Yemassee KOA

This place is only about 30 minutes from home. There was nothing interesting that happened today. Interstate 95 wasn't even too bad. We should be back in the Sham pretty early tomorrow and the trip will be over. All in all things went pretty well but the sunny South Florida weather that we were hoping for didn't materialize. We did, however, avoid the deep freeze that covered the Southeast in snow. I didn't take a single picture today but I'll look back through the pictures I took on the trip and post something.

Hanna Park day 2

Our big event today was Disc golf. The course is hacked out of a primeval jungle with narrow fairways and impenetrable rough. As is typical, there was a lot of confusion concerning the course layout. After that adventure we drove into Atlantic Beach and ate at a Peruvian restaurant that served mostly Ceviche. There were many different variations. After that we did laundry which is always fun. Tomorrow we move to a KOA that is close to home. We always stop there to flush the holding tanks and prepare the MP for storage. Tomorrow will be our last night.

Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park

This park is in Jacksonville. It is a city operated park. There is a lot of beach, a disc golf course and great trails for hiking or biking. We have been here twice before so I rode my favorite trail. Very nice. I took that first pic during our hike yesterday. I thought it was blog worthy but some how it failed to make it into yesterday's post. That dog is a Border Collie. There is a couple camped across from us who were running that dog through its repertoire of tricks. That dog is very talented. In the pic he is springing off of her foot and doing a flip. Lindsay, I'm thinking you should try to teach Omar something like that. We are here all day tomorrow.

Wekiva day 2

Another day of visiting with Mike and Linda. Mike had to fly home this afternoon to attend a friend's funeral. Jenny and I did a hike in a nature preserve near here and we were lucky enough to see a couple of Sand Hill Cranes. Only my second time and Jenny's first. Right before Mike left for the airport I took that picture of the Everett Florida brain trust. The dog pic is Chief, Mike's Rottweiler and another pic is the interior of their rather large movable home. We head further North tomorrow.

Wekiva Falls RV resort

This campground is North of Orlando. Our campsite is next to Mike and Linda. We had a good visit and a fantastic meal. We are here tomorrow.

Chokoloskee day 2

We drove into Everglades City this morning. They have the only grocery store and the only post office. Our main adventure today was a boat tour of the 10,000 islands with Captain Mike in his skiff. The tour was 1 1/2 hours and Jenny and I were the only people on the boat. He cruised around the Mangrove islands at an alarming speed and I was absolutely sure he was lost. He wasn't. He took us to a place that he knew Dolphins hung out and he somehow enticed them to surf behind the boat. He literally talked to them and they seemingly responded. I haven't been drinking. Much. This island has many impressive bougainvilleas. That pic was one of the average ones. Some yards have bougainvillea hedges. We move tomorrow to a campground where Mike Everett and his wife Linda are snowbirding.

Chokoloskee Island

We are back on the West Coast of Florida just at the top of the 10,000 islands. As we drove north the temperature slowly dropped. We are hoping the cold weather will retreat north faster than we are. We are here for 2 Nights.

Day 6

No improvement in the weather department today. My hopes of returning home with a tan have been squashed. We decided to head into town and be tourists. We visited the Aquarium, had a good Key West lunch, gawked at the immense crowds on Duval Street and finally we drove by the Southern Most Point monument. There was a line of probably 50 people waiting to have their picture taken beside it. We were doing touristy stuff but that was way over the top. Returning to the MP we did a bike ride and thought we'd stop by the KOA bar and have an adult beverage. Turns out tonight is trivia night. The place was packed with loudly talking senior citizens. I typically have my hearing aids turned up so that I can hear Jenny clearly. I hit that wall of sound and bounced backwards out the door. We are mixing our own drinks. We move tomorrow and are leaving the Keys behind. This is our turn around point. We are headed home.

Day 5

The unprecedented snow accumulating in North Florida hasn't reached us but our weather was windy, cloudy and a little wet. Jenny and I walked and I rode a portion of

Florida Highway 4A. That road has been abandoned for years but it was the original Highway 1 that replaced the RR. There were a couple of ferry rides required between keys but it was in use until the 1930s when the current Overseas Highway was completed. All along the current road is a one lane paved bike/hike trail. That trail follows the original 4A. That's today's history lesson. Tomorrow is our last full day here. 

Day 4

Well, the sun returned today and we got outside and did something. I had a good bike ride, the first of this trip, and we got the yaks off of the car roof and Into the water. We were in the mangroves for a while and then we paddled in some artificial canals with really impressive homes on both sides. That iguana was on a retaining wall behind one of those houses.The bike ride I took this morning is suitable for Jenny so we might ride together tomorrow. There is a chance of rain so we'll see. 

