Live, Breathe, Move

Mardi Gras 2014 – New Orleans, Louisiana

Posted on March 18, 2014 | 2 comments

Written by: Jeremy

Well, it has been a couple of weeks since we visited New Orleans and Robin had promised to author this blog, but I don’t see it happening. So in the interest of keeping things somewhat moving, I decided to knock this out.

We mentioned in our last blog that we decided to venture out to NOLA for Mardi Gras from our spot in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. We boarded the dogs, cashed in a few hotel points and got a room at a hotel in the French Quarter on the Sunday before Mardi Gras.

We showed up early so as to beat the traffic, dumped the F250 with the hotel Valet and headed out on foot for some eggs and Bloody Mary’s and to do a little sightseeing in town before the festivities got underway. This was a different place day versus night, that is for sure.

Well, yada, yada, our day did not end until about 1 am on Monday as we strolled down Bourbon street in a surreal experience weaving between the drunks and druggies in an eye opening display that was about what you would expect. It was crazy but we never did feel unsafe. Sorry, both of our phones were dead by the end of the night so not many good late night photos to share.

Although NOLA and the Mardi Gras parades were fun, this was a people watcher’s paradise. A once in a lifetime experience that we may or may not feel the need to repeat…ever. We partied, ate, drank, watched some parades, caught some beads, and even met some friends that were also in town for the festivities.

All in all, we experienced exactly what we wanted for Mardi Gras 2014 and we almost escaped without injury. Robin caught an unusually heavy set of beads whipped at her and the tail end flung around and hit her square in the forehead. The swelling lasted most of the night but did not dampen her enthusiasm. All the drinks probably helped as did some repositioning of her bangs.

I am not sure that I have anything really profound to say about our experience at Mardi Gras in New Orleans so I will just post some pictures of some floats and weirdo’s.

Upon returning to our month long home in Bay St. Louis we were tired and kind of regretted agreeing to march in the Monday night Bay Saint Louis parade with our fellow snow birders in an evening when temperatures dropped into the 30’s. All in all, we completed our Mardi Gras Journey, if not in style, at least with a shred of dignity still intact.

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Posted in General Commentary, Jeremy Blog, Live, Louisiana, Move, Uncategorized

Tagged mardi gras, Mardi Gras 2014, New Orleans

Drowning in a sea of gratitude (and rain) – Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Posted on March 5, 2014 | Leave a comment

Written By: Jeremy

As I spend yet another day inside on the computer instead of outside playing golf, it is hard not to get down at the unprecedented winter of poor weather on the southern gulf coast of the United States of America. It is hard not to grumble about how we should have wintered in the Southwest, or say we are never coming back here.

The truth is that we are disappointed in the weather, but I assume that is not something unique to us in the winter of 2014. In reality, we are having the time or our lives. We are seeing parts of the country we have never seen. Unlike most, we get to experience these places more as locals than as visitors. Realistically we are something between visitor and local and we are not the typical snow-birder either.

As I mentioned previously, we were looking to find a place to settle down for a month or so and away from the train noise. Well, we found our spot in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi at the charming Bay Hide Away RV resort.

Yes, the rain has been extreme and as I write we are talking about whether or not to venture out to the first local Mardi Gras parade we had been looking forward to. Although understandably soggy, overall, the park has been quiet, down to earth, and exactly what we needed for a month. Robin has had a pretty busy couple of weeks of working and we even had a chance to do some interior painting of our trailer. Maybe we will share more pictures once we are done, but right now we still have some work to do. All in good time.

As I mentioned before this is our 20th place in 11 states in just under 5 months. As I write it has just occurred to me that we have now spent the greatest majority of our time on the road in the State of Mississippi. As I think about that now, this seems somewhat of an odd choice for us. Besides being about the only state with a name over five letters that I know how to spell, I had never previously visited the state and mostly what I knew about the state is some less than flattering health and education statistics. Although I don’t have any hard statistics to support it, after spending a month here, I venture to guess that it may also lead the nation in the number of people that commute primarily shirtless and in the back bed of a pickup truck. To say that Mississippi was not at the top of our list of must visit states would be an understatement.

I would love to tell you that after spending a month and a half in this state that I was completely wrong about Mississippi and that all of those horrifying stereotypes and statistics must be wrong. To be honest, you don’t have to spend much time here at all to see how and why those statistics are what they are, but at the same time there is another Mississippi stereotype that we did not expect based on our experience in other southern areas. The people here absolutely do embody the stereotype that you think of when you hear about “southern hospitality”.

Much like the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama, Robin and I don’t exactly blend in seamlessly with the society here in Mississippi. Maybe it is our northern accents, our lack of appreciation of Nascar, Robin’s somewhat amusing lack of ability to decipher southern dialect, or our crazy belief that chicken is still “meat”. Regardless, wherever we go, we get funny looks and sometimes funny service when we venture out amongst the locals and quiz waiters about the content of the food.

Yes, the food and language can be a challenge, and if I get served one more food item in a giant Styrofoam container, I may scream, but that aside, the people of Mississippi are absolutely the most friendly, welcoming, and even entertaining people that we have come across in our travels to date. Wherever we go, smiling faces, and a friendly and sincere “Y’all come back now” is boomed as we make our way to the exit.

