Long Key to Cape San Blas in a Hurry !

Hey,that's us,enjoying the view,camped peacefully Friday,making dinner !

Do you remember talking about musical campsites and how many changes we made in our reservations for the Keys ?  Well it finally caught up with us on Friday night August 22 at 630pm.

I was inside Ruby cooking up some delicious sausage,green peppers and onions when I heard someone say to Jim : "Uh we have this site for the weekend and we've been waiting since 4pm for you to leave" Jim replied: "No, we are here until Saturday".  Oh Oh, I quickly logged onto the reservation system and realized the booboo I made.  Even our campsite sticker showed leaving on the 22nd but somehow I had it in my mind that we weren't checking out until Saturday.  Thank goodness Roadtreks are so easy to pack up.  Although Jim did have to quickly put the bike on the bike rack and pack away the stove and beach umbrella while I was inside trying to secure everything and put away the dinner I had just cooked.  The folks were really nice and understanding and very patient.

This is the campsite we had to quickly pack up-you can't see the umbrella and chairs off to the side that also had to be put away !

Sunset during our escape from Long Key

And another big OH OH, no sites available for Friday night at Long Key !  Oh well,we figured we would head up the road and find something.  Big mistake.  First of all we forgot that if you don't have reservations the Florida state parks lock their gates at 8pm and there is no way to access the park to even see if there is a site available.  And the private parks that had sites available either didn't allow dogs or they were ridiculously expensive for just sleeping overnight.  Walmart was out of the question-it was 9pm and still 87 degrees with no breeze. Jim said, what the heck, let's just drive, I'm wide awake.  And drive we did .

After we realized we couldn't get into John Pennecamp state park,we u turned and headed to Tower Pizza in Key Largo for dinner to go.  And so glad we made that u turn.  Some of the best pizza we have ever had, just as good as Tony's in St Augustine that I raved about here.  So there we were,loaded with pizza,ice in our little cooler with cold water and cold soda,Hailey sound asleep in the back..off we were to destinations unknown.

Orlando traffic outside of Kissimmee-sure glad we weren't heading to see Mickey-wouldn't want to fight that line of traffic !

We made it to Kissimmee at about 230AM. Yikes,that was 7 1/2 hours of driving. We tried the KOA but couldn't check in so we ended up at the Red Roof Inn,dog friendly and cheap .  Actually cheaper than the KOA !  So whats a few stains on the duvet-ughhh..I threw it down on the floor and wouldn't even let Hailey sleep on it.  The sheets were at least sparkling white and the good news is -we didn't wake up in the morning with any bed bug bites !  We have never driven that long or that late in Ruby and will never do it again. Nice hot shower in the morning and straight to Starbucks to fill our thermos and hit the road again.  We knew we were headed to St Joe's Peninsula State Park but didn't know where we were going to stop on Saturday since we couldn't check into St Joes until Sunday-another road trip/campground adventure.

Rocky's RV Park

Driving along we stumbled on Rocky's RV Park in Perry Florida.  If you are ever in need of a 1 night or even longer layover in the Perry area (and it's not hunting season-because they get really busy) head to Rocky's.  The  cleanest restrooms in the South and the most wonderful laundry.  All the sights are full service ,flat ground and Rocky's has a gas station and convenience store that rivals Publix and Target combined-very very convenient.  We pretty much went to bed at 7pm and didn't wake up until about 9am on Sunday.

 Site #8 at St Joe's , one of our favorite

Sunrise towards St Joe Bay

It felt so good to see Cape San Blas-that wonderful feeling of being home again-even though we couldn't get into the condo until the 30th.  Our site #8 at St Joe is perfect, we sit right between the bay and the Gulf and there is a permanent breeze-sometimes gusting wind, that feels so good after the humidity and doldrums of Long Key.  Today we have the back doors of Ruby opened,the sliding side door is wide open and the AC is off. Nice ocean breezes blowing through.

We had our favorite,BLT tortilla with salsa and avocado and I'm headed to the beach for the rest of the beautiful luxurious day.

Happy Trails to all you beach girls and surfer guys out there...Be safe.

