20 Feb 2020 Big Gators

David was suppose to work today, but all his afternoon telecons were canceled in the morning, so once he cleaned out his email, we decided to do an exploratory trip into Everglades NP. Our first stop was for some good Mexican food at Rosita’s for lunch. We then drove to the Everglades NP eastern visitor center. We explored the exhibits, collected our 70^thpassport stamp, and strolled through the store (they did not have any Everglades hats or cups!), but we skipped the movie for now so we could drive to the Flamingo visitor center before it closed. We talked with the Ranger about possible hiking opportunities. There are not a lot of hiking trails in the park. Several short boardwalk interpretive trails in the different ecological zones in the park and one hiking trail. But we warned the mosquitoes could be fierce. She also pointed out a pond where there was a “feeding frenzy” going on due to fish being pushed into the pond by a storm and trapped by the outflow. As we drove the 38 miles to Flamingo Visitor center, we noted the signs announcing the highest points on the road above sea level, 3-4 feet! We arrived at the pond the ranger told us about and found quite a few egret around the edges but there did not seem to be a lot of action going on. By the time we got to the Flamingo visitor center it had closed for the day. So we wandered over to the marina and check out the store there for hats, and came up empty again. As we wandered through the marina we saw several manatee surface to breath, but the water was so dirty we could not see their bodies. We also found an Osprey nest with two chicks and a mother and father. With the sun heading down, we headed back toward the Wanderer. On a whim, David pulled into a side road to another pond and found a HUGE gator sunning itself on the beach. It was amazing how big that sucker was! The people standing around getting too close for our tastes. So in a short visit we clicked off most of the wildlife we were out to see. 

Entrance Sign

Great Egrets

Wood Stork

Osprey nest

Massive Gator

Look at those Jaws!!

19 Feb 2020 Homestead, FL

We took a slightly longer route from Orlando to Homestead using US27 to avoid going through Miami. We are staying at the Southern Comfort RV Park ($41 per night) just off US-1. The RV park is really tight for our Wanderer, but we made it to our site and were able to pull in at an angle to fit. The WiFi is not working, seems to be a common issue with RV parks in the south. Everything else seemed fine. Were here primarily to see Biscayne NP, Everglades NP and Key Largo. 

14 – 19 Feb 2020 Wonderful World of Disney

The drive from Carrabelle was pretty straightforward. No parts almost fell off. The traffic coming into Orlando was heavy and the drivers are a bit crazy. We are staying in the Kissimmee/Orlando KOA ($85 per night with KOA discount). Its in the heart of the tourist action and only 9 miles from Disney World. We had a deluxe back in site with a nice patio. 

We had planned to go to Disney World on Saturday and visit David’s Cousin Beth and her husband John who live in Daytona Beach. But we found out that the Daytona 500 race was on Sunday and President Trump was going to attend. So it was going to be crazy. So we swapped out plans and went over to Daytona Beach to see Beth and John on Saturday. Its only a hour and a half drive over to Daytona Beach. We had lunch at their house before heading over to the beach area. We went over to the Ponce Deleon Lighthouse that was built in 1885-87. We climbed up the 203 steps to the top for a wonderful view of the countryside. It also tested our fitness!! We then went over to the beach. Before heading out to dinner. It was a great visit and we were so happy to see them. 

On Sunday we headed over to Disney World. We hoped that the race would draw crowds over to Dayton Beach. Unfortunately that was not the case. We arrived at Disney Hollywood Studios at 9am and it was already packed! All the rides already had 90 to 120 minute lines if you did not have a fastpass for the ride. We worked our way around toward the Tower of Terror and gave up when we saw the standby wait lines and could not get fastpass for any of the rides. So we headed over to the Star Wars area and enjoyed seeing the Millennium Falcon, Luke’s Star Fighter, Darth Vader’s Tie Fighter and many more Star Wars sets. It was fun watching the kids build their own light sabers and droids. We then went over to Epcot on the Skyline tram which dropped us off in the International area, so we explored Britain, Canada, Norway, Mexico and China. We ate Lunch in a Mexican cantina since it was Mexican Food Sunday. The international Festival of Arts was running and we wandered through some of the booths. We then worked our way toward the entrance to Epcot and stopped to check on the wait time for the Soaring ride only to find the wait was in excess of two hours. Much of the area around the entrance was closed for renovation. We stopped off in a Pub in the Britain area and enjoyed real British beer before heading back to Hollywood Studios and the Behemoth. The parks were ridiculously crowded, it was almost record heat, and we walked 6.5 miles. We had had enough for one day. 