Day 3

Well, so much for shorts and T-shirts. Again, I'm not complaining, the high was 62, but 72 is way better. We visited a state park 10 miles north of here called Bahia Honda. I looked at camping there when I planned this trip but Florida residents can book 11 months in advance and the rest of us have to wait for 10 months. They were completely booked when I tried. We learned a little bit about the Overseas Highway while we were there. It started out as a railroad. For years that was the only way to get to Key West. The road was eventually built, some of it on the old rail bed. A hurricane in 1934 destroyed some of the original bridges and those that were left were either made into fishing piers or closed off completely. I took a pic of one of those bridges. That particular bridge was, or is, the highest point in the Keys. That sign is somewhat confusing. I'm not sure what the punishment would be. The weather should be more like it should be tomorrow. We are hoping to get the kayaks wet.

Key West day 2

We have a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot that uses a T-Mobile cell signal. It allows us to stream TV instead of using our Dish satellite. Well, that T-Mobile device ceased to function yesterday. A part of today was spent in the T-Mobile dealer in Key West. It took a while but we are back in business. We had a few hours before the store opened so we went into town. We did the waterfront and Duval Street. We saw a few chickens and several really weird individuals who were expressing their individuality. I'm not sure Key West will be on my top 10 list. There was a cruise ship docked at the port so things were a little crowded. The weather map looks pretty grim except for South Florida. It has that going for it. Those are some more random pics. There was a wall on the waterfront that was completely covered in stickers. We walked by a restaurant whose walls were completely covered with dollar bills. More tomorrow.

Key West KOA

When I booked this place all I saw was the name. It's the Key West KOA. You would think it's in or close to Key West. We are at mile 20 on the overseas highway, so that's 20 miles from Key West. I'm not complaining. This place is spectacularly good for a commercial campground. There's a cafe and a bar. A great pool and a beach plus a boat ramp with interesting paddling possibilities. We don't really have anything planned for the 6 days we will be here. We should enjoy the weather. It was 82° today and should be something like that all week. More tomorrow.

Everglades National Park

It rained pretty much on us all day. We drove across Florida on Alligator Alley, which is Highway 40. The road skirts the northern edge of the Everglades. This campground is only a few miles inside the park. There are no hookups. This is a typical NP campground in that regard. Our site is barely long enough. Anyway we wanted to break up the drive to Key West so this fit that bill. We had a couple of hours before sunset so we did a couple of trails. These are some random pics during those short hikes.

Collier-Seminole day 2

This morning we hiked the only real trail in the park. Some of it was an old road bed that allowed cars to go to a ferry and cross a channel over to Marco Island. We saw a River Otter on that road. It's pretty swampy around here so in order to get material for a road bed they had to dig up the muck on both sides of the road and pile it where the road is going to be. There are ditches on both sides of the road that are filled with water. I shudder to think what the bug situation is like in the summer. That hike was 3.5 miles. The Parks namesake, Mr. Collier, owned a lot of the land around here and this part of his property had a significant grove of the Palm Tree that is in the pic. (Cuban Royal Palm)

He deeded it to the state to protect it and here we are. We had lunch near the park and then drove onto Marco Island. It struck us as pretty upscale. We move tomorrow to a boondock campsite in Everglades NP. Cell coverage might be iffy.

Collier-Seminole State Park

This park is near Marco Island and not far from Naples. We are getting very close to the big swamp. Our campsite is right across the street from the bathhouse which has a washer and dryer. We were in need of those appliances. Anyway, that's pretty much all we accomplished. There is only 1 trail in the park and our plan is to hike it tomorrow. We are here for 2 Nights. The high today was 75°.

Lake Manatee day 3

We were visited today by a couple of Mobil RV mechanics. We are fairly confident about what is broken. What we wanted from these guys was for them to tell us what wasn't wrong. They had the equipment to check all of the electrical connections and fuses. All of those were good. We are pretty sure now that we have a bad inverter. Our workaround is working so we are full speed ahead. The scenery is not very interesting around here. A lot of sand, palmettos, pines and oaks. We move tomorrow.

Lake Manatee day 2

Today was our first shorts and T-shirt day. It started out in the mid 50s and was above 70 for most of the day. I got out on my bike for an hour or so this morning. There are some equestrian trails that I somehow ended up on. I had a map but none of those trails were on my map. I was somewhat confused as to my location. I had my trusty GPS and it saved me. I don't mind being lost as long as I'm eventually found. Jenny and I did a hike right before sunset so that she could get her exercise quota in. Not sure what killed those trees. We are having a Mobile RV repair guy coming by tomorrow. We are hoping he can at least diagnose our electrical issue. More tomorrow.

