catlinyemaker

Welp, J’s work has struck again. This morning I was debating starting my day with the quilting I wanted to do or knocking out a load of dishes before settling in to quilt. Good thing I opted for the dishes, since not five minutes after they were finished, J said: “They want me in Houston.”

“When?”

“Tonight.”

Ok, we can do that. It’s roughly 260 miles from East Fork Park in Wylie, TX, down to New Caney, TX, just north of Houston. Not too far to go in a single day, and it was early enough we’d get in before dark. I called the campground we’d stayed in the last time his work dragged us down here, and they were able to find a space available for a week. Coming in at the last minute the way we are, we’re shoehorned into a tiny site barely wider than the rig with the slides out. But that’s ok, we’re in, we’re set up and we’re on time for his work.

( Ramblings about our recent travels... )

Or, how we made it down to Florida in two days and back in three. Our clear preference in this lifestyle is to travel once a week or so, driving 4 to 6 hours each time. Towing, we average 40 mph. That’s start to stop, counting in rest breaks, lunch, fueling stops and all. If the driving is all on freeways we do a little better, maybe 50 mph; if it’s back roads or surface roads around cities we do a little worse. So if we have our druthers, we travel a maximum of about 250 (less is fine) miles per change of venue, and we like to change our venue every week or two. I don’t get discontented sitting for a month, but J gets antsy if he’s in one place too long, and I’m perfectly happy with the one to two week stays as the norm.

( But when work says jump, off we go... )

The very next post after I finish railing about coming into campgrounds in the dark and how we never do that, where do I find myself? Pulling into a campground at 10 pm at night. *Sigh* “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” one supposes.

We left Raleigh in early August and drove back to Chippokes State Park for a few days. Our friends from Richmond came out for an evening. It’s been so hot lately that I’ve been staying denned up in the RV; I was really glad that the day our friends were able to come out it was actually moderate, even cool enough that we sat around the campfire in the gloaming for a while. The next day was another scorcher; we drove to Colonial Williamsburg with the intent to tour a bit in the morning, but it was so hot we opted for lunch out instead and came back and immersed ourselves in that excellent pool, for which we were properly grateful.

( The afternoon before we were due to leave for DC J’s boss called (at 5 pm, naturally) with the news that he was wanted in Florida... )

From White Springs we had our first long drive of the trip, 277 miles along the panhandle of Florida to Blackwater River State Park, in Holt, FL, not far from Pensacola. The cats were a little miffed at us. Mercedes started fussing about two hours in, so they got an early break and were ok after that. The campground is one of the nicest state parks we’ve seen, well laid out with a central bathhouse and full hookups for about $22 a night. We were really surprised they weren’t busier, but it might have had something to do with the road into the campground.

( The river flooded, but we were fine, went sightseeing anyway. )

After five days at Hillsborough River State park, it was time to move on, continuing our few days here, few days there short stays. From Thonotosassa, we drove north to Dunellon, FL. It was a nice drive on a state highway through horse country, all rolling hills (I thought Florida was just flatland..) and ranches. If it weren’t for the occasional palmetto and the Spanish moss everywhere I would have thought we were in Pennsylvania, driving through horse country in Chester County.

( Rainbow Springs and Homosassa Springs.. )

Our destination on Sanibel Island was a small private campground: Periwinkle Park. It’s located at one end of the island, and it is mostly manufactured homes and permanent residents/snowbirds. But unlike some of the other long-term resident campgrounds we’ve stayed at, Periwinkle Park makes short-timers feel welcome. The staff was very helpful and friendly and the short term stay area was lovely. Our site backed onto a small canal, and it was easy to get into.

( Birds and shelling and more birds and bocce.. )

We had a great week in the Florida Keys, despite the cold weather. My aunt and uncle were with us for a few very nice days, and they and MIL took off for their respective homes at the beginning of the weekend. J and I spent the remainder of our time in the Keys hanging out at the RV (Saturday was a marathon laundry session in Marathon, and it rained all day) and doing some light touring.

( two days in the Keys, then driving through the Everglades )

The week before we left for Florida, I was talking with my Aunt about our upcoming trip, and she suggested that our theme song should be “On the Road Again.” Last year sometime I had heard another song for us, and all I could remember was that the chorus was something like “Beep beep, yeah!” Well that afternoon it popped into my head, so now you can all use “Going Mobile” or “On the Road Again” as the theme music for our posts.

( Good times in the Keys )