Our Travels for 2026

January 1, 2026. Started off the New Year the same way I always start my mornings – Lucy and I were out the door early and did our 2 mile walk on the golf course. The rest of the day was spent getting things packed for our trip to Florida. 

Our RV travels began on January 2 when we started out on our way to Florida to meet our new grandson. By the time we get there on January 20, he will be two months old. I'm very excited about spending a month at a campground near Jacklyn & Sean. Bill & Julie will come over for a weekend in February. 

January 2, 2026. Spent all morning still packing up. There are always things that need to be done the day of departure. We still got going around noon, which is about the time we usually leave when there is so much to do. Our first stop was in Grapeland, Texas at Salmon Lake Park. The site is not very level; side to side I put the Andersons but could not level front to back – we were too high in the front but w just dealt with it because I did not want to unhook from the truck.

Salmon Lake Park, Grapeland, TX

Since the park was so empty, on our morning walk I just let Lucy run free as we walked around. Found some new places to walk and also walked among the old buildings.

January 4, 2026. On our drive to Dot’s RV Park in Vidor, Texas, we made a pit stop and Jim discovered that our little cooler that we keep the water filter in, which was in the crate he has tied to his trike, flew out of the crate and landed on the seat of his trike. We don’t know how this could have happened as we had the cooler strapped down good. The door to the cooler popped off somewhere down the road so that is unusable now but luckily the water filter and my new Y valve and pressure gauge was still there.

Dot's RV Park, Vidor, Texas

This is a fairly new park and we had to back in up a small hill into our site. But, it was completely level side to side, and a little low in the front, which was good as I was able to raise the tongue of the trailer.  The electric is new but the water has a funny taste to it. Salmon Lake water did too, so I wonder what is in Southeast Texas water.

Trying to figure out a place to walk in the morning is always a challenge. I sit and look at the satellite view of where we are and try to find the best place. Here in Vidor I notice the elementary school not too far down the main road. The main road had a good side area to walk on, and then I found a side road under construction and that took us straight to the school. I found fenced in field with the gate open at the road entrance so we were able to walk around the field a few times before heading back to the trailer.

We had two one-night stands and today we head to Camp Margaritaville in Breaux Bridge, LA. We have stayed there before and Lucy and I found the Prehistoric Village next door where we were able to walk.

January 5, 2026. Our site here at Camp Margaritaville is a nice one on the end with a huge yard. Too bad we are only here for two nights. Today is grocery shopping and then tomorrow we head on to Abita Springs.

Camp Margaritaville, Breaux Bridge, LA

I bought myself a new cap from their store – a nice one with the Margaritaville logo in the front. Jim bought himself a new hat—a sort of cowboy hat. This one is black. Now he has to look for a hat band.

This morning Lucy and I got our 2 mile walk completed – walked up the road to the end where it turned into a golf cart trail. This took us around to the go-cart arena and then a bit farther, the dinosaur trail at the Prehistoric Village.

Went to Walmart this morning in Breaux Bridge. It was not a pleasant experience. I was able to buy most of the things that I usually get at Walmart, but instead of going to a liquor store to buy Jim’s beverage, I was planning on getting it at Walmart since they sold alcohol. The alcohol was on shelves behind locked glass doors. Since I could not get it myself, I asked a worker how to get it and he pushed a button to summon an associate. I waited and waited, then finally asked a couple of the women filling grocery orders and they said, we’ll get someone. I waited some more, walked around looking for someone, and finally a young girl who was filling orders, opened the door for me. I asked if they all had a key to the cabinet and was told yes. I then asked another one of clerks filling orders and was told they were not allowed to open the cabinets for shoppers. I had been waiting for over a half hour for someone, and no one ever came. I guess I was just not the right color. Thank goodness we don’t live in an area like that anymore. Had enough of it when we lived in Stone Mountain. Thank God for Texas!

January 7, 2026. Tuesday we made our way east again; we are now at Abita Springs RV Park in Abita Springs, LA. It’s an OCR park – cost Zero; we are here until Friday. 

Abita Springs RV Park, Abita Springs, LA

Last night we went to Outback Steakhouse because I had coupon cards from when I cashed in my points for the coupons. 

We had a great dinner; Jim got himself this fancy Manhattan: 

This morning Lucy and I went out for our walk along the lake. A lot of the trail is wet and muddy but there is a nice path around that mess; we got about 1-1/2 miles in, so that’s better than nothing.

January 7, 2026. This morning after our walk, I gave Lucy her normal semi-cooked chicken livers and she either had a reaction to those or it could have been the Oxyfresh water additive I was putting in her water to help with dental care. Either one, she seemed to have a lot of gas and was walking around looking just awful. I got worried about the livers being bad, so shot some hydrogen peroxide down her throat to make her throw up. She did throw up a little and was gagging a lot too. By afternoon she still did not seem to be better and I was going to take her to a vet hospital, but they wanted me to call the Poison Hotline first (at a cost of $110), which I opted not to do. I decided not to take her to the vet at all and just walked her around all afternoon trying to relieve the bloating. I was up a lot during the night with her, just worried about her condition.

Morning time came and we took our normal walk – she seemed pretty good and even pooped. She did not eat dinner that night or breakfast the next morning.

