April 28 - Monday

Well our 2014 Florida vacation has come to an end! We started the last leg of our journey home to a rainy day. We had about a 3 1/2 hr drive home. As we drove on the weather improved, but it was pretty much overcast all day. We had a great vacation. We saw many things and stayed in 23 different campgrounds. We wished the weather had co-operated and was warmer, but we made the best of our time in Florida anyway. We traveled over 4,ooo miles and thanks to God we arrived home healthy & safe. It is always fun to get away from the daily routine at home, but after being gone for 68 days, "there's  no place like home" and family. So as we unload Paupers Pride, we thank you for following us on our blog. We hope you enjoyed our journal postings & pictures.  God willing we will have another adventure in 2015 and hope you will again "join us", until then, we bid you ... So Long!

April 27. - Sunday

Today was quite a day.. A real "character builder"! We got an early start and heard there were bad storms all along the way we were to go. We got to our next stop a few hours away in Hernando, Ms. It was really starting to rain and the campground was pretty empty and we couldn't find a ranger. It was about 10:00 am. Severe storms were predicted for all day, night and also tomorrow. So we decided to skip this stop and take our chances on the road toward our next stop which was about 261 miles away.. Johnston City, ILLINOIS!  We figured the weather might be worse tomorrow, because tornado threats were forecast. As we were driving the weather was getting worse, lightning , thunder and wind, ALOT of wind!!!! We went from MS to ARK to Missouri with the storms almost the whole way. Richard handeled it, but admitted it was the worse wind we have ever driven through, we almost pulled over to wait it out several times, but after we stopped for gas &got back on the road, the wind eased up and it actually stopped raining, Whew!! We crossed the state line into good ole' IL about 3:00 pm. We are staying at Arrow Head RV Park in Johnston City, IL just a little way from the Missouri / Illinois state line. As I am writing this, there are still bad storms predicted through the night. Depending on the weather in the morning, we will decide if we will make it home tomorrow. We still have about 250 miles to go.

April 26 - Sat.

Our next stop was only about 3 hours away .. In Grenada, MS. as we are traveling north we are going the length of Mississippii. Because we are "seniors" we get to stay at their State Parks for half price, whereas in Florida if you are a senior you have to be a FL resident to get the discount in their State Parks. Our next stop is a C.O.E. ( core of engineers) park. C.O.E. parks are very well maintained and are always by water .. A lake or by water locks, and we get the senior rate in every state, usually only $10 or $11 a night. This campground is along the shore of Grenada Lake. Being early in the day we had a chance to relax by the lake. We found a church and went to the evening mass. It was a very small older church. In fact there were only about 50 people at mass ( yes Joan, I did count them, ha-ha) We were able to pick up several TV stations and "lo & behold" Richard found the NASCAR race, which he of course watched. I did some reading. The lake has lights around it, so it was quite pretty & peaceful at night.

April 25 - Friday

We sadly bid goodbye to FL for 2014 ... This time for sure! We have "officially" started our trip north ... ILLINOIS! Today was a long travel day - we left Destin,FL about 8:00 a.m and arrived at our campsite at Percy Quin St Park in McComb, MS at 3:00 p.m... 7 hours of driving! Thankfully it was a nice sunny day & traffic wasn't bad. We had supper and played a game of cards  ( we did not have any TV reception in the park) Note .. The route we went took us from Florida, to Alabama , to Mississippi to the tip of Louisana, back into Mississippi.

April 22 - 24 (Wed. - Thurs)

We got on the road early on our way back to Destin, FL to Henderson Beach St. Park, one of our favorite stops this trip. We got hooked up at our site and off we went down to the beach, about 3min away. We could ride our bikes to the beach, but we wouldn't be able take our chairs and cooler so we take the car. It was a nice sunny, warm day, but windy. While we were there the Goodyear Blimp went over the water.  Richard found a bracelet &. 26cents. By late afternoon it really got windy and it was a chilly wind, so we decided to go back to the campground. We met several people at the campground from the mid-west, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin. 

