Tag: greddoch@shaw.ca

Now that Betty & I are back in Friendly Manitoba for the summer, how do we assess our recent visit to Florida? First, it can be said that so many northern snowbirds winter in Florida that a story about our tour of the state does not constitute news for anyone outside of our immediate friends and family. In reality, as we age and our memories fade, this review is as much for reminding ourselves about our winter adventure, as informing others.  Of course, this kind of assessment is purely subjective, but hope you can still enjoy the read.

The Weather

One of the main reasons snowbirds winter in Florida is to escape the potentially brutal cold of a northern winter, and to enjoy the mild and sometimes tropical temperatures in the south. These days regional weather can be quite unpredictable, but there is no doubt we picked the right state to visit this year! (Fingers crossed that Arizona has a warm winter next year, as that is our anticipated destination.) January, February, and March were all warm months in Florida, with many days and weeks moving into the stinkin’ hot range, where the beaches beckoned and margaritas kept us cool and lubricated. Flip flop weather indeed!

The Campgrounds

From trying unsuccessfully to book sites in the Florida Keys state parks eleven months in advance, we knew certain popular spots would be inaccessible. Betty & I prefer to stay in national and state parks, but as it turned out, nearly all southern Florida state parks were fully booked for the winter. During our travels we were able to pick up a day or two at some nice parks, but often there was nothing more available.

We had not previously stayed in Florida State Forests, and found them to be a great, cost-effective alternative, especially since we are now better equipped for boondocking. Some state forest campgrounds came with electricity and/or water and a dump station, but you couldn’t always count on services being available. Some of our best extended stays in Florida were at beautiful unserviced state forest campgrounds.

 

Growing in popularity for us and others are Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Host locations. All of our experiences with both organizations were positive, with some clearly rating as trip highlights.

 

Betty & I generally steer away from private campgrounds, but the Ocala North RV Park in Reddick, Florida is one we would consider again, especially if they could find the correct Scottish spelling of the town’s name. lol.  Some of the county campgrounds were very pleasant, including Markham Park and T.Y. Park in the Fort Lauderdale area, and Manatee Hammock Park further up the coast at Titusville.

Traversing The State

Unlike Manitoba, Florida has invested in providing wide, smooth roads for travellers. Despite a few rough construction/congestion patches on I95 through the Gold Coast area, most roads were well-marked and a pleasure to drive. In planning our adventure, we estimated that we would drive 7,916 miles on this portion of our overlandish odyssey. Our odometer told us we actually travelled 8,026 miles, so we weren’t far off.

Many snowbirds find one preferred site, and book it for the winter. Because this was an exploratory trip, we chose to visit most of the state, working our way across and down the gulf coast to Key West, and then up the Atlantic side to Amelia Island.

 

Meeting our kids and grandkids at Orlando’s Disney World in February was, for sure, a highlight of this memorable journey. We pray that those fond memories remain with them, as they will with us, for a long, long time!

Future Trips?

We certainly hope that this was not our last visit to the sunshine state. If we return, would we replicate the most recent trip? The answer is “no”. Not because there was anything wrong with exploring as

much of the state as possible in the time available. But now that we have done that, we have identified some of our favourite spots, and would like to go back and stay longer at a few preferred locations, instead of almost constantly being on the move.

While we still value spontaneity, we would aim for a better Internet

connection in order to book Bahia Honda, Curry Hammock, and John Pennekamp State Parks (and Long Key, if it re-opens) in the Florida Keys. We would also try for a beach side campsite at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area north of Daytona Beach as well. Not as congested, Big Lagoon State Park on Florida’s panhandle – with nearby Gulf coast beaches at Pensacola – was also a favourite.

There is obviously much more that can be said about the people, places and attractions we visited in Florida, but this little vignette is beginning to exceed my preferred blog post length. We now have hard copy and electronic files related to each of our trips, and are accumulating info for upcoming adventures. If future travels are anywhere near as outstanding as this past winter in Florida, we’ll be more than happy! Here’s hoping that your journeys are just as joyful and jubilant!

Cheers!

As full-time RVers, Betty & I encounter motorhomes, 5^thwheels, and trailers of all shapes and sizes while traversing the continent. It’s always fun to see new and different features designed to make life on the road more enjoyable.  Some units are larger and can carry more “stuff”.  Some are smaller and more aerodynamic, achieving better fuel economy. There is no one size that fits all. Everyone has preferred features, and nowadays, RVs are manufactured with a broad range of possible accessories from which to choose.

It turns out that approximately 80% of North American RVs are manufactured or assembled in and around Elkhart, Indiana. So it is not untoward that Elkhart is the home of the RV Hall of Fame. And it also makes sense that dedicated RVers make pilgrimage to this site, if they are in the vicinity.

