Have you ever met a road gator? According to Urban Dictionary, a road gator is “bits of truck tires left when a retread tire shreds on the Interstate. The tire treads look like an alligator’s back.” Guess what happened today….
21 November 2025
Catching up on adventures from last year
0850 77,555 59°F Leave Grace Note Brewing in Jacksonville, FL
1010 77,608 71° Near St Augustine
Hit a “gator” on I-95 south near St. Augustine. We were in the center lane. I saw it in the left lane just before a car in that lane hit it sending it into our lane. With cars and trucks in all lanes, there was no way to steer around, so that gator went under our van with a nasty clunking noise. A car in the right lane waved at us and pointed to the side of our van. Fortunately, we were approaching a rest area so we pulled off the interstate and parked in a safe area.
Getting out of the van, it was obvious we had a leak. Inspected the underside and found fresh water draining from a broken water tank hose fitting. Supports for the passenger side running board were bent. With those items being the only apparent damage, we consider ourselves very fortunate.
We reported the “gators” to the rest area staff who assured us they would let the highway patrol know.
1156 77,683 76°F Titusville, FL
Dixie Crossroads
Left I-95 at exit 220 and headed east for a treat. Warm hush puppies covered with powdered sugar are still delivered before every meal. Freshly steamed rock shrimp dipped in butter, and gator bits not made of rubber were delicious.
We’ve been stopping here for years in the camper and with boating friends. Titusville is a popular hopping off point for sailors going to the Bahamas.
Dixie Crossroads appears to still be doing well as their large parking lot was full when we left at 1313.
1530 77,830 79°F Hobe Sound, Florida
1548 77,832 79°F Jonathan Dickinson State Park
Pine Grove Campground, site 59
After settling into our site I did a more thorough inspection under the van. The only additional issue I noticed was a portion of the hot water low point drain handle had broken off.
Knowing that the fresh water tank hose was out of commission, we thought hooking up to the park fresh water would be a good work around.
I missed the break in the tiny pipe section above the blue low point drain. We will be learning how to work with PEX on this vacation!
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