The Distance:  1,670 miles as we made a fairly direct sprint from the U.P. back to Central Florida.  This puts our annual distance up to 9,701.  November should be a low mileage month since we will spend the majority of it at a few parks north of Orlando before heading down to Coral Springs for Thanksgiving.

Aside from some early back and forth in the UP for our repairs, this is about as straight a shot back to Florida we one can manage.

The Places:   We spent the first week in Munising City Tourist Park before bouncing between Hilltop RV Super Center and the Ojibwa Casino as our repairs got a bit more complicated.  Once all that was taken care of, we spent one final night in Michigan in a Shopko parking lot, then headed south.  We had one night stops at Oneida Casino in Greenbay and Great Lakes Naval Training Center campground in Illinois, then I dropped Rosemarie off at Chicago O’Hare for her trip to Virginia to see Linda and family.

Last few days on Lake Superior’s shore.

While she was away I continued south via Camp Carlson Army Recreation Area and Arnold Air Force Base Family Camp.  I parked the rig at Dobbins AFB Family Camp outside Atlanta, where I picked up Rosemarie.  The next day we continued south to Wanee Lake Golf & RV Resort for a few days of golf and relaxation, then crossed into Florida for a couple of nights at Grand Lake Golf & RV Resort.  Finally, we moved Wekiwa Springs State Park for the last ten days of October.

A series of one night stops as we headed south, this one at Oneida Casino’s RV Park.

We stayed 10 nights at private campgrounds (including four at casinos and 1 stealth camping at Shopko) 16 at public sites (6 city, 10 state,) and 5 at military campgrounds.  We had full hook ups for 11 days, partial for 18 (13 with power and water, 5 with electrical only) and drycamped for 2.

PKM enjoyed a lot more bed space while Rosemarie was in Virginia.

The Budget:  Unsurprisingly, we finished the month 16% over budget.  Despite a handful of modestly successful markets we couldn’t overcome the effects of hundreds of dollars for Serenity’s repairs (our warranty deductible plus all shipping costs and the door lock kit,) three full tank fill ups for the big rig during our run south, and annual license registration for both vehicles.  Considering all that, we were not overly disappointed with the month’s monetary situation, and November will be much better with our limited movement along with a slew of markets lined up.

Rosemarie is putting her large shell collection to good use: Mermaid Crowns for our markets.

The Drama and the Improvements:  After waiting five weeks for our new refrigerator, during the installation we encountered additional mechanical problems related to a leaking propane regulator valve that forced us to stay four more days awaiting a part.  We finally escaped Michigan, a bit poorer, but with a new fridge, microwave, awning brackets, and the aforementioned valve.  Then, when I was ready to pick up Rosemarie in Atlanta, the RV door would not open, forcing me to climb out and back in the window with tools.  I eventually had to drill through the lock mechanism just to get it open, and then replace the entire assembly.  If you have a house on wheels that you bounce down the road 10,000 miles a year, you’re gonna encounter these problems.

2017 monthly reports to date:

• September
• August
• July
• June
• May
• April
• March
• February
• January

And here are our 2016 and 2015 annual summaries which include monthly report links.