From Florida to Texas (Gulf of Mexico)  (10 -15^th March)

Florida greeted us with nice weather and free orange juice to sample at the welcome center in Jacksonville.

The weather kept the logo – sunshine state. As we headed west we checked different places on the beach but all of them were booked out…. They all looked so amazing…. But I guess that is the problem as we don’t want to plan in advance and go with the flow. So we decided to keep going as far as we can and just stay overnight. Steffi found a website where you can find free campsites. http://freecampsites.net/

 

RV camping can be pretty expensive. We thought 50 USD/ night is already expensive, but we were offered already 65 USD/ night in a private park in Savannah…. So we decided to mix private RVs or good locations and pay some premium, but on regular days use State Park or National Parks (if available – those are sold out quite a bit as we learn now….) or if we are just looking for a place to sleep look for some free campgrounds.

So we found a little spot on a little village boat ramp in Caryville, Fl. The city looked like a forgotten place but on the boat ramp several guys, some with their kids where having a chat (looked like a social meeting place for the people in the area). Even the sheriff patrolled the road for us J so even Robert who was not very confident in the beginning felt save. The only downside… we got eaten up by some strange flies … they still itched today…

Next day we wanted to go as far west as possible, but rain was forecasted going west, so we decided to stay in Pensacola and enjoyed a nice afternoon. We had called a National forest on an island a natural seashore called gulf Islands (like the Outer Banks in NC) in the Santa Rosa area. http://www.nps.gov/guis/learn/index.htm

The problem was that their computer system was down but after talking to them 3 times Charley said to come in and they would find a spot for us for 1 night as several persons left … On our way there we were surprised about this hidden gem.

http://www.nps.gov/guis/planyourvisit/campground-openings-in-florida-and-mississippi-districts.htm

Once we got on the island on a toll bridge it looked like a luxury weekend place for rich people and we wondered how there can be a National park here. After  a couple of miles down the island by the sudden all construction stopped and we already saw the gate entrance. Things changed now and we were amazed by the sand dunes and white sand, so white you could not see the difference from the water dust and the sand. But no sight of a Campground…. Another 2 miles hidden by dunes and low wood, we got to the campsite. We got their by 3.30h and the park ranger was puzzled as we did not have a reservation and told us to go directly to Charley who was a Camping host. Then our adventure started as nor Charley nor one of the other campsite host were at their spot… the office was closed even though it was not 4pm… so what should we do? After several intents to find a camping host, we found Charley but turned out that it was a different Charley. It didn’t matter Charley assigned us a nice camp site after some discussions and we  could enjoy a beautiful afternoon on the beach!!

Pensacola and Fort Pickens (FL) 

 

 

Next day we woke up in a foggy atmosphere and headed west to Louisiana.

After skipping Alabama ( sorry ) we went straight for the classic New Orleans. We found a better parking lot next to the French Quarters which they called a 5 star camp ground. The only thing 5 star about it was the price. They took almost 90$ from us for the night next to the interstate. At least we could walk to the French Quarters  and enjoyed some Gumbo and live music on Bourbon Street. One thing is for sure, you will meet a lot of interesting people there J.

 

New Orleans and Lousiana impressions

 

Next day it was time to hit Texas so we went for 2 days to the Sea rim state park.

http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/sea-rim

Of course we are still chasing better weather but were still not successful. The park was nice but the weather wasn’t and the Mosquitoes started a war on us. They were very aggressive so 2 days was more then we could take. The sunny site was when we saw our first Alligator in the wild. Well, he blocked our path so we had to turn around. We did not have the balls to step over him J the other highlight was when we met Patti and Wayne. They had a nice 45 foot RV with a garage and a Harley inside. We had a great night and were happy to find our bed which was only 30 meter away J

Sea Rim State park, TX

 

 

 The next day we slept in to recover and packed our stuff dumped black water and Steffi took over the steering wheel for the first time….. Talking about bad luck…. 2 minutes later the check engine light went on and the truck had a dead accelerator. Restarting the truck fixed the problem temporally so we went to the next available Dodge dealer. They checked the error codes and it looks like a major issue. Since we were able to drive the truck as usual we decided to see if the problem happens again before bleeding for the repair….  We passed Houston and went towards Austin but we lost a lot of time with the truck so we stayed the night at a RV park in Columbus. We were invited to party with some Vietnam Veterans that met again after 38 years. It was very interesting and we had a good time. It was a real Redneck experience.  Next day we took it easy, did necessary bill payments online and took off towards Austin. Steffi took the steering wheel and our problem was back ( I hope it has nothing to do with her driving J ) but its Sunday so we didn’t find a place to get it fixed so we drove to the McKinney State falls park.

http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/mckinney-falls

We put the bikes together and enjoyed a nice afternoon. It could have been a little warmer but who cares. The park was fully booked but we got lucky as someone canceled and we grabbed the spot. We can already feel that Mexico is not far because a lot of Mexicans enjoyed the park. Tomorrow we are going to look for a dealership that can help with our truck problem….. 

