2015 - TEXAS TO FLORIDA

FLORIDA

Wednesday, November 15, 2017 - Little Talbot Island State Park, FL

Only the wind in the tops of the live oaks around my campsite to be heard here... a small campground and no-one moving around.

Up at 6:00am and onto my bike to ride down to the beach for dawn photography... but the skies were overcast, as I had expected, with just a hint - about 30 minutes after sunrise - of where the sun might be located amongst the low clouds.

Breezy on the exposed beach and quite a lot of spume being blown ashore.

The park ranger had alerted me when checking in to the campground last night that recent hurricanes and storms have eroded about 50 yards of beach and dunes on this unprotected coast, so I should be aware that might find a beach walk a little compromised in some spots...

...and as it was high tide, and the northeast wind was also pushing water ashore, there was only a narrow margin between the sea and the dunes in places.

Little to be seen, other than a piece of driftwood conveniently washed up at the high water mark to add a foreground object to the few photos I took. (Compare the difference a little sunshine can make to a photo, though, at this same location at tomorrow's brighter sunrise, below.)

With the day forecast to remain cloudy and cool, I decided to stay at the campground for the day and overnight to get some deskwork done and hoping for a sunrise tomorrow. There's also the attraction of a road and bike lane that runs for 2 miles behind the sand dunes, which will make a great running route.

Reasonable day's work, topped off with a couple of hours of WiFi at the Starbucks inside the Harris Teeter grocery store on Amelia Island.

Thursday, November 16, 2017 - Little Talbot Island State Park, FL, to St Augustine, FL

At 6:30am, hopped on the bike for another dawn visit to the same spot on the beach as yesterday - rewarded this morning with a sunrise, and even a little cloud in the sky to add some interest.

Rode back to the Airstream to slip into my running gear and head back out to the park bike path that wove through the dunes. The breeze had dropped considerably from the last few days, though still enough to be felt when running into it on the second half of the run.

Spent some time reviewing and deleting pictures from the dawn photo shoot before making coffee and then breaking camp, heading 50 miles south along the coast to St Augustine.

Decided to see if I could find a spot at the state park campground there (Anastasia State Park) for a quiet night, another dawn visit to a beach, and so that I could be in town as dusk fell to hopefully see the extensive St Augustine seasonal lights that decorate the town.

Managed to secure a spot at the campground, dropped off the Airstream, did a little admin - including making a reservation for a state campground spot for tomorrow night - and then headed into town in the Jeep, parking in the old part of town and strolling around Flagler College (looking rather sharp after recent renovation, the scaffolding from my last visit now all gone).

Picked up an ice-cream along the main touristy George Street, strolled around the fort, then back to the main square in town.

Unfortunately, the lights were clearly all strung up but were unlit, the ceremonial lighting apparently being scheduled for tomorrow.

But the downtown St Augustine buildings still looked good with their regular lighting, especially the view of Flagler College from across the street.

Back to the campground for a quiet evening.

Friday, November 17, 2017 - St Augustine, FL, to Faver-Dykes State Park (near Marineland), FL

Off on the bike pre-dawn for another sunrise/beach morning... rather more cloud on the horizon than yesterday, and not quite managing to illuminate the underside of clouds closer to shore, but it's always good to see sunrise.

20 years ago, I would have been watching this sunrise from the cockpit of my sailboat on my first trip south, running down the Florida coast.

Had a late breakfast and then drove the Jeep into St Augustine to stroll around the older Spanish part of town that I didn't see yesterday.

Back to the campground for coffee, some picture sorting on the laptop, a little work. Around noon I moved the rig out of the campsite to the park WiFi spot near the beach to carry on with some work and planning, have some lunch and call the Airstream dealer near Orlando (again) but just getting voicemail (again).

It was a short 45 minutes drive down the coast to Faver-Dykes State Park, which is way out in the boonies... the last couple of miles to the campground being dirt road. Single bar cell reception, no TV signal...

So I put in a couple of hours working up my narrative text into the code format needed for this on-line photo-journal and sorting through pictures (as I need to do repeatedly to winnow them down and not fill up my hard drive).

Took a ride down to nearby Pellicer Creek at the end of the afternoon, with the slightly spooky quietness only disturbed by the sudden dash of an unseen deer into the rustling scrub palm undergrowth.

Then settled in for my 6:00pm beer and a very quiet evening.

