Avalon Landing RV Park, Milton, FL

Date of Stay:  Saturday April 6 - Thursday May 9, 2013 (33 nights)

Rate:  monthly $547+electric ($71 for us) and $39/night for 3 more nights

Website:  Avalon Landing RV Park
   2444 Avalon Blvd
   Milton, FL 32583
   850-995-5898

Description:  Near Pensacola and convenient to I-10.  Two sections both fairly new.  We stayed on site 65 in the brand new East section which has paved roads with gravel pads and concrete patios.  The West section is at the office and has a boat ramp, small swimming pool and clubhouse.  Those sites are grass/gravel with paved road.  All sites are FHU 50A and about 40 feet wide.  Located on a canal leading into Escombia Bay.  New trees planted and woods around East section help cut back the traffic noise somewhat.  Wendy in the office is friendly and informative about the area sights, stores and restaurants.

Activities:  We stayed here because it was very convenient to our doctor’s offices for our wellness checks.  Gin finally got new glasses.  Turns out she didn’t need eye surgery, just needed prescription eye drops.  There is a lot to do in the Pensacola area but we didn’t do it all.  We checked out Crestview since our mail forwarding service is located there.  The Blackwater Heritage State Trail is a nice paved Rails to Trails bike path in Milton.  We biked 16.5 miles one day.  We went to Fort Pickens to check out the Fort and it’s museum.  The beach there is very nice and there are a lot of free public access parking lots to the beach all along the coast.  We certainly did our share of shopping and restaurant hopping.  We never made it to the Naval Aviation Museum so I guess we’ll have to go back.

Trash and Recycle:  Each section has it’s own dumpster.  No recycle at the rv park but there is a county bin at the Suntrust Bank near the Rail Trail in Milton.  Also a recycle bin just before entering Fort Pickens property.

 

 

Office at entry to East section

 

Our “apartment building” and “apartment”

  

Fort Pickens cannon                                  Parade ground at Fort Pickens

 

View from the top of the Fort                       the Gulf and the Bay

 

Overcast cool day at the beach

Ho-Hum RV Park, Carrabelle, FL

Date of Stay:  Tuesday April 2 - Saturday April 6, 2013 (4 nights)

Rate:  $33/night

Website:  Ho-Hum RV Park
   2132 Highway 98 East
   Carrabelle, FL 32322
   850-697-3926

Description:  On the Gulf of the “Forgotten Coast”.  Pea gravel throughout this small park, all FHU 50A with some sites overlooking the water.  We were on site 4 and lucky that no one parked beside us on the patio side so that we had a good view of the water (a very small Toyota Class C did but we could easily see around them).  Tall mature pine trees in our half of the park.  A hurricane had taken out the trees in the other half.  Verizon internet spotty here although phone reception was ok.  Close sites.  Nice place to walk on the beach.  Fairly close to Apalachicola and St George Island.

Activities:  We stopped here on our way to Pensacola and glad we did.  We had made plans to stay on I-10 but decided to surprise Vel and Maggie who were staying here after leaving Cedar Key to visit family in Nebraska and their summer job in Iowa.  We all went to Apalachicola and St George Island for day trips.  I really enjoyed walking their dogs with them on the beach at this park.  One day, Sherry, David and their daughter Carrie came to visit since they were in a nearby state park.  Also one morning during my jog in a nearby neighborhood, I saw a big Black Bear trot across the road about a block and a half in front of me.  I slowed down.

Trash and Recycle:  No recycle.  Dumpster at corner of park has teeth/claw marks from area bears.

 

We’re on site 4 next to work campers          View from our patio

 

Entry and office                                         RV park from their pier

 

Sunrise at the park                                    Vel, Maggie and the furkids visit Gin

 

Wilson and Old Man of the Sea beach trash art

Cedar Key RV Resort, Cedar Key, FL

Date of Stay:  Saturday March 16 - Tuesday April 2, 2013(16 nights)

Rate:  $32/night (weekly rate, PPA and Good Sam helped)

Website:  Cedar Key RV Resort
   11980 SW Shiloh Road
   Cedar Key, FL 32625
   352-543-5097

Description:  Initially reviewed here.

Activities:  We stayed on site 74 in the back corner.  Dan and Tricia were on their lot but T left to go help her mom in NC since she had surgery. Gin was still under the weather during the first half of our stay here so I enjoyed a Rails-to-Trails bike ride with several of the regulars here.  We enjoyed a spaghetti dinner and several card games at the clubhouse.  Vel and Maggie (work campers) visited and Vel enjoyed Gin’s video games.

 

 

Cedar Key Bike Gang (thanks for the pics Charlie)

Lazy Days Crown Club, Seffner, FL

Date of Stay:  Wednesday February 27 - Saturday March 16, 2013 (17 nights)

Rate:  Included with purchase of Tawanda

Website:  Lazy Days
   6130 Lazy Days Blvd
   Seffner, FL 33584
   800-350-6728 (service)

Description:  Initially reviewed here.

