St. George Island

We hitched up the HOW and made are way to St. George Island. We had a longer drive this time. We also had a head wind which is why we lost a lid and hitch cover out if the bed of the truck. This was a return trip to this park. The last time we were here we had a different camper. We backed in without to much problem, it was a little tight but we got it done.

 We knew there was a couple things we wanted to do that we didn't get done last time. One thing was to ride our bikes to East Point and look at the waters and the beach. We saw birds and pelicans. We even saw a bird catch a snake and watched him gobble it down. The ride back was a bit harder...the wind. The sand dunes along the path kinda reminded us of Iowa in the winter.

I liked to start the days off with a walk to the beach don't know how much exercise I get but I sure do enjoy the sights and sounds. After walking along the beach Jeff and I went to look for a brand new geocache that the campground hosts had placed. We were the first to find!!! It was such a nice day we decided to ride our bikes into town. It was about 9 miles to town. We looked at a few shops and had an ice cream . We went and looked at the lighthouse there. The lady in the gift shop was very helpful by telling us a bit about it. We got tickets and went up. The steps weren't bad but that hatch hole was a bit tight. Before heading back to the campground Jeff stopped and got some fresh shrimp he was kinda excited about that.

Saturday morning we attended a campers coffee which also included a presentation on geocaching. The hosts did a really good job of introducing this fun hobby to everyone. Afterwards we were ready to go hunting. We found 4 more and 2 of them we were the first to find.

Sunday walked to the beach and it was really windy, the water was wild and pushing in some really yucky foam. We decided to go fishing in the bay. It was way more protected back there. We had high hopes for some fish but that wasn't to be. We did see some dolphins. At first they were out a ways then they started moving in. I couldn't believe how close they were. They were feeding and it was so awesome to watch them feed. They would splash around and smack the water. It was like watching a national geographic show but live! Then to top off the day a fly over by a bald eagle.....nice!

The weather cooled off and the wind was picking up. We wanted to get the kayaks in the water and try to catch some fish. We decided Monday was gonna be our best shot. We waited til after lunch and put in. We went out to the point and fished as we let the wind bring us back. Jeff found a spot were he caught some trout. He caught 4 total but only 2 were keepers. I did see a dolphin but only for a moment and it was gone. Still better than working,

Our last full day we decided to make a trip to Apalachicola. We looked in all the shops, mostly just window shopping but the stores were so unique that it was great fun. Did get a couple really fun things. Jeff enjoyed our lunch. We ate at a place called Up the Creek. He had alligator white chili and lobster bisque . He couldn't decide so he ordered both. Even the dogs made out, we found a pet store and they had sheep ears. Both of our dogs LOVE them. A good day for everyone.

We both loved this spot. What we didn't like was we only stayed 1 week. We will know better next time.

Over the Rainbow Springs

We made it to Rainbow Springs with no problems, we got some tips from John & Joan because the entrance is not marked very well. We had another great spot. This one was a pull through so simple to set up. It was also a full hook up so that's always nice. I didn't feel to good moving day so after we landed I just rested.


The next day we were just checking out the campground when we met our neighbors Tim and Issy. We made plans to kayak the river with them. This river is unbelievably clear and we had a wonderful time getting to know them a bit. First we kayaked up toward the head springs then floated down. We got pictures of otters, turtles, and lots of birds. It was a great day. We finished the float at Swampys and John & Joan were eating there as we floated by.

The first weekend the park had Cracker Days at the head springs. We went there and looked around. It was so beautiful there.

We really enjoyed the birds here. We could watch the bald eagles from our camp spot, also lots of other birds. I never realized how many different sounds the birds made.

We also drove to Inverness to ride on the bike path. It was really nice. It is a 46 mile paved trail that is a popular biking route. We rode around 18 miles and had lunch at Beef O Bradys afterwards.

We did get another float down the river in. I was in in the boat while Jeff was in the water snorkeling. He really enjoyed that but got a bit cold .

The 2 weeks really went by fast. A bonus was we met up with our friends John & Joan and got to spend more time with them. We had them over for supper and had a very nice evening.

