Day 8, 9 - Mims, FL - KOA

Wednesday (8) - Another cool night followed by a wonderful mid-70s (°F) day. Today’s “project” was installing a 2” receiver hitch on the Jeep. I could’ve had one installed at the factory that would’ve included a bunch of other items that would’ve been nice to have, but it would’ve added about $700 to the price. This hitch was $70 on Amazon. The purpose of the hitch is to possibly add a bike carrier in the future. I will probably go ahead and wire up a 4-pin trailer connector to make it easy to add lights to the carrier if needed. The installation was simple as the holes in the cross member were already there so no drilling was required. 

Since the temperature was nice and cool, I went ahead and made some cookies. The convection oven would normally heat up the RV so I tend not to use it on hot days. But I don't really need oatmeal raisin cookies either. Most of them will end up in the freezer. 

I hopped onto the later test session and was tagged to lead a session. Not planned but it went fine. I didn't have my cheat sheet handy so I felt like I rambled some but it went alright. The candidate passed easily.

Tonight's dinner was a mushroom risotto made in the Instant Pot. Really quick and easy. I picked up a container of gourmet dried mushrooms at my last Costco visit. Plus, I made some sous vide chicken tenders. They can be used in a variety of different meals such as chicken tacos or salads. And, lastly, some bran muffins. These were an experiment and are made from bran cereal, pineapple, raisins, walnuts, honey, and whole wheat flour. They are pretty tasty but not the ones I was trying to make. I guess I need to keep searching the Internet for the recipe.

Thursday (9) - There was a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch this morning. It was scheduled for 9:35am but it actually launched at 9:25am. I was walking through the RV park and spotted it. And you could hear the rumble. The picture is just after the first stage cut off its engines and separated from the second stage. I didn't expect to be able to see the launch from the RV park so that was a pleasant surprise.

 

Today's RV repair project was replacing the water pump. After the last one developed a small leak, I returned it to Amazon and ordered a different one. Instead of the no-name one I had picked up last time, I ordered a replacement Shurflo. It has a slightly higher flow rate than the old one and draws less power. That sounds like a win to me...

It hit 82°F this afternoon so I ventured to the unheated pool. With the sun beating down on you, the pool was tolerable for about 30min. Actually, it was very refreshing and I will probably be back on other warm days. 

The dinner "experiment" was kimchi-bokkeumbap aka kimchi fried rice with fried eggs. If you like spicy and the flavor of kimchi, then it would be delicious.