We left Friday morning to drive to Melbourne. Instead of driving on the main highways, we took the more direct, less traffic’s roadways and enjoyed the scenery along the back roads. We arrived at the Melbourne Elks Lodge a little before 2PM. We got set up and checked in with the Lodge. We had 15amp electric and a level spot. A little later in the afternoon we had another coach arrive and take another spot close to us.

On Friday night Brother Bill wanted to take us out to dinner, so we drove over to their house. We all loaded into his van and went to a terrific restaurant out on the island adjoining Patrick AFB and had a meal of rock shrimp. It was really tasty! Rock shrimp are large shrimp that are cooked like a lobster and served with melted butter. The meal was superb and we enjoyed the chance to spend some more time with them.

On Saturday, we went to the Strawberry Festival in the park located less than a mile from Bill’s house. We bought half a flat of strawberries and walked around the festival for about an hour. Then we went back to the coach and did some cleaning. That evening we drove back to Bill’s for a home-cooked dinner. Muffy and I had the chance to take a bicycle ride around the neighborhood and see the beautiful homes. Dinner was again delicious and we left early since Bill still had some preparation for his church services the next morning.

On Sunday morning we went to church. This was the first Sunday for two services and we went to the 8:30 service. We packed the coach, hitched up the car, and drove it to the church. Once the service was over we departed from the church headed north.

My plan was to drive to Jacksonville (about 200 miles) and spend the night at the Elks Lodge. We decided to continue to the Flying J, dump the holding tanks and refuel, then drive on toward Macon. We targeted a Wal-Mart in Eastman, GA, but arrived and couldn’t find the store. So we drove on to Cochran, GA and a Passport America park, the Hillside Bluegrass RV Park. With our PA discount, we paid only $10 for electric/water/sewer connections. We drove 371 miles that day and were tired when we arrived. The next day we were up early to drive the 47 miles to Macon and the Centreplex where the rally was being held.

We arrived before 9AM, got parked with the other committee members in an area with electric and water. I got my equipment (reflective vest, radio, etc.) and we started to work laying out the parking areas. I’m working with a great bunch of guys who are extremely helpful and willing to pass on their knowledge. We worked all day and most of Tuesday marking all the parking areas. We were completed earlier than expected, so we’ve been doing other preparation for the arrival of the participants on Sunday. In the meantime more of the Committee members have arrived and we’ve been parking them. There are about 50 Committee members expected and some were told not arrive before Wednesday or Friday. (Some don’t listen very well!)

It’s interesting to be around the politics of the organization - the different personalities have been exposed and it’s fascinating to watch the interaction. So far, there are only seven of us on the Parking Committee and it’s a tight group. We all work together well and have a good time while we’re working. Our big rush will hit us on Sunday when the early arrivals will start coming in. We have four of our wives that will be driving “Follow Me” golf carts and bringing the arrivals to us to park. It should be a lot of fun since some of these folks think they can park themselves and don’t need our help. The “old hands” have given us some clues on handling those drivers and been mentoring the three newbies on how to deal with those types of drivers. They told me they don’t expect I’ll have any problems with my police background - I have such a patient temperament, y’know.

Some of the keys to successfully parking the coaches are to force them to slow down, watch us instead of the orange cones we have placed to mark the driver’s side of the coach when it’s parked, and to stop the drivers if they aren’t paying attention. It’s amazing to watch some of the “senior drivers” who fancy themselves as competent and kick the front cone out of the way when they aren’t keeping their eyes on us. It really works!! Moreover, we can always slow them way down which helps us to judge their wheel position so we can keep consistent spacing between coaches. So far, we’ve had a real fun time parking the committee members who have arrived. We’re all looking forward to Sunday.

We’re parked in a perfectly flat, level area. We have a huge generator providing us with 30amp electric, the water hoses have been stretched so we can keep our fresh water tank full, and we have already had one free trip from the portable sanitary dump truck. The Committee gets a sandwich lunch provided each day along with donuts around 10AM for a coffee break. It gets almost embarrassing that we’re able to receive these benefits, but then we’re working some long hours each day in exchange. The Layout/Parking Crew is taken care of very well! We’ll be working every day until next Saturday when we help the caravan leave for the FMCA Rally in Perry, about 35 miles south of here.

Tomorrow we have an easy day and Dottie and I will get out and check out the local Sam’s and Super Wally. We enjoyed a seafood buffet this evening at a local restaurant and it was a pleasant change. Dottie has been able to get out, but I haven’t left the grounds yet. I’ve had fun meeting some of the local police officers and comparing working conditions. In this town of about 100,000 people, the black Mayor has managed to deplete the funds to where the officers haven’t had any raises for the last five years. They’re frustrated with their average pay of nearly $12.50/hour. They have had problems similar to San Diego in that officers are bailing out and moving to other agencies with higher pay scales and better equipment. I’ve met a group of great guys and they are all fascinated with our RV lifestyle.