Feb 26: Before leaving South Carolina’s Sesquicentennial Park, I took Lexie for a short walk to the lake. there we saw a spillway that was constructed by the CCC in the 1930s.
Sesquicentennial SP morning walk spillway
We left the park around 10am. Travel to Radford was uneventful. There was some traffic congestion in Charlotte, NC and again on I-77 just as we got into Virginia. But congestion is a part of life. We did see signs for Shelton’s Vineyard along the way, a fun thing to point out to Vicki’s children (whose last name is Shelton). Lexie has developed a habit of going into the driver’s seat when we stop at a rest area. This is after she tries to bolt out of the RV. She won’t go very far if she got past our hands and legs, she is secured to a seatbelt restraint in the RV.
traveling into North CarolinaShelton VineyardLexi wants to drive when we get to a rest stop
In Radford we stopped at Dennis and Margaret’s house. This was our first real house that we had been into since Bradenton two weeks earlier. Dennis and Margaret are excellent hosts, feeding us pesto and shrimp on Wednesday Feb 26 and Mediterranean chicken (with olives) on Thursday. We played a few games with them, including teaching them Hand and Foot canasta. And we talked: work and retirement, kids, grandkids and grandpups. We spent more time looking at pictures than taking pictures. But we did get a couple.
Radford VA with DennisRadford VA with Margaret
While in Radford I took the RV to Nomadic Camper and RV Repair to get the RV winterized before returning to the Cleveland winter. Dennis was my copilot and we eventually got to Nomadic with only one scenic detour. While at Nomadic I took a picture of their mascot’s poster (because the mascot shares the same name as our RV’s nickname.)
On February 28 we left Radford early (8:20am). We were able to leave early since we didn’t have to disconnect anything. Traveling Friday looked promising weatherwise. The temperatures on the entire trip would be above freezing, and there was a chance for rain (not snow) near Cleveland. Our original travel plans were to go less than 300 miles on Friday, and finish the trip on Saturday. But we bit the bullet and drove 380 miles in one day. We made frequent stops, both to decompress from driving and to take care of body functions. The travel through West Virginia included some slow windy roads and hills. But I drove up and down the hills between 50mph (because I was behind a slow truck) to 60mph. There was a little tailwind, so the RV didn’t get pushed sideways by the winds. We got home before rush hour and we arrived to cloudy but dry weather.
Welcome to West VirginiaWelcome to OhioNext exit is home
We spent 3 hours unpacking the RV on Friday night. The RV was covered with snow on Saturday morning, but we eventually finished emptying out the RV’s living area and then cleaned all the inside spaces.
Another morning, another dog walk in the wild at Skidaway State Park. The trails here are great, you see a variety of different ecosystems. Marshes, tidal marshes, forested areas. Today Lexie and I walked about 2.7 miles, covering some of the area that I biked on yesterday and some of the trail we walked along yesterday.
Skidaway SP morning walk onto Big Ferry trail Skidaway SP morning walk: Connector trail from Big FerrySkidaway SP morning walk: Lexie thinks she has a choice
The remainder of the day was spent in Savannah! An Uber picked us up at the park’s visitor center.
Skidaway SP Vicki at the visitor center
The Uber driver was very nice and gave us a brief overview of Savannah. We bought tickets for Savannah’s Old Town Trolley and rode around the town for 90 minutes. While there were hop-off/hop-on privileges, we stayed on to get the entire tour.
After the tour we were hungry. The visitor center at the trolley stop recommended Crystal Beer Parlor for food, and we walked on over. On the way over we stopped at the earthworks of the Battle of Savannah historical site (no National Park stamp for this site.)
1779 Battle of Savannah
Crystal Beer is a popular place, especially on a Sunday at 1pm. Rather than wait 30 to 40 minutes, we ordered our food to go, and ate the food at the waiting area/picnic benches outside the restaurant. The person taking our ‘to-go’ order even brought the food out to us! So the service was exceptional. And the food was great: crab soup, shrimp and grits, and peach cobbler.