January 8, 2026. We went to the Abita Brewery where they actually brew Abita beer. They have done a lot of improvements inside, but they did not have a big selection of beer for Jim to try. He got a flight anyway:

January 10, 2026. We left Abita Springs Friday afternoon and made it to Wolf River RV Park in Pass Christian, Mississippi in the early afternoon. Had good weather on the drive, even though it was just over an hour to get here. Got set up and sent Peggy a message about being here. She came and visited later in the day and tomorrow we will go over to her place for pizza and more visiting. 

Wolf River RV Park, Pass Christian, MS

January 13, 2026. Saturday night Jim and I went out to dinner at Shaggs, a seafood restaurant right on the bay. We sat on the deck and were able to bring Lucy out there with us while we ate. I got a crab stuffed flounder and Jim got the Captain’s Special, both of which were delicious. We also had a delicious blueberry cheesecake for dessert. Sunset was beautiful over the bay.

Even got a picture of the sunset ~~

Peggy has two pizza ovens in her gazebo and loves to bake pizza for friends. We had a wonderful pizza and a stromboli. It takes her a whole day to prepare the dough because it’s all from scratch. They were both really good. I made a cheesecake but did not like how it turned out because I tried a new recipe. It was OK, but I won’t make it that way again.

Gayle, Jim, & Peggy

January 15, 2026. Tuesday we left Wolf River and drove to Styx River, an Ocean Canyon Resort. I had heard that they took out their laundry room because of leaks and other issues. I asked the question on OCR Facebook page if they got a new one installed, and boy did I get a lot of comments, most of which were negative.

So now that we are here, we discovered that Renea is also here – she was in the check in room when we pulled in. Surprise! I got a fairly level FHU site in the first row near the clubhouse. The electric box is new and the water and sewer connections look new as well. So far I have no complaints. They have redone their RV storage and it’s now all fenced in.

We took a site on the first row to the right of the clubhouse. It was a pretty level site and we had a nice enough yard with a picnic table. The sewer hookup looked new as did the electric box. 

Styx River RV Park, Robertsdale, AL

Lucy and I got to walk down to the pond and the trail along Styx River. The park is being well maintained for the most part and there are cans & pooper bags all over the park.

Wednesday I drove into Robertsdale to do laundry, and that was all we did. We did not go out to eat or visit anything. We did get to visit with Bruce & Karen (from Tres Rios) who were there for a couple of weeks. They came over one afternoon and we had a good visit.

Here are some pictures that I took of the club house and Styx River:

Adult section

Ducks on the River

Picnic area at the river

I had to get some work done on the trailer – the two bolts fell out of the aluminum bar that holds the panel up under the trailer. We have two aluminum bars that we put in a few years ago when the panel fell off when we were at Mammoth Cave Thousand Trails. I had one bolt to put back in as I did not bring the extras (left them at Whitney) and Karen found one in her package of bolts, so I was able to get two back in. Used some lock-tight on them to help keep them in.

Thursday night the temperature got down in the low 30’s so I had everything wrapped in reflectix to keep them from freezing. Jim filled the water tank and I had to use most of that up Friday morning before we hit the road.

January 16, 2026. Got out of Styx around noon, which seems to be the norm for us. We drove straight on I-10 to a park in Marianna, Florida called Stay-N-Go. 

On the way we drove through two sections of smoke -- there was quite a fire out there. I tried to get a picture of the smoke in the sky:

The site I reserved had a hill behind it and we could not go back very far or the bike rack would have broke. It was also very out of level side to side, so I decided to move to the next one over that did not have a hill in the back. It was still very unlevel side to side to the extent that I had to put three yellow blocks under the tires to get level. Front to back was not too bad so I did not unhook.

Stay-N-Go, Marianna, FL

Lucy is back to her normal self. I have decided not to buy any chicken livers for her anymore, but have opted on Fresh Pet dog food, a moist dog food that I mix with a little of the Blue dog food.

January 19, 2026. Our next stop after Styx was a one night at Stay-N-Go in Marianna, Florida. Saturday night we stayed at Coastal River in Steinhatchee, Florida for another one night. A huge rain storm came through that night; so I did put the awning out just to keep everything dry.

Coastal River RV Park

Sunday was a long driving day; what should have been a two hour drive turned into a four hour drive. We hit traffic on I-75 which was about 5 accidents that brought the interstate to a halt. I made a decision to get off of the interstate and go around, which turned into a wild goose chase that took us around 30 minutes just to get back on I-75 after the accidents.

Homebound RV Park, Bushnell, Florida

Swamp behind the park

Homebound RV Park used to be the Escapees park Sumpter Oaks RV Park. It has not been very long since Escapees sold it, but I have no idea why. We stayed here two days so I could get grocery shopping done on Monday.

Since yesterday was Josh and Sean’s birthdays, we talked to both of them. Sean and Jacklyn are sick with the flu; Sean said it’s been hard to beat. Then unfortunately, Justin came down with RSV and the flu on Sunday night. Jacklyn gave him Tylenol to bring down his fever, but when that did not work, they took him to the ER. He was diagnosed with RSV and the flu and they were given Tamiflu for him.

Jayden is also sick; she’s with her mom and her mom took her to the ER one night. I don’t know is Jayden will be going to school, or if Jacklyn & Sean will get her the normal Tuesday and Thursday and weekend.

Justin doesn’t look like he’s crying much; just eating and then falling back asleep. Sleeping is the best thing for him as it will let his body heal faster. They were told days 5-6 will be the worst, and he’s on day 2 right now.

Jack & Tam’ra canceled their trip down; they were going to start heading down on Saturday, but since they don’t want to risk getting the flu or RSV, decided to cancel. Babies can carry the virus and spread it up to 4 weeks after getting better.

