Wednesday, December
28, 2016: Snowbirds to Florida
At 6PM, Mike and I leave home in Runaway, our SuperStealth
demo model, with a goal of Sarasota, Florida by noon New Years’ Eve. The
Christmas tree is down, the holiday things put away and the RV packed. We are tired from getting ready and this is a
late start, but we want to make it to Chattanooga for lunch tomorrow with family. We stop for the night at a Flying J between
Columbus, Ohio and Cincinnati.
Thursday, December 29,
2016: Running on DC only
Up at 5:30AM and on the road in 12 minutes to beat the
morning traffic in Cincinnati. We do,
but then crawl for about an hour when a semi is overturned on I-75. Traffic is heavy through Kentucky and
Tennessee. In Chattanooga, we meet my
nephew’s wife and two girls for a late lunch. It’s always fun to see them on
this drive south after Christmas. Traffic continues heavy. We stop at a Flying J south of Atlanta among
trucks, trailers and RVs. These truck
stops are crowded at night! We watch two
episodes of The Crown, which Mike had downloaded on our iPad Plus, which we use
for the entertainment system.
Glitch today: When we
were slowed for the accident this morning, we noticed our inverter had failed. Runaway
has a lot of new technology that we are testing. We have a new inverter model, with new
software, which the guys seriously stress tested. This evening, Frank helps us trouble shoot,
but it continues to fail. Instead of his
shipping us a new inverter, we decide to go without. No microwave, hair dryer or air conditioning,
but everything else is DC. We’ll do a
post-mortem when we get back.
Friday, December 30,
2016: Renaissance Vinoy, St. Petersburg,
FL
This morning, Mike turns on the heat, gets coffee, and we
both shower and have breakfast. Traffic
is stop-and-go from Georgia to Tampa through messy rain and sleet. We stop at a truck wash to get Runaway
cleaned up. Back on the road, using Open Table, we make a dinner reservation in
St. Petersburg at the Marchand, Renaissance Vinoy, a historic hotel on the
harbor. Mike tells the valet that we are “staying the night,” without saying we
are staying in the RV. After a delicious
dinner, Mike tips the valet well, tells them to keep the key since, again, we
are “staying the night.” We locate the RV
at the loading dock, use the keyless entry and sleep the night there.
Saturday, December
31, 2016: New Years’ Eve in Sarasota
About midnight at our Vinoy loading dock campsite, Mike
hears banging and clattering of a party tent either going up or coming down,
but I sleep through it. We have coffee
on the hotel veranda and the valet brings the RV up. Mike gives them a tour of Runaway. We decide to stay at the hotel for
breakfast. In an elegant, sunny breakfast
room, I am grateful for Mike’s adventuresome spirit and my learning to trust
it.
About 10AM on New Year’s Eve, we arrive in Sarasota at our
friends’ house on Lido Key. At sunset on
the beach we have a champagne toast, with lots of other happy people of all
ages. We leave half the bottle with a
large, multi-generation family celebrating in front of their motel. For dinner we go to Selva Grill and then
wander around downtown where a carnival is set up. Families are playing games and enjoying the
rides. A lighted pineapple is high on a
pole, ready to drop at midnight. Home by
11PM, we hear fireworks as we drift off to sleep.
Sunday, January 1,
2017: New Years’ Day and abandoning
plans
I wake up with a sore throat, cough and aches. This flu/cold has gone through our whole
family and tends to last three weeks. We
don’t want to give it to our friends here or at our next stop in Fort Myers, so
we set off back to Cleveland.
We take I-75 to I-95 to Savannah and then Rt. 21 to I-26
past Columbia, SC. We stop at Panera for
chicken noodle soup and then stay the night at another truck stop. It rains all night, a peaceful sound.
Monday, January 2,
2017: Back home to recover
It rains all day as we drive, listening to Pandora and
trying to guess the artist before we read the name on the iPhone. At 7:30PM, I am grateful to be home.
Tuesday, January 10,
2017: Back to Florida
I’m feeling better, so at 4PM we set out again for Florida,
with our goal the Tampa SuperShow the next week. We have a new inverter and the failed one is
being autopsied. In Cleveland, it is 35
degrees, with about 4 inches of snow. We
drive I-77 to about 60 miles north of Charleston, West Virginia where we stay
at a rest stop. We eat dinner from home
and listen to President Obama’s farewell address.
