December 2022: Florida Tour Begins

With Thanksgiving over, it was time to turn on the Christmas music and decorate. That took a good 15 minutes in our new home!!!

We moved the RV just over a hundred miles to the west coast of FL. We have tent camped in this same spot many times in the past when we lived in FL and one spring break with all three girls, Grandma and Jack. Fort De Soto Park is a lovely spot located between Tampa Bay and the Gulf in Pinellas County.

Mikaela and David came to visit us!

We enjoyed a fun beach day right there at the park with our toes dipped in the cool waters of the Gulf.

The temperature was ideal for an early December day.

The setup of this beach made it perfect for taking our new kayaks out. It took a few minutes to blow them up and carry them down, but it was very worth it! With Mikaela and David in one and the three of us in the other, we headed out through the channel and around to the beach. We made a choice not to put the rudders on… will not do that again!

We stayed for the sunset and shut the beach down!

During our 5 nights at Fort DeSoto, we enjoyed an abundance of peace and quiet.

As we made our way to the other side of the state, we stopped for a single night in Fort Lauderdale before continuing on to the Keys.

We were so lucky to score a December spot at Curry Hammock State Park located between Key Largo and Big Pine Key. It is a small campground with only 28 sites with just a fraction of them actually on the water. We were fortunate enough to secure one of the beach front sites for 3 nights.

The winds were perfect on the afternoon we arrived and the kite boarders gave us a great welcome show, which we were able to watch from our camp chairs at our site.

The dogs waited patiently in hopes of a walk on the beach and a swim in the water, which they aren’t allowed to do at this state park.

The weather was so amazing. It was sunny and warm and no bugs!

Even though the dogs were not allowed on the beach here, we took them on long walks around the park. They even got to see dolphins playing in the channel.

There was a no frills beach with easy entry for taking the kayak out into the clear water. We set up camp on the beach, enjoying warm temperatures, sand between our toes and a few beverages.

We took the kayak out both days and explored the different sandbars and inlets.

The sunrise view from our site was amazing.

Our next stop was Hutchinson Island, FL just south of Fort Pierce about half way up the state on the east coast.

This was a unique community with mostly full timers in small homes. Everyone here was very friendly and welcoming, but not many RVs were coming and going.

Our concrete pad backed right up to the inter coastal.

We had great amenities at Hutchinson. They included a big community pool close to the RV site and also a beachside pool and restaurant.

We rented a golf cart to help us get around the large community. It was especially helpful for getting from the RV site to the beach.

The beach had lots of cool treasures for Ashley to collect. The red clam shells and the large unbroken mother of pearl shells were a fun change from the usual finds.

New medium means new creations

We felt very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time and see this launch while sitting in our comfy chairs enjoying sundowners. This was a first for us to see an actual launch.

This was also a great spot to watch the sunset.

Being a land pirate in the US means access to things like Fresh Market and Total Wine. On this visit we found a familiar favorite from our pandemic days in the Virgin Islands. Leatherback Brewery was one of our regular hangouts when we were in St. Thomas.

As we spend more time in the RV, we continue to find spaces and places to relax and work. Addie’s bed is definitely one of Ashley’s favorites.

Going out at night is not something we do very often, mostly because Shannon’s cooking is so good. On this clear night we could not pass up the opportunity to walk on the beach and enjoy the full moon over the ocean. It is hard to realize we have been off the boat for over 6 months.

Just down the road from the RV resort was an amazing 50,000 square foot mansion, that had decorated with hundreds of thousands of lights for the holidays. People park on the road and walk the grounds to see this incredible 3D display of lights. It was the only house with lights like this is in the area.

It was December, so not all mornings were as warm as we would have wanted, but the daytime temps were nice.

We got out and did a little exploring of the neighboring towns. Made our way to Fort Pierce and got some refreshments at Sailfish Brewery.

So many added benefits to our incredible location on the inter coastal including lots of feathered company.

The dogs were a big fan of the concrete pad and grass yard, which made potty time clean and easy .

We celebrated our first birthday on the RV.

Ashley was surprised with a massage, a nice lunch on the water and an amazing date night dinner at a quaint little local restaurant, 11 Maple Street.

Then she was treated to a second birthday dinner on her actual birthday at Kyle G’s, a highly rated steak restaurant on the water.

This marked 31 years of birthday celebrations together.

It was time to head to NC for Christmas with family and friends. We drove the RV to Jacksonville and left it at a storage facility.

Our hope was that by leaving it this far south we would not need to worry about freezing temperatures affecting it while we were gone for the next few weeks celebrating the holidays. We are able to remotely monitor it, and even turn on the heat if needed. See you in January RV!