Brian – Page 9 – B & B Travel Blog

February 22, 2023February 22, 2023

Alafia River State Park – 2/17/2023 – 2/22/2023

The grandchildren had Friday (2/17) off from school so we took them to Alafia River State Park campground. They stayed Friday and Saturday nights. We managed to reserve Site #5 which is closer to the lake on the eastern end of the horse loop (unfortunately there were no horses over the weekend). The site is a pull through on the inner side of the loop. Unfortunately, one of the large trees providing shade from the afternoon sun fell during Hurricane Ian, but we were still able to find shade throughout the afternoon by moving our lawn chairs around. There is a bit of a marsh next to the site, so once the sun set on the first night, which was very warm for February, the mosquitos were formidable. We were able to place the Dish Network satellite antenna far enough behind the camper to pickup all three satellites on the Western Arc. Although we have had good experiences in the past with our AT&T Mi-Fi at this campground, our connectivity from this site wasn’t great.

On Friday we brought the grandchildren to the campground, unhooked the Expedition and unloaded the firewood and other items in the truck so that Beth could zip home and pickup the cats. The grandchildren road their scooters while I finished setting up the site. Our friends Cam & Susan live near the campground and had never met all three grandchildren so they dropped by for dinner. We cooked hamburgers and pork burgers on our grill.

On Saturday morning we hiked through the woods to the trailhead area where all of the mountain bikers park. While Beth and I rested the kids enjoyed the playground. While we were there we all re-hydrated and snacked and then hiked back to the campground. The hike was 2.8 miles round trip and the grandchildren did very well. Chuckie’s legs started getting tired with about 1/2 mile to go, but he gutted it out. When we got back to the campsite they immediately started riding their scooters and really never stopped other than for lunch and dinner (and Chuckie’s 90 minute nap).

On Sunday morning we took a quick 3/4 mile hike around another lake southeast of our campsite and then did some last minute scooter riding before I took the kids home. I got back to the camper just in time to watch Purdue’s basketball team defeat Ohio State.

On Monday we hung out at our campsite and grilled a nice steak over the campfire for dinner. On Tuesday we ate a late lunch at The Outback. I had a blackened chicken Caesar Salad and Beth had the Spicy Meatloaf. Beth had started experiencing a head cold on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon I was feeling it too. We both felt slightly better on Wednesday, but packing up to come home and then unpacking when we got home was exhausting.

January 2, 2023January 24, 2023

Little Manatee River State Park – 12/29/2022 – 1/3/2023

We spent the New Year’s Eve weekend camping at Little Manatee River State Park which is only a few miles from home. This is our second stay in this campground. We were in Site #11 which was about 100 yards from the restrooms. We stayed in Site #17 on our previous visit.

We were able to pickup all of the over the air channels on antenna and were achieving 20-30Mbps download speeds on our AT&T MiFi which allowed us to stream although we could have used our DISH satellite system from this site if we had needed to.

Aaron brought the grandchildren over for a visit on Monday (1/2/2023) and he helped them practice riding their new bicycles. We cooked hamburgers, hotdogs, and bratwurst over the fire for lunch.

October 18, 2022March 23, 2023

Colt Creek State Park – 10/14/2022 – 10/18/2022

The grandkids were supposed to have a three day weekend off from school this weekend so we made reservations at Colt Creek State Park. Aaron had Monday off and he and Alysa were planning to come Sunday night. Unfortunately, Monday was declared a hurricane makeup day for Hurricane Ian so the grandkids could only stay Friday and Saturday nights.

On this trip we were in Site #12 which is on the inside of the loop and just two sites away from the restrooms/showers. We connectivity similar to what we experienced last time in Site #9. Our AT&T hot spot’s downloads were generally in the 5 – 10Mbps range allowing us to stream the with only a little buffering. We did pickup most of the local channels on antenna, but they would come and go at different times of the day.

