Holidays in Paradise

Well its hard to believe that we have been on the road for almost 8 weeks. Waking up in the Roadtrek has become routine, as we both see it as our home. We spent nine days in Camp Mars not far from Fort Myers on the west coast. The weather was warm for a few days and not so warm on others. Enjoyed a couple of days at poolside.

On December 23 we booked into Camp David, a clothing optional place. Richard has enjoyed working on his overall tan but I am so much more conservative and have chosen to remain fully attired. We were welcomed here by so many friendly guys. We have attended a Xmas Eve potluck and a Xmas supper. We played Chinese Christmas gift. It was lots of fun stealing someone else's gift. Richard ended up with a bottle of peanuts and four shot glasses and I had bottle of wine and paper weight.

There are about twenty different inflatable Xmas decorations here, from Santa flying a plane to Rudolph rescuing Santa from a chimney.

Yesterday, Dec. 28, we went to the movie matinee of Avatar in 3D. (No thanks to Samantha, who took us km passed the theatre, but we did arrive on time...just!!!) We both enjoyed it.

There's a big New Year's celebration dinner this week and more. Ruff and Mattie are thrilled.

Miama/ Key West

We drove over 21 bridges on the Keys. The water was green and brilliant blue. The scenery was stunning. Leo’s Campground, where we stayed for three nights, was fairly nice for an intercity campground. The cost was three or four times the cost of other places we stayed. But this is Key West. We took a tour to get our bearings and did a little exploring of our own. Duval St. is festive and lots of shops, bars and places to eat. The lunch entrees started at $19.95. We didn’t eat out much. The dogs went for a brief swim along the man-made beach facing Cuba(90mi) across the Gulf Strait. Very few beaches allow dogs. This short stretch had beautiful sand and no sticks for throwing. Ruff was not impressed!!!!
The Aids Monument is located at this beach. It was quite touching. Over three hundred men died in Key West at the height of the crisis. Their names are etched in marble slabs on the sidewalk.
It was very hot in Key West about 29 degrees. It was difficult to function during the heat of the day. The eye candy was fine especially local joggers along the beach road. The dogs were confined to the air-conditioned trek. Mattie was grumpy because she loves to be outside but even she didn’t baulk at being brought in after her walks.
On Saturday, December 12 we moved on to the Everglades. On our way to Chokoloskee Island Park we stopped at a Everglades Park information area to walk the dogs and got a great introduction to the alligators. There were a number of them swimming in the waterway next to the centre and we saw them in the water swimming and also basking in the morning heat. We have some great pictures but I have no desire to any closer to them. Their bodies are an amazing feat of nature armoured, amphibian like feet and a powerful plated tail.
We arrived at the campsite mid-afternoon. The water is close but we can’t get close to it except walking on the dock or using a boat. So disappointing. This park is fairly expense. There are a lot of permanent(seasonal) people here. They are quite friendly but very loud and rarely without a drink. The men drive around in their golf carts with coolers of beer. Our two days here have been interesting.

Dade City

Last Tuesday, Dec. 1 we moved on to Dade City and are staying in a "family campground" called Sawmill. It is huge and made up of mostly permanent residents. The weather has been muggy and last night we had thunder and lighting. The pool is very nice and we plan to go in when we get a chance.

Today, Thursday, we drove to St.Petersburg and visited the DALI Museum. Dali work is phenomenal. The way that man's mind worked was frightening. (see pictures)

It has rained for three days. Its like being back in NS. The temperatures drop back to 8 at nite and didn't get much higher than 16 during the day. I'm not impressed!!!! The longjohns are going back on. We had the furnace on last nite.(Sat., Dec. 5/09)

On Sunday night we were at a DRAG show here at the campground. Did I mention Rico's Men?

Two well built, not well endowed danced as well.

We met two guys from NFLD. They stay in Panama City for the winter. We hope to visit them when passing thru.

Did I mention Rico's Men...