Saturday, November 18, 2017 - Faver-Dykes State Park, FL, to Melrose, FL

A very quiet night indeed, and very calm morning... barely a breath of wind, clear skies, the sun warm on my run along the sandy park entrance road.

Put in a couple of hours of desk work, with a break for coffee mid-morning, then headed out, stopping at Palatka for a last grocery shop to tide me over to my departure to the UK next week, including a decent bottle of wine for my hosts this evening, Steve and Jackie Grasley.

(Steve is a friend from my earlier boat business days who I met when he was working for SALT in Marathon. I visited Steve and Jackie on my Excitecat winter trip in 2005/6 (trip photo-journal here: Excitecat) when they were still living on their boat in the creek behind the totally off-grid house they were building in Marathon, and saw them most recently in January 2015 when down in the Florida Keys on my first RV trip - house all completed by then, as was Steve's next project, building his own plane in which he took me for a spin and which led indirectly to the recent purchase of their second house in an airpark near Melrose, right on the runway from which Steve simply taxies into his own hangar beside the house. All very cool.)

Arrived at Steve's place around 3:45pm - way out in the boonies, tarmac turning to sand road, where I parked rather than risk not making it up Steve's sand driveway with the Airstream in tow. Got a tour of his place and the private airfield he's on, started catching up over a beer then headed 10 miles to the nearest town of any size, Melrose, for dinner.

Ended the evening back at Steve's place with a nightcap of his current favorite tipple, Woodford Bourbon.

Very dark and very quiet out here...

Sunday, November 19, 2017 - Melrose, FL, to The Villages, FL

Only slept averagely well, woken at 3:30am by a loud truck turning around in the street.

And maybe one glass too many last night, also not enough (non-alcoholic) fluid intake yesterday, so feeling a little rough around the edges this morning.

Some light rain came through around 8:30am but had stopped by the time I answered Steve's invitation for bacon and eggs breakfast. More chatting, some reminiscing, some commiserating on the state of the world...

Stopped in Melrose on my way south early afternoon, grabbed a mouthful of lunch and then walked around the small historic district - a couple of interesting churches and a few older houses.

Then continued on south, stopping briefly at an RV dealership for supplies, though not finding quite what I wanted, and shortly afterwards turned off the highway into a parking spot for the night in Lowes.

Monday, November 20, 2017 - The Villages, FL, to Apopka, FL

Reasonable night in my Lowes parking lot.

Fairly chilly by morning, indulging in a slight lie-in while the sun warmed the Airstream a little, so no on the road headed south until 9:30am, with hardly a break in built-up areas and 4- or 6-lane roads pretty much all the way down to northern Orlando.

I had decided to stop at the storage facility I plan to use while on my upcoming 3-week trip to the UK in order to make sure they have me in their schedule and to complete any necessary paperwork ahead of time. Very warm reception there, and clearly a large and professionally-run facility. Very reassuring.

After pulling over for a bite of lunch, drove the short distance from the storage facility to the campground I've booked for the next couple of nights to allow me to get organized for my trip back to the UK, meeting up there with a mail package kindly sent on to me from Westbrook.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017 - Apopka, FL

Out on a run around 8:00am, the threat of early morning rain now pushed back to late morning.

Then settled in to the day's chores (couple of loads of laundry, cleaning up the Airstream, fridge defrosting, putting a charger on the Jeep battery (to be sure it's as topped off as it can be for the forthcoming storage period), arranging rental car insurance, e-mails... but one unexpected job inserted itself first in mopping up and then reworking my shower hot water supply plumbing connection which suddenly let go as I was finishing off my post-run ab exercises.

Lucky I was actually in the Airstream at the time, heard the "bang" of the supply pipe blowing off the connector and hitting the shower compartment wall, and saw the water running across the floor by the bathroom door. Had to scamper outside to shut off the water, the hookup to the campground city water meaning non-stop gushing otherwise...

No other dramas to report for the day, I'm glad to say, and my preparations for RV storage and travel back to the UK seem to be in good shape.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 - Apopka, FL, to Orlando, FL

Last-minute jobs and e-mails (including a bunch of Happy Thanksgiving e-mails to all my American friends), packing carry-on and computer bag, late morning coffee, then headed out of the campground at noon to the storage facility.

By 1:45pm I was all checked in at the storage place, Jeep and Airstream detached and parked, and in an Uber car on the way to Orlando airport, my terminal becoming progressively busier during the afternoon with Disneyworld vacationers piling in to wait for their overnight flights home to the UK.

