I Dream of Jetty

Atlantis Space Shuttle

The last stop on our maiden voyage was Cape Canaveral. We were visiting Bill’s cousin Pete and his wife Andrea. Our home for the week was Jetty Park, which is situated inside Canaveral Port with a view of the ocean and the Canaveral Air Force Station.

Bill & Diane at NASA

Since we’d arrive in Florida the weather had been ideal. On our first full day in Cape Canaveral it was rainy and chilly. I had to wear long sleeves, ugh. We took the opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Center. We spent the whole day there. I've been to numerous museums in my life, but I have never had as strong an emotional response as this. And the Shuttle Launch Simulator was out of this world! The whole place blew us away. We never wanted to leave.

The rest of the week we spent lazy days relaxing, visiting with Pete and Andrea and exploring this lovely beach town. In spite of the unseasonably cool weather, we even made it to the beach one day. We got to see our very first rocket launch. It was a SpaceX satellite launch, not NASA, but we didn’t care. It was still thrilling. We were starting to really get the hang of this RVing thing.

This was the only time our campsite did not have a sewer hook up. As luck would have it, our site was mere steps from the bathhouse and laundry. We used our toilet and shower, but conservatively. If we were awake and dressed, then we used the camp’s toilet. We did good. We had room to spare in the tanks by the time we left. This was also our first time using a dump station. Not the most pleasant thing we’ve ever done, but at least now we know how.

Bill, Pete and Andrea

That week, and the month as a whole, flew by. It was a wonderful trip and its end was bittersweet. We'd come a long way in every sense. The trip home was the reverse of the trip down minus the snow, cold, and glitches. We were seasoned RVers by now, breaking down and setting up in record time. Well, at least for us. The final leg of our trip ended as it began. As we neared home it started to snow. Within minutes you could hardly see more than a foot ahead. We had come full circle, and all we could do was laugh heartily at the irony and longingly look forward to our next adventure.

-Diane


Catch up on the complete story of our first trip:

1) Baptism by Ice: Digging Out
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2015/12/baptism-by-ice-digging-out.html

2) Baptism by Ice: Murphy’s Law
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/baptism-by-ice-murphys-law.html

3) Having Second Thaws
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/having-second-thaws.html

4) It Takes a Village
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/it-takes-village.html

5) Fifth Planet from the Sun
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/02/fifth-planet-from-sun.html

Fifth Planet from the Sun

We were in Florida only one week, but it felt like we’d always been there. This second week would be spent in Jupiter visiting Bill’s younger son and his family. The campground we chose was a KOA a short drive from their home. The entrance to the place was a long, snaking road. The campground was adjacent to an African Wild Safari Park. It was definitely off the beaten path. That combined with the neighboring sounds of wildlife gave it an air of isolation. We loved it.

It was a large park and we got lost on our first attempt to leave. We ran into a fellow camper walking along and asked if he knew the way to the exit. Apologetically, he informed us in his best broken English that he spoke only French and was unable to help us. We then saw a woman riding her bike; we asked her the same thing. She also spoke only French and was unable to help us. We loved that, too. It was like that everywhere we went. We met people from all over the country and all over the world, and everyone we met was friendly and helpful. That’s the RV culture and we were thrilled to be a part of it.

This was a busy time for us. We spent our days visiting with the family. Bill’s grandson stayed with us one night. The next day we took him to the Wild Life Safari, which we all enjoyed. One day we barbecued at the RV for the whole family. It was a fun time. In the early mornings, over coffee and tea, we would sit on the porch and listened as the lions roared, the chimps chattered, and the African birds chirped and tweeted in the distance It was magical, otherworldly, and easy to forget we were in Florida only a short distance from a main highway.

This is when when first imagined the possibility doing this full-time. We had been through hell getting here, but now all that seemed so far away. This is what is was all about and we were hooked.

-Diane

Catch up on the complete story of our first trip:

1) Baptism by Ice: Digging Out
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2015/12/baptism-by-ice-digging-out.html

2) Baptism by Ice: Murphy’s Law
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/baptism-by-ice-murphys-law.html

3) Having Second Thaws
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/having-second-thaws.html

4) It Takes a Village
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/it-takes-village.html

 

It Takes A Village

Hell had frozen over. We knew because we had driven through it. We had one problem after the other and came close to regretting our decision to become RVers. Now we could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We were on our way to our first stop in Florida in The Villages. As we drove south everything got greener and the snow completely disappeared. We delighted in watching the car’s thermometer as the exterior temperature rose making note as it got warmer and warmer When we crossed the Florida border we cheered and high-fived. Once again, the trip took longer than expected, but we didn’t care. It was warm, dry and sunny. We were happy as a couple of proverbial clams.

Naturally, just as we got within a block of the campground, the GPS got us lost. We were getting used to it by now. Once we found the place Bill got his first chance to back-up the rig. He aced it. Even the campground manager was impressed. I cannot express strongly enough how happy we were to finally be in the warm weather. The heater still wasn’t working, but we didn’t need it and had three more weeks to fix it. However, we were exhausted.

 We were in The Villages to visit some friends and had to call and tell them we needed a day or two to rest up. We slept, lounged by the pool and shopped. The first thing we bought was patio furniture for the porch. We lived out there the rest of the trip. The porch as was also a hit with our fellow Rvers. They would stop by to see and admire it. We met some really nice people and got a lot of great tips and advice.

Here was where we first learned that leaving room to open the porch meant that our connection hoses and cables might not reach said connections. We bought extensions. We treated ourselves by dropping the laundry off at a wash-and-fold. We got the truck washed removing the last reminders of the snow and ice and mud and road salt.

Of the five days we were there, we only we only able to see Tom and Kathy twice. We spent a lovely day visiting at their house and then had dinner out once right before we left. By the time we arrived to in Dunedin, we were fully recovered, totally relaxed, and for the first time, truly able to enjoy the experience.

-Diane


Catch up on the complete story of our first trip:

1) Baptism by Ice: Digging Out
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2015/12/baptism-by-ice-digging-out.html

2) Baptism by Ice: Murphy’s Law
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/baptism-by-ice-murphys-law.html

3) Having Second Thaws
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/having-second-thaws.html