by 190 – North Beach CG. Back again. Site 105 instead of 106. Our son arrived for a short visit. Had lunch @ Floridian, samples @ St Augustine Distillery and beer @ Old Coast Ale after walking downtown. Had breakfast @ Maple St biscuit company. A couple of nice walks on the beach across the street from the CG. Like the river and the piers for fishing. They have really fixed up the beach with berms and plants. Unfortunately, it was stormy most of our son’s visit, but we found windows of opportunities. Met up with our friends from Minnesota – Lunch @ Sunset Grill then tour and tastings @ St Augustine Distillery – also, met for beer @ Old Coast Ale and ate Osprey Tacos. Lunch @ Kookaburra Cafe for Aussie meat pies. Coffee @ Relámpago Coffee Lab. Compared to visit in 2020, the town is crowded and a lot of people and traffic. Parking downtown can be sparse. They allow dogs on most beaches. They also allow vehicles on the southern beaches.
189 – Jetty Park Campground. Had to pay 2nd part of fee in advance. Had to send documentation of Rio’s rabies vaccinations. We chose a rather tight site – should choose a xyz site next visit. Difficult for our son to access the CG given the fees and rules about guests – $16 daily visitor fees. Got our 2nd covid vaccination in Orlando – had lunch again @ Pig Floyds Urban Barbakoa. Saw Disney ship in port and as it went back out to sea – brought back nice memories. Met our son to watch the Space X booster enter the Port @ 7:30 am, went for a walk along a wilderness area, then went to dinner @ 4th Street Filler Up restaurant in Cocoa Beach. Pleasant surprise that we ran into our new friends from Minnesota! Storm came in our third night – rained a lot with thunder and lightening. Went to our son’s apartment – brought the frozen apple pie from Julian and ordered take-out from Thai Thai & Sushi III. Dinner @ Coconuts in Cocoa Beach after cleaning rugs and couch @ son’s apartment. Last Wave appointment for the Jeep.
188 – John Dickenson State Park. Long day driving. Nice open site. Could be hot without any shade. Really enjoyed the park. Rented canoe for a couple of miles tour of the river – saw many gators – did not see the manatees or river otters. Jupiter beach was very dog friendly. Beautiful aqua marine water. Drove thru Jupiter island which is very affluent. Got coffee and great scones @ Subculture coffee. Dinner @ Guanabana – on the river – great tropical garden setting.
187 – Boyd’s RV Resort. Made it to Key West. Water site. Expensive. Really tight sites – narrow and short. Breezy and windy all week. They put many tents along the point, beach and along the narrow roads inside the campground. They have a marina and big social area – not a place for privacy or quiet camping. Met a great couple from Minnesota – hoping we can sync up early in 2022 in Arizona or Alaska in 2022. Our son joined for a couple of days after getting a covid test. Great lunch @ Jerks on Stock Island. Had dinner twice @ Hogfish Bar and Grill on Stock Island. Breakfast @ La Grignote – nice french cafe on Key West. Dog beach was nice, even though it was small. Walked along Duval St in the mornings – place is usually crowded – lots of live music. Sampled key lime pie @ Kermit’s Key Lime Pie. Beach time then dinner at Geiger Key Marina. Easter morning brunch @ Blue Heaven (really nice outdoor place (waitperson gave Rio a plate of bacon), then did some site seeing on eastern side of the island, beach time north of Higg’s beach then lunch again @ Jerk Cafe. Fresh local pink shrimp @ Fishbusterz. We were going to jet ski around Key West island, but the high winds and waves were too much to enjoy the ride – oh well.
186 – Miami Everglades RV Resort. Back again. Encore resort. Tight site. Lots of trees. Lots of seasonal campers. Nice amenities and walking trails. Stressful time finding Pilot gas stations on the way to the campground.
Supposed to snorkel @ John Pennekamp SP, but water was rough, so we rented kayaks for self-tour of the mangroves. Guided kayak trip thru mangroves @ Key Biscayne NP. Went on air boat ride in zone 3a with Tigertail Airboat on hwy 41 just north of Everglades NP with our son who was visiting a friend in Naples (Native American wildlife sanctuary and family islands). Visited Flamingo visitors center in Everglades NP – saw manatees and crocodile. Had Cuban food in Little Havana – Versailles Restaurant Cuban Cuisine. Visited Havana Spice in Homestead for dinner – very good. Also got fresh produce and smoothie @ Roberts Is Here on the way to Everglades NP – lots of produce stands with food and petting zoos (really crowded on Palm Sunday).