The local workers, waiters and town folks that we have encountered are friendly, talkative and curious but, regardless of how many eyebrows we raise, I don’t think I have seen a single roll-of-the-eyes like I kept seeing over and over again in some other southern towns as we make futile requests for menu substitutions or directions to recommended and non existent places to walk dogs. Yes, we have found that people here are just generally friendly and happy! It could be the fact that this is the Mardi Gras season but more realistically, I think this is just a friendly place with a genuine good sense of humor.

There is no such thing as a quick trip in and out of a store as someone is bound to want to converse. Sure, a lot of times the conversation is unusually loud and uni-directional, but that is part of the charm. We like the energy and vibe.

Michelle and Joe at the Bay Hide Away, could not be nicer and we have really been made to feel at home and included with the snow-birder crowd at the RV park. Unlike other snow-birder havens, we have been invited to all of the community clubhouse activities like Bingo and the chili cook-off.

Not only were we invited people seem genuinely disappointed if we don’t show up. Sure our two-bean sweet potato chili didn’t stand a chance against the winning no-bean, two-meat chili but nonetheless, we had a good time sharing a meal and some laughs with our fellow travelers.

The little town of Bay Saint Louis is a quiet and charming, artsy town and we enjoyed some good meals and a “second Saturday” event where we visited a bunch of art galleries and antique shops and listened to some music being played in the streets.

The nearby dog friendly beach has become a favorite afternoon destination about ten minutes from the park.

We have even gotten to visit a couple of decent, well-priced, albeit soggy golf courses in between rain storms. I played a round where at least 6 of 18 holes were played in a complete fog with visibility less than 100 yards. Interesting golf experience, I will leave it at that.

We were able to entice a couple of our new nomad friends to join us at the Bay Hide Away as they make their way west. We love the fact that we are developing an actual community, even though it is a rolling group. Very strange, fun, and not something we necessarily expected. Even though we all live in RV’s and travel full time, they feel very much like the friends and neighbors we have had in any other place we have lived. We plan to meet up with them again in NOLA for Mardi Gras and probably other places as we all continue on in divergent yet somewhat consistent directions across the US.

We also had a chance to visit a great local microbrewery called Lazy Magnolia located in Kiln, the hometown of Brett Favre. Our brewery tour guide Ginger, was stand up comic funny and just as quick to make fun of us northerners as she was to make light of her own home state. They make great beer and they are most known for their “Southern Pecan” Nut Brown Ale. If you are a hop-head like us, you might like our favorite flavor, “Southern Hopspitality” IPA. Even if you are not a beer drinker this was a funky and interesting operation to visit for sure. We have been to quite a few brewery tours over the years and this one one of the more entertaining experiences but probably not the most informative. I have a feeling that Lazy Magnolia brew is going to become more well known in the upcoming months and years as their distribution spreads around the country and picky microbrew connoisseurs catch on.

As we are getting closer to Mardi Gras we have scrapped our original plan to move to the NOLA area and we are going to instead venture out from here for our visit to Bourbon Street. I think a second “Mardi Gras” themed blog will be in order and believe it or not, it looks like Robin and I will also be joining our fellow snow-birders at the Bay Hide Away as we get the opportunity to March in an actual Mardi Gras parade here in Bay St. Louis. Normally this would be the kind of activity that I would avoid like the plague, but here in Mississippi, this seems to be the kind of experiential opportunity that should not be wasted. Even if just for a day, I am going to do my best to be like a true Mississippian and not take myself too seriously. Who knows, by the end of the night, I might be the one catching a ride shirtless in the back of a pickup truck.

As yet another month on the road rolls by, we are still pretty much under water and completely over the rain but we are also drowning in gratitude for everything we are getting to experience in this new lifestyle. Although it can be difficult to remember in the rain, or when other challenges arise overall, we have to pinch ourselves every day and with every new adventure.

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The Train Keeps on Rolling – Biloxi, Mississippi

Posted on February 3, 2014 | 3 comments

Written by: Jeremy

After leaving our week at Dauphin Island, Alabama, Robin and I had a long talk and decided we are both a little travel weary. Although we have loved our time on the road, we have been maintaining a challenging schedule for our first ever RV trip. We have been on the road for a little over four months, or half of our planned trip. Including our current location of Biloxi, Mississippi, we have stayed in twenty different locations in eleven different states. Our longest stay to date has been a couple of two week long stents. Our typical stay has been one week.

Yes, we have kept it rolling and considering that this is exactly what we had planned and budgeted for, I am proud of our perseverance and generally positive attitude as we transition to a fun but challenging new lifestyle. When reading the blogs of other full-timers as we prepared for the trip, I was always the most interested and inspired by those that move a lot. Seeing different places, climates, and cultures was what it is all about for me. Although not every town culture and climate is exactly perfect, it is all part of the journey and exactly what we set out to experience.

I guess that is why we did not at all mind being a part of the 2014 winter ice apocalypse “Leon”. An inch of snow and ice descended on the beach and roads in a part of the country that does not typically get it and is not prepared for it. I have always thought that people in the South just don’t know how to drive in bad weather. I can tell you that this is only half of the problem. The other is that the snow is not really snow here. It is white ice. They also don’t have equipment to deliver salt to all of the road but that really isn’t the problem either. They don’t even have salt to spread, just sand.