Savannah: outside of Crystal BeerSavannah: outside waiting and dining area at Crystal Beercrab soup at Crystal Beershrimp and grits at Crystal Beer
After lunch we walked through the historic part of the city, enjoying the different squares that make up the old part of Savannah.
one of Savannah’s squaresrelaxing at one of Savannah’s squares
An Uber took us back to Skidaway State Park. We enjoyed another, smaller campfire that evening.
The campsite was easy to set up. Lots of space around the campsite and good hook-ups for electricity, water and sewer. The weather was cool so we didn’t set the awning out. But we did get some outside time.
Lexie was mostly quiet for the rest of the day. But she did appear to have some separation anxiety when Vicki and I left to go to a park event.
Vicki in Skidaway SP
The park and the girl scouts had arranged to sell girl scout cookies at the park while the park had a firepit going to roast marshmallows. So Vicki and I bought a couple of boxes and put roasted marshmallows on a few. Then we went back to our campsite to have dinner.
I did get a bike ride in today. There was a 3 mile trail inside the park that consisted mostly of tree roots. I then biked a couple of miles outside the park on some multi-purpose trails intended to be shared with pedestrians, bicycles and golf-carts.
Skidaway SP bike ride
We also had a campfire tonight, our first campfire during this trip.
Thursday Feb 20 was a relaxing day as we prepared to leave Port Orange and start our trip back north. I took Lexie on another hike to Spruce Creek Preserve, where I had to take another landscape picture:
Spruce Creek Preserve pines and palms
We took advantage of having a car for eating out one more time at La Catina. We split the malcajate which was so huge we have leftovers for lunch as we return back to Cleveland:
Malcajate from La Cantina
On Friday Feb 21 we said good-bye to Rose Bay resort. Vicki returned the rental car and I picked her up in the RV. I was worried about the winds on the RV as we drove along the Florida coast. Wind gusts were forecast up to 30mph. But the RV handled fine, just keeping me alert and making many steering adjustments. We did stop at a Buc-ees south of Jacksonville. It was my first stop at a Buc-ees, and we dashed in to buy a brisket sandwich and then dashed out. I didn’t like where I was parked, I think there may have been truck and RV parking somewhere that was not marked. But the store itself was amazing: a huge variety of freshly prepared foods, and a feeling more of a tourist/department store than a usual truck stop.
Buc-ee south of JacksonvilleLexie wants to drive
The trip north of Jacksonville included crossing a huge bridge where I focussed on the road and let Vicki look at the view. We stopped for gas about 90 minutes away from our final destination. We skirted south of Savannah to get to Skidaway state park. The final drive to the park was smooth, traffic moved quickly in the direction we were heading. The park is great, the campsites are very large. There will be more about the park and campsite in the next blog.
We started Tuesday Feb 18 slow, leaving to visit Canaveral National Seashore in the afternoon. We took Lexie with us, this was her second National Park that she has been to. We toured the barrier island that was between the intercoastal and the Atlantic Ocean. We saw the Eldora house, the remaining remnant of a small community that was growing oranges. The community disbanded after a hard freeze that killed the orange trees, and southern Florida was a better place to grow orange trees.
Lexie at Canaveral National SeashoreLexie at Canaveral National Seashore enjoying the grassLexie at Eldora House
We then climbed Turtle Mound, a midden (or trash heap) that contained the remains of oyster shells from Native Americans. And the mound was very tall and wide, maybe 40 feet high.
Canaveral Seashore Turtle Mound boardwalkCanaveral Seashore top of Turtle Mound boardwalkanother Canaveral Seashore Turtle Mound boardwalkCanaveral Seashore view of Atlantic from top of Turtle MoundCanaveral Seashore view of Indian River from top of Turtle Mound
After Turtle Mound we visited the Atlantic Ocean beach. We didn’t leave the boardwalk, today we were happy to see the surf and the sand.
