What a surprise!!!!

For the past week, we have been staying in a condo in Kissimmee, Florida doing what everyone does when they go to Orlando.  Disney was a great experience, but we had to agree Animal Kingdom was our number one choice with Hollywood Studios dead last.  Maybe that is just our interest level.  We opened the parks and stayed until they closed, and after 3 days, we were "Disneyed out".  

The very exciting part of this journey was an opportunity we did not expect.  As some of you may know, our intention was to find an Airstream sometime in our future.  We have been researching for years, and searching in earnest since we sold our house in October, 2014.  We told ourselves that the EGG was so easy, which it was, but we knew our time with it was coming to a close.  With that said,

        I am please to present the larger, greater, silver EGG....the 27 foot, Signature Onyx Airstream!

I knew we would be guided to the right one eventually, but I never thought it would be so soon and 13 hours away in Lafayette, LA.  We left Orlando with the EGG in tow, heading for Charlotte, NC and put it in storage. Back in the truck the next morning at 5:00 AM for our trek across several states. Wonderful people awaited our arrival, David and Rene,the former owners, to show us our new home on wheels.  I can't describe their hospitality and generous spirit toward us, total strangers.  They showed us the area on the way to one of their favorite restaurants and introduced us to Cajun food and crawfish.  What a treat!!

                                                                            
Crawfish,which can be farm raised, is the food of choice in this area.  We have a picture of a rice field, the rice harvested, then flooded to raise the crawfish in.  Then the field is again used to grow rice and the process                                                                                                            continues.

                                  The field retains water because it has a clay base to the soil.

We stayed 2 days in the area to get acquainted with our new home, unpack our truck, learned Airstream care and how to hitch it up and move forward down the road.

We embark tomorrow for the Oak Alley Plantation, one of the most famous plantations near New Orleans before we start a road trip to Savannah to meet up with Bonnie (our daughter) and stay on Tybee Island in a small condo. When these arrangements were made, we had no idea the Silver Egg would be with us, but we will be camping for a few days in the area later in the week.

Cedar Key on the Gulf Coast

                                                           CEDAR KEY, FLORIDA


Denny calls this the EGR of trailer parks. Cedar Key RV Park

 This little town is made up of several islands, marshes, a few small motels, rentals and about 300 year round residents.  Your pets and golf carts are accommodated everywhere.  Clam harvesting and snow birds brings in all the money and there are plenty of both.  We have not met anyone who is original to the area.

I enjoy seeing how the local population lives and no better place than the area school.

                  The mascot is in the background...The sign says it is the Home of the Sharks.

                                                      SHARK PRIDE parking only

  Some administrator need to get off the island for a few days.  Where do the candidates for shark bait stand?

Actually, the area is very inviting and laid back with everyone either fishing, kayaking or having a brew at the local pubs with their animal companion at their side.  We tried to get a meal on Sunday night after a busy weekend at THE BLACK DOG restaurant.  The proprietor  was to exhausted to show us a table.

                   
                           We ate across the street where this cat lives and supervises the patio crowd.

  

Lots of people have these carts on the island because it is just easier.  One had a license plate of some sort In Memory of Dexter and a painting of his cat.  If people are not fishing or vacationing, many are artists of some sort.  I think all the residents must be employed in some way catering to visitors.

There are a few boat companies that will take people to see the uninhabited Keys where birds rule.  The guide taught us about the history of the areas and the birds who now own the islands.  What a treat on a beautiful day to be out on the water and to see all this nature.  Bald Eagle pairs build a nest as well as Osprey in the area.

This is a group of white pelicans who winter here but migrate to the northern state for the summer when they are old enough.  I have never seen one in Michigan but people on the boat remarked that they observed them in Wisconsin.

Some of the bird species build nests in trees.  The undergrowth is populated with Cotton Mouth snakes who eat the discarded fish crumbs.  If a baby bird falls from the nest, the snakes ignore it for some reason.  There is a biological station on the island whose job is to notice these things.

As far as food goes, we eat in most of the time.  Unless you prefer to drink your meal, we found the suggested restaurants unable to service people too well.  Perhaps we are between seasons.  But we did find award winning clam chowder (3 years in a row in a New England competition) that the recipe had to be retired.  It is still made fresh everyday at Tony's in Cedar Key for $17.00 a quart!  It was worth every penny.

One last note about Cedar Key...the water is from the Suwannee River and is the color of tea!  It is VERY clean because the clam farmers monitor it daily, however I did not feel like swimming in it.  That is the only negative, but the RV park had a beautiful pool which we used daily.