Lake Manatee State Park

We are not too far from Bradenton which is not too far from Tampa. Today was the first day that we have had heavy traffic and confusing roads. That bridge is called "The Sunshine Skyway Bridge". It goes over Tampa Bay. The lithium ion battery charger worked great last night. We woke up to 13.3 volts, which is about as high as it goes. We rode around for about an hour after we got set up and had lunch. The high temperature today was 72°. I took off my sweatshirt and traded it for a T-shirt. We are here 3 nights.

Cedar Key day 2

I need to mention this eventually so I guess now is probably a good time. We have a problem. The house batteries don't charge while plugged into the 30 amp pedestal. The house batteries die at night because the solar panels don't work too well at night. That means no lights and the toilet won't flush. The AC stuff works so we have heat but we have been forced to start the Diesel engine every morning and run it for an hour to get the batteries somewhat charged. I have talked to several people about this and a light bulb came on in my head after a tech I talked to this morning asked me a question. Do you have a battery charger? I do but it won't charge Lithium/ion batteries. I got a new battery charger and we're thinking that workaround is working. It seems to be working. We hope it's working. We'll know tomorrow morning. Those pics were taken in that park during a hike as we tried to close Jenny's exercise rings. The trail was a firebreak road with 6" deep sand. It was a wonderful experience. We move tomorrow.

Cedar Key

We drove around the big bend of Florida pretty much following the coast. We are a few miles out of Cedar Key in a commercial campground. After we got set up we headed into the island for a late lunch. We did notice as we drove here that more and more hurricane damage was evident. Trees down and roofs blown off. Cedar Key was wholloped. Most of the businesses are shuttered and many of the buildings are a tangled mess. We talked some with the waitress that served us lunch and she drew a line on the wall that was head high where the water was in the restaurant during the storm. It's going to be awhile before Cedar Key recovers. I took that pic in the parking lot of a dollar store where we stopped for something. More tomorrow.

St.George Island day 2

The weather has not been ideal. Cold weather just doesn't motivate either one of us to get out there and do something. We did find a place to eat lunch. The pic is a plate of Oysters Rockefeller that we started our lunch with. We are near Apalachicola. They claim to be the oyster capital of the world. On our drive to the restaurant I saw that street sign. I thought it was brilliant. We move tomorrow. The weather is not supposed to improve.

St. George Island State Park

We drove through Panama City and Mexico Beach plus a few other less famous locales to get here. Most of the drive was on highway 98 which is the Florida version of highway 17. It follows the coastline. This park is on the extreme end of a narrow barrier island. It got narrower and narrower as we headed for the park entrance. The park has the last 5 miles. Jenny and I did a bike trail that has quite a bit of loose sand. It turned into a bike hike. We are here all day tomorrow.

Day 3 Grayton Beach

We're still trying to get me well. I was surprised that I slept in the bed last night and didn't cough. I'm still not functioning at anywhere near full speed. Maybe 75%. We did take a hike on the park's only trail. The park surrounds a dune lake. During a very high tide or a storm surge, Gulf of Mexico water breaches a narrow channel in the dunes and floods into the lake, filling it with salt water. Tomorrow we move a little ways further south. We are under the influence of a polar vortex and it was near freezing this morning. As usual, I didn't fully prepare for these temperatures. More tomorrow.

Day 2 at Grayton Beach

Nothing the least bit interesting going on today. Unless you are interested in what we had for lunch. So, no. Last night I slept in a chair. That was the only way I could stop coughing. I actually got some sleep but more importantly, Jenny got some sleep. The cold front that has been pestering the rest of the South blew through here this morning. I was looking forward to shorts and a T-shirt. Maybe later. We drove to the park kayak launch to have a look. We probably won't get the boats wet here. We are here for one more night.

Winter trip has begun

I'll fill some of you in on the last 3 weeks. There were 2 funerals in Texas, one before Christmas and one after. There was Christmas which turned out to be a super spreader event. Everyone who attended the festivities at my daughter's house in Mount Pleasant got sick. I'm not sure but I could have brought the bug back from the funeral I attended in Texas. I was a sick puppy. We had to delay our departure for 1 day because I was mostly comatose. Consequently we had 2 very long drives to arrive here, Grayton Beach SP FL. We are on the Gulf Coast in the Panhandle. We are here for 3 days and hopefully I will sleep for most of it. Jenny and I drove over to the beach and took a pic as the sun was about to disappear.