From Box Cañon we continued our trek eastbound which included some very short stays along the way, like a Walmart in Trinidad, CO; the Elk’s Lodge in Amarillo, TX; the Grand Casino in Shawnee, OK; a return visit to the Lazy L RV Park in Sherman, TX; and some stops at Elk’s Lodges in Shreveport, LA, Slidell, LA, and Biloxi, MS. The casinos in Shawnee and Biloxi were pretty good to us, Jeanne was having her way with the slots (yeah, so was I…)
Our overnight home at Walmart in Trinidad, CO. It can be quite the “intoxicating” experience to be camped out across the street from the Devil Weed Distributor…Welcome to the Amarillo Elk’s LodgeHome at the Grand CasinoOur view of the casinoNo stop in Sherman can be complete without a visit to 903 BrewersWhile CA is paying $6+ for gas, gotta love ‘dem Texas gas prices!Our home at Slidell Elk’s LodgeSmall section of the Liberty Bayou behind the Slidell Elk’s LodgeCool mirror shot off the little pond at the Slidell Elk’s LodgeThe Shreveport Elk’s LodgeThis was the driveway to get into the Biloxi Elk’s Lodge. Be quiet, don’t disturb these neighbors…Home at the Biloxi Elk’s LodgeViews of the Gulf ShoreJonathan Livingston Seagull sure has a lot of relatives!Some beach art in BiloxiLooking down the beach behind the Elk’s Lodge in BiloxiThe Biloxi LighthouseThis is the Captain of our Neighborhood Watch group here in Biloxi…
We managed to catch our breath with a longer stay at the Rainbow Plantation Escapees park in Summerdale, AL. However, it was not without a modicum of stress. Upon our arrival I found engine coolant spewed all over the rear cap and grill of the MH. Close inspection showed a horizontal crack just above the seam of the engine coolant surge tank. Our immediate task was to arrange for that particular repair. Wouldn’t you know it, Murphy was still riding with us. After numerous frantic phone calls, we discovered not one Freightliner shop in all of the United States of America had that part in stock. And what further inflamed the issue…nobody had any clue as to when Freightliner would be shipping out any more of that part, the blame falling squarely on the Joe F*ng Biden supply chain issues. I managed to get my name onto several waiting lists for the repair service at various Freightliner shops, so all I could do is roll with it. After some short debates with myself on temporary “fixes”, we made a run to an Auto Zone store and picked up some good ol’ KB Weld rated for high temps and pressures and I smeared it up good over the cracks. I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out…
Home, at Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, ALNow, why, exactly, do they call this place “Rainbow Plantation?”Craaaaaaaaaack!!!It’s amazing, the critters you attract after you wash the Jeep……and the motorhome!
Being the great makers of lemonade that we are, we marched on. Using Summerdale as our base, we made a few runs into places like the Gulf Shores and Pensacola, FL. The major drawback to Summerdale is it is far away from EVERYWHERE! Pensacola, only 40 miles away was always over an hour’s drive with the thick local traffic. Gulf Shores was only 30 +/- miles away and again, about a 45 minute drive with traffic. Two other little issues we had were the absolute horrendous wifi service we had, and we just happened to be here at the right time to endure the constant onslaught of Love Bugs!
We were supposed to be here for 2 weeks, but with the variable of my temporary fix hanging over us, we decided to cut out a little early (in the middle of the work week) just in case we had issues. We did not want to get stuck somewhere on a Sunday, when everything closes down back here, with no remedies in sight. So it was off toward Red Bay for now, not knowing when Freightliner will come through but with a set appointment for the other MH fixes at Daniel Humphries’ MS Solutions. Until next post…
The Florida Keys behind us, it was back to the mainland and points north for us. We did a short drive to an overnight stay at the Miccosukee Casino/Resort on the west end of Miami. This was another fairly nice Indian casino with a very large outback parking area and the price was exactly right – zilch. Just had to check in with security and let them know how many days we would be there. And Jeanne, of course, had to earn our keep at the slots. This particular casino offered no card games except for a poker room. The only drawback for us was during the night a black Escalade pulled in within 3-4’ of the back of our Jeep (still hooked up to the bus), headlights glaring into our bedroom window, with engine running, and remained like that for about 10 minutes. Initially I thought someone had just pulled over to play on their phone, but after 10 minutes of no change, I stuck my little Mustang into my shorts pocket and went out to investigate. I found the driver passed out behind her wheel, a young gal of the local tribe, and unresponsive to my pounding on her door/window. Just the kinda stuff I have been running from for the past 6 years of retirement! A quick phone call to security got their local tribal police to respond and clean up the mess. Onward and upward…
Our home at Miccosukee Casino/Resort.
Still wandering around without reservations anywhere in particular, we found a 2 day slot at the Midway Campground in the middle of the Big Cypress Nat’l Preserve (a swamp surrounded by the Everglades). It was a very nice campground circled around a small pond right off Hwy. 41.
Home at Midway Campground. Looking out across the pond.
Our first day we took off on the bicycles, following Hwy. 41 which also followed a narrow creek-like piece of the swamp. We got to see a whole bunch of gators, babies to adults, scattered along the water.
