April 28 – To Cape Fear

Today was a moving day but first we managed to get a task done that has been bothering me for a long while.

We replaced the front tires on the RV about 3 years ago. The rear 4 tires are still the originals from when the chassis was built in 2008. The general feeling is that you should replace your tires when there are at most 7 years old and ours were now 9. The reason to replace them is not because the tread wears out but that the sun over time dries out the rubber which will start to crack which can lead to a failure. Driving on the tires helps distribute the oils in them to keep them from cracking. Since we move fairly often in the summer and I keep the tires covered in the storage lot in the winter I hadn’t seen any signs of cracking but …

One of the motorhome clubs I belong has a deal with Michelin such that you get almost 20% off of your tires if you get them from a participating dealer. Unfortunately those dealers are only in the states so I have to do it during our trip. I figured today was a good day to get it done as we had a short move so lots of time in the morning. I found a local truck tire dealer that had the 4 tires I needed. We got there about 8;30 and were done at about 10:30. The RV looked awfully funny propped up without its tires on. I wanted to get a picture but there was no way I was going into the RV to get the camera with it in that state. 

So instead of just over $500 a tire I, paid $419 plus about $50 for mounting and balancing. An expensive morning but a weight off my mind.

On to Cape Fear.

We had reserved a nice spot in Carolina Beach State Park but it has no hookups. There are a few hookup sites but they were booked up long before I checked, many months ago. Unfortunately it is very hot here and without an electric hookup we can’t run the air conditioners.

We are also on our own WIFI and there is no hole in the trees for the satellite TV. It’s a hard life.

To cool off we drove down towards the end of Cape Fear to the beach at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area.

Near the parking area there was a huge group of high school kids.

Passed them, the beach was empty and goes on for about 4 miles.

We didn’t go far because we were already tired from the rest of the day and the heat.

If there is a flower I must take a picture.

We are here for 4 nights.