Wednesday, January
11, 2017: Escape to the movies
At 6AM, it is 35 degrees and raining. We have breakfast at Cracker Barrel. In Virginia, between Bluefield and
Wytheville, we stop at a Visitor Information Center where we pick up flyers on things
to do in the area: the New River Trail
State Park; Crystal Springs Recreation Area; and Abington, VA, as well as schedules
for bluegrass music in Galax and along the Blue Ridge Parkway Heritage Music
Trail. On our last trip through this
area, we hiked the New River Trail and vowed never to come through here again, without
doing this beautiful trail along the New River. The other sites sound good, too, but it is
cold and raining, so we keep driving.
Late in the afternoon, in Columbia, South Carolina, to escape both the dreary
weather and too much politics on SiriusXM radio, we stop at a movie theater and
see Hidden Figures. This is uplifting. In Orangeburg, South Carolina, we sleep-stop
at a Pilot Truck Stop. Mike and I both
work on our computers. I love my
adjustable footrest, which makes the turned-around passenger seat into a
comfortable chaise lounge.
Thursday, January 12,
2017: Savannah and St. Augustine
The sun comes up through the fog and we continue south. At Savannah, we get off for the Savannah
National Wildlife Refuge, where we drive the 4-mile observation loop through
what was a rice plantation starting back in the 1700s. We get out and walk when a park service man waves
us over to see a 14-foot alligator, sunning itself on a bank. We take a short walk through the former slave
living compound and start to hike the Plantation Island Trial, but the mosquitoes
make us retreat. From the RV, we see
hawks, ducks, and a pileated woodpecker.
We now push to Crescent Beach, south of St. Augustine to meet our friend
John, who has been a steady supporter of Advanced RV from the beginning, and
his wife. From the second story of South Beach Grill. we overlook the ocean and
enjoy a delightful dinner of southern fried fish with cheese grits. We spend the night close by at a Flying
J.
On this beautiful clear night, with a nearly full moon, I
realize something I miss about campgrounds:
enjoying an evening walk in a natural setting, sometimes with a “water
feature,” and saying hello to other campers.
Here at this huge truck stop, we nod to the one trucker who is out doing
laps, but the massive trucks, most parked with their engines running, and some careening
in and out of the parking area, are intimidating. We do two laps, but soon retreat to the
camper to shut it all out.
Friday, January 13,
2017: Stopping to see friends and family
We drive down to Palm Beach Gardens and enjoy a late lunch
with a friend at the PGA National Resort and Spa. This place is amazing: spread out, with five golf courses, gorgeous
landscaping, and views from the hotel patio of multiple pools and
fountains. Our friend takes us on his
golf cart around the course where they are setting up for the Honda Classic in
a few weeks. From here we drive back
north a bit to Jupiter, where we get a 2-mile walk around Riverbend Park and
see lots of birds, including a wild peacock. Then, we meet a cousin in Jupiter
for a lovely dinner, overlooking an intracoastal waterway. We drive south again to Fort Lauderdale and
sleep-stop behind the Original Pancake House, where we are to meet a friend for
breakfast the next morning.
Saturday, January 14,
2017: Alligator Alley and Fort Myers
We get an early walk on the streets of Fort Lauderdale,
enjoy breakfast with our friend, and then park near Fort Lauderdale Beach. We walk the beach, enjoying the lively
Saturday crowd, playing volleyball, sunning and people watching like us.
We have a picnic lunch out of the camper and drive across
Alligator Alley, stopping at Recreation Areas to see many birds and three alligators.
About 5PM, we arrive at the mobile home park where our
friends Dave and Carol reside when they are not traveling. They are models for
traveling in a Class B motor home and connecting with friends and family along
the way. As they say, the Class B
off-the-grid features make visiting easy since we bring our own bedroom and
bath. We park between their home and their Advanced RV SuperStealth. For dinner, we go to Pinchers, in downtown
Fort Myers, where the view of the lights across the river is lovely, the
service is fun, and all our dinners are good – ahi tuna, mahi mahi tacos, and
blackened grouper. We stay the night in
our camper at their place.
