Everglades

Thursday November 19- It's moving day, and we are going to a place we've never been....exciting. The weatherman is calling for rain today so we wanted to get out of here before the rain showed up. It did rain last night so our stuff was wet, but we had hardly anything out. We had some issues to start, our water pump lost its prime again. Then I closed the door and the plastic we put over the screen fell out. Jeff had to fix both of those before we left. We were on the road by 8:15 and since its so close to the interstate no problem there. We have about 250 miles to travel today with most of it on the interstate. There was lots of road construction going on. We followed the GPS and it took us on a toll road that cost us $9.00 for about 20 miles, so moral of the story check your route...we could have very easily avoided that. We took I-75fto 29 to 41 but 75 to 29 is a toll road. If you are just in a car its only $3.00. We made it to Midway Campground, boy we are out in the middle of no where. We had to swing around because there are no water spigots on site. We filled up with water and made it to our site #18. The sites are blacktop and the service is 50 amp. Our internet and phone service is not happening. If I go out on the main road I can sometimes make a call. It is really hot and humid here. They are calling for rain the next 2 days which isn't good. We are only staying 3 nights. Hopefully the weatherman will be wrong again.

Friday November 20-Up really early and its already hot. Jeff wanted to get an early start. We really needed to get fuel, we are down really low. Well we had talked to the campground host and he told us where to get fuel. It was about 30 miles away but we had to go that way anyhow to get to our next destination. Well when we got to the gas station a man was outside saying no gas. So we got on our gas buddy to find another spot. It took us into a town that was busy and very congested...yuck. We got our truck filled up and then we headed to Shark Valley. Jeff had researched and wanted to take the tram tour there. We timed it just right because we caught the 9:30 tour and didn't have to wait at all.

There was only 4 people plus Jeff and I on this tram. Our guide Dave was very full of knowledge and our driver Carlos kept his eyes peeled for wildlife. At Shark Valley the wildlife-viewing tram tour through saw grass prairie includes a stop at a 65 foot tower for spectacular views. Birding and alligator viewing rank among the parks best here.

We stopped at the tower for about 15 minutes. Then we got back on to the tram and headed back. Had a bit of a problem....we ran out of gas. That was very unexpected, should have probably planned better. We made it back but not before we saw lots more critters.

They even pointed out an old alligator nest, never saw one of them before. They made the trip very enjoyable and we learned lots about the everglades. The weatherman was wrong, no rain today. We made it back to the campground and just hung around here the rest of the day. I did give Belle a haircut. Supper and bed. Our grandson is in Minnesota playing hockey and they won there 1st game tonight 7-0...go Riders.


Saturday November 21- Happy Birthday to our future daughter-in-law. It's pretty cloudy out there this morning but looks like the rains going to hold off until this afternoon. We  loaded up the truck and headed the other direction to Everglades City and 10,000 Islands. We put in the kayaks and grabbed our fishing poles and away we went. We kept a close eye on the sky.

We did some exploring but didn't want to get too far out just in case. We both caught fish but nothing to keep. It was nice to be out on the water again, the fish were a bonus.

 The sky's started to get dark so we paddled in. It was nice because they had a hose there to rinse everything off. We loaded up and headed towards home. We ran into some heavy rain on our way. It quit when we got there but not for long. The rest of the day was rain. It rained most of the night too. We were really lucky to get to do the 2 things we had planned. We are heading to the keys tomorrow. We cant wait. Ashton's hockey team won again tonight 13-0. They are really playing good, keep it up.






















Check out this tree outside our campsite. Its a tree with a palm tree growing inside. Kinda neat. Curry Hammock here we come.....

