Left the Atlantic coastline in Ft. Pierce, then once around Lake Okeechobee, that was not the plan, we passed six campgrounds to get to a place we stayed before, six o'clock surprise, it was closed down a few years ago. Then the fun began, not one to go backwards, we headed for the parks marked on our map, pulled into the first one, saw a drunk with a big dog, asked if he knew where the office was, He said, "Your're looking at it", he had one site but right beside the highway, no thanks, the next two parks, we could not find an office, all the way to Okeechobee,couldn't find another that we had stayed in before, others were full, a Wal-Mart night follwed, next day we found the one we were looking for, got the same site we had four years ago and settled in for $15.00 a night.  Some of these parks have atmosphere, some of these people came to fish thirty years ago and they are still here, you can tell by the moss on their campers!

Left Lake Helen after a great breakfast and a rousing game of buttons(cards),before noon, before we drove 50 miles south, the temp read 80 degrees, drove on New Smyrna Beach for a short bit, then down HWY #1 to Sebastian Inlet, found a county campground, settled in, changed into bathing suits ,then the Sun went behind some clouds,people next to us were very friendly, turns out they a real Floridians from Orlando, they both lived there before Walt Disney arrived.  We ended up around their campfire, then they insisted we join them for Blue Cheese burgers ,and Budweiser!  He was an avid hunter,so the stories were many, he hunts in Alabama, mostly,while we are talking a buddy phoned from his property in Alabama to brag he shot a deer, the biggest yet on the property!

Still relaxing in Lake Helen , shopping, had to take the truck to the Ford dealer, my window wouldn't go down.  Drove around to see where my sister Elaine used to own a place in Orange City!  I've lost a few card games, so we are being tolerated a little better, ha, ha, !  Heading a little further South tomorrow, probably the northern end of Lake Okochobee, then up to Sebring!

We just thought we were decompressing when we stayed at the 3 state parks for a few weeks, we are in Paradise here at Jim & Marge's place in Lake Helen.  They are from Maine, they follow the Maine State motto: "The Way Life Should Be"  , four months in Maine and eight months in Florida. They have been doing that for 21 years!  We are so relaxed,can't sit out because it's so cold, but that gets us playing cards and having a ball! Florida is not living up to their motto: The Sunshine State, but we are not complaining, none of that white sh-t, to shovel!  Right now, looking forward to a small re-union with guys from Navy days at an American Legion branch on the Gulf Coast, a place called Madiera Beach!  Last night we broiled moose meat that Trish and I brought from home, taking moose meat to Leesville, Louisiana, also, long with Donair meat and sauce for Andy and Lucy. Aiming for Leesville around Valentine's Day!

Tomoka State Park is nice, fishing in the river at daybreak, met some people from Windsor, Ontario, had met them at another park, we shared a few stories around the campfire last evening.  We have an invite to ditch the camper for a few days with friends near New Smyrna Beach, look forward to not having to camperdance for a short while!  Working on a navy reunion near St. Petersburg at Madiera Beach Legion, this legion has over 9000 members, yes nine-thousand.  Four other guys from Shearwater all winter near there, looking forward to cold beer!  Salamanders, squirrels, red and gray, and mourning doves all around the park.  Will take a short drive on Daytona Beach tomorrow.

Were off to another State Park , closer to Daytona Beach, looking forward to tying up with friends from Maine!  Talking  to a Snowbird from New Jersey, he gave us a great quote, "America belongs to the very rich, and isn't wonderful that they let the rest of us live here!"  Sonny flies by each day and daily we see our hawks, today it was pelicans without the bag on their beak!  The park wants every RV lined up perfectly straight in the slots, we watched the Nazi park cop knock on a guy's trailer and ask him to straighten it up a bit more! Couldn't believe it!  They say it's so everyone can have the best view of the water, you can't see the water anyway,unless you go up on a deck, go figure!

Sleeping to the sound of the surf each night, so soothing!  When we said decompressing, actually we are vegetating, going to book a few more nights here on Flagler Beach, only a few miles above Daytona, of course we will drive on Daytona Beach for a while,like other years.  Wehave our own deck behind the campe overlooking the Atlantic!  Trish uses the glazed doughnut candle from Brian & Cathy to hide in the camper bathroom and puff away,rather then go out in the dark! We are staying in Florida until they run out of wine!

See Paul's footprints in the sand, he was jogging so fast ,I missed him!

Picture of Paul honouring the Sun God!  He shouldn't be this white in a few days, off comes the sweater from the Great White North.  We are going under cover again for a few days, place called Gamble Rogers State Park on a white,white beach, Gamble Rogers was a famous Florida Folk Singer!  Sitting in a beachside beanery using the wi-fi and eating almost vegetarian!  Aiming for Leesville ,Louisiana on Valentines Day!

