Where We've Been - Part 1
Our journey began in mid-November with the loose intention of spending the winter someplace where freezing temperatures freak people out. Since we couldn't actually drive to the Caribbean Islands, we headed for Florida. We figured we would start in the panhandle and allow the colder temperatures as the winter progresses to chase us as far south as we can drive.
If you have read this blog up to this point, you will know we spent two nights in West Memphis/Memphis, one of the top areas in the US for violent crime, while we had mechanical issues on the second and third nights of our maiden voyage. That was covered in a previous post so I will move on.
Our first actual campground was Fort Pickens National Park in Pensacola Beach, Florida. This is on the beautiful Emerald Coast. While the campground is on a long and very narrow island, not much wider than the road in some places, none of the sites in this campground are beachfront.
The sites we were in were at a trailhead which merely went over a burm and about 300 feet to the beach. That was about the closest anyone could get here. We were right across from the restroom/shower building, which was fairly clean. The sites were wide open with a few trees and plenty of space to so we didn't have to feel like the L in a BLT. All sites were blacktop and had 50 amp power hookups and water so we were able to function without any attention to power or fresh water. That was wonderful!
What is also remarkable, though, is how quickly 50 gallon grey water and 50 gallon black water tanks fill up. The sites did not have septic hookups so we had to unhook the power and water, pull up the leveling jacks, slide the sliders in, and and wind the 41 feet of motor coach through the narrow campground road, which was littered with cars parked as close to the road as possible, to the dump station at the front of the campground every couple of days. After spending long days on the road, it truly confused the dogs that we only drove to the front of the campground, then came back and parked again.
Our reservations were for the maximum 14 days campers are allowed to stay. We had to move from one site to another and back to the original one in order to stay the full 14 days due to the fact that there were no spots open for that long a period of time. By about day 9 a faint light began to come on in our heads as we figured out that if we showered at the camp showers and if we did laundry at a laundromat instead of using the coach we didn't fill the holding tanks up as fast. DUH! It took us 9 days to figure that out. We can laugh at ourselves now. I'm convinced the dogs are still laughing behind our backs but when we approach them, they straighten up and act right.
Dogs weren't allowed on the beach but we couldn't resist sneaking them out there when no one else was around. Border collies are energetic and need to run! The sand was as white as a fresh bag of sugar, and super fine. It felt velvety soft on our bare feet. It felt good to the dogs, also and they became instantly animated. Roxy plunged into the cold water trying to chase birds. That overweight senior dog ran like she hadn't run in years! Iris took off like someone had needled her flank, with no particular destination, adding additional joyful bounce in her gait, and after a while she turned around and shot back, doing this again and again. Skye just had a hayday smelling all the intoxicating smells and trailing the other dogs. They were were truly in dog-topia!
We all enjoyed long walks on the beach several times. We were in Florida and we were finally settling in, getting into a routine, figuring things out and meeting those around us. (sound of a record being scratched) ...and then it all changed. On the morning of day 11, the park rangers came by and kicked us out. I guess that bellowing Willie Nelson songs late into the night, starting bonfires in the dumpsters, and soliciting dog fights wasn't acceptable. OK, actually there was a storm coming and the campground routinely floods so they closed it and asked everyone to leave but I thought I'd throw out a visual to keep you reading and to spark your imagination.
When life gives you lemons... Michael and I had the perfect opportunity to test ourselves. We had a drill to see how fast we could pack the dishes, unhook, secure everything, and get the flock out of Dodge. Marshall Matt Dillon couldn't have done better. 45 minutes. Dishes were packed, everything in every cabinet was secured, all the outdoor stuff was stowed, puppies were walked, expressed, and cleaned up after, water and power unhooked, sliders and awning retracted, leveling jacks up, etc. We didn't hook up the Jeep though, because we had a stop to make in town on the way so we hooked it up in a Winn Dixie parking lot afterward.
As we drove down the island, angry white capped waves were licking the tops of the burm next to the road. It was like being in a bowl while it's being pushed down into the water and you are on the verge of being submerged. The water was just about higher than the road. It was really quite a site. It was at that moment that we understood why they had closed the campground. Soooo, off we went to find another place.