Canaveral Seashore ocean view
After this visit (and stamping) of the National Seashore, we headed to Titusville to see a rocket launch. We ended up at a restaurant called “Shiloh” which was across the bay from the launch site. We didn’t have reservations, but they put us on a waiting list. Somehow the waiting list software seated us without actually seating us. So the hostess placed us at a table, but the waitress took 45 minutes to even show up and serve us water. We would have left but the rocket launched while we were there. We got some pictures (that in no way capture the awe of the launch) and some video. The sky was cloudy so the rocket was hidden during parts of its upward trajectory. We did feel the sonic boom that happened when the first stage detached.
Shiloh Restaurant signShiloh Restaurant overlooking the launch site the launch site from the seawall at Shiloh Restaurantthe launch into the lower clouds the launch into the higher cloudsthe launch into the highest clouds
After the rocket launch we did get reasonable service. The food was tasty, I had a shrimp po’ boy and Vicki had fried calamari and scallops. After dinner we returned to the car where Lexi was waiting for us. I have no idea how she handled the rocket launch.
Wednesday Feb 19 was “Kennedy Space Center” day. We again traveled south to Cape Canaveral (or close to it). At the space center we learned about the different rockets at the Rocket Garden. Then we took a bus ride to the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The Center highlighted the Apollo Missions and included a Saturn V rocket and Apollo capsule/service module hanging from the ceiling. Highlights included looking at the different spacesuits (real and proposed) during the Apollo era, and looking at the lunar rovers.
KSC entranceEntrance to KSCRocket gardenSteven trying to relax in an Apollo capsuleKSC vehicle assembly buildingbusiness end of a Saturn V rocketlunar roverVicki with lunar landing moduleApollo 14 capsule
We also visited the space shuttle Atlantis, learning its history as well as some of the history of the space shuttle program.
Atlantis space shuttle boostersfront end of Atlantis space shuttlecargo bay of Atlantis space shuttlerockets of Atlantis space shuttleposter of Atlantis space shuttle
We ended the day with a visit to the Mars Exploration exhibit and the Gateway project exhibit. The Gateway project showed the different competing commercial spacecraft that are gearing up to take people to Mars.
V – we love visiting historical sites and learning about them. The mounds were virtually the garbage dumps of the ancient natives. This is where they put all the oyster shells, clam shells, etc. after they were eaten. Archaeologists learn so much about a culture by viewing these remnants among many others. But the views of ocean and river/intercoastal were fantastic and National Park Service does an amazing job of making these areas accessible to the public. Lexie enjoyed all the walks and all the new smells.
Watching the launch, even from all the way across the water, probably 10-15 miles away, was thrilling. Pictures or even the video just can’t capture the excitement, the sonic boom of the blast, the ignition and liftoff. I’d like to go again, maybe see one of the bigger rockets launch and plan for an up close spot for viewing – being 5-6 miles away.
So glad we visited the Kennedy Space Center and did the bus tour out to the Apollo center. We could see launch pad 39 pretty clearly from there – the site of the Space X Falcon launch of Starlink satellites. We ended up having a very tasty meal and bought a couple of t-shirts with a print of a rocket launch on the back – pretty cool. I’ll try to get a picture of it and move it into this blog in a few days.
Sunday morning we were informed that we had used 50Gbytes of data on our cell plan, and that our data rate would be slowed down. We have been able to be on zoom calls, but other internet sites (banks and credit cards) are running slow.
Steve and Lexie started the morning with a two mile hike at the Spruce Creek Reserve. The hike started along the water but then went into a pine forest with a pine needle forest bed.