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning

The bugs have pretty much curtailed my bike riding activity around the campground-no matter how fast I peddle they find a way to catch up and cling to me while sucking the blood out of me like the vampires they are.  Either that or I'm ducking a gathering of love bugs, hoping I don't swallow any as I bike faster to escape the no see ums ! But there is a way around the bug battle and that is to head to the beach-especially in the wee small hours of the morning when no one is around.

I can see everyone is still asleep in the campground as I head out the boardwalk-that's a good sign-means the beach will be deserted. Seriously with the humidity, heat and bugs the campground looks deserted most times of the day until everyone dashes out of their campers and runs to the beach or everyone returns from the beach and heads for the showers !

So far it looks promising-no one else is here yet.  I snuck out about 5:30 leaving Jim behind while he was making coffee.  Hailey looked at me as if to say "You want me to leave this air conditioning to go out there "?  So I was off by myself.  I love this time of morning-there is a light blueness tinged with pink lighting up the sky and a cool breeze coming up off the Gulf Waters.  The waves are so quiet this morning-waking up from their night time sleep and gently lapping against the shoreline.  The white sand is so cool on my feet-I'm wishing it could stay that way all day. I start to wander up the beach and see some movement up ahead-oh what a treat-a single heron standing guard.  

I'm afraid to go any further-I don't want to scare him off.  I slow my pace and move further into the water so that he can see I'm giving him his space.  He trusts me and while he keeps a careful watch over me he's decided I'm harmless and he stands his ground-seems as though there are two of us now enjoying this beautiful spot and this early morning hour.

The sun is starting to peek over the sand dunes, just barely illuminating the waves as they come into shore.  I should start back-coffee is probably ready and it's starting to warm up with the rising of the sun.  

There are no foot prints on the beach except for mine and the shells lay strewn about-soon to be discovered by beach walkers.  It's so peaceful-I forget the bugs and the heat and realize how lucky I am to be here with my feet in the sand. This is the best moment of my life, right here right now. And later today when I'm chasing bugs I'll take a breath and remember the cool breeze and the cool sand and my friend who shared this early morning walk with me.

Here's wishing you peaceful beautiful mornings and Happy Trails to my fellow travelers.

Changes in Latitude

Sunset on our last night at Bring Back the Magic

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes,

Nothing remains quite the same.

Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

Reading departure signs in some big airport

Reminds me of the places I've been.

Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure

Makes me want to go back again.

If it suddenly ended tomorrow,

I could somehow adjust to the fall.

Good times and riches and son of a bitches,

I've seen more than I can recall

I think about Paris when I'm high on red wine,

I wish I could jump on a plane.

And so many nights I just dream of the ocean.

God, I wish I was sailin' again.

Oh, yesterdays are over my shoulder,

So I can't look back for too long.

There's just too much to see waiting in front of me,

and I know that I just can't go wrong

Jimmy Buffett

We are getting ready to make some more changes in latitudes.  If you remember our original plan was to start heading towards the West Coast -but like John Lennon said: "Life is what happens while you  are busy making other  plans."  Since my little ladder/pacemaker episode we decided not to wander too far from home-I'm 100% okay just getting use to my little pacemaker/energizer bunny taking care of my heart-okay so I'm not as brave as I thought I was-still getting over the scare of everything that happened.  I try to concentrate on the positive-I'M ALIVE AND KICKIN !   Honestly, I feel like I won the lottery-first of all my sweetie pie and family-I could not have made it through what I did without them; then all my friends and new neighbors-their love and support kept me grounded; and finally a sweet little nest to come home to for my recovery.  And don't let me forget Hailey, who stayed by my side like my own little angel , once I got home.  

 Are you listening Baby ?  Yes - you were right that we needed a place to call home no matter how much traveling we planned on doing !

And now I'm ever so grateful to be back on the road again-currently at St. Joe State Park, just 6 miles up the road from the condo-we wanted to be close to home the first week out-you know just in case of emergencies.  Then we will head south to Manatee Springs and then work our way gradually up the East Coast to Cape Hatteras. I'm pinching myself again-ever so grateful for our lives,our family and our friends.

I'm covered head to toe with Deet and going out to brave a bike ride through the Love Bugs and mosquitoes and no seeums-really life is good  bites and all !  I'll have more pictures and maybe some cooking surprises later in the week..until then Happy Trails and love to all of you .