Activities:  This was our last time here to take care of a few minor warranty items under Winnebago’s one year warranty period.  During this past year, we have stayed here 92 days for service.  They are very busy here and we have more flexibility than many motorhome owners since we are full timers.  Over the year, we have had several items added to Tawanda that weren’t related to warranty issues.  Bill and Nancy were here also for their last bit of warranty issues.  Gin was still felling under the weather having not fully recovered from the virus at Disney.  While here in Tampa, we got rid of one e-bike and I got a nice Trek Neko SL WSD to pedal for more exercise.

(No Photos)

Lazy Days RV Campground, Seffner, FL

Date of Stay:  Sunday February 24 - Wednesday February 27, 2013 (3 nights)

Rate:  Free (Coupons received when we bought Tawanda)

Website:  Lazy Days RV Campground
   6210 County Road 579
   Seffner, FL 33584
   800-350-6731

Description:  Paved roads and pads, concrete patio, FHU 50A throughout.  Sites are close together but have nice grass in the park.  We stayed on site 287.  Indoor swimming pool.  Nice laundry area and conference room.  Restaurant in main building.  Lazy Days holds many rallys here for different rv manufacturers.

Activities:  We came here to quickly catch up on laundry and technology after being in the Everglades for 12 nights.  We had an upcoming appointment across the street at Lazy Days so this was convenient.  Spent our days resting and cleaning.

Trash and Recycle:  They pick up the trash at your site.  There is a dumpster labeled for recycle near the entry.

(No Photos)

Flamingo Campground (Everglades National Park), Flamingo, FL

Date of Stay:  Tuesday February 12 - Sunday 24, 2013 (12 nights)

Rate:  $19/night (Access Pass discount)

Website:  Flamingo Campground Everglades National Park (FL)
   1 Flamingo Lodge Highway
   Flamingo, FL 33034
   239-695-0124

Description:  This is truly the end of the world as we know it.  The campground is 40 miles from the entry to the Everglades but there is a marina and visitor’s center at this end of the road.  No reception on Verizon so no phone or internet for us.  We stayed on site T27.  The T Loop has 50A electric but no water or sewer at the site.  There is a dump with water fill at the bathhouse.  The bathhouse does not have hot water although the other loops do have solar panels to heat the water in theirs.  Paved roads and pads on large sites without much shade.  Bugs are not bad this time of year during the day but evening can be annoying.  Forget about the summer.  Nice place to ride bikes, paddle, hike the nature trails and enjoy ranger-led activities and talks.  Lots of birds and mangroves.  Alligators and crocodiles co-exist here.

Activities:  Great place to unwind and disconnect from the world for a while.  Our satellite dish worked just fine for television although Verizon didn’t work at all (no phone or internet).  We were here with Dan, Tricia, Bill and Nancy and were lucky to get sites together.  Sherry and David were also here for a couple of days so it was good to see them again.  Ranger-led activities are great here and you really get to appreciate the impact of the Everglades on the Earth’s ecosystems.  We all rode together to the Anhinga Trail closer to the entry to the park on a cool windy day to enjoy some wildlife viewing.  We also all went to Shark Valley with our bikes and pedaled out to the Observation Tower there to get a grasp of the vastness of the Everglades.  Bill, Nancy, Tricia and myself went on a ranger-led canoe ride through the mangroves in very shallow water.  After our friends left, we realized that we missed civilization so we left a couple of days early.

Trash and Recycle:  Dumpster at the bathhouse.  Recycle bins at the entry to the loop.

 

 

 

 

Lots of birds and alligators on the short Anhinga Trail

 

Gators galore at Shark Valley

 

 

Observation Tower at Shark Valley

 

Ranger-led canoe trip amongst the mangroves

  

Kestrels, Ospreys and other raptors were everywhere

 

 

 

 

Abundant wildlife!!

Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Hobe Sound, FL

Date of Stay:  Wednesday January 30 - Tuesday February 12, 2013 (13 nights)

Rate:  $14/night (Gin’s disabled FL resident discount)

Website:  Jonathan Dickinson State Park (FL)
   16450 SE Federal Highway
   Hobe Sound, FL 33455
   772-546-2771

Description:  We stayed in the newer Pine Grove CG which is FHU 50A with paved roads and level pea gravel pads.  No trees here and windy.  We were on site 63 for a week then moved to site 66.  This cg is right next to the road so the traffic noise is constant.  The other older cg (River CG) is on the Loxahatchee River (about four miles from the entry gate) and has some trees with water and electric only.  This is a big park very near the Atlantic Ocean.  Great place to ride bikes and enjoy the view from the Hobe Mountain Observation Tower.  In 1942, this was the home of US Army Camp Murphy which was a top secret radar training school.  Several nature trails and the river is great for kayaking. 

Activities:  We rested the first few days after a busy week at Disney.  We were both quite week after our virus too.  Bill, Nancy, Dan and Tricia were camped here also.  They enjoyed kayaking to the Trapper Nelson Interpretive Site and geocaching while we recuperated.  We all rode to Jupiter and saw the beach.  There’s some nice public access areas there.  There is also a nearby National Wildlife Refuge that we visited.  After we got our strength back, we enjoyed riding our bikes, hiking and geocaching.

Trash and Recycle:  Dumpsters within the cg.  Recycle at the dumpsters.

 

Site 63

Site 66

 

Atlantic Ocean                                          Sea Grapes line the pathway

 

Nancy the Bird Whisperer                          Baby crocodile and alligator

Sunset from the Observation Tower