Meet Al Gator. He’s an easy going guy…Not much irritates him. This is Sneaky Pete. He could be problematic for those desiring to get their feet wet…Looks comfy. If your interested, contact Mike Lindell, inventor of My Pillow. Ask for the stone version…You’ll get a better night’s sleep… Hank Heron just watching over the “herd”…“C’mon, dude. You gotta do better than that if you wanna sneak up on me!”Awwwwwwww! Look at the wittow baby!
Day 2 we decided to go to Shark Valley and take a tram tour through some of the Everglades. It was raining on us most of the tour but we got a narrated tour of the area, saw a couple of gators and native birds, and the tour guide was entertaining as well.
“Hey, driver. You may not wanna stop to change a flat right about now!” “Keep your hands and feet inside the tram at all times!”He looks really pissed! Don’t ask. Lots o’ birds. I don’t know birds. Ditto…Ditto twice…
One problem that is not uncommon for us is we basically had no internet during this stay. That makes it rough on moving day, with no way to research for a next location. So we packed up and headed west aiming for the Naples area. Not long into the drive, internet came available, so Jeanne found a week’s stay for us at the Pine Island Resort in St. James City, FL. It is a typical snowbird park with lots of sites jam-packed on top of each other, and is a KOA/Encore/Thousand Trails combination park. Although not the most scenic of parks, Pine Island Resort does have plenty of activities for all ages such as pool/spa, playground, shuffleboard, horseshoes, basketball, tennis, pickleball, dog run, and a clubhouse for group gatherings.
A look at the dog run and tennis/pickleball court at Pine Island Resort.The playground and shuffleboard in the background.The pool/spa area at Pine Island.Shuffleboard and Horseshoes.This is not a bad view across one of the ponds.A little more representative of the sites at the Pine Island Resort.Our home at Pine Island.
Our first excursion was to check out Sanibel Island and the beach there. The big drawback to Pine Island is it takes a long drive to go ANYWHERE! Even the 2 closest civilized cities, Cape Coral and Ft. Myers, are a half hour away minimum. To make matters worse in the case of getting to Sanibel Island, the bridge over has a $6 toll, $2 to get back, and parking at the beach over there is $4 per hour. Ridiculous costs, considering the beach is a big nothing on my scale-of-wow.
Sanibel Island BeachSanibel Island Beach, looking the other way.
The bicycles got more work in when we took off for St James City (the far end of Pine Island). We found no beach areas to lollygag at, but did find a couple of potential eating & drinking establishments that we would visit soon. One, the Ragged Ass Saloon, was the local biker bar. We went there with our newfound Canadian friends Paul and Dianne (neighbors at the RV park) and had a nice dinner and a beer or four. Jeanne and I not being the typical bar-hopper types, it has been quite a while since I was in a bar surrounded by a bunch of drunks, especially hard core drunk bikers, but, surprisingly, I got a kick out of it. Some people are so easily amused…The second place we scoped out was Woody’s where Jeanne took me out to lunch and we had a lovely date. Of course I had to take advantage of a photo op while at Woody’s. They had a satirical duplicate land marker in their parking lot area to that marker in Key West designated as the Southernmost Point in the continental U.S.A. Only Woody’s marker is designated the Drunkenmost Point in the continental U.S.A. Good times with my hot babe!
I think Jeanne got a little homesick for the desert…Leave it to Woody…Dinner on the water at Ragged Ass Saloon with our Canadian friends Paul and Diane.The band playing in the back of Ragged Ass Saloon.
Jeanne wanted to make a road trip to the Sarasota area and Siesta Keys, so we did. She heard that Siesta Beach was one of the top beach locations in the country, so we tripped on up and promptly discovered two things. 1-It is a very large, very white sand, very beautiful beach. 2-Our usual lack of paying attention to things around us guarantees a bite in the butt. We arrived to find we were smack dab in the middle of their Spring Break. Kids EVERYWHERE! Wall to wall bodies. Parking lot full (at least they don’t charge for parking). Needless to say, we kept on going and I got zero pictures of beach.
During our stay here in Florida we encountered a family medical emergency for one of Jeanne’s kin in Branson, MO. So, our motto comes true again, “plans change every day and twice on Sundays…” We decided to make a warp drive detour up to Branson. We made it in 3 stops. First was the SKP park in Bushnell, FL. Not anything to write home about. Second stop was overnighter at a Cracker Barrel near Peachtree City, where we at least got to poke our heads in and say howdy to my cousin Dave, his wife Kim, and daughter Dana. We had not seen them for years. Stop #3 was an overnight at the Walmart RV Resort in Tupelo, MS. (No, I am being a smart donkey, there is no such thing as a “Walmart RV Resort”). Then we landed at the SKP park known as Turkey Creek RV Park outside of Branson, MO.
Home at Sumter Oaks.The back of the clubhouse at Sumter Oaks.Cousin Dave and Kim, aren’t they just the cutest couple?!?!?!?! Happy to see Dave could not evade the gray-hair-demon either… The park at Turkey Creek RV Park.Namesake Turkey Creek to Lake Taneycomo.Our home at Turkey Creek.
