Kit and Carol on the Road

Our computer was not dead after all--but by the time we got it working we were past the realm of wireless internet. We have been at Everglades National Park for 3 nights--$8 / night no frills camping. We loved it, but it was hot and muggy and there were bugs (though on a scale of 1-10 bugginess they said it was a 1) We spent yesterday heading down to the Keys and out to sea. Everyone we met said we had to go to John Pennecamp SP and take the glass bottom boat trip out to the coral reef--so we've done that. It was way cool but didn't make it out any farther onto the Keys. Today we drove for 8 hours and Tonight we are at a KOA just off the freeway headed north--planning to eat dinner at Denny's if you can believe it. We've found some interesting restaurants in small towns but they always seem to close before dinner time.

I'm not having luck getting photos to post at this time so here's a bit more about our week since Disney. We stopped one night in a State Park where we got a spot in the "wilderness" and woke up to runners jogging past our site--there was some kind of run--half marathon --in the park. We spent one night in Fort Myers at a nice "destination park" --I think I may have written about that already. Then we went on to Marco Island to visit Kit's friend Kelly and Jan. We stayed in a room 3 times the size of our RV and got spoiled. They took us out in their boat onto the gulf to see the shoreline. I have photos when I can get them to work. The next night the island where we stayed was totally different--laid back old Florida. It was called Chokoloskee Island. From there we went down to the Everglades.

The big surprise it that the everglades are more prairie and pinelands than swamp--from our perspective. There is a lot of water around the edges. There are a LOT of alligators andbirds. We saw lots of anhingas which are a lot like our neighborhood cormorants. The park is surrounded by farmland and not by city. Leaving this morning we got caught in farm worker traffic.

I was wondering why all the oranges in the grocery store are California navels and not Florida oranges. I now believe that Florida oranges go mainly into juice. I got some at a fruit stand and they are unlovely but very juicy.

Our computer is on the... Either it will heal itself and I'll post our Disney photos --or we will be out of touch indefinitely. Time will tell.

We are in Fort Myers Fla. waiting for a concert to begin. Luckily they have computers here. Thursday at Disney was fun. Kit and I pooh poohed staying for the fireworks but Leslie won out and they were awesome. Tomorrow we go to Marco Island to visit a friend of Kit's and we have reservations somewhere night after that. No spaces in state parks in the Keys this week so who knows if we will get to go. We also are clueless about the situation at Everglades NP where we are definitely going. Always an adventure. Hope our computer is not crashed.

Here we are in the middle of Florida and still the nights are below freezing. We are near Orlando at Kit's cousin Leslie's. Got here in time to watch the inaugeration on TV. Tomorrow (Thursday) we are bundling up and going to spend the day at Epcot. Friday we will continue on our way south--hopefully with warmer temperatures.

Leaving the beach on Sunday, we took a detour down a long sandy one lane road to see some ruins of an old sugar mill. (a State Park). This is something we would never have done with Alice and we weren’t sure we should have taken Ida when we met 6 cars coming in while we were going out. Luckily there were at least small pull outs.

Sunday night we came to a county park quite near the Space Center—in fact it would be a great spot for observing launches. There are a lot of folks here (from northern states) who seem to be spending the entire winter. We returned to the same park after our day at the Kennedy Space Center.

Since we figured out visit to the Space Center was a once in a lifetime event we decided to spend the day and savor it. Not that you have a lot of choice when you are out on the bus tour. They always herd you in to the introductory video—but the videos were good. Our favorite stop was the Apollo building with a real Saturn rocket hanging from the ceiling. The huge building we can see from our park is called the VAB—Vehicle Assembly Building. Currently the space shuttle is actually on the launch pad awaiting launch on Feb. 12. I liked the space robots exhibit which was designed for kids so it was fun and understandable.

Here we are just feet from the Atlantic Ocean in Florida.

We are sitting here, our first night in Florida, looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. It is costing us a pretty penny for the privilige. We are hoping that the temperature will be above freezing tonight. The high of 53 today seemed positively balmy. We spent 2 nights in Georgia State Parks--both close to the beach (it was TOO cold to head to the Okeefenokee). Now we are between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach--on our way to Cape Canaveral and then Orlando.

We have christened the motorhome "Ida". Kit came up with the name and I liked it. If you look at the name in print it's a lot like our shape. I'da rather had a bigger rig but Ida makes my husband happy. I haven't driven but it seems to be a breeze to drive. We are continually making wrong turns--and stopping to shop. We had to try 4 gas stations today before we could get diesel. Diesel runs between $2.30 and $2.50 here. There always seems to be more stuff that we need. Kit got jogging shoes and jeans today.

The farther south we go the colder it gets. Sunday we had a high of 62, Monday, 52, and today (Tuesday) 42. Lows are to be in the 20's by Friday--even here in Georgia.

OK--Here's a quick catch up since we've finally arrived at a place with WiFi (free). Our purchase of the RV went very smoothly. Despite my misgivings the sellers were nice people and threw in a lot of useful stuff. The rig is in immaculate condition. Well, we almost broke a drawer on our first day out but it's OK now and we remember to use the bungee cord. We loved Washington, NC and spent our first "travel day" in the area: visiting the Estuarium and hiking in a state park. Our second night we had planned to spend in South Carolina but got tired and stopped at a KOA just short of the border--near Sunset Beach. Monday was a "spend a lot of money" at Camping World day. Luckily we were able to bypass Myrtle Beach and still find Camping world. I have rave reviews for the Welcome centers you find entering every state in the east. Then we stopped at Huntington Beach State Park which is one of my favorite US camp grounds. Got a little walk on the beach but it was a lot like the Oregon Coast in January. If the weather had been warmer I'd have liked to stay longer. Instead today we headed south again--in the rain. We skipped Charleston on this trip in favor of Savannah. We are staying on Tybee Island which I like a lot. On the way here we found Fort Pulaski--a national monument (civil war) so of course we had to stop. Tomorrow we see Savannah.
I am going to post this and then look for some photos to post.

PS: The new RV doesn't yet have an official name. Stay tuned.

Yesterday it was Washington DC. Today it's Washington, North Carolina. We still haven't found warm but it's not as cold here as DC. I took some photos but haven't downloaded them yet. We have seen the RV and it is very fine. We are hoping to have the title to the rig tomorrow. It shouldn't take long to get the things we need to start out. Hopefully we can get the paperwork done expediently. Washington is a very cute small town on Pamlico Sound. We are staying at a B and B here in town tonight. Who knows when we will have wireless again. As for travel plans--we will make them up one day at a time. There are still some things in this area we want to see.

We have arrived in Raleigh NC on the first leg of our journey. Frog is here too.Everything went smoothly but the flight from Washington DC to Raleigh was quite turbulent--luckily it was short. It is quite late and quite dark so we haven't seen much today except for airports. And hotel rooms with wireless internet. Tomorrow Mr. Blackwell will pick us up and we will go to see the new RV. Our shuttle driver informed us that the triangle of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hills is famous for medical research parks--and for the Universities here. We plan to stay at a B and B tomorrow-- a change from generic hotel rooms. I must say that our room here at Day's Inn is very colorful though--and they have free sandwiches for late arrivals like us.

A suggestion to all dear readers.  In making a major financial transaction, it is always wise to have a broker involved.  The glass is not always clear in a private transaction.  We still plan to fly to North Carolina on Tuesday-- We have the shuttle tickets, airline tickets, and two reserved hotel rooms.  We still plan to drive the new RV home.  However, the deal has been tainted by some licensing issues that have come up at the last minute.