I don’t know what we are going to do. For now, we head to Sun Lake RV Park on Tuesday and I guess we’ll just stay there until we feel it’s OK to go see the family.

January 21, 2026. Had an hour drive yesterday from Homebound to Sun Lake RV Park in Ruskin. It’s a very small park and the sites are pretty tight; we have a small grassy yard, which I like better than the middle row, which is all pavers and no grass. And with it being such a small park, there is no place for Lucy and I to go walk. There is a closed health clinic next door, but that doesn’t give a lot of room for walking. There is no sidewalk on the main road, so to walk there, it’s in the grass.

Sun Lake RV Park, Ruskin, Florida

Florida is not our favorite place to be. But right now I’m glad we are here and not in Texas; there is going to be a deep freeze coming this week and it’s going to be very cold. Before we left, I turned off the water and put the mini splits to 65. But I left my plants outside – my spider plant and my two aloe plants. Oh well.

January 23, 2026. So far this is not my favorite place to camp. The park is very, very small – only .20 of a mile around the whole park. I did find a closed health center next door, so Lucy and I have been walking around that in the morning. Four laps around it gets me one mile, and then I come back to the park.

They have a pool table, shuffleboard, corn hole, but nobody is playing. I was hoping Jim would have things to do when I went to babysit. We filled out activity sheets and I’m hoping the manager is able to move things along.

January 24, 2026. Getting used to this campground. Lucy and I are going next door to the closed Ruskin Health Center and do four laps around it, which equals about one mile. We then go across the street and walk down a dead end street with a few houses and businesses on it, one very nice house a the end and then a closed down business with trash and bricks and what looks like old chicken coops. After we walk down there and back, we head into the park and walk two laps around the park.

Today I went to see Danielle, the lady who has cut Jacklyn’s hair for over 10 years and who cut my hair when we were here for Jacklyn & Sean’s wedding. I got my hair cut again; it’s a little shorter than I wanted, but at least it will grow in.

Sean and Jim took Jayden to see one of the Lord of the Rings Movie – it was a long three hour movie. Sean fell asleep but Jim watched the whole thing with Jayden. I spent the day with Jacklyn & Justin and played with the chickens.

Jim got to hold his grandson and tried to get him to sleep, but sometimes Justin is just plain stubborn and fights sleep.

January 27, 2026. Today I babysat Justin for about three hours while Jacklyn worked. 

Then we went to see Jayden’s hockey game at 4pm. Afterwards we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I thought it was a bit over priced, and the food was just OK.

January 30, 2026. I also went over to babysit on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday we also went to Sam’s Club and then had to pick up Jayden from school because she did not take the bus to the after school program. Her hockey game was at 6pm and we did not make it to that one, but we did go over to their house for dinner after the game.

Jim did find someone to play pool with; some guy named Brian, who I think works for the park. He and Jim have played a few times in the late afternoon.

February 1, 2026. A cold front has come through. It was cold this morning when Lucy and I went out for our walk, and quite windy too. It did not hit freezing, but it’s supposed to get down to 31 tonight, and today is not a warm day. We are staying home today as it is college hockey on TV and Jacklyn & Sean will be watching that tonight.

February 6, 2026. Went to baby sit Justin a couple of days this week. I am enjoying being with him and taking care of him. Yesterday he slept for most of the time I was there – about 2 hours. I bundled him in his little crib on the couch and swaddled him good and he settled down and slept. When he woke up he was not too grumpy and before he could really get going, we fed him 5oz of formula.

Today Bill & Julie are coming over to the campground for 3 nights. I have stuff to do today to get ready for their visit as well as straightening up here; defrosting the freezer as our Butcher Box will be delivered today, so I will have to go to Jacklyn’s house and pick it up. I should have had it delivered here to the campground.

February 9, 2026. Had a good visit with Bill & Julie; was able to talk with both of them easily. Friday night we had dinner in the clubhouse; I made chili and Sean & Jacklyn came over, but not until about 8pm. Sean had to do an estimate after work and it took him awhile. But they came over anyway to visit for a few hours. Our clubhouse is really nice; there is a wonderful pool table, a little kitchen, a few tables (already set up for Valentine’s Day), a couch and some chairs and a huge TV. We all sat around on the chairs and couch and had a great visit.

Saturday I guess Jacklyn & Sean were finishing up their coffee stand and somehow no one made dinner plans for Saturday night. Julie wanted to go to the German restaurant, and Jacklyn had suggested Finns, but that was too late in the day. But I should have said I would rather go to Finns instead of the German restaurant. But the four of us went to the German restaurant; it was not very good and I was quite disappointed.

Afterwards, we drove to Finns because Jacklyn & Sean went there for dinner. I had dessert and they had some drinks. From there we went to an ice cream shop and they had ice cream.

Sunday we went to church in the morning and then to Jacklyn & Sean’s for lunch and dinner. Bill went to the store and bought bread and lunch meat for lunch and also had brought fish from home. He made Sheephead, which was really good. After dinner we took a few pictures of all of us before Bill & Julie headed back to the trailer. Jim and I stayed a bit longer but when the Super Bowl started, we decided to head back as well.

February 14, 2026. Today we drove down to The Surf RV Park in Palmetto, Florida to visit with Jenanne and Tommy deStefano. We have not seen then since our trip to Michigan in 2023. We will get together with them again when we come back to the area at the end of March. 