My flight left close to schedule at 6:30pm, a little bumpy for the first half of the flight, coinciding with dinner and drinks being served, got maybe a couple of hours sleep before lights were put on in the cabin as a prelude to a sludgy airline breakfast and landing at a windy and wet Gatwick airport at 7:30am.

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Thursday, December 14, 2017 - Orlando, FL

Landed at Orlando airport pretty much on time at 4:30pm after my 10-hour trans-Atlantic flight back from the UK, moved very swiftly through Immigration, in an Uber cab after a short wait, slow drive through commuter traffic in Orlando but back with the Airstream at the storage facility by 6:15pm.

As promised, the Airstream was in a corner of the parking area close to a power outlet, allowing me to get plugged in to charge batteries and begin cooling down the fridge, the storage facility kindly agreeing to my staying here overnight as I would be arriving too late to head on anywhere else.

A quick zap of some soup in the microwave kept hunger at bay and I turned in by 8:00pm.

Friday, December 15, 2017 - Orlando, FL, to Lake Whippoorwill, SE Orlando, FL

Awake predictably early, at 5:00am, due to time difference with the UK so got up and began doing a little planning and tidying up, heading outside once it was light at 7:00am to hook the Airstream up to the Jeep.

A new camera that had been delivered while I was away was waiting for me in the Jeep so I spent a happy hour unpacking and setting this up before heading to the storage facility office to check out.

Rather than attempt anything too ambitious on my first day back in the Airstream, I decided to head to a campground on the south side of Orlando, broadly in the direction of Fort Lauderdale where I will be meeting a Lagoon 450 in the middle of next week when it arrives after a trans-Atlantic delivery.

Drove back pretty much the way I had come last night, close by Orlando airport, stopped for coffee and a grocery stock-up, and checked into the campground just after 1:00pm. Unfortunately, the campground WiFi - one of the main reasons for being there - wasn't much use for anything other than e-mails and even then was intermittent and flakey. But plenty of non-Internet tasks on my list kept me busy for the balance of the afternoon, and I used an Internet connection through my iPhone for a couple of critical tasks.

Usual dubious cable quality in the campground, so fell back on the higher quality over-the-air digital channels for my evening's distraction, before another fairly early turn-in.

Saturday, December 16, 2017 - Orlando, FL, to Mims, FL

Awake early again, so settled in to a little work, expecting the campground WiFi to be a little better with the many other RVs there still asleep but it was just as bad as yesterday, so I had to rely again on my iPhone connection to get anything done.

Strolled out to the lake in the campground to watch the sunrise, did a little more work and headed out mid-morning to the Starbucks on the other side of the highway to get some more serious Internet-based work done - iOS update and downloading a couple of application updates.

With the Lagoon 450 not due to arrive in Fort Lauderdale until probably Wednesday, I decided I would stop at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral before heading down there, repeating an enjoyable visit in 2014.

But not wanting to get tangled up with busy weekend crowds, this meant waiting until Monday, so I booked another campground, close to Cape Canaveral, in the hope that I might have better luck with the WiFi there and so could be productive as well as comfortable.

In the event it was a slightly scruffy campground, but friendly, quiet, a level concrete pad, and better - though variable - WiFi.

Sunday, December 17, 2017 - Mims, FL, to Titusville, FL

Found a reasonably quiet road nearby for a morning run, during which I pondered staying another night in the campground as it would add only 10 minutes to the drive for tomorrow's visit to the Kennedy Space Center.

But yesterday's so-so WiFi now seems practically unusable - the deciding factor in moving down to Titusville and a Home Depot parking lot for the night.

Did a little off-line prep work on my electronic Christmas card before leaving the campground and driving 10 miles down I-95, stopping off for a couple of WiFi sessions to send cards out and for a call back to the UK.

Good TV reception in the Home Depot parking lot, and a thrilling ballgame between the New England Patriots and Pittsburg Steelers rounded out the afternoon and took me into early evening.

Monday, December 18, 2017 - Titusville, FL, to Viera, FL

Due to the combination of heading to bed early last night, the residual effects of jet-lag, and the noise of early commuter traffic, I was awake by 5:30am.

So I got up and had breakfast, and settled in to a couple of hours answering e-mails that had come in overnight in response to my electronic Christmas card going out yesterday afternoon.

A rather misty and damp morning, though not cold, and by the time I reached the Kennedy Space Center at 9:00am it had cleared and warmed to the point where shorts and a Polo shirt were clearly the order of the day.

