Now for our trip...
We took off early from work, Friday March 23, and were able to hit the road by 3:10. We traveled east on I94 to Fargo and then went south on I29 to Sioux Falls, SD. As we were driving people would start to pass us then slow up to take a good long look at the camper. Some of them gave us a thumbs up as they passed.
We arrived in Sioux Falls around about 9:00 so instead of looking for a campground we just pulled into Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has a policy, except in high tourist areas, of letting campers park overnight in their lot. They know you'll be in to buy something! We slept really well except for when the street sweeper went though the lot at 5:30.
Sat. 24th we were up and had breakfast at Denny's. It started to rain. Didn't matter as it was a travel day. The rain made the remaining snow in the shelter belts start to steam. As we were going south the last of the snow we saw was in Modale, IA. We stopped in Metropolis, IA.
Driving through Missouri and Georgia is tough. I like to channel surf with the radio when I travel to find out what different parts of the country are listening too. In these states 8 of 10 stations are Jesus Music. But along the road are huge billboards advertising Porn Superstores and 3 story high fireworks stores. Odd combo Jesus, Porn and Fireworks! This night we stayed in a KOA campground in Benton, Ill. cause by now we needed showers! The owners of the campground were so nice.
Sun. 25th The trees in Kentucky were getting green, in Tennessee by 11:30 and Nashville by 12:15. For lunch we stopped in Murfreesboro at a place called Corky's BBQ that I had seen on The Travel Channel. Funny as hungry as we were when we would stop to eat we both would get full right away. Often on our trip we would just order one meal and share it. Or we would pack up the leftovers and store them in the icebox of the camper. Leftovers heat up real well wrapped in tin foil and put on the grill. Entered Georgia at 3:15. North of Atlanta Myron had to hit the brakes hard! Traffic ahead of us had slowed to look at the accident in the north bound lane. Traffic on that side was at a stand still for 5 miles. Stayed at a Wal-mart at Valdosta, GA. All the plans we made on paper for this trip worked really well. We ended up overnighting just where we planned.
Mon. 26th Crossed into Florida .Started to see palm trees along the road. Also saw a dead armadillo. Would rather have seen a live one but, oh well. Got to Sanibel Island and our campground around 3:00. This was a really nice campground. People set up their campers there and spend the whole winter. We got a really nice site by luck. The people who had wintered there had just left the day before. Our site backed up to the bird sanctuary. Lots of different parrots in cages and a big pound with ducks and swans in it. The beach is about a block and a half walk from the campground. Beautiful beach. So clean and the sand was made up of shells. We wished we had brought our bikes cause the island is so small and traffic is tight that bikes are the best way to get around. The going rate to rent bikes is $14 a day. But there was a little old man in our campground who rented then for $5. He was quite a character with all kinds of tales to tell. After supper when we were cleaning dishes a truck lit up the road in front of our camper. That's when I saw a huge snake. A man was standing right there so I went over to ask him what kind of snake it was. Myron did not come along. I thought the man said a rattler. I said don't be teasing me I'm from North Dakota I know what a rattler is. He said it was a Rat Snake. A harmless big brown snake that eats palm rats. The rats come out of the trees at night and go over to the bird sanctuary where they eat the seed that the birds have dropped. We were in the rat-snake crawl way. Didn't bother me a bit. Really got a kick out of all the little lizards running around. I believe they are called anoles, not sure of the spelling.
Tue. 27th. We actually slept in till 9:00! Spent a lot of time at the beach then came back to shower because we had a dolphin cruise scheduled at 4:30 and it took at least an hour to drive up to the north side of the island to Captiva Island. Myron started giving a camper tour, this might have been his 7th, I said I had to get showered up. As I was showering I kept hoping Myron was in the shower too. Got back and found Myron giving his 9th camper tour! Arrrgggh! Sorry but I had to break up the party. We got to our cruise on time and it was really nice. Got to see four groups of dolphins. When the captain sees dolphins he tells everyone on the boat to start whistling and clapping then he speeds up the boat and the dolphins come to play in the wake. Tried to take pictures that didn't work so well but I did get a little video.
Wed. 28th. Took our rental bikes for a long ride to the J "Ding" Darling wildlife sanctuary. Had a real nice time there. A bike is the way to go but I swear why is the wind always against you on the way home! Finished up the day at the beach. Myron looked like a big red tomato. Me, I browned up real well to a point that Myron calls "brown as a turd." The man has such a way with words.