February 17, 2026. Yesterday afternoon I remembered that I needed to check the air pressure in the truck and trailer. On our way to Ruskin last month, I noticed that one of the tires’ pressure was 45 lbs. I thought that it was just a low battery, because when the battery is low, the temperature and pressure are low and don’t change. So when I checked the pressure yesterday, I discovered that the one tire was still low and when I put air in it, the air rushed out because there is a crack in the valve stem.

Spent yesterday afternoon trying to figure out how to get it fixed; even called our Roadside Assistance but was told that the repair mechanic is going to charge us $140 per hour plus $20 for the valve stem. I told them NO, and canceled that request. Then we tried calling several tires places, but it being near 5pm and President’s Day, did not get any response. I did talk to someone at Walmart and they could do it, but I now need to call back and see if we can physically take our trailer there and have it done. Our neighbor Bill even offered to help take the tire off so I could take it somewhere to get it repaired. But I have decided the best route is to take the trailer on our way to Dunnellon, Florida to get the tire fixed.

This morning I tried contacting two places and got no response. I called Discount Tire, which is in Lakeland, Florida, and they said no problem to bring it in, and it’s a No Charge. 

I am babysitting today from 11-3:30 as Jacklyn has training. Then I have to come back and bake some cupcakes because tomorrow is her 37^th birthday. Sean is going to pick up some ice cream. Also will have to start packing up so we can get a fairly early start Thursday morning.

February 21, 2026. Finished my babysitting Justin on Wednesday (Feb.18) Jacklyn’s Birthday. Last night we went to dinner at Finns because Jayden was with them, and then went home and sang happy birthday and had birthday cupcakes that I made for her.

Wednesday (her actual birthday -- 18th) we went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. It was small and noisy, and the food was not the greatest. But anyway after that we went back to their house as Sean bought a cake and we sang happy birthday again and had cake and ice cream.

Thursday we packed up and drove to Discount Tire in Lakeland to get the tire fixed; it took them about 15 minutes to get the job done and then it took us about another 2 hours to get to the TCT Rally. We arrived in the late afternoon and found a spot along the lake. The only problem with the site we picked was how out of level it was – side to side. I put two blocks on one side and a wedge under the opposite tire, but none of that held. The sand was so soft that the tires slipped right off of the blocks and the block under the jack slipped as well. We ended up being two blocks out of level the whole time there; we decided it was not worth the effort to hook up the truck again and try to get level. It was only three days, so we dealt with it. It does not look out of level, but it really was.

Robinson Ranch, TCT Rally

The weather held for the rally; being in the high 70s and low 80s and no rain, except for late Saturday night which came with a cold front. Sunday’s weather was not too bad, but it’s getting colder today and tomorrow. Bill built a roaring fire Thursday night. 

February 22, 2026. Most everyone headed out on Sunday as the Rally ended. We have reservations at Southern Palms Thousand Trails in Eustis. We have a nice grassy FHU spot; 30amp service with good water quality and electric. There are lots of activities here, so maybe we’ll find something to do. We’ll be here for two weeks before heading to Sebastian for a few days when Jack & Tam’ra and Josh & Karen and family will be visiting.

Southern Palms TT, Eustis, Florida

Jim overdid it these past few days between walking with his rollater and riding his trike. His knees are hurting and his feet are swollen. He’s going to take a couple of days off before we get his trike off so he can ride again.

February 26, 2026. We have not gone out to do anything yet; Jim’s been aching a lot due to overworking himself as well as a pressure system that was up in the northeast. He is slowly recouping from that and hopefully we will get out and do some museum hopping. I got the grocery shopping done; mailed in our Absentee Ballots for the March 3 Primary, and got my laundry done.

The different laundry systems at parks gets pretty annoying sometimes. I think it would be easiest if they just stuck to quarters and offered a change machine in the laundry mat. But no, the laundry room at this place takes a card, a phone app, or your debit card. I thought using the debit card would be easiest, but when I went to use it, they wanted to charge me 25¢ extra per load! That’s on top of the cost of $2.50 per load. I did have a phone app for the particular company they use here (CSCPay Mobile) but it was already set up for Jetstream RV Park in Houston. With the help of a gentlemen in the laundry room (who said he was a programmer) we actually got this phone app to change to the Southern Palms laundry so I was able to use the phone app to do the laundry. I’m glad I was able to change that as I had $6 still in my bank from Jetstream, which is one place we cannot go back to. These are my laundry apps:

Yesterday I decided it was time to do our taxes. I printed out all the documents I needed and logged into Turbo Tax. I do like that program because they just import all the information, but it’s gotten quite expensive. They charge $169 now. I remember when I paid half that amount! We will be getting a refund, which is what was taken out for “taxes” from our RMD.

March 1, 2026. While Jim was riding his trike and I was walking with Lucy around the park, we walked past the small pond that is next to the dog park. We saw three baby alligators – two were sunning themselves and one was in the water with its eyes above the surface. Granted, they are babies, but babies grow. 

Baby alligator

The pond they live in

As we continued our walk around the outer road, we were casually walking when all of a sudden this cat came out from under a car and attacked Lucy. Lucy did not even provoke it, even though that’s what she likes to do. She got really scared from this attack so we walked a bit farther and I knelt down to check her. This cat came out again and attacked us, although this time it got me. I could not get it to leave so I had to kick it, which made it go back under the car. It got me pretty good. 