We are experienced snow drivers and we have lived in the Midwest, Aspen and our current home sits at an elevation of 9,500 feet above sea level. An inch of snow in these places doesn’t exactly halt traffic or close stores. With that said I can assure you that I would not have even dreamed of driving my 4×4 truck on a street here in Biloxi during or immediately after this storm. It was a complete mess and we just hunkered down in the trailer with the animals for a couple of days.

The weather for the rest of our week in Biloxi was just fine. Great in fact. Because of that, I am actually happy that we got the opportunity to experience a 25 year historic storm. I realize that may not make complete sense to readers sitting in the Midwest this winter, but ice skating on a sandy beach on the Gulf of Mexico is not something many people can say they have done.

To be honest Biloxi was not even a planned stop. While trip planning in Alabama, we got a message from my brother asking if we were going to be anywhere near Biloxi this week. He had a business trip here and was staying at one of the many casinos hotels in the area. Turns out we were planning to drive through Biloxi on the exact weekend he was scheduled to arrive. So we simply decided to stay in Biloxi for the week instead of driving through. What a great coincidence and exactly the type of freedom and flexibility that makes my strong push to not over plan seem worthwhile. We got a chance to hang out with my older brother as well as a chance to have a much needed fun night and dinner out at the Beau Rivage Casino. The storm even ended up causing him to get stuck in town for a couple of extra nights. We did a little gambling and sightseeing and he got a chance to experience a bit of trailer life.

We picked the Cajun RV Park primarily because it had the best reviews in Biloxi and because it was close to the hotel/casino where my brother was staying. Although our pre-arrival expectations of Biloxi were not all that high, upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised with the nice spacious site and the close beach access as well as access to golf courses and some shopping that we have not had for quite a while. In fact, we talked long and hard about just settling down here in Biloxi for an entire month. It seemed like as good a place as any and the monthly rate at the RV park was desirable. We were tired and we were also trying to slow down a little. If we could just get a quiet month to catch up on some work and sleep and not have to move four times we thought we might get recharged enough to be ready to meet some friends in the Big Easy for this big annual party we have heard a thing or two about.

Well, our excitement and plan to stay at this place for a month fizzled quickly. Within the first few hours lounging around our campground the first train went by. Robin and I both stood looking at each other in silence and disbelief as our entire trailer rattled while the train rumbled by, blowing its horn at full decibel within a stones throw of our great new site. An hour or so later brought another train. We had read some reviews that mentioned the train but most only noted it as a small annoyance and not a real problem. Well, it turns out, an obnoxious train that comes about every couple of hours including all night long is a huge problem for us. The train map indicates that it would have been tough to avoid regardless of which Biloxi RV park we picked. Unfortunately, it appears the train noise is just as much a part of the Biloxi, Mississippi experience as a shrimp po boy with sweet tea.

As I write this on a Saturday morning, our last in Biloxi, Robin and I are more exhausted than we were when we first arrived a week ago and had the conversation about how tired we were. Oh well, this is part of the experience. We are writing this blog about our real life on the road and all the challenge that goes along with it. So for us, although we are both desperately ready for a quiet and stationary month, just like the trains of Biloxi, we are going to keep on rolling.

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Posted in Camp Ground Reviews, General Commentary, Jeremy Blog, Live, Mississippi, Move

Tagged Biloxi, Cajun RV Park, live breathe move

Dauphin Island is for the Dogs

Posted on January 29, 2014 | 6 comments

Our most recent destination was yet another remote beach location off the gulf coast of Alabama, Dauphin Island. This was a small somewhat run down island which was obviously once a booming vacation destination but now, at least in January, is primarily a place for oil workers and old folks that want to spend their golden years and modest retirement savings fishing and worshiping. The entrance to the island was spectacular and intimidating when pulling the trailer.

After checking in at the Dauphin Island Park Camping Area, and before we even got set up we were greeted by a friendly although quite a bit our senior fellow snowbirder who was intrigued by our Colorado license plates. After explaining how and why we were here, we were informed of the RV park bingo schedule, the locations of the fish cleaning station, the general store and each Church broken down by denomination. What else could we need to know?

No golf courses, hipster bars or $13 vegan sandwiches here. Just a somewhat run down camping area, a bunch of dilapidated, hurricane whipped houses and a dog-pee drenched beach with endless views of off shore oil and gas rigs. Or as Hank and Rufus like to call it “heaven on earth”!

Yes, once again we found ourselves on a remote island miles from a city. To be honest, after months of island hopping, the excitement of an empty beach in cool weather has somewhat dulled for us. After a week in the exciting vacation town of Sea Side/Grayton Beach and the impressive Florida State Park network, we were probably a little let down by this location and what little there was to do. I can’t say that we didn’t see this coming. We had done plenty of research and we knew exactly where we were going and what it had to offer and didn’t.

Truth be told, Hank and Rufus lobbied hard and picked this island, not Robin and me. While I am not about to subject my dogs to the psychological abuse of having an owner that writes blogs as the pet, I can honestly say that we probably would not have picked this location if not for their enthusiastic input. Although they primarily communicate their preference via Robin’s subconscious, their opinion is real, and satisfying their needs (sometimes above our own) is really no different than if we had kids. Trust me when I say, if they are not happy, we are not happy.