As mentioned in our last post, Betty & I crossed back into the U.S. at Detroit, Michigan and travelled southwest through Elkhart on our way past Chicago, under Lake Michigan, and up the other side to Canada again.  We had stopped in Elkhart on previous trips to tour motorhome assembly plants and purchase hard-to-find parts, but we had never visited the RV Hall of Fame. While this leg of our journey was relatively brief, Betty & I thought we’d take the time to check out the exhibits there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you catch the wanderlust, it is worthwhile to research all available options before choosing a mode of transportation. There are lots of RV choices out there, but whichever you opt for, enjoy some time exploring our great continent and its wonderful inhabitants.

Cheers!

Throughout our overlandish odyssey, Betty & I have often camped in spots with little or no light pollution, allowing us to

marvel at the heavens above. We have been thrilled to sit in the warm sun under bright blue skies, and to watch the moon and countless stars at night. Prior posts have captured the transition from day to night, as the sun dips over the horizon. It’s a fabulous perspective on the world around us.

But this week Betty & I enjoyed another perspective. We vicariously experienced the universe as seen through the eyes of astronauts like Chris Hadfield and Roberta Bondar. As we toured the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, we were able to get up close and personal with the various rockets and space craft used to move beyond the earth’s gravity into the vast worlds above. While we watched the “Journey To Space 3D” in the IMAX theatre, the “Journey to Mars: Explorers Wanted”, and travelled beyond the gates by bus to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, I couldn’t help but hum the David Bowie tune – ”Space Oddity” –  immortalized by Chris Hadfield on his space flight:

“Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God’s love be with you…”

The pics on this post capture a little of what we saw last week. Perfectionist tendencies would require me to accurately caption what you are seeing, but that would require a little more research, as I’m still a bit vague about the up close difference in appearance between a rocket, a space ship and a missile, all of which we saw. Lol.

“This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do…”

Hope you can appreciate your perspective on planet earth, wherever you find yourself this week!

Cheers!

As Betty & I continue our overlandish odyssey, we capture images along the way – either on our phones or through my Nikon – that help to tell the story of our adventure. But we see far more on our journey than we record, and we post only a fraction of the sights captured. Sometimes, the story tells itself when we download the pictures, and sometimes we need to weave a thread that ties it together. This post is more of the latter, capturing random images from the past week.

We are thankful for the marvels of modern technology that allow us to share our travels with you. As we explore the state of Florida, and travel back up the east coast, Betty & I hope we can continue to transmit images that capture the epic nature of this marvelous adventure.

Cheers!

The title of this post is written in a series of ones and zeros, which I believe is appropriate for a digital form of communication. LOL. For those of us who don’t speak digital, the “100” identifies this as the 100^th post to this blog! WOW, Betty & I had no idea that we could, or would, do this! The “11” reflects that we have now been blogging (or whatever this is called…) for the past 11 months. The “10” represents the top 10 pictures taken with my new Nikon digital camera on our overlandish odyssey; and the “01” is my personal favourite post to date.

The history and intent for this blog are reflected in the March 28/18 post: “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, so I won’t repeat all that now.  It has turned out to be a fun form of communication – from the perspective of the writer. Since we didn’t set it up as an interactive medium, we don’t really know how, or even if, it is received – with the exception of a few brief notes of appreciation from family and friends.  Maybe it’s possible to track the number of visits to our site (I think those who blog for a living do that.) but we have no idea whether we have an audience of one or one hundred. (That’s 01 or 100 in digital code. LOL)

Betty & I are regularly meeting locals and fellow travellers on our adventures. Depending on how those interactions go, we sometimes pass on a “business card” printed at Staples, showing our web site, along with our e-mail addresses. Maybe they get tossed. Maybe they get filed. Maybe they get forgotten. Or maybe some folks vicariously follow along on our journey.  Whatever – as mentioned, from a writer’s perspective, this has turned out to be an easy and fun exercise, so I guess we may continue as long as our odyssey progresses – God willing & the creek don’t rise, as they say!

From the literally thousands of pictures taken so far (I’m glad they are digital and didn’t need to be mailed in for processing, like back in the day. We would have been long broke before our trip was over, if we had to pay for that! LOL), I thought we could somewhat arbitrarily choose a top ten for this post. I say this tentatively as I have not yet taken any photography classes, and

there are still lots of buttons on my Nikon that I have never used, and don’t know what they’re for. The pictures simply appeal to us on a visceral level, evoking special memories from our journey to date.

In all cases, the pictures are chosen for their artistic content (however amateurish it might be), rather than as an accurate representation of a geographic location. Maybe not surprisingly, sunsets were captured in many of the pictures making the shortlist, and we were tempted to just make it the top 10 sunsets of our trip. LOL.

Because the task of reducing down to only 10 was almost impossible, we include at the end of this post about 22 honourable mentions, hoping that doesn’t cause your data to go over limit. LOL.

