Fort Pickens – Florida trip 11/9/2024 to 11/20/2024 – 1705 miles

 The first long trip in Park-er, and it was an adventure. We learned a bit more and have some things we would like to change, discovered some leaks, and really need to address the doors. All in all, it was a good trip and Park-er performed like a champ. We have learned that finding some cool old cemeteries to stop at along the route is a good way to break up the drive for the animals.

1st leg of the journey – 258 miles to Mammoth Cave Campground, Kentucky.

Luckily, we just stayed here overnight because I was not impressed. The area is beautiful, so I would go back I just wouldn’t stay at this campground. There were no hook-ups which we were aware of and that was fine because it was just a night and we have the solar generator but the bath house “yuck” and it cost like $5 for 3 minutes of shower. We did not shower. We did have a couple of exciting moments. When we pulled in there was a Mamma deer with her fawns at the entrance and they were not afraid, the dogs were in awe of the deer. We were able to start a campfire, which was nice, but I made the fatal error of sitting my hot, hot tea on my chair to get up and poke the fire. I sat back in my chair forgetting my tea and it went down my back and butt and literally burned my ass. So, I had to deal with the burn for a few days, not a good start to the trip.

2nd leg of the journey – 240 miles to Cathedral Caverns State Park, Alabama.

 This was a beautiful campground; we were here for 2 nights. The camp hosts were fabulous and Alabama is beautiful. We had some really nice people camping around us and it was a very enjoyable place. The only downside was there was a no burn order so no campfire for 2 nights. We were able to hide a bit and the animals were able to roam so they were pretty happy in this spot. The big excitement was a stray friendly cat that wandered into the camp the 1st night and the host were on a mission to catch him. Later the next day he showed up again and one of kids camping was able to catch him and the hosts picked him up. The funny part is the cat actually belonged to one of the park workers, his cat had, unbeknownst to him, came to work with him the day before. We didn’t get to do the Cavern tour since we are still unsure as to how the animals will act being left alone in the camper.

3rd leg of the journey – 166 miles to Fort Toulouse – Jackson Park, Alabama.

 Another fabulous spot in Alabama, with a bonus cool old Fort to check out. The spot here was on the river and we were allowed to have a fire so it was a nice evening. There were campers next to us strumming a guitar and singing, so we had free entertainment. The Fort was very cool and the dogs were able to roam freely, which mad everyone happy.

4th leg of the journey – 198 miles to Fort Pickens Campground, Florida.

 

The weather is damp and chilly but the campground is very nice. We are able to stop at the dog beach before we get to the campground and the dogs were so funny, they didn’t know what to think of the crashing waves. It was very comical; the weather was so yucky we were the only ones on the beach. On day 2 we wake up to rain, so we decide to go into town pick up a few things and do some sight-seeing. We return to the campground at Noon and there are barricades up, the ranger informs us that evacuation is in progress we need to pack up our campsite and leave. I ask if we will be allowed back tomorrow and he says “maybe Thursday”, great. So, we get to our campsite and someone has stolen our rug but luckily our other stuff is there. We pack up and proceed to try to find a place to stay after striking out at a couple of RV Parks I remember I have Harvest Host so I start messaging people to see if they can take us in for a night or two, the third person I message responds right away and says come on down. He is about 20 minutes away and has electric hook-ups and a space in his driveway. So off we go, he was a lifesaver. It is torrential rain now and we have leaks 2 of them, one at the fan and one at the doors in the front. Probably wouldn’t have found them if it wasn’t raining so hard and we were parked on a level surface, so it is good to know we will fix them. The host was great but it was a residential area so we decided to find a different place the next day and were able to get a spot at a state park called Blackwater River, it was beautiful there as well not super dog friendly but there were nice hiking trails and the campground was very well maintained. We were able to return to Ft Pickens on Thursday, which was our anniversary so that was nice. We stopped at Joe Patti’s Seafood and got some fish and shrimp to cook and it was delicious. We visited the dog beach again. I was hoping to find some nice shells after the storm but had no luck, not one decent shell. I did however get chased by an armadillo on the boardwalk, unfortunately I did not catch it on camera. Friday the day we leave was beautiful, warm and sunny, of course. We visited the fort and left the animals in the camper, they did fine, the fort was very cool and I did a bit of ghost hunting got some good responses but I didn’t actually save any of them to the app I was using. The fort was very cool and very interesting history.

5th left of the journey – 127 miles to Isaac Creek – Alabama.

  Another wonderful campground in Alabama. We were on the river and this would be great for fishing, not any real hiking trails I could fine but just sitting by the fire watching the river was nice and the dogs were fine. Just a very nice relaxing spot, which we needed because we were tired.

6th left of the journey – 189 miles to Rickwood Caverns State Park, Alabama.

 This was beautiful but very small and lots of campers, there were maybe 10 rv spots and they were tight. The caverns were also decorated for Christmas, had I know we would have found something else. But it was very pretty and lots of nice hiking trails. There were giant boulders and leaves knee deep, when we first got there Keith went to check in and I took the dogs for a potty break. I was walking along and the leaves were so deep I didn’t realize there was a step down into a picnic area and I fell buried in the leaves. Keith says he saw it but thought it was a kid playing in the leaves, nope just your stupid wife. Any how nice park to spend the evening we did some hiking but no campfire there was a no burn order.

7th leg of the journey – 147 to a Harvest Host site the South 40 Farm, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

This was a good stop for the night, it was cold, really cold but they had electric hookups for us and a nice farm we could let the dogs run around on. It was a good stopping point; we were all getting a little road weary and the weather has been chilly so we decided this would be the last stop and we would cancel our last stop which was to be 3 days at Nolin Lake but the forecast was calling for snow and cold so we decided we would just get up early and make the very long ride home in the morning.

Headed home, 381 miles, it was a long, long ride.

So, we did get to see a lot of cool and beautiful things. We were able to hike a bit, I actually lost about 10 lbs. on this trip, so that is a win. After all was said and done, I am glad we went, wished the weather was better the experience might have been different then. We both decided Florida is off of our future travel plans but would go back to Alabama in a hear beat. The people at the Alabama campground were so friendly and nice, the scenery was beautiful. Some very cool cemeteries and the cotton fields were pretty to look at. So much water in Alabama and hills and caverns, spectacular. Florida was ok, the people at the campgrounds were not as friendly, the whole place was not very dog friendly. Even the dog beach required the dogs to be on leash, what fun is that. I will say this the rangers at the Blackwater River state park did point us into an area the dogs could run off leash, so that was nice. All in all, still not a Florida fan.

So, the bus was great but we do want to do some rearranging. Probably replace the couch with a dinette, that would be better and then just where we put things. The front doors need addressed the current set up just is difficult, so we will work on that too. But the animals did pretty well, they don’t love it but I think once we get to the actual campground, they are much happier.

So, this is a little late but the holidays came and went and I forgot to update the blog.

We have our next adventures planned for this year just shorter trips that are about a week long. We will be checking out Lake Vesuvius in Ohio in April, then Seneca Shadows in West Virginia in May and Colwell Lake Campground in the UP Michigan in June. Many more plans in the works.