185 – Manatee Hammock. Somewhat rustic campground. Municipal campground. Lots of trees. Sites are okay, but vegetation needed some maintenance. Lots of seasonal campers. Many sites had lots of tent camping. Beautiful bay front public area. Fishing pier. Saw a Space X launch @ 4:30 am. Visited our youngest son a few times. Visited the local communities including Cocoa Beach (Ron Jons!). Had sunset picnic on beach and had breakfast at his apartment. Got our first vaccine shot! Lunch later @ Pig Floyds Urban Barbakoa then wine tasting @ Quantum Leap Winery. Dinner @ Playalinda Brewing Co . Lunch at Fishlips. Acai @ Cafe Surfinista.
184 – Rock Crusher Canyon. Discovered site 105 was next to a noisy road, so move to site 341 after four days. Met Caroline and John who helped us get information for vaccines in Florida and let us borrow an adapter for the cable. Cell phone service was very slow in the CG – CG WiFi was okay. Dish reception really challenging due to trees. Homosassa State Park was fun with all the animals in their small zoo. Rented a pontoon boat on the bay in Crystal River – had a fun time with Rio – Suzanne swam for a while and John caught a 20″ catfish – saw a manatee in the bay – loved the houses on the canal. Rented a two-person canoe at Rainbow river State Park – beautiful river and springs – lots of houses on the river. Had coffee and flatbread @ Cattle Dog Roasters. Drinks and early dinner at Crab Plant (had hog fish and local sweet stone crab claws). Had wine, dinner and music at KCs Wine and Coffee – outside, but a large group came into the patio which made dinner really uncomfortable. Not many people wear masks. Visited Fort Beach area, fished @ pier for a few hours, then went to Copps Winery and Brewery for flights. Discovered that Rock Crusher Canyon RV Resort is mainly seasonal during the winter… did not like CGs near Homosassa – Gulf Coast RV might be an option, same with Natures Landing RV but that is a owner community that has limited site rentals. Manatee Springs SP is a good option, but further away.
183 – Coastline RV. Back again. Not able to get premium water site this year – stayed a week this year. Met new friends (Susan and Sam) from Chatanooga area – had a couple of great chats – will meet up with them in Leavenworth, WA in September. St George Island is always a fun place to visit – Ate @ Paddy’s Raw Bar. Went to Lynn’s Quality Oysters to buy fresh shrimp, Grouper, Red snapper and shucked oysters. Visited Port St Joe (The Joe of Port St Joe), Carrabelle (Taste of Korea) and Apalachicola (Hole in the Wall and High Five Dive Bar). Sam and Susan treated us to grilled shrimp and oysters. Carrabelle RV Resort has a nice, dog friendly beach across the road – good backup for Coastline. Coastline collects full payment up front, but has an easy way to book off credits. A little cooler and windy, but nice overall – best months are in March and April.
182 – Santa Rosa Beach RV. Nice pull-in site at the end – near the dog beach. Nice small campground with a beach, pool, pier and socializing area. Road noise was a little too much at times. Did not like having to pay the entire reservation up front. Weather seems to change almost hourly. Took Rio to the beach east of Pensacola Beach – really nice – sand was gorgeous but the water was cold. Had snacks and drinks @ Flounders Seafood on Pensacola Beach – great flounder chowder and three-tier key lime pie. Visited Pensacola – nice lunch @ Lucy’s in the Square – had a beer @ Pensacola Bay Brewery Company. Had breakfast burritos @ Shark Bites. Visited Watercolors, Seaside and Rosemary Beach towns on 30A – great little towns along the coastline. Visited Topsail, Henderson and Grayton Beach State Parks – all very nice, especially Topsail, but extremely difficult to get reservations.
