Finishing Up in Style

Pictures: Enjoying the warm weather at Ft. Clinch State Park in Fernandina Beach, east coast Florida; drumming circle at sunset in Englewood Florida on the west coast; view from the treetop canopy walk at Myakka State Park, near Englewood; back on the east side of Florida at Indiantown Marina and RV, Ken is in a typical "pose" in front of our trailer; we met up with some of our boating friends who are staying at Indiantown (Cathy and Dean, on the right, staying in a trailer and working on a Habitat project in the town); a campsite in Hobe Sound, east coast, that we got at the last minute was located near the horse corral and we watched the horses being led to the saddling area in the morning; the stretch of beach from Juno to Jupiter on the east coast has 68 Beach Access points with parking and several big public areas--this is one of them; back at Ft. Clinch on our last warm day it seemed fitting to create this sign! (it is also the last town in north coastal Florida -- across the sound is Georgia)
 

This week is our last in Florida and last in warm weather. And the first that we put up a hammock and lazed around in it!  For some reason we never took the time or had the proper posts or whatever....generally our days are full and busy with not as much time for reading or resting as you would think.
This could be the theme of the last month of our getaway -- taking more time, revisiting some places we had been earlier in the winter, and getting to some places we missed on the way down. We also did a little more socializing, visiting a couple from New England who we know from cruising in the Bahamas (they are also traveling in a RV this winter), going to two beach sunset drum circles, one in Englewood and one in Siesta Key where our friend Alicia, from home, is camping. Check out drum circles on-line if you want to see how popular they are on Florida's west coast.
We took a sunset cruise in Punta Gorda one beautiful early evening, and we had the chance to look at a couple of boats for sale in the last two weeks of February, just "window shopping". We re-started a conversation we have had in the last two years about the best way to spend time in Florida. Plan A is having a boat in Florida and living on it -- this plan is inexpensive after you buy the boat as you can anchor for free almost anywhere. But storing the boat in the off season with possible upkeep and repairs could be too costly. Plan B is continuing to haul a trailer down and back. This is less money upfront than a boat but has the fuel charges and overnight charges that add up to quite a lot. Then there is a possible Plan C which would be to trailer down, stay somewhere more permanently and pay a reduced monthly or seasonal fee for camping, and have a small outboard boat that we buy and maybe sell at the end of the season. This could be seen as the compromise plan but of course, none of the plans is perfect which is why we are still discussing them!
Our weather has been perfect for almost a month, and we have gotten back into carrying binoculars with us if we go out for a walk or bikeride. The birds in southern Florida are wonderful. We were able to get back to Hobe Sound on the east coast and then spent a few days in Titusville and Fernandina Beach at county and state parks, both on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway). We have eaten well, with fresh produce and baked goods from an Amish farmer's market in Sarasota, and great meals out every once and a while.
At this point we are trying to make sure our trailer is winterized tomorrow or the next day, as we head north, which will limit our use of water but will keep the pipes from freezing. We leave our last planned camping site after two days here (also along the ICW at Buck Hall, Marion National Forest in South Carolina) tomorrow and hope to time the next 950+ miles home so that we don't hit any storms.

Notes: Due to cold weather in northern Florida and the Southern states it was a challenging winter to find warm campsites in popular Southern Florida campgrounds. We had to scramble several times to find a space for the night (or nights). We saw wonderful wildlife but did not get good nature photos (we'll have to work on our technique), Traveling in a trailer and moving quite often as we did this winter was not conducive to meeting other campers that we could get to know and stay in touch with; there are many friendly campers but we made only a few new friends -- except at our Habitat build -- which is different from our experience with other people while boating.