Once we arrived and got setup Friday afternoon, I took the grandkids with me to purchase firewood from a guy in Zephyrhills. The price was great, but the wood wasn’t as seasoned as we had hoped. It smoked quite a bit and it took a bit of effort to keep it burning. When we got back to the campground the kids played in the gravel with all their excavating equipment while we got a fire going and prepped for pudgy pies. Evie and Chuckie had pepperoni pizza pudgy pies while Penny had a cheese one. After dinner Beth took the girls up to the bath house for showers and I showered Chuckie in the camper. After a full day of school, travel, excavating, and pudgy pies, the grandkids were sound asleep fairly early Friday night.

On Saturday I took them to a presentation on Owls by pregnant Ranger Heather. Although there was a lot of concern about the fact that there was not going to be a live owl on display the girls seemed to enjoy the presentation and it was the perfect length (roughly 25 minutes) because just about the time I thought I was going to have to remove Chuckie from the scene the presentation ended. They all three got owl stickers and we now know that as of Saturday, Penny has the wing span of your average Florida great-horned owl and Evie has the wing span of your average Florida barred owl (and I learned that barred owl and barn owl are two different things). After the presentation we walked out on the dock of the nearby lake and saw a small alligator which was VERY exciting. If you zoom in you can see it in the background behind Penny and Evie in the pictures (closer to Penny). When we got back to the camper we had lunch. After lunch Chuckie had to go into timeout for throwing gravel. As you can see he didn’t survive his timeout in the lawn chair consciously.

Our friends Raul and Debbie came to visit Saturday afternoon. They had originally planned to bring their 7 year old granddaughter, but she ended up getting sick. This would have been a disappointment, but Debbie the school teacher kept the kids a hop’n and we have invited her to join us ANY TIME we have the kids. We cooked hamburgers, hotdogs, and brats over the fire for dinner. Once again, after showers and snacks the kids didn’t last long Saturday night.

On Sunday morning I took the grandkids home so they could rest up for school on Monday. Their family minivan had a flat, so we stopped at our house on the way and picked up our floor jack so that Aaron would have an easier time removing the tire. I got back to the campground just in time for the Bucs kickoff.

With us and the three grandkids in the camper from Friday night until Sunday we had nearly filled the black tank even though we tried to use the public restrooms as much as possible. We dumped the black tank and probably 8 to 10 gallons of the shower gray tank late Sunday afternoon that got us through the remainder of the trip (we left Tuesday morning).

April 14, 2022January 23, 2023

Colt Creek State Park – 4/10/2022 – 4/15/2022

We recently heard about a nearby state park that we were unaware of. Colt Creek State Park is located east of Zephyrhills, FL. Apparently we aren’t the only ones unfamiliar with it because we were able to get reservations on fairly short notice. In fact, we even made reservations to stay there the weekend before Thanksgiving. The park first opened to the public on January 1^st, 2007 and the campground was completed in 2018. The campground is very nice. The sites are very long and there is a lot of space between campsites. Since it’s a fairly new campground there is not much shade. Each site has 50Amp power connections and water (no sewer, but there are two dump stations at the entrance to the campground). We had fairly decent reception on our AT&T hotspot. Downloads were generally in the 10 – 15Mbps range allowing us to stream the Rays games with only a little buffering. The TV antenna picked up most of the local channels, but not well enough to watch them.

There are over 15 miles of hiking/biking trails. We took a 3 mile hike from the campground around the lakes. It was a beautiful day and we saw a lot of typical Florida prairie landscape. They had bear warning signs up, but we didn’t encounter any on our hike. We have yet to encounter a bear in any of our travels here or out west.

February 9, 2022February 15, 2022

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park – 2/9/2022 – 2/13/2022

We wanted to fully test the cold weather capabilities of our new camper so we made reservations to stay at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville, FL. The weather was kind enough to accommodate us. Tonight’s overnight low predicted to be 33 degrees (about our camping limit). So far, at 47 degrees, we are very comfortable with our pretend fireplace set at 70 degrees and our little portable space heater pointed at the bedroom and also set at 70 degrees. We have the gas furnace set at 68 degrees as well and so far it hasn’t kicked on.