My cat scratch

Scratch cleaned up

March 2, 2026. This morning I went to the office to report the cat attack and they told me there was nothing they could do about it, that I would have to call animal control myself. They did not open until 1pm so after I got back from grocery shopping and eating lunch, I called animal control and got that started. In the meantime, Jim rode over to where the cat lives and it was still there under the car. It was not owner’s though, so we got the address wrong. It just so happened that the owner had come home for lunch and I was able to talk with him and the person at animal control at the same time. He said the cat was his wife’s and he did not know if it was vaccinated or not. He gave his wife’s number to the animal control person, but it was not the correct number (ummm). She said she would call the office to get the wife’s correct phone number.

The crazy cat

In the meantime, I have an appointment at the local emergency clinic for this afternoon to get some antibiotics and a tetanus shot, since I know for a fact that it’s been probably 20 years since I’ve had one.

March 5, 2026. I also found out that Monday afternoon after we spoke with the owner’s cat, that another person was walking their dog and also got attacked by the cat – about an hour later. The lady said she told the office clerk about the attack, not the manager, so that information did not get back to Animal Control. The cat’s vaccine is not up to date but supposedly it’s being house quarantined. Jim thought he saw the cat outside yesterday, but in order to verify that we need to get a picture of it. Also debating whether we should take the bill for the doctor and prescription over to them. 

March 7, 2026. Yesterday I had reservations to go tour the Ma Barker house. Ma Barker was the mother of four sons who were gangsters in the 1930s. Jim was not able to go, but I decided to go by myself. 

Ma Barker Shoot out house

March 12, 2026. We left Southern Palms on Sunday, March 8 and drove to Sebastian where Bill & Julie live. We had a great reunion at Bill & Julie Mars’ house in Sebastian, Florida. Jim’s brother Jack and his wife, Tam’ra, went to visit Jacklyn on Saturday and Sunday and arrived in Sebastian on Monday. Our son Josh and his family spent Sunday night with Jacklyn and arrived in Sebastian on Monday afternoon. 

Josh with Justin

Jason with Justin

Juliella and Justin

Tam'ra with Justin

Jack with Justin

Jacklyn with Jack & Tam'ra

Jim and I had our trailer in their backyard, Jack & Tam’ra slept in their Airstream, and Josh & family were in the house. Sunday night Bill cooked steak and baked potato; Monday we had smoked ribs; Tuesday we had fish and lobster and for Wednesday dinner Josh & Bill smoked a brisket, which turned out delicious. We never did go out to dinner. 

Sebastian, Florida

Jack, Josh & Jim

Karen & Josh

Gayle, Bill & Tam'ra

Josh, Karen, Jack & Tam'ra

Bill & Julie’s son Woody and his family came up on Tuesday for the day. Woody has four girls now and one on the way. Juliella and Jason spent all of their time in the pool and Woody & Rachel’s kids joined them. Their daughter Lisa came too with her daughter. 

Julie on the golf cart with Woody's girls

Julie with Woody's girls

Jim, Lisa & Josh

Laurel, Lisa's daughter

A weird thing happened to me; I don’t recall if it was when I woke up and noticed it or during the day, but I now have a huge floater in my right eye. I can actually see it floating around and sometimes I see flashes. I may have had this floater all along but it was never so pronounced.  I was not wearing my sunglasses while in Sebastian; I wonder if that had anything to do with the floater getting larger?

Wednesday Josh & family went out on the boat with Bill & Julie and had lots of fun playing in the water.

Wednesday evening their other son Garrett & his family came up for dinner. It was very nice seeing his kids again as we have known them their entire lives. We knew Bill & Julie back when Lisa was around 2 years old and before Woody and Garrett were born. 

Jacob, Rene & Garrett Mars

Jason & Jacob hanging together

We also had a great picture taken of the whole clan ~~ 

Thursday we headed out after Bill helped us fix the bracket on the awning that I broke, and after we went to visit Jim Urban and the house he’s been refurbishing for the past three years. He has done a really nice job on it. I thought it looked really nice.

Traffic getting from Sebastian to Clermont was awful. We took I-95 to 528, which was a toll road. I found out that our Texas EZ Tag is good in Florida. The different states have joined together to allow the tags to be used on each other’s toll roads. 

We arrived at the Orlando Thousand Trails late afternoon and got set up before the rain came. We were able to get the site we had last time; nice back in with a good size grass yard. Not a lot of rain, but just enough to soak the ground and cool it off outside. We will be here until March 22 at which time we head to E.G. Simmons County Park in Ruskin.

Orlando Thousand Trails

March 13, 2026. Looks like we were lucky with the weather the past few weeks -- warm and sunny. But now a cold front is coming through the area and it's going to get fairly chilly during the night. I might have to bring out the portable electric heater for the living room where Jim sits. It can get a bit chilly up there. 

March 18, 2026. We met a couple when staying at Southern Palms because she also rides a Terra Trike and Jim was marveling at it and their bike rack. When they saw us standing by their truck, they stopped us on our way back to the trailer and we talked for a while. Then while Jim was out riding the other day he met them here at Orlando TT, so he brought them down to the trailer. One of the many jobs the man (his name is Jim too) is working in a brewery near Nashville, where they live. The brewery is called Yazoo and he brought us some of the craft beer for Jim to try. Jim wants to get more before we head back home as it’s not sold west of the Mississippi.

March 22, 2026. This morning I decided to do a Map My Walk of the trail Lucy and I take through the woods. They took away some of the walking trail when they put in the new RV sites, but at least there is some left, which I doubt will be mad into sites as it sits in a flood plain.

