Florida Bound – The End of the Journey East

Final Leg – Florida Bound

Our First Month in Florida 11/29/2021 – 12/31/2021

Have you missed us? I unintentionally took a little hiatus for the Holidays 😊 Ready to catch up on what we have been doing since Thanksgiving?

Florida or Bust

We left NC on 11/28/2021. What was I thinking? Travel on the Sunday after a 4 day weekend? Big mistake. Big. Huge. (Bonus if you can tell me what movie that is from) Anyway, what should have been an easy 6 hour drive turned into a horrid 8+ hour drive. Note to self, DO NOT TRAVEL ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND EVER and find another way thru South Carolina. Driving I-95 thru South Carolina was like taking a step back in time. We do not think the freeway here has been upgraded since the 70’s. 2-lanes and both were very narrow. Not only were we battling the weekend travelers, but also all the snowbirds headed south for the winter. I know what you are thinking… we are headed south for the winter so that makes us snowbirds too. Well, no, it does not. Bill and I believe we are exempt from being called snowbirds since we are returning to that of which we hail. We are natives returning to our homeland for a short while. Maybe we call ourselves Momentary Natives? Once we crossed over into Georgia, the freeway miraculously opened into 3 nice sized lanes and once again traffic began moving at normal speeds. We finally made our overnight destination in Townsend, GA a little after 8. We were both pretty exhausted, Bill especially. It was dinner, a little bit of the boob-tube and lights out. The final leg of our journey east would be complete the next day.

We crossed into FL early the next morning. It is mandatory to stop at the welcome station, snap a pic of the Welcome to Florida sign and grab some orange juice. While Bill was purchasing our E-Pass, I loaded up on literature of “Things to do in the Sunshine State”. Not only do we want to spend a lot of quality time with our family while we are here, we also want to go see some of the sights we have never seen. Discover parts of FL we either haven’t explored in a very long time or not at all. Hopefully, we will be able to reconnect with the FL we grew up in.

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Arrival at Campers Holiday, Brooksville FL

4,971 miles, thru 15 states in 3 months and our journey east has come to an end. I had to secure our reservations here almost a year ago. We checked in and drove down to our site. Once we were backed in, we realized what a really bad site we had. First off, there are 2 trees right next to the pad and second we are on a slight hill that is big enough that is was nearly impossible to level. The pad itself is very long but there was no way to get level and maneuver around the trees to be able to get our awning out. We fought and tried several different positions for over an hour and had no luck. Finally, we went back up to the office to see if they could give us another site. Nope. But someone did come down and help us level by providing some 2×10’s to place under our front tires. Now it looks like our rig is getting ready to take flight. We had to add a temporary step under our rig steps so we are able to climb in and out without needing a pully system. Anyway, the park is nice. We like the country feel and it is very quiet. Will we come back next year? We don’t know yet. We are scouting out other parks right now. If we can get a different site, yes we’ll come back.

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What did we do in December?

Basically, we visited our families. I finally got to see my Mom and Dad, whom I haven’t seen in 2 years! It was so nice to see them face to face and get those hugs I’ve missed. We had a great time catching up with Bill’s lifelong friends in Titusville. We drove back over to FL East Coast and had a wonderful time catching up with some of Bill’s family in Oak Hill. He was finally able to give his Aunt Lucille a huge hug. We have gone to Lakeland a couple of times and visited cousins there too. We are having a blast reconnecting with our Florida kinfolk. We have even put on some poundage with all the good southern food we are being force fed. 😊 My arm hurts from it being twisted to eat all this food.