So there you have it, a full accounting of our shortened stay in the great state of Forida. And now we are back to our “no plan” mode, taking life as it comes. Still aiming for the northeast parts of our country. We’ll see…
So we stumbled our way onto the Keys without making long-range reservations during their very busy “peak season” time. For any of you out there looking to visit the Keys, their busy season starts waning in March, so non-reservation RV visits will be a little more successful in finding space. We lucked into a 3-day span at a place called Jolly Roger RV Park in Marathon, about half way to Key West. And being the peak season, prices are exorbitantly high everywhere you look. We paid $94 per night for our stay, taxes included. Most of the private RV parks can lay claim to having waterfront sites, but they all seem to be cut from the same cloth and come with the same types of complaints. The sites are stacked up on top of each other; the interior roads are skinny and include very tight maneuvering space; the lovely aroma of raw sewage seems to hover over the Keys in areas of the RV parks; many have long term residents with rigs in all manner of repair and disrepair; and the prices are absolutely outrageous! It is a cryin’ shame that just due to location and popularity, RV parks can charge these high rates for less than average facilities. But, you can’t blame them, they are backed-up busy and people are willing to fork over the dough, even for sub-par parks. Now, one alternative is to try and get reservations at one of the state parks along the Keys. There are several, but some are not possible in bigger rigs. Of the parks we drove by, I would venture a guess that Bahia-Honda State Park is the crown jewel of the series. It had numerous waterfront sites and appeared to have a little more foliage between a lot of the sites, giving one a feeling of privacy even though these parks also have the sites packed in like sardines. And their $40 nightly rates are much more reasonable.
Our home at Jolly Roger RV Park. Very nice landscaping leading to the pool at least.At least our slide outs did not meet with the neighbors’ slide outs… They DO have some waterfront sites.A unique set up on the little Tear Drop-expando-tent.Fishing is HUGE here in the Keys. Some Jeepers really really really take their fishing seriously! Fish rod holders on the front bumper…The pelicans hang out around the fish cleaning station for their Scoobie snacks. The pavilion area at the back of the park.
Our first day we took Woodrow Wilson with us to Key West, about an hour’s drive from Marathon. We hung out in the area of Old Town and let Woody take us for a walk down the very pedestrian-busy street. This area I would describe as a cross between San Francisco’s Castro district and the French Quarter in “Nawlins.” Lots of rainbow motif and posters advertising drag queen contests on the one hand and the VIP Gentleman’s Club (with one of the girls sitting on the front porch next to a chalk board advertising their different services provided) on the other hand. Some of this stuff I had to cover Woody’s eyes, I did not want him to get embarrassed… We got to see the marker for the southernmost point of the continental USA, the southernmost house, and the southernmost beach. The beach was laughable, see the picture below.
The Southernmost Point marker, only 90 miles south to Cuba…No, Jeanne did not push that elderly, cane wielding person out of the way to get this shot! All about the Southernmost House.It looks to be a museum now, the Southernmost House.Entry to the Southernmost Beach. Southernmost Beach. Yep, postage stamp… As we began our walk along Duval St., the V.I.P. Gentlemen’s Club “popped up” (no pun intended) at the beginning. The female is out of frame to the right. We found a funky Denny’s here on Duval St., with a Cigar store attached to the front no less.Lots of rainbow decor, even from the street department… Oh boy! Or is it girl? Or is it boy-pretending-to-be-girl? I give up…Party party party! This special person seems to have forgotten to wear his Depends today, may need to go change himself! All kinds of folks on Duval St.I had to go in and thank Joe for this. If any of my fellow law dogs ever venture to Key West and Duval St., make it a point to stop in and thank him, even if you do not partake of his generosity. If you do partake, leave a huge tip…
The next day we took the bicycles for a spin. They have some nice bike lanes scattered along the main highway and we found a couple of bicycle/kayak/rental/everything shops were down the road from us. We needed some parts and pieces for the bikes and decided to ride in their direction. We found Wheels 2 Go and the gal there was very helpful. What we could not find there, she told us the Overseas Outfitters was just down the road and would probably have the other things we needed. O.O. took very good care of us and we got everything bicycle related squared away. If anyone is in the area and needs bike work or parts, those two outfits are outstanding! Anyways, we rode our bikes to the 7-mile bridge, then to Sombrero Beach, and back to the park. Don’t laugh…my butt still hurts from that ride 2 days ago, it was 26.2 miles round trip done in about 5 hours total (go ahead, runners, laugh! Yes it was a marathon in Marathon. Yes, you could have clocked us with a calendar. Yes, I understand you real marathon runners can do it in the 2 hour range). It was a good ride, at least for us. Gotta love the views.
Jeanne the Cruiser…I’m lucky I can maintain my balance…During our bike ride and in response to the Adam Henry drivers in south Florida, I got great inspiration to outfit our Jeep with a little extra hardware mounted on the top, probably 50 caliber variety.
On our third day we decided to drive to Key Largo to check it out a little better than just driving through it to get here. Key Largo turned out to be nothing spectacular, but on the way back we hit the Go-Anna (aka: iguana) jackpot. Them little (some not so little) buggers seemed to have crawled out from everywhere. We stopped several times and got some photos of the mini-dragons and my one regret was on one stop for a particularly spectacular specimen with a flaming orange “sail” and various matching body parts, the little creep was actually too fast for me, he shot back into the brush like a dart. But I still got some good shots of others…
This is all you see at first, kinda like seeing squirrels hiding in the grass…He’s getting ready to make a break for it!This one had a little more color, caught before diving into the brush. This behemoth looked kinda big-bellied…hmm, could it be a she and prego?“Rats! Did President Trump get his wall up that fast?!?”Quite the beast.