In fact, some of the most fun and social locations for us, Charlotte, Cedar Key and Grayton Beach were not particularly great for the boys. The town of Cedar Key was very dog friendly but the hiking access that we had directly from the RV park was not ideal and nor was the amount of time we spent “out” and them “in”.

Although we knew that there might not be much night life for us humans, we compromised and chose the next place, Three Rivers State Park, primarily for the dogs. We then alternated back to the humans playground of Grayton Beach. As we mentioned in our previous blog, this was one of the most pristine beaches we have ever been but unfortunately, no dogs allowed.

As we walked every day toward the dog allowed dunes area at Grayton Beach, Hank would always take the right-hand turn toward the beach access trail and by the large NO DOGS ALLOWED sign. He would look back at us over his shoulder and the fully extended retractable leash as we explained that the state of Florida does not allow dogs on the beach even when it is in the middle of winter and even when no one else is around. Although he knew exactly what we were saying he completed rejected the law based on premise and he usually hiked is leg as he walked back away from the beach and past that sign. We then lead him to the “dog friendly” hiking area where we would spend half of our walk pulling sand spur thorns out of his paws.

After eleven days at Grayton, the dogs had been patient but we were going somewhere primarily for them and not for us. Dauphin Island met their needs nicely. The large beach was private to the campground and off leash friendly. We rarely saw other people as the weather was a bit cool for most. There was plenty of dead jellyfish to lick as well as dog poops and pees to smell and do everywhere!

There was also a network of swamp trails and a bird sanctuary that was absolutely perfect for dogs. Our RV site also had a pretty nice “yard” for lounging and napping. Overall we had a blast, probably similar to how parents say they enjoy places like Disney World. You can say all you want that it is fun for adults too, but lets face it, if you didn’t have kids you wouldn’t go within a 50 miles of that place. That is about how I would describe Dauphin Island for us during this week long winter visit.

One of our favorite activities in a new town is to seek out the local bars and restaurants. During our week at Dauphin Island we ate out four times. Although I won’t go into great detail about each location, what I can say is that the Chevron and Grill was probably the best meal we had out and the name is exactly what you think it is. That should tell you quite a bit about the Dauphin Island restaurant scene overall. JT’s Sunset Grill was OK but like I said, probably not better than the gas station food around the corner with a similar menu. There was really nothing wrong with our lunch at Barnacle Bills and I think that is a complete and fair review of the place. Islander’s Restaurant and Bar was a somewhat nicer beach side atmosphere and bar but with horrendous food. The calamari appetizer we ordered may go down as one of the worst dishes I have ever been served at a restaurant. Maybe at some point we will start posting actual Yelp Reviews but right now keeping up with this blog is all I have. Sorry Dauphin Island, Alabama, I don’t mean to be so critical, but from what we saw, restaurants are not your thing.

We also went to check out the bar scene at The Pelican Pub but it was also not our speed and one drink was more than enough. The bar was on the water and it looked nice enough but before we had completed our order we were ready for the check. No music whatsoever and all bar TV’s were locked on Fox News with the volume up loud. Most of the women had voices deeper than mine and the tipsy locals propped up on bar stools started most conversation with the always disputable Alabama, drawl proclamation “I am not a racist but….”. The outdated bar and décor matched the opinions being openly expressed and this was no place for a couple of Colorado hippies seeking micro brews. I always wondered why some people think that only degenerates drink at bars. I guess that is because in some places it is true and we often forget that Colorado is not representative of the entire country. We decided to do our eating and drinking at the trailer for the rest of the week and once again that decisions was quite satisfying to the dogs and our stomachs.

Although my overall opinion of the island and people is not particularly high, there was plenty of nature to see and we visited the local Sea Lab Estuarium and Fort Gaines historic site; both were enjoyable but nothing to blog home about.

There was also a Mobile Bay Ferry that transported cars on and off the island to a port that was right beside the campground. We did not ride on this ferry as it was closed to RV’s when we had planned to cross upon arrival. The port was fairly busy transporting cars as well as ships traveling back and forth to the oil rigs. Robin and I did have regular competitions to see if we could correctly name the boat that was going by based on the engine sound filling our trailer. The engine sound of Mr. Ethan became easily discernible after a few days.

These were all interesting considering where we were and considering what little else there was to do, but overall, I would not recommend making a trip based on any of these attractions. In all fairness this is a pretty place and I’ll bet it’s a different situation in the summer when the water is warm and the dolphins are out to be seen. I hope the tone of this blog was not too harsh. We are beyond lucky to live this island life and we appreciate these magnificent places even when the attached towns leave something to be desired.

So in summary, when traveling as a family sometimes compromise has to be made and the needs of all family members have to be considered. Even when a location is not exactly paradise for a golf obsessed snowbirder in his thirties, I can be just as happy watching my tennis ball obsessed eleven year old dog do his thing and have the time of his life on an island made for a dog.

