JACKSONVILLE AND BACK UP TO VIRGINIA 3/2016

We drove up from Miami on Saturday and were able to make reservations for one night of camping at Jacksonville Naval Air Station Campground for that night. We also made some arrangements to be able to do some repairs on our rental house on Sunday afternoon and part of Monday. Before we checked into the campground though, we stopped at our favorite Mexican food Restaurant in the whole wide world. Rosy's was a place that almost two years ago we would frequent a couple of times a month. Some of the waiters even knew us enough to remember what we liked to order. The kids thought wouldn't that be neat if they remembered us, but Mom and I had to let them know that that would be next to impossible with all of the time that had past and with the sheer number of people who frequent the restaurant on a daily basis. After parking at a nearby Lowes, we went in and the first person to see us was the owner who first said "welcome", and then did a double take and then got all smiles and went in for a hug as he laughed "long time no see!!". Sure enough they remembered us. He seated us and then even brought out a cheese dip with the chips and salsa that we always ordered. We talked a bit just for some catch up and for him to marvel at how big the kids had gotten, then we got our fill of carne-asada tacos. We then checked into the campground and had a relaxing evening.

Rosy's Mexican Restaurant in Jacksonville

The next morning we wanted to go to our old church and hopefully do a little catching up with some friends there. We didn't know ahead of time what days, or if any days would be possible to be able to be in Jacksonville due to not knowing exactly when the DET in Key West would finish, or exactly how soon I would have to be back to work in Virginia, so we didn't make big arrangements to meet up with people ahead of time. It's also sometimes fun to just surprise people. There were definitely some shocked faces as friends got to see us and to see our kids and how much they had grown. Even our son's voice changed in the almost two years we had been away and he was almost a foot taller. Our daughter was also taller and filling out. We were able to hook up with some friends of ours who had kids that ours used to play with and we even let our daughter hang out with them for the afternoon while the rest of us went and looked over our rental house. Afterwards we were invited over there for dinner, and as we didn't have a place lined up to stay other than a Wal-Mart parking lot, and this family lived out in the country, they invited us to park at their place while my daughter got a sleep over.

The next day was Monday and we got to do some repairs on our old fence and some other upkeep items that the current tenants were very appreciative of but were more cosmetic and preventative than anything. Our big plan for the day though, was to go to our son's old Boy Scout Troop meeting that evening and let him surprise them. My son had the best time in this troop and we really missed it. I had also been an Assistant Scout Master in the troop, and even my wife had made many friends there with the parents and leaders. My son had made Eagle Scout while in Virginia and was anxious to share his experiences with his old friends. We got there early and we even had an old Troop 128 T-shirt that my son wore under his uniform shirt, even though his uniform had the numbers 504 on it from his new troop. Our RV in the parking lot gave away that we were there as many had seen it before we had left, but we were still a surprise and the big hit of the evening. It was a lot of fun seeing his old friends, who had also just like our son, grown and had all of their voices change. You don't really notice that until you've been away for awhile. Even several of the parents who had only come to drop off their sons had to stop and get out and say hi and give hugs. We even had some people who we had been hoping to connect with hear that we were there and they too came over to see us even if it was for just a little while. His old Scout Master introduced him again for the new scouts and then razed him a bit for having the new numbers on his uniform, but for the troop it was a t-shirt day so when my son took off his uniform shirt to reveal a Troop 128 shirt, just like all of the other boys were wearing, it was a big hit even drawing applause from all who were there. Afterwards we went over to the local McDonalds to have a little more time with our friends and his old Scout Master so we could actually talk. We had a great time and my son sincerely thanked me for helping to make this work out for us. I think it was the cherry on top of the sunday when it came to our whole trip.

As good as all of that was, I had to be to work in a day and a half so we decided to get an hours drive time in and headed back up to Brunswick GA, to the Wal-Mart we had stayed at on the way to Key West. This time there were at least 10 RVs with us there.

Have any of you noticed on many RVs, the vinyl maps that are an outline of the United States that you fill in the states as you have been to them. Well we got one and put it on the front wall of one of our slide outs so you don't see it unless we are camping. You get to make your own rules as to what allows you to put a state sticker on your map. Many people put the sticker on if they have just been in a state, or others if you did something in that state. I let our kids make up the rule and they wanted it to be if we spent the night in that state in our RV. We have gotten a few people who wondered how we had a sticker for FL, and SC (where we stayed when we moved), and one for VA, but not one in the connecting states of GA and NC. We had put on the GA sticker after we had stayed in Brunswick on the trip down to Key West, and we now had a long drive back to Virginia Beach that I asked the family if they wanted to get back real bad, OR, possibly spend the night on the border in Roanoke Rapids NC, before heading into VA and getting home so I could get to work the next afternoon. "It would get us a sticker!" I added. So with great enthusiasm, Tuesday night we stayed at the Wal-Mart in Roanoke Rapids with four other RVs, just so we could put a sticker on our map. :) The next morning we finished the four hour drive to Dam Neck and got set up, and I made it to work on time. When ever anybody at work asked me when we made it back (knowing I had almost five days to do it in), it was fun to be able to look at my watch and say "A couple of hours ago!".

