Turned South!

I fixed the wire harness this morning and all the lights work fine now. The car was covered with ice when we woke up and Norma said she did not sleep well she said her hair was frozen! It didn't bother me, I just crawled under the covers.

We pulled out, passed Tallahassee (never found "My Tallahassee Lassie") and turned South on Highway 19/98. You can almost feel it getting warmer every few miles as we move south! We tried to make it to St. Petersburg but it started getting dark so we pulled into a Walmart near Spring Hill. We asked the greeter if we could park and he said, "People do, but you will have to ask at Customer Service". The woman at CS had to call a "manager" and soon a 19 year old $9 an hour "manager" appeared. We asked her and she said "No, it is not allowed". I did not like her flippant attitude so we pursued it. We asked if it was a local by-law or store policy and she said the management does not allow it. I told her that Walmarts official policy was that RV parking is allowed unless there are local by-laws prohibiting it. She said lots of people ask and they always say no. We asked to speak to the store manager and an older woman appeared. We asked again and she made a phone call, probably to the actual manager. She spoke for 30 seconds and hung up. She asked us what time we would be leaving in the morning, I told her around nine or ten at the latest and she told us where to park.

I blame thoughtless RV'ers for this problem. We have seen Walmarts where old motorhomes park for days, even weeks at a time. Some folks set up tables and chairs, light barbecues and set up dog runs. It is obvious they intended to stay for extended periods. I also suspect they set up over storm sewers so they can use them to dump. These thoughtless jerks will eventually change Walmarts policy. It is a shame.

These are not really "free" nights at Walmart. Tonight I bought a $49 Schumacker 15Amp battery charger, a $30 recharge for our cell phone, a $10 SD card for the GPS and a few groceries. They get their money from us!

Tomorrow it is a short run to the St. Petersburg / Tampa area where we hope to settle in for a week.