Our stay here gave us lots of opportunity to see critters other than the Go-Annas. Between watching an awesome sunset from the dock area and walking along the sea wall, we saw things such as a sting ray, nurse shark, barracuda, parrot fish, lobsters, crabs, and a few nasty-mean looking eels.
The 3 Amigos. “Shhhhhhh! You stupid humans, you’re scaring the fish away!”The marine version of a Corvette?The sun sets over the Florida Keys. Ooooooooh Yeahhhhhhhhhhh! Nurse Shark Parrot fish Some kind of crab-looking thingyA future broiled Lobster tail, slathered in melted butter, with body attached, for now… Rock Crab (I can only assume, coming from the land of Dungeness Crab).Sushi, anyone? Go ahead and just grab this guy out of the water, those are just teeny tiny teeth… This was the habitat for most of all these critters.
All in all, we were not blown away at all by visiting the Keys. Other than getting to see the critters, the cost here is ridiculous for what it is about. There are basically no real beach areas anywhere, the “beaches” here are the size of postage stamps. The main attraction here is the consumption of alcohol, some folks enjoy happy hour all day. It is a GREAT place to come if you want to fish, dive, snorkel, kayak, jet-ski, take boat tours, or eat. Other than that, the area is junky, there are lots of “pigs” (not of the porcine variety but the 2-legged kind) roaming freely as evidenced by all the garbage strewn about. The constant sewer smell is overwhelming at times. And during peak season, the traffic is miserable! If we had our “druthers”, anywhere from Cocoa Beach south to Miami, or the Florida panhandle, would be more preferable to visit. One of our favorite areas, so far, is the area of Hollywood Beach. Another is the panhandle area around Pensacola and Destin.
That about covers it for now. Now we head up the Gulf side to all points north. Until next post…
One thing I must say about Florida drivers in the southern part of the state…THEY SUCK! You need to have your head on a swivel, be able to overcome the constant “fight or flight” syndrome (that is the overwhelming desire to choke the living sh*t out of those around you), and be prepared to make ample use of your car horn. To date I have not seen this many texting drivers driving HUA in any other state. I am surprised I have not blown up my horn by overuse. The sheer traffic volume anywhere within shouting distance of I-95 is frustrating enough. OK, ‘nuff whining.
We found a couple of days at a Christian RV park, Sonrise Palms in Cocoa, to stay and check out the Kennedy Space Center and to play on the beach in Cocoa Beach. We took one of the tours at the Space Center (a bit pricey at $50 per person) and we did not even get the full tour. This is a working NASA facility and the tour normally includes the launch pads. However, they were in use the day we were there, obviously for something other than a launch, so we missed that part. The VAB was an interesting behemoth. That is the Vehicle Assembly Building where they put all the ships together. It is a single story building but you would not guess that from the following photos. We also got to see the only Saturn V rocket left, the space shuttle Atlantis, and numerous other displays of NASA “stuff” and equipment. Most of the site is a self guided tour and we took about 3 hours to complete it.
Welcome, to the Kennedy Space Center!Space Shuttle AltlantisThis is one face of the VAB. All those gray doors open & this is a 1-story building! A little perspective…Look for the human entry doors at the bottom right corner behind the fence.This is the logo face of the VAB. The American flag is 21 stories tall!Saturn V, the only one left…
The next day we lollygagged on Cocoa Beach. Not being too far south into the state, Cocoa Beach was not quite as crowded as we thought. Weather was beautiful, sand was soft, water was “swimmable” (AKA: too cold for her, just right for me).
A surfer’s holy Mecca…Ron Jon’s Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach.Cocoa Beach was not too crowded but there was this one hot babe sunnin’ herself…A look north down Cocoa Beach.
From there it was on to a 5 days stay at one of Broward County’s county parks, the Topeekeegee Yugnee (TY) park in Hollywood, FL. This was a very large, very nice park with a lake and campground. And it had a central location so we were able to venture out to the Miami area as well as to Ft. Lauderdale. The park itself had a good sized walk/bike path around the lake and Woody went crazy with all the squirrels. We even managed to espy a pair of wild iguanas hanging out at one of the shelter areas.
Our home at TY county park. The lake at TY park, if you can see it behind the hot babe…The pool area at TY park. It is currently closed for it’s season.Here’s Puff the magic dragon. He was watching over the misses… Here’s Puff’s little missy…
Our first day we drove on down to the Miami area and checked out the beach areas, Little Havana, and the Wynwood art district, including a touristy spot called Wynwood Walls. I have to say, coming from the north San Franciscso Bay area, having worked most of my career in a gay resort area, they got NOTHING on the sheer weirdness that is found in the Miami beach areas! If you want to hob-nob with the rich, famous, and “beautiful people”, then Miami is definitely the place for you. It was a Sunday evening we were there, amongst the hordes and masses. Parking is also a problem in south Florida, bring lots of cash and good walking shoes. The Wynwood art district and Wynwood Walls was unique. Folks painted all manner of scenery and designs on building walls, interspersed with graffiti here and there, reminiscent of the psychedelic age of San Francisco.