Withlacoochee State Forest

Bill finished work early one afternoon and we decided to take some forest roads and check out the Withlacoochee State Forest, which is only a few miles from where we are staying. We had the top off the jeep and was enjoying our ride thru the swampland. As he slowly made his way thru a muddy part of the road, the tires kicked up some thick mud and sprayed me pretty good. Game on for Bill. Since I was already a little muddy he decided to see how muddy he could get us. Things didn’t work out so well for him. He ended up hitting a puddle a little too fast and a little too hard and it caused some damage to the jeep. We hobbled back out to the main road and called a tow truck and then I had to make the dreaded call to my dad. Seems that due to covid, the tow truck could only transport 1 person. What would me and Kona do? Dad drove out to get us and follow the tow truck to the repair garage. Over an hour later, still no tow truck. When we called to check the status we were informed it was going to be another hour. Unacceptable. Bill decided to drive the jeep himself to the garage and we followed with my Dad. We made it there safely and found the damage was minimal, thank goodness. However, it would take them about a week to get the parts and get it fixed. Off to enterprise to rent a car.

We learned a couple of valuable lessons:

• Don’t break your own cardinal rule and run thru any puddle of water unless you are sure of the depth.
• Don’t take unnecessary risks when you are in the woods alone and with your daily driver.

This little mishap cost us over $600. Uggg…

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Mom Gets a Cell Phone

My Mom was forced to give up her old flip phone and get with the times with a smartphone. Since 3G will be going away at the end of 2022 she decided to upgrade while I was here. This would allow me to help her become acclimated with her new device. Yay, Mom!! We spent 2 hours at Spectrum getting the account switched over from Verizon. We had some laughs and a couple of tears during this process. Now she is on her way to master the smartphone.

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Canaveral National Seashore

While we were visiting friends in Titusville, Bill and I took a drive out to the Canaveral National Seashore and yep, get another stamp in the book. We drove down to Playalinda Beach and along the way we were able to see the VAB and launch pads 39A and 39B. We then took a ride out on BioLab road which meanders along the Mosquito Lagoon; a very good place for scouting wildlife, specifically alligators! The top was off the jeep and I was standing up just like we were on a safari. We found several gators sunning themselves in the marshy banks. I was thrilled! I love scouting for gators when I am in the safety of a vehicle but let’s be clear… if I am kayaking I do not want to see any of these prehistoric creatures. As we were coming to the end of the road, a snake decided to cross our path. This is the first snake I’ve seen since we left OR. Anyway, this thin, long snake is slithering across the road and hears us coming and slithers a little faster. I get all wiggy and grab Bill’s hand and have a little freak out. (Just a little one) Then I kind of laugh at myself. Here I am seeking out 6’+ gators that could really hurt you, with no fear and then get freaked out by a smallish snake crossing the road. One of those things that cannot be explained, I guess.

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After our gator hunting adventure, a milkshake and fries are in order. No better place than the Moonlight Drive In. This place has a lot of memories for a lot of people in the Titusville area. Bill brought me here the first time I came over to Titusville to see him. He had a Chocolate Malt and I had a Hot Fudge Shake. They were delicious and that is my special memory of the Moonlight.

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Butrico Groves

Another stop while in Titusville was Bill’s childhood home in Scottsmoor. His dad started Butrico Groves back in the 80’s. Bill helped plant a lot of these orange trees and we both spent many winters helping pick and pack fruit. I always enjoyed working and helping out here. We stopped in and caught up with the new owners and pick up some fresh citrus. Sadly, Greening Disease, has taken a lot of these trees out. Not just here but across the state. They are trying to replant and keep the trees healthy so they will one day produce fruit.

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Christmas

For the first time in 22 years, we are spending Christmas with my parents and New Years with Bill’s family. I have been able to do some shopping with my Mom, bake cookies and pies with my Dad, attend a Live Nativity with cousins, see the famous Weeki Wachee Mermaids and drive around and see some beautiful Christmas displays. It’s been wonderful and we have made a lot of good memories. Next year though… we will be jetting back to the Pacific NW to spend Christmas with the kiddos.

As we close out 2021, I think about what lies ahead in 2022. I look forward to where our journey will take us and embrace all the new adventures we will embark on. I hope to make new connections and strengthen existing relationships. I wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2022!

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Cheers!