We left Orlando TT this morning on our way south to Apollo Beach. The traffic on I-4 east was awful as it is the last day of spring break and people are heading home. I-75 was not as bad, but there was still a lot of traffic. 

We are staying at E.G. Simmons County Park, which is right on Tampa Bay. All sites are W/E only, which is not too bad. We have a new electric pedestal and the water actually does not taste bad. The last time we were here I had to be at the gate at 7am in order to get an RV site. Since then, they have opened up online reservations, so I was able to pick a site and pay for it before getting here. I’m going to walk around and look at the different sites to see if there is a nicer one we could stay at the next time we are in the area. 

E.G. Simmons County Park, Ruskin, Florida

March 23, 2026. We decided to go out to dinner last night; I forgot to take some meat out of the freezer for dinner, so we opted to go to the Ybor Grille, which was just down the road from us – easy drive. Jim of course got the Cuban and I got a pork sandwich. 

We were visited by raccoons last night. This place is over run with raccoons – they get into the dumpsters and trash cans. There was nothing in my outside trash can but I did have a container that I used for grease from ground beef and bacon. Somehow they figured out how to unscrew the top of the container and ate all the grease that was in it. And then used Lucy’s water dish to clean themselves. I forgot to take a picture of that.

Lucy and I had a nice walk through the picnic area this morning. I was able to go onto a dock and get a nice picture of the upcoming sunrise reflecting in the water. But since we are right on the water, there are a multitude of no-see-ums that come out from the mangroves and bite. The no-see-ums’ bite hits right into the nerve – small body and all teeth. You really don’t see them until they bite.

March 25, 2026. I had a list of museums that I wanted to visit when we stayed here in January, but we never got to any of them. Since all I had to do today was laundry, this afternoon we drove to Mulberry to the Mulberry Phosphate Museum. It was quite interesting learning the history of phosphate.

March 26, 2026. Today I got to babysit for Justin again. Jacklyn does have a full time sitter now, but since we were in town again, I picked two days where I could come over and sit with him. 

Then later on Thursday we went back over to Jacklyn’s house as Jayden had ice skating lessons about an hour drive north, so we left Lucy at their house and let Sean drive all of us.

We enjoyed watching Jayden learn to skate – it’s her first time learning. She is learning to skate so she could play ice hockey. She did play street hockey for her school this past year, but she is now going to go into ice hockey. Sean played ice hockey when he was growing up, so he is familiar with the sport. Advent Health Center Ice has about 5 different ice rinks where people learn to skate and play ice hockey.

Afterwards we had dinner at the restaurant they have there. It’s actually a very good restaurant – Top Shelf Sports Lounge, with a full bar and very good food. It was a pleasant surprise that they had such good food.

March 27, 2027. This morning Tom deStefano & Jenanne Edmonds drove up from The Surf in Palmetto, where they live full time in their motorhome, to visit with us one more time before we leave Florida. We have known Tom for about 40 years from when I worked at a law firm with his ex-wife, Barbara. We sat around the trailer and talked and then went to Plaza Mexican for lunch. Jim had been wanting to go there since we stayed close to it in January, so Jenanne wanted to go and I’m glad we did. The food was excellent and there was even a girl who walked around making fresh guacamole, which was also excellent.

I got us together when we got outside to get a picture. Don’t know when the next time we will be in Florida to see them.

Gayle, Jim, Tommy & Jenanne

March 31, 2026. Went spend some time with Jacklyn on Saturday to help take stuff to storage and bring some back to the house. So I got to spend time with Justin too. Went home and had dinner with then met Jacklyn & Sean at Kimi’s Ice cream. It was really good. 

Sunday went to Palm Sunday service early then cooked dinner in the afternoon and took it over to Jacklyn’s house. She baked what is called Brown Butter Brookies, which is a cross between cookies and brownies. It was really good with Kerrygold Vanilla Ice Cream. 

Today is our day to leave. The no-see-ums just about drove us out. I had to put the trash can in the truck every night just so the racoons would not get into it. We headed out about 11:30 going up I-75 to Gainesville RV Park in Waldo, Florida. It should have taken us 2.25 hours, but with the traffic and stopping once, it was over 3 hours. Jim was exhausted by the time we got here. It’s a one nighter, and then we head up 301 to Calhan, then east to I-95 to Darien, Georgia. Lots of full timers living here; small sites but at least it was a Passport America park, so it cost us 1/2 normal price.

Gainesville RV Park, Waldo, Florida

April 5, 2026. Arrived at Legacy RV Park in Darien, Georgia on Wednesday, April 1. We stayed here for two days as I needed to get laundry done. We were able to watch the Artemis launch on Friday night, and then watched another seven aircraft go up and over us, leaving long trails in their wake.

Legacy RV Park, Darien, GA

On Thursday we went to visit Ford Frederica National Monument on St. Simons Island, Georgia. 

From there we drove to Savannah Lakes in Hardeeville, South Carolina. We are here for the weekend, specifically to visit Jake & Robyn Forbes. We stop and visit them every time we are in the east, the last time being 2023.

Savannah Lakes, Hardeeville, SC

We decided to try out a local restaurant called Okatie's Ale House. The food was OK; I got a fried grouper sandwich and Jim his normal Fish & Chips, along with a Guinness, which was poured absolutely perfect.

On Saturday Jake drove us down to Tybee Island as I wanted to climb the Tybee Island lighthouse. So Robyn and I did that while Jim & Jake went to a bar across the street. The whole place in Tybee was very crowded, probably because it was Easter weekend and people wanted to go to the beach; it was a sunny and beautiful day. 