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Posted in Alabama, Camp Ground Reviews, Jeremy Blog, Live, Move, Pets, Uncategorized

Tagged Dauphin Island

Living Life on Vacation

Posted on January 21, 2014 | 5 comments

Written By: Jeremy

After leaving our wonderful social holiday spot at Cedar Key, Florida, Robin and I both needed to slow down and get some work done. We decided to ring in the New Year at Three Rivers State Park. It was a typical State Park setup with 50 Amp sites with water only, no sewer.

The bath house was close by and satisfactory. Overall it seemed like a great park with the exception that it rained and was cold and cloudy all seven days we were there. We managed to get out each day to walk the dogs but other than that it was indoor time, lots of reading, DirecTV and even some Wii Golf.

In some locations you can just head out and hit the town but here, in the nearest town of Sneeds, the coolest place was a farm and feed store. I am not really being completely sarcastic, I could spend all day in one of these places.

The weather did not seem to deter the duck hunting that started each morning at 6am sharp. I have never duck hunted but I would not have guessed that the average duck requires 6-8 shots from a semi-automatic shotgun to take down. Apparently it does. Or I guess you shoot 6-8 at a time. Probably why we had a pretty nice flock of colorful ducks huddled close to the State Park boat dock most days.

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After a wet and cool week we packed up and headed to a spot that had been recommended, Grayton Beach State Park near Destin. We spent 12 nights here and these would be our last days in the state of Florida. This was a cool place and our campsite backed up to a salt marsh.

Once again, our only complaint is, that of the 12 days, we only had sun for two. In fact, for people coming from Denver’s 300 days of sun per year, we have struggled with almost a month straight of clouds and rain as we passed through The Sunshine State.

I guess we should be disappointed that our vacation was ruined and we did not get a chance to do any of the biking, canoeing or beachcombing we had hoped! But then, we have to remind ourselves that unfortunately we aren’t on vacation. We just happen to live in these different vacation places, and sometimes it does rain, or snow, or generally suck for a month or two out of a year. As long as we remind ourselves that we are not on vacation, then we don’t get too discouraged as we pull away from an undoubtedly cool state park that we primarily experienced from our rainy office window as we pounded out 40 hour work weeks. At least our dog walks never get routine. Looking back at some of these photos, it is hard to remember that they were mostly taken over only a couple of nice days.

Unlike Three Rivers State Park, our new location, Grayton Beach, was definitely a vacation town, There was plenty to do and this place had a hardy appetite for our money. Unlike previous vacation mecca’s like Myrtle Beach, that have block after block of beach stores where nothing cost more than $5 dollars, this place’s tee-shirt shops are called “outfitters” and the tee shirts cost $50. I am sure you know the kind of place.

The sunrise was a main event if we were up before 7:00 am and it wasn’t raining.

It was funny how our big blue F-250 diesel with giant mutt heads hanging out the windows would stick out in a parking lot full of white SUV’s with matching white Scottish Terriers on board. I was happy to find a vegan/vegetarian food truck (airstream) and I eagerly ordered a vegetarian sandwich on seed bread. It was as good as a cucumber and tomato sandwich gets, which is not $12.95 good.

This was definitely the off-season, and most of the eclectic bar’s and restaurants had an off-season feel to them.

Typical packed hipster bars like The Red Bar were only half packed and they had quite a few white-hairs among the hipsters looking for tables, a bite to eat or some live music.

We read some things online about how much the local establishments and service people hate this time of year, when all of the old folks ascend from the trailer park or winter condo looking for early bird specials and two for ones. We couldn’t exactly figure out why the service staff everywhere we went seemed to also dislike us. We aren’t those retired white haired snowbirders looking for the early bird! We work and are young and only some of our hair is white. And when we go out for dinner at 4:30 pm we are looking for happy hour deals not early bird specials! Why do they roll their eyes at us when we make them recalculate the bill because they forgot to take 50 cents off of the beer prices? We aren’t those people they hate! The real problem is that these kids now a’days don’t even understand the value of a dollar.

Um… on second thought I guess we are those people. (RVL #9): Just because we live on vacation, we can’t always spend like we are on vacation. Likewise, I guess we should not expect to be treated like we are on vacation either. If nothing else, it explains that sour, poop under their nose, look of general disdain that we see on the face of so many of our fellow snowbirders as we battle for elbow room and half price shrimp nachos.

Oh, well, I celebrated a very happy birthday in Grayton Beach and we generally had a good time. Although dogs are not allowed on the beach here, there was a good dune area with dog friendly hiking.

We also bought a screen room for our trailer and that was a nice addition for bad weather days. Mostly it was just a nice place that we could trash without making our camp site look like a complete mess.

In any event, and in any weather it is good to remember the beauty in every place and weather condition.

So long Florida it was fun, but we are heading West.

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Posted in Florida, Jeremy Blog, Live, Move, Uncategorized

Tagged Grayton Beach, Grayton Beach State Park, The Red Bar, Three Rivers State Park

There is Something About Cedar Key

Posted on December 30, 2013 | 2 comments

Written By: Jeremy and Robin

This year, our first holiday season on the road we decided that Cedar Key, Florida sounded like a good place spend a couple of weeks. We had previously joined an online group of other full timing “nomads” and this grouped organized a gathering at Sunset Isle RV park.

