RV Adventures

HipCamp, the Suwannee, and World Class Horses

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Over the past ten days we’ve been bopping around north central Florida. There’ve been no major adventures, but we have had some fun. Here’s a quick recap.

After leaving Cape Canaveral we headed inland to just outside of Ocala. We tried out a new booking option called Hipcamp, which is an app that’s kind of like Airbnb for camping. Landowners list their spaces, specify the services they can offer, and travelers like us can book right on the app.

We were lucky to find The Homestead in Anthony, FL and the ranch of Allison Cumley. Allison welcomes RVers with full-hookups located on her 25 acre ranch that is home to cows, horses, a donkey, and numerous dogs. We loved the beautiful setting which gave us an opportunity to explore the nearby Ocala countryside. We hit the farmer’s markets but spent most of the time indoors to stay away from the rain. 

The rain persisted off and on throughout our next stop: Suwannee River State Park. Another great Florida state park, this campground was a beautiful setting right along the river, and we enjoyed a few nice hikes.

We learned that we were a little too far north to avoid the terrible winter weather that hit most of the country last week. In fact, we experienced tornado warnings one night and received about two inches of rain on another night. It was pretty chilly too! Still we were grateful to be out of the path of the worst weather unlike our family in the midwest. 

From Suwannee River we headed south again to the cute little town of Williston. We were really impressed with Williston Crossing RV Resort and the very warm welcome we received. Upon arrival we were invited to join others around the roaring fire that night. Everyday the resort has activities and events (pickle ball, poker, live music, etc.) and the people were super friendly. 

As the weather turned beautiful again we were able to get out and enjoy some new adventures. For me the biggest highlight was exploring the newly opened World Equestrian Center in Ocala. Having grown up showing horses, this place was like Disneyland.

Billed as the largest equestrian complex in the United States, the over 300-acre facility has 22 outdoor arenas, four climate-controlled indoor arenas, and a world-class stadium, all surrounded by barns with over 2000 stalls, a hotel, an RV resort, and more to features to come. 

We walked the barns, checked out the RV resort for a future stay, and watched several jumping competitions in various arenas. We then returned on Saturday evening to see the $75,000 Grand Prix, a show jumping competition with the world’s top horses and riders. This was Olympic-level competition and beyond impressive.

Also while in Williston we checked out the Cedar Lake Woods and Gardens, a botanical garden set in a 110 year old abandoned lime quarry. Dr. Raymond Webber purchased the property for his own private use, initially intending to use the quarry as a fishing pond.  

He dug out what was left behind, including old mining remnants, and began to transform the old, polluted, swampy quarry. Now, almost 30 years later it is a multi-level botanical garden with three waterfalls, gazebos, and lots of koi fish.

We visited Cedar Lake at the same time they were hosting a large radio-controlled truck “rally.” Having never seen anything like this, it was just as fascinating as the gardens. Ten custom courses had been carved into the woods, and “drivers” guided their custom trucks through natural obstacles like roots, rocks, and embankments.

We also walked through their expo where vendors were selling components, parts, and accessories for every kind of radio-controlled vehicle you could imagine. We particularly liked the radio-controlled Winnebago motorhome, which Steve said looked like one his brother Brian had back in the day. Only you had to push Brian’s Winnebago!

Despite some wet weather, we enjoyed our time in the north central part of Florida and will likely return, but probably a bit later in the season next time.

The Space Coast

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Jetty Park Campground is THE place to stay when visiting Florida’s Space Coast. The park is run by Port Canaveral and is set right on the tip of the cape, with direct access to sweeping white sand beaches, views of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and its launch pads, and the now quiet cruise ship terminal. We could have stayed for weeks but it’s tough to get in here. We’ve already booked for next year and could only get five days at that.

Jetty Park is a perfect jumping off point for exploring the Space Coast, named for the presence of NASA’s activities throughout the area. Our primary goal was to fully explore KSC and we are confident that we did it!

Over three days we strolled the theme park-like complex watching movies, viewing exhibits, and riding simulators. We learned about the history of the US space program, saw the Atlantis Space Shuttle, reviewed our progress on Mars exploration, and tried out various space capsules.

Due to the pandemic, the bus tours of the launch areas and vehicle assembly building were not available. We are already planning a return trip in late 2021 with hopes of experiencing these highlights at that time. 

While visiting the Space Coast we also explored the Canaveral National Seashore. The land was preserved shortly after NASA began launching rockets in the area. It provides a buffer for the Space Center activities, but creates a quiet, natural environment for birds, alligators, and nudists. Yes, two of the beach areas are designated as clothing-free, and no, we didn’t participate and no, there are no photos.