Robyn and Gayle

View from the Lighthouse

Sunday morning we went to Sacred Heart Catholic Church for Easter service. After church, Jim and I went to Fort Pulaski National Monument. We walked around the Visitor Center and then Jim went to sit in the truck while Lucy and I walked all around the Monument.

Scared Heart Service, Savannah, GA

From the Monument we drove to Burnt Church Distillery; Jim really wanted to try their liquor, so he did get a flight. 

Jake & Robyn joined us there, having dinner and more drinks. We had a good visit.

Robyn, Jake, Jim & Gayle

April 6, 2026. Today we started our trek west heading to Dublin, Georgia to Honeysuckle Farm RV Park. Sounds like a nice place, and it’s OK. It’s a Passport America park so it’s only $25 per night. We got a nice pull through with full hook up. There is a small pond to walk around, but that’s about it. We stopped here so I could go grocery shopping and then on Tuesday I want to drive to Vidalia to visit the Vidalia Onion Museum (the “official” onion of Georgia). 

Honeysuckle Farms, Dublin, GA

April 9, 2026. I liked Honeysuckle Farm RV Park. It was a no bones park, but it was very quiet and the people were nice; everyone there were residents and there weren’t that many either. There was a nice lake with grass all around it with ducks. I would definitely stay there again. We were here for two nights.

On Wednesday we headed to Little River Park in Milledgeville, Georgia for two nights. On our way to Milledgeville, we had to stop along the highway to use the restroom; we pulled over into a turn only lane that did not go anywhere as the road was gated off. But as we pulled over we heard a clank, clank, clank as we ran over something. I found it stuck in the rear tire – a ratchet that had been run over multiple times but the hook stuck into the tire. I pulled it out and then called a tire place in Milledgeville where we pulled in so the guy could look at it. He determined that there was no damage and no puncture to the tire itself, which was very lucky. It just penetrated a small section of the tread.

Little River Park, Milledgeville, GA

Jim was having some fun with a mockingbird:

I had laundry to do and wanted to go visit Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton. I was kind of disappointed in the museum; there was not that much memorabilia on the characters, plus I was not allowed to take any pictures inside. It was just a small two room museum and for an hour we had to listen to an 84-year old black women tell us about her life and about the life of the person who wrote the Uncle Remus stories.

I did buy some memorabilia – a book called The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and Friends (which I bought for Justin) and the Walt Disney video Song of the South, which is not in production anywhere we checked.

April 10, 2026. We left Milledgeville and headed to Old Federal COE in Flowery Branch, Georgia. We have stayed here many times before when we come to visit Jim’s brother and his wife. I picked the same site we were in last time but now I realize that it’s too short – there is not quite enough room for the Excursion. I just backed it in next to the trailer, but many of the longer sites there is enough room for a trailer and vehicle.

Old Federal COE, Flowery Branch, GA

After setting up tonight Jack & Tam’ra came over and we went to dinner at Fish Tails, a restaurant on the lake. It was OK, but not somewhere I want to go back to. We are going to have to find a different restaurant to take Jennifer to. 

April 11, 2026. As I walked out of the trailer this morning so Lucy and I could take our morning walk, I saw the sunrise over Lake Lanier. Very beautiful. The lake is fairly low and there is a nice piece of dried bottom along the seawall in sections, so that is where Lucy and I walked some this morning. I usually let her loose along the road where the tent sites are, but there was a bunch of people camping there this morning.

Sunrise over Lake Lanier

This afternoon Ed & Kathy Vasquez came over in their Whaler to visit us. They had never seen our trailer and wanted to come and see how we lived. One other time when we met up with them was on their houseboat and then the last time was at a restaurant/bar for the afternoon. We had a great visit; we have not talked in three years but we just pick up where we left off as if it’s only been a week or so. I love relationships like this; we all get along very well. We have known Ed & Kathy for about 40 years, just like Tom deStefano – Kathy & I worked at the same law firm from 1987 to 1996. We had a group of us who would always get together to party. Lots of fun!

Ed, Jim, Gayle & Kathy

April 12, 2026. This afternoon we went over to our niece Jennifer’s house. She really wanted us to come by and see her place, so I’m glad we went there to visit. She has a sweet little house and is very proud of it. Jim did help her to change a light fixture that she wanted to learn how to do. 

That night walking Lucy we stopped at the end of our cul de sac and I was able to get a couple of pictures of the sunset.

April 14, 2026. Tuesday we had our get together with Jack & Tam’ra and Kathie & Randy. Our last visit was three years ago when we came through this area. Jennifer also stopped by after work and was able to get something to eat. This meal was a sandwich with lettuce and tomato along with deviled eggs and a salad. Kathie made a strawberry cheesecake for dessert. It is always wonderful to get together with friends and family. 

Randy, Kathie, Jim, Gayle, Jack & Tam'ra

Gayle & Jennifer

Jim, Gayle & Jennifer

On Lucy and my walk this afternoon we walked by the bathhouse at the corner where the tenters stay, and these two little squirrels were playing on the roof and then going into a little hole in the side of the roof. They were really cute.

April 18, 2026. This afternoon Bucky & Angela came over to visit. I don’t think we have seen them since we left Stone Mountain back in 2012. For some reason, we did not get together with them any of the times we were in the area. I was very glad they came to visit. Jim has known Bucky since his diving days in Atlanta in the mid-1970s.