Blueberry Hill



 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday November 17-It's moving day, so I had to go to the beach this morning for one last sunrise. It didn't disappoint.....a beauty. We wanted to leave early but had to wait for daylight. The bugs were really hungry again this morning. We got on the road a little after 8 a.m. The roads we are taking are familiar so that makes things easier. A lot of the roads we traveled today were 2 lane but not busy. We had around 267 miles today. The last part of the trip was on I-75. There was a lot of traffic on it. We arrived at our campground, Blueberry Hill RV Resort. First time we used this park and we were very impressed with what we saw. The only negative was how close the sites were together. It was one of the cleanest, manicured place we've seen. They have a big laundry facility, a pool, shuffleboards, pickleball, bocce ball, cornhole, horseshoes, a real nice dog park, and the restroom/shower house was super clean. They have a big clubhouse with activities going on all the time.

 

 

After we got all set up I went to walk around and check things out. Then we decided we didn't feel like cooking so we went out to eat at Sonny's BBQ. It wasn't very good. Then we hit Walmart which is located across the street from the park. We also filled up with fuel, because we are gonna stay put tomorrow and get things done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday November 18- Today we were going to be busy, busy, busy. I started out by going to the office to get a loaner laundry card. If you are only going to be here a couple days they will give you one for $3.00 but you get that back when you return it. You put money one the card and I had lots of laundry to catch up on. Jeff wanted to wash the camper, he got that done. We took the dogs to the dog park while waiting for our laundry. Belle had fun chasing her Frisbee. Oh yeah they have internet here and its the best internet we have ever used at a park. It was fast and easy to connect to. I got some of the blogs caught up. I also got the grandkids some Christmas pajamas ordered...tradition. It is really warm out side in the upper 80's. Went to sit at the pool awhile and started a new book. Jeff even took a swim. After that lousy supper last night we decided to make our own which was way better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We both decided we really like this park for a quick, close to the interstate, clean stop. They also except passport America. Even with the construction on I-75 it was super easy to find and get into. Did I say that every single person here was friendly...they were. Tomorrow on to the everglades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St George Island

Thursday November 12- It's moving day and we love where we are going. We left around 8:30. The weather was great and it was really easy to get to the interstate. We were doing good until we got to highway 331, it has lots of construction going on. It was a long 16 miles. The construction was nonstop and made the two lane roads even a tighter fit for the rig. Then 98 going through Panama City was busy like always which made it slow going, with lots of traffic congestion. It took awhile to get through there. We also lost an hour. So our fall back didn't last very long. We arrived about 1:30 and Jeff got us a real good spot. We had site #54, its big and not as sandy as the other ones we've stayed at. The bad thing is the mosquitos. When we were setting up they were killer. We had lunch then walked around the campground and across the road to check out the beach. No bugs over there. Ahhh love the beach. We also saw 3 bald eagles when we pulled in. Wildlife all around.

This park is very remote. Before the satellite TV was scarce. Our phone service was spotty too. The internet worked best in the morning. To finish the evening Jeff received a call from GM saying they are submitting a request for a reimbursement for our truck repair. Hoping for good news on that.























Friday November 13- Both of us got up early and walked down to watch the sun come up. It was a beauty this morning. There were some clouds but very nice. Pictures never show the complete beauty. We planned on taking the kayaks out. Jeff rigged up the poles and we drove to the bay boat launch area,but it was way to rough. Came back and decided to go to the beach after lunch. The wind died down so it turned out to be great. The water wasn't that rough on the ocean side either.

There was another guy fishing and he brought in this stingray. He caught another one too and a bonnet shark. The real cool thing was when he put the stingray back in the water it was bleeding and attracted quite a big shark. We think it was a bull shark and it looked to be around 6 feet long. It hung around quite awhile and very close to shore. It was really something to watch. Here you can see the stingrays tail coming out of the water. He was really hungry and really fast.

It was a great day at the beach. Jeff caught a couple small ones, and I found a few sand dollars. The fresh warm sunshine felt really good.


Saturday November 14- I walked to the beach alone this morning. It was so windy I felt like I was walking on the moon. The sand was blowing, felt like the ground was moving.