Driving into Miami, it seemed there might be a “cruise ship traffic jam”…Not a lot of real estate involved in Miami Beach… …in either direction.The Wynwood art district. Too many “beater” cars for our liking… A look down the street. Getting ready to drop some acid… The Wynwood Walls.No drugs involved in this visual…
The next day we had mail duty. Living as full-time RVers, we have domiciled in Texas as members of the Escapees RV Club. The SKP park in Livingston, TX, is the HQ for SKPs which has the central mail service center, as well as a senior care center for infirmed RVers. The mail center is our official mailing address so when we decide we want our mail, we contact them and have them send whatever is there to an address of our choice, usually general delivery to the city we are currently in. In 4+ years I have come to the realization that our esteemed U.S. Postal Service is just as screwed up as the rest of our government. My go-to website is USPS.com as far as getting the locations for my general delivery. Unfortunately, the website is extremely inaccurate and on at least 5-6 occasions I have had my mail sent to a post office, listed on their website as offering general delivery services, only to find out they do not handle general delivery. Then, as it is now, I had/have to hunt down which exact post office my mail is hiding at. Not fun, time consuming, thank you Uncle Sam.
After a successful hunting trip (mail in hand), we took a drive down to the Hollywood Beach area. We walked a very nice boardwalk along the beach and decided to return tomorrow for some more beach lollygagging.
A shot down the boardwalk at Hollywood Beach.Welcome to Hollywood Beach. A little surfing in the wave pool at Margaritaville.
After doing the beach bum thing, we drove into Ft. Lauderdale to check that area out. We walked along the beach and storefront areas, then took a stroll along Las Olas Blvd. which had a sort of Little Italy ambience going on. We had a nice conversation with a woman working a cigar shop and found out Cuban cigars are still illegal to sell in the states. But you can visit Cuba and bring back Cuban cigars for personal use. However, get caught selling them and the penalty is your lungs will be removed from your body. (Not really. But it is illegal to sell in the states.)
The cruise along Ft. Lauderdale. Ft. Lauderdale Beach. We caught sight of a couple of “fixer-uppers” along the waterway in Ft. Lauderdale. Mansions a quarter of their size we found going for the $6M neighborhood, can only imagine the price tag on these. No matter, I couldn’t afford the monthly fuel bill for the family boat, let alone a mortgage payment…
That pretty much catches us up to now. Tomorrow we forge ahead further south, heading toward a stay in Marathon down in the Keys. Catch us later…
With the kids all gone back to the state of Lunacy (AKA: California), we stayed just a bit longer in the Nashville area but moved over to Two Rivers RV Park which was just a few hundred yards down the road from the KOA. We had a chance to meet with our friend Dava who was one of the Rock Island State Park Rangers we had worked for when we camp hosted there about 3 (!) years ago. We had a nice breakfast visit, catching up on all things Tennessee and beyond. We also took the time to go visit the Hermitage. That would be the former home of one Andrew Jackson and now a historic park in the heart of downtown Nashville. It also contains Jackson’s burial site. This is why I like the south, you get non-stop history in any direction you look.
It got a little cold for a few days here in Tennessee…The front door to the Hermitage.The backside of the Hermitage.Andrew Jackson’s final resting place.Uncle Alfred, one of AJ’s slaves, is buried next to AJ. One of the slave cabins at the Hermitage.
Our stay in Nashville was not without RV issues. The temps got pretty low (not topping 20 degrees some days), and even with proper prep work, we awoke one morning to a frozen solid water pump. That just started our problems. With water restored, our Precision Temp tankless water heater stopped producing hot water, only putting out luke warm water at best. I popped the cover on the water heater and noted the interior flame, when activated, was about a half inch high (supposed to be about 3”). Not being the sharpest marble in the drawer (AKA: mechanically inept), I referred to the Tiffin owners web site to research the problem. Several posters on this subject advised to call “Gary” at Precision Temp, so I did. He talked me through a diagnosis and came to the conclusion that my LP regulator needed replacing, that it was widely known that Tiffin had used a bunch of defective regulators in the past. Bada-bing, bada-boom we just happened to be next door to an RV repair facility. I got them to replace the regulator and test pressure. Still no hot water. The RV facility seemed to be at a loss for a resolution, and we were already on our way to Red Bay for some other minor fixes, so we toughed it out until we got to Red Bay. Another Griswold Family Moment arose during our travels south. We heard some slight banging around in the back of the bus, similar to the occasional chair tipping over or bag falling off the bed. Upon stopping for the day we found the bedroom wall mounted TV had popped off the wall and fallen partways on the bed, thankfully no damage (It is a pretty large screen TV). There is a bracket on the back of the TV and to hang the unit you lift the TV up and over the wall bracket, then hook the lip over the wall bracket. The bottom of the TV bracket has some holes for screws to anchor to the wall, but apparently nobody had done that. I guess we lucked out for the past 3 years, not having any TV-falling-off-the-wall issues. Note to all you RV owners…check your wall mounted TV’s.
OUCH!!!!!!!!
This visit to Tiffin we were able to use the Express Bay (less than 3 hours of work needed). Their tech could not solve our hot water issue either, so we ended up replacing the whole dang water heater. But boy howdy we got hot water now!
