Peggy and I traveled to Everglades National Park a few weeks ago, came back to our basecamp in Virginia, spent two weeks rushing to prepare for our five-month road trip, and are now in Terre Haute, Indiana sitting on the border of Missouri. We were supposed to be continuing west today, but the National Weather Service had a severe thunder and lightning storm warning up for Missouri. It’s not the type of weather to be out on the road, especially when pulling a small, light trailer.
The storm introduced itself last night. We could hear it approaching from miles away, at first a distant constant rumble, it became an earth-shaking roar. We hunkered down and wondered if Armageddon had arrived. I worried about hail. Baseball size chunks were crashing down on Kansas City. Serafina, our trailer, would not have been happy. But the storm passed us by without any damage.
On top of that, we had a propane leak, which can be more dangerous than softball-size hail. My solution, other than a few chosen words, was to shut the tanks off and wait until we could find an RV service facility to fix it, which often takes days or even weeks to schedule. Fortunately, we have options that allow us to function without propane.
Peggy and I have learned in our recent travels that mobile techs can solve most RV problems, however, often on a same-day basis and at a fair cost. Since we were here for the day, I called a local business in Terre Haute: At Your Service— Mobile RV Repair. And boy did we luck out. I reached the owner, Allen Grota, and he told me he would be over as soon as the storm stopped. He went through everything, tanks, connections and regulator. Finally he found the problem. The hose to the trailer had been left hanging next to one of our levelers and the lowering and rising of the leveler had cut it. As soon as this had happened, the regulator had shut down the tank. We weren’t in danger, but neither would we have propane. Allen then ran downtown to get what he needed to fix the problem. The cost was incredibly reasonable. And it turns out, Allen is a heck off a nice guy.
I’ve already done three posts on our Everglades trip: One on white pelicans, one on osprey, and one on the area around Everglade City on the Gulf Coast. I’ll conclude today featuring more of the Atlantic Coast side where we found the osprey and white pelicans. We entered the park at the Ernest F. Coe entrance. After stopping off at the Visitor Center, we made a beeline for the Anhinga Trail, just inside the park. Peggy and I had been there before and were quite impressed with the alligators and birdlife.
From there, we drove down through the park to Flamingo, where we would be glamping. We stopped along the way at various pulloffs to check out features of the Everglades emphasized by the National Park. First up, the Anhinga Trail.
Wandering through Time and Place 
We had the honor of living in Terrible Haute for a year. Larry Bird’s home!! Thanks for the great bird pictures.
You do get around. Grin. Not that Larry needed to be taller, but he might have been jealous of that great egrets ability to stretch. Thanks, Steve. –Curt
It sure is a unique area.
Yes it is G. We were glad to visit the Everglades again. It’s special. Both the birds and the alligators were a kick!
It’s been many years since we camped in Flamingo. Thanks for reminding me of those memories. It’s one of my favorite places.
Glad we could bring back happy memories!
I can’t decide what’s more bizarre: the eyes on that anhinga or the feet on the gallinule…
Indeed a toss up, Diana! 😳
Happy journeys as you prepare for your next adventure! We are having some sun-filled days until next week’s rain will return. Tomorrow 70! I look forward to your blogs! If you happen to be in Olympia visiting the Capitol, I can walk over and get a snap of you two by the fountain!🌺
Oooh, Sun filled. Always a plus in Western Washington! Thanks on the blog. Appreciated, Wendy. Still planning, Olympia… 😁
The Purple Gallinule is a very handsome bird. Glad the RV got fixed so ‘easily’.
With out-of-this-world feet. Grin. As for the RV: Lucky.
Wonderful bird shots, but they pale in comparison to the tent! 😂 It looks positive luxurious.
Good news about the repair of the propane leak!
Alison
Compared to my tiny, barely two-person backpacking tent: Palatial, Alison. 🥹
I love the sound of rain on the roof of a trailer or tent! Hail – not so much. We had rain early this morning and we have skylights – was a pleasant sound to be woken up by!
And, I might add, to go to sleep by. The house I grew up in had an aluminum roof. Many a winter evening, I went to sleep with the rain pounding down.
I greatly enjoy the photos of all the birds… such beautiful creatures. The photos of the anhinga and its shadow are gorgeous… the contrast in patterns with the ripples and white streaks, yummy!
The birds were magnificent, and such fun to photograph. As for the anhinga: right place, right time. You know how that works,Arati!
Yep 🙂
Great luck on getting the right guy for the job. So glad you were not stuck without propane for long. I love these birds today. What a great post. Those googly eyes are awesome, but I am so delighted by the Anhinga swimming! Very cool. And the colours on the Purple Gallinule are outstanding. Purple, but so much more. 🙂
The birds were fun. Some surprised me. I knew I was getting good close ups of the Anhinga in the tree, but really didn’t appreciated the eyes until I went back and looked at the photos. The swimming anhinga was just a few feet away just off the shore. We were lucky to be looking down on it for the photos. The feet on the Gallinule blew my mind!
As for the propane, it’s dropping into the teens at night and we are really appreciating the furnace!