When I got back I made a coffee cake to take to campers coffee. They had a presentation on sea shells. I wasn't sure how interesting that would be but Melody the ranger had all kinds of information I never knew. It was a wonderful presentation. We met a couple there Steve and Brenda. We compared our adventures and had a nice visit. Again the winds are crazy so we decided to go to Appalachacola. When we arrived we noticed it was way busier than usual. Come to find out the have a car show going on. We went and took a look. We also looked in some of the many unusual shops they have.

Jeff was excited because in town at St George the shrimp vender was there. When we arrived he wasn't there. Come to find out he's there every day but Thursday. Jeff got some shrimp there, the large was $7.00 a pound and the jumbo were $10.00. He also got a couple crab cakes to try. When we got back I visited the beach. We also walked to the bay area to watch the sunset but it was a bust.

Sunday November 15- Back to the beach this morning but really cloudy so not as pretty. We decided to take a hike through the wilderness. We made sure to spray us down with bugs spray before we left.

We took the east slough trail and couldn't believe all the butterfly's we saw. Of course there were lots of birds too. We got a look at the bay and thought it looked like maybe we could go out fishing. We headed back. I think the hike was about 3 miles total. Just about right our bug spray was wearing off. Since kayaking today was out I got busy cutting fabric for a quilt for my daughter-in-law to be. I took a break and walked over to the beach. When I got back Jeff was sitting out talking to Steve and Brenda, the couple we met at the camper coffee. They had mentioned stopping by but we figured they wouldn't come because they are staying over in Carrabelle. What a great surprise. They have been full time rving for about a year and we both had plenty of stories to share. I love meeting new people that are easy to talk to. We have one more day to fish so hoping the wind is calmer tomorrow.

Monday November 16- Happy Birthday to our youngest son Justin a big 35 today. He has a big year coming up because he's getting married. Of course I started the day by a beach visit, another beautiful sunrise. I just think its a great way to start out your day. Its never the same and never disappoints.






















After I got back from the beach we drove down to the boat launch to see if we could put in... We are going to give it a shot. So back to load up everything and off to fish.

It was a little rough but we had a great time. We each caught something but nothing was kept. It felt good to get those boats wet and do some fishing. The scenery wasn't bad either.

When we got back we had to clean everything up and load it back up. Its time to move tomorrow and we wanted to get as much put away today. Again these mosquitos are crazy hungry. They drive you crazy.

Florida Here We Come...

Tuesday November 10   Both of us were up early and ready to get out of here.  We went over the route. It's going to be a long day with about 280 miles to go. A lot of the roads were slow going. It ended up not being nearly as bad as we thought. We were on the road about 7 a.m. and arrived around 1PM. Didn't encounter any problems getting to our destination of River's Edge Campground. It's located in Holt Florida about 30 miles from Pensacola. We got a pull through spot real close to the check in area, site #15. No problems getting in here. We have a full hook up and it excepts Passport America. So it was really reasonable. Its kind of located out in the middle of know where but really close to the interstate. I might add that the truck ran fine with no problems.






















Wednesday November 11- We had plans to get out of the camper today. We are going to Pensacola to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum. We stopped for fuel and breakfast on our way over. Its a really pretty day and both of us are ready to get out and do something fun.

We arrived at the museum and headed in. Its veterans day and we thought it was a good day to do this. The museum is free and we both were really impressed with all there was to see.

We looked around the first building and believe me there was so much to see. The floors were full, there were things hanging from the ceiling and the walls were covered. It was over whelming but in a good way.

 We moved on to the next building and looked in there. The displays were very interesting and had lots of information to explain what you were looking at. We spent about 3 hours there looking around. They also had a restaurant, gift shop and simulators you could ride on. They also had an Imax theater. We didn't do those this time. We left and went to see the lighthouse that was located just across from the museum.

We didn't pay to go in and climb up. We have been gone long enough the dogs are going to think we aren't coming home. It was a real nice day and we were happy that we decided to make the trip over. We have been wanting to see this and now we can cross it off the list. Tomorrow we move again.