Another Adventure Part 9

February 18

Advantages to this KOA campground: pool, hot tub, daily garbage pick up (from the curb at your camper), disadvantages: cost, closeness of campers, age of facility.

This morning we drove down to the Big Cypress National Preserve. The visitor Center was not what we were led to believe it was, but we did see two manatee from the boardwalk. We drove a few miles back to walk the boardwalk at Big Cypress Bend and we did see a turtle, lots of trees and some fish in the water. Back just outside the gift shop we saw an alligator with a whole bunch of baby alligators which was really cool.

We turned around and headed back East and drove down highway 29 all the way to Chokoloskee, where we did a short walk on a boardwalk and got some ice cream before driving North on the 29. A beautiful drive where we did see many alligators sunning themselves on the banks of the water. We stopped for a walk through the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, we would have taken the longer path but it was covered in water. We saw more alligators today then we did on our airboat tour when we took the boys many years ago.

After some GPS confusion we arrived at the Ortona South Campground just across the Caloosahatchee Canal from the US Ortona Locks. A nice campground with larger lots and cement to park your unit on. Very well done greenery. Our site has a lovely view of the canal from where we enjoyed a lovely pork chop supper. Before supper we took our bikes for a ride around the campground and down the "lane" to the highway. A nice relaxing evening as we plan for our next days.

February 19

After a very peaceful sleep we took a walk before breakfast and took our time getting ready before driving to Lakeland.

We stopped at the Florida Southern College to take a look at some of the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. He was another very talented man and it was nice to see just some of his work.

From here is was just a short drive to Joel and Letti's house. They were not home when we arrived but came within a few minutes after calling them. They were very happy to see us. We enjoyed a very traditional Cuban supper before heading to sleep.

February 20

Many plans for today. Tim left early (5:30 am) in the morning to go fishing with the guys in Tampa. At one point Joel had a shark on his line but the shark bit the line and took it and the hook away. They did manage to catch other small fish. Tim did enjoy his day fishing with the guys.

The 'girls' and I went to Disney, the Magic Kingdom and spent 11 hours in the park. Many of those hours were standing in line waiting for a ride. Some of the rides we enjoyed while others were not as fun and others were much too short for the wait. I had downloaded the Disney App and so was able to take advantage of the Fast Pass which I would definitely recommend to anyone wishing to attend a Disney park. I would also recommend going during the week instead of the weekend but in this case we had no other choice. Disney is a magical place for children and for some grownups who wish they were still children. I enjoyed the day but was very tired, at least my feet were, and was glad to get home and crawl into bed.

A blurry picture just as we were about to go down and just before we got splashed.

A very large turkey leg, that was shared by three of us.

February 21

Thankfully Tim had told me we were going to the late church service this morning so we didn't need to get up as early. It was a nice service, much longer than we are used to but the message (which we were able to understand thanks to headsets and a translator) was a very good one. We need to focus on the openings between the trees instead of the trees. In other words we need to focus on the opportunities instead of the road blocks. God did not give us fear but rather he gave us power, love and self-control. We need to believe in what Jesus did for us and believe that He can do what he says.

Our late lunch was tasty and the nap afterwards helped to revive my body. We took a bike ride around the lake just north of their house, and it was a lovely three mile path that many other people were enjoying as well. The rest of the family had gone to check out a possible house for Letti's parents to buy. When they returned we enjoyed a lovely supper. Some of us enjoyed a movie on Netflix before heading to bed.

February 22

After a nice breakfast we said our goodbyes and headed on the road again. We drove to Winter Park where I was able to see Dr. Joe Fuller and get some laser work done on my knees. We got out of there around 4 and I am hoping that everything he did will help my knees. We drove as far as Ormond Beach to a Cracker Barrel and shared a supper before camping overnight in their parking lot. Tim had got permission prior to our just staying there, although we had heard or read online that you can often stay at these restaurants. 

That night we were finding it rather difficult to read the road signs and Tim was complaining about our poor headlights so when we stopped for the night, at the Cracker Barrel, we checked and realized that we only had one headlight working. Guess we know what we are doing first thing in the morning.