As we were backing into our campsite we noticed that our neighbors across the road had the exact same Keystone Cougar camper as we do. After we setup our campsite they came over to visit and we both complimented each other on our tastes in campers. They bought theirs in February of 2021 in Tennessee. It’s a 2021 model and did not come with a solar panel setup. We are both very happy with our camper selection.

We arrived at about 2PM and setup our site fairly quickly. The campground roads are fairly narrow, so backing into the site was fairly tight but not an issue. The site is long enough that we could have kept the Expedition attached to the camper and still fit in the sight, but there was a large palm tree at the back of the site that needed trimming, so we parked the camper about 8′ from the back of the site. This site has a 30 Amp power connection (there are 50 Amp sites in the campground) with water (no sewer). Our AT&T MiFi is getting 35 Mbps download speeds and we are streaming our access to the sports channels with no issues. We are also able to pickup PBS, ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC via our antenna.

Payne’s Prairie – Site #6 – Passenger Side

On Saturday we were honored with a visit from a young co-ed from the University of Florida (which is less than 10 miles away). Our friends Todd and Melissa’s daughter, Makenna, is a Freshman there and was ready for a home cooked meal. She specifically requested Troyer Potatoes^TM and we were happy to oblige. We also cooked chicken over the fire. We had a great time visiting with Makenna. Beth sent her back to school with a nice care package of chicken and potatoes.

December 11, 2021January 5, 2022

Jetty Park Campground at Port Canaveral – 12/5/2021 – 12/10/2021

We wanted to get more testing in with the new camper and managed to score a site at Jetty Park Campground. This is a county campground that is directly on the canal that all the cruise ships use in Port Canaveral. The weather was great the entire time. Our only complaint was that it didn’t get cool enough any of the nights to test our heater. We did discover one other issue to address under warranty. Our black tank flushing system does not work. I believe they have the back-flow prevention valve installed backwards (preventing water from entering the black tank), but I’ll let Camping World confirm that.

Our friends Todd & Melissa have a condominium in Cocoa Beach that was just a few miles down the road from the campground. Todd was in town to coordinate maintenance on the condominium on our last two days and we managed to get together for lunch at Long Doggers. This restaurant specializes in Hot Dogs so I had to try one. It was pretty good, but not great. Beth had the chicken wings and they were incredible.

On our last night we met Todd at Grills Seafood which is located right on the water at Port Canaveral. We ate at this same restaurant with Todd & Melissa back in 2004 when we had a Time Share in Port Canaveral. On this trip I had the Cheese Steak (which was excellent) and Beth had a Filefish special (which was also excellent).

October 9, 2021January 5, 2022

Alafia River State Park – 10/5/2021 – 10/8/2021

We wanted to take our new camper out for a good test run so we took it to Alafia River State Park for three nights. We stayed in Site #21 which we also stayed in back in January of 2011. Florida was still experiencing summer temperatures so we were pleased to verify that our rig’s two air conditioners had no problem keeping us cool inside. We only found a few minor warranty issues (microwave door not opening, solar panel not working, and a power outlet with only one screw).

We had dry weather until it rained the last night (most of the night). Due to the summer rains, out site had a lot of standing water in the morning. We packed to leave in a wet and muddy mess.

September 21, 2021January 5, 2022

The Beginning of a New Era

After selling the motorhome it didn’t take us long to lock in on our requirements for the next RV. We decided that we were probably done with the 7 to 8 thousand mile circumnavigations of the country and therefore didn’t require another motorhome (not that you can’t go on a long trip with a trailer). We also decided that we didn’t want a pickup truck as a tow vehicle because we have 3 grandchildren and a German Shepherd grand-dog to haul around when we visit them. We’d rather have an SUV with three rows of seating. This ruled out Fifth Wheel campers.