This is definitely on the return list. I loved this campground! I have decided to give our camper a name I'm gonna call it The HOW...(home on wheels ). We are also gonna try and post a little more regularly. We are kinda getting the hang of this so if we post more frequently we won't have to remember as much.

Lake Louisa State Park

We arrived on February 6th. We didn't have a problem finding the place. It was really unique in its own way. It was close to downtown and anything you wanted to do, but after you drove in the park it was like another world. We found our spot and backed in. I think we had one of the best spots, it was private because of the shrubs but had people on both sides. The weather why we were here was mostly warm and blue sky's but it did rain a day and the weather chilled for awhile.There were a number of different lakes. In the campground there was Dixie Lake and Hammond Lake and both had fishing piers.
 

We put the kayaks in the Hammond lake and tried fishing. We didn't do any good with that so we rode our bicycles to Lake Louisa and it was a beautiful sight. They had a wonderful place to walk where you would walk through some orange groves and the smell was wonderful. The biking there was really nice as well and we saw plenty of people taking advantage of that.

We were in an area were we could get together with some old friends from school. We haven't talked to them in ages and we called them and we drove over to there house. It was so nice to catch up with Paul & Jann. They have a beautiful home and it was so nice to visit and see what's happened in there lives.

We spent most of our time here walking, biking and relaxing. We found a really nice movie theater and we took advantage of that a couple of times. When we were driving home from the movies and on our way back to the campsite we saw something in the road, after getting closer we saw that it was a HUGE rattlesnake.... I didn't have a camera but Jeff took a picture with a phone. It was at least 6 feet long and so thick...yuck. We had planned on hiking but that experience kinda changed our plans.

We were here on valentines day so we drove over to Kissimee to Krispy Kreme.. Yum!! and to make the valentines day better we hit Starbucks as well. On the way back home we saw a stand on the side of the rode and we actually found a alligator head for Ashton.

We also found a church we both loved. It was called real life and the funniest thing happened they had a guest speaker and that's why Jeff picked it. Long story short it was suppose to be Pastor Randy's brother from Bayside but an emergency came up and so Pastor Randy preached from Bayside it was AWESOME!!!!

On the way home we got a call from our friend Paul and he and Jann came to our place for a visit, again a wonderful time. That's what's so nice about this you can reconnect with people you haven't seen for awhile.

Our last big adventure was a trip to Dade City to the park...Wild Things. We signed up for tiger encounter which meant we would be able to pet a baby tiger. We took a trolley to the park and the walking tour was really nice you got to get close up and really learn about each animal. The tiger encounter was my favorite and we got to pet and play with the baby tiger named Meg...LOVED that!

Lake Louisa was another really nice state park and we would come back here again. The park was clean, quiet and close to anything you would want to do. Even the theme parks aren't that far away. We really enjoyed our time spent here.

Lake Manatee

   

We arrived at Lake Manatee on Wednesday January 23rd. The move went smooth and the weather was good as well.  We liked the park almost as soon as we drove in. We found our site and backed the rig in without to much trouble.  The site was private and had trees all around too.  We kinda like that kind of campsite. Our site wasn't a full hookup so we went to check out the shower house and we thought they were nice too. Very clean.

 

 

         We weren't here very long when a knock came at our door it was a ranger inviting us to a thing.(carry in and a movie) We didn't go cause we had already made dinner plans. One thing I can say about this campground is its FRIENDLY!!! The park is close to town for necessities but far enough away to feel very private.  The park has lots of walking or hiking. There is lots of geocaching too.

 

We had a couple visitors that kept coming to visit...they would tap tap tap on the back window. It took us awhile to figure out what that noise was...It was a female cardinal that would sit on the ladder then fly into the window and tap. We noticed the male was up in the tree watching her. It happened everyday. I kinda liked it, others complained about the redbirds

 

 

 

They have a Saturday morning coffee at the campground hosts...we went to that and met lots of friendly folk. We met some fellow kayakers and took a day trip to Robinson Preserve which wasn't to far away.  It was a really pretty area but we didn't do very well with our fishing. We also made a trip to a flea market that had really good produce...yummy strawberries. Also we stopped at a family farm were you can pick your strawberries standing up.  They had sweet corn that was really yummy. 