Tomorrow, on to Orlando!

Finally, we see the Gulf of Mexico....at Santa Rosa Beach, near Destin, FL

After a few weeks in Florida, the Sunshine State, we are finally seeing the sun, waves, and sand the state is known for.  Our landing place this week is Topsail Hill State Park near Destin.  The park does not resemble typical camping, but more like landscaped parking spots with nice little cement slabs. There is also a swimming pool for those who don't like sand, something you don't see at Michigan State parks.  Other states do put Michigan to shame when referring to state parks. I think this is called glamping. Any camping purists would choke, but for us it is a welcomed change with beautiful showers, laundry facilities, camp store, miles of walking/running paved paths and white sandy beaches.  It is an older crowd with people staying put for weeks at a time....are we now part of the older crowd ?

                                                          Denny's new beach toy

                                                     View from the laundry building

The preserve does come complete with snakes, alligators in the lakes, hooting owls at night, bear, coyote, and sandy beaches. (I am avoiding every animal I can.) Best of all, we have wi-fi.  It is amazing how necessary it is to our existence for paying bills to trip planning and making reservations for next winter, in addition to keeping contact with everyone.  But with every camper keeping up with their grandchildren, it can be a bit slow.
Topsail Hill is a very popular state park which can be difficult to reserve but well worth the try.  There are some beautiful cabins on the property for rent if camping is not in your comfort zone.  These rent for $100 -$120 for 1 and 2 bedrooms.  I saw the inside of a 2 bedroom and it is very pretty, modern and comfortable.
I think a bike hike is slated for this afternoon, our last day at Topsail Hill before heading south a little to Cedar Key.

Happy Campers 99% of the time....

Our new address post

Making all the legal changes in the past 2 months does cost a lot in time and much in frustration.  Since becoming Florida residents, our health and car insurance needed adjustments.  Since we don't have property or really live anywhere, the paperwork generated with those decisions has sometimes been overwhelming.  Luckily, we do have our own printer/scanner which we haul around to different libraries on rainy days.  Even the one little car we left in Michigan for summer use can't be insured by our former insurance company since we are Florida residents.  I think I talk or email our insurance agent in Michigan daily ...she has so much patience.  Snail Mail is even slower in Florida. Just pass me the next form to sign......

Strange animal pictures

This is ZIGGY THE PIG. He is 250 and lives and travels full time in a motor home with his owners.    I am not sure why anyone would like to travel the country with a 4 year old pig, but they say he is very smart and well trained.  I never saw him do anything except root dirt and walk where he wanted to.  In case you are really interested, he has a facebook page.  He is pictured here in St. James County Park, Charleston, SC in Feb.2015.

These turkey vultures were standing around off a bike path drying their wings. This is just south of Tallahassee in March, 2015.  I really didn't understand why they were all wet.


March 2015 just south of Destin, Fl. at Topsail Hill State Park

We think this is a Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake.  They are very small but venomous.  He was just laying on the path we were walking.  It makes you wonder what is on the marked Nature Trails.

Working our way across northern Florida

This is a small park in Tallahassee, Florida on Lake Talquin.  It is a beautiful spot to be for 2 nights.  We were finally able to try out the air conditioning in the truck today as the temp was above 75 degrees.  We are finding, to our surprise that this northern part of Florida is rather depressed, not at all what you find along the coastal areas.  Since biking is our hobby, we were able to get our bikes out and take advantage of a beautiful bike trail (32 miles round trip) from Tallahassee to St. Marks on the coast.  We ate with these feathered friends watching.

                                                                       

TORREYA PARK, Bristol Florida

We were happy to move west about 70 miles to Torreya State Park and Historical Site.  This is one of  the original Florida state park and has a beautiful plantation home to visit, in addition to hiking and biking.  Since it is located on a bluff, we are treated to some very nice views.  The plan was to take the challenge 5 mile hike, well aware of the snakes the warm temps bring out.  But the paths are cleared nicely and you just have to be smart about it.  The rural roads allowed us to take 2 rides (20 and 25 miles) in the area seeing only 4 cars and 1 dog.  (My air horn took care of the curious dog.)

This really is a beautiful park with many things to do outdoors in moderate temperatures.  I really can't imagine being this active however in July or August without a swimming area to enjoy.  There is a nice library in the next town, about 10 miles away. This is on our list for a return trip.