At the Space Center I revisited some of the exhibits I had seen previously, but also took in a couple of new ones - probably the most impressive being the actual Space Shuttle Atlantis, which was well presented, though surrounded with exhibits that were rather more entertaining than informative.

An an Airstream motorized trailer that used to take the crews to the launch pad was, of course, the highlight of the day!

As on my previous visit, I took the bus tour to the Apollo/Saturn V Center and took in a couple of Imax 3D movies.

A fairly full day, heading out of the complex at 5:30pm to drive down I-95 a little further, pulling over at a welcoming Cracker Barrel store at Viera (Melbourne).

Tuesday, December 19, 2017 - Viera, FL, to Fort Lauderdale, FL

Took my run while the morning was still reasonably cool, heading out at 7:30am along the sidewalk of a couple of nearby roads, mostly quiet as businesses not yet open. Not bad times - 8:02, 8:08, 8:02, 8:08 - if my FitBit watch is to be believed.

Had breakfast at my Cracker Barrel host, watching the satellite tracking program that's showing the likely arrival of the Lagoon 450 shifting the ETA noticeably early, probably due to strong favorable winds and the boost from the Gulf Stream.

Received a nudging text from Ted to this effect as I was getting on the road, followed by further text exchanges over the next hour or two that seemed to indicate the boat was heading direct to its long-term storage dock behind a house and not the marina in Fort Lauderdale that had been the plan. All of which, combined with slow traffic and the accelerated arrival of the boat, meant they were likely to have arrived at the dock before I could get there to catch lines.

So I shifted to Plan B, finding a convenient but not terribly scenic campground to stay in for a couple of nights, then heading off with the Airstream still in tow to what should have been a relatively nearby dock to check on the boat.

Location confusion then ensued, as it seems there are at least two locations in the Fort Lauderdale area with identical addresses and both on waterways. And I allowed my GPS to take me to the nearby one rather than the correct one which was some 10 miles further north at Lighthouse Point...

So I arrived there a little later than expected but there was the boat, tied up happily with the delivery crew cleaning up.

Had a quick look over the boat then headed back to the campground to wait for Thierry Torres to arrive (organizing delivery skipper I've used a number of time in the past though not on board for this delivery) who was flying in from Puerto Rico.

Thierry got stuck in traffic driving up from Miami, so we finally met up on the boat at close to 8:00pm, had a quick review of plans, one final major task undertaken by the crew at my insistence before they jumped ship.

After all the excitement and running around, and my early morning run, I was beat, so turned in pretty much as soon as I was back in the campground.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017 - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Campground WiFi impossible to use, often not even allowing logging on, so made an early stop at Starbucks on my way to the Lagoon 450 to send a few replies to the electronic Christmas card I had sent out.

And then the clean-up began... on a boat that the crew claimed had been cleaned and emptied, but which had been hard to completely verify the previous evening in the dark, with lazy bag installation to supervise and some basic systems checking to do, all while managing a slightly hyperactive Thierry!

Re-tied the boat, getting fenders where they would actually work and lines set to keep them in place... emptied 10 bags of stuff from the boat (food, cleaning materials, books, utensils, pots and pans, pillows, towels, bathroom items)... cleaned up the boat as well as I could... checked major systems such as genset and A/C units... closed all blinds... took reference photos for Ted.

Back at the campground late afternoon I downloaded the photos and prepared descriptive emails, found a nearby Dunkin Donuts to use their WiFi to send them out, stopped at grocery store for supplies, and had a late supper back at the campground.

Beat again. Must be getting too old for this...

Thursday, December 21, 2017 - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Despite not really feeling I had the energy after the last couple of days of unaccustomed dashing around and physical labor in the Florida heat, I went for a run round the less than attractive neighborhood south of the campground. A good deal slower than Tuesday, 15 seconds more per mile.

Scurried out to an early coffee and breakfast sandwich on the way back to the boat for a "beauty shot" from the other side of the waterway (shown above) and a few minutes on board just checking a few final things.

Scooted back to the campground, dumped the Airstream holding tanks, hooked up the Jeep and checked out of the campground by the noon deadline.

Started off south down I-95, making rather slow progress in heavy traffic, so pulled off the highway to a convenient Starbucks to have a second coffee, send the morning's pictures to Ted and deal with some other admin issues - such as reviewing my UK tax returns and arranging electronic payment, which also necessitated a trip to a nearby UPS store to print, sign, scan and upload some paperwork.