McKinney Falls Austin, TX

Going South (7^th -9^th March)

The night at the Walmart Parking lot (yes, that’s right…. Most Walmarts allow RV campers to stay overnight at their parking lot) in Lumperton, NC, was an adventure. By 2am the CO Alarm went off, as batteries had run low. That was not a good start. Robert could not even start the generator. We started the truck, which should charge the battery… but nothing happened. The screws for that alarm are security screws and we don’t have a tool for that (something else on the to buy list) so I I tried to cover it with jackets, towels, etc to lower the noice. Didn’t help too much… What a night…. What a start?! About an hour later or so, Robert had the idea to take the complete power off, so we could get at least a nap before the night was over

In the morning we got power from the Walmart Gas station, so we could at least slide in our side extention of the camper, as this Walmart was not a Superstore and did not carry batteries….

Next stop buy 2 new batteries for the camper… with installation … wait.. Camper didn’t fit in the bay so Robert had to do it himself… so the morning was over.

By the way our Bank canceled both of our credit cards because of unusual behavior. I guess buying 2 maritime batteries at the same time was very unusual for people like us….  

We hit the road escaping from the cold weather in VA. We thought, once we hit South Carolina we would be enjoying nice weather.

It all seemed to be this way… In North Carolina, in Clarkton we had about 25C and we already were planning a fire and BBQ at Myrtle Beach. We had this nice campground in Mrytle Beach, with nice wood around. http://southcarolinaparks.com/myrtlebeach/introduction.aspx

Robert at his former host families house

By the time we reached Myrtle Beach temperatures had dropped to 10C and it was windy and cloudy. How could that be? So we decided to have something to eat and found a nice place for Seafood and had the best Oysters for our lives plus 2$ Happy Hour Beers which kept us there for awhile. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g54371-d1818263-Reviews-Flying_Fish_Public_Market_Grill-North_Myrtle_Beach_South_Carolina.html

 

Impressions from Myrtle Beach State Park at 2C

 

 

Next day we had a nice walk on the beach…. But it was soooo cold that we decided to go to Savannah.

The campground we wanted to go in Savannah was full for that night so we took some backroads and ended up in a small RV park close to Hilton Head, NC. This area is famous for luxary golf camps as weather is normally nice during winter time. This was actually booked out as well, but the owner gave us a spot in his backyard. For us the nicest place there. Shaded by big trees with Spanish moose hanging down, with our own fireplace. So we had our first campfire and a couple of tea with rum to fight the cold (by then it was 0C). Wondering why all campgrounds are so busy, the owner said, because of the cold climate on the East coast further north this winter. They had been so busy since Christmas…

Next morning the sun woke us up! What a difference. Even though it was still chilly every camper came outside to enjoy the sun.

So we packed up and went downtown Savannah. One of my favorite cities in the US. The historic district is like a European town built in the 18^th/19^th century, with little coffee places, and people strolling around. Combined with 17C ….. a perfect day!!

Savannah historical district:

In the afternoon we got to our campground about 10km outside Savannah. A little Island called Skidaway Island where they have a nice State Park.  http://www.gastateparks.org/SkidawayIsland

After exploring the trails with saltwater marsh land we bought some fire wood to get some steaks cooked. This turned out to be a nightmare as the firewood (for 6 USD the bundle) was wet as hell and after 3 hours we did the steaks in the pan… what a pitty.

Next day we got our bikes and went to the park bike trail through the marshland. It was really nice and you could walk on the marsh out to the waterinlets. The day was beautiful so we decided to explore the area and went to an landing pier in the area which had a nice bike trail through the woods. That day we collected some wood there and took it back to the state park to get the fire started early and 30 min later we had a nice glow with good sausages, salmon and veggies.

Biking in the marshland of Savannah:

That was our first nearly perfect day on the trip J