During our picnic stop Bob met his first armadillo. He was ready to take the little armored guy on, but the armadillo didn’t have any interest in taking on a toy poodle.  

Within the boundaries of the National Seashore there are also a few short hikes that feature the history of the area. In particular, we did the short Castle Windy Trail which led us across the peninsula to the Mosquito Lagoon where we found a couple fly fishing amidst curious dolphins. No good photos of this but it was cool.

Another trail led us to the top of ancient Indian midden, which is a huge pile of shells, seven stories tall, created by some of the original inhabitants of the area. We followed the boardwalk up, up, up which ended with sweeping views of the lagoon to the west and Atlantic ocean to the east. 

One thing we try to do as often as possible is give blood. It’s our way of giving to the community, and we also get helpful health information in the process. We visited the bloodmobile in Cape Canaveral and as a result learned we are both negative for the COVID-19 antibodies.

We are extra careful with masks and hand sanitizer, avoiding large crowds as much as possible. It’s reassuring, but sometimes surprising to know we’ve avoided infection with all of our travels. While we stayed very busy on the Space Coast, we barely scratched the surface and look forward to returning.

Taking Care of Business in St. Pete’s

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Our last two weeks have been spent on the Florida Gulf Coast in Madiera Beach, adjacent to St. Petersburg. The St Petersburg/Madiera Beach KOA was a great basecamp for exploring this area and for taking care of business. After three months on the road it was time to stay put for just a little while.

During our time here we saw the dentist for cleanings and six fillings between the two of us. I saw a great physical therapist three times a week to address some lingering issues with October’s foot surgery. We also took Bob to the vet to have his Addison’s Disease checked out, and he is in great shape! Three of the four of us got haircuts and one of us got a massage. It was a fruitful two weeks!

Our site at the KOA backed up to a mangrove and we had a nice “backyard” where we could enjoy a fire, games of Scrabble, and dinner at the picnic table.

The campground is located along the Pinellas Trail, a paved, multi-use trail that runs from before Clearwater to downtown St Petersburg. Steve did his daily runs on the trail and Bob and I worked on increasing our walking distance, per the orders of the physical therapist. We are now up to about 2.5 miles on most days! We took the bikes out a few times too.

On many days we spent a few hours exploring the nearby beach towns. Treasure Island had a nice beach boardwalk, and Madiera Beach had kitschy shopping area with restaurants, bars, t-shirt shops, and ice cream shops.  Both communities have a weekly market, so we hit those as well.

Clearwater Beach also has a great boardwalk along the water. Steve was scheduled to do a marathon here but the race has been postponed, so we just explored. Brightly painted dolphins, as many as 120 of them, are scattered throughout the Dolphin Trail. We tried to capture a few of our favorites along our walk.

The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg is world-renowned, and it’s hard to walk away from it without being in awe of the Spanish artist’s abilities. While often weird and distorted, his works are filled with meaning, and learning about each works’ interpretation was fascinating.

In particular we both loved The Hallucinogenic Toreador, a multi-level painting that combines symbolism, optical illusion, and visual language to tell Dalí’s story. I won’t go into the full meaning of the painting (Google it) but it’s really cool. 

On another day we took the drive across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which links St. Petersburg to Bradenton and Sarasota over Tampa Bay. 

Driving the bridge itself was exciting, but our destination was even more of a circus. No really, we visited the Ringling Museum and learned about the history of the circus and in particular, the Ringling Bros. circus. As a child, I was enthralled every July when the circus visited Phoenix.  I poured over the circus programs for months after attending each year.

The Ringling Circus Museum is just one part of a very large museum complex which also includes the Ringling’s large mansion, Ca’ d’Zan, and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. We focused on the circus museum and strolled the bayfront gardens. 

Steve went fishing one morning with Hubbard’s Marina and had some little success. Luckily a few other fishermen on the boat didn’t want their catch, so Steve brought home a big bag of fresh fish for the grill that night. 

The Tampa area is in a frenzy for the Super Bowl which will be held in just a few days. It’s the first time in ages since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been in the big game and the first time ever a team has played the Super Bowl in their home stadium. And of course, there’s Tom Brady. We stayed away from the festivities in Tampa but couldn’t avoid the hype! It’s everywhere and even Bob was getting into it!

We continue to enjoy our RV lifestyle. We’re heading inland to a few of Florida’s state parks now and then on to the other coast. Stay tuned for more fun!