Tomoka State Park

We had a great Christmas - Christmas Eve with the family at Bryan's and Christmas Day Brunch at Janel's.  The only thing that would have made it better was to have Delaney and John there but he is the Air Force and couldn't work it out.  

Right after brunch we headed out and got to the Tomoka State Park in Ormond Beach just before dark.  The park has won the National Gold Medal twice - America's first two-time winner.

We had a spacious site in the woods. Unfortunately, no cable so it was Clint Eastwood movies all weekend.

The Tomoka River and the Holifax river meet at the north end of park forming a 12 mile peninsula with salt marches ajdacent to it. The area was inhabited by the Indians in a village called Nocoroca.  Lots of oyster mounds still here. Later a plantation sat on it and was acquired by the state in the '50's. All that is left  is remains of where they use to make indigo.

 And the tombstone from the plantation owner, John Addison.

They rent canoes since this is a state canoe trial.

 There is a small  boat ramp, and even a little store/cafe with a great deck over looking the river.

The land opens to the river in many areas with lots of areas for picnicing or fishing and it is just so beautiful.

 

 And when have seen one of these lately.  You don't see them much any more - now it is all stainless.

The campground is limited to 34' or less, which probably explains why we saw so many popup campers and slide on campers for small pickups.  We saw four of these here, usually  we only see one of these about every 3-4 months.  I think they are adorable.

And even vintage trailers at this park.

And my favorite.

And for the first time ever, our little sister coach was there - all the way down from Massachutes.  We have only seen 2 others - one we passed on the road and the other parked in a lot.

 We will be heading back to our favorite place for New Years- the Green's B&B in Homossasa.  Wishing everyone a very happy New Year. 

ICE with Grandkids

Last weekend we went to Ice with our daughter Janel and her two boys, Keegan and Riley.  We stayed Saturday at the Tropical Palms RV Resort  just down the street from the Gaylord Palms Hotel.

The park does not have a lot of privacy but outside of that, they have it all. Actually, most of the folks were off doing things so we really didn't see a lot of people.

They a very nice pool.with activities going on all day.  Even a cafe with happy hour.

Not to mention the Dive Inn Movie - Frozen was showing the night we were there, ironic!

They also are a  Tiny Nation. The cottages came in all shapes and sizes. They are sooo cute!

Photo bombed.

And again.

On Sunday we were up early, had breakfast at the Cafe and headed to Ice.  We parked the motorhome  (no parking fee for the motorhome) and got inside just after 10:00am.  Thank Goodness we got there early. We were able to walk right in, but when we came out of the exhibit, the convention floor was mobbed - over an 1 1/2 wait to get in.  I do believe we would not have been patients to wait that long.

And here we go - Coats on and ready to freeze (and we did).

  It is cold in there. 9 degrees they said.

The sculptures are unbelievable.

 That's all the pictures I could take.  My hands were just too cold.  After we warmed up, it was off to Ice Tubing.

 Next adventure - Christmas in Ormond Beach.
And from us to you,

Long Point Park

This year, for the first time in 45 years, we spent Thanksgiving by ourselves.  Due to way too much on both our plates, we opted out of our traditional celebration, and left early for 3 nights at the Long Point Park, a county park in Melbourne Beach. It is one mile from Sebastian Inlet. As soon as we got hooked up, I plugged in the electric roaster pan and got  the turkey going and then the collards.  The rest of the meal was cooked in the microwave.  I find myself cooking more and more in it - who would have ever thought that!

 We had a great site 30 x 70 right on the intercoastal.

We parked at an angle due to the winds. This campground allows you to park anyway you want on the site.

It was very windy all weekend - tenters moving cars and trucks in to block it.  The couple 2 sites down lost one of their tents on Wed evening to the wind.

When we first I arrived though, I was very apprehensive.  All I could see were big trucks and boats everywhere and people camping what appeared to be on top of each other.  I do not like this kind of camping.

But no worries, Our site was great - the view of the intercoastal - awesome! We were able to open up the windows and enjoy the view and a great breeze. This is the view from the bedroom window.

 A few more of  our site.

And the neighbor dog playing ball with his life jacket on.

 The park has a very nice fishing pier.

Also a small island (Scout Island) is just across the bridge

The view from the island

It reminded me of Pass-a-grill back in the day.

There were lots of trails. We came upon a little girl and made small talk.  As she was leaving she turned around and said "Sir? Sir?  Did you come form the campground?" and we said "yes it is right down this trail". She replied with "Good, I'm not lost".

And the most unique recreation vehicle this weekend is this one.  He has quite a set up with the deck and the table attached to the side of the unit.

 He even put good use to the front of his truck

And here he is almost ready to go home.

I spent Friday and Saturday working on the exterior of the coach.  I brought my step stool this time (I was not going up on the extension ladder we carry) and a telescopic brush.  Just a little more, and she will be done. Already, she is looking good!  And then I will tackle the awnings.  Big Bob spent most the days watching football.  We left early on Sunday to avoid the back up at the dump station and took the scenic ride home.  This is the Indian River Scenic Highway.

It was a great weekend and a place we will go again too. It would be perfect to buddy camp there.

Our next trip is to ICE with Janel and her boys.  I have to remember to bring a coat!

Fort De Soto Park

We went for a short trip to Fort De Soto Park last week-end.  I have been wanting to really clean the coach but every week-end we have gone camping, we were too busy -just enjoying life!  But because I am at the height of my obsessive compulsive behavior, I got up early Friday morning when Ft De Soto releases the 10% of sites they hold back and reserved a site.  I couldn't get us on the water, but we had a very large pull through site with lots of shade.

I was a cleaning machine.  Cleaned the carpet areas, wipe down baseboards, moped, the whole nine yards and and then I washed/waxed a little over half of the coach.  I ordered a waterless wash and shine product and the difference it has made is unbelievable.

Then it was to bed and after breakfast we headed home - maybe a 20 minute drive  My daughter told me she didn't get camping for less than 24 hours but it doesn't matter if it's your back yard, it is good to get away from everything.

No trips until thanksgiving.  This begins the birthday frenzie in our family - from 10/23 to 11/16, we have 9 birthdays and that many more in our circle of friends.

Stay turned for our Thanksgiving trip.