Our RV park borders a bird sanctuary and has a walking path along it that dogs can be off-leash on. Jeff takes Laddy there at least a couple times a day so he can run around a bit.
On several trips to the area Jeff has seen a small alligator, about 3 feet. We took a couple pictures of it:
We stayed for 3 weeks at the Sumter Oaks RV Park in central Florida, over the Christmas and New Years holidays. We picked this place to stay at for a while mostly because we had a lot of trouble finding an RV park anywhere in Floriday that had openings over the holidays, wasn’t REALLY expensive and also took Laddy (some RV parks don’t allow big dogs, or if they do, exclude Dobermans, Rottweillers and Pit Bulls). Since we’re Escapee Club members, we have the option to stay at an Escapees RV park for a really low price.
We LOVED it here! The setting is beautiful, each site is nestled in amongst red oaks with Spanish moss hanging from the branches and ferns growing along the trunk. Our site was in a corner of the park with a pasture on one side where we saw a couple of deer and turkeys, and a cypress swamp on another side where we saw cranes often. The cranes would stroll around inside the park as well, and often they were quite noisy!
Not only was the setting really pretty, the park was very social! They had coffee gatherings every morning; interestingly the women sat together and the men sat together on the other side of the clubhouse. The women said it was because the guys would get so loud! Jeff loved visiting with the men and went to this gathering more often than I did. They also had pot-lucks, cookie exchanges, bonfires, a Christmas dinner and a New Years Eve party.
The only slight negative was the fact that we got NO tv stations! Once in a while one channel would come in, but in a few minutes to a few hours it would fade out. Since we weren’t here to sightsee much, we had a lot of time in the trailer without TV. They did have cable in the clubhouse TV room, so we went there a few times for favorite shows and a couple of football games. They had a small shelf of DVDs to borrow, so we watched some movies we wouldn’t normally have chosen. We also rented from Redbox and I picked up a couple of movies real cheap at Walmart that we watched and left at the clubhouse for others. We managed to get by for 3 weeks, but I’ll tell you I’m glad to be at our next stop with several channels to choose from!
While staying in Bushnell, FL we decided to try a local Mexican restaurant that had been recommended to us – Coyote Rojo. The outside of the place doesn’t look like much, but the large number of cars in the parking lot confirmed that this was a good place to eat. It was!! Delicious food!!
Here’s my review of it on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/coyote-rojo-bushnell#hrid:I6C6kGgrkrLThHfYmEwZAQ
We were out and about on Saturday and I had some red ants climb up onto my left foot and leg and got some bites. Some on my foot where any kind of shoe rubs against them, and some up my leg. We counted 17 bites! And BOY DO THEY HURT! I don’t think I’ve ever experienced the kind of burning/stinging sensation that they have caused. It’s really painful. I’ve been slathering on the calamine lotion which helps until something rubs against the bites, like a shoe or pant leg. Then it starts up again.
Here’s a picture of a few of them on my leg:
Several people staying at the RV park we’re at have suggested we eat at the River Ratz Cafe just a few miles away. We decided to try it and we loved it! Here’s our review of the cafe on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/review_share/FPj49mhqYJyMRYTrm910lg/review/PI3oJeB6rDrkQeApGVW-Qg?fsid=VwM56MRiGN6IZTOHizjH-g
We’re back in Florida for our second winter on the road, and we again stayed for a while near the Kennedy Space Center. Our main purpose in staying here was to witness the launch of a rocket carrying a satellite into space, but alas, the launch was postponed at the last minute and we didn’t get to see it. We may head back when the launch gets rescheduled if possible.
While there we visited the Kennedy Space Center again. Last December we bought annual passes (which were just a bit more expensive than one-day passes!!) so we had an opportunity to visit again without paying any additional fees. Last year while we were here they were building a new section of the visitor center to house the space shuttle Atlantis along with lots of information about the shuttle program. This year, it’s open!
The shuttle is on display with the payload bay doors wide open and the robotic arm extended. It was a real exciting thing to be able to walk around it and under it and see it from many different angles. They also had some great videos in a huge IMAX type theatre and lots of displays about the program, the shuttles, the astronauts, the accomplishments etc. They even had a shuttle launch simulator that actually made you feel like multiple “G” forces were pressing on you, and then weightlessness. Not really, but it did feel like it!!
The Kennedy Space Center is just a couple of hours away from Orlando and Disney World, and I think it should be part of any family’s vacation to that part of Florida!
To see pictures of our visit to the Kennedy Space Center in December of 2012, when we took several “Up-Close and Personal” tours of the assembly building, the shuttle launch pad etc., click here.
Here are some pictures we took of the Space Shuttle experience:
We headed across Florida to time a visit to the Cape Canaveral area to see a satellite launch scheduled for December 12th. Unfortunately, it’s been postponed.
We’re going to visit the Kennedy Space Center while we’re here anyway, as they have a new section of the visitors center that’s about the Space Shuttle program.
We may come back to see a launch while we’re in Florida.
Panama City Beach has a feel of being a real “Spring Break” kind of place. Lots of places to buy or rent wetsuits, snorkeling gear, bikinis, hamburgers. Lots of big resorts next to run-down summer rental townhouses.
But driving just a couple of miles to the St Andrews State Park was like driving back into the Florida wilderness. It’s rustic and quiet here, our site backed onto the Grand Lagoon and had lots of bushes and trees to give a sense of privacy. There are several white-tail deer that live right in the campground, we saw them every day.
Lovely place to stay!
Here’s my review of this park: http://rvparkreviews.com/regions/Florida/Panama_City.html#CGID772,
and here are a few pictures of our site:
We were hoping to find a dog beach while here in Panama City Beach, but there’s only one beach where they allow dogs at all, and they must be leashed. But, we found a really nice dog park in town. Here’s my review of it on BringFido.com: http://www.bringfido.com/attraction/9931/#reviews
We saw a great Thai restaurant here in Panama City Beach and decided to try it. We both were very happy! We were surprised to find that they had as much Japanese food and sushi as Thai food.
Here’s my review of it on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/review_share/30IuXOzU3mEaZ9gVbo0Q0A/review/UBQ71dLNw-l6_3ldzXMp7w?fsid=loLR24uhPrSJXGqQT9vpvA