Crooked River State Park

On November 17 we moved on to Crooked River State Park. Wow what beautiful park! Again the sites are huge and we manged to get a private one. The park has a great view of the Crooked River. We visited the historic town of St. Mary's. What a hidden gem in south-east Georgia! The town is beautiful. It is situated on the Cumberland River and there is a ferry you can take to Cumberland Island where you can hike bike and even camp over night.

We visited historic St. Augustine over night November 23. Due to our reservations at Thousand Palms on Tuesday, we decided to come back later and tourn the old city and take a couple of tours.

Inverness ia a nice city in the western On November 17 we moved on to Crooked River State Park. Wow what beautiful park! Again the sites are huge and we manged to get a private one. The park has a great view of the Crooked River. We visited the historic town of St. Mary's. What a hidden gem in south-east Georgia! The town is beautiful. It is situated on the Cumberland River and there is a ferry you can take to Cumberland Island where you can hike bike and even camp over night.

We visited historic St. Augustine over night November 23. Due to our reservations at Thousand Palms on Tuesday, we decided to come back later and tourn the old city and take a couple of tours.

Inverness ia a nice city in the western part of Florida. Great for shopping and some beautiful boardwalks over the swamps here. Haven't see an alligator yet but sure we will soon as there are signs saying "Don't Feed the Alligators!" On the 25th we celebrated Thanksgiving with the other Rvers here at Thousand Palms. It was a potluck and the meal was unbelieveable.

Spent a quiet weekend here. Visited the campground we will be staying at over Christmas and New Years. It is quite isolated so we will have to take lots of supplies with us.

SAVANNAH

Nov.18/09
Savannah is a beautiful place steeped in history and spirits. We took a tour of the Old Town and learned a lot about its checkered past. Both of us were interested to hear about the cotton and indigo trade here in Georgia especially after having read The Book of Negroes earlier this year. There are many areas connected to the book “In the Garden of Good and Evil”. The drag queen who was featured in the movie still performs once a month here. “She ain’t a pretty sight.”(leafed through her book).

November 16/09
We travelled to the coast to try to avoid Tropical Storm Ida. Unfortunately Ida followed us. We spent two days at a KOA in Myrtle Beach enjoying torrential rain and wind. Myrtle Beach is now a mini-Orlando, lots of touristy things to do, if that is what you like. We went to Wal-Mart and bought fuzzy black slippers to wear in the Roadtrek.
On Friday, Nov. 13 we travelled south, to Edisto Island State Park, in South Carolina, about 45 minutes from Charleston. It was truly beautiful there. The weather warmed up to 20 plus degrees and Fred was able to change from his Bludderstones to his sandals...without socks. The beach was wonderful, sandy and warm. Ruff was taken aback by the loud sound and crashing of the waves. We all got plenty wet trying to out run the waves. Richard spotted a dolphin, and Fred was amazed at its size. The only disappointing thing for Fred was the lack of eye candy on the beach. Last, but not least, we have been introduced to a new, small prickly burr. Our fingers were bloody removing them from the Matti and Ruff, especially their paws.
On Sunday we packed up and moved further south to Skidaway Island National Park, about twelve miles outside Savannah, Georgia. A monumental thing then happened: Fred packed up his longjohns and moved on to shorts and t-shirt! It got up to 26 degrees. The park is wonderfully shaded so the campsite is shielded from the hot rays of the sun. But again, another disappointment for Fred: most of the forest rangers are usually middle aged waist-challenged gents -the rest are young females.

First Steps...

November 9/09
Richard, Matti and Ruff and I have reached Clear Brook, Va. today after 5 hours of driving from Maybrook ,NY. We left Truro on Friday afternoon and drove in snowy weather to Salisbury, NB where we spend the evening getting great travel info from Reg and Ron. That night we were a bit cold in the trek as we hadn't yet learned to use the profane furnace. Needless to say we know now!!
Stayed in Fairfield,Me Saturday night. On Sunday we picked up a new traveling companion Samantha. Sam and Richard plan our daily drive. Many heated debates between Richard and Sam occur but Sam is never wrong but Richard refuses to concede defeated. He thinks his map skills rival a gps unit. Dah, Richard!!!