It just keeps getting better!

27 days and about 1400 miles of Florida and we enjoyed it all. It's been 67 days and 3700 miles since leaving home in Feb.

We had a fun stop near Jacksonville to see a friend of Gregg's that he hadn't seen in about 50 years. They treated us to Happy Hour in their nice wine shop.

Our last stop in Florida was Amelia Island where we might have caught this big fish if we'd gone out fishing (didn't).

Cute little town of Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island and a shopkeeper expresses their feelings on political matters on a chalkboard out on the sidewalk.

Then - next stop Georgia.

This is Griffin at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island. He weighs 197 pounds and is being rehab-ed after some brain damage. The black patches are velcro and they attach weights to him to make him practice diving in hopes that he will re-learn doing that. Lots of turtles being cared for at the Center - very interesting.

But here is what this island is really all about - its history. From 1888-1946 it was owned by the Jekyll Island Club members before being sold to the state of Georgia. Club members included JP Morgan, Rockefellers, Pulitzers and the like - the upper echelon of the rich and elite of the USA. The history and buildings and furnishings have been remarkably preserved making this a fascinating place to stay.

The hotel still has croquet played in the front yard, players dressed in white. This is one of the "little" cottages, as they called them.

We had some wonderful bike rides on 20 miles of diverse trails - some along beach, some through maritime forest that is very jungle-y. HUGE Live Oaks dripping with Spanish Moss, Saw Palmettos, tall, thin Cedars, vines, all very dense.

Even came upon some alligator along the bike trail! Gregg has no fear. I was WAY back using my telephoto.

Remarkable sunset over the river separating us from mainland Georgia...

But it was the sunrises over Driftwood Beach that were really breathtaking.

Been too busy to blog...

We're finding lots to see and do along this east coast of Florida. Fascinating visit to Kennedy Space Center. Barack Obama was there the same day we were - guess he heard we'd be there. but he didn't get to see us.

It was April 15th, Tax Day, when we were there and Titusville and Merrit Island Floridians were Tea Partying along the highway as we left the Space Center - not happy campers here over the expected space program cuts. Everyone wants everything from the government.

Next stop - World's Most Famous Beach - Daytona Beach. Where auto racing began on the sand. Fun driving the Jeep on the beach.

More fun riding in the Home Depot NASCAR car on the track at Daytona International Speedway. Three laps at 170 mph around 31 degree turns. Wow!! But we both agree the 3 laps were enough and 500 miles would be punishing.

St. Augustine - oldest European occupied city in the continental US - 1565. Older than Santa Fe or Jamestown. Very touristy now but lots of fun. Had a good time feeding fish and gulls through little trap doors at a restaurant on the bay.

My favorite part - the Alligator Farm, a zoological park. Birds were courting, nesting, and parenting and it was magnificent. See the baby under the Mom? Egrets, herons, spoonbills, many others. The trees were absolutely full of big nests. Incredible!

Not to mention the alligators and crocodiles! They have the world's only collection of all known crocodiles and there are a LOT of them.

Seeing an albino alligator is said to bring good luck so here is one for you to see and get some good luck. Cute, isn't he?

For $20 you can have your picture taken in that big yard full of gators, right up with one, touching his back. I may be willing to ride 170 mph in a race car but I didn't do the gator thing!

More Florida pictures...

http://picasaweb.google.com/sschin999/Florida2010EastCoast#

Leaving Paradise

I think God, in his Infinite wisdom, invented no-see-ums and expensive campgrounds to drive most of us out of this Paradise ... otherwise, we would not all fit.
We sure enjoyed our 10 days here, saw a lot, did a lot, relaxed a lot. Managed to get our campsite cost down to just $85 per night by getting a weekly rate. Can highly recommend Sunshine Key RV Resort on Ohio Key at about milepost 40, very near Bahia Honda State Park. Took a great snorkel trip to Looe Key from the state park.