Spruce Creek Preserve trail mapSpruce Creek Preserve dog walk board walkSpruce Creek Preserve dog walk more board walkSpruce Creek Preserve dog walk entrance sign that is not near the entrance
I attended Mass at “Catholic Church of the Epiphany”. This church was full of people! Sad to say that my current church, St. Agnes/Our Lady of Fatitma, can’t say the same thing.
Catholic Church of the Epiphany entranceCatholic Church of the EpiphanyCatholic Church of the Epiphany inside entrance
In the afternoon a cold front came through with high winds and rain. I did a quick study to find out at what point should I worry about high winds in an RV. That point appears to be 50mph when stationary. But winds greater than 10mph while traveling can cause problems.
Monday Vicki and I left early to go visit St. Augustine. The weather on Monday was cool (high in the 50s) and windy.
Our first stop on the way to St. Augustine was our first National Park this trip: Fort Matanzas. Fort Matanzas guarded a waterway back door to St. Augustine. The ferry to the fort was shut down because the dock had been damaged by Hurricane Milton last fall. But we still listened to the history of the fort on the park grounds and afterwards walked around the nature trail. On the nature trail we learned about live oaks, hammocks, gopher tortoises and other native fauna and flora of the area.
Inaccessible Fort MatanzasResurrection fern on live oakMore nature trail by Fort Matanzas visitor centerNature trail by Fort Matanzas visitor centeroverlooking the Atlantic Ocean by Fort Matanzas
There were some interesting sights in St. Augustine but what I will remember is the horrific traffic. The last two miles into downtown St. Augustine took an hour. Because it was President’s Day, the town was overrun with tourists! Yes, I know I am one of the tourists. But I didn’t anticipate the crowd and now know better than to be a tourist on a holiday. We took the trolley tour of St. Augustine, which was informative but the hop-on, hop-off aspect was sketchy. Very few people hopped off, our trolley was always full, and the trolleys were timed longer than the advertised 15 minutes apart.
The trolley tour started at a museum that talked about the Spanish treasure fleets, pirates and privateers. It also talked about the hotel and railroad magnate Flagler, and other parts of Florida’s history. Including the first RV tourists:
description of original RVers in Floridarecreation of original RVers in Florida
We jumped off the trolley near Fort Castillo and grabbed a (late) lunch at The Grilled Cheese Gallery. We both got Mac and Cheese grilled cheese sandwiches which were delicious and filling. And much needed.
Stevens mac and cheese and pulled pork cheese sandwichVickis mac and cheese and lobster grilled cheese sandwich
Fort Castillo and its history was fascinating. This area was controlled by the Spanish and British during its first few centuries. And the French had an interest in it as well. The Fort was built to protect the Spanish treasure fleet from pirates and privateers. My first thought was that the walls weren’t angled properly to be protected from inside the fort. But our walk-around on the walls of the fort showed that the outside of the walls were exposed to defenders inside the fort.
Steve at the welcome sign to Castillo de San MarcosCastillo de San Marcos Vicki on the seawallCastillo de San Marcos engineered living seawallCastillo de San Marcos birds eye viewCastillo de San Marcos outside gateCastillo de San Marcos moat around inside gateCastillo de San Marcos outside defenses to inside gateCastillo de San Marcos top of the wall into the courtyardCastillo de San Marcos defenders view of outer wallCastillo de San Marcos inlet facing garretCastillo de San Marcos facing the inletCastillo de San Marcos cannon facing the riverCastillo de San Marcos Vicki trigger finger
On the way back to the starting point we passed by the Mission of Nombre de Dios, the oldest Catholic Church in North America.
