#35 - Monday, 20 March 2017 - Florida City, Florida

How far would you drive for a Starbucks? I just drove 50 miles. I recall when my sister Lisa and I were driving across the U.S. and were in the middle of nowhere in the northwest hoping for anything better than gas station and hotel coffee. When we finally found a Starbucks we stocked up on their Via instant coffee so we wouldn't be deprived.

I'm more of a support small business sort of guy, but I've never found espresso I prefer to Starbucks. And it is the best place in the world for free and high speed internet. But what brought me here was a power outage in the southern part of Everglades National Park. Being new to my RV, I at first thought that perhaps I had a problem like a tripped circuit breaker. I didn't notice the lack of power when I first woke because my lights, water heater, water pump and refrigerator were all working. But that was from my dual battery power and converter, not from 120 volt AC. When I went to make coffee I discovered that my outlets had no power. I checked my 30 amp service outside and it was dead. I then saw a man a few campsites away miming no power to me.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do today and had considered driving out to the Keys. When I woke I was thinking of doing a morning hike and then working on the Journal of the British Tarantula Society. Having no power to make coffee I decided to take a shower and head to the marina store to buy a cup. When I got there I learned that they were also without power. It wasn't just the campground, but also everywhere in the Flamingo area. I bought a Starbucks mocha cappuccino bottle to tide me over, and a package of pop-tarts. No electricity also meant no wifi at the visitor's center that I have been using. So, I decided I'd drive out of the park to Florida City and go to Starbucks. As long as I am here in town I figured I'd type this blog entry and maybe get a few groceries.

Yesterday was a wonderful Sunday Funday. I sat with my coffee yesterday morning along the marina piers and watched two manatees in the murky water. I photographed them – or at least their snouts – when they would grab air. I watched their huge, barnacle-encrusted grayish brown backs break the surface as well. ENP certainly must be the best place to see and photograph ospreys, and I captured a few hundred more osprey images during the day. I hiked the Mahogany Hammock and Pah- Hay- Okee overlook and watched roseate spoonbills and wood storks flying above the rookeries at Paurotis Pond. I found a couple more crocodiles when I visited the marina area at lunch time. 

More soon ...

M

#19 - Sunday, 29 January 2017 | Lake Park, Georgia

Happy Sunday Funday from the Georgia/Florida state line. I'm sipping my coffee from the cozy comfort of The Wheelhouse where I spent my first night last night in an RV park in Lake Park, Georgia. I intend to stay here again tonight before heading into Florida for a four night stay in Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. A bit of a cold spell has hit the southeast, but it's still a lot nicer here than back in Chicagoland and I'm finally in my new nomadic home on the road. The temperature is 44ºF /7ºC in the predawn dark of morning, with a high today of 62ºF/17ºC predicted.

I ended up in this park in a random, care-free sort of way. I had pre-booked my time in the central Florida state park, and knew I'd have to stay in hotels for the first two nights of the journey south. With my stuff covering the floor in the RV I needed to get someplace comparatively warm and comfortable for the first campsite set-up and organizing everything. So, with stops in Bowling Green and Macon, I ended up in southern Georgia. I drove along completely chill and with no worries or destination.

In Tifton, Georgia I stopped for a late morning Starbucks. The only coffee I had had was foul and dismal murk drank early in the morning in my Macon hotel. As I pulled into the adjacent restaurant's lot, which would provide for parking my rig, I noticed a hawk perched on a low-hanging wire above a wood fence nearby. I got my super telephoto lens out and captured a few images. It swooped down towards the ground behind the fence and I took advantage of the cover to move closer. As I did I noticed that there was a little creek that the fence had blocked my view of. I snapped a couple more exposures as the hawk sat on the bank of the canal.

Inside the Starbucks I flipped through my Good Sam RV Travel Guide, a phonebook-sized directory to RV parks nationwide. I phoned a few in central Florida to inquire about weekend availability, but to no surprise everyone was completely booked during this snowbird season. I ended up hanging out at the Starbucks for about an hour and a half, taking advantage of the wi-fi to stay connected. Still with no destination in mind I continued toward the state line.

I mentioned before how your view while driving in southern Georgia and northern Florida becomes inundated with a barrage of billboards, and how many of these are religious and "pro-life". As I approached Valdosta, the last significant city before Florida, the conservative propaganda became accompanied by an increasing assault of tourist advertisements and signs for local businesses. One billboard of interest was for a tire repair company that specialized in RV and trucks. With a tire still to have repaired I paid attention and exited I-75 to find it. Unfortunately, the south is largely closed on the weekends, something that I recalled from my time living in Nashville. Back on the interstate and barreling toward Florida, I saw the billboards for Camping World. This is a national chain of RV dealers and camping supplies and I remembered from my recent truck-only trip south that it had its own RV park right next door. When I drove by a couple weeks ago I had noted that it looked very nice and was it a great location for a respite before reaching Florida. I quickly thought that it had the added benefit of being somewhere I could buy supplies or parts should I need to do anything during my first set-up of The Wheelhouse.