New "most beautiful campsite ever" candidate

We've relocated to a new site at Sunshine Key RV Resort on Ohio Key which has its own ramada. We've hung the hammock and rearranged the picnic tables and we think we've now achieved our own true nirvana.

Fun in the Florida keys

The weather has been perfect in the Florida keys. Yesterday we took a brief spin over Key West in an antique 1941 Waco open cockpit biplane.

Our very own Manatee

Right in front of our campsite yesterday. Seems they love drinking fresh water and come into marinas to find it. A boat lady in front of us called us over when she attracted this one to her water hose. (BTW, they are not supposed to do that - dangerous for manatee to be in the marinas). This one rolled over and over, loving the water and not minding at all that we were reaching in and petting it. Very leathery; they have similarities to elephants. Look like cows - called Sea Cows.

We are loving this!

Rhythm of the Road

About 5 days ago, everything started falling into place perfectly ...

I think we now have the true Rhythm of the Road.

- Had 7 double-paned windows repaired to remove haze – the better to see beaches through...

- Gregg handy-manned an electrical repair, saving us over a hundred dollars.

- Free boondocking overnight in a huge Bass Pro Shop parking lot in Ft. Meyers

- Bass Pro seafood restaurant had 2-for-1 Margaritas all day

- Costco a short walk away: between the 2 of us we ate samples there 5 times in 2 days

- Stocked up on pre-mixed Margaritas and Malibu Caribbean Rum with Coconut Liqueur.

- Did one that's been on my Bucket List! ...sea shelling on Sanibel Island, right by Captiva Island where Anne Morrow Lindberg wrote Gift From the Sea in 1955. If you've never read it and you are a woman, you MUST read it! It's beautiful. I've read it several times over many years.

- Drove across the Florida Everglades. Interesting to see but we didn't stop.

- Free boondocking at Cracker Barrel in Florida City, south of Miami, our take-off point to drive The Keys, the last boondocking opportunity.

- The Keys – 42 bridges and 126 miles of US Highway 1 that starts at Mile Marker 0 in Key West. Highway 1 then continues all the way up the US to Maine, through 13 states. There are literally Hundreds of islands out here, 800+, just about 30 populated though.

- Went sea shelling at a FL state park on one of the upper keys; saw a living Man of War jellyfish and lots of dead ones on the Atlantic Ocean side beach.

- Found a really nice campground at a price (yikes! - $99/night) that could have been much higher. This is what we have been saving up for with all our boondocking. We'd averaged under $5 per night up to this point.

- We have a marina and our very own flock of pelicans right outside our front window. The RV just 5 spaces down from us had a manatee at their dock our first night here.

- We are within an hour of Key West and spent Easter Day there – gorgeous!
Beautiful flowering trees and plants, breathtaking beaches, fascinating history and architecture, wrap around porches with ceilings painted blue or aqua, chickens and cats that roam freely all around town, (some cats with 6 toes live at the Ernest Hemingway house and museum), a President Truman museum at the house where he vacationed and worked during his administration and current presidents still visit, street entertainers, interesting characters, and lots of shops, bars, restaurants.
I considered doing something radical in Key West like get my hair cut weird or colored a wild color or get a tatoo. I said I considered ... I ended up doing something very Sally-like. Bought a cheap bottle of fluorescent pink nail polish and painted my toes. I'm really happy with my toes!

- I noticed a sign by a webcam in Key West and called my daughter Sarah on Easter Day and she was able to see me wave to her. I showed her a glimpse of Key West by calling over a cute guy with a hat made of fresh palm-fronds - very Key West-y !

- You can see it all here. I noticed the Garden of Eden bar on a rooftop that is clothing-optional. We didn't go .... We've already passed up 2 campgrounds on this trip that are at clothing-optional RV parks. I don't think that fits our lifestyle very well...

- My friend Betsy calls us the King and Queen of the Road. You should see our new capes and crowns – beach towels, sun visors and baseball caps. We are blessed.

Florida pictures --- http://picasaweb.google.com/sschin999/Florida2010##