Florida

Yesterday we arrived at the Lakeport RV Park in Moore Haven Florida. It is in the vicinity of Lake Okeechobee. 

Back home we had enjoyed some pretty nice days for December that felt more like spring time. Even some shrubs started budding out and the daffodils in my garden had already shot out of the ground. However, cold arctic air was in the forecast which made us decide to leave a day ahead of our scheduled departure. Every year before we leave the house we turn off the water supply to the house, drain the hot water tank and the pipes. It’s a bit of a pain to do on the morning of the departure day, but it got done.

We had no issues at the border to the USA or driving on the roads other than that it was cold, around -7C/19F and sometimes a bit bumpy (potholes). Our first night we stayed at a Super Walmart parking lot in Franklin, Ohio. The temps dropped to -9C/15F and our furnace in the travel trailer ran nonstop all night long.

The temps stayed mostly that cold all the next travel day and night. However, for the following night we booked a spot at the KOA Holiday RV Resort in Sweetwater, Tennessee. Our electric heater was no match for those temps and we needed the furnace again which unfortunately stopped working sometime in the early morning hours when we ran out of propane. We (Benno in his pjs) then switched over to the other full tank. Because of the cold temperatures we had not put any water in our travel trailer tanks but carried some bottled water and we used windshield fluid to flush the toilet. The shower facilities at the KOA were neat and clean.

Day three on the road we made it to the Camping World store and parking lot right on the I-75 in Valdosta, Georgia, which is a few miles from the Florida border. It still hadn’t warmed up enough to do without the furnace to keep us warm, but it didn’t have to run nonstop.

The route we took was from Detroit, Michigan all the way down the I-75 to Florida junction I-75 and I-10. The I-10 east brought us to Jacksonville and there we used the I-95 south that brought us close to the road which lead to our Florida destination on Lake Okeechobee.

So finally, yesterday in the late afternoon, just when a heavy cloud emptied its contents above us, we arrived at our site and Benno had again the fun job of hooking everything up in the rain! Today it is 28C/82F sunny and breezy and as per weather forecast will be so for the next week or more. 

If you are wondering why we left so late in the year to come down for our winter vacation, the reason was that we got to meet Elyse, the youngest member to the family at my sister's house near Toronto. My nephew, his wife and their 5 month old daughter had flown in to Toronto from Edmonton, Alberta on December 4th to show her off to family and friends. She sure is a sweet and pretty little girl.

Tomorrow we take a trip into the city of Okeechobee to purchase a new shower head hose, because ours jumped off the hook in the shower stall on route and busted a fitting. 

Thanks for dropping in and I’ll let you know how things progress here in sunny Florida.