Tiffin Service Center, as you like to see it (LOTS of vacancies)… Not a whole lot to do in Red Bay, but you can check out parts of the Natchez Trace nearby. Here we found Cave Spring which used to be a water source for the Indians.History lesson for the day.And you just gotta LOVE these little buggers. All over the southern states, for the uninitiated, this would be FIRE ANTS. Give them a very wide berth!!!!
You just can’t get out of Red Bay, Alabama fast enough. All fixed up, we raced southbound for the sunny state of Florida. One quick over-niter at the Walmart in Opelika, AL, then on to a couple of days at the Wanee Lake Golf & RV in Ashburn, GA. Not a particularly happening place (their high point for the year in Ashburn is the annual Fire Ant Festival), we motored into neighboring Valdosta, GA to look around. Another happening place…not!
Home, at Wanee Lake Golf and RV, Ashburn, GA.
Next stop—St. Augustine, FL! We caught a few days at St. John’s RV Park and were able to explore St. Augustine Beach and Vilano Beach. Our NP pass got us into the Castillo de San Marcos Nat’l Monument, a historical fort at water’s edge. And finally, OUT OF THE COLD WEATHER! We actually took Woody on a short hike at the 12 Mile Swamp Conservation Area. For the life of me I don’t know who named this area, about 3 miles of hike never showed any sign of a “swamp”.
It almost felt like the French Quarter in Naw’lins, walking around downtown St. Augustine. They even had a piece of history among the shops, this touted as the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the USA.Nice day at St. Augustine Beach…and yes, you can drive on it! The guard’s quarters at Castillo de San Marcos.Looking down into the middle of the fort from the wall.Cannons at the ready! One of the guard towers looking out to the water. Checking out the Vilano Beach Pier with Woody.From the Vilano Beach Pier, looking across to the Castillo de San Marcos and behind it, Flagler College.Some of the “low rent district” at Vilano Beach. 12-mile Swamp hike. “Where’s the swamp?”
Daytona Beach came next. We were able to get a week at the KOA. This, despite we are in the heart of the busy snowbird season for the whole state. Anything a week or longer is next to impossible here, we are holding out for a few days here and there as we can get them.
Our home at the KOA.Welcome to Daytona Beach!
Daytona Beach touts itself as the “world’s most famous beach.” Personally, there are beaches I feel are a little more famous—Waikiki, Malibu, West Palm, Saint-Tropez, Monaco, etc. And the beach area of Daytona is not real “deep”, just stretched out. But it was cool being able to drive along the sand and just park at the spot you want. The boardwalk here leaves a lot to be desired, nowhere near the quality of other boardwalks like at Virginia Beach or Myrtle Beach. But definitely LOTS of motels…
Joe’s Crab Shack pier near the Daytona Beach Boardwalk. Our first day at Daytona Beach, not real conducive for suntanning…The birds liked it though.Woody taking us on a walk along the boardwalk.Much better day for beaching it. Preparing to drive onto the beach…Driving around looking for that just-right spot…“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Being on the road going on 5 years now we have been a wee bit lax in church attendance (OK, a whole lotta lax and no, the church roofs do not cave in when I walk into them!) Without being anchored down, we kinda gotta hit on a style of “salvation-to-go”. And wouldn’t you know it, Daytona Beach just happens to have the Daytona Beach Drive-In Christian Church. We took the opportunity to attend on the Sunday we were here and it happened to be a communion service, so bread & wine (OK, grape juice. You didn’t really think they would pass out alcoholic beverages to drivers operating motor vehicles, did ya?) were passed out at the gate. It was a rather unique experience.
The most comfortable pew seats you will find! Sermon from on high, better known as preaching from the balcony!Communion! At the drive-through! “Would you like fries with that?!”
We wanted to see some manatees, so it was off to Blue Spring State Park. The manatees do a seasonal run on the St. John’s River to this Blue Spring area, the whole area designated a manatee refuge, November through March. Several hundred animals are usually present during the run and can easily be viewed by a nice boardwalk area running along the river. We were definitely not disappointed. Got to see lots of critters. And the Spring is a very interesting place. A small “crack” in the river bottom descends over 100’ down to an underwater cave, a popular spot for SCUBA diving. Also on site is the Thursby house, a restored historical site built in the late 1800’s during the steamboat era on the river.
Here’s a BIG sucker!Alligator Gars all over the place!This crack in the riverbed is a popular place for SCUBA divers, over 100’ deep with underwater caves. Catfish just doing his thing…Woody leading the way on the boardwalk along the river. Cute babe he is with, too!
Smyrna Dunes Park is a county park at Smyrna Beach. They have a 2 mile boardwalk path that winds over the protected sand dunes with views of the ocean and is big for naturalists, ecologists, and students to come and observe animals and vegetation in natural habitats. We strolled the boardwalk and got to see some turtles hanging out at the dunes.
I think this is the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, as seen across the bay from the boardwalk at Smyrna Dunes.Just coming out to say “Howdy!”Even saw babies cruising the sand…A little color in the dunes…Jeanne strolling along the boardwalk at the dunes.