Jim and Bucky

Friday we packed up and made our way across northern Georgia from Flowery Branch to Acworth. I did not take us on the interstate as I thought it would be too crowded, so we took all back roads. It was only 40 some miles but took us over two hours because of all the traffic, plus it was Friday, which made the traffic worse.

The park I picked is another COE – Clark County South, which is entirely in the woods and trying to get the starlink to find a satellite is near impossible. I put it out near the road with it pointing straight up, but it’s still having a hard time finding the satellites.  We will be here 4 days because I want to visit two different places – the Tellus Science Museum and Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield National Monument.

Clark County COE, Acworth, Georgia

This place was very heavily wooded and it was very hard to find a place for the Starlink. Since it has decided to start pointing straight up instead of a northern tilt, I pointed it straight up to the only place where there was a gap in the trees.

There was not a lot of places to walk in this park; there is only one road in and out and it's not a big park. I did happen to find a path at the very end of the park where I could let Lucy loose. There were a few sections that were over grown but we walked through that until we could not go any more, then turned around.

April 23, 2026. We headed out of Clark County COE, making our way through the miserable traffic on the west side of Atlanta toward I-20. When we finally made it to I-20 we headed west to our next destination – Talladega Pit Stop RV Park in Lincoln, Alabama. What I did not know was that the “Race” was going to be taking place the following week at Talladega. We were supposed to stay three nights but Jim was worried about driving on Friday, so I changed our plans and we left on Thursday instead. We did take time to visit the Anniston Museum of Natural History on Wednesday. 

Talladega Pit Stop RV Park, Lincoln, Alabama

Today we headed west some more to our next destination – The Retreat in Livingston, Alabama. It was all I-20 for over two hours. Not too bad of a drive except for the road – it had lots of holes and pits. This park is pretty expensive for what is here – basically nothing; just a campground. I’ll walk around, but I don’t see any bathhouse or laundry facilities.  This is a one nighter; tomorrow we head to Clinton, Mississippi.

The Retreat, Livingston, Alabama

April 24, 2026. We left The Retreat about 11:30, stopped for gas and headed west. We had a reservation for a Good Sam campground in Clinton, Mississippi. When we pulled into the park and made our way to our site, we were flabbergasted. The site was so narrow that we would barely be able to get in and out, let alone put our chairs out and putting out the awning was impossible.  We both decided that we were not staying there. (I wish I got a picture of the site.)

I called a park about 20 more minutes down I-20 – they wanted $50 a night for just water & electric, plus that was with a 10% discount. We decided we were not doing that either.

I called the place I had planned on us staying Sunday to Tuesday and asked if they had a spot for us starting today. They wiggled around some sites and were able to give us one. So Jim ended up driving 421 miles today. That is about 200 more miles than we usually do. It was hectic and I-20 was awful. The roads are in very rough shape with pots all over. We got into Calhoun Hills in Calhoun, LA around 4pm. 

Calhoun Hills, Calhoun, LA

The park is small and we are in the last spot they had available. It’s a pull through on gravel with a small grassy area that is still growing. The owner, Dave, said that there is an AI Data Center being built nearby and all of the parks are either full or charging a lot. There are two parks in town that the Center has purchased for the employees.

We decided to only spend two nights at Calhoun Hills and to head west on Sunday. Saturday afternoon we drove into Monroe to visit the Chennault Aviation & Military Museum.

April 26, 2026. Today we drove to Starrville RV Park in Tyler, Texas. We will be here for two days and will be back in Whitney on Tuesday. If we have time on Monday afternoon, we will visit the East Texas Oil Museum. 

Starrville RV Park, Tyler, Texas

April 29, 2026. Arrived back at our place in Whitney, Texas yesterday afternoon. The yard is overgrown and needs mowing and weed eating. My plants died -- both of my aloe and the spider plant. They did not make it through the deep freeze. We took that back roads from Tyler through some small towns and lots of open farm land. This is why we like Texas -- none of that urban business of noise, traffic and more traffic and too many people. We had a couple of visitors yesterday and then took a short golf cart ride around the park; did not get very far before heading home for dinner. 

This morning Lucy and I got out on the golf course just before sunrise and was able to get our 2 mile walk done. This is beautiful country -- it smells so fresh. Deer were grazing when we began our walk, and then we met some more who always find us curious and watching us. Of course, Lucy had to chase them.

Our trip to see our new grandson has come to an end. We left Whitney, Texas on January 2 and got to Florida on January 20. It was wonderful to meet Justin Isaiah; he’s such a doll and is growing way too fast. He is now 5 months old, and I think now is when I wish we were there with him. I liked seeing him in the beginning but he is more aware now and is having a good time learning about life. I really don’t know when we will get to see him again. I'm glad that Jacklyn keeps sending me videos of him as he's growing and learning.

We will be staying at Whitney for the rest of the summer. I do not know if we will take a trip to Tres Rios or not; we'll see. The next major trip will be to Houston for Thanksgiving.

May 20, 2026. We bought a flame blower and Jim is using it to burn a stump from the dead tree in the back yard. 

Also got a great picture of the sunrise the next morning. Lately, it's hard to get out on our walk before sunrise at 6:30am.

May 28, 2026. On our way to corn hole this evening, a road runner was out and about -- got a short video on it.

I took a short video showing the field behind our place where Lucy and I go walking on a trail that runs right next to the Thousand Trails. This is one reason I like living here -- there is so much undeveloped land; it's quiet and all the green helps your psychi and well being.