Wednesday - We woke to a warm, sunny morning. We decided to go play a round of golf. We both played 9 holes and we both did pretty good. It was starting to get really warm so off to the beach we went!  We decided to try another beach we heard about about 45min away. It is called Navaree Beach.  The water was a beautiful aqua  color and warm, & fine white sand. We spent the afternoon there. We are thinking of staying a month here next year. There is a really nice RVResort in this area. It is right on the water and also has a pool, laundry room,& exercise room. It has only been opened for two years, so everything is new, also the monthly rates are cheaper than the daily rates. After supper I decided to get the laundry done. There is an outdoor laundry here with 2 washers & 2 dryers extremely clean. 

Thursday - This is our last day here. We also had to change sites. When we were able to get the three days here, it was for 2 nights at one site and one night at another site... Just across the street. But that is how they do the reservations, by the sites that are available. So after we moved (across the street) we went shopping for supplies. We spent our last afternoon at the beach here in FL. And the weather co-operated. It was warm and sunny. Of course now that we will be leaving, the weather is finally warming up! We sure are going to miss the beach.

April 21 - Monday

Well we again crossed the Alabama / Florida state line. This time back into Florida. We are staying the night at Blackwater River State Park in Holt, FL on the way there we got a call from a Park ranger from the park saying that the main entrance into the park was flooded, so he gave us directions to a back entrance - it was through a small town .. A lot of stop & go and traffic, but we finally got there. We were there early in the day, so after we got settled, we took the car off the trailer & went to do some sight-seeing. We drove back toward Destin,FL near the park we will be going back to. We went to the golf course near there & Richard golfed 9 holes. Then we started back, but remembered that we forgot the detour directions the park ranger gave us in the RV. Great!!  We remembered part of the way, through the town, but the rest of the way was down back roads & it was getting to be dusk. Thank goodness we had the IPAD with us. I was able to get the number of the ranger station at the park. He gave us the directions again, but he said he was just getting ready to close the office for the night, it was 6:50 & the office closes at 7:00!!!! Thank goodness we did have the night code to get into the campground with us, otherwise we really would have had a problem. We made it back and was never so glad to see our RV!! 

April 17 - Thur.

Well sadly we said goodbye to Florida for 2014 as we crossed the state line into Alabama  to our next stop azalea RV park in Robertsdale, AL. It is a very nice, clean family owned park, but it is "out in the boondocks". The nearest town Loxley is about 10 miles away. The Gulfshore Beaches are about an hour away. By the time we got all hooked up, it started to rain, it poured all night. 

April 18 - Friday

It was still raining in the morning, so we got the laundry done. The laundry room here is super clean. We took a ride to check out the beaches, even tho it was not a beach day we just wanted to see where they were. They are nice white sand, but very congested, a lot of high- rises and spring breakers.

April 19 - Saturday 

Today was a busy day. A little chilly, so not a beach day. We heard about a museum & tour of the USS Alabama battleship about an hour away.,so off we went. Richard said we were only about an hour away from the Alabama / Mississippi  state line, so maybe we should check out our next stop in Mississippi. Boy am I glad we did! When we found it, we decided it was not up to the standards we are used to, & we would not feel comfortable staying there. We also checked out the beaches in the area. They were white sand, but the water did not look clear, rather murky looking. According to the news stations, this area was affected by the oil spill a few years ago & is not completely cleaned up. So we made the decision that we would not be coming here. That meant we were 4days with no reservations anywhere. When we get back to the RV Richard would get on the computer & see what he could find. We went to see the museum & battleship. We were really glad that we did. It was a self- guided tour of the actual ship itself which is docked there. It is HUGE! We were able to tour all over the ship. I didn't do the entire ship, to many sets of stairs in the lower bunks and upper decks. To tour the entire ship takes about 2 hours, Richard said it was amazing, but a lot of walking & climbing. There was also an actual submarine to tour, but I can't remember the name. On the way back, we decided to stop for chicken for supper which we both had a taste for. Well we drove around for over an hour, and would you believe we could not find one chicken place! No KFC, no Browns, unbelievable !! We ended up at a grocery store Winn -Dixie.. They had fried chicken! 

