Farewell to the Yaris

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Sparky

Yaris

Yaris

We bought the Yaris in Nov 2013, shortly after we arrived in Ft Myers for our first Florida winter. It had become obvious that Jett was not comfortable driving the truck, so another vehicle was necessary. We considered leasing and even renting, but decided that purchasing would be the most economical option.

We had the Yaris transported north and back south again in 2014 and 2016 (we didn’t come south in 2015). We transported it north one last time in April 2017, used it during our summer in New England and left it with Jett’s niece when we embarked on our trip west. We decided, early last fall, to sell it to her. The transaction was completed in Dec 2017.

So we owned it for just over 4 years. It served us well. It never had a major mechanical problem and got over 35 mpg. Jett loved to drive it. It was a pleasure to own and served us well.

I suspect that we will miss it. We are renting a brand new Nissan Versa for 3 months this winter. It is okay, but it not as much fun to drive as the Yaris. We may buy another car next year.

Probably a Yaris.

Categories: Commentary, RV Living | Leave a comment

Our next cruise adventure

Posted on January 17, 2018 by Sparky
Ports of call

Ports of call

Yes, we booked a 27-day cruise yesterday, characterized by Jett as “the cruise of a lifetime.”  And since we had already blown our “budget” by choosing to go at all, we decided that we might as well go in comfort and booked a Signature Suite.  We will have nearly 4 full weeks cruising, first, the Atlantic and then 16 ports in 8 countries in the Mediterranean.  We will get to check some very fascinating places off of our bucket lists: Lisbon, Barcelona, Marseille, Monte Carlo, Florence, Rome (maybe), Naples, Corfu, Dubrovnik and, most importantly, Venice.  We will stay a total of 3 nights in Venice, then fly home.  Total trip duration: 30 days.

The original plan was to cruise for 7 nights in the Caribbean. Then we started thinking how nice it would be to do back-to-back 7 night cruises on the same ship (Jett always liked the idea of waving goodbye to the other passengers while we stayed on board). Then, since we were talking about 14 nights I started looking at Panama Canal cruises. And because my sister has always spoken highly of transatlantic cruises, I took a peek at the 12- to 14-day cruises to Europe. And then I saw the 27-day cruise to Venice…

Damn! How cool would that be, to board the ship in Florida and disembark in Venice? Answer: very, very cool.

So, by making a deal with myself to actually work this summer, to offset some of the cost, I succumbed to the temptation.

A 27-day cruise! Can’t wait!

Categories: Adventures, Preparation/Planning | Leave a comment

Relatively cold

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Sparky

January 2017 was beautiful in southwest Florida.  Every day in the mid-80s, sunshine, light breezes.  Absolutely dreamy.

January 2018 has seen a few of those days, but has also seen rain, wind and freeze warnings.  Nothing dreamy about this January.

It is 48 right now – very cold for south Florida.  Still, it is only relatively cold.  I sympathize with all my friends back north who are dealing with actual cold (it is 17 and snowing in Boston).  I don’t miss those near-zero temperatures or the white precipitation.

But I would like to see more 80s.

Categories: Commentary | Leave a comment

“Sycamore Row” by John Grisham

Posted on December 17, 2017 by Sparky

Dell Mass Market, 2014

Yes, it has been quite a while since I posted my last book review. My primary excuse is that I have been busy traveling over 10,000 miles. But John Grisham deserves a share of the blame, too. Sycamore Row is long (637 pages in this edition) and it moves slowly.  It took me a month to get to the point where it grabbed me at all.

The story is that of a terminally ill white man who hangs himself.  But before committing suicide he wrote, in longhand, a 1-page will leaving 90% of his estate to his black housekeeper.  He also wrote 2 pages of instructions to the lawyer of his choice – a local guy named Jake Brigance – in which he stated, in no uncertain terms, that he did not want either of his children to get a penny and that he wanted his holographic will defended at all costs, knowing that it would be challenged.

There was no question why he would want to disown his children – they were unlikable and were not close to him, even as he spiraled downhill to his death.  The real question was why did he leave most of it to a housekeeper that he had known for only 3 years.  And that, folks, it mostly what those 600+ pages are about, along with the courtroom circus that ensued.  Because the estate was valued at over $24 million, an inheritance that would make the housekeeper not only the richest black person in the county, but one of the richest persons of any race in the county.

I won’t spoil it for you and the answer is, indeed, a little surprising.  But I will fault Grisham for taking too long to get to the point.  This would have been a better book if it had been 400 pages.

5 out of 10.

Categories: Books | Leave a comment

STE3 wrapup

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Sparky
STE3 Actual

STE3 Actual

By the numbers:

  • 9 hops
  • 16 nights
  • 1608 tow miles
  • 2103 truck miles
  • $687.65 in campground fees ($42.98 per night)

The actual route included two stops that differed from the plan and had some minor detours and changes in route, but otherwise went as planned.