I pulled in and saw a sign to register at the main Camping World building back up the road. I walked up to the store. Camping World owns Good Sam and I am a member of this discount and benefit club. They said if I paid the $27 to extend my membership for another year I would get a free night's stay. Pretty sweet deal for a full-hookup site (water, electricity, wi-fi). I entered the park and saw swans a beautiful pond and big old trees draped with Spanish moss. I liked it. I found a pull-thru site long enough and got to work setting up camp while trying to remember everything I was told during my orientation during my delivery of The Wheelhouse back north at General RV. I would be filling tanks, connecting power, dropping stabilizer jacks, extending my two slide-outs and more. Once everything was good to go I noticed a leak in the rear of the RV. I had turned on the pump and water heater and it was hot water dumping onto the campsite in a steady stream. I grabbed my toolbox to tighten the fitting. Apparently when General finished their testing and blew out the Wheelhouse plumbing to void it of water for freezing conditions something wasn't properly tightened. A neighbor came by to investigate my leak.

front slide-out is the head of my full queen bed
rear slide-out is the sleeper sofa

front door enters the bedroom
rear door is main entrance - kitchen is in rear, bathroom is just behind bedroom

"Goose", the General RV employee who had conducted my orientation gave sage advice. Always introduce yourself to your neighbors even if you, like me, prefer to keep to yourself. You never know who might be your best friend in a time of need. Jim, as the pony-tailed and grey-haired and bearded guy introduced himself, wanted to re-crimp the attachment and inspect the fittings for me. He builds motorcycles and is one of those guys who is only happy when he has a wrench in his hand. It turns out he had lost his wife less than a year ago and was headed to Florida three weeks ago when he stopped at this park and never left. He now is the new owner! Amazing story and I got many more details, but that's the synopsis in a couple of sentences. I returned to my work of unpacking boxes and tubs and filling the cabinets of The Wheelhouse. Jim and I would chat again later when an amazing coach pulled into the site beside me. We introduced ourselves to the Georgia businessman who got out and stood slack-jawed looking at what basically was a rock star tour bus style camper pulling a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee car behind it for shuttling out to dinner and errands. He was happy to revel us with details of his posh glamping vehicle and we discovered that it cost ... brace yourself ... $520,000.

A half a million dollars worth of glamping coach
The other side is a full-length slide out
This rig sold for almost seven times what I paid for truck and RV

As I continued putting everything away, I used my nice little three-burner stove to heat up some lentil & vegetable soup. Later I had canned dolphin-safe tuna on crackers and was a happy bunny. I searched for local TV channels and ended up watching some X-Games snowmobile tricks while carrying on with my work. I had a serene first sleep in my new bed. I had intended to put my own Sealy mattress in The Wheelhouse, but it came with a nice firm pillow-top mattress and a comforter that matches the bedroom curtains. I set the thermostat low at about 60º because I am camping after all :) I love sleeping when it is cool and I am on crisp sheets beneath a few blankets. Today I am going to extend my stay here for another night and finish putting everything away. 

All the best! M

#13 - Wednesday, 18 January 2017 | Florida City, Florida

Tuesday I ventured to the Keys, but never planned to go very far. I had already decided to save Marathon and Key West for when I had more time. With no destination in mind, I drove south on U.S. 1 from Homestead through Florida City and out to Key Largo. I continued through Tavernier and on to Islamorada. The name Islamorada means "village of islands" and locals don't pronounce the first part "eesla" as in La Isla Bonita, but rather as eye-la as in Isla Fisher. The village of about 6500 people is situated on Tea Table Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Windley Key and Plantation Key. 

Islamorada is where the Netflix series Bloodline is set, and I have enjoyed the first two seasons and am hoping for a third. I stopped at a very nice Starbucks that is attached to the Post Card Inn. I don't think I have often enjoyed my Americano as much as I did then. I was relaxed, in a beautiful spot and had no schedule. The weather was perfect and the surroundings serene.

While I stayed at my sister Lisa's house after my house closing I had read one of her zillion books. In the guest room where I slept, there was a travel guide for southern Florida. I used Notes on my iPhone to record some spots in the Florida Keys I wished to visit. One lunch spot on my list was Islamorada's Hog Heaven Sports Bar & Grill. It looks like a cool spot when you pull into the sandy parking lot, and as you enter the spacious roadhouse style "sports" bar. However, when you pass through the indoors area to the rear bar and seating area you are greeted with a pretty harbor and a spectacular ocean view. I ordered a local craft beer–Islamorada Beer Company Ale–and guacamole and chips. For lunch my server Nike (that's what he called himself and he had gold bling around his neck and earring, etc. with the Nike logo!) recommended the hogfish tacos and they were delicious. I had another ale and walked along their harbor to a beach that protected the Hog Heaven cove. 

Hog Heaven Sports Bar & Grill, Islamorada, Florida Keys

After my incredible chillaxing, I drove back northeast to Key Largo. There I visited John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. As I drove in green iguanas scurried from the roadside into the forest cover. The first iguana I had seen on the trip was DOR (dead on road) just as my southern lanes of U.S. 1 descended into the Keys. In the park I watched people kayaking and snorkeling while others relaxed on the beach. There were a couple of nature trails and I walked them. The prize photograph was of a Spiny Orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis).

Gasteracantha cancriformis, Key Largo, Florida

I had stayed at the Floridian Hotel in Homestead, Florida for the past three nights and it was adequate. However, it was a bit dingy for my liking and the wifi was poor and the bed horribly soft. So, after my visit to Pennekamp State Park, I drove back north to Florida City, which lies just south of Homestead and is the final town before the Keys. There I had booked a room at the Fairway Inn. It was cheaper and cleaner and the bed, while still too soft for me, was the best of the trip. I showered and laid in the bed processing images, replying to email and writing a personal letter and a couple of post cards. I probably was asleep by 7 and woke at 4 ready to hit the road back toward Chicago. After driving to southern Florida in only two days, I wanted to take three for the return and by 5 a.m. was on my way to Macon, Georgia.

All the best, M