November 13, 2016

The trailer dad seemed a little cool toward me yesterday in a way the others in his family didn’t. Yes, I did a “French leave,” i.e. I didn't say good-bye two days ago (while he was rigging the sheet for the movie). Yes, it was rude, but only because they’re not French.

I stopped for a propane top-off at the park before I left this morning. My next RV park doesn't have propane, so I deemed it prudent and expeditious to fill up before leaving (even though I would have to pay with my precious cash). The kid who did the fill-up liked the size of my RV. When I said it was good for one or two people, he replied, "I wouldn't want to travel with more than one other person, and I don't like traveling with my family." He went on to tell me that he had graduated from high school this summer, but added that he isn't old enough to travel by himself. He’s old enough to drive, marry, and die for his country. He’s old enough to smoke in most states. He’s not old enough to drink (21) in or rent a car (25) any state. So, in what regard is he NOT old enough to travel by himself? I wish I had asked that follow up question, but I think I was shocked that ANY teenager would think himself too young to do ANYTHING.

I debarked post top-off for what Google Maps told me is a Bank of America (BofA) ATM at the Royal Farms just off Chincoteague Island. (I needed more precious cash.) Perhaps it was a BofA ATM once, but it no longer is. Google Maps then told me I could find a BofA ATM in Waves, North Carolina, but again to no avail. Google Maps, you suck at BofA locations! Lesson learned: search for “Bank of America,” click on the results which do NOT include “ATM,” and look at the photos to verify that the location actually is a Bank of America retail establishment. Arg.

I arrived at my RV park in Rodanthe on the Outer Banks (OBX) in North Carolina around three thirty. I asked for a site close to the Clubhouse since the Wi-Fi is best there and the laundry is adjacent to it. I was easily accommodated because there are 400 sites and the park was 90% empty. I drove to my site and discovered that it was unsuitable for accessing my rear storage after I deployed the slide-out. So, I returned to the office and asked if I could move to the adjacent spot. Yes. I moved, completed my set-up, and then I realized that the electric hookup didn’t work. I pulled out all of my 25’ power line and connected it to the electric box at my first site. I walked to the office and informed the manager of the situation. He said that my solution was fine and that he'd have the maintenance guy troubleshoot my site’s electric hookup problem tomorrow. It was sunset, and if I had to move again, it would have taken me another hour to do so, and it would have been executed in the dark. Lesson learned: test the site’s power first, then make sure that the fresh water flows, otherwise I have to move.

It is the perigee-syzygy tomorrow tonight, but it was damn close tonight. If had arrived an hour prior, and hadn't had to move sites, and hadn't had an electrical problem, and had I known that the moon was going to rise over the Atlantic, I could have taken the most fabulous photograph of the rising moon at four-something this afternoon. Ironically, it is only because I had those problems that my ignorance of the locus of the event was almost overcome: that is, I almost saw the "super moon." Now, it looks like it always does.