Somewhat reluctantly, on my part, we spent the winter in Florida. The main reason was the joyous occasion of Carl’s son’s wedding in March to his long-time love. The weather tended to be chillier than usual and sometimes windier, making it less enjoyable. We made the most of our time there, though, with a bit of four-wheeling, bike rides, hiking, and a trip to the beach, along with some “touristy” things.
We started our Florida “snowbird” excursion in Wildwood. Our first task was to find and replace the motorcycle rack on the front of our truck. Unfortunately, as Carl backed our Airstream into our space at Thousand Trails Three Flags, he bent the aluminum rack. Luckily, there was no damage to Carl’s new motorcycle (his post-midlife crisis purchase). The rack was beyond repair, but he found a much higher-quality rack just an hour away near the coast of Florida. We paired that trip with a visit with full-time RVing friends staying near Crystal River.
On another day, we ventured to Ocala National Forest for dirt biking and four-wheeling in our truck. The “dirt” was more soft sand than dirt, so riding the motorbike on the trails wasn’t very fun. Luckily, our new-to-us pickup truck has four-wheel drive, so we bumped and hacked our way down many different trails. I’m looking forward to getting our truck onto wider trails out west. It will be fun!
We then moved to Thousand Trails Orlando, which is located near Clermont. We spent a sunny day hiking one of the trails at Lake Louisa State Park. Armadillos made themselves visible that day. We saw one on the trail, but he was fast in running away from us, so I didn’t get a photo. Another was on the side of the road, scrounging around.
We also biked a few different sections of the General James A. Van Fleet State Trail, enjoying the solitude of nature and seeing several large turtles – a couple of different varieties as well!
We stayed at Winter Quarters Manatee, an Encore RV park in Bradenton. We took a trip to the beach at Anna Maria Island, a favorite spot of ours, but it was chilly. We visited the the Ringling Art Museum and grounds – free admission on Mondays! And we made a fun day trip to Key West on the Key West Express passenger ferry out of Fort Myers Beach.
Our next stay at Clerbrook RV Park was cold and uneventful. This resort has a golf course on-site, and Carl played there once (although it went faster than the 3-4 hours it should typically take). He tried to play one other time, but their system was screwy, and he ended up getting his money back. I was underwhelmed with our stay at that location. It could have been the weather. Who knows?
However, we did have one significant development while at Clerbrook. Carl found a camper shell for our long-bed Ram truck in … wait for it … Savannah, Georgia. So, YES! We made a 12-hour round trip from Clermont, Florida to Savannah, Georgia to buy it and pick it up. A new one would retail for over $4500, but Carl negotiated a $700 price for this gently-used one. The previous owner was one week away from taking a hacksaw to it!
Our last few weeks in Florida were split between Thousand Trails Orlando and Encore Winter Garden in, you guessed it, Winter Garden. I have no desire to return to Encore Winter Garden, except it is not far from the West Orange bike Trail, which runs through a picturesque, pedestrian-friendly portion of downtown Winter Garden. We had a lovely bike ride through the town and on the trail, and I wouldn’t mind doing that again and maybe stopping at one of the restaurants for a meal.
Taking the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive was one of the highlights of our Florida stay. It is open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and is free. It is an 11-mile dirt road along a waterway near Lake Apopka and is home to dozens, if not hundreds, of different types of waterfowl, birds, alligators, and other critters. It took us a few hours to make the drive – going 10mph plus stopping and getting out to view nature and take photos takes a lot of time! Be prepared with drinks and snacks or a picnic. We were completely unprepared and were FORCED to stop at a Bojangles on the way back to our Airstream… hahaha.
Our trip to Florida ended with spending quality time with family – helping Eric and Patty get their home ready for their wedding, spending time with Carl’s brother and his wife and daughter at an Airbnb, enjoying the wedding, and going to Animal Kingdom with our daughter Madeline and soon-to-be son-in-law Layne. We also enjoyed an evening together at Medieval Times, an entertaining dinner show!
It will be at least a few years before we return to Florida. There is SO MUCH traffic down there in the winter. Between being a destination location for travelers from around the world and a hot spot for spring breakers, it is a favorite “snowbird” location for those escaping winter weather. We are thinking about spending part of the winter next year in Texas as we make our way west to Arizona and California. Texas has yet to be added to our map, so I am looking forward to it from that perspective.
Up next… what are our travel plans for 2025?
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