The A1A and Beyond Part I

Too many. That’s how many times I heard Leah, a diehard Kenny Chesney fan, sing the words “crusin’ down the A1A” this past February…but she earned it, so I let it ride. Seriously, though, this lady put together a full five week tour of Florida (where everything is supposedly booked six months in advance) only two weeks before we left Alabama while finishing up her latest PT contract job. She managed to secure us lodging averaging around just $25/night! My wife is amazing – truly a stud. Traveling south along the Gulf, to the tip of the Keys and then up the Atlantic side, I hope to do this epic journey justice with a recap of the highlights.

To start, you’re probably wanting some background as to how Leah reserved our night stays at such an amazing average cost. First, she used boondockerswelcome.com for the majority of the first half of our trip. This is an amazing nationwide online community of fantastic, welcoming, and colorful people who enjoy the RV lifestyle. Those that have the means to host an RV at their residence post their location, much like airbnb. And get this…other than a small yearly membership fee (and occasional small donation), it is FREE to stay at these locations! Seriously. And many offer some electric and water! If you are reading this, and we had the pleasure of staying with you…THANK YOU! Thank you for welcoming us, opening up your property, and more than anything, being so cool. Sincerely.

The rest of our trip we stayed at state or county parks which have a significantly lower nightly rate than private parks and a more natural setting which we prefer. Now state and county parks in Florida usually fill up 6-12 months in advance. So how did she book these amazing parks only 2 weeks ahead? Well, she used a little trick that is what people in the RV community call a “campfire tip” meaning it’s kind of an unsaid rule that you don’t blast this tip all over the internet because if too many people use it then it becomes much less useful for anyone. So, if you want to reach out and send us a message, we can huddle around a virtual “campfire” and let you know the inside scoop 😉

Alright, on to the trip. Well, we did so much, so I apologize if it seems unjustly described (don’t hesitate to reach out if you want more info on any of it). So here it goes… We said “See ya later” to our friends in Phil Campbell, AL and left for Columbus, GA for a one night stay after our longest travel day. That evening we were able to check out the longest river stretch of “suburban” whitewater. What a contrast to what I’m used to… I mean I could see a Dollar Tree while looking up river at a class III drop. Weird, unique, not my ideal backdrop, yet certainly still made me start to itch, wanting to get on a raft… bad (soon, i’ll be back soon).

The second longest travel day landed us in Micanopy, FL for three nights at the most welcoming Boondockers Welcome site tucked in the woods. They even had a treehouse for the kids! Right off the bat, we were able to treat ourselves to the natural beauty of Florida. We took our paddle board and kayak up to Ichetucknee Springs State Park. We decided to try our luck paddling up river to see if we could make it to the origin springs. The current and wind proved to be more formidable than expected, so we didn’t make it all the way to the springs by boat, however we were able to see some awesome aquatic life including schools of 4-5 foot gar, and our first manatee sighting! We then braved the cold water of the spring after loading up the boats and driving to it by trying out our new snorkel masks. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the water as it was cold enough to challenge our breathing, much less trying to teach the kids how to breath with their faces in the water. But, I was pleased with how well they actually did. While in Micanopy we also spent a day at Santos Trails, a mountain bike trail system known through the nation, taking our time on the green trails.

Daddy silliness is required after a long travel day that landed us in a great spot. The lone manatee and trying out our new snorkel masks.

A short drive south took us to our next stop in Dades City, FL where we literally stayed in a friendly cow pasture…but they had water, electric and even an onsite dump! That afternoon we had to do the necessities like grocery shop and laundry. This is the one small drawback to staying without a sewer hook-up. Yes, we have a washer and dryer in our rig, however we need to save our grey tank for showers. Either dirty clothes at a laundromat, or stinky people. I choose the industrial size washer and dryers! However, we were able to reward the kids for their help and cooperation the next day. Leah put on YouTube clips of Lego Land during breakfast time. The kids didn’t really question why…so Leah just said, “How fun does that look? You guys wanna go there today?” Oh man, what a blast for us, but especially the kids. This was a great park for kids under ten. Even Fisher was just tall enough (with his thick soled hiking shoes – we thought ahead) to be able to ride their biggest coasters! Our timing was impeccable being a weekday nowhere near a holiday. We had zero wait at most of the rides! What a fun day!