Finally, the one favourite post:  As suggested, writing this has been a fairly effortless free flow of fluffy thoughts, just as they float through and out of my furry brain. My earliest posts reflect the angst of selling our home and getting rid of our possessions. Maybe it was the therapeutic writing process that got me going, and led us to this 100^th post.  In any event, decluttering involved disposing of items that had remained in our home following the passing of our parents.

One of the items that could neither be passed on to our kids and grandkids, nor donated to charity, was a stack of my father’s handkerchiefs.  The Dec. 7/17 post: “A Hankering For Hankies?” is a very short reflection on my dear dad. It only tangentially refers to our imminent travels, but for me still rates as number 1 in this little digital memory box.

Best wishes to any and all who read all the ones and zeros that form these simple words, and see these pictures that don’t do justice to the magnificence of the lands we are seeing, and the wonderful people – both new and renewed acquaintances, Betty & I are meeting on the road.

Cheers!

Honourable mentions:

Betty convinced me to start a new post of PEI pics, rather than add to our previous post, as not everyone would scroll to the bottom to see the additions.

From Panmure Island Provincial Park we travelled the coastal road to the eastern tip of the province, appropriately called East Point. Unfortunately, much of this scenic road is in fairly poor condition, and is not actually following the coastline.

The heatwave has continued, so young people gathered on many bridges we crossed, jumping into the cooling waters below. The most popular spot for this was Basin Head Provincial Park, where the wharfs border a deep channel, providing a safe (lifeguarded) location for young and older to plunge into the salty waters below a footbridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From East Point we travelled cross-country to Linkletter Provincial Park, just west of Summerside, PEI’s second largest city. At our huge campsite Betty & I can see the Confederation Bridge in the distance, and watch the tides ebb and flo.

Today we took a day trip to the North Cape, the most northwesterly point of PEI. On our way we stopped at The Canadian Potato Museum for some great fries and loaded potato skins, and took a tour through the Stompin’ Tom Centre in Skinners Pond.

In the end Betty & I spent almost two weeks on Prince Edward Island, which was longer than we originally intended. It is a very rural, tranquil island, where the favourite saying, at least from young people, was “no worries!”. PEI is a great place to relax and unwind, whether for a few days, a few weeks, or longer. We certainly enjoyed this restful stay, and look forward to future visits.

Cheers!

The visual image that most often comes to mind when thinking about Prince Edward Island is that perfect pastoral setting, where there are beautiful shades of green everywhere – even on the gables – and everyone is kind. OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but after spending a day here, it’s not too far off!

From Shediac we drove down the New Brunswick coast until the Confederation Bridge came into view. I think it was a pipe dream for many years to establish a fixed link between PEI and the rest of Canada, (sorry Newfoundland), but at some point someone had the vision and ability to make it happen. It is quite

the experience to drive the 12.9 km (8 miles) from one end of the bridge to the other, rising 60 meters above sea level to allow ocean-going vessels to pass.

Once on the island, it was not long before we reached our first

Boondockers Welcome spot. True to our expectations, it was a very pastoral setting, as reflected in the attached pics. For most of our stay, we couldn’t confirm that our hosts were kind, because they weren’t there! They texted us a picture of their property and welcomed us to stay, even though they were rv-ing in Ontario at the time. While we had an address, there was no number at the entrance to the property. We drove in, set up, and had an ongoing laugh that maybe we had set up on one of their neighbour’s farms, and they were just too polite to tell us to leave! Does that remind anyone of European Vacation? LOL.

As it turned out, Heath came by as we were preparing to leave, and yes, he was as kind and generous as our preconceived notion of a PEI resident. Yea Heath!

Betty & I spent our first day exploring much of the western end of the island. After stopping in Summerside for a huge fresh lobster roll with fries, we visited a series of buildings made of glass bottles (I should have known there was another use for all of those empty wine bottles!) before

carrying out a search for a brewery that was a possible Harvest Host site. Is there a theme starting here? LOL. As with the Boondockers Welcome site, there was no road sign leading to the brewery, so we explored a number of red dirt paths that barely accommodated the Smart, and would have been far too much for

the old Boy. It took Betty’s mind back to the many Sunday afternoon drives with her family, when her father was most happy to see grass between the two wheel tracks in the isolated lanes. So that’s where Bet’s adventurous spirit comes from!!

In the end, we booked into Cabot Beach Provincial Park on the north shore, and spent a very enjoyable day today relaxing on the beach. Our campsite is amazing, with ocean

views out our windows, and a vast cliffed seascape by our patio. We’ll have another day here before heading to the Charlottetown area, passing Cavendish and Anne’s green place along the way. It may be too soon to declare that Prince Edward

Island is the perfect pastoral province, with only warm, welcoming residents, but we’re off to a great start in this adventure in paradise!

Cheers!

Happy Canada Day from hot & steamy McRae Point Provincial Park, near Orillia, Ontario.  Temp is 87f and climbing!