Heading Out Like a Herd of Turtles

Sunrise from Coastline RV in Eastpoint, Florida

It's Saturday morning and even though we had a late and tumultuous start, we are back on track to hit New Orleans on Monday. Unfortunately, we had to skip and shift our landing places, because the campgrounds are full. We are now on the weekend with no place to stay tonight and tomorrow. I really would have liked to stay at St. George Island but alas... totally full. Hoping to hear back from a place in Navarre, Florida.

Last night we landed at a small RV resort. We are looking out at the Gulf and St. George Island. Definitely not complaining about soaking up the amenities after having camped in a parking lot while dealing with camper van issues.  A chance to get laundry done, take a dip in the pool, have hot showers in spa like bathrooms and paver patios so no sand and dirt in bed with us. If all else fails,  we might be able to stay in this resort's campground which is 800 feet down the road. Still a spectacular view, but no amenities... which is fine as long as we have electric, because we need to run the air conditioning. It is hotter than blazes. We can't open up in the evenings, because the screen kit they ordered is being shipped from Canada and then they have to ship it to us. The noseeums come out and they are wicked. So we are kind of trapped. Moving on each day may be our best bet. Worse case scenario is the screens won't arrive until we reach Chicago, but at least we will have them for Wisconsin and Minnesota bugs. Langoring on the Gulf shore is going to have to be for some future trip. I find it sad because, I so looked forward to just taking our time. The best laid plans....oh well.

So back to the OZ mobile issues. Once they got the radiator hose fixed and realigned, we only headed to Sarasota to the RV resort because it was late in the day on Wednesday. Good thing because we found a host of other problems... mostly small, things that they will fix when we return in October. However, our bathroom shower drain wasn't draining and the next morning when I ran water in the kitchen sink it filled the bathroom floor. Back to the dealer we had to go. It turned out to be nothing other than they had left the  fresh water tank pull open and over flowed into grey water filling it when we thought we were empty. So once that was straightened out they checked the fix for the radiator hose... well, the fix wasn't going to hold! We would have ended up stranded again. It took all day to get us out the door. The big wigs up front didn't know what was going on so no one offered us a sandwich or came to say we're sorry, what can we do for you. After about five hours, I marched myself up there and had a word or two. They bought us supper and they are cutting a check for the nights we missed at the places we wanted to camp. 

Off again we went, but only as far as Bradenton. We found a sweet county park to make camp. Unfortunately, the noseeums were intolerable, you should see Gerard's back! After an evening walk with the cat and dog... yes, Kole is taking walks on a leash, we had showers and headed inside for the night. We were on the road by 6:30am because the noseeums were even worse in the morning. No enjoying coffee at the water's edge.

E.G.Simmons Park

Evening Stroll

Friday morning–our first real day on the road. We headed north, we passed Manatee Springs... no room for us. We will have to revisit the whole springs area when the manatees are back. I am excited to swim with them. I'll be back on a warm days in December or January.

Driving along the Gulf will still be a treat. Highway 98 hugs the shoreline and winds and weaves through tiny towns with beautiful beach cottages and fascinating shops. I did find the world's smallest police station in Carabelle. In the early 1960's, Carrabelle's police phone was located in a call box that was bolted to a building at the corner of U.S. Highway 98 and Tallahassee Street. Small town living to be sure.

Kole on floor between the seats

Kole seems to be very happy with the new rig. She has found her spaces and places to be while driving. Poor Sitka is lost. No real seat to sit in and watch the scenery go by and stick his head out the window.  During part of the drive, we were all crammed up front.

Sitka in front of my seat with me sitting sideways

"Then I hear a voice from 
My soul's core sayin "freedom's just a 
Metaphor, you got nowhere to go" 

And the rain pours down like a 
Holy waterfall over the gulf of mexico 
Over the gulf of mexico"

I was hoping he might  sit in the back and stick his head out those window.... we'll seee how we can adjust. For us, it is a luxurious ride. Large windows, large side mirrors and a back-up camera. So nice not to have the trailer behind us. I already miss the Land of Oz, for reasons I'll get to in our next post. 

Ok.... just heard back from Emerald Beach. We are headed there today. We may find ourselves just booking it back to family. Because the deer flies are driving us wild too!. They call them yellow flies here. It is only a 3-4 hour drive to Navarre Florida. Gives us more time to stop here and there.  Sunday and Monday will have us in NOLa at Ponchatrain Landing.  We will be full service hookups probably all the way back or until the screens catchup with us. So we will have wifi most nights.

Until we chat again,

~Catherine and Gerard