Fire in the hold!!

Fire in the hold!!

Sunday saw us pick up Kathryn after she had stayed with Will for two weeks. Having her back in the RV was different as there had been just the two of us for the last two weeks, but it is nice to have her back, even though me and her argue too much, she does make us laugh at times!
For example, over here in the States they have signs along most roads “Adopt a Highway” where groups or clubs agree to keep that stretch of the road clear in exchange for their name on signs along that road.
Kathryn..” Dad? If I adopt a highway, will I get a picture on the highways birthday , and yearly updates, will I get a cuddly highway toy?”
That did tickle me.

Well what does “Fire in the hold” relate to?
It could be from whence we came, Miami, hot? Yes very hot, up in the 90’s which for you in the UK equates to just over 32 ° with a top temperature of 96° (35.5°) and when you add in the humidity we hit 105° (40.5°) So yes that could be the “fire in the hold“!

On Monday 27th April we drove north from Miami up to Titusville, where we stayed at  Manatee Hammock RV park

which sits right opposite Cape Canaveral……which was handy as on Monday evening there was a rocket launch due at 18.27, something that has been on my bucket list for a long time, unfortunately I missed the space shuttle but a launch is a launch………it was delayed but it did go up.
It was small, noisy, but nonetheless it was a rocket launch…..could that have been the “fire in the hold“?

Now most of you know that I like my toys, gadgets and hobbies. One of the things that I wanted to do once we got here was to make sure we had all the toys we needed to enjoy life here, bikes, car, and some kind of watercraft e.g. kayaks! When we stopped in Punta Gorda, we met a German Rver who had something called a Porta Bote. No, its not a toilet it’s actually a boat, a folding boat that you can fold up and put on the roof rack. Tuesday saw us travel nearly 300 miles to purchase and register (nearly everything you buy here in Florida needs to be registered) a 10’ Porta Bote. Now we just need to get a motor to fit on the back and we can enjoy the vast amount of waterways this country has.
But this boat has no hold, so no fire there either!

Whats that on the roof rack…

 

that’s my boat which turns into one of these     

So where does “fire in the hold” come from, well, it’s like this, we packed up in Homestead and traveled up to Titusville. We then set up the RV and decided it was teatime, so Gill did some cooking in the oven and for some reason the smoke alarm went off (it usually does when she cooks 😉 ) we sat down and started to eat, the next minute there was a flame and smoke pouring up the back of the oven……panic, hell yes wouldn’t you? Luckily I had a glass of water nearby and poured it down where the flames seemed to be coming from and the fire was out. It turns out that on our travels north, something had slipped down an exhaust vent which leads from the oven to the hob and caught fire, but it was close!!!

The one thing we hated about this campsite was the trains…not that they came through the site, but approximately 1/4 mile away was a level crossing and about 1/2 mile down the road was another, and at every crossing the trains in the US they have to blow their HORNS very loudly 4 times at each crossing, so you hear them coming, they blast your ears then you hear them going and the trains rumble past for about 5 minutes they are soooo long!! Lovely sound to hear at 3 or 4 in the morning!! Roll on the next site and some sleep!

It was time to leave Titusville, and Florida, which means we had to leave the Chapman family behind too, it has been great seeing them and on Sunday we spent the day on the beach with them. They have been a great help to us and we are going to miss them. We don’t expect to see them again for a couple of years but we will see them again!
So we are on our own, the securities of friends are behind us and now the unknown awaits!

The travel up to our next stop, Hilton Head was 300 miles and a long jaunt, where Georgia crossed our minds ….for about and hour anyway,we then left her behind and entered and onto the park just inside South Carolina however it is a very nice RV park and another free one from Monday to Friday, courtesy of a very kind man on one of the forums we use who said we could have it free for the period.
So we move on Friday to a state park for the weekend, then its off to the the Blue ridge mountains for 3 weeks.
Feel free to comment, interact and give us suggestions.
Take care out there. xx