On the way home

The campground for tonight, after our 6 (ish) hour drive, is fantastic. Easy back-in on a lovely brick driveway. Back door view of the canal. Sweet Chicki Hut behind our spot.

 We took our old fashioneds down and watched the fish jump and the birds fly by. The breeze was amazing- I actually got chilly. There has been some rain today and it's muggy. It's 73 degrees though!!
I'm so looking forward to being home.
Tomorrow another 6+ hour day then Sunday we will have a shorter day to Athens.

Jack will be happy to be able to go outside again, though it will be much colder. He's not a fan of the cold.

Just started raining again. We are safely inside a comfy Roxy!

P.S. I am grateful for seasons.

13th, 14th

Today is our last day in the Keys. Yesterday we walked around downtown and did some tourist things for a while. A little of that goes a long way for me. Giant cruise ship in front of a big cruise ship.

Annelle decided to join in a Mariachi serenade and I did not spend $129 on the cool Christmas shirt. We came back and had smart dogs for dinner in the cool breeze of Roxy's open windows.

Last night on my way to the shower I saw a camper like the one we lust for. When I said Hi and asked if it was the model with the rear twins they took me in and gave me a tour. We talked for about 30 minutes about everything. She is a former Broadway actor and he was FDNY. After 9/11 they decided to move to Florida. This is their first RV, on its maiden voyage,  and they couldn't stop telling me how wonderful (it is a Leisure Wonder) it is.  I was worried Annelle would think I had fallen into the shower so I said my goodbyes and took a quick one. She was walking down the path when I was heading back.

 This morning we had breakfast at the Cuban food truck located at the front of the campground. It was delicious. Afterward we went down to the nature preserve. Tiny. Tiny. Didn't see anything but people! 

Came back and decided to walk to a venue for frozen beverages. The heat requires it. I'm not kidding.

It was on the water and was a typical joint. I had some absolutely out-of-this-world Ahi tacos with a wasabi cream for lunch.

We've put the bikes back on the rack (no small feat) and have started a bit of organizing for the 3 day trek home. I went for a cooling dip in the pool. Annelle is making reservations. We have a tentative date with the 2 women who were riding from Jacksonville. We saw their stuff at a site and I'm sure they were relishing riding into town with no gear.

P.S. It has been fun. I am somewhat used to the heat. I still don't like it. I'm grateful that soon I will be wearing jeans and fleece and taking less than 2 showers a day! And I'm grateful to have been able to explore 2/3 of the east coast, campground to campground.
Thanks to all who helped us along the way. And thanks to you blog readers out there for reading.

Key West! Nov. 12

Annelle made it. Key West, baby. Amazing to think how much riding she's done. I'm sad she wasn't able to ride all the way through, but Connecticut to NC/SC awaits.

I rode with her from the campground, 5 miles from the finish, so I jumped in to the photo. 

We had lunch at an outdoor cafe (Blue Heaven) and enjoyed some live music while we ate. I had a salad and Annelle had a huge fish sandwich! We split a Key Lime pie (delicious) and got back on the bikes for the brutal afternoon ride back to camp.

The photo below on the left is looking out our "kitchen" window.  The right shows the site, not far from the ocean. I was not expecting this site as we had made reservations for one of the inland sites. I'm not complaining.



We just took showers and realized how tired we are. Back in the AC for a while. We will probably heat up some pasta in the microwave for dinner and do as little as possible tonight. I'm in the middle of a fun book so I'm good with that. Tomorrow will be a laundry day (I underestimated the heat) and we will take an Uber into town early evening for exploring and an early dinner.

P.S. I am grateful for a smooth end to this leg of the journey. We will leave Friday and take 3 days to get to Athens (where Roxy will spend the winter.) Then on to the welcome cold of Suches.

November 11. Big Pine Key

I'm sitting outside the camper at the fire pit, right on the water. The fire will be lit tonight but it's all quiet now. The wind is keeping me cool. Big wind. 80 degrees. The fire pit is just to the right of the wooden bench you can see in photo 2. The campground is not too full so it will be interesting to see who shows up at the pit.

Could have pulled the trailer in from the front as there wasn't a camper behind us but I backed it in. Every time I learn something and get better at it. I wish Roxy had a window in the front- it would be fantastic to lie in bed and look out at the ocean. We are on the ocean side today, not the bay side.

Fantastic, large shower. One of the few leg-shaving showers in a campground. We are camped right under a bridge but I'm expecting, at mile 32, there won't be a lot of Monday night traffic.

