We Drove for Miles and Miles and Miles ...

Today was a very long day. During breakfast we discovered that one of the windows shades in the kitchen area was broken. Most RVs comee with these obnoxious day/night shades. One of the lines that keeps it all together had frayed, so we headed off to Lowes. Since we had been to Ocala numerous times in the past two weeks, we decided to head north to Gainesville. This was a threefold trip - we also were looking for the Ford dealer to get the oil changed, and we were pricing new tires for the truck as well.

Since we're not fond of the shades, we were mainly looking for mini blinds to replace the broken one. We bought wooden ones at Lowes, and then set off for tire prices and oil change. Mark was very specific about wanting only Michelin tires. The place in Gainesville was pushing a lower grade, but made by Michelin. We found the Ford dealership, but there was 1 1/2 hour wait, and we didn't want to wait. Ten minutes after leaving Ford, Mark discovered he didn't have his phone, so we headed back to Ford where someone was holding it for us. Finally we headed back to the RV park. It is always interesting driving through the middle of Gainesville where the University of Florida is located, seeing all the college students (freezing their buns off today).

Once we had lunch, Mark started on the replacement blinds. It turns out they wouldn't work so we bundled them up and I threw them back in the truck for a future visit to Lowes. Mark then investigated several websites for the repair of the day/night shade. He thought he had the fix - get No. 18 nylon or polyester cording, found in fabric stores or the drapery section of Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's Fabrics.

Since nothing was going on, Mark decided a half hour later that we should drive down to Ocala to price tires at Sams and look for the cording. We returned the blinds to Lowes, went to both craft stores, and three more tire places before leaving Ocala empty-handed. On the way back north we stopped at two different RV parts locations for the correct cording. Still empty-handed, we stopped in the Tractor Supply Center - we found it! Finally, something went right.

When we were almost back to the park, we got a call from John and Donna. They wanted to get together for one last time before they go home on Thursday. After several calls, we decided to meet at a pizza restaurant in Ocala. So a half hour later we once again drove down to Ocala, after filling up the truck. It was very thirsty for diesel ($2.46/gallon). Pizza was yummy (and John & Mark said so were the beers!)

So much for the inauguration of our new president - I had hoped to watch, but there's no tv in the cab of the truck, which is where we spent most of the day.