Big Bend National Park - Texas

Dates of stay: January 7 - 14, 2022

Campground: Maverick Ranch, Lajitas, TX

Made it to Big Bend National Park! Getting to our campsite included driving through the park from the north entrance, so it was fun to get a glimpse of this massive park on the way to our destination. While we technically have been at a few other National Parks and Recreation Areas (i.e. Everglades, Gettysburg, etc), this is will be the first time we’ve really explored a National Park in any great detail, and we’ll start that journey tomorrow. The big spaces get even bigger here, and it is very dry and arid. The days are warm and sunny and the nights are cool, and full of lots of coyotes howling at night. I already feel like a week won’t be enough…

Spent our first full day at BIBE (the alpha code), Big Bend National Park. The alpha code is the code that the park service/rangers use to identify all of the national parks and it is created by taking the first two letters in the name of the park depending on its name (I.e. Yosemite is one word, so YOSE, or Grand Canyon is two, so GRCA).

Once again, thankful that we have the Jeep in tow as it allowed us to make it to many areas of the park on this trip that we would have not been able to do if we didn’t have a high-clearance, 4WD. Our first off-road experience was on Old Maverick Road, heading into the park from the west side. Our destination was Santa Elena Canyon, where we were treated to unbelievable view of a canyon that had been carved out over the centures. This is also the area where the Rio Grande intersects the US and Mexico and we were within a few feet of the Mexican border. We actually waded across a stream to the Santa Elena canyon trail (on the US side) and hiked back into a massive canyon that made us feel like the size of a pinhead. We were able to see kayakers down below on the river, and knew we had to add that experience to our bucket list for a future trip.

We drove the scenic Ross Maxwell drive and discovered Castolon - an old “town” that used to be a post for the Army in the 1920’s and later a store, and a community of about 35 people. The historic barracks burned down in a 2019 fire. A total of 950 acres burned; the fire actually started across the Rio Grande but the smoldering ashes were carried by the wind and fell down on the roof of the barracks, creating the fire.

The wildlife was more abundant today, and we saw a few roadrunners! Stopped off for a photo op at Mule Ear Peaks, a popular spot within the park. We did another off-road trail on Grapevine Falls Road - this as a very bumpy and slow-going ride, and we do not recommend taking anything other than a 4WD car up this road! This road took us to the trail head of Balancing Rock trail, and easy but sandy trail that leads up to a .25 mile rock scramble to a very picturesque spot. We had some fun with the pictures in this area, as it looks like you are holding up a massive rock when positioned just right. We also saw a wild javelina right along the trail! This was neat, as they are more nocturnal and also travel in groups, but he was just out by himself, munching on a few bushes.

The next day was another long, full day. This was the day we decided to cross into Boquillas del Carmen. This is a border crossing from within the National Park. It is run as a joint effort between that National Park Service and the U.S. Border Patrol. We drove to this station, triple-checked to make sure we had our passports, and were sent off down a dirt trail to the river’s edge of the Rio Grande. There, we were the only Americans waiting to cross, and a rowboat from the other side made it to us in about 10 seconds (this was a small, short crossing). After paying about $5 each to cross (promised to be a round trip excursion), we hopped in and they took us over to the Mexican side. It’s worth nothing that Boquillas is 100% dependent on US tourism to survive. Given COVID, the border was shut for 20 months and it barely survived. There were lots of little kids running up to us selling woven bracelets, which of course, we purchased right away. We also had the option to walk into town, or take the horses. With a .75 mile walk in front of us down a very dusty road, we opted for the horses. The wind was howling and sand was EVERYWHERE. It wasn’t the most ideal experience, but Owen caught it on video for his YouTube channel and it is pretty fun to watch. Other than the town, this is a very desolate area. We were greeted by more children selling handiwork, and Owen bought a scorpion out of wire and beads.