This all took me well into the afternoon and so I decided to abandon Plan A of heading further south to a Miami casino parking lot for the night and instead found a nearby commercial campground where I could relax and crank up the A/C in the Airstream to mitigate the slightly oppressive afternoon heat.

Friday, December 22, 2017 - Fort Lauderdale, FL, to Kendall, Miami, FL

Decided to make the most of the campground stay and put on a load of laundry - requiring some subsequent ironing, as I just can't leave my shirts or pants the way they come out of the dryer...

...which pushed me up against the campground departure deadline of 11:00am, so after checking out I stopped at yesterday afternoon's conveniently nearby Starbucks for morning coffee and some planning, recalling that there was a County Park on my way south to the Keys that I had researched but not been able to contact on-line yesterday.

On-line contact still unsuccessful, so I resorted to a phone call which established that there was room in the campground for the night and decided to head there - a very modest $35 for the night, a quiet park-like setting rather than acres of asphalt, power to run the A/C, the promise of WiFi, and potentially a good base for a visit to a nearby cinema.

Awfully slow traffic on the way to the campground, so a cinema visit off the agenda for today and instead had a quiet end to the afternoon - not least catching up on writing up the last few days of this log!

Saturday, December 23, 2017 - Kendall, Miami, FL

Postponed my morning run for a day - partly due to fighting off a bit of a cold/throat and partly as I planned to do a lot of walking this morning around the nearby Miami Zoo.

Got to the zoo ticket office a little after opening time at 10:00am and headed off on a walk of the full outer loop, maybe 3 miles around.

Rather overcast day, which was probably good for walking that far in the humid warmth of the day but not necessarily so good for photos - a grey rhino laying on a dirt patch in the shade doesn't look too spectacular...

The Miami Zoo is only a 2½ star facility, really, with rather tired infrastructure and not particularly imaginative displays, and not a huge variety - unlike the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium I visited in Omaha, NE, in June.

It continues to be a little depressing seeing animals held in such small compounds, given their natural wide-ranging habitat. But this is clearly a dilemma - the zoo can't be unlimited in size and in any case needs to keep animals on display in fairly close proximity to the viewing public. This chimp clearly rather bored with it all, though...

After about 3 hours of wandering I headed back to the campground for a late coffee, bagel and cream cheese as lunch substitute, and then off to a nearby multiplex cinema, fighting last-minute Christmas shopping traffic, to see Darkest Hour - presenting Churchill's election to Prime Minister during the early part of WWII and his decision to withdraw troops from Normandy beaches.

Gary Oldman as Churchill was only so-so... not quite old or stentorian enough, IMHO, and there was rather too much "behind the scenes" speculation in the storyline. Still, I guess it's a movie not a documentary.

Back to the campground for a quiet evening, rounded off - rather surprising to find on American TV - with the movie 'Four Weddings And A Funeral' on a PBS station.

Sunday, December 24, 2017 - Kendall, Miami, FL, to Marathon, FL

Slight mist in the air - and definite coolness in spots - for my morning run, mostly on quiet park roads.

Had coffee mid-morning before heading out of the campground and beginning the fairly slow drive down to Marathon, though once onto the Keys and the Overseas Highway the traffic wasn't at all bad.

Damage from Hurricane Irma in September increasingly evident as I drove deeper into the Keys, with a lot of debris still piled up beside the road waiting to be carted away. Most businesses seem to be back on their feet, though.

Arrived at Steve's house in Marathon around 1:30pm and shuffled the Airstream into a spot in the shade of the house.

No TV reception, so decided to head to a sports bar in town to catch the second half of the New England Patriots game vs the Buffalo Bills. 13-13 at half time, so the second half was the most interesting, with the Patriots finally drawing away and winning comfortably.

Nice bar, good TV screens, average beer, average potato skins, way above-average noise level from other patrons in support of the Patriots.

Back to the Airstream for what will be a quiet evening.

Monday, December 25, 2017 - Marathon, FL

Up and off to Key West for the day, arriving there just after 10:30am.

First order of business a coffee and WiFi. Sent out a few Christmas e-mails, booked a couple of State Park campgrounds for the week ahead and called home to the UK where the family was gathered for Christmas lunch.

Then some obligatory spots visited.

Firstly, a couple of touristy ones: the marker indicating the furthest southerly point in the USA, jam-packed with tourists lining up for their turn for a photo beside the marker; and the road sign indicating the end of Route 1.

