitoes at our campsite and we found out why. There is

Loxahatchee River Tour and Trapper Nelson's

The first thing I did this morning after breakfast was to take a couple of photos of our campsite here at Jonathan Dickinson.

Then we drove over to the River Store about 1:30 to go on the Loxahatchee River tour up to Trapper Nelson's.We browsed around the store until it was time to get in line for the tour. We departed the dock at 2:00. The captain told us the history of the area and that during WWII the Camp Murphy was where the park is now and it was a top-secret radar training school before becoming a state park in 1950.

He explained about the birds and wildlife along the river and pointed out the differences in the trees and plants along the river. The first part of our trip up river we saw cypress trees and sand scrub pine trees.

Farther along up river the vegetation changed to to ferns and palm trees.

We arrived at Trapper Nelson's a little after 2:30 and were greeted by a state park volunteer who took us around the historical site of Trapper Nelson's.

Mike had been to Trapper Nelson's about 4 times while Trapper Nelson was still alive. Mike came up here

First Night at Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Last week we got everything together and put in the trailer for our trip today down to Jonathan Dickinson State Park south of Hobe Sound. The park is only 80 miles south of our home and check-in time is 3:00, we didn't need to get an early start today. We hitched up the trailer this morning and then had lunch and left the house about 1:30.

We took I-95 south down to County Road 708 and then east to Hobe Sound, then south on US-1 to the park entrance. After checking in, we drove out to the River Campground to our campsite. 

We are in site 114 with water and electric hookups. It's a pull-through site and we are on the end of the campground loop. There aren't a lot of campers here in the River Campground. There is another campground in the park which is closer to US-1 and we passed it on our way to our campsite. We'll have to drive over there one day and see what it looks like.

After settling in, Mike grilled hamburgers for dinner. Tomorrow we're going to see about going on the river cruise out to Trapper Nelson's. 

I just realized I didn't take an photos of our campsite. I'll do that in the morning. With our Florida Senior Resident discount we are paying $13 a night to stay here, so with taxes and fees our total cost for 4 nights is $64.42.