Seems that whoever leads you up into town on the horses also becomes your de-facto guide. Our guide for the day took us into the town, but really let us look around at our leisure. It was so windy that it was almost hard to enjoy the walk up and down the streets but we peeked into a small grocery store. Funny story - we needed some dry beans for one of Owen’s school projects and as Lajitas is SO remote, I was excited to find them in the store. But then I was reminded I couldn’t take them across the border since they were a food item! We had a great lunch at Jose Falcon - one of the two restaurants in town. Many of the local townspeople were also sending their arts and crafts, and as one of only a few tourists that day, I wanted to support their economy as best we could but as at all stops on this journey, we can only bring so much into the RV. Owen bought a really neat hand-crafted walking stick, and I found the cutest embroidered tortilla holder (wish I would’ve got more of those for gifts - next time).

After we had taken our share of photos and seen the town, it was time to head back. Forgot to mention that the road we traveled was also shared by very speedy trucks driven by the men of the town (another way to get back and forth). Our horses had to share the road with these drivers, and that made for an interesting (and very dusty) experience.

Owen and I hopped in the rowboat, but Tom really wanted to wade across the Rio Grande…..it was shallow enough so he could!

After we crossed back into the US (where we did have to go through customs), we headed over to the Boquillas Canyon hike. Beautiful hike, but we were sandblasted the entire way - so windy!!! We also made it over to the Hot Springs, where the water is about 105 degrees, and the hot springs pool sits right within the RIo Grande, looking over into Mexico. Neat experience overall.

There are three visitor centers within the park, and we discovered that the Panther Junction Visitor Center is the most informative yet all three are really good and the rangers are incredibly helpful.

After a long day, we finally headed back to Lajitas, stopping at the general store for a few necessary yet overpriced items - we’re pretty remote here so stocking up on food, necessities, etc is highly recommended. We did this, but we run out of eggs, milk ($7.99/gallon and not organic), and bread on a regular basis! Thankfully, this store has a pretty good selection and a wonderful deli counter as well, where we were able to get sandwich meat (we eat a LOT Of sandwiches on this trip….) especially for our day trips into the parks. RIght next to this store is the pen that holds the mayor of Lajitas…..a goat.

On our next day, we stayed closer to “home” and hiked to the picnic table about 1.5 miles up in the hills near our campground. Owen and I also explored the boardwalk in the Lajitas Village (which is essentially the Maverick Ranch hotel/shops area across the street from the campground). After that, we drove west for a bit - gorgeous views and this road also snakes through Big Bend State Park. We stopped at an area with 4 primitive campsites within the park as Tom wanted to also check out the boat landing here. There was one lone trailer there - a couple from Hoffman, MN actually - as well as their friendly cat, Boomer, which acted more like a dog. They suggested that we hike Closed Canyon trail within the state park, just a few miles down the road. There was still a few hours of sunlight left, so we did!

This was probably one of our most awesome hikes yet on this trip. The Closed Canyon Trail is a relatively short, 1.4 mile round trip hike through a narrow slot canyon. For those of you that want to get to it when you’re there, the trailhead is located approximately 22 miles west of the Barton Warnock Visitor Center and 26 miles east of Fort Leaton State Historic Site on River Road, FM 170. It was amazing! We loved it….and we were afforded the most spectacular view of the sun hitting the mountains when we emerged at sunset.

Another full day in Big Bend:

• Dinosaur exhibit - there have been many fossils that have been found here

• Drove up to Chisos Mountain and hiked the Chisos Basin loop (2 miles) and had lunch here while Tom grabbed a call

• Drove off-road to Glenn Springs Road and hiked 3 miles on Pine Canyon trail. This trail led us through desert as well as what can best be described as the woods - it felt like we were hiking in Wisconsin, until we saw the random cactus here and there…

• On our way out while we were on the dirt road, we came across a couple and their daughter from Ontario that were hung up on a massive rock in their Ford Class B van - there was another person that had stopped to help but between all of us, we couldn’t get them unstuck so we went for help. There isn’t any cell service in this area, and by this time, all of the visitor centers were closed. Thankfully, we were able to call the Chisos Mountain Lodge, and they put us in touch with the dispatch service. The crazier story here….we didn’t find out about their status until a few days later. I was checking by Facebook messages and there was a new message from a Fulltime Family, who had noticed that in one of the FTF groups, I had said our family was in Big Bend for the week. She was reaching out as another FTF to see if it would be at all possible for our paths to cross while we were both there. As I was reading her message and looking at her picture, I quickly realized that THIS was the family we stopped to help!! I felt bad for not seeing her message earlier (she had actually reached out before this incident took place but I hadn’t seen it). Thankfully, we learned that the ranger HAD come and rescued them, and found them a place to camp for the nite in one of the campgrounds.