Monday, Presidents Day, we headed back to Disney. We decided to break the day up into two treks. Overnight, Leslie had managed to get fastpass for two rides. But one of the rides that Beth had suggested was fully booked for fastpass. So we headed to Epcot first thing and arrived before it opened. We were lined up with several more hundred people when they opened the gate and made out way straight to Soaring. We were in the standby line but managed to get on the ride after only twenty minute. It was a cool ride, sort of like you hang gliding over the major wonders of the world. As we sat in the seats for the ride and strapped in, David noticed that there was a canopy above us and commented that it was to keep anyone from vomiting on us. Most of the international area was not open but there was a bakery in the French section open so we went up there and had a wonderful brunch that reminded us of our time in Paris. We then headed out of Epcot and took the Monorail over to the Magic Kingdom where we made our way to the “It’s a small world” ride that Leslie had ridden as a child in Disneyland. David thought it was cute but was more interested in the engineering of the animation. After walking around the Magic Kingdom for a bit (Looking for a beer only to find out there is no alcohol in this park) we made our way back to Epcot and then back to the Wanderer as it was getting hot and the crowds were starting to grate on us. After getting Etta settled and us a chance to cool off, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom in the late afternoon. We jumped on the Monorail back to Epcot where we worked our way through the remaining countries in the international area before meeting up with Beth and John in the biergarten for dinner. The food was actually pretty close to good German food. Following dinner we all headed to the Magic Kingdom on the monorail where we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (Our other fastpass item). We then made our way to the castle to watch the closing light and fireworks show. The perfect way to wrap up our visit to Disney World. It had been even hotter today (87F) than yesterday, and we walked even further (9.2 miles) and the crowds even thicker, but it was a fun day anyway. 

Tuesday, David worked all day and Leslie took the chance to go shopping for Christmas gifts. 

Ponce Deleon Lighthouse

Beth and John with us at the lighthouse

Looking down the stair well in the lighthouse

View from the top of the lighthouse

Daytona Beach

The Disney World entrance

Darth Vader

Droids

Storm Troopers

Speeder

Millennium Falcon

Bridge

Tie Fighter

Star Fighter

Buzz Lightyear

Woody

Minnie

Starship Earth

Balloons in the Magic Kingdom

Micky at Hollywood Studios

The Disney Castle

Beth and John at the Biergarten in Epcot

Disney Castle at the closing light show

Disney Fireworks

10 – 14 Feb 2020 Carrabelle, FL

The drive from Gulf Breeze to Carrabelle on US-98 along the coast was scenic. The drive also took us through areas where Hurricane Michael had come ashore a year and a half ago. The damage to Panama City was surprising since it was on the weaker side of the hurricane.  There did not seem to be much effort to fix the damage. The damage to Tyndall AFB was substantial and very visible from the road. They really have not started fixing the base yet. But the worst was Mexico Beach, where US-98 goes through the center of town. Whole blocks of homes are gone. Here and there people were rebuilding. We’re staying at Ho-Hum RV Park ($44 per night with GSC discount) east of the small town of Carrabelle. We chose this park because we wanted something half way between Pensacola and Orlando, on the coast and away from the crowds. This little RV park is in an undeveloped portion of the Florida gulf coast. The RV park is basically a gravel patch that goes right up to the beach. We were in a large back in site on the edge of the park which had enough tree cover to block the Sat TV Signal. We had no issue backing in, but the gravel surface was soft so we sank in a little bit. We had a nice view of the ocean from our windows. The weather the four days we were here was cloudy with rain showers and heavy fog. But we still managed to get some walks on the small beach along the undeveloped land. Etta had a blast being off the leash, running out ahead of us before running back to us as fast as she could go! We used the days to catch up with chores, working on our diary and blog, doing lots of laundry and David did some document reviews for work. The local seafood restaurants were surprisingly nothing to brag about. 