And, of course, we had to take a couple of days to lollygag on the beach. Florida really has goofy weather, one minute you can be baking in intense sunshine, then next covered in black clouds. But the sand was fine and the water starting to warm up. It sure has been nice in these 70’s temps. What trip to Daytona Beach would be complete without at least a stop off at the raceway. We not being big time race fans, $50 for a tour at the track just did not appeal to us. So we settle for pix.
We’re a few weeks early. “Drivers, START YOUR ENGINES!”Somebody just HAD to photobomb Dale…Beach time!
We did a two day stopover at a Yogi Bear Jellystone campground in Scottsburg, IN. This was strictly a stay-put stopover, not a whole lotta anything nearby to see. Then it was on to Red Bay and the Allegro Campground at the Tiffin service center. They don’t do reservations so it was a get there and hurry up and wait in line for your service date. They have 90-some full hook up sites at the old airport location and they are generally packed full. Once you register you get on the wait list for service and at this time they are generally clearing 1-3 units per day from the service bays (they got about 49 total bays here, plus who knows how many over at the paint service center in Belmont). So wait, we did.
“Hey, Yogi, watch your hands, mister!”Tiffin Service Center bays from the outside……and bays from the inside.Hurry up and wait!As the sun sets on our lovely stay here in Red Bay…
The temps in this part of Alabama at the end of July were not bad, a little humid, and a few thunder/lightning/rain storms. We made a run to Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi where we walked the dogs on one of the trails off the swinging bridge. We also just HAD to check out the Coon Dog Cemetary, the only one of its kind in the world. Oh boy…It was started sometime in the 1930’s and there’s quite a few puppies resting there. Locals said we just had to visit the Rattlesnake Saloon too. It is a local saloon/eatery built under/inside a cavern carved into the rock. The lunchtime eats were typical barfood, burgers/sandwiches and nothing to rave about.
The Rattlesnake SaloonUp close and personalWorld famous Coon Dog CemeteryRest easy, puppiesThe swinging bridge at Tishomingo State Park, over Bear Creek Rock outcropping off the trail at the swinging bridge
One big draw back to this part of the world, there seems to be a lot of “dry” counties. A couple of warm days it would have been nice to quaff a cold one, only to find out there was none to be had. We did manage to find a pizza joint in Belmont where it was not a “dry” county, even though the local grocers and stores choose not to carry alcohol. So it was off to non-Chicago pizza and a pitcher of beer. Pizza was terrible, and the only beer on tap and available was Bud Light. Yuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
The Natchez Trace also runs through this area, so we took a brief drive up a small section of the over 400 mile trail. We saw the Pharr Indian Mounds, an ancient burial grounds for the local Indians and a small “graveyard” of unknown Confederate soldiers. This would be an awesome bicycle trip, to take the entire Natchez Trace from Mississippi to Tennessee. Maybe some day…
Pharr Mounds on the Natchez TraceUnknown Confederates’ resting places “Tomb” of an unknown soldier
While in Red Bay we ventured over to Tupelo, Mississippi to gawk at the birth home of Elvis Presley. And we tripped into Muscle Shoals for the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. There, we met Bobby Denton. Being a die-hard heavy metalist, I have to admit I am not familiar with Mr. Denton’s music. He was also a state senator for Mississippi. Nearby we found Helen Keller’s birth home.
Elvis was born here.Bobby Denton, at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.Helen Keller’s birthplace
Well, we got finished with the Tiffin Service Center after a total of 24 night’s stay. It’s nice that for owners in that first warranty year they do not charge for the campout on those old runways. All others get there spots for $20 per night. I could not drive fast enough in my escape from Red Bay.
We wanted to drive to Montgomery for our next stopover, but we felt like driving a bit farther once we got there, so we kept heading south to Troy, AL. We thought we would just swing into their local Walmart for an overnighter, but of course we found the only one in town and it did not allow RV overnighters. Southbound to Ozark, AL, where we found their Walmart and again found they also did not allow RV overnighters. So, one more time, we continued south to Dothan, AL and BINGO(!) we found a Walmart that welcomed RV overnighters. One grocery excursion and a good night’s sleep and we were on the road again, destination Jacksonville, FL.
Jacksonville is a HUGELY spread out town! We stayed at the Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park for 3 nights. The park is a total jungle setting, thick trees, shrubs, narrow winding roads in the campground, and lots of banana spiders. One needs to recon the sites before driving a big rig in, not a lot of level looking sites. We found a fairly level spot under the thick canopy and called it home for a few days. The park has about a mile and a half of beach with white sands and at this time not a lot of rough surf. We walked the beach, swam some in the ocean, and hunted sea shells, typical beach comber stuff. It was very hot during the early parts of days, with cloud cover rolling in generally at the back half and we got some quick torrential thunder/lightning shows while we were there. The town of Jacksonville is a little too sprawling for my taste…we had to drive in to a Costco and a Staples and it was always a 20-25 mile drive to get anywhere. Even getting to the general delivery post office to get our monthly mail, we ended up driving forever. And the kicker was we still only saw the northern part of the city.
Sunset over the lake at Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park.Oh boy, my favorite, airborne banana spiders!Sunset over the beach at Hanna Park. Wait, is that a Black Hawk I see over the clouds?Southward look along the Hanna Park beach.