KEY WEST TRIP 2/2016

We got approval from the Navy for me to take my RV to Key West for a three week DET, and the best part was that my family got to tag along for free (see previous post as to how that worked out).


Our trip down was pretty uneventful. We left early on a Friday and made it 670miles to Brunswick Georgia, around 9pm that night. We were only stopping for the night and going to be leaving first thing in the morning so we just pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot. There were already six other RVs there and another one pulled in a half hour after us. They had an area in the far part of the parking lot designated for RVs, and security guards were continuously roving the parking lot. We made our obligatory shopping for some groceries we could use as well as some donuts for breakfast. The next morning we drove the 500miles to Miami and again we weren't going to be staying long, so we stayed for free at the Miccosukee Indian Tribe Casino. I didn't want to push all the way to Key West as I wanted the family to enjoy the Overseas Highway during the day light, but we did need to leave early as I had to be to work the next evening, and wanted to be set up before going to work.

The casino parking lot had a designated area for RV's and there must have been 20 of us. In the casino we ate at the buffet and had a great meal. We aren't gamblers and wouldn't go out of our way to get to a casino (except for free camping), but they gave me $30 in free gaming for being our first time there. I steadily plunked it into a machine and came out with $47 which I got to keep. So in the end we got free camping and were only out $7 for four all you can eat buffets after the winnings were subtracted. Not bad other than now I needed a shower after being near so much second hand smoke.

The trip on the Overseas Highway was windy. Unfortunately that also made the water kinda cloudy. The Crystal Clear water I had been telling them about would have to wait till later in the week, but the bridges and town were for to see. We got to our campsite just before lunch and got settled in on the second row of RV's from the waters edge, but very much in sight. The sights are a little tight as this is a destination for many snowbirds. The campground actually only has full hookups on about a hundred of their sites but in the winter they usually have up to 400 staying there. They use a rotation system to allow people to get a fair share of hookup days but there are plenty of dump stations and water fill sites and generators are allowed from 7am to 11pm (oh good I have one of those). There are no reservations taken and it is usually first come first served so a month in dry camping would be common before being allowed two weeks with hookups. The only exception to this is for Active Duty Military, who can make reservations and go straight into a full hookup sight, unfortunately it too is only good for two weeks then we would be dry camping for the last week of our DET, but shouldn't be a problem.



Our Site in Key West

Our time in Key West was great, with plenty to do. I felt sorry for Mom who was still trying to get some school work in when the kids could look right out at the water calling them. Key West is not really a good Family Destination. I knew that going into it and warned or explained that to my family. There was still plenty to do though, especially water sports, but down town was full of bars and several not discrete novelty shops. We spent plenty of hours in the cool 65degree water, and got to use our kayak again. The water cleared up and we went on a glass bottom boat ride which of course made Mom sick, and even our son too. Spent a day at an old Civil War era fort and park with a beach, and made it to Mallory Square in the late afternoons to watch the street performers and to see the sunsets. We also went to a couple of museums and even a Butterfly Sanctuary, which was easy to see why it was rated so high on Trip Advisor. We also got our required picture at the Southern Most Point. We all had a great time.

Butterfly Sanctuary

Daughter looking down through the glass

A look at the reef

Kids kayaking and looking down through the water

Daughter watching the sunset



After our two weeks was up in the full hookup area we moved to dry-dock, where we were required to use our onboard water and sewer tanks, and our generator for electricity if we wanted it. We could make our water tank and sewer tanks last about four days as long as we were going to the shower house for showers. The temperatures during the days were high enough that we ran the generator in the afternoons for air-conditioning and for school computer use to keep the batteries charged. This worked fine for the first few days with leaving the windows open at night to keep cool. Regrettably the night time temperatures got a little too hot and a little too humid for the last few days we were there. We couldn't run the generator for air-conditioning at night due to quiet hours, and some nights we couldn't even keep the windows open due to the weather constantly giving us a light rain. It was just too warm in the RV at night those last few nights for everyone to get good nights sleep. The fans that I did have that worked on battery, just weren't enough. Now Mom is totally jaded against dry camping and was ready to leave for some cooler temperatures.

Our DET ended on a Friday afternoon and I didn't have to be back to work until Wednesday afternoon. The thought of another night in the heat had the family ready to get on the road even though it was a late start. We left and were still treated to a better look at the clear waters on the Overseas Highway. We just got off the keys at sunset even watching the sun go down as we were on the bridge from Key Largo to the main land. We overnighted at the casino again but we had already eaten as it was so late. The temperatures were cooler so even though it was dry-docking we got a great night sleep. We left early in the morning and made some plans to hang out in our old stomping grounds in Jacksonville for a couple of days.