Little did they know the fun that would happen the day after chore day!

The next day was no less adventurous as we made our way to Hunter Spring Park on the Crystal River. We rented wetsuits for each of us, and again launched our inflatable watercraft to paddle up to Three Sisters Spring. Here, we actually got to snorkel with manatees! And holy smokes! We thought the solo manatee at Itchnetuckee was cool – there were close to a hundred in different protected pockets of the river and springs. Somewhat, unfortunately, there was also as many people on big tour boats going to check out the same manatees – oh well, at least we didn’t have to pay the tour price tag for that adventure. If you have small kids we would highly recommend avoiding the craziness and just hanging out at the beach at Hunter Spring Park. The spring is actually located within the beach swimming area and we saw many manatees come through when we played there later in the day.

Wouldn’t you know, I left my underwater camera at the RV when we snorkeled with manatees. Oh well, here is the friendly cow at our site to fill in the lack of pictures from this day!

We then made our way just south of Tampa to the beautiful Fort De Soto state park. During our four night stay, we toured the historical remains of Fort De Soto, watched dolphins play and hunt in the inlet, met some great people, and got our first days of Florida beaches! We also ventured into the city for a day to visit the Florida Aquarium. As a brief side note, our homeschooling curriculum (Gather ‘Round) consists of a different topical unit study each month. Finding it fitting, we saved our Oceans unit for February…and here we were having already snorkeled with manatees, taken a field trip to the aquarium, and found sea stars on the beach! How’s that for experiential learning? Pretty cool we get to do it with our kids.

A great state park and our first of many beach days!

Traveling just a bit more south, we stayed for two nights in Venice, FL at a very kind couple’s home in a nice and quiet neighborhood. (And get this…in addition to water and electric, they even had city sewer access through a tie in…in their front yard – HA! That was a new experience). Here we had planned for little more than a couple days on Manasota Keys’ beaches, which we had read was the “shark tooth capital.”

Here’s another aside- growing up, like many little boys, I was always fascinated with fossils, shark teeth, dinosaurs and sharks. I would gravitate to the shark tooth necklaces at souvenir shops, begging my parents for one (which they relented on more than one occasion). In early elementary school, when the discussion of future occupations came up, I held onto the title of paleontologist for quite some time. So, it is no wonder that when Faith just stumbled across a shark tooth on a beach near Panama City a few months ago, I was a bit jealous. Of all my beach experiences, I had never found a shark tooth, nor did I know it could even be a common thing!

Well…back to the beaches at Venice. I set out on a mission to find a shark tooth, maybe a couple, if I was lucky. Of course Faith was the first to find a couple, but when our minds figured out what to look for, our eyes became keen! After two short days on the beach we came away with more than 200 small, fossilized shark teeth! I didn’t even realize that is what we would find, fossilized shark teeth, but that is what they are – some even prehistoric. Thus the dark colors and the not bright, white coloration I began searching for. Way cool!

Doing the “deed” in the middle of a neighborhood (was lacking the robe, cigar and beer – I know). Shark tooth hunting, and the kids swimming while mommy froze!

Just a short jaunt southeast is Punta Gorda, near Fort Meyers where Leah’s mom winters. Leah’s parents had purchased a small place within a community a few years back, and her mom continues to enjoy the warm weather and community there escaping the northern Indiana winters. We were able to spend seven nights (split between two different Boondocker’s Welcome sites) enjoying Grandma. We took advantage exploring the northern border of the everglades on an airboat alligator tour, visiting the famous shell factory, swimming in her community pool, and sleepovers with Grandma (meaning Leah and I actually had a little alone time!). I was even able to pilfer her attached work shed and come up with a makeshift shark tooth hunting basket (sold for $38 at local retail stores)! Oh, we were even able to spend a day with one of Leah’s best friends and college roommate. It was so special to see all our kids play together for the first time! Our time in Punta Gorda was a great visit to reunite, regroup, and get a lot of laundry done!

Can you guess which photo was from our date night?

That’s a lot, right? So much fun, but that was really only the first half of our “planned” trip! There is so much more to recount, but for your sake and mine, I’ll make this a two part series as well, and conclude the adventure in the next blog entry. Until we meet again!