Well Richard got on the computer & found that we could get 3days at the State Park we had just came from back in Destin,FL (which we really liked with the great beach) , so we made reservations. Looks like Mon we are heading back to FL.! We were also notified by e-mail that one of the campgrounds we had reservations at on our way home was cancelled do to flooding. They were refunding our payment. So Richard  had to find places for those days also, which thankfully , after a lot of time on the computer , he was able to do, so we are back on track.

April 20 - Sunday

A Blessed & Happy Easter to all! We found a church about 1/2 hr away and went to an early mass. It was finally a beautiful , sunny, blue sky day.... A perfect beach day! So after church we got our beach gear together and off we went! We spent the day there. Richard had a good day metal detecting ... He found $1.13 and a bracelet. Tomorrow we leave here.

April 13 - April 16 (Sun - Wed)

Our next stop was at Henderson Beach St Park, Destin,FL. This is one of the places we were really looking forward to because we had heard from several people that it was a beautiful beach, with fine white sand. Well it certainly was that! Also a very clean beach. Sunday was a warm, sunny day, so after we got all hooked up at our campsite, we spent the day down by the beach. It was a good thing we did because the other 3 days we were here were not beach days. It stormed Sun evening  and poured, very windy. It was very overcast Mon and chilly. So we took a ride to Pennsicola, FL, about an hour away. We had heard about the Naval Aviation Museum there. It was very interesting and while there we saw an IMAX documentary about the Navy Blue Angles stunt flyers.  Really neat! 

Tues. It was "down right cold" (are we in Florida??) We did some errands in the morning, shopping, post office, etc. in the afternoon we went down to the beach, which was only a few minutes from our campsite in the park. but it was so cold  & very windy. We had on sweatshirts and we still were cold. It was much more windy by the water ( which incidentally is a pretty aqua color) so we found a golf course nearby, and golfed 9 holes. Richard got 2 pars!

Wed. The sun was out and it wasn't as windy, but it still was quite chilly ... Again not a beach day! We decided to go to a show in the afternoon. We saw the movie NOAH which we saw advertised on TV &thought it would be good .. NOT!!! We both thought it "stunk". Not at all like the biblical version. After the show it seemed to have warmed up a bit, so we went to the golf course &Richard did nine holes, I drove the cart and was his caddy. Tomorrow we leave here. We were really disappointed that we couldn't  enjoy the beautiful beach more. Oh well, we have no control over the weather, do we!

April 10 - 12 (Thur -Sat )

Our next stop was at St Andrews St Park in Panama City Beach, FL. This is our 3rd year staying here. The beach is just about 5min from the campground and it is a really nice beach with white sand. Fortunately the weather finally co-operated, and we were able to get a lot of beach time. There was  a lot to watch on the beach. Surf boarders, para-sails,  jet-skis, boats, both sail and motor. The water was a little chilly, but nice to walk along the shore. One day after spending the day at the beach, we went back in the late afternoon to watch the sunset. We wanted to get a picture of Richard "holding the sun" like we did last year. Richard's metal detector find for the 3days was a whoping 85 cents! But he had a good time finding it. Friday morning we  found a laundromat & did the laundry. We spent the afternoon at the beach and later treated ourselves to dinner out for fish & shrimp at a restaurant  called Po Folks, where we went 2years ago with our friends Maryjo &Paul. It was real good and enough left over for left-overs. Sat we did some grocery shopping in the morning and spent the afternoon at the beach. We went to mass at a church we had gone to last time we were here, St. Bernadette. It was a good 3days, but we leave here tomorrow. I love the beach, it is so relaxing watching & listening to the waves. It's a good thing we don't live around here because I would never get anything done, I'd be spending all my time at the beach!