3 days and go, we were off northbound, only about 2 weeks to kill until we run into “The Attack of the Grandchild” (Jenn and Max arrive in Charleston). Next stopover was another 3 days (Passport America) at Golden Isles RV Park in Brunswick, GA. It looked like an old KOA park, with the telltale A-frame office, but the park was not too bad. Grassy sites, a pool, and a restaurant on site that was always PACKED for lunch with locals. Not a lot to do around Brunswick, but we did manage to make a quick spin through town, checked out Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island. But the heat was pretty intense here, hard to get away from the A/C for any length of time.
So, onward and northward we go, I’ll try to get more pix for the post…
So we wanted to tour the Tiffin Motorhome factory in Red Bay, Alabama. Upon going “off duty” for the last time at Rock Island, we punched south into Alabama and over to Red Bay which is on the Alabama-Mississippi border. We had heard about the Tiffin service center with the full hook-up sites (120 give or take) but when we got there, they were full up. There was one space remaining at a nearby self-service “overflow” campsite so we jumped all over it. The tour was interesting to see how RV motorcoaches are made, at least by the Tiffin family. We are still interested in the 40’ Phaetons but will still take our time on making that final “leap” into the motorcoach world.
Trim boards waiting for installA chassis waiting to be loaded up.
Next stop was another short stop-over at Gunter Hill Campground, a COE campground. Holy cow, this was one of THE most towing friendly RV campgrounds we have been in. The relatively new Catoma loop had fully paved, wide interior roads, all sites were concrete slabs, some of which you could park 5 buses end to end on, and there were many waterfront sites, the campground sitting on what is called the Alabama River Lakes. Very nice campground site-wise, but no store, pool, clubhouse, or other similar amenities. It did have a boat ramp and it definitely had spiders! If I take another mouthful/lungful of spider web, I’m gonna scream! The banana spiders here are HUGE and spin a web seemingly out of steel covering large distances from tree to tree and tree to ground. We did a couple of days here to burn time until our reservation at our Florida stop.
Home at Gunter Hill COE campground.Here’s one of our new friends hanging around between the trees.
We moved on to Topsail Preserve State Park near Destin, FL. This was the only State park in the area we could find with spaces available for our stay of 4 days. Reservations are a MUST here at the Florida panhandle at this time of year, since the snowbirders are inbound for their winter stake-outs. The campground is a little tight as far as maneuverability, but the sites are OK. The beach was about seven tenths of a mile walk or bike ride to, or the campground ran a tram/shuttle every hour on the hour from camp to beach, until 1800 hrs. daily. The beach area was fantastic, not crowded, white sand, but the only drawbacks were the amount of jellyfish the first couple of days, as well as the amount of the small clumps of seaweed floating in the water. The last couple of days the jellyfish disappeared and the seaweed cleared up. The water was hotter than bathwater, and the last couple of days got a bit rough for being Gulf of Mexico, due to the hurricanes/storms pounding Mexico. While here we cruised into Destin and checked out the Destin Commons outdoor mall. It is a large shopping mall laid out like a city so you can drive through and around it. We also ate dinner at a restaurant called the Marina Cafe. Very fancy/swanky restaurant with indoor or outdoor dining overlooking the Gulf and excellent staff and service. For those with a taste for an occasional cocktail, their Bloody Mary’s are very tasty. The food was awesome and plentiful! We also found the Henderson State Park here in Destin. We would recommend Henderson State Park for anyone heading this way, if nothing else the rates were cheaper ($30 night vs. $42 night at Topsail). And Henderson was right on the beach as well.
The white sand beach at Topsail.C’mon, let’s go swimming!The sun sets on Destin, FL…
From Topsail, we decided to try a stay at Ft. Pickens State Park on Santa Rosa Island outside of Pensacola, FL. We were having rain/thunder/lightning off and on because of the Mexico storms and it continued as we set up at the Fort, planning to stay for 7 days. Between storms we went into Pensacola and toured the Pensacola Lighthouse, then the National Aviation Museum. Very cool sights to see. The beach at Ft. Pickens again was not crowded, but the water was rough, there were tons of large jellyfish and parts and pieces, and it looked like a huge drop-off just off the beach. We did walk looking for shells and stuff, saw a large turtle, a very large stingray, and many crabs scooting along the ocean floor. The fort had a self-guided tour and was interesting to see.
A couple of the Blue Angels from the top of the light tower.The Pensacola Lighthouse.Inside the Nat’l Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.One of the cannons at Ft. Pickens.Ft. Pickens architects used the arch for added support in the sand.The beach at Pensacola.
We cut our stay at Ft. Pickens short due to nasty incoming weather and the fort tends to get cut off from the mainland in bad weather, Gulf of Mexico waters coming over the road from one side, Pensacola Bay coming over the other. So we packed up and headed west to the SKP Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama. That is a very nice park with huge sites on grass. The Gulf Shores was a short drive away with nice beaches and warm water. We got to check out Fair Hope, Foley, and some of the other small town areas. And when in the area, a must stop for breakfast is the Biscuit King. They have the “Ugly Biscuit” which is breakfast all rolled into a large biscuit, mmmm tasty! And for dining on the Fish River, Big Daddy’s is the place to go. The locals here don’t drive well either, cell phones glued to drivers’ ears or up in the texting position, weaving ALL over the place.
