Category: Campgrounds

Monday, February 15, 2021

We didn’t have far to go today, so we got some things done in the morning. Martha made some split pea soup while I tried to figure out why the water pump wasn’t pumping water after dewinterizing. I have had this problem a couple of times before, but I thought I had solved it. Could be a cracked plastic strainer in front of the pump. One year that thing froze and just exploded. We were lucky to find a replacement, so this year I had removed it. Second problem was also one I have had before; you have to prime the pump, meaning put some water into the reservoir beneath the strainer. Did that, but still not pumping water.

It’s wonderful to look these things up online, and Airforum is a great place to find solutions. Possible problems: a cracked pump; faulty relay; diaphragm torn; get a new pump (they aren’t expensive); make sure there is water in the fresh water tank! What! I know I filled that tank last night, but when I checked, it was empty. What? Sure enough, when I winterized, I left the drain open so it wouldn’t freeze. I closed the drain located between the tires and filled the tank again. Pump still didn’t move any water. I removed the plastic strainer, and there was no water underneath, so I primed it once again. Bingo! 😊

Since we had plenty of time, we took the scenic route to Carolina Beach. Along back roads, through pretty farmland, I always enjoy the scenery. This is low, flatland with a lot of swamps. All the fields were over-saturated with all this rain. Oddly, we never saw a duck, goose or deer. This would seem to be wonderful waterfowl habitat. The homes were quite modest. I could have spent the day taking pictures of old, deserted houses with wrap-around porches. 

We found our way to Carolina Beach State Park and settled into site #8. With big, generous sites and a huge area for the fire pit and picnic table with concrete pavers. The cost was $24 with all the hookups. I removed the galley sink and tightened the back connection to the water filter, and our little drip leak stopped.

Ruff and Sandra Wheless are joining us for this trip. Ruff was one of my roommates in dental school until he and Sandra. married between our junior and senior years. They pulled in and got settled in time for cocktail hour around a nice fire.