And then a couple of personal ones, the Conch Republic Seafood Restaurant on the water, for lunchtime beer and conch fritters at the bar; and a stroll past Pepe's Restaurant where I had dinner with Dad on his first (and only) sailing trip with me exactly 20 years ago.

Finished the day in Key West with a brief visit to Mallory Park, where a huge cruise ship was docked, and where I simply couldn't bring myself to be ripped off for the $7.00+ price of an ice-cream.

Detoured to Burdines bar on the waterfront on the way back into Marathon to check out hurricane damage, but it seems to have survived mostly intact. The adjacent Faro Blanco (oceanside) marina not so much, though the hurricane was only finishing off a job already begun by nature working on a run down and deserted facility.

Another quiet evening in prospect in the Airstream, tucked up in Steve's driveway.

Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - Marathon, FL

Felt like a rather tough run around Marathon airport, partly heat and dehydration, and partly a headwind for half of the run. Post-run ab workout tough, too, not least due to heat and humidity - no A/C running in the Airstream while in Steve's driveway.

So a relief to be through it all, showered and, before too long, brewing coffee.

Spent a couple of quiet hours doing a little extended route planning and research, identifying and booking sites at some campgrounds for the week ahead.

Also caught up a little with my Civil War reading as I seem recently to only manage a page or two after turning in before sleep overwhelms me.

Decided to head out to Burdines for lunch - a visit to Marathon not really complete without going to this bar on the water (also a fuel dock and small marina that I've used when boating). No conch fritters on the menu, so had a really excellent yellowfin tuna while gazing out at boats coming in the entrance channel to Marathon Harbor.

Back at the Airstream late afternoon after some WiFi time courtesy of Lowes, Steve and Jackie arriving shortly afterwards having flown in in their plane from their place in Melrose.

Bourbon on the veranda of the house, a little catch-up chat, out to dinner at Burdines (tasty blackened Mahi) and back to the veranda, bourbon and more chatting.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - Marathon, FL, to Kendall, Miami, FL

No rush to head out this morning, as the plan was to drive back onto the mainland and stop overnight - space permitting - at the campground in Kendall that I had spent a couple of nights in before coming down to the Keys.

Pulled over to brew a coffee in Key Largo, then on up Route 1, traffic clear heading north but several sections of nose to tail traffic heading down into the Keys.

After a quick grocery top-up of essential items, drove into the campground around 1:30pm and got a camp site close to where I had been previously.

Rather tedious task mid-afternoon of trying to get in touch with Adobe to resolve an issue with activation of a software upgrade. Although eventually resolved, it required downloading software and then downloading an update - the rather slow WiFi connection in the campground requiring 90 minutes for the first and 60 minutes for the second.

But all now seems to be well, much to my relief.

Quiet evening, a little TV as a distraction, early to bed.

Thursday, December 28, 2017 - Kendall, Miami, FL, to Naples, FL

Quiet night, reasonably cool morning, out for a run at 7:45am though another run that felt like hard work, with a headwind in parts as with the run in Marathon.

Out of the campground at 11:00am, a short drive to a nearby Starbucks for coffee and my post-run breakfast sandwich, some WiFi time and then a short drive to Publix for a final grocery top-up before the weekend.

Then west along Route 41, the Tamiami Trail, this section of the road originally constructed in the 1920s using dynamite to break up the underlying limestone and a "walking dredge" to scoop it up to form the road bed, the original machine now on display in the park we're headed to.

Arrived at Collier-Seminole State Park just before 4:00pm, unhitched the Airstream and drove down to Naples, strolling along swanky 5th Avenue, its restaurants with sidewalk tables already filling up. Treated myself to an ice-cream and continued on to the beach end of the street.

I joined the fairly crowded beach, walking north a short distance to the remains of a pier to use as foreground interest in the sunset photo that I - and everyone else on the beach - was anticipating in about 20 minutes time.

One of the large beachside homes was enjoying waiter-serviced dinner on the beach... I guess if you've got the opportunity for that, why wouldn't you use it.

Not a super-special sunset today, as there were no clouds in the sky to add interest.

Walked the mile back east to the car, 5th Avenue now attractively lit up, diners filling the sidewalk tables, and drove back to the campground for a quiet evening.

