Peeking behind the wet bay

As previously mentioned, I had my wet bay modified to integrate the water filters and water softener, plus add valves and connections so I could regenerate and backflush the softener without having to remove it. Very handy. But it wasn’t hooked up quite right, so I pulled apart the wet bay to investigate. I determined that the pipes were reversed from how I wanted them, but the good news is that I was able to flip the water softener around (so the input and output were reversed), and change the labels on the valves and connectors, and now the system works properly. Yay!

Anyway, I thought I’d share some pictures of the complex hoses back there:

Pipes

Fascinating stuff.

Baseball: Baltimore Orioles vs Tampa Bay Rays spring training

We attended a spring training game at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida, between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Spring training

Selfie:

Selfie

Lineup:

Lineup

Baseball

Bullpen:

Bullpen

Ballpark:

Ballpark

BBQ:

BBQ

Chick-fil-A:

Chick-fil-A

Baseball

Surfside vodka beverages:

Surfside vodka beverages

Did somebody say roadtrip?

Dippin’ Dots:

Dippin' Dots

Spring Home of the Baltimore Orioles:

Spring Home of the Baltimore Orioles

Final scores:

Final scores

Thousand Trails Peace River

We stayed at Thousand Trails Peace River in Wauchula, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

We had some concerns about staying here, based on reviews, but were pleasantly surprised.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-03-02
Check out: 2025-03-09
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a little rain
High temps 68-82°F, lows 43-63°F
A little wind, gusts to 25 MPH

Noise:

Negligible road noise
No train horn noise
A little neighbor noise

Site:

#C50, back-in, grass
Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
Very level site, surprisingly; used hydraulic leveling
Grass site about 55 feet long by 40 feet wide
Just grass between sites
Picnic table
Fire pit
Tall trees
Somewhat clean site; a bottle and a few other bits of trash (TT doesn’t clean sites)
Elevation 40 feet, front facing North

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
45 PSI water, conveniently located
No sewer connection; pump-out service available (one free per week, $15 for extra)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 10-26 Mbps down, 11-16 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
T-Mobile: 290 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
AT&T: 435 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Pool
River

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Better than expected

We were somewhat skeptical before our stay here since the reviews weren’t all that great, but we decided to try it anyway and were pleasantly surprised. There were sites available in the full-hookup section, but opted for a w/e-only site since they offer one free pump out per week. The full-hookup sites are smaller and at the front of the park, closer to the highway and noise. The sites closer to the river were much quieter and spread out, so the slight inconvenience of no sewer was a fair trade. Since the hurricane that blew through a few years ago, all sites have been upgraded to 50A (the previous lack of 50A was our main hesitation based on earlier reviews). The campground got a bit busier and noisier (up in the full-hookup section) on the weekend, but it was otherwise a peaceful stay. We camped at Thousand Trails Peace River in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site, in the non-sewer section; more spacious and quieter than the sewer section:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

A squirrel on our picnic table:

Squirrel

Towards the end of our stay the waste tanks were getting a little full:

Full waste tanks

We wanted to empty them for our travel day anyway, so we went to the office to schedule the free honeywagon pumpout; they gave us this sign to put in our window:

Honeywagon sign

The pumpout truck; quick and easy:

Waste pump

Aerial views of our site:

Aerial view of our site

And the campground; you can see the more tightly packed sewer sites closer to the road, and much more spacious non-sewer sites closer to the river:

Aerial view of campground

Aerial view of bridge

Office:

Office

Playground:

Playground

Pool:

Pool

Courts:

Courts

Walking path by the river:

Walking path by river

Bridge, river, kayak:

Bridge, river, kayak

Kayak on the river:

Kayak on the river

There are a couple of dump stations, but on the wrong side of the road for non-sewer sites to use when leaving, weirdly (without looping around):

Dump station

Cabins:

Cabins

Other sites:

Other sites

As I said, we were pleasantly surprised. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Video

Video: Clermont to Wauchula, Florida motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, just 68 miles from Clermont to Wauchula, Florida.