• We stopped for burgers on the way back at the High Sierra Bar and Grill in Terlingua- the large, oversized cold Mexican cokes were the BEST after a long day.

The following day, Owen and I did a video tour of the RV, which was kind of fun (he did a great job editing!). He’s been creating videos along the way, which will be so cool to have for posterity. But mostly excited because we just booked ONE MONTH in Jackson Hole, May 8 through Jun 4. Will be here before we know it.

On our final day in the area, we got on our bikes and explored Big Bend State Park near our campground. Or at least tried. On mile 1, I totally bit it and slammed down on the ground, resulting in lots of cuts and bruises and a very sore elbow and thigh! Tom and Owen cotniued and I limped back to the campsite…

Tom and I drove to a scenic overlook in the park, stopped at an old movie set where westerns had been filmed, and on our way back, saw well over 50 long-horned sheep crossing the road into the canyons and hills. Our pizza place here is Gizzi Up, which had good pizza, yummy pastries and a great patio to enjoy it all.

Seminole Canyon State Park - Comstock, TX

Dates of stay: Jan. 2 - 7, 2022

Campground: Seminole Canyon State Park

Beautiful drive down into this part of Texas - it’s starting to get really remote, with lots of wide open spaces. This state park is really in the middle of nowhere, and snuggles up to the Rio Grande river, effectively allowing us to see into Mexico. This state park is known for its famous pictographs - rock art from over 4000 years ago that still remains on the canyon walls.

We did not have full hookups at this site (no sewer) and the bathrooms didn’t have any hot water for the entire week we were there, so it was a little “rougher” than normal but not bad at all as we still had water, and the hot water heater! The mornings were cold, and the days were sunny and warmer. We took to exploring the trails pretty quickly here, and discovered Canyon Rim Trail, a gravelly, rocky trail that snakes alongside the Seminole Canyon.

The Canyon Rim trail is about a 3.5 mile trek containing lots of undercut rock, fallen boulders, and large swatchs of creme, salmon and grey cliffs - it’s quite beautiful. Also, lots of ocotillo plats (NOT a cactus we learned), as well as prickly pear cactus along the trail. Didn’t see any wildlife out and about, but did witness a spectacular sunset from our campsite. Supposedly there are illegal border crossings in this area, with people coming up through the canyon. We were also told by our guide that the canyon area within the park is filled with sensors, to detect any activity. We weren’t really certain whether this is true or not, or if it’s a warning to keep people out of the canyon beyond visiting hours so as to deter any vandalism to the canyon walls/area (also a good idea). One day we did see the helicopters circling the canyon so maybe….we decided not to to find out.

One afternoon, Tom and I explored the surrounding area - Pecos River, Pecos River Bridge - beautiful canyon area. From this point, we were finally able to over and into the mountains of Mexico from the Amistad Recreation area. We met a couple with a truck camper and talked to them for a bit as we think that could be a good set up for us down the road (post Owen’s graduation….)

We toured Seminole Canyon within the park with a guide today and saw the many petroglyphs left over 4,000 years ago in this area. We also learned that this area is defined by 3 different biomes - the Acacias, desert, and Juniper and ash trees/bushes. The visitor center here is spectacular!

Struggled to do it, but I got my butt out of bed for a sunrise hike and took the Canyon Rim path to the lookout point. Glad I did, as it offered up one of the most peaceful and serene mornings I’ve had yet.