Thurs. 29th Got up at 6:00 and headed east across Florida. In south Naples a young guy at a stop light signaled for Myron to roll down his window he wanted to know where Myron BOUGHT his camper. Really made Myron's day. There was a canal along the highway that people were fishing in along with the alligators. We stopped at a rest area called the Oasis and saw some huge ones. Driving down highway 1 is slow going mostly 2 lane and it goes right through all the towns. Drove over the 7 mile bridge and got to our campground in Sugarloaf Key around 4:00. Nice campground, should be for 80 bucks a night. Came with it's own beach on the Atlantic ocean, had a huge heated pool, and an outdoor bar.
Friday, 30th We went to Key West for the day. Parked the car and did a lot of walking. Went to Jimmy Buffets original Margarittaville, Ernest Hemmingway's house--complete with 50 cats, many with six toes, the Mel Fisher Shipwreck Museum. Walked along Duval street. Myron and I aren't big partiers so we didn't do the Duval Crawl from pub to pub. But we did stop and have a nice meal in a street side bistro. Got in trouble for feeding French fries to a pigeon. Couldn't help it he looked so pathetic! Little beggar. Then we took in the sunset celebration at Mallory Square. There they have many different street performers working for tips
Sat. Mar.31 We drove over to the Florida Keys Deer refuge and saw one right away. They look like our white tail deer but are half the size. Then we went to a state park called Bahai Honda. They have beach frontage on both the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Loved swimming and snorkeling there. Wanted to rent kayaks but the wind was too rough and they weren't renting. On the way back to our camper we stopped at a Winn-Dixie grocery store. I had never been in one before. When you first walk in and make a right turn where we have the canned goods specials in our stores they have wine. At the end of every aisle they have wine. I'm not sure how they manage to fit groceries in!
April 1 Sunday We had a little trouble sleeping cause we both had some degree of sunburn. Broke camp and headed back north. We stopped for a bit in Key Largo just so I could look at the boat the "African Queen" I love that movie. Stayed one night in the O'leno Florida State Park.. That's where we saw the sign about not swimming when alligators are present. Duh!!!!
April 2 Monday. We did a little hiking in the park before we hit the road. Stayed that night in the Paul Johnson Mississippi State campground.
April 3 Tue. Got to the Crater of Diamonds state park around 4:30 near Murfreesboro, Arkansas. Ran across lots of states with cities of the same name. We just made camp and relaxed.
April 4, Wed. Went down to the diamond field around 10 stayed till 1:30. Took a break and then went back at 3. Stayed till 5 with no luck. Didn't even spot anything that looked promising. 3 people found diamonds that day but not us! Went out for supper that night in a little cafe that was real gung ho on the Arkansas Razorbacks college football team. Really good food. Nice clean restaurant and great waitstaff. Of all the southern states I think I like Arkansas bet. Nice people like North Dakota only they have lots of trees and hills. They should send some our way they have more than they need!
April 5, Thurs. Back on the road , Without getting into too much detail I got a little sick on our trip. So the first hospital listed on the map was in Waldron, AR. I stopped at their clinic and got fixed up with about $185 worth of meds and was back on the road. Now the weather was getting unseasonably cold in the south and we were headed north. We hadn't brought any cold weather clothes and as I wasn't feeling the best we decided to just head on home. That night we stayed at a Wal-Mart in Nebraska City. I had bought a plant in Florida for my mom. That night in the car it froze! It was 24 degrees that night and we didn't have the benefit of our electric blanket!
April 6, Friday Near Council Bluff Nebraska we had snow showers! We stopped in Mitchell, SD to look at the corn palace and shop at Cabelas, a huge sporting goods store. We don't have one at home. The corn palace is a huge mural made fresh every year with corn cobs.
We got home by 8 that night. When we left it was spring in North Dakota. We came back to winter!
When we got home Ted our kitty was unbelievably affectionate. Might have had something to do with the furnace breaking down a day before we got home and he was a cold kitty!
We had a great time. The little camper worked really well. It pulled easily behind my car and was so maneuverable in thick traffic. We had such a good time we are planning a road trip next year to California to take in the Pamplin Grove gathering. This June we are all set for Minden! A teardrop is really the way to go for long distance travel!
