Departed departed St. Augustine and drove up to Jacksonville, FL where we checked into Big Oak RV Park. Since it is the time for spring break, all the campgrounds in this area were booked solid for this weekend and a good part of the week. Fortunately, Peg was able to secure a reservation for us in this park at 7:00 PM last night which surprised both of us. Most parks do not even answer the phone after 5:00 PM and some parks rarely answer their phones any other time, either. Peg talked with Mike, a young park owner, and he said that he could get us in for two days, no problem.
The park is pretty small but their wi-fi works well and their restrooms are clean and the roads are pretty good so we were completely satisfied. There are nice trees with Spanish Moss on them and squirrels and dogs so we are happy.
We arrived pretty early and decided to go shopping. We got a look at one of the parks Peg contacted (they were full) right up the road called Flamingo Acres or something and noted that they were indeed full – with about 2000 spaces right next to each other with no trees . I’m glad Peg booked us into Big Oak. We hit a Costco and a Trader Joe’s and after spending about $250 on supplies we returned to the park to stock our shelves for our trip into Georgia.

Today we went to see the Castillo de San Marcos, an historic fort on the waterfront in St. Augustine. It is the oldest standing fort in the U.S. and, since it is a federal site, we got in free using our good old access pass again. It is a very well-built fort with great views of St. Augustine visible from the upper gun deck even if it is a testament to the folly of fixed fortifications. It changed hands between Spain, England and the U.S. About 10 times but only two battles were ever fought there that resulted in the changing of possession. All the other changes were by treaties that were hashed out in Europe or other remote locations. Again, they are a little short of artifacts with the exception of cannons and mortars and they have a bunch of them. We arrived just in time to see a gun crew dressed as colonial Brits fire one of the cannons although they really aren’t shooting at anything because they use 5 slices of white bread as the projectile. The local pigeons, however, are well aware of what comes from the cannon’s muzzle and they all gather to eat the toast that sprinkles down on the beach just outside the fort after each discharge.
We then headed for the oldest house in the U.S. which was near some other buildings that are the oldest somethings in the U.S. From there we went to some other oldest stuff in the U.S. There seems to be quite a bit of old stuff here.
From there we popped down A1A to Fort Matanzas (Spanish for “slaughters”) down the coast a bit. There is a free boat ride available to get out to the island where it is located but the next available boat ride (45 minute wait) was sold out and the ride after that (1 hour and 45 minute wait) may be canceled because the weather looked like it was going to get ugly and the Feds were not skookum on flatboat rides in choppy seas. We begged off and went instead to look for seafood. We noticed on the way north that there are places called Matanzas Chiropractic (Slaughters Chiropractic) and Matanzas Restaurant and we happily let those slide past as we drove by. We found a place that had good seafood for me but nominal Caesar salad for Peg. Unfortunately, since they do not put their name on their receipts and my memory is doo-doo, we are unable to remember the name of the joint. I do remember that it was on the beach highway named A1A but all other bets are off.
I spent the rest of the day prepping for our departure tomorrow while Peg attempted to make a reservation for us tomorrow near Jacksonville. When we leave there for points north, we will have driven the entire length of I-10 from Riverside, CA to Jacksonville, FL. It is a great road.

Driving day today. We left the Canaveral area and drove up I-95 to St. Augustine where we pulled into St. John RV Park. The nice reception lady spoke a form of English that may mean something to someone but was completely unintelligible to me. Her funny pronunciation of what may have been English words was only slightly hindered by the complete lack of upper front teeth. I believe she was trying to be very nice but she may have been calling me disparaging things without my knowledge since I could not understand anything she said. Her smile was half spectacular – the lower half.
We took a spin a couple of miles down the road to St. Augustine and ultimately ended up at the historic St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum which cost Peggy $9.95 to see but only cost me $7.95 because I am so ancient. It is very lighthouse-like and is made from a shitload of bricks but I can’t remember how many. I would speculate is is between 1 and 2 million because it is a big Jose and you can see it from all over town. Like numerous museums we have seen in the South, it is high on admission fees but low on artifacts but it was okay nevertheless.
We left there and headed into the main tourist attraction part of St. Augustine which was quite horrible. Traffic is terrible, everything costs loads of money and there were no good places to eat that we could identify. They even have something called “Historic Parking” but we did not investigate that particular attraction. We just tried to leave and head back to the Invader albeit slowly considering the traffic. Just as we arrived home, we were again blessed with another Florida downpour and the skies were open for business. Despite living in Oregon for ten years I have never seen rain like they have here. In 20 minutes the streets become long linear lakes such that the lines painted on the highway become invisible because they are obscured by water and the miracle of refraction. The downpours are such that watching the TV in the Invader becomes impossible if one wishes to hear the sound track because the drumming on the roof is so loud.
Peg & I toughed it out in the Invader during the evening watching The King and I, a musical created in the ’50s and I am surprised to write that I actually enjoyed it despite the genre. The costumes were spectacular and the music was pretty good, too. I can’t believe I said this.