At first we were a little surprised to pull in and see what looked like a pin hole that I had to back the trailer into. The usual group of fellow travelers immediately ascended onto the scene to offer assistance. We could tell instantly that this park was different than any we had ever been. Parking was actually a breeze with the helpfulness of our experienced neighbors and new friends. Once we got in we realized we had a gem of spot tucked away in the back corner. Our site backs up to the salt marsh and we even have access to a shared doc area and crab cage.

For good reason, the sunsets are the claim to fame of Cedar Key. Night after night our group of new friends would gather on the docks or at the Tiki Bar next door to see what mother nature had in store and to share a drink and swap stories with a unique group of fellow Nomads.

We had a great mix of experienced road warriors and quite a few others that were newly living on the road just like us. After quite a few weeks of island hoping all on our own, our social calendar was suddenly full of happy hours, trips to wineries, potlucks, breakfasts and nights on the town.

The town of Cedar Key, Florida is charming and we got an opportunity to stock up on fresh veggies and local seafood bought along the road. The restaurants (and most things around town) are causal, quaint, quirky, and colorful – Perfect for our taste.

It is also one of the most dog-friendly towns we have been so far. They seem to be treated a little more like friends than pets. No leash laws and plenty of indoor establishments (even bars and restaurants) that allow well-behaved dogs inside. The locals find all kinds of ways to bring them along for the ride.

At our RV park, an onsite chicken coup supplies the breakfast cafe with fresh eggs and we even participated in a Christmas day potluck for all of us on the road for the holiday.

A community fire pit burns all day and night and an interesting conversation or new friend can be found about any time you stop by to warm up. Best of all, you never had to wonder if you were welcome. Pulling up a chair or striking up a conversation with a fellow traveler always seems natural and easy at this place.

There was wildlife to be seen and photographed everywhere. Unfortunately we didn’t get any good shots of the Wild Hogs and Eagles that we saw while hiking but the flock of white pelicans were pretty cool.

Although the sunsets and wildlife are the claim to fame, the local musical talent and all around unique gathering of friendly, colorful, diverse and interesting people are what made this place like no other. Maybe in the world. On any given night live bluegrass, country, gospel, or folk/rock could be found either at the clubhouse or at an informal gathering around a campfire, or a small venue in town. Some of the locals that winter here are joined by anyone that is carrying an instrument or that can carry a tune. The result is something special as is everything else about Sunset Isle RV park in Cedar Key, Florida. The experience is something we consider ourselves lucky to have been in a time and place to experience. I would try to explain better but I can’t.

RV Lesson #8: Some experiences on the road can’t be captured or recreated in a blog. You just have to live them and learn to appreciate the gift found in every present moment, unique location, and colorful personality.

As we get set to leave we are sad to say goodbye to the new friends and place that we feel like we have known forever. At the same time we are happy to have connected with a group that we are sure we will see again – either here, or wherever the road takes us.

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Posted in Camp Ground Reviews, Florida, General Commentary, Live, Move, Uncategorized

Tagged Cedar Key, Cedar Key Florida

The Island of Newly-weds and Nearly-deads

Posted on December 21, 2013 | Leave a comment

Written By: Robin

Here is the story and pictures of our trip to Jekyll Island, GA.

Our first outing to one of the local establishments helped us to better understand the current story of beautiful Jekyll Island. As we sat by the water and filled our tummies with local seafood and brew, we chatted up the “rah” bartender and got the scoop. Her description was “the island of newly-weds and nearly-deads”! After we stopped laughing she proceeded to tell us about the busy-season full of young couples getting married in the gorgeous historic district and how beautiful and prosperous the island is during the spring, summer and fall.

With temperatures in the high 60’s and mostly sunny days during our stay in early December, we found it to beautiful in the winter too. That being said, we had noticed a different feel to this island but couldn’t quite put our finger on it…until we heard her description and realized that we were the closest thing to newlyweds that we had seen there so far (and we have been married for over 11 years!) It helped to explain the strange looks we were getting.

We heard all of the stories about how this little island used to thrive for many other reasons, including their old convention center where many conferences were held. Apparently over the last 20 years many factors, including the economy and the creation of an enormous Convention Center in Savannah have taken a toll on the island, and contributed to the many closed down hotels and shops we noticed as we drove in. We thought it was just because it was “off-season”, but apparently this little gem is in a state of transition. In the last few years they have built a new state-of-the-art Convention Center, several new swanky hotels are being built and some old ones renovated. I heard from several locals throughout the week that they are “coming back”. From the looks of it, they are indeed.

The great news for us was the ability to score a nice RV site for the week, and some of the best golf prices we have experienced so far. To our surprise in early December, the local golf courses are well-maintained, nicely designed, fairly empty and super cheap! I don’t think we paid over $15.00 per person for 18 holes with a cart! We played a very unique nine-hole course that has been around for over 70 years and had a mini history lesson on several holes.

Although it was hard to resist golf every day, we also took some time out to explore the island a little. Driftwood Beach became one of our daily dog walks. A relaxing a beautiful setting to watch the shrimp boats at work, listen to the waves and let the dogs explore.

There were probably many things to do that we didn’t take advantage of this time around, like visiting the city of Brunswick which was just over the bridge. After hearing about all of the plans on the island to revive it to a bustling resort, we decided to enjoy the slow, relaxing pace that was currently the norm this time of year, without the all those newly-weds!