Ho-Hum RV Park from the beach

Ho-Hum RV Park from the fishing pier

Beach next-door to Ho-Hum RV Park

8 – 10 Feb 2020 Fort Pickens

The drive from Hattiesburg to Gulf Breeze Florida was mostly uneventful until another driver came up alongside of us at a stoplight to tell us we were dragging something on the Wanderer. We found a place to pull over and luckily it was just a cross support that holds up the insulation board under the tank bay. The scary part was it was hanging by one bolt and dragging right in front of the right tires on the Wanderer. We pulled it off (Later reinstalled with new bolts) and continued on. We crossed the southern portion of Alabama (Our 27^thState) before crossing into Florida (Our 28^thState). 

Saturday morning we headed for historic downtown Pensacola. We stopped at the famous McGuires Irish Pub for a wonderful lunch before hitting downtown. As we pulled into downtown we were surprised to find a street market in full swing (they have it every Saturday morning). We quickly found a parking spot and proceeded to explore the street market and the stores on the side of the street. It was a fun afternoon exploring the booths of artists, local foods, and jewelry. They started breaking down the booths around 2:30 so we headed for a local brewery to try the beers and enjoy the people watching.

Sunday morning we headed for Fort Pickens at the end of Santa Rosa Island. Fort Pickens was one of 42 costal forts that were built to protect from foreign invasion following the war of 1812 when the British sailed up the Potomac River and sacked Washington. Following the war, congress funded building of the coastal forts and a new navy based on what had worked in the 1812 war. Fort McHenry had stopped the British sailing up the river and taking Philadelphia and the oak sides of the USS Constitution, made from the dense live oak wood (the densest wood in North America). Started in 1829, Fort Pickens was built with slave labor and finished in 1834. Fort Pickens was one of four forts in the south that remained in Union hands during the Civil War. The only action it saw was in the Battle of Pensacola in Nov-Dec 1861. The South eventually abandoned Pensacola. We were able to join a Ranger led tour followed by a demonstration of a cannon firing. The Fort was modified in 1899 to install newer guns and then again during WW2 to defend against Uboats. The fort was handed over to the state of Florida in 1947. It was returned to the federal government along with the Live Oak Reserve (set aside by the Navy for building ships in 1815) in 1971 to become part of Gulf Islands National Seashore. Gulf Island National Seashore spans 160 mile of coastline from Mississippi to the Big Bend of Florida. Our only regret is we did not stay here longer. The beaches are beautiful, the food wonderful and the sunset beautiful!

Entrance Sign

Beautiful Gulf Sunset

Street Market

Gun Emplacement in Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens

Cannon Demonstration

Fort Pickens

Campsite in Fort Pickens

2-7 Feb 2020 Hattiesburg

The drive over from Baton Rouge was pretty easy. We are staying at the Okatoma Resort and RV Park ($36 with GSC discount) outside Hattiesburg Mississippi (our 26th state). Luckily David remembered to read the reservation conformation last night because it warned us not to trust the GPS and use their directions. Following their directions made the drive easier. We found the marked entrance to the RV park but as we pulled in the road narrowed and the surface changed to gravel and dirt. Soon we found ourselves on a narrow dirt berm with steep drop offs to deep water on each side and no RV sites in sight. But we pushed on and climbed up the hill to find a great little RV park surrounding a small lake. We had a back in site right on the lake with nice views. Unfortunately it rained the whole time we there so we didn’t get to do any fishing. When we checked in, the clerk gave David a “Round TUIT” coin (As in "Get around to it") to help us remember the park. Our primary reason to be here was to visit our friends Darrel and Gay. We visited their house, went out to dinner, sat around and enjoyed catching up, visited the Lucky Rabbit, and generally just had a great time! Love you guys!

Round Tu It coin

Okatoma  Resort

The Lucky Rabbit

Our great friends Darrel and Gay

1 - 2 Feb 2020 Baton Rouge

Back on the road again! Louisiana was our 25^thstate to visit with the Wanderer. The drive from Houston was long primarily due to being caught in a 1.5 hour traffic jam due to construction. We finally got to a point where we could get off and get to another route to get us past the jam and back on the freeway. They had lane striping work going on taking a four lane free way down to a single lane! We are only staying in Baton Rouge for one night. We stayed at the Baton Rouge KOA ($56 with KOA discount). The park is in need of some TLC. Although it had concrete pads, they were pretty badly broken up and we could see they have started replacing some at other sites. We could not open the living room slide fully due to a close tree branch. There were low hanging power lines that we had to work around on our way out. But it was ok for one night. 

Baton Rouge KOA