Sand Castle at OCMD

The Beast last summer in the same lot

I took a vacation day today so Mary and I could enjoy great weather and get our Motor home down to Ocean City, MD.  First things first, I had to get the beast inspected since I let the tags expire in early March.  Once we finally uncovered, after all that snow, I wanted to power wash the rig and confirm all my lights were working.  Mechanically she is in excellent shape, but the marker lights are always a hassle since the plastic parts are so old. I needed a headlight and three new marker lights to replace the few that would work only if you gave them a whack, I can't have that.

The Sand Castle passed inspection and I drove it the few miles to Wilmington Airport (KILG) where I would meet Mary.  We wanted to park my SUV there so we had a ride home after Mike agreed to fetch us up in OCMD later that afternoon.  We turned the beast south and enjoyed the 2.5 hour ride to the Ocean City Airport, KOXB.  We picked up the airport car at the airport so we had wheels to get back and meet Mike B.

It's only ten to fifteen miles to the RV park and the ride sparked summer thoughts as we passed by our favorite shops.  I swiped the security card to open the gates and parked in front of our leased lot. Hmmm, it had that same look of wet ground and underlying quick sand.  Ok, not the real quick sand but you get the picture.  I walked the area and decided that I would not get it stuck backing into the lot, instead I would drive around the back and cut through the lot behind us just like I did last year. It was a grand plan! However, the rear of the coach combination of weight and the dual wheel axle didn't make the final destination. I was stuck in the sand soil mud mix with no sight of my sidewalls. The dual wheels were caked with a mud wall between them. There was no moving forward the last ten feet to get to where I needed to be, this would require a tow. Indeed it did to the tune of $157, but we were in and I could back fill the trench we left getting into position another day.

The decision was made to lock up and head home. I didn't hook up any utilities, we let the beast sit until we could come back on the weekend. Mary and I headed out for lunch and then to the airport to meet Mike.

Mike landed on schedule despite fighting a headwind on the way south. After stretching his legs and us all climbing aboard Mike got the fan turning to take us home. It was a very short hop home with a nice tailwind as the Cirrus cruised along at a ground speed of 170 knots. I did some radio work as the tower cleared us for a left downwind entry for runway one nine. A smooth landing by Mike in windy conditions made for a nice end to our day. Mary and I helped secure the Cirrus and we all headed home.

Thanks Mike for the retrieval mission, it was a relaxing ride home after a hectic day playing road warrior.