Kennedy Space Center Tourist Complex was our destination today. The KSC part was okay but expensive and an inordinate amount of standing in line was required to do anything – see the IMAX show, ride the tour bus, return to the original destination on the tour bus or eat and the food was nominal at best.
However, there was a launch of a Delta IV rocket with a GPS satellite on top that went off at precisely the time specified and it was spectacular. Despite having multiple family members that worked for JPL/NASA, I had never seen a launch, other than on TV, and found it was a lot like a NASCAR race. You just can’t appreciate a TV version of something after you have seen it in real life. I had no idea it took so little time for something to get out of Dodge when propelled by big rocket engines. You see the stream of hot fire coming out of the launch vehicle, then the noise starts about the time the column of fire starts getting smaller and a minute or so later all you can see is a really hot-looking dot in the sky and then it disappears. It is much better than the skyrockets I have had and I admit I have had some really big ones.
On the way back to the KOA and the Invader, we took another pass through the MINWR and again spotted tons of wildlife. Today we saw three more armadillos and a Glossy Ibis was added to our list of identified birds. Even if one was to omit the KSC debacle, Merritt Island and Canaveral Seashore are worth the trip to this part of the world.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Cape Canaveral National Seashore were our destinations for today. Both are just chock-full of animals and during our journeys today were spotted armadillos, alligators, manatees, javelinas, roseate spoonbills, herons, cranes, red=winged blackbirds, grackles, ibises (ibi?) and other birds we have not seen previously but were too slow to positively identify.
At Merritt Island, our federal access pass was again unleashed keeping us from having to pony up six bucks twice since we went into and out of the refuge twice. Today was a spectacular day for wildlife viewing and Peggy and I agreed this may have been one of our best on this road trip.

Today was a driving day. We left Peace River and drove through the Orlando area which is an almost homicide-inducing nightmare of traffic. Near the wonderful Disney area, traffic comes to a standstill as out-of-state tourists and deranged Floridians vie for insufficient roadway space. To make the drive more interesting, there were some nice Florida downpours which release water from the sky in almost biblical proportions. Sometimes during the downpours drivers can actually see through the windshield as long as they keep their speed below about 35 mph.
After clearing the Orlando area, traffic returned to merely chaotic instead of downright insane. We ultimately made it to a KOA in Mims, FL, which is close to Cape Canaveral. Of course, it was raining when we arrived so I only got moderately wet as I set up the Invader for a three night stay.

We started out the day going to download some ishkabibble for TurboTax, which should be called normally-aspirated tax. Peg needed to make sure the tax poop for 2015 TurboTax was up-to-date which is strange because we only bought the thing about a week ago. It is interesting that the IRS can make nonsensical changes to the tax code that take effect even after you have done your taxes for the year. I suppose it is so the IRS can tell you they want more of your money no matter when you file. Peg tried to operate the program to do this little favor for the Fed but was stymied by not having full info about tax year 2011. It seems that is the only year out of the last 10 years that she does not have the records for which is about 9 more years than I have. I hate the IRS for seeming to believe we should carry the documentation for the last 200 years even when living on the road. Turdfondlers all.

The aimless drive for today took us east through the countryside. Interestingly, we ended up finding the Sebring racetrack and there was a 12 hour race in progress. We drove down one of the roads near the track and ran into a very impressive looking black guy directing traffic who told us what was happening. I quizzed him on the cost to enter and he told me he could let us have two tickets for $100 but if we went to the gate we would have to pay $85 a head. Parking is free.
We declined both offers and drove down another road to the track and found a little pull-out where we could see the cars coming out of a corner and stepping on the throttle. Most of the cars seemed to be DP class although there were some GT (Porsches) which were bringing up the rear. It was quite loud. We figured we would get run out of our spot pretty quick so we took some video with Peg’s Nikon and called it good.
Right after we left the track we encountered another black guy who had a roadside peanut boiler and was open for business. Neither of us had previously eaten fresh boiled peanuts and he was nice enough to let us sample some prior to making any purchases even though we could not understand a word the guy said. He had an accent that we were completely unfamiliar with but, commerce being what it is, we bought a $4 portion from him and commenced to eat them as we continued our drive. They are quite tasty but eating them is messy so we saved most of them until we returned to the Invader. The remainder of the peanuts were promptly shelled and devoured. Parts of the peanuts we could not easily dislodge from their shell we donated to the squirrels in the campground.
I did some minor maintenance on Charlotte and we went to Scab-Mart where we shopped for some food including some business with a miserable deli butcher woman who either hated us, her job or life in general. She was about the surliest Scab-Mart employee we have ever encountered and we sincerely hope we will not be obliged to see her again. No smiley-face stickers for her this week and it seems highly unlikely she will get a non-cash, non-promotional award for customer service in the foreseeable future. In my dotage I decided not to give her a hard time for being such a turd to deal with but it took all my willpower and very few pokes to the ribs from Peggy. Peg also believed her to be an asshat.
Peg and I noted that the faucet in the Invader’s bathroom sink seemed to be flowing slower with each use so I took the faucet apart to find that the cheesy little flow restrictor was plugged up such that almost no water would pass. Instead of trying to clean the crud out of the restrictor, I took the path of least resistance and just took the entire restrictor out of the assembly. Flow in the bathroom sink is no longer an issue. The faucet now spews forth a stream unlike any we have seen since purchasing the Invader.
The rest of the day I mostly loafed and read. Peggy dug in and started processing our taxes for 2014 since the IRS might take notice of us because I earned W-2 income last year. If we get a refund, I suppose her efforts will be validated but next year I see scant reason to file any tax documentation since it is not like the IRS could do anything to us since we will be pretty hard to find if we keep traveling.

