Camping and Fishing Adventures

Our Ortona South Campground host saved the day!

For us, camping is always a great experience!  It’s about the quality of the campground, the people who manage everything, and the friendly and interesting people we meet during our short stay.  Not to mention the overall appearance of the grounds, and of course the fishing. 

            Normally, our camping is a bit uneventful during the day when we’re not out fishing.  But this past 4th of July was anything but uneventful.

            It all started when I backed our Tundra into the shade of the awning so I could install a back up camera and mirror.  Before we left home, I tried to remember all the things I needed to make this install successful. I had our new camera and mirror kit which we received the day before leaving the house, so that kit, along with a soldering gun, flux, solder, an extra cigarette lighter plug, a rag, and some tools, I thought I was prepared. 

            After returning from fishing, I decided I’d give the kit a try to just hook up the mirror portion so I could plug it into the cigarette lighter, I was planning on finishing with the camera the next day, mostly due to the 90 degree days and high humidity we are blessed with during the summer months here in Southwest Florida.

            I discovered the + and - wires from the kit were so small that they were difficult to connect. So I took the cigarette lighter plug apart and discovered there was a piece missing from inside, so I couldn’t go any further with that procedure.  Then I took the camera portion out and with several hours of working outside and sweating like crazy, I finally got it hooked into the backup lights. 

            When I went to pull our truck back in front of our RV, It just wouldn’t start. Up to this point I had absolutely no battery problems at all.

            Shortly after that, I found someone in the park who was willing to loan us a miniature battery starter pack.  I hooked it up and NADA.  It was one of those small hand-held ones with about a 2 amp rating.

            Later on in the day, all snuggled up inside our RV, we heard a knock at our door, upon opening up, we discovered it was the volunteer camp host Ann.  Much to our surprise, she had a plug in battery charger and offered it to use.

            After hooking it up, we checked the % of charge and it was only at 15%.  Naturally the truck wouldn’t start so we waited until it reached 35%, still no start or even a clicking noise one would expect from the starter.

            We stood there chatting with Ann and she told us they had a power boat and used this charger for any battery emergencies.

            Meanwhile, the charger was doing its job charging our dead battery.  A short time later, the charger reached 55%, so I decided to try starting again, VOILA, it fired up instantly!

            Karen and I could not have been any happier, since we had lined up several mobile auto repairs in addition to our Good Sam’s Roadside Assistance.  It was difficult to get anyone to come out to help us except for Good Sam’s, which we had already scheduled for the next morning.

            We discovered that the kindness of our camp host Ann not only saved us a lot of frustration, which we had already gone through, but she went way beyond her normal realm of duties by helping someone in dire need, even when she didn’t have to.  It only took me a few minutes to jump on my tablet and order a charger like the one we were borrowing. It's a Schumacher SSC-1500A model I bought from Walmart online for $50.

            We left that charger on until nightfall and it got up to 82%, so I turned it off for the night and plugged it back in the next day very early so we could hook up and return our RV to its safe storage not far from our house.

            This past 4th of July will be one we will remember for a long time.  Didn’t see any fireworks, but we did meet one of the nicest camp hosts we’ve had the pleasure to know.