The trails here are also pretty good for biking, and we explored those on our last day here. We wanted to take the trail all the way to the Rio Grande, but we were running out of sunlight so we weren’t able to make it .

Austin, TX

Dates of stay: Dec. 12 - 19, 2021

Campground: McKinney Falls State Park

This was the first campground we pulled into that was militant about its 2 pm check in time! We usually arrive before that, and it’s not ever a problem, but we had to wait around a bit in order to comply. No big deal - was a beautiful park to walk around in and explore. Once we checked in, we found our site (a pull-thru). The sites are big here, with lots of good trees to hang the slackline. A highlight of this journey was meeting Nancy, John and Lili - our “neighbors” across the road. As Tom celebrated his birthday during this visit, I had put up a “Happy Birthday” yard sign and as we were pulling into the driveway and he saw it the first time, the neighbor exclaims “how did you know?” It happened to be John’s birthday just the day before, so we had a good laugh over that and proceeded to talk to them for quite some time. Lots of similarities between our families - they also departed on July 6 (same day as us) from Maine, and have a 13 yr old as well. We got together for a potluck a few days later and that was super fun. We’re hoping that our travels criss cross again at some point!

We explored many of the must-sees in Austin, which I’ve notated on my Trip Planner in Trip Advisor (State Capital tour, boardwalk along the river, SoCo area, a local brewery…..) For Tom’s birthday, we played mini-golf at the iconic Peter Pan course and ate at Terry Black’s, for some outstanding BBQ!

We really enjoyed McKinney State Park, and this was our first Texas State Park as well. The land was originally owned by Thomas McKinney and he had strong ties to Texas’ history, especially as it related to the Texas revolution and independence. He had over 30 enslaved individuals on this land , who built a stone grist mill - many remnants of this can still be seen today. After McKinney’s death, his widow, Anna, sold the property to James Woods Smith. Members of the Smith family owned and farmed the land for several generations before donating it to the State of Texas in 1973.

“Old Baldy” is an iconic attraction - a 500 yr old Cypress tree in the park that is one of the oldest on public land in Texas. There are beautiful trails to hike and explore around here, and the close proximity to Austin itself makes it an ideal state park. Reservations well in advance to camp here are highly encouraged! I don’t think we saw one empty spot the whole week.

New Orleans, LA

Camped at: Fairview Riverside State Park

Dates: Dec. 3 - 10, 2021

We were actually kind of sad to leave Gulf Shores - it left a deep imprint on us for so many reasons. I know we’ll be back there some day, but onward… there is always something new to discover. And discover we did. 

We went from a massive state park to a tiny little one that is really quaint and right on the Tchefuncte River (and no, we still don’t know how to pronounce this correctly). We were back to “roughing it” a bit (no sewer hookups) but had a space quite close to the bathrooms, which was convenient I must say. Also, very clean laundry facilities, which is always a bonus as well. 

There is a boardwalk that goes along the length of the campground area, but it was damaged by Hurricane Ida and hasn’t been repaired yet although it was still sturdy enough to hold us for launching kayaks. Don’t really feel like we tempted fate, but it was probably not the best idea to trust it structurally. Anyway, we set up camp and then tried to decide where we would head out for our Friday night pizza run. Depended on Yelp for this stop, and found ourself at Regenelli’s Pizza. Decent enough, but not a top contender for best pizza IMO.

On Saturday, we headed into the city with plans to spend the day there. We went to Molly’s Rise and Shine for breakfast, recommended to us by a friend of Tom’s. This was a great find - the menu was superb - I had yogurt with homemade granola, and a carrot marmalade with mint and lemon zest. Seriously, one of the best things I’ve eaten on this trip. The interior is a trip back into time, as it is dripping with toys, games and characters from the 50s on up. This was also the very first place on our trip where we were asked for proof of vaccination to remain inside. There is currently a NOLA city wide mandate, and they’re taking it seriously.