Sunday, January 15,
2017: Venice Beach and Sarasota
After breakfast with Dave and Carol, we head north to Venice
Beach. Mike uses their YMCA for a
workout and shower, while I walk the parking lot, putter in the RV and get some
rare alone time. We have a good lunch of
southern cooking at Darrells and then walk Venice Beach. We drive up Casey Key Road, admiring the
beautiful homes overlooking the Gulf. In
Sarasota, we get groceries at Whole Foods and drive out to Lido Key, where we park
on the city street next to the beach. We
get another long beach walk, enjoy the sunset and have dinner in the RV. We settle for the night right there.
Monday, January 16,
2017: To the Florida RV SuperShow
Lovely morning, in the low 60’s. We walk to Lido Beach Hotel for coffee and
the newspapers. Back in the RV, I get
out our new NutriBullet Max and follow the directions to make a healthy and
delicious smoothie for breakfast. Easy. The essential parts fit on the bottom shelf
of the entry cabinet. We take a long
walk to St. Armand’s Circle and back down the beach. We clean up and have lunch
in the camper. Several people walking by
stop to see the RV.
We drive to Tampa and park at a Flying J on Rt. 4 just
minutes from the show. We walk across
the street to LazyDays “RV resort” to
see if they might have a spot for us tonight.
They are completely booked, with a waiting list of 300! We walk their RV Resort, which has a huge,
luxurious indoor swimming pool, a workout building, and rows upon rows of
gorgeous Class A’s, most towing a car.
We talk to the couple in the one Class B we see, a bright red Winnebago
Travado. They are camping out, waiting at
LazyDays for a part to come in. For
dinner, we meet friends from Cleveland, and their friends from Switzerland, who
are all going to the SuperShow. We
“camp” at Walmart close to the fairgrounds.
Tuesday, January 17,
2017: Industry Day at the Florida RV
SuperShow
When we registered for the SuperShow, campsites with
services were full, so we reserved “dry camping. ” This turns out to be a tight
parking lot next to the registration office, but that is OK. At the show, we meet our friends and explore
the Class B’s and the assorted RV items for sale in the huge expo hall. We meet several suppliers and other RV
manufacturers. We have dinner with our
friends at the Hard Rock Café in the Seminole Casino across the street from the
show.
Wednesday, January
18, 2017: More SuperShow, Orlando and
Jacksonville
Early in the morning, we drive to Flying J, dump and
fuel. In the parking lot of the
SuperShow, we show Runaway to potential clients. We tour the rest of the Class B’s and meet an
Advanced RV client for lunch. Next, we
head to Orlando and show the RV to another interested couple. We then intend to make it to Savannah for
dinner at Elizabeth’s on 37th, but traffic through Jacksonville is
slow, so we stop for dinner at a new Thai restaurant there, Pat Thai,
recommended on Yelp. It is good and
fresh and we enjoy the young, recently immigrated Thai woman who attentively
waits on us. We sleep-stop at a Pilot truck
stop, near St. Mary’s, Georgia.
Thursday, January 19,
2017: Savannah and Kiawah Island
After sleeping 9 ½ hours, we catch up on emails and phone
calls. At 11:30AM we arrive at the
Savannah Visitors Center and get recommendations for a walking route and a place
for lunch. We walk north on Bull St. to
the Savannah River, enjoy a Cajun lunch at Huey’s, walk Emmet Park, and return
on Abercorn, stopping in the Colonial Park Cemetery. All along the way, we read the plaques and
study the monuments in the lovely squares, shaded by live oaks, to get a bit of
the history of Savannah.
At 4:30PM, arriving on Kiawah Island, we park in the parking
lot at our friends’ condo, surrounded by lush vegetation. They give us a quick driving tour of the
island, where we see the elegant homes, golf courses and clubs. We have dinner at their home, marvel at the
density of the stars in the dark sky over the ocean and sleep well for the
first in nine nights out of the RV.
Friday, January 20,
2017: New River Trail State Park,
Virginia
At sunrise, we walk the beach at Kiawah, then have breakfast
with our friends, and set off again, grateful for this luxurious break in our
RV travels. On SiriusXM, we listen to
the Inauguration ceremonies. Late in the afternoon, just into Virginia on I-77,
we stop at the New River Trail State Park and walk the beautiful path along the
New River. This walk, plus our morning
beach walk, makes this an 8-mile day. We
sleep-stop at Cracker Barrel near Princeton, West Virginia.
Saturday, January 21,
2017: Back home
We eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel and set off, arriving
home mid-afternoon. We’ve had another
good RV adventure, seeing lots of friends, family and interesting places, new
and old.