181 – Pontchartrain Landing. Stayed again. We had an okay water site near the park homes on the docks – still nice. Celebrated John’s birthday @ Melba’s Po-boys and Daiquiris – I had shrimp, Suzanne had Andouille – also had their bread pudding. Sunny and warm our first full day – went into New Orleans. Had breakfast at Cafe Du Monde. Walked around lower river district – moderate tourists – lots of outdoor music – many people wore masks inside buildings. Left rubber duckies @ Cafe, Harrah’s and the river boat in honor of Joanne. Drove over to the Garden District where we had lunch @ Joey K’s. Next day (warm but really overcast), we drove down to fishing towns about sixty miles south of New Orleans – had appetizers and drinks at the local watering hole near fishing lodges. Then went back to NO for dinner. The Piece of Meat was closed as well as Parkway Bakery and Tavern, so we went to Bayou Wine & Beer Garden for snacks and drinks (had crawfish). Need to visit Neyow’s Creole Cafe and Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar next visit.
180 – KOA. Convenient. A little noisy. Within walking distance of Billy’s Boudin and Cracklins. Bought dinner as well as frozen and fresh boudin and sausages for Graham and us – people inside building wore masks. There was a nice big lake where sites were located. We chose a 30-amp site due to weather, but the hook-ups were way at the back of the Pull-thru site – we did not unhook the jeep.
179 – Whispering Oaks. Nice and convenient. Pull-thru site – did not unhook. They did have power and water. Temps were nicer. Most snow was completely gone, except we saw some in the hill country west of Austin. They gave us a dog cookie and local red cinnamon sours. A little noisy, next to I 10 and train tracks.
178 – Fort Stockton RV Resort. Stayed again. Nice and convenient. Pull-thru site – did not unhook. They did have power and water. Temps were okay. A lot of snow had already melted. Was able to get gas.
177 – KOA @ Las Cruces. Extended stay from one, to three, to six days due to major storms along I 10 in NM and Texas. Got a phone call from Austin saying they were without power and water – similar story for Fort Stockton. Storm came in a day early – woke up on Valentine’s Day with a couple of inches of snow. Switched sites after third night. Exciting times – water pump went out again and did not come back. Day time temps in the 30s and 40s – some nights it was in the 10s and 20s. Was able to keep exterior cabinet warm, but had problems with CG water spigots from freezing at night. Water hose and black water hose froze one night when the water was not completely emptied. Visited Hatch and bought green chile salsa and frozen green chiles. Bought local pecans and pistachios. Ate @ the Pepper Pot since Sparky’s was closed.
176 – KOA @ Picacho. Okay place about 40 miles or so north of Tucson. The KOA south of Tucson only had one expensive site left. A little noisy. Had a nice hike on the west side of I 10 in Tucson. Had another good lunch @ La Botana.
175 – Springs at Borrego. Back for our third year. We picked out site 801 last January 2020. Our eldest son got a new assignment and could not come down to visit as planned. Verizon cell and hotspot better than expected. Filled up propane and gas in Yuma before heading here. Difficult time setting up satellite dish – looks like port 2 on the tv as well as the relatively new 50′ coax cable are bad. Spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to get mail and Amazon deliveries. Weather was warm and got hot the first week – 89! Visited Indio for a day – too hot for walk with Rio – went to TDK for great take-out sandwiches and visited multiple stores for pick-up. Visited Julian for great natural pie at Julian Pie, take-out from Heroes restaurant and Nickel Brewery – it snowed when the weather turned as it got cold and windy. Ate at Johnny Burritos in Brawley while getting supplies – went to Westmoreland Date Shake for shake, bought dates and avocado honey. Visited old and new hiking areas – most with Rio but a few without him. Met more people here in one week than Tucson in one month. Visited Palm Canyon state park – we were happy to see that the palm trees survived fire from 2020. Most people not wearing masks outside or in small groups inside the park. Cali has explosive Covid problem – so being careful. Cali changed COVID rules – restaurants allowed outdoor dining half way thru the visit. Reserved site 401 for 30-days on Dec 28th in 2021 and 2022.
174 – Boondocking near Imperial Lake North of Yuma. Paid $40 for two weeks. There were dump stations, fresh water and hot showers. There were several lakes nearby. Lots of boondockers all around. We found a site not too far from the entrance.