Highlights:

Lowlights:

  • Brownsville TX and the entire south Texas area.  I had high hopes for this area, both as a place to visit and as a place to spend a future winter.  But other than the rates, which were very low, we did not see any RV parks that we liked very much.  South Padre Island was a huge disappointment and neither Brownsville nor any of the nearby towns offered anything of interest.
Categories: AL, LA, MS, Places, Routes, RV Parks, STE, TX | Leave a comment

STE3 Hop 9: Sarasota FL to Naples FL

Posted on November 25, 2017 by Sparky

STE3 Hop 9

STE3 Hop 9

124 miles via I-75, FL 84 and US 41, with a slight detour near the Ft Myers airport. Cumulative tow miles: 1608. Truck miles: 128. Cumulative truck miles: 2103.

Thus endeth the Second Trip East (STE). The last hop was short and almost uneventful. The minor event was a stop to check the sewer hose in the bed of the truck which appeared to be working loose. It was fine, but the exit I took did not allow me to get back onto I-75, so I had to detour down the local airport access road to reach the next on ramp. No big deal.

Our one night in Sarasota was at the Sun-N-Fun RV Resort. I tried to book a night at another Sun Communities property but it did not have a pull-through available, so the reservation clerk – shared among all Sun properties – took it upon herself to find one nearby at the Sun-N-Fun. It was just an overnight, so just about anything would have been fine, but I am glad we got to see Sun-N-Fun. The word that best describes this place: incredible.

Our site was very nice – long and wide, great cable TV. But it is the facilities that distinguish this campground. A huge pool, with a very large waterslide, a poolside bar and an adjacent restaurant. Tennis courts, pickleball courts, lawn bowling, horseshoes, mini-golf and shuffleboard. A covered playground. Activities buildings galore. Woodworking, watercolors, fitness center, card rooms, crafts. Just incredible.

And very, very expensive. We finally found a place more expensive than Gulf Waters. A premium RV site for January runs nearly $2300.

So we made it to our winter home. Over 9,000 miles of travel in 111 days. It will be nice to be able to stay put for a while.

Lawn bowling

Lawn bowling

Shuffleboard

Shuffleboard

Covered playground

Covered playground

Categories: FL, Places, Routes, RV Parks, STE | Leave a comment

STE3 Hop 8: Cedar Key FL to Sarasota FL

Posted on November 20, 2017 by Sparky

184 miles via FL 24, US 98, I-75 and FL 780. Cumulative tow miles: 1484. Truck miles: 205. Cumulative truck miles: 1975.

STE3 Hop 8

STE3 Hop 8

Our penultimate hop (I love that word!). It was a 3-hour jaunt, the first half on US 98 and the second half on I-75. It is a route we have traveled before and the weather was cloudy with occasional drizzle, so it was mostly a matter of covering the miles while we listened to our audiobook.

But there was one minor incident. At a stoplight in Crystal River a guy in a pickup pulled up next to me, motioned me to roll down my window and informed me that our left rear stop lights were not working. We pulled into a parking lot a few blocks later and checked it out. Sure enough, no brake lights on the left side. I jiggled the umbilical and they came back on. That was a first – running a successful light check before starting but having the lights fail anyway.

Our home in Cedar Key was the Cedar Key RV Resort. This was a very nice medium-sized park with nice landscaping and a LOT of dog owners. Rusty met a lot of canine friends. Our site was a very spacious pull-through at the end of a row, so we had an unobstructed view of woods out our living room window. Good cable TV. Daily pickup of both trash and recyclables. We liked this campground and would return.

I made a quick trip into Cedar Key itself, about 7 miles from the campground. Not very interesting. A nice beachfront town, but ho-hum. I saw nothing there that would make me come back.

Categories: FL, Places, Routes, RV Parks, STE | Leave a comment

STE3 Hop 7: Port Saint Joe FL to Cedar Key FL

Posted on November 18, 2017 by Sparky
STE3 Hop 7

STE3 Hop 7

217 miles via US 98, US 319, FL 345 and FL 24, with a refueling stop. Cumulative tow miles: 1300. Truck miles: 269. Cumulative truck miles: 1770.

Pelicans at sunset

Pelicans at sunset

Usually our refueling stops occur about 150 to 180 miles into the hop. This one occurred 24 miles into the hop. Why? Because the one diesel pump at the one gas station within 5 miles of our Port Saint Joe home was hit by a truck and put out of commission. So I was forced to find a place to refuel while towing the rig. I hate to do that, especially when the route does not include an interstate highway with a large truck stop.

Well, I found a Marathon station in Apalachicola that was actually pretty easy to get into and out of. The only other problem on the hop was that I thought I took a wrong turn when I got onto US 319 because that road took us due north for about 10 miles. I didn’t recall a northerly jog and figured the GPS was taking us on a longer (but faster) route. It wasn’t. The route did, in fact, include a northerly jog.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and only moderately interesting. But the day was beautiful and the traffic was light, so we traveled mostly under cruise control. I like that.

