Day 13, 14 - Mims, FL to Pompano Beach, FL - TT

Monday (13) - An early start of the day as Bridget’s flight from home arrived in Orlando shortly after 6am. The airport is around an hour away if you take the non-toll route. The toll road is about 15 min faster. 

Today’s project was fixing the front awning arm. For some reason it was binding up when closing and the bottom two mounting screws were sheared off. The sheared screws were only #8 and rusted so undersized in my opinion. I replaced them with #12 SS but had to drill new holes as the old ones had broken screws in them. I covered the area with silicone caulk including the hole where the wiring came out. It wasn’t sealed before. The binding was caused by this cover for the wiring. It was originally at the upper end of the arm and I found it at the bottom. I’ll try and bend it back and reinstall it. The purpose of the cover is to protect the wind sensor (which has never worked). 

It’s hot and humid right now. I think it’s time to head to the pool. The moss hanging from the trees looks kind of cool in this picture from the pool. I was able to stay in the unheated pool for around 45min before it started to feel too cold. But it’s nice to sit in the sun warming up and it no longer felt hot and humid.

There are a lot of loud bikes around here. Both in the park as well as the state highway next to the park. Someone mentioned that it is Daytona Bike Week. Pretty much all Harley-type cruisers and trikes. 

Tomorrow, we head south to an Encore park in Pompano Beach which is a bit north of Fort Lauderdale and Miami. This will be as far south for this snowbird trip.

Tuesday (14) - We are now about 190 miles further south at an Encore/TT park in Pompano Beach. I guess it’s considered a suburb of Miami. Right now, we are at the pool, and the only non-Canadians here based on all the French being spoken. The sites are pretty narrow and it was a challenge even finding this place as the RV park name doesn’t match the signs. Kind of confusing. 

It was a very warm 85°F when we arrived and the generator was running the roof A/C units for most of the trip. I think spring is already here.

Day 10, 11, 12 - Mims, FL

Friday (10) - Today's "project" was just trying to figure out why something that used to work fine just stopped working. In the wet bay, there is a bulkhead mounted "F" connector for cable TV. There is a switcher in the front cabinet which allows you to direct the signal to any of the TVs. At some point, the TV in the front was no longer able to see the cable TV connection but was able to receive the signal from the rooftop TV antenna. This had me convinced that it was the cable from the wet bay to the switcher. Just to confirm that this was the problem, I ran a cable from the wet bay bulkhead connector to the front of the RV so I could just connect my VOM to both ends of the cable. And, there was continuity on both the center conductor and the shield. Hmmm.

When I used a barrel connector to connect the cable TV input cable to the front TV, that TV could not see the cable signal. When I used an extra piece of coax to connect directly to the TV bypassing both the switch and the short cable from the switch to the TV, it worked. I installed the cables to the switch, and it worked fine. For some reason, the cable from the switcher to the TV worked for the over-the-air antenna but didn't work with the cable. Very odd. When I tried to use the old cable to pull in the new one, the connector fell apart. Problem 1 solved. The next problem that kind of appeared around the same time is no signal reaching the bedroom TV also suggesting a broken cable.

Time to get ready for today's test session. It's 84°F already so I  headed for the pool after the session was over. Still cold, but refreshing. The dinner experiment is a beef short rib ragu. Something I saw on Sam the Cooking Guy on YouTube. It looked pretty good.

Saturday (11) - Yesterday, my Ubiquity Nano died. This is the device that I use to either connect to campground WiFi, the AT&T hotspot, or one of the Apple devices that are set up to share their cellular data. The configuration wouldn't save and the admin web pages were all messed up. The device has lasted for six years with numerous reconfigurations so I shouldn't complain too much. The AT&T hotspot does have an ethernet port but I can't plug in a cable from the Ubiquity AirGateway, which is my WiFi access point as it puts 24VDC onto the cable to power the Nano. 

So I ended up picking up a new WiFi access point. Walmart had a Netgear R6080 for $39 so I picked one up. This was actually $5 less than Amazon though they did ding me for sales tax, When I got back to the RV, I discovered that it was a return and already had a password set. So I returned it (no questions asked) and picked up another one where the box was still wrapped in plastic. It worked fine. This also resolved one of my other network needs which is an ethernet switch that runs on 12VDC. The voltage input for this router is 12VDC @1amp. I just need to set up another buck convertor to for 12VDC in and 12VDC out. The buck converter will essentially function as a voltage regulator. 

Sunday (12) - Today, I met with Steve, one of the other VEs (volunteer examiners) for coffee at a Dunkin’ Donuts just south of the RV park. It’s interesting to meet someone that you’ve only known on Zoom. We ended up talking for several hours and Dunkin’ Donuts even had an extra coffee. After getting back to the RV, I washed the Jeep as it was accumulating dust and pollen. I guess that means Spring is starting in FL. This was in addition to the oil droplets from being towed behind the RV.

Currently, it’s 81°F and 51% humidity but it feels warmer than that. I rode with back from coffee with the top open on the Jeep. That is a nice perk of the soft top. 

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.

Day 5, 6, 7 - Mims, FL - KOA

Sunday (5) - Today, I moved from TTO to the Titusville KOA. The reservation is for nine days as that will extend to coincide with Bridget’s return flight. 

Shortly after arriving, I joined a special test session with 22 candidates. There were a bunch of us and we broke into groups of 3 VEs and tested them all in a little over an hour. A pretty good pace. The three that our group tested all passed easily.

Monday (6) - At 11am, it is a very pleasant 70°F and the forecast is only for a high of 75°F. I'm not going to complain about that. The camping site isn't spectacular but there is a pool (no hot tub) but I haven't checked out the temperature yet. I looked at the Cape Canaveral launch schedule and there is one planned for tomorrow (3-1-2022) with a two-hour launch window beginning at 4:38EST. A Falcon9 launch is planned for Thursday with a launch at 12:42pm. Unfortunately, neither of these is at night so I probably can't see it from here. I'll need to do a little research as to where to go.

Later - The pool just had a new heater brought in but it isn't functional yet. Unfortunate. The water is pretty cold. I was wondering why no one was using the pool. 

I just got off the phone with one of the afternoon candidates and he was very familiar with Zoom and had read all of the materials. 

Tuesday (7) - It actually got cold enough last night that the heat pump came on. Dropped to 57°F! This morning while walking the dog, I noticed several puffy jackets and wool hats. After the first test session, I made my way to Titusville Space View Park. 

The Indian River separates here from Cape Canaveral. A ULA Atlas V launch of a GEOS-T satellite, is scheduled for 4:38EST and, I’m told, I should be able to see it from here. 

I should have brought a chair and a warmer jacket. There is a steady 10pm high wind blowing from the water. 

Later - The launch was on time. There is a 1’20” video of the launch. Note that it takes a minute before we hear the sound.