Well it sure has been a while... I've been busy, well, vacationing can be time consuming... Let's see, since we last had words we were celebrating our 50th anniversary. The next few days we spent resting and hanging out with our friends Van and Andy. We were also making ready for the slow trip north, and eating too much, as is par for this group. We made a few more trips to Walmart and Publix to stock up on 'stuff'. Saturday morning came early and we had the Doodle ready to travel.
Van had his car packed to the roof and right at 8:00 we said sad goodbyes and pulled away. Our plan was to find the Cape Coral Downtown Farmers Market, held each Saturday. Siri decided that the market was somewhere away from downtown, at a marina...not even close. After some searching we did locate the market. Parking was easy at the parking lot of a Winn-Dixie (a southern grocery chain) and Harper, Carol and I had a short walk to the farmers market. What a great place to shop. We picked up some fresh muffins, vegetables and spices by the scoop.
Carol found a dress designer she met 20 years ago in the keys and got a beautiful scarf. I had a tasty German Pretzel and Harper sniffed and smelled every other puppy at the market. There were many puppies at the market. Big and small she sniffed every one. When we walked back to the Doodle, our backpack was full of goodies, but we couldn't stop there, we also did a bit of shopping at the Winn-Dixie.
Back down Del Prado Avenue as we were leaving Cape Coral we had two more stops, fill the tank and a quick wash. The Doodle was dirty and buggy. We cruised toward Sarasota and a Harvest Host (free!) location for the evening.
Our destination was The Cock and Bull, a well recommended pub in Sarasota. We had called ahead and reserved a spot. We arrived in Sarasota early and found a great little park where we fixed lunch and just hung out relaxing for a while. It is always good just to take a breather and take in all that had happened in the past few days. We made our way to the Cock and Bull Pub and were greeted by Howie, the owner who directed us to a grassy parking area behind the pub. To our surprise there were several other RVs parked there for the evening. IN all 11 RVs were there that night. Our friends Missy and Bobby met us at the pub for drinks and supper and an evening of good conversation.
The following morning, we headed to St.Petersburg and the Salvatore Dali Museum. Parking was easy as we arrived as the museum opened. Harper had to stay in the Doodle as no Chiweenies were allowed in the museum. We made it in time to grab the garden tour which was great but the following 'architectural' tour left a bit to be desire as the docent stumbled over her words and didn't speak very loudly. Our group dwindled from 20 to 3 as we sneaked off to tour the museum.
Their collection was so very amazing, Dali's works are so intriguing. After about an hour or so, I went out to hang with Harper for a few minutes. I took her for a walk and gave her a few treats and fresh water. The day was cool so she was comfortable in the Doodle. Back in the museum we watched a movie and examined more surrealists of the period. What an amazing time to be an artist. The museum made use of your cell phone by sending an audio tour to the phone which also included an augmented reality view of many works, so you can get a better explanation. This turned out to be one of our very favorite visits on this trip. Dali was such an amazing person and so many of his works are so iconic.
That evening we decided to take a hotel for the evening as we were just drained from the days before and we both felt like a nice long warm shower. We had drinks by the pool and got some take out for supper.
Three hours down the road the next day brought us to Manatee Springs State Park. Carol, Harper and I explored the park and saw several divers in the spring. The spring is a crystal clear pool where over a million gallons of 72 degree water comes up out of the ground every day. Here several people, in wet suits, were diving and few brave souls were snorkeling. I say brave souls because the 'Florida Weather' had disappeared. It was a chilly day. We made reservations for a boat ride for the next day up the Suwannee River. I met another Leisure travel Van owner and they were from Rhode Island as well..small world. Later that afternoon Carol and I went for a bike ride and Harper came along in a sling over my shoulder. She is a good bike passenger, as we toured the park and even hiked along the boardwalk where 'No Dogs Allowed' signs were posted, but Harper came along in her bag.
We saw Manatees swimming along the spring waters as they made their way to the river. After a good breakfast the following morning we broke camp and parked the Doodle over in the main parking lot and made our way to the office and met the boat captain, Chico, who was taking us on a private river cruise.
So Harper Carol and I followed Chico down the boardwalk to the pontoon boat for a chilly windy ride up the river and back. We did see lots of birds and turtles but only one alligator. As we walked back toward the spring after the ride we did see another Manatee. We had lunch, pulled-pork sandwiches, and headed out toward Devil's Den in the town of Williston about a half an hour away.
After a quick stop for some more groceries, we made our way to the campsite. The 'Devil's Den' is a sink hole, and a spring, where you can rent dive gear dive down into the pool below. This place is not a State Park but privately owned, so everything was very $$$. We hung out at the heated swimming pool that afternoon. I had a great moment of public humiliation as I was dismounting my bike at the pool I snagged my foot on my seat and went over in slow motion. A young couple asked if they could help..I felt pretty old and foolish. I wasn't hurt, just my pride. It was a fine relaxing afternoon by the pool.
For supper that evening I made a goulash/chili kind of thing.. it turned out pretty yummy, but maybe I put in just a little too much of my new farmer market spices. Carol thought it was a bit too spicy. A little less spice next time. We had planned to drive over to the Atlantic coast the next day but cold and rain were predicted. We changed our plans to get some miles under the wheels and head north, to get above the storm. The storm decided to take the same route.
The following day was a long day of driving in the rain. We drove about 450 miles. A night in a North Carolina Cracker Barrel parking lot provided us a good safe place for the evening. We had supper in the Cracker Barrel and turned in early. It was still dreary when we woke up. I took Harper for a walk and when I returned to the Doodle, the door lock/latch to the main cabin of the RV wouldn't work. The door was latched but the handle just wouldn't open it. I tried everything to fix it but it was quite obviously broken. I found a Camping World nearby (about 20 miles) and we headed that way. The had a replacement lock and said it would be about $60 to install it and that it would be done in about an hour. I am not happy with Camping World of Fayetteville. The ended up charging me $300 and it took almost three hours.
The install was sloppy and will require me to do some repainting. Horrible service. It looks like the hammer was the tool of choice. I am NOT a happy camper. Moving on, as you can imagine, the travel that day was shortened, but we made our way up route 95 to another Cracker Barrel, this one in Ashland VA. It is a great service to travelers that Cracker Barrel provides. A free night stay, and always friendly. We were finally out of the rain and things were looking up.
Below is a collection of photos taken along the way. I took some, Carol took some, mostly iPhone but a few Nikon shots as well. Click any image to enlarge.