Our home in Port Saint Joe was Presnell’s Bayside Marina and RV Resort, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. We had a back-in site with unobstructed water views on two sides – arguably the most beautiful view in our 5 years of travel. Would we stay here again? Hell, yeah!

The best thing about that campsite? The view. Particularly the sunset view. I got some wonderful photos.

We dined on our last night in Port Saint Joe at the Sand Bucket, a very laid-back BBQ place just down the road. My pulled pork was very good, but the real star of the meal was the homemade potato chips. Just spectacular.

The view from my sofa

The view from my sofa

Pulled pork basket

Pulled pork basket

The bay in daylight

The bay in daylight

First sunset

First sunset

Our site

Our site

Categories: FL, Places, Routes, RV Parks, STE | Leave a comment

STE3 Hop 6: Orange Beach AL to Port Saint Joe FL

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Sparky
STE3 Hop 6

STE3 Hop 6

176 miles via AL 161, AL 182, FL 292 and US 98. Cumulative tow miles: 1083. Truck miles: 281. Cumulative truck miles: 1501.

Shrimp and grits at The Diner

Shrimp and grits at The Diner

Jett hated this route. I chose it because it was mostly on US 98 which I liked a lot, based on my experience on more southerly sections. It also cut about 40 miles off the route initially suggested by Google. So range was not an issue, but time was – this route was about 4.5 hours long, approximately 15 minutes longer than the suggested route. I decided to take it, knowing that it would have a lot of traffic lights. It certainly did. Jett was just about jumping out of her skin after about 100 red lights.

But I still liked the route. Major portions of it were very scenic as it hugged the coastline. And even the cities were interesting. I had never been to Pensacola or Panama City Beach. It was a long trip, but an interesting one.

I enjoyed our two nights in Orange Beach, too. I was drawn to the area because it is where my mother came the only times she went south in the winter. She seemed to like it very much, so I wanted to see it.

My impression? Both Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are beautiful beach towns. The beaches are white and wide – and, in November, virtually deserted. Gulf Shores seems like more of a community, a real town. It has some nice restaurants and shops, including The Diner where we had a very fine dinner on the second night. My shrimp and grits was delicious. Recommended.

I took a day trip along the shore east of Gulf Shores. I didn’t learn a lot other than the area had a lot of RV parks, mostly very small (which we wouldn’t consider for a winter stay as it would just be too cold), a lot of beautiful white sand beaches and some very nice beach houses that would be a fine place to spend a week or two in the summer.

Our home in Orange Beach was the Pandion Ridge RV Resort, a new RV park conveniently located between Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. The facilities were among the finest we have seen – wide concrete pads on very long pull-though sites, a beautiful office and pool and very nice bath houses and laundry rooms. The staff was very professional and the landscaping was beautiful. We would stay here again, no question.

Beach near Ft Morgan

Beach near Ft Morgan

Beach houses

Beach houses

Our site at Pandion Ridge

Our site at Pandion Ridge

Categories: AL, FL, Places, Routes, RV Parks, STE | Leave a comment

STE3 Hop 5: Waveland MS to Orange Beach AL

Posted on November 14, 2017 by Sparky

STE3 Hop 5

STE3 Hop 5

153 miles via US 90, MS 43, I-10, AL 59 and the Foley Beach Express. Cumulative miles: 907. Truck miles: 341. Cumulative truck miles: 1220.

We don’t normally go on toll roads, but in this case it seemed like a good thing to do: by paying a $4.25 toll to use the Foley Beach Express we cut off over 10 miles of travel. It was a nice road, too. Well worth it.

This was another beautiful travel day – sunny, nearly cloudless, low 70s. The roads weren’t too crowded and we got some nice scenery, particularly across the Pascagoula River and Mobile Bay.

We spent 3 nights at the Silver Slipper Beachfront RV Park in Waveland MS. This is a bare-bones park with no amenities at all, unless you call the Gulf of Mexico an amenity. We had a beautiful concrete pad site with a view of the Gulf. No cable TV, but we pulled in a few channels from Biloxi. We very much liked this place and would return again.

Funnel cake

Funnel cake

Our site

Our site

Sunset over the RV

Sunset over the RV

One of our free days was spent traveling to New Orleans, as reported in the preceding post. The other day was spent, mostly, at the nearby Silver Slipper Casino. I played slots for over two hours and broke even (as the old joke goes… it is a good thing that I broke even because I needed the money). In the evening both Jett and I went and I lost $26 but she won $91. A good night at the casino made even better because we went to the buffet. I had to think twice because it was pricey: nearly $30 each. But we needed a good meal and, hey, we were up, so what the heck. Imagine my surprise when I was told that the buffet would be free for us – we had been randomly selected for a free meal. A good night at the casino made even better. The best part of the buffet was the made-to-order funnel cakes for dessert. Yum!

Categories: AL, MS, Places, Routes, RV Parks, STE | Leave a comment