Last day on the beach

We decided to head back to Virginia by the beginning of March since it was likely we were going not to be eligible for vaccination in Florida. The day before departure was a beautiful sunny day for February and we decided to take a long walk through the preserve and down onto the beach and along the beach, walking across the soft squeaky sand...

Owl take over!

This great horned owl has taken over possession of this bald eagle nest at Topsail Preserve SP and is being monitored by volunteer rangers who will give every person on the trail the full tale! Although half the size of the bald eagle, the great horned owls are very aggressive and are known as "the tigers of the air"....

Day at the Beach

Lots of long walks to the Beach at Topsail Preserve State Park in the Florida Panhandle. Mid 60's and a one mile hike to the boardwalk then half an hour up and down the hard sand left by the retreating tide....

Bison Burgers

One of the simplest and tastiest grilled dinners that we have in our Airstream freezer is lean ground bison. Mix up with chopped shallots and paprika, we make them large for burger or small for meat balls. Getting the Yakatori grill fired up with charcoal and a layer of mesquite needs planning ahead and a clear weather forecast.

Airstreams everywhere

Surrounded by Airstreams at Topsail. It's a very popular campground destination that hosts the annual CanOpener rally in early January. Lots of really well appointed sites with hookups and space between units.....

Australian Open

First big event in the tennis calendar- Australian Open from Melbourne. DishTV in the foreground found the satellite without any problem! Cell phone directional booster on a flagpole delivered AT&T broadband at over 100 Mbps which is a record!

The future beckons...

My order for my Spacex Starlink satellite access is in the queue. Thank you Elon Musk!!

Gourmet camper

David showing off his gourmet camping skills for our Valentine's Day dinner. Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and grilled lobster with hollandaise sauce.... over a thin bed of roasted masked potatoes!

Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine's Day birthday to Margaret!

Birthday and Valentine!

Lucky Margaret gets to celebrate her birthday on Valentine's Day so extra bonus cards and well wishers from far and wide! Two orders of red roses from our curbside pickup at Publix we here combined in three water bottles and suitably draped for decorum.

Heron

Beautiful and very bold heron on the beach at Dr Julian Buce St George Island State Park - the heron stood watchfully ten feet from several fishermen and every time they reeled in their lines, the heron moved forward expectantly! Obviously well versed in the small fish throwaway by local fishermen. Saves a lot of effort flying up and down the beach looking for lunch in the surf!

Mini frogs

Our electrical outlet is the home for a dozen or more little frogs at St George Island State Park. Opening and closing the cover has to be done carefully in case one gets trapped by the hinges. This froglet is trying to switch on the 50 amp supply!

Small emergency!

Made a flying stop in Tallahassee to get Margaret's finger fixed after a nasty accident with the oven stainless cover nearly slicing off her ring finger. I did the best I could with our medical kit and unfortunately too much time had passed for stitches to be done. All fixed and no housework for a month!

Stephen Foster

A beautifully laid out state park in upper central Florida close to the junction of I-75 and I-10 makes for a convenient layover on the long trip from Naples to Destin. Stephen Foster wrote "Way down upon the Suwannee River... " and this park memorializes his musical heritage. Unfortunately all the buildings and events were closed due to Covid.... this is the carillon tower that plays Stephen Foster melodies!

Webcam view

Some days you can be very happy not to be at home but instead camping in the warmer Floridian sun! This is the view from our Tappahannock Virginia webcam pointing out to the deck and river.... brrrr!

Alligators

Alligator stop is half way from the Keys to Naples so we always stop here to relax with lunch in the Airstream parked at the Big Cypress Oasis Visitor Center car park and then walk over to check out the alligators in the nearby canal. These are big big alligators!

Stone crab claws

These are jumbo size and very expensive and... delicious. Made up some mayo and mustard sauce and had a special dinner treat. After all that's what the Keys are famous for!

Kim & Kate

Just dropped in to say hi to Kim and Kate at Bahia Honda SP - the white truck and the Airstream to the left on the beach. The wind just turned NW and was coming straight at them for the rest of the day and night sending spray over their campsite. Great to catch up after our Cajun Caravan two years ago!