We're in Florida - and it feels (weatherwise) just like home. Cold and Damp! Unfortunately, the cold weather has followed us. Oh well! We know it will be better as we head South.
We have visited Pelican Roost RV campground perhaps more often than any other campground. It's on Naval Station Mayport on the coast East of Jacksonville. It's a nice campground located on the shores of the St. John River where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
We're getting reacquainted with motor home living and made some purchases. I have often seen the need for a generator both on the sailboat and at home. Now I see a need for it on the motorhome, so we stopped at a Camping World on the way down and bought a 2000 watt Honda generator. It is by far the quietest generator on the market. If we make it down to Key West (which we certainly hope to do this trip), a small generator to keep the batteries charged may come in handy. As we understand it, we may be dry camping most, if not all the time we're there. This means we'll have to run our 10,000 watt generator quite often to keep the batteries charged. It's a noisy beast, and it's been suggested by those that have done this that a Honda generator is preferable - and quieter. We'll see.
While at Mayport, we relax. I swim and workout. Mayport has one of the finest fitness clubs I've ever been to. It's good to get some exercise (other than walking).
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| Mayport is a major naval base. There were about a dozen big ships at the port. |
We had a great time - good food, good companionship (we sat with a nice couple who live here) - Ken and Linda Perry. The show was "Honky Tonk Angels". It was a collection of great country music, performed by 3 enormously talented ladies.
Thursday, January 14
A two hour drive to Blue Spring State Park. I had seen it recommended by a RV blogger that I follow.
It's a little hard to get to (sharp turns at intersections with poles, sidewalks, etc) so we had to take a round-about way to get here. But it's definitely an interesting place. It must be a favorite with locals. There were several cars lined up to get in when we arrived, and there was a long line behind us.
It's like a lot of the Springs in Florida, but apparently this is one of the best - and we can agree. There are over 400 Manatees that "winter" here. The Spring flows into the St. John River (interestingly, we were on the banks of the St. John River last night we were at Mayport Naval Station). The water is incredibly clear. It's almost like looking through air. The fish and manatees seem to float on air as they move around the water.
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| I took a kayak off the car and kayaked around the canals and river for a couple of hours |
I took the kayak off the car and went on an hour + kayak paddle after we arrived. Sure wish Clara could have gone, but the ribs say no! A nice paddle through canals and on the St John River. There was no one else out there. And when I stopped and just listened, I heard all kinds of bird calls and other unknown things calling. A really nice experience.
Blue Spring is a first magnitude spring that discharges 104 million gallons of water daily into the St. John River.
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| The manatees almost look like they're floating in air because the water is so clear |
We're off to Buttonwood Bay RV Resort in Sebring, Fl. It's in the center of the state, but basically on our way to Flamingo (our next stop - next week). We'll stay here for 6 days. There are 534 sites in the resort. It's a small town by itself - with all the amenities.
It rains a good part of the trip down. Sometimes it got so heavy we had to slow down to 25 mph. But it cleared up beautifully as we got closer to Sebring.
It's very difficult to get reservations in South Florida this time of year and we got lucky with this one. The reviews are great, and on arrival we quickly understood why. It's a really nice place - clean, BIG, and lots of things to do. It is the nicest RV resort we've stayed in - and we generally don't like resorts. It's located on a 1200 acre lake. There is a long canal with dozens of boats that the residents keep there.
There are a mixture of all types of homes, all very nicely kept and landscaped. The resort is divided into several sections. One section looks like a regular subdivision with very nice factory manufactured homes. Another section has park models mixed with RV pads. That's where we are.
There are two pools (one large enough to really swim in), a great fitness facility, a community center and a huge recreation center and all the usual amenities (even including a deluxe putt-putt golf course). I think we're going to enjoy it here.
AND IT'S WARM! Shorts again. No coats. All the windows and vents on the motorhome are open and a nice breeze drifting through. This is what we really came for. We've learned that there's not much to Florida insofar as scenery. The only reason to come here in the winter is warmth. And now we've got it!!
Saturday, Jan 16 - Monday, January 18
Saturday evening we attend the dance/music at the recreation center. While enjoying the music, we are joined by Linda Murphy. We enjoyed talking with her and learned that she travels alone in her motor coach and is very involved in many volunteer organizations and events.
Sunday, she drops by and asks if we would like to have lunch at the airport. That seems a bit unusual (lunch at an airport?) and of course we say yes. Turns out that this is quite an airport, with the Sebring International Raceway (http://www.sebringraceway.com/) adjoining. The Raceway hosts an annual 12 hour race and has since 1952.
We also learn that the next weekend is there is a sport aviation exposition at the airport (in which Linda has volunteered to help).
After a tasty lunch, as we step outside the terminal, I hear the racecars revving up on the speedway, so we see if we can get close enough to see them - and we do. For the next hour or so, we enjoy watching and listening as about a dozen small racecars race around the famous track.
Later in the afternoon, we drive a few miles South to Lake Placid. I picked up a travel brochure claiming this to be the city of murals. There are 40 murals painted on the sides of businesses throughout town.
We found them to be interesting and fun to explore. Many of the murals depict a scene that relates to the business in the building.
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| I always said that Clara would talk to a wall if she had no one else to talk to. |
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| The town decorates the trash containers in interesting designs |
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| I thought this was an interesting contrast of crews working on the street with a mural depicting the history of people who populated and worked in the area.. |
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| The local Rotary Club sponsored this small park between building depicting the history of the area. |
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| The large mural below had dozens of interesting, lifelike scenes within it. |
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| There is a clown school located in town, and of course a mural on the side of the building depicting a circus. |
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| This tree had grown over the handrail. |
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| Spainish moss in the sunset |
Tuesday, Jan 19
After a long hike around Buttonwood Bay, we took the grandkids advice and went to see Star Wars - in 3D. It was a fun movie and brought back memories of when Slade was a kid and saw the first Star Wars movie. He still has some of the toys from that era.
Wednesday, Jan 20
Lucky for me, the U.S. Sport Aviation Sebring Exposition started today at the airport. I have never attended such an event where a lot of experimental and sports aviation aircraft are shown.
PLUS, I went flying in one of them!!!!!
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| This guy had an engine and propeller strapped to his back. Quite a show. |
There was a sports plane sponsored by a hat company - Walkabout Hats who was offering free flights in their airplane, so obviously I took advantage.
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| The exposition is a rather large event |
Tomorrow we're off to Flamingo, Florida
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