Plaque recognizing the founding of Mission of Nombre de Diosthe cross celebrating 450 years from the founding of Mission of Nombre de Dios
V- the fort was pretty cool. St. Augustine historic district had a lot of information, buildings, historic sites, restaurants, bars crammed into a tight area. Flagler College was everywhere in this historic district so besides all of the tourists, there was a large student population out and about on President’s day. Glad we went and especially loved the fort. The first Catholic church in North America, Mission of Nombre de Dios – Mission of the Name of God, was founded back in 1565. The drive back was only about an hour so that was a blessing. We were tired by then. The drive from Fort Matanzas along the FL 1 route was very scenic and picturesque – also very distant with a two-lane road making it a very long trip. I started imagining the colonists and soldiers making those treks along sand dunes, the hammock areas (spits of heavily forested land between the Atlantic and the intercoastal rivers and waterways) and probably through a lot of creeks and high tide waters.
This morning we took off from Winter Quarters to Rose Bay. Tim came by and we were able to get a tire pressure reading on my driver rear inside tire. Yesterday I couldn’t read anything on it and I was going to take the RV to a commercial truck shop to have them look at the tire. But thanks to Tim, that stop was not needed.
The road trip between Bradenton and Port Orange was hard. We stopped at a normal gas station, which meant that I had to carefully maneuver the RV next to a gas pump. And maneuver my way out again. After that stop, which was only into our trip by 45 minutes, we could not find another rest area/truck stop on the way to Port Orange. We pulled over the RV onto a shoulder for an emergency biobreak…. thankfully we could do that. But the shoulder the RV was on was narrow and the RV shook when traffic passed by.
So we arrived at Rose Bay RV park hangry (no lunch and four hours of driving.) The office at the RV park offered minimal help, there is no WiFi, no picnic table, and the campsite we have looks like it formerly housed a mobile home. So we are homesick for our previous park in Bradenton.
Rose Bay Park site with Vicki and LexieRose Bay Park site with Steve and LexieRose Bay access
V-Rain and high winds kept us inside more than usual and we didn’t even open up the awning – we didn’t want it torn or ripped off. We made a lot of side trips from this location. Having a rental car for 2 weeks in Bradenton and for a week in Port Orange allowed us a lot of freedom. Grocery store run, vet run to get Lexie’s staples out, gave us a good measure of mobility. We also drove past Palmer College of Chiropractic Medicine on the second day. My chiropractor, Dr. Mary Teague and my former chiro Dr. Scott Sesny both graduated from that school.
Not as many activities at this RV resort. The previous resort had a Valentine’s Days dance and potluck on the day we left, this had nada. This resort also had more 4 month+ residents so they tended to be a bit less friendly to the transients – US.
Steve went to Our Lady of the Angels for Mass. Our neighbors from across the street (Tim and Andrea) go there regularly and took Steve with them. The church was packed! There was a line of cars coming in and going out both before the 9am Mass and afterwards. And there were three levels of greeters! My neighbors described this as a vibrant church, at it certainly was filled with people that wanted to be there. (The people prominently in the picture are innocent passer-bys and were erased from the picture..}
Our Lady of the Angels Church
Vicki watched her Rockside church service remotely. We took turns staying at the RV so we could be with Lexie, who is recovering from the sutures nicely.
In the evening I visited Greg, Barb and Nick to watch the Superbowl. Sorry, no pictures. 🙁 Vicki stayed with Lexie because of the sutures. I told that to Greg, sort of. But the text read that Vicki had been bitten, and I was letting Lexie take care of her while I went to the superbowl party.
Monday Steve took Lexie for a 2.5 mile walk at Lake Manatee State Park. Lexie was tired near the end and really wanted to rest. But she got the message to continue. It was a great walk along sandy trails. There were signs explaining that controlled burns were performed every few years, and there was evidence along the way of controlled burns. Lake Manatee was visible on the return leg of the walk.
Lake Manatee State Park dog walkLake Manatee State Park controlled burn areaLake Manatee State Park w LexieLake Manatee State Park
Alan and Patty Watson visited us for lunch. We talked awhile in the RV, though I don’t think we convinced the Watson’s to buy an RV and travel. We then went for lunch at a local cafe: Peaches. The lunch was more of a breakfast with three eggs benedicts ordered.