Tomorrow Annelle does the last 32 (or so) miles of this part of the trip. We're trying to figure a way I can meet her at the end point to take a photo. If the campground will let me in early (we had to wait an hour today as we were early for check-in) I'll ride with her to the southernmost point. Fingers crossed. 

I am enjoying my tour of smoked fish dips along the Keys. Today's was tuna and was, again, delicious. We saved some, along with pizza, to eat oceanside tonight. Along with a Florida original, Cigar City Maduro brown ale.

P.S. I am grateful for the breezy cool on an 80 degree day. This couldn't be better!

Nov. 10

Another beautiful campsite with a water view and a Tiki Hut! The people here are incredibly friendly and helpful as well. May not be a lot of shade but I'm not gonna complain. There are no bathroom facilities, which I was a little concerned about, but we do have a toilet and shower and they have full hook-ups so there was nothing to worry about after all. Super nice place. They are awaiting a bunch of big Newmar RVs for a rally today. Guess we'll be the smallest ones again!

The drive today was a delight as well. The colors of the ocean are so beautiful they look unreal. Every blue in the Crayola 64 box plus some. And a few amazing greens and browns added for interest. I do see how people can love it here. And I could (maybe, probably)get used to the heat in return for the beauty. 

P.S. I am grateful for the opportunity to see so much beauty and diversity on this trip. I am filled with joy and wonder.

Key Largo. Nov 9, pm

After getting to Key Largo Annelle and I went for lunch at a place we loved 5 years ago when we came to the Keys for her 60th. The smoked fish dip was as good as I remembered! We also ran into the 2 women who we have  seen on the road several times since Jacksonville.  They're riding self-supported from Jacksonville to Key West. They ducked into the restaurant during a quick rainstorm. We agreed to meet for drinks in Key West on the 14th as we will all be at the same campground. 

 This is our campground from the front, just off the street and at the end of the drive, on the water.

 The dock looking back to the campground. There are several park homes that were rebuilt after Irma decimated the campground. There are a handful of RVs also. You can see how hard the wind is blowing. I did the final (I think) laundry for this part of the trip, then we went for drinks and hors d at a swanky place right on the beach. Beautiful sunset. Nice breeze.

Back now with Jack. Windows open, fan on. Feels pretty decent.

P.S. I am grateful for the beauty of the natural world in all it's different incarnations.

Nov, 9. Miami Everglades RV resort

Now this is a place I'd come back to. But if it involved driving in Miami.....

Yesterday was a traumatic day driving in downtown Miami to pick Annelle up. Suffice it to say (you do not want to hear all the gory details) the drivers are worse than in NYC and, to add to the insanity, motorbikes are everywhere going between cars to get ahead. I was literally shaking when I finally stopped. NEVER again.

We are surrounded here by plant nurseries. I've never seen so many. It's cooler than it has been and we didn't need the AC after the sun went down. This morning is overcast, 76 degrees, with a delightful breeze. I'm hanging out for a bit then I'll pack up and head to Key Largo.

Nov. 7.

Now this campground is not one I will look for in the future. That said, it does have a spectacular shower. Seriously good pressure. Rain shower head. I could have stayed in it all day, especially after I tripped and fell. Luckily I went down in the grass. I'll be sore tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Miami, Everglades Park. I can't believe we are already that far. That means the following night is Key Largo. I'm remembering the fantastic smoked fish dip we had 5 years ago for Annelle's 60th. It was so good we went back two more times!

We will spend 3 days getting to Key West. Then a couple of days enjoying ourselves, riding around town, eating seafood and drinking adult beverages. After that, 3 days home and we will be done with the last 1/3 of the trip. Crazy. We'll take Roxy to Athens for the winter and resume the final 1/3 sometime in the spring.

Annelle's start this morning. Burt Reynolds Park.

The view during todays lunch/dinner. Delicious grouper. The guy in the orange shirt was part of a crew cleaning that boat. They wiped, shined and wiped and shined again. There was one guy on a float, going around shining the bottom! They were covered from head to ankles (barefoot), including some Spy v Spy facemasks.

Tuesday, Wednesday. Johnathan Dickinson State Park

This is a great park. Sites are far enough from each other that there's no feeling cramped. It's laid out well, the showers (which are right behind us) are nice. If there were only a few more trees!

Still so hot. This morning we rode the bikes around the park. Went to the Hobe Mountain Lookout Tower (highest point in southern Florida) and generally explored. It's beautiful.