They joke about the “nearly-deads”, but it struck me that this lifestyle might be exactly what makes it really only a joke. Yes, the median age of the island seemed to be around 70, and yes sometimes driving 3 miles takes 15 minutes because you are behind the golf-carts that seem to replace cars here, but no one here seemed nearly-dead to me. There was no shortage of 70+ year olds walking the golf course, riding bikes and hiking around. In fact we met a delightfully lively couple at the car rental/mini-golf/pizza place who was busy planning their 65th wedding anniversary! I understand the desire to bring more business to the island, but hopefully they won’t lose the serenity that keeps even the oldest residents young at heart!

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Hunting Island State Park, SC

Posted on December 10, 2013 | 5 comments

Our previous blog focused on how great it was to use the RV to visit families even if the RV parks and locations were not always a tropical island. This is about our arrival to a park that is a tropical island. Although our previous stop at Myrtle Beach State Park gave us a taste of the weather and beach access that we have been yearning for, our arrival at Hunting Island State Park finally made the ideal the reality.

After crossing a half dozen tiny bridges including one bride where we had to pull over to avoid scraping the trailer on a passing truck. We turned left at the State Park signs and entered a beautiful, primitive jungle/beach setting that reminded us both of something out of the set of the TV series Lost. Except with rock solid 4G LTE internet access, 50 amp service, and DirecTV. There is a small path leading straight out of our private camping spot right to the beach.

We were very happy that we did not try to squeeze into the loop that is right on the beach as the weekend atmosphere was a little more crowded than our out of the way loop with secret access trail. The only possible negative is that the sites are water and electric only. The nearby bathhouse could be cleaner but then again, that is the price you pay for this type of remote and private setting.

The weather for us has been very close to ideal too. High temperatures in the mid 70’s and night time lows that are in the upper 50’s lower 60’s. Not bad for December. Considering the ice storms we are reading about on-line from seasoned snowbirding veterans, we are feeling pretty good about the timing of our current route South. Enough of me blathering on, back to some photos to take you away from your ice storms for a minute.

During high tide, the beach was almost non existent and the trees were sticking out of the water. Low tide revealed one of the coolest beach settings we have ever experienced.

Given the time of year, the beach was pretty much ours. This was a very friendly place where well behaved and trained dogs like Hank can frolic off leash. Happy dogs even on a cloudy and foggy day!

I don’t know what it is like during peak season, but for my money in mid December, this place has to be hard to beat.

Wildlife was all around including a raccoon that was a bit of a nuisance all week. He chewed a hole in our water hose and used the shower for drinking and cleaning. We were told that you have to leave water out for the raccoons to keep them from chewing your hose. Would have been nice if they told us that when we checked in. He also left his muddy foot prints up and down our truck where he seemed to enjoy exploring at nigh. I am convinced that both raccoons and squirrels would never have survived if they were not so cute. People would have exterminated them long ago if they behaved like they do but looked like possums.

A buck also made a casual appearance one afternoon.

The State Park’s claim to fame is the historic light house. The views from the top looking back at the campground beach were very cool. We did the longish hike through the jungle to the lighthouse and then took the short route back across the beach once the tide receded at little.

There were other nice hikes like the marshland boardwalk and fishing pier.

Saturday’s football games were a little disappointing for our respective Ohio State Buckeyes and Missouri Tigers, but when this is your living room it is hard to get too upset.

As I write this we are on our last day here at Hunting Island State Park. If we were headed home after a long vacation, we would be feeling that pit in our stomach right now. With our new lifestyle it feels more like we are leaving vacation to go on vacation! Until next time.

5 Comments

Posted in Camp Ground Reviews, General Commentary, South Carolina, Uncategorized

Heading to the Beach

Posted on December 9, 2013 | 3 comments

As I read on social media about the ridiculous cold temperatures and snowy weather that everyone else is experiencing, I almost feel guilty complaining about the last two cloudy days we have experienced at our current location in Sourth Carolina as we make our way south for the winter.

We left our last family stop in Ohio and headed out a couple of weeks ago to our first southern destination of choice, Charlotte, North Carolina. We set up at the Carowinds Camp Wilderness RV park on the south west part of the metro area. Nothing spectacular but we did have an angle for the DirecTV antenna and the park had some good trails for dog walking and hiking. We spent two weeks exploring the city, visiting with some good friends in the area and staying busy with our respective work. We enjoyed a night out brewery hoping near Charlotte’s NoDa Art district.

The other thing that I got to do on four different occasions while in Charlotte is my absolute favorite hobby – golf. I haven’t gotten to play as much as would have liked in the last few years and one of my big and selfish priorities for this winter is to play as much as possible. In addition to a future travel map for us I may post a golf course map of my rounds on the road at some point.

After leaving Charlotte our first beach destination was Myrtle Beach State Park. I have vacationed in the area many times over the years with family, but this was my first experience with the State Park. The Park itself was a little tighter than the typical state park setup, but the beach access was good and our particular site was very nice once we got the trailer wedged in just right.

