FLORIDA HERE WE COME!

Well, another project successfully completed.  Thank you Lord! It’s Friday, Feb 24^th. We got on the road about an hour ago…make that 11:15. Would have been on the road by 10, but our home wouldn’t start. Unfortunately, that sounds way too familiar. What the stink? (As a favorite youth pastor we worked with would often say.) The good news is that the one remaining ViMMer couple still at the camp just happened to be an RV mechanic. Hallelujah! Glad they were there to help us out. He with his knowledge and she keeping me out of Bill’s way. It was hard saying good bye to this particular couple as we became fast good friends. Anyway, back to getting on the road. Bill knew the chassis battery was dead AGAIN and when charging it didn’t help we were very grateful our friend was able to give us a jump. We also decided to call the manufacturer and find out why this keeps happening; got some good info which may cost us some bucks but will be worth it if keeps our battery charged. Our friend also had some recommendations that we will try first. All in all, although it delayed our departure, it turned out to be a valuable experience. Florida, here we come!

I was warned and the warning was accurate. Driving through Houston… is terrible. Traffic and road construction; more traffic and more road construction. What is this spring/summer in Wisconsin?  Three lanes so tight we watched a truck scrap the side of his vehicle. Speed up, slow down, and barely move. Y’all know the drill. The good news is I didn’t freak out (too much). Thanks to those of you who are still praying  for the anxiety that often comes upon me when there’s lots of lanes and lots of traffic.

We finally made it to Beaumont TX where we stayed overnight at a really nice RV park...Gulf Coast.  Nice to park on a concrete pad for a change.  Not much doing in Beaumont  but we managed to find a winery and get a little tasting in. The resort had a really nice self serve breakfast which we happily partook of before heading off to the Johnson Space Museum near  Houston. Yes, call us crazy but the whole point of coming this way was Bill really wanted to go to the space museum.  We took the car BACK towards Houston (yikes) leaving our motorhome parked at a Walmart near the campground.  Whoops! We were hoping to leave our home at the campgrounds  but  they  had  others coming  in and didn’t  have  any  space for us to pull off  to the  side and park.

The Johnson Space Center was awesome. (Thankfully we didn’t get close enough to Houston to suffer any horrible traffic conditions.)  I’ve always been enthralled with the space program, Bill even more so. So many things I could mention, but the size of the Saturn V rocket was quite amazing.We could have stayed (well, Bill for sure) another couple hours but we needed to get back to our motorhome and start getting a bit closer to Florida. After spending four hours at the Space Center, I couldn’t believe Bill went another five hours driving our home to another Walmart, this one in Slidell LA.

We had amazingly good weather and no hiccups (Praise the Lord) as we continued on our journey the next morning, travelling through: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and finally FLORIDA. Along the way we saw some beautiful scenery. God’s creation is amazing and the ability he gave man to create this is a true picture of His creativity. 

 We arrived at River’s Edge Campground in Holt FL in plenty of time to walk around the beautiful campground and take a drive along the Gulf Coast.

Yes, we got back on the road (in the car this time) and drove to Fort Walton Beach. There was quite the breeze which felt cold to me so I’m walking the beach with a jacket while others are running around in bikinis. I felt a little justified when I noticed what appeared to be “sunbathers” wrapped in blankets. It was a great first day in Florida and a good start to a great month “off.”

First airplane to cross Atlantic --
eight years before Lindbergh.

Okay, our second day in Florida was even better. The whole point of staying at River’s Edge was to be within driving distance to Pensacola, most particularly, the Naval Air Station. This was another one of Bill’s must sees. Once again, we drove back the way we had come in the motorhome the day before but, again, this time with the car. We spent six hours at the National Naval Aviation Museum. It was phenomenal!  I loved the guided walking tour and the explanation of the early planes. The tour was lead by a former Korean and Viet Nam era fighter pilot who also commanded a squadron of planes. He had some great stories to tell. I really liked the authenticity of the displays and all the seaplanes. When I asked Bill what was most memorable to him, he said “it made the stories about the personal sacrifices of those who served our country and fought for our freedom, real.” I couldn’t agree more.  We thank God often for this country and our freedom!

Needless to say, our first few days in Florida have been most enjoyable and memorable. Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing!