Leaving Cedar Key is never easy....I'll just leave it at that. It seemed that our six days there just flew by way too quickly. It takes a while to settle into anyplace, even one which you have frequented in the past, and we were just getting comfortable when it was time to change our view once again. I was up by 7 am, and TLE a short interval later. By 8:55 am we were rolling our wheels out of site #60 and north on HWY 24.....within minutes we had crossed the bridge and the island was receding into the distance.
Our destination on Thursday was Inverness, FL, about 76 land miles south and a little east. Within 20 minutes we had transitioned to HWY 98 southbound. I set the cruise control at 60, and just held onto the steering wheel as we floated on a cushion of air along the straight, flat asphalt ribbon stretching to the horizon. As we neared the small coastal town of Crystal River I spied a Shell fuel station selling diesel #2 for $2.79/gallon. We were down to about 40 gallons in our tank, and planned to fill up soon. By the time I had decided we should take advantage of the opportunity we had passed by the station, but never fear, there was U-turn opportunity less than 200 yards down the road, so we did just that and headed back to the station. I was figuring we would take on anywhere from 140-150 gallons of diesel. Since we last filled our tank in Lebanon, KY on October 19th we had traveled about 900 miles. We paid about $3.10/gallon back in October so the price of diesel is finally catching up with the decline in the cost of a barrel of oil over the last 4 months. In all we took on 133 gallons of diesel.....always nice when it costs less than you expect. We averaged about 6.7 miles per gallon.....not bad considering the hours of idling south on I-75 around Atlanta and Macon, GA.
By 11:30 am we had arrived at the home of Richard and Rhonda. Richard parks his 1999 Newell behind their home on a driveway made of 'pavers' he built himself. We were to park our trailer in front of his Newell, then move our Newell to his driveway where he has a 50 amp outlet, water and a sewer connection for out of town visitors. Within 30 minutes we had dropped the trailer, were parked in the driveway, connected to the 50 amp outlet, and running our A/C to dry out the interior air of the coach....it was quite humid on Thursday (that high humidity continues Friday morning as I write).
Richard prepared a lovely lunch for us and we sat talking for a good hour before retiring back to our coach. I needed to get busy removing TLE's old passenger seat so we could install the 'new' one on Friday.......
Ready to remove the four large bolts fastening her to the floor
The old seat is now history, and the new mounting base plate is in position
......it took me less than an hour to remove the old seat, and begin planning how to install the new one. We will need to drill some new holes to accommodate the new base plate, but that should not take too long.
Around 6 pm we headed out to have dinner at the MC Wine Bar (they have craft beer on tap, also) in Old Town Inverness. We arrived to find we had the place to ourselves on this Thursday evening, and quickly ordered some adult beverages. Richard and I had their 'Black Lager', which was perfect. They do not prepare food on the premises, but you can order food prepared at other eateries in Old Town. We ordered pizza from a local establishment, and it was delivered within 20 minutes. Time passed quickly, and soon the small hand on the clock was edging toward 8 pm. Thank you Richard and Rhonda for a wonderful evening filled with great food, brews and conversation!
Left to right: Richard (Rhonda is taking the picture), moi and TLE
We were home just after 8 pm, bid our adieus to Richard and Rhonda and headed retired to our coach for the balance of the evening. Friday will begin with a bike ride on a local bike path, then Richard and I will get down to the business of installing TLE's new passenger seat!
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