We cooked thanksgiving dinner in the trailer and we marveled about how many people filled that park over the holiday weekend. The weather was cool but nice and I got a chance to play a few rounds of golf with my uncle who came down from Raleigh for a few days. Rufus and Hank got to experience the ocean for the first time and they really enjoyed eating everything that smelled fishy to them. Overall our visit was enjoyable and we would return to this park. We managed to get a few good sunrise photos when we got up early a couple of mornings.

From there we headed out to the first of three consecutive island destinations. Stay tuned!

3 Comments

Posted in Camp Ground Reviews, General Commentary, Jeremy Blog, Live, North Carolina, South Carolina, Uncategorized

Tagged beach, carowinds, carowinds camp wilderness, myrtle beach state park

Living in My Dream Home (Located In My In-Law’s Driveway!)

Posted on November 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

Written by: Jeremy

We have just completed a long and fun visit with our families in the Midwest and we are currently making our way South! We are set up in the Carolinas and Atlantic coast for a spell and then we are going to do some beach hopping this winter along the Gulf Coast. If nothing else, I assume our blog photos and travel tales are going to be getting better in the upcoming weeks and months. Hopefully my golf game as well. Stay tuned.

I have to admit that much of our dreams and aspirations about full timing in an RV revolved around idealistic thoughts of having a mobile home/office on the beach or near a desert golf resort; or working from a national forest and then spending weekends and evenings hiking with the dogs and playing golf or volunteering in a different warm or secluded vacation spot every week.

However, two months in, we have primarily been parked at less than thrilling urban RV parks or even our relative’s rural driveway’s as we meander across the Midwest carrying on with fairly busy work schedules during the days. Although our dreams usually consisted of more exotic destinations, we soon considered and now have experienced what a unique and fun opportunity we have to visit family while living in an RV.

From our home in Colorado, we would spend a week traveling for visits and we would alternate which family we would visit each year. Other than random weekends, weddings, and funerals, that is the extent of time that we have to spend with the people we love and grew up with and that mean so much to us. We decided a while ago that holiday travel was not desirable due to weather, traffic, animal boarding and the general travel considerations surrounding the Midwest in the winter. That usually then meant that we had to leave our perfect summer mountain weather to spend a week sweating in the Midwest.

This year however, we got to do it our way. With the RV we can set up wherever we want and whenever we want. We can work during the days and still visit with family and friends in the evenings and weekends. We can cook out and even have people over for dinner at our place (Something we love to do.) We also get to choose the season. We have always loved the fall weather in the Midwest so we decided to take advantage of our new found freedom by planning our family visit during season we enjoy the most. This way our Midwest friends and relatives do not have to listen to us complain about humidity and we have some great scenery to enjoy and share on our blog.

Having your own home and bed to return to at night also lifts some of the stress of family visits and especially pets that understandably, may or may not be as free to have the run of someone’s else’s home to the extent we tolerate in ours. Although our friends and family have been unbelievably accommodating to our unusual, stinky and dirty family, it is nice to only have to worry about apologizing for their messiness and various odors part of the day.

The other advantage of this type of visit is that you really get to spend quality time with your friends and family and not just a holiday party or quick hello and goodbye. We get to spend time seeing where our friends and families work and how they live. For the newer members of our family, we get to find out who they are.

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For those of us that are lucky enough to have family with RV parking and electric hook ups right at their house, we have the opportunity to get to know our families even better. In turn, our families certainly get to know us even better too – cousin Eddie style.

We get to participate in communal meal creation and stopping buy for drinks is no more work than getting the mail. Heck, if you are real lucky, you might even have fresh catfish to share at dinner.

Inevitably, in return, you get a better understanding of who your family is and subsequently who your own spouse is…and why. Through our respective families, I can get a better understanding of why Robin’s goodbye’s always take hours, and Robin may understand why sometimes my goodbyes consist of going outside and starting the car. It is easier for me to understand why some “stuff” is just so hard to let go of and why a long, hard, belly, laugh can be virally contagious and funny even when the joke is not.

In turn, hopefully it is easier for Robin to understand why it is not unreasonable to set your life schedule around playoff baseball on TV and why eating dinner before 7pm is so crucial to mental health. Maybe she will also understand how and why sports like golf can be an obsession that you love even when playing is not always fun.

Although time and distance do not necessarily change a person, sometimes indirectly they do. Although we no longer call places like Missouri and Ohio home, with our new lifestyle they can be, even if just for a couple of months a year.

RV Lesson #7: Although on a journey seeking an idealistic life and home, through extended visits with family and friends, it is easier to see that our former lives and homes were not all that far from ideal. We have found that our new full-time RV lifestyle can shorten that distance and bring us closer to home than ever. And possibly closer to your home too!

(FYI, these RV Lesson’s are starting to feel and sound cheesy and forced to me. I may not include these in all future posts as we begin to document our snowbird travels hopefully more frequently)

Live, Breathe, Move

Mardi Gras 2014 – New Orleans, Louisiana

Drowning in a sea of gratitude (and rain) – Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

The Train Keeps on Rolling – Biloxi, Mississippi

Dauphin Island is for the Dogs

Living Life on Vacation

There is Something About Cedar Key

The Island of Newly-weds and Nearly-deads

Hunting Island State Park, SC

Heading to the Beach

Living in My Dream Home (Located In My In-Law’s Driveway!)

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