I hadn't ridden in over a month and my body (especially my bottom) could feel it. That and the heat. (Have I mentioned the heat?) Came back and took a cold shower (heaven) before going back to Alice's to meet her for lunch. We ate on the river, in a sandy area where several White Ibis roamed around. There were signs about feeding wildlife, but someone must be doing it because they kept hanging around. There was a beautiful breeze off the water to keep us cool.

After lunch we went over to Whitney's new business: AR Workshop. It's a craft shop that has classes where groups of friends can get together and make cute decor projects from wood or canvas. Stencils, paint, nails, all kinds of stuff. Pillows, signs, trays, wall art, tons of stuff. Kind of in the Joanna Gaines/Magnolia vein. They're very popular right now. This is me, Whit and Alice in front of the monthly calendar of projects. It's great to see the kid as a happy, successful adult. She loves what she's doing (she started as a customer!)

Tomorrow back to the real world of travel. I'm looking forward to the keys.

P.S. I am grateful for a chance to get on the bike. It was lots of fun.

Ft Pierce/Port St Lucie KOA

We've stayed at several KOAs on this trip and they've all been very well cared for and easy to find and set up in. Until this one. Definitely at the bottom of the list. I had to drive around a couple of times to be sure I was at the entrance but I did find it and the woman at the check in was nice and helpful with showing me to the site. It's a gravel parking lot, mostly. The guy next door has some kind of lunch truck he was working on. We've opted to go on tomorrow to the next site and stay 2 nights there instead of 2 nights here. It's also closer to Alice's.

Great visit with Alice. We spent all afternoon talking, eating, drinking wine and doing laundry. And there's still a load for tomorrow (it is summer in Florida)! We will see Whitney (her daughter, AKA the kid) tomorrow also, so it should be another fun day catching up with her. Nothing like friends who, even if they've been in Guam for 20 years, fall into the relationship like old times.

No photos today. It was a quick set-up then a drive to Alice's.

P.S. I am grateful for friendships that stand the test of time. I am lucky to have many!

Melbourne

This is a cute campground. One of my favorites, I think. Nice tree, we're right on the river, and the showers are across the street. Close enough, but far enough!

We had our usual late lunch/early dinner at a New England Seafood place. Owners moved from Massachusetts 30 years ago and started it up. Just fine.

You may have noticed we've been eating out more on this leg of the trip. There are reasons for this:
1. It's hot.
2. There's gulf shrimp.
3. We've gotten lazy. Or, I've gotten lazy.

Looking forward to a visit with Alice Leilukas! Laundry and lots of fun ahead.

Easy Sunday Morning

Annelle just left and I'm here drinking coffee and looking forward to breaking camp in the DST heat.
This "campground" is actually a trailer park, mostly. There are some seasonal in RVs but mostly what are now called "park homes" AKA trailers. It's right off a highway and very near train tracks. But it was cool enough last night to use the window fan.

I will seek out a Camping World this morning on the way south to see about the crazy back-up camera. It's still coming on occasionally, though not enough to be useful. I've gotten used to doing without, but I would rather have it working.

Spent yesterday afternoon with a bunch of FLA fans in a sports bar, rooting for UGA. I don't think the 2 questionable calls early on changed the outcome, and Florida got their own questionable call later. Dawgs outplayed them. Good win.

Melbourne today. My oatmeal beckons.

P.S. I'm grateful for being able to do this trip for Annelle. Bucket list check-off!

Port Orange/Daytona

This is another campground with LOTS of seasonal campers. Yards, porches, lawn mowers, etc. We have a nice pull-through site among hordes of motorcycles. Don't know what's up in Daytona this weekend or if this is just how it is here. 

It's luxuriously cool. 71 degrees at 7pm. I haven't had the AC going in the car or the camper all day. Overcast. A slight breeze. Sleeping should be good. Last night we finally turned the AC off at midnight and went with the small fan. By morning it was in the 50s and we had to drag the blanket out. No complaining here, it was great. We hear they had some snow in Suches!

Annelle did her longest ride to date today and seemed to enjoy it. The weather certainly makes a huge difference in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Tomorrow Titusville. The "campground" where we have reservations is a 55+ community of mobile homes, park homes and campers. Seems a little odd, but we will see. It will be a different experience from what we have had in the past.

Oh, I may have fixed the back-up camera. It actually had a picture for longer than 30 seconds. Will see tomorrow if it's ok. I need to stop at a RV center to see if they can do a diagnostic while the camper is still attached.