Gorgeous day with lots of sun, we decided to park near the French Quarter and head to a number of spots from that location. We received a lot of great suggestions as to what to do in the city from our good friends Don and Lindsi, and proceed to head to the ferry first - an opportunity to get a good close up look at a “working” river and also see NOLA from the water. It was a quick 5 minute ride to Algiers - the other side, where we got off. This area is good for biking and some historical walking around but we didn’t plan to spend too much time here as there was a lot on our agenda already. We walked around a bit, and along the shoreline there was a nondescript, nearly hidden plaque in the sidewalk:

I thought the sign should be elevated more so the historical significance could be seen by more people. So much history but sometimes, it still seems hidden from plain sight. There’s also a nice statue of Louis Armstrong in Algiers as well. We’ve been learning a little bit about him for Art/history lessons this week. He was a bit of a badass growing up and found himself in some trouble, but once he discovered his knack for playing the trumpet, that took him far. 

We took the ferry back and decided to walk around the French Quarter to show Owen that part of town. As we were there in the morning, we were able to walk relatively clean streets before the late afternoon and evening crowd descended upon the area. Found a really cool mask shop that I wanted to get a few masks from - but honestly, where would i wear them? However, it prompted the idea to do a Dia de los Muertos party (the masks for this were SO cool), so we’ll see where I go with that. 

We headed toward Jackson Square, saw all the artists selling their wares, and also decided the line at the original Cafe du Monde was way too long to stand in but we decided to catch a street performance near by. This group of 4 guys pulled together a pretty good crowd for an hour long show. They were street acrobats and had some amazing moves - flips, breakdancing, cajoling the people passing on the street …. their show was based on positive energy mixed in with joking about racism (these were four black guys) and they did a great job of riding that edge, making it inclusive, laughing at themselves and making sure there were lots of positive and inspirational messages for the kids and everyone. It was pretty impressive and well worth the time and the donation!

Afterwards, we headed to the streetcars - public transportation has always been one of Owen’s very favorite things. We rode the streetcar that took us up and around the cemeteries. They’re not open for tours right now, but we were able to get a good look at the above ground coffins and the artistry of all the buildings. After all this time, we were getting hungry so we went to NOLA Poboys in the heart of the French Quarter - poboys, crawfish pie and fries made us all a bit happier. And by then, it was time to retreat back to Bayou country and call it a day.

We spent the next couple of days at the campground, enjoying the sights there. There is another boardwalk called the “Swamp Trail” that is beautiful, and has the perfect area for yoga! I practiced there at least 3 times and it is honestly the most beautiful, peaceful place I’ve done yoga. Loved it. No bugs either, which was hard to believe. We also put the kayaks in here, and went back into an area where the river led to homes on the water, Kind of fun to paddle back in there. No gator sightings but supposedly there’s a 12 footer that lives back there. Side note - we also heard they just wrapped up filming When the Crawdads Sing in this area, so we’ll have to watch for that - it’s a beautiful area with the cypress trees.

Our second visit into New Orleans started with a visit to Cafe du Monde (not the original) near our campsite. They were quite good - fresh out of the hot oil, smothered in powdered sugar. Definitely something I don’t need to get used to. And an order was perfectly made up of 3 beignets - one for each of us.

Our goal today was to see City Park, and learn more about the levee system throughout the city. A cooler day, it was actually nice to be able to walk around. Unfortunately, the botanical gardens were not open but we discovered that the sculpture garden was, and apologies to the Mpls Sculpture Garden, but NOMA’s is amazing. Well over 100 sculptures, we really enjoyed walking around the grounds and this definitely counted as art class! 

In the park, there are a number of massive old live oak trees, including the Dueling Oak, which is where they used to have duels with yes, swords, at this tree. There were actually two trees, but one has since been removed. Also in the park is another Cafe Du Monde, so yes, beignets twice in one day (we did a lot of walking). 