Travel from Clermont to Wauchula, Florida

We drove our coach 68 miles, about 1.5 hours of driving, from Clermont to Wauchula, Florida.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south (though we actually took the route closer to Lakeland):

Route map

An interactive map, showing our actual route:

Pulling out of our site:

Pulling out of our site

Line to leave TTO:

Line to leave TTO

A gate ranger collecting site tags:

Ranger collecting site tags

Can only turn right out of TTO, so we needed to do a U-turn to head south; we’d done it before, so know it’s easy for us:

Preparing to do U-turn

Another RV doing the U-turn:

Another RV doing the U-turn

Us doing the U-turn; doesn’t look like it here, but there was heaps of room, didn’t even need to go into the bike lane:

Us doing the U-turn; easy

Passing an accident:

Accident

I-4 West:

I-4 West

Route 570 toll road:

Route 570 toll road

Route 98 South:

Route 98 South

Turn:

Turn

17 / 98 South:

17 / 98 South

Paladin on the dash:

Paladin on the dash

An interesting building in Bowling Green:

An interesting building in Bowling Green

Arriving at Thousnd Trails Peace River:

Arriving at Thousnd Trails Peace River

Check in line:

Check in line

Clock in bathroom

A very minor modification this time: we added a battery-powered clock on the wall in our bathroom. It is an atomic clock, that can set the time automatically, and has convenient time zone support, useful for us as we travel around the country. Plus it shows the temperature and humidity, useful for the bathroom, and reminds us which day it is, handy when we’re still waking up:

Clock

It is attached with Command picture hanging strips, that has two velcro-like pieces that can be pulled apart easily, so I can change the batteries. Nice and convenient.

Baseball: Detroit Tigers vs Philadelphia Phillies spring training game

We attended a spring training game at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida, between the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium

Map

Selfie

Grand Slam Grill:

Grand Slam Grill

Lunch:

Lunch

Beverage:

Beverage

Distance sign:

Distance sign

Outfield chairs:

Outfield chairs

Bullpens:

Bullpens

Bullpen

Big D:

Big D

Stands

Play ball:

Play ball

Baseball

Automated Ball-Strike challenge, being tested in spring training:

Automated Ball-Strike challenge

Baseball

Mascot:

Mascot

Baseball

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park

We visited Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Spring Hill, Florida. Famous for its live mermaid shows.

Statue

Peacock:

Peacock

Peahen and young peacock:

Peahen and young peacock

Lunch:

Lunch

Mermaid statue:

Mermaid statue

Gift store:

Gift store

Spring water park:

Spring water park

Can’t really see them, but there were some manatees over by the bank:

Manatees

River boat tour:

River boat tour

Bird

Eagle nest:

Eagle nest

Kayaks on the river:

Kayaks on the river

Mermaid theatre:

Mermaid theatre

Mermaid show, performing a variation of the Little Mermaid story:

Mermaid show

Cheesy fun.

Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort

We stayed at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in Clermont, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A fourth visit to TTO, the flagship Thousand Trails park. The second of two stays here this year, totaling five weeks, separated by a week in the Disney bubble.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-02-16
Check out: 2025-03-02
14 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a few rainy days
High temps 62-82°F, lows 38-61°F
Occasional wind, gusts to 31 MPH

Noise:

A little road noise
No train horn noise
Little neighbor noise
Distant fireworks from Disney most evenings

Site:

#6 Hurricane Road, back-in, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
A little unlevel site; a little high on passenger side and front; used hydraulic leveling
Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by 12 feet wide
18 feet to neighbor on passenger side (a mobile home)
35 feet to neighbor on driver side
Just grass between sites
Picnic table on 22 by 10 feet concrete patio
Some shrubs
A bunch of small trash on site
Elevation 120 feet, front facing West