11/20/2018 10/10-11/20/2018
Shortly after I wrote the last post, we watched in horror as Huricane Michael slammed into the beautiful Florida Panhandle. It virtually wiped the town of Mexico Beach off the map. 13 of the State Parks we had just visited were damaged so badly a few of them are still closed. 100s of people lost everything, and at least 36 people lost their lives. The search still is ongoing for the missing. The devastation is mind-boggling and the recovery will take years. Some areas will never be the same. Trees that were 100s of years old are gone. The beauty will come back, but probably not in our life time...it is very sad, but having just seen how beautiful it all was is a blessing too. Keep them in your thoughts.
We spent 2 weeks at Gamble Rogers, enjoying the beach & watching all the bikers come into the campground for the annual Biketoberfest at Daytona, which is a 15 minute ride down A1A along the beach. We had dinner with friends who live a few miles away and we even went and saw a movie, in a theater. But we spent a lot of evenings watching the waves with the sun setting behind us and putting the interesting lights a sunset creates on the crashing waves. It was a very relaxing 2 weeks.
We got home in time for a raft of doctor appointments, part of being a 'senior'. Our grand-daughter turned 19, my, where did that time go? Then it was Halloween. Grandkids are done with that, but we spent the evening at our daughter's house passing out candy to all the kids in their neighborhood. In between, we worked on planning our next adventure for next summer and did some maintenance to the motor home, which is 18 years old, so that is mandatory.
Then we were off again on our last jaunt of 2018. We made our way south, stopping at an out of the way State Park that we kept missing. Then we set up camp at Saint Lucie South Army Corps Park near Stuart for the weekend. We spent Sat. visiting 3 State Parks from North Miami to Palm Beach along the Atlantic. All three were in the middle of urban areas, like an oasis in the desert. Beautiful Preserves surrounded by high rises & traffic. It was a very interesting day and enlightening too.
Then on Sunday, we drove the 80 or so miles to Kissimmee River Preserve State Park northwest of Okeechobee. It is also the very last of the Florida State Parks in our quest to see all 161 State Parks. Yes, we have been on this quest for 3+ years, and what an adventure it has been. We have camped at State Parks all over America, and in our opinion, Florida has the very best parks, campgrounds & facilities. The beauty, history & places to camp, swim, kayak, fish, picnic, relax on a beach & go sailing are almost endless. There are museums, Indian mounds, lakes, rivers, and one cool walking swamp digger...on & on. It has been a very fun time. We also got together with 6 of our friends from NY wintering in Florida, for lunch. And being Kissimmee Prairie SP is so far off the beaten path, it is Certified Dark Sky and a prime spot to attempt our first try at capturing stars with a camera...we had moderate success, and are using the experience as a learning opportunity. We will continue to try.
We have been home for 10 days and have been hard at getting more plans made for next summer. I will go into that on my next post when we get everything set. We attended the UCF/Cincinnati football game last Saturday with our son, Mark & our grandson Tyler. 3 generations of sports fans. And UCF won their 23rd straight game, a current record among NCAA teams. We are getting ready for Thanksgiving in a couple of days...we are very thankful for our health, our family, our friends & our ability to travel and see our beautiful world, we really are blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving to all and also all the other holidays coming up. I will be writing in the new year.
Steve & Barb Larson
