The End of my Camper Van Travels
So where have I been? My last travel post was back in November! Time sure flies by. After my time in Margaritaville, I drove back to Columbia, TN to celebrate Christmas with my daughter, her husband and my grandson. Christmas is always more fun with a 5yo to share it with! I spent some time in the Porch House Retreat which was so comfortable and relaxing. After Christmas I decided to head to FL in search of warmer temperatures and sunshine!
I camped in a real campground for the first time in Dothan, AL. My impressions: very friendly people at the campground, many didn’t wear masks, don’t believe COVID is serious, home of the international peanut festival, red lobster nearby that I took advantage of, lots of fireworks being shot off past midnight even though it was New Years Day, not Eve, cold temps, plugging into power for the first time- not scary.
Next stop- Ocala National Forest where one of my childhood friends comes for the winter to provide maintenance and clean up in the park. It was a beautiful peaceful location and they prepared a delicious meal for me. Thanks Lylie and Jay!
I then visited Winter Garden where Tom, Melinda, Jonathan and Shelia live. I camped in their driveway and had another difficult nights sleep thanks to someone driving through the neighborhood at 2am with their music blaring! Visiting Disney Springs for dinner was interesting- they really enforce mask wearing and won’t let you enter if you don’t have a mask!
I have friends in Deland,FL that I visited and had a fun time catching up with Lynne. Then I was determined to get to the beach at least one day even if it was chilly. I drove over to New Smyrna beach and found a campground nearby. Still too cold for my wimpiness and I appreciated my heater. In the morning I checked out, drove to the beach, got coffee and walked in the sunshine along the beach! It was even nice enough to sit in the sun for a bit and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. And I found a super cute flip flop necklace to commemorate my new street address!
One more friend visit in Deland. Ann and I met when our kids attended the Montessori school back in 1994 (about). It was great catching up and meeting her friend John, an extremely talented artist and potter.
As I was heading back to Orlando, all I could think was “I need a real bed to sleep on to have a decent night sleep!” So I found a nearby hotel and paid a ridiculous dog fee for Charlotte to be with me. Not all hotels allow dogs, but when they do, there is sometimes a large fee! Several of the Holiday Inns I stayed in only charged $25/night. But most other hotels were quite a bit more. I was waiting for my two cousins to arrive from Michigan, so I also stayed in the Margaritaville Resort Hotel in Orlando. I loved the fun decor and the happy vibe of the whole place!
My cousins Mary and Barb were in Barb’s community in Davenport and since we had all been traveling, there was a requirement for COVID testing before being able to participate in activities In the community. We went to Disney main gate area where the health department was offering rapid COVID testing. We stood in line for almost 2 hours, had our noses swabbed, and had a result in 20 minutes. All three of us were negative! Woohoo! It’s hard for me to be in FL without treating myself to fresh stone crab claws. We went to Lombardi’s in Winter Park and bought stone crab claws, key lime pie and the mustard sauce for the crabs. Sooo good!
The last leg of my trip was driving back to SC. I enjoyed being in Latitude Margaritaville Hilton Head so much, I decided to buy a house there! Yikes! I was not expecting that, but I decided I was ready to have a home. I thoroughly enjoyed my van, especially the driving across the country and seeing special people. But the hard part for me was lack of sleep and being cold. So I made the decision that I would rather have a house than a van, and didn’t think it was financially wise for me to have both. So, I sold it and am in the building process with my house. (on Flip Flop Ct 😂) Another new experience for me! There are so many decisions to make and things to pick out, but I am enjoying the process. I have met so many kind, friendly, fun people here in my new community, I am looking forward to being here full time. I may be able to close on my house as early as April! Time will tell.
On my way back to Redmond by plane, I stopped over in Page, AZ to spend some time with my grandson while my daughter and son-in-law were leading a retreat for several women in my daughter’s coaching group. Another beautiful location! Then on to Redmond where I tested negative for Covid again and then packed up all my belongings and loaded them in a U-Pack Cube! It was snowing the day I left. I’m back in South Carolina, waiting for the rain to stop and warmer temperatures soon!
So this is probably my final van travel post. If I explore South Carolina by car, I may write about that. Otherwise I will get back to focusing on medical topics again. Let me know if there is a topic you would like to see me cover in the future! And thanks for reading!
Stay well out there!