Ice-cream in Key West

CAN I TAKE MY FAMILY TO KEY WEST AND HAVE THE NAVY PAY FOR IT? 2/2016

My squadron seems to always manage to have a Detachment (DET) go to Naval Air Station Key West in February. I went on that DET in 2015 and of course had great weather. Conveniently the weather in Virginia Beach was very cold and even had several days of snow, even right on the beach at Dam Neck. My family,,,, well at least my kids thought it was great to play in the snow,,,, for the first hour. After the novelty wore off they weren't as happy with it. It also wasn't very good snow and since the daytime temp got a little above freezing during the day the snow turned to ice the next day and playing in it was pointless. I on the other hand was rubbing it in by taking selfies of me eating ice-cream in shorts while walking around the island of Key West. Next of course comes the "I wish we could have gone with you", which then brought the thought of "Well, you probably could have. We own an RV after all".


This year when the planning came up again for the Key West DET for February it was going to be three weeks long. The squadron sets up transportation there and back and books us all rooms on the base, but the rooms that are on base we still have to pay for with a credit card, even though we will get paid back later when we file our travel claims. The transportation is by military air lift so is not actually paid for on an individual basis. I looked into the campground that is on the military base in Key West and found that it actually cost less to stay there than it would for me to stay in the military lodging/barracks. I talked with my admin department and asked that if I were to stay in the campground if they would still reimburse me for the cost to stay there. Seeing as it was cheaper and still a Navy facility they didn't see a problem with that. They did say that they couldn't pay for my transportation there as that would have already been covered by the air lift, and that I also couldn't recoup the difference in lodging costs, but since I figured out that the money I would save by not paying to camp at Dam Neck for a month would be close to the same as it cost in gas to get down there and back, I would actually come out about even. Other than having to take a few days of leave for driving time it would all work out. I didn't even have to tow a car down there as the squadron offers rental cars that I would be able to borrow once in a while and the campground was actually on the way to work that the rest of my squadron mates would be taking so I could be picked up and dropped off on the way. The Island isn't very large so a set of bicycles is even enough in a pinch for sight seeing.


The Family was extremely excited for the opportunity to get on the road and to go see something else other than Virginia Beach. The fact that it was in the typically coldest winter month was even a bonus. We would be gone for a full month. The time it took to get there, plus the three week DET, and the time it would take to get back. Schedules got adjusted but very little planning was actually needed. The RV was basically ready to go, and all we did was park the cars in safe places on the base and loaded up the bikes on the bike rack on the back. I would have to work on Night Check (my normal shift anyways), but that would give be some daytime hours to be with the family. I would also get weekends off while we were there.

SHAKE DOWN TRIP 4/2014

Welcome to the first post of our blog. As you can see the date of posting this is way off from when it happened, but this was our first true camping experience with our RV and thought it should be the first post.


This actually happened before the yard sales but while we were organizing for them (see side bar, How It All Got Started).


We took delivery of our motorhome in February of 2014, and started organizing and seeing what we wanted to fit and take with us over the next few months, but we also found a few things we wanted to have fixed under warranty. Thankfully part of the sale allowed us to store the RV at the dealership and that made it convenient for the dealership for when the work could be done, and we wouldn't loose our place in line for repairs even if we wanted to bring it to the house for the weekend. The kids of course couldn't wait to try it and would sleep in it even when in front of the house. We finally decided that the weather was good enough for camping in April. I wanted to give my family a good experience and of course to do a good shakedown run of everything in the RV.


We went to Camp Blanding which is about an hour from Jacksonville. It's a Florida National Guard base that has a campground with full hookups, that is right on a lake that is thought to have been formed by a sink hole. The lake is two miles across and great for swimming and boating, and we even bought an inflatable kayak that fits easily into a small storage compartment.


The whole family had a great time. It was just an extended three day weekend but the weather was perfect. We did the swimming thing and kayaking thing and jumped from the floating dock and even our dog, who we thought hated water, was even getting in up to her chest. We realized that she had never been to a lake and only to the beach where she didn't like the waves. The base had several hiking trails and even a small military history museum. We forgot to bring firewood so had to search the forest for that and had to limit our pieces to a size that could fit in the fire pit as I hadn't packed a saw. We cooked hotdogs over the fire and latter smores over the coals. We even saw fireflies, which for my daughter and wife was a first.


Couldn't have had a better time, unless we could have had a longer time. My kids kept thanking me for the great time they had and even my wife said it felt like home. They were getting more excited to get moved in and to get going. Unfortunatly we still had more than a couple of years before we would truly be on the road, but hopefully they would still like living in the RV and camping next to the beach when we got to Virgina.