Hopped in the Jeep and drove to the shore of Lake Ponchitrain, in order to start to see some of the levees and the pump structures that surround the city. We went to the place of the London Avenue breach, which is also the site of the outdoor Levee Museum. At this location when Hurricane Katrina hit, the concrete barrier had a 30 foot breach which spilled out massive amounts of water and flooded the neighborhood. There is an outline of yellow bricks, which indicates where the previous house stood - it was lifted clean off its foundation and carried a block into the street. Next door, is the Flooded House Museum. It wasn’t open, but it is the actual house that is there from the flood. You can look into the windows and see how the water lines from the flood damaged the structure. And next door to that, there is a home that is still boarded up and the roof of the garage still had a massive hole in it. We drove around this neighborhood and it is jumble of new construction and homes that still have blue tarps on the roofs and look inhabitable. 

During this time, I was texting with our friends (Don and Lindsi) and they told us about the live webcam that was set up on the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter, and said they were watching it if we wanted to show up. Tom said “Let’s do it!” and as we had a few minutes to spare before our dinner appointment, Tom found us a place to jump out of the car and into the street to get our images (well, mine and Owen’s) captured for eternity:

We met up with one of Tom’s friends at Katie’s restaurant, a great local restaurant with cajun and creole options. While we’ve done a good job of eating at our campsite for most meals, we knew we’d eat out a bit more in New Orleans, because of all the awesome cuisine choices. Tom and I both had the seafood ravioli with eggplant marinara, which was excellent. The most interesting part of this restaurant to us however, was the plaque on the outside of the restaurant building that showed where the Katrina water line was up to. It’s so hard to believe that this kind of thing happened and these places are still standing (of course after much renovation and restoration):

Back to the campsite, which includes a 30 minute drive across Lake Ponchatrain, which is the longest continuous bridge in the world: “The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is the longest bridge in the United States and the longest in the world that runs continuously over water. The causeway consists of two parallel bridges crossing Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana. The longer of the two bridges is almost 24 miles in length. The first of the two bridges was completed in 1956. When traffic on it exceeded capacity, the second was added. Construction was finished, and it was opened to traffic in 1969. 

Awesomeness factor: The causeway has survived many hurricanes over the years, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005. During that major storm, the only damage to the structure was to a few turnarounds.” (Bridgemastersinc.com)

We evaded tornado weather here thankfully, but had a soupy campground for a couple of days. Supposedly when the rains get too much here and threaten flash flooding, the campground is evacuated. One last great find - Abita Roastery in Madisonville. Tom and I headed there for coffee one morning. It’s located on the Tchefuncte River as well, in a cute little town and is a super cozy place to escape the weather. 

We really enjoyed our time here! Not sure when we’ll be back, but am sure we will. There’s still a number of restaurants we need to experience…

Gulf Shores, AL

Campsite: Gulf Shores State Park

Dates of stay: Nov. 19 - Dec. 2

Every time we leave a place we love, it seems to replaced with another great find. Gulf Shores State Park, Alabama, is hands-down, the best state park we’ve stayed in so far. We were told ahead of time that we were lucky to find a spot here, and once we got here, we see why. We booked quite a few weeks in advance, and secured two weeks at site 117. We were right off the main road, and central to many of the activities going on. 

Tom planned our drive from Carrabelle to Gulf Shores along the coast, so it was an extremely scenic drive as compared to the interstate route. Lots of water, bridges, marinas, and also lingering damage from Hurricane Michael interspersed with lots of new construction. It’s baffling to us, because it all has the potential to get completely destroyed with the next horrible storm, yet the beauty of the area and ties to the community are the reasons people stay, I’m certain.

Gulf Shores is located about 15 minutes from the border of Florida, and we passed through “Flora-bama” a tacky, touristy, picture-taking opportunity area (that we’d return to in a few days for oysters). When we arrived to the Gulf Shores area, we started to encounter lots of high rises and beach front properties along with the restaurants and shops that seemed built for tourists. And then all of a sudden, nothing but pristine sandy beaches, sand dunes, and scrub. There is a massive area - about 6,000 acres of preserved state park property. After the Deep Horizon oil spill, the state was given $70+ million to restore the area. The state park itself boats a Nature Center, beach Pavilion, Learning Center, restaurant, cottages, a beautiful swimming pool, tennis courts, amphitheater, a pier, Shelby Lake, a parkour course, playgrounds, miles of paved biking trails, a butterfly garden, bouldering area and more miles of boardwalk throughout the park. The campground has 500+ sites, that are very well maintained and spaced out well. There’s even a little commuter bus that goes around the park in case you need transportation to the different areas.