We're Back, seven days off the grid as Trish calls it!  Last Monday we drove for fifty miles and seen nothing but gated communities, so where do we end up? In a gated community, guards with sidearms, it was great, it's called a Florida State Park, lots of wildlife, lots of wild weather, torrential rains a few nights but all in all very restful. After the ten day drive  to Florida the week in the park was very welcome!  Except for two nights of Arctic Air, which was blamed on us, we had normal temperatures , seventy degrees each day!       Air-conditioning on today in truck as we head for St. Augustine for another couple of days in another state park.
      Trish is waxing poetic:  "After all visitations and tribulations
                                           Our vacation in the Sun, has begun"

Yum, yum, enjoyed an Orange for breakfast, picked right outside our camper last evening, in Yulee! You may not hear from us for a few days, no wi-fi in the state park, we are heading to Little Talbot Island State Park to decompress, no traffic noises, no internet, no noisy Cornhole players, see you in a few days. Keep those comments coming, love them!

Yippee!,  we are in Yulee, Florida, just across the border from Georgia. All that way on backroads, then we were forced on to the I-95 Interstate to cross into the Sunshine State, the bridge was out on #17 highway,but the Sun was out and exactly 70 degrees when we crossed the St. Mary's  river,Yippee again! Saw many hawks during the day, liquor outlets were all closed Sunday morning in Georgia, we seen a antique place that advertised,  "Dead people's Stuff for Sale"! No trouble finding the wine store in Florida, right next to the campground!  Sat outside in the Sun for two hours, sipping,smoking,and shooting the shit about our ten days of cold days and nights to get here! Just knocked two oranges out of the tree with our snow brush,comes in handy even in the warm weather, we also got two lemons, larger than the oranges! While we sat and sipped we watched our neighbours play Cornhole, we plan to introduce Cornhole to Chester next summer!

Another day ,another State, we are in Georgia, the Peach State, will be looking for a peach for breakfast, last time we tried, we drove into an advertised stand, they said the peach man died, they were all pretty well-dressed, the funeral meal was taking place behind the stand.
We saw a Cardinal, the state bird and eight hawks, we have seen a hawk each day since Maine. Cotton is bundled in the fields , some the size of our hay bundles and then some the size of a tractor-trailer, those carried on the trucks lose pieces along the road, it's everywhere!  Unpicked  cotton  fields look like snow, ugh!  60 ounces of wine, bread, toilet paper, paper towels, eggs, and two cans of lasagna,all for under twenty dollars! We saw a large fox with a baby raccoon in it's mouth!  Sleeping in Statesboro, Georgia, this is the ninth day,since we entered the US of A!

The pumps were closed when we got here  !

Can you guess which Wally World Star we are sleeping under tonight ?

No hangover this New Years Day, on the road by noon.  Very little snow in Pennsylvania, none in Virginia, hopefully we have finally left it behind!  Seen a sign, turn left for Norfolk, reminds me of Navy days when we said,  "We are the girls from Norfolk, we don't drink, smoke, Norfolk!"  What a sight ,a group of Harleys
out for the day on Jan 1st, we are getting warmer.  Found the Wal-Mart in Raleigh,North Carolina, run out of propane in the middle of the night, hooked up the spare and bought a new bottle for $20.00 at Wally World,in the morning, $34.00 in Chester! We want to really thank the followers for their comments, nice to know someone is watching!  Trish went out for her first smoke of the morning, and the Jehovah Witness's got her,right there in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Trish can't wait to eventually get to Louisiana, where she becomes "Miss Trish", what is that about, age,wisdom,respect ??????
In South Carolina at noon,saw our first palm trees beside a sign to Myrtle Beach!
Staying two nights at a military campground, doing the laundry, resting up for Georgia!We were able to clean up all dishes, Trish re-organized all the cupboards,I cleaned the camper outside, it was filthy with Northern slush!  Hundreds of Canada Geese on the lake at Sunset!      

Slept in a Ski-Lodge in Vermont, charged up the camper battery, then two nights at Wally-World, Binghamton, New York, then Mechanicsburg, PA, next day into Virginia. "VIRGINIA is for LOVERS", So spent New Year's Eve under the covers, we did go to a nearby restaurant, but were back in bed before the Midnight hour!  Experienced snow for about one half hour in New York, have had great weather, head out today for North Carolina, cold weather, but none of that damned white stuff!  Really enjoying our new thermal coffee mugs.  Jimmy Flynn sez the best invention ever, was the "termos bottle", keeps hot stuff hot and keeps cold stuff cold, but he always puzzled, "How does it know which is which"