 

      The weather while we were here was great..sunny and warm most days.  We really liked the feel of this park, and again the place was so friendly. It was so comfortable and welcoming. We found a church that was just down the road and we both loved it. It was big but that didn't matter because  we loved the music and the message. We felt very good there. We have had some great experiences here and we didn't really want to leave but we know there will be more great places and parks to come.

 

 

Myakka River State Park

Pulled into our Pull-thru site at Myakka River State Park on Weds. January 9th after an uneventful  105 mile drive from Ortona South. We like those short drive days and those easy pull-thru campsites. The only problem is they don't help me with my backing skills. Oh well there will be plenty of back-in sites in the near future.


One of the oldest and largest Myakka River State Park is a beautiful place with lots of hiking, biking and wildlife. We hiked one trail that has a canopy walk and 75 ft. lookout tower. We saw deer, wild hogs, birds and lots and lots of alligators. We also hiked into a place called Deep Hole. It is a preserve and you have to get a permit from the ranger to go back there. Its about a 5 mile round trip that is well worth the effort. When we arrived we saw over a hundred alligators in this one area.

Our stay in Myakka was really layed back and we put lots of miles on our bikes and shoes. With the full hookups and nice spacing between sites Im sure this will be on our return list.

Ortona South

We pulled in to Ortona South Campground on December 28th after a 200 mile drive from the Keys. We landed in Site 19 which was reserved about six months earlier. This is a Corp of Engineers Park that is very clean with concrete pads and a covered picnic table. This is in a pretty remote area on the Okeechobee waterway with a lock and dam  to control water flow and boat traffic. Our spot was across the road from the water and out are back was a few palms and a grass field.

At first I wasn't sure I was going to like it here after just leaving our most wonderful site on the Atlantic at the Curry Hammock State Park, I decide not to draw any quick conclusions and give it some time.

We decided this would be a good time to do some cleaning and maintenance and so we washed everything down to get that salt residue off and I took the hitch apart and cleaned and lubed it.

As time went on here we really started to appreciate the simplicity and laid back feeling of this place. Also this was probably the friendliest  campground that we had ever been to. We met a lot of really nice people and listened and learned from some seasoned fulltimers with 15 yrs on the road!

And wildlife, we saw a family of otters, turtles, an armadillo and I caught 3 really beautiful snook.

After 12 days of camping here I would say I would most definitely return here.

FLORIDA KEYS

We landed in the Florida Keys on December 14th.  Our drive down went well no major problems, actually we were a bit concerned because we were ahead of schedule. There is no place really to park and wait but we didn't have to because our site was open and ready when we arrived.  This park was small and very clean. Our site was 15 and we backed into it without much problem.  We are located right next to the walkway to the beach.  Our view from our rig was priceless.... we could watch the sun come up out the window over the kitchen table and watch the sun set out the windows in the back. Our backyard was the ocean. Now that's awesome. The paved bike path was located just across the street from the park and you could ride it into town.. We could launch our kayaks from the beach but you just wanted to make sure you didn't launch or return during low tide. That could make it a bit difficult.  The campground was very friendly and the weather was sunny and warm with a nice breeze.

We did some fishing and they had lots of places to kayak. We even went through the mangroves. We also saw lots of critters. There were big iguanas that pranced through the campground and you would see them hanging in the mangroves while kayaking.

 We had a visitor, our youngest son Justin came down to spend Christmas week with us, well he actually left to go home on Christmas day. We all hung out and fished quite a bit from the shore,bridges,kayaks and we did a party boat trip on the Marathon Lady. The fishing was good and we put a lot of fish in the freezer.

We took some trips out to check on the other state parks and rv parks for next year.  We really liked the Bahia Honda state park, the Long Key park was a bit small we thought. We also looked at a RV park but it was kind of expensive.  We are thinking we might want to come back next year.  We went to a few restaurants but we liked the The Sunset Grill. Justin took us out to eat for our birthdays and that was a really nice night. Our food was good and the service was better.

 Our time here in the Keys went really fast...we weren't really ready to pull out on the 28th but our 2 week limit was up. We will be returning next winter!