Watsons inside RVPeaches Cafe w Watsons
In the evening we went to Restaurant Edelweiss in Bradenton to have dinner with Dan and Andrea. We shared an order of potato pancakes followed by four schnitzel dinners. Dan and Steve had Hunter’s Schnitzel with a mushroom gravy. Vicki had a schnitzel with a mango and peach topping. Andrea had Schnitzel Cordon Bleu. Somehow we had room for dessert: apple strudel and Black Forest Chocolate cake.
Restaurant Edelweiss entrance in Bradentoncheers with Dan and Andrea at Restaurant Edelweiss
V-great German meal! So glad to have one last chance to visit with Dan before his weekly work trip.
The day started well with Steve taking a 17.5 mile bike ride. And I think the 254′ change in elevation was due to the roughness of the road. Steve biked to Rye Preserve, drank in some of the water at the park, and returned to the RV. The route was along the Manatee river, which was very narrow at this point.
Rye Preserve bike ride mapBiking to rye preserve rye preserve nature center inside rye preserveupper manatee river outside rye preserve
After the bike ride, Steve, Vicki and Lexie went back to Dandrea’s place for another dog walk. The walk was uneventul and we saw some turtles and bottom heavy ducks at a nearby pond.
ducks and turtles at Dan and Andrea – notice the 3 turtles in a row on the concrete culvert
The afternoon took a nasty turn when Thor thought Lexie was too close to him when the dogs were going through a door into the pool zone. Thor snapped at Lexie but this growling/snapping lasted less than a second. Steven was guiding both dogs into the pool zone and pulled Lexie quickly away. About a half hour later Andrea found some blood on Lexie’s throat, and the blood was from a puncture wound. Lexie didn’t notice anything, but Vicki and Steve packed her up to get her stitched up. Lexie was a great dog, declining the anesthesia. She has been quiet today (Sunday), it probably helps that we have given her some drugs to keep her calm.
V-Lexie was a great patient. The vet techs said she was well-behaved and they had no issues cleaning out the wound and checking surrounding areas and then getting 3 small staples in to close the wound. The price was so reasonable. If you’ve ever needed services of an emergency vet (hopefully not) they can easily run into the thousands. Better yet was the sweet care they showed her and us. Beacon Emergency Vet Hospital in St. Petersburg 2909 4th Street North St. Petersburg, FL 727-888-2191. The primary tech on our case was Hunter and he reminded me of my Connor, so compassionate and thorough in all the details of aftercare.
It was so quick and over immediately when Thor got her, just a quick snap to remind her of who is King at South Pole. The dogs were not freaking out at all. We checked her over and didn’t appear to be any problem. I did say it was karma – Lexie got Little Dog’s ear about 6 months ago.
Another morning walk with Lexie at Tom Bennet Park. Our morning route is shown below.
Steve and Lexie morning walk in Tom Bennet park
Today we got Vicki’s bike out and we took a short bike ride around the local neighborhood. While only seven miles, Vicki’s wrists still became numb from the vibration.
Vicki preparing for her first Floridian bike rideSteve and Vicki first bike ride together
Dan and Andrea treated us to dinner at Beau’s and Moe’s Italian restaurant. The food was fantastic! Dan ordered a chopped lobster tail for us to share as an appetizer, which was smothered in butter and delicious.Vicki and I shared a Chateaubriand, a baked filet that was very tasty.
Afterwards the four of us returned to Dandrea’s place and Vicki and Dan jammed on the guitars. Steve played a tambourine, at his own beat. Andrea was on a beat box…
dan jammingVicki jammingDan and Vicki jamming
V – what an absolute joy this evening was. From great food to a really FUN jam session. Dan’s Taylor guitar is really SWEET, first time I ever played it. I haven’t had so much fun playing guitar in a while, especially great playing with this very talented guitarist while he was playing on his newest guitar, I believe this was his electric Fender. We be jamming. LOVED this night.