One of the things that we really appreciated was the daily programming by the Nature and Learning Centers. We were able to cover Life science for two weeks here! We took classes on snakes of the area, constellations, skates and rays, and beach creatures (class on the beach where we learned about all the different shells and the creatures that live in them). One day we took a guided nature walk with one of the naturalists, and learned a lot about the plants and trees in the park, although failed to see any wildlife even though there are supposed to be gators and snakes in these parts. 

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We arrived here on a Friday, and as Fridays are pizza nights, we found a place called Papa Rocco’s. We did takeout, and had a little time to kill before our pizza was ready for pick-up but there was a musician setting up for that evening and we learned he was one of the singers from The Platters - the artists behind my parents’ song (Only You). I introduced myself and said we’d be back the next night, as he was also playing on Saturday. When we returned with Owen the following night, he recognized us and upon request, we asked him to play the song so we could FaceTime my parents which they got a kick out of. 

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A few days later, my parents joined us and Owen gladly packed up his belongings so he could spend the next week with them! They’  rented an AirBnB right on the beach, so it was nice to spread out and have a real kitchen to cook in over Thanksgiving. Most of the meal we picked up from the market, but Tom grilled up ribs and we also did shrimp that we had picked up in Carrabelle. So it was a bit of a mashup meal, but Tom still did the traditional baking of the pies - pumpkin and apple this year. 

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We spent the next few days enjoying all that the park had to offer, riding bikes, walking the beach, and picking up shells - lots of shells. Mom, Owen and I had art class one day which involved using the various shells to make angel ornaments for our respective trees. We found a couple of fun places to eat, including The Ruby Slipper (originally started in New Orleans), Flora-bama for chargrilled oysters and oysters on the half shell, Doc’s Seafood (the original “local” one), and we checked out the onsite park restaurant - Woodside - which had excellent food and live music. 

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Tom, Owen and my dad spent a day at the Naval Museum in Pensacola, as well as a day at the USS Alabama in Mobile. I was a little museum’d out on this front so took the opportunity to spend some time with my mom. We checked out the shops and restaurants at the Wharf and did a little Christmas shopping, and also spent more time at the beach.

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Sad to say goodbye, we spent the next few days enjoying the sunsets from the pier and the beach, finishing up a few trails that we hadn’t yet biked, kayaking, and catching the holiday laser show at the wharf.

We could easily spend a couple 2-3 months here and might have to figure out how long term camping works at this park!

Sarasota/Bradenton, FL

More visits!

• Spent a great couple of days with John and Carol Freund, at their beautiful canal side home. Also finally had my first lobster roll here, which was so notable I had to mention it.

• Also had the opportunity to visit my friend Kimberly, who had moved from MN to Sarasota.

• Stayed at the Lake Manatee State Park, and basically slept there but otherwise, busy visiting.

Naples, FL

Stayed at: Collier Seminole State Park

Dates of stay: Oct 23 - 26, 2021

Drove all the way from the Florida Keys (actually, I drove the rig out of the Keys!) and we traveled the Tamiami highway through the Everglades to our next stop - that was really interesting. On the way, we stopped at a National Historic Park stop, and learned that they had just done a Burmese Python hunt (they are invasive) and captured 900 of them - eeekkkk!!!! Also saw a big gator hanging out in the waters here.

Quick stop through Naples to see Tom’s Aunt Joyce and her friend John, and we also saw Ericka and Bill Nelson in Cape Coral.

Didn’t spend too much time at our campsite here, but there was some very interesting history about the origins of Collier, who had financed the last stretch of Tamiami Hwy - on the condition they would name a county after him. He didn’t get a county, but he did get a state park - and the highway was finished.

We did do an airboat ride back in the Everglades, which was really cool! And of course, Owen took a great video to document it all.