19 Jun 2024 - Brutal heat, Bad Campground Power, Early Departure

 

Quite a challenging day here at Riverbend Campground.  The AC power continues to be a huge challenge, and it finally won the battle.  I threw in the towel and we are departing a day early.  More on that later.

The heat rolled in again today and our power is just not right.  The site was supposedly a 50 amp site.  There are two 120VAC legs that should provide the necessary power, but as explained yesterday, the voltage is low, especially on L2, like 106 VAC.  This is my chart and how my coach is configured:

My suspicions were confirmed as I made a trip to the campground office to report the issues we were having.  The lady at the desk had no clue but called someone who I suspect is one of the owners, and he showed up at our campsite.  He quickly confirmed using an inductive probe that we had power on both legs.  Yep, sure do pal but the voltage is low - way too low.  Low enough that I could easily burn our an air conditioner compressor if I tried to use it.  The guy confirmed my suspicious that our site is on the end of an old 30 amp line and they installed 50 amp sockets even though the circuits will not support 50 amps.  They won't even support 30 amps!  That is wrong on so many levels.

So we are living in a box (camper) with minimal insulation, able to use only one of three air conditioners, unable to use our microwave, unable to use our water heater on electric.  Basically unable to use anything electrical except A/C 3.  Ok, so I have been really hot before - Iraq, Qatar, yep I know hot and I know humid, but I'm not subjecting my wife and dog to this, and I am not going to damage my appliances because the campground is falsely advertising 50 amp electrical service.  OK, rant over.

We sweltered here all day, and cancelled our plans to go out to eat in Augusta Maine with my Air Force buddy Ernie Souther because the power here was totally unreliable.  I could not take a chance of the power failing with Liberty here in the camper.  So instead, we improvised, adapted and overcame!  We loaded up Liberty in our truck and headed up to Ernie's house,  Temp on the truck was 113F.  We picked Ernie up and drove to nearby Jay Maine and stopped at an ice cream shop for a treat!  Then we stopped back at Ernie's and said our goodbyes. 

He has over 100 acres here and some of it is wooded.  

His license plate collection from each state - each plate has a story.

His Iowa plate is from our daughter Michelle who was born in Maine, 

and this was her plate when she lived in Iowa!

Ernie explaining the history on some of the plates!

It was so great to again reconnect with this great American and retired Air Force First Sergeant!  I am proud to say I served our Nation with Ernie Souther and are very thankful we have been able to stay in contact all these years!

One more thing about Ernie:  He and I are both baseball fans.  He is a die hard Boston Red Sox fan and I am a die hard Chicago Cubs fan - always have been, always will be!  I bought Ernie a Cubs hat a while back and so he is an associate Cubs Fan.  Anyway, somewhere along the line he came across a very, very old Boston baseball pennant and on it was a very, very old Chicago Cubs  pin, which he gave to me today.  I will cherish it always!

So back to the campground we headed, and we took this picture as we left.  It is not everyone who has a street named after them!!

Driving through Livermore Fall Maine on the way back we took some pictures of the huge lumber operation here, which is a common site in Maine. 

 

Back at the campground the power issues continued to a point that not even one air conditioner would run.  Then a storm rolled in and torrential rain and high wind, and BAM, no power at all.  So there we sat.  That was the final straw.  We are checking out of here tomorrow, one day early and heading on up to our next stop which is Millinocket Maine, at the foot of Mount Katahdin and Baxter State Park.  The campground there has assured me their power is good!  I have another Air Force buddy there, Kirk Small. His son and my daughter Michelle were born about the same time in 1975 at Loring,.  We were in Lamaze class together!  And we became great friends up there.  So it will be great to see Kirk again!

Next report from Wilderness Edge Campground in Millinocket Maine!  The only thing between here and there is about 175 miles and a 13 ft 7 in railroad bridge in Millinocket  (gulp)!!