Today we took one of our aimless spins about the countryside. We initially went SW through Arcadia and on to Punta Gorda. This metropolitan area lies on the Gulf between Tampa and Fort Myers. It has very new buildings and a population which seems to consist almost entirely of rich, white elderly people like us. The streets are wide, the views are quite nice and all the roads seem to be one-way.
We went down to the Gulf all the way at the end of the road and found Ponce DeLeon Park which is a little parking lot next to the beach. Fortunately for me, they had a restroom. They also had a nice pair of fishing piers with stainless handrails and plenty of wildlife and bizarre flora.
We noted that the beach had something strange about it. Most beaches we have been to have nice white sand, a diverse assortment of humans and waves. This beach has sand and elderly white people. No waves, no kids, no noise, no minorities, no fire rings, no trash cans were visible. According to a sign posted conspicuously in the parking lot, there will also be no skateboards, loud electronic sound making devices, juvenile possession of tobacco, pets or breaches of the peace. I am only slightly surprised that the sign did not stipulate that minorities were verboten because all we observed were old, white-haired people, beach chairs and the Gulf.
From this diversity Mecca, we drove up to Myakka River State Park. The $6 entrance fee we spent may be about the best money we have ever invested. The road in the park passes mostly through pine, palm and oak hammock areas with abundant wildlife. We saw a pond with not less than seven alligators, a water moccasin, egrets, cranes, a swallow-tailed kite, half a dozen deer, an giant mystery fish, chameleons, and squirrels happily jumping through the canopy. We took a walk to a canopy structure which allows the brave to climb a wooden tower and take a suspension bridge to another tower so you can be among the treetops instead of merely looking up. Peg climbed the tower but was not too skookum on the bridge so I walked over and met her after descending at the other end. The drive north from the park has a road that is completely covered with a canopy of trees that extends as far as the eye can see. It has beautiful oaks both sides with Spanish Moss hanging from them. The view is magical even if the road is a bit squirrelly.
Myakka is a wonderful place and I recommend it to all, even if they are required to drive a ways to get there. We got some great pix.

Today was a travel day. We left Oxford or Wildwood or whatever they call the place and drove south towards the TT park called Peace River Preserve which is between Wauchula and Zolfo Springs, FL. I have no responsibility for the names of either towns.
Foolishly, we followed the directions from the Garmin which took us through the Lakeland / Highland City / Bartow traffic nightmare. No matter which way you want to go, your route will require that you twist and turn and curse liberally about the circuitous nature of the path. One may be required to turn right at one intersection, left at the next intersection only to be required to turn right again at the next. This may be difficult if merely driving a car but nigh unto impossible if dragging an enormous trailer. The Floridians, in most cases, were nice enough to let me change lanes as required to maintain my path but other motorists were total shitheads that dart into the space you need to get where you think you may want to go. It is harrowing for old codgers like the driver – me.
We also noted, since we had ample time to read the roadside signs as we passed through this labyrinth, that misspelling seems to be a virtue in this part of the world with words like “wife’s” (the plural of wife), bourne (as in food borne ailments) and schcol (school). Perhaps their educational system is not working as well as they may have desired.
We ultimately made it to our destination which is a very large park with about 500 spaces. Most of the spaces allow ample room to get into them but since I am quite talentless when backing up the Invader, we had a little struggle getting into ours. There are numerous trees and carelessly parking neighbors that preclude simple trailer placement for the reverse-challenged morons in our society, like me.
We were pooped and it was hot so, after we finally got the Invader into the spot, we loafed and took naps with both air conditioning units whirling away keeping us cool.