Friday, December 29, 2017 - Naples, FL, to Fort Myers, FL

Up at 6:30am, planning to catch sunrise over a small water basin in the park but frustrated in my endeavors by cloud cover and mist. Still interesting to watch the birdlife there - heron wading, gannets dive-bombing for fish, and an osprey making a couple of successful flights from its observation perch in the tree tops to snatch a fish.

Quiet morning in the campground getting caught up with a couple of projects, including some photo triaging.

On the road at 1:00pm for the 45-minute drive to Koreshan State Historic Site, via a mail drop and brief grocery stop. No room at the campground, as expected, but I had intended in any case to tour the historic site - restored structures and gardens from a 19th century religious settlement, the Koreshan Unity Settlement.

This religious movement was founded by a Dr Cyrus Teed (Koresh is the Hebrew for Cyrus, meaning shepherd) whose utopian community of 200 followers relocated to what was then the Florida frontier in 1894 from Moravia, New York, in order to escape the unfriendly and hostile attitudes towards their religious, scientific and cultural beliefs - they believed the entire universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere.

After the death of Dr Teed in 1908, membership of his group declined and in 1961 the four remaining members deeded the majority of their land to the State of Florida as a park and a memorial - this historic district now on the National register of Historic Places.

Pleasant self-guided 90-minute stroll around the grounds and buildings, then another 20 minutes further north on I-75 to my overnight stop of a Cracker Barrel south of Fort Myers that I stayed at three years ago.

Saturday, December 30, 2017 - Fort Myers, FL, to Port Charlotte, FL

Reasonably quiet night, considering my proximity to I-75.

Morning run on fairly quiet nearby roads, weather cool though a little breezy on a couple of open stretches.

Drove the short distance to downtown Fort Myers and the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, brewing a coffee before heading in to walk around the gardens and houses and museum, more focused on Edison than Ford - as this was initially and primarily Edison's winter retreat before Ford bought the adjacent property.

A focus of Edison's research in this retreat was a source of home-grown rubber to reduce US dependence on foreign supply, a concern shared by Ford and Firestone (of tire fame), and the Edison Botanic Research Corporation was established with this primary project, testing over 17,000 plant samples - and eventually discovering a source in the plant goldenrod.

There was quite an emphasis in the museum presentation on the "vagabond" driving/ camping trips taken by Edison, Ford, Firestone and the renowned naturalist John Burroughs, inspiring the age of recreational motoring in the 1920s.

Lunch in the Airstream before heading out to Punta Gorda for a stroll along the waterfront and neat residential streets to Fisherman's Village, fortified by coconut ice-cream.

A short drive at the end of the afternoon to Port Charlotte and another Cracker Barrel parking lot.

Sunday, December 31, 2017 - Port Charlotte, FL, to Mayakka River State Park, FL

Quieter than usual this morning - no trash trucks, muted I-75 noise, no rowdy neighbors or new arrivals, just a few distant car door thuds to rouse me rather late, at 7:30am.

Chilly morning, so headed out promptly, driving for about 45 minutes to Gasparilla Island, accessed via a short but expensive toll bridge, $11.50 for the Jeep and Airstream.

Drove south on the island to Boca Grande and found a convenient parking spot in the sun, hoping to warm the Airstream by coffee time.

Walked around the quiet residential streets, all nicely manicured, and past the marina that I stayed in when there in early 2005 on a Lagoon Powercat.

Boca Grande not quite so funky as I remembered it to have been...

Lots of people whizzing about in golf carts, riding bikes and jogging.

Churches in session on this final Sunday morning of the year, and one so well attended there was outside standing room only.

Back at the Airstream after a few miles of wandering, I brewed a coffee and checked TV reception in anticipation of watching the beginning of the Patriots game at 1:00pm.

Before then, got the bike out and rode the couple of miles to the southern tip of the island and the lighthouse there.

A small museum as part of the lighthouse was very informative and I stayed there reading up the history of the island rather longer than planned so got back to the Airstream after the football game had started and the Patriots had scored their first touchdown.

Watched the game until close to the end of the second quarter, having lunch at the same time, then drove the 60 miles to Mayakka River State Park (with the Patriot's game on the radio...) where I had booked a campsite.

Once in and set up, watched a little more football but found no cell signal at the campsite.

So I unhooked the Jeep to drive back along the park entrance road until I got a weak signal to allow me to send out a few Happy New Year messages.

Drove back past the campground and on to the eastern shore of Upper Myakka Lake for a photo of the final sunset of 2017... old romantic, me

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