We also knew that we definitely required a king size bed. It didn’t take us long to determine that whatever we would purchase would be in the 28′ – 30′ size range and weigh over 7,000 lbs. That eliminated our current tow vehicle (2012 Tahoe). Tahoe’s are capable of towing over 7,000 lbs, but only if you purchase one with the Heavy Duty Towing Package which ours did not have. While we were in Wisconsin this summer we ran across a neighbor that had a 2018 Ford Expedition (and he was towing a decent sized Travel Trailer). We really liked the looks of his Expedition and he said that he was very happy with its towing capabilities. The same situation exists with the Expedition in that you have to make sure you purchase one with the Heavy Duty Towing Package in order to tow more than 6,000 lbs. Those are hard enough to find new, even harder used. Fortunately, the Queen of Gasbuddy is just as good at finding vehicles as she is fuel. After a few weeks of searching she found a 2018 Expedition at the AutoNation Ford in St Petersburg. She saw it online in the late afternoon and made an appointment with a salesperson to see it the next day at 11AM. The next morning while we were getting dressed we even got a call from the sales manager to verify that we would be there at 11AM to see the vehicle. We arrived at 11AM and they could not locate the vehicle on the lot (even though the salesperson had seen it in person the night before). It turned out that some customer in their Brooksville dealership had requested to see it and even though we had an appointment to see it they shipped it to their Brooksville dealership overnight. We were NOT happy. By the time they finally found the vehicle the customer had not bought it (we don’t know if they ever saw it). Because it’s so hard to find used Expeditions with the Heavy Duty Towing Package, we put $1,000 down on the vehicle (sight unseen) and had them ship it back. We put it on the credit card so we could cancel it if the vehicle turned out to be a dud. Then we went to the beach for lunch and took our time. When we returned from lunch the vehicle had just arrived and looked excellent. With only 29,000 miles on the odometer and 7,000 miles left on the bumper to bumper warranty we didn’t hesitate to complete the purchase transaction. Because it was Missing In Action upon our arrival at the dealership, Beth named it “Mia”.

Shortly after purchasing the SUV we found a Travel Trailer floor plan that we really liked. It was a Keystone Cougar 25RDS which Camping World sells. We just had to find one with the right options (two air conditioners, refrigerator with 12 Volt residential compressor, and theater seating). In our initial searches there were none in Florida with all of those options, but once again, the Queen of Gasbuddy eventually discovered one that had just arrived at the Camping World in New Port Richey. We went up and looked at it the next day, were very pleased with the floor plan, and after some haggling purchased it. Because the model name is Cougar, Beth named it Kitty.

September 1, 2021December 30, 2021

The End of an Era

On the final drive home Beth and I began to discuss the age of our motorhome, how fortunate we were not to encounter any major failures during our retirement travels, and the amount of money we had spent on maintenance in the last several years. We decided to see what the market would bear if we put it up for sale. After we unpacked all of our travel supplies and cleaned the rig up I called a broker I had met in the past to setup a time to discuss our options. Before we knew it he was at our home and paid cash for the motorhome. It’s possible we could have done better on price, but when you consider that it needed new tires, a couple of repairs, he paid in cash, and what little effort we exerted to sell it we were pleased. However, we will definitely miss the motorhome.

August 28, 2021

2021 Road Trip – Final Day of Travel

After thoroughly flushing our black tank this morning we departed from Southern Retreat RV Park in Brunswick, GA at 8:18AM EDT. We had enough fuel to make it home so our only stop was at a Rest Area (couldn’t sully the freshly cleaned black tank). The drive was uneventful and we arrived home at 1PM EDT and commenced unpacking. Our final tally was 6,902 miles on our 3 month and 8 day trip.

The cats were happy to be home and returned to their regular routines including an afternoon nap on our bed. They are definitely happy to be able to hang out on their porch.