FLORIDA WEEK 1: ARRIVE IN ONE PIECE

Sorry, for not posting in about a week. Florida Week 1 was really busy with lots of stuff going on, so I have been working on this week as one big post. I'm going to try and hit all the highlights of the day and if we have picture I will add them too. I'm hoping to have this week post by Sunday or Monday at the latest. 

18 Feb

With 621 miles of road ahead of us and a three days window to get there we were not in any hurry. We left Azalea Acres in AL around 10:00 am with a group of six people to see us off and wish us a safe trip. As we drove out of the park, others came to the roadside to waved to say their goodbye. Then we hit the highway taking I 10 East at a blazing steady pace of 60 mph (speed limit 70 mph). For some reason there was strong crosswinds all the way to Fort Myers, so we played it safe and took our time. Other drivers on the road must have been in a hurry to get somewhere, as they were passing us like we were standing still. Our goal was to get on I 75 South by night fall, but after passing into Eastern Standard Time Zone we lost an hour so we pulled over for the night at a rest stop just East of Tallahassee, FL.

                                       
                                                    The wife starting us off on the road

                                        What the traffic looked like most of the way to Ft Myers

                                            Florida's gas prices, that why we dove 60 MPH

19 Feb

Woke up to temperatures in the high 50's, with no outlet power to turn the heater on we jumped in the driver seat withe the heater on and started driving to the next rest stop. 30 miles later we arrived worm and ate breakfast. As soon as we reached I 75 South the weather warmed up pretty fast, I had to change from jeans to shorts. We stopped at a rest stop to eat lunch. The weather was nice, so we ate outside under a picnic table. With plenty of time to spare, we took about a two hour break to eat lunch and take a nap. To our surprised the traffic was not a problem, we were driving at our 60 mph pace and it was smooth driving all the way to Punta Gorda, FL. With only 30 miles left to the Lake RV Park, we stopped for the night at a rest stop. In Florida, the signs say no over night parking, but we had no issues. There was even an armed patrol car at both rest stops and not one knock on our door to move on. 

                                            Tree at the rest stop where we ate breakfast

                                                  Lunch of Champions, Japanese Tuna Fish

                                                Enjoying lunch under the sun at a rest stop

                                                                     Rest Stop Palm trees

                                          Bug that flow into the RV window (he did not make it)

20 Feb

Woke up to thick fog, so we decided to wait it out until it cleared. After the fog cleared, we were back on the road to finish our  last 30 miles. We arrived at Lakes RV Park, to our surprised it was right on the main road however, the park is pretty quit. We are right in the middle of all kinds of stores and restaurants. Our camp site is small, we had a tight fit between two light poles and a concrete slab for a patio. After a few tries, the wife finally got the RV in and I hooked everything up. The rest of the day, we just settled in put our stuff the way we like it.

                                                           First sunset at the RV park

21 Feb

The first full day in Ft Myers and we want to get to know our surrounding. We drove to find what store are near by for our groceries and eat-out for some dinners. We also found the Minnesota Twins (7 miles away) and Boston Red Sox (15 miles away) spring training facilities. I plan to attend both parks to see practices and maybe a game or two.

22 Feb
Our neighbor told us of the farmers market in the park, so we headed there in the morning. We got a few things and then wanted to walk around the park a little. The park is BIG. We did not even get close to walking half the park. We saw direction sign and decided to come back on our bikes and ride though the park another day. The Red Sox had no game today, after a quick lunch we went to the practice fields only to find out that most of the players took the day off to play golf. It looks like only the Major Leaguers are in camp and only a few Minor Leaguers have arrived. I asked around and no one knew when the minor leaguers report day was, so I guess I'm still waiting for the arrival of Travis Shaw. The weather was in the mid 80's and the wife did not want to cook, so we ate out.

                                                            Beignet at the farmers market

                                               Crazy red face duck trying to beg for food

                                                   JetBlue Park Red Sox Spring Training

                                                Me at one of the six practice filed fences

23 Feb
Early in the morning, I washed down the RV. The RV was pretty dirty and it needed it. Besides, I want to hang the US map that show every State we visited on the side of the RV and need to wash the area on RV first anyways. I will hang the map in a few days. When I was at the Red Sox facility I picked up a few schedules and inside there was a coupon for buy one get one free ice cream cone. I took the wife out to try and surprise her, but like always she figured it out before we arrived. We both got villain and orange swirl ice cream cones. On the weekends there is nothing on TV we like so at night we watched a movie outside on the patio. As I was bringing everything inside I looked up in the sky and it looked like it was still day time. All of the lights coming from the main street lite the sky around us. It's different from Azalea Acres when at night the sky is pitch dark and the only thing you can see are the moon and stars.

                                                            Ice Cream.... So Good .....

                                                       In front of Sun Harvest Citrus Center

24 Feb
A real slow day, Red Sox on a road game today. I put up the state map on the side of the RV to show people where we have been. I left room above the US so I could add Canada map next. We stayed in the RV most of the day with the air conditioner on. It was too hot to cook dinner inside so I cooked dinner on the grill.

                                                                          Before

                                                                          During

                                                                        After
                                                                (21 down 29 to go)