February 23

After purchasing and replacing the headlight, which was very simple, we got on the road. This morning we stopped at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park to tour the gardens and bike along the trails and walk on the beach. This beach is famous for the unique shoreline of coquina rock formations. We enjoyed, or consumed our lunch next to the picnic area. The former owners, Louise and Owen Young built their winter home here and after the husband died the wife donated the property to the state.

We drove but a short way to Anastasia State Park where we had made an online reservation for camping. That is not an easy task to accomplish especially while driving. I was not driving but I was in a moving vehicle at the time of attempting and finally succeeding at this task. This is a nice park but you definitely need bicycles to get around or the walk to the beach would be rather long. As we began our walk along the beach, lo and behold right at my feet was a sand dollar. I had never actually seen one in real life so it was very exciting. Of course we tried to find another one to no avail but the walk along the beach was nice.

Supper was ham steak and salad and the fire in the evening was nice too. I did not like all the sounds coming out of the bushes because I kept thinking that some animal was going to come creeping out. Not sure why that bothered me because it probably would have only been something small.

February 24

Our first stop this morning was the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum. It had started raining this morning so we had to wait until they gave the thumbs up to climb the lighthouse (30 minutes after the last lightening or thunder). Maybe I should have asked more questions but since we paid the high fee to get in I decided I was going to climb this thing. It was only 219 stairs one way. Since the weather was a bit unstable with high humidity both the stairs and the railing were wet with moisture. We made it to the top, looked around, got blown around (sure was windy up here today), and made the slow decent. My knees actually were doing quite well but I needed to go very slow much to Tim's displeasure. We looked around the rest of the museum but there was not that much to see. Definitely not worth the price of the ticket.

We found an oversized parking lot to park the RV and got our bikes out to ride around the old town of St. Augustine. A very pretty place, reminded me a bit of Europe. This town began in the 1500 so it is quite old for North American standards. We ate lunch at Scarlett OHara's before biking over to the Flagler College which was once Florida's first and finest luxury hotel. We walked around a bit, decided not to take the tour, and took in the beauty of what was once a very beautiful hotel, over 400 rooms and built in the 1800's.

We started to bike around the old town and were quite enjoying it and even thinking of checking out the old Fort when it began to rain. So to prevent ourselves from becoming thoroughly soaked we headed for the RV. We made it before it came down it buckets. But this is not the end of the story.

After Tim had placed my bike on the rack I headed in out of the rain while he put his bike on the rack. I had no sooner entered the camper when I heard a very loud lightening clap. I quickly opened the door and called out to see if Tim was alright and he said he was. I was pretty sure that lightening was extremely close to us. When Tim entered the camper he said, "I think I was hit by lightening." "What?" I said. Tim explained that he felt like the lightening hit his upper back and went out through his finger to the ground. He said he saw the light come out of his finger to the ground, you know, just like Harry Potter. He said it felt like a really big static shock. Tim seemed fine to me but I was not quite sure so I made sure to keep my eyes on him for the rest of the day. And he was fine.

God spared his life today and for that we are both grateful!

We spent the evening at the movies watching "Choice" a nice romantic movie about love and choices that we make. Our campground for the night was Walmart in Jacksonville.

February 25

Today we made the short drive to Fort Clinch State Park where we had also made an online booking. We arrived before the checkin time but the previous camper had already left so we were able to move on in. We stayed in the Amelia River Camping Area which is nicely surrounded by many trees. This is another campground where the beach is miles away and by miles I really do mean miles. After lunch we took our bikes out and road to the Fort where we paid the two dollar entrance fee (worth the two dollars) and explored the Fort and the museum.

Tim decided to take the bike path, which was narrow and up and down through the bush while I took the road beside him. I preferred my choice, and after some time he decided to join me on the road. Said it was not good for his bike. We biked to the beach and even took our bikes out and cycled on the beach and then checked out the Atlantic Beach Campground (cold, boring, no trees) before heading back to our campsite to read and journal. We did stop on the way back to walk the Willow Pond Nature Trail and unfortunately we did not see any wildlife, including no alligators.