After traveling around Florida for seven weeks including three warm and sunny weeks in beautiful Key Largo Florida, we flew back home for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  It was quite a shock arriving home which was a cold 43 degrees after leaving Miami airport which was a balmy 85 degrees.  We had a great time in Florida stopping at a total of six different RV parks but I have to say it is nice to return home to family and friends after being on the road for months.

We started our most recent Florida travels in St Augustine which is a beautiful city.  We stayed at North Beach Camp Resort which is located on Vilano Island and sandwiched between the Tolomato River and the Atlantic.  It is a fairly nice campground with the exception of WiFi which is basically non-existent.  We really enjoyed relaxing watching the Atlantic surf.  We left North Beach and traveled west to Williston and stayed at a really nice RV park called Williston Crossings RV Resort.  It is a large park with concrete paved sites for all sized RV’s.  It is located in a fairly rural area but just 30 minutes south of Gainesville.  The staff and campers were extremely friendly.  It was not very busy as we were there during the off season but we were told it will be full once the snowbirds arrive.  Next we were off for a week at Tropical Palms Carefree RV Resort in Orlando.  This is also a large park with both RV sites and cabin rentals.  The sites are OK in size.  The interior roads are a little tight bit manageable. It is a perfect home base for sightseeing.  From Orlando we headed west to Lazydays RV Resort which is just east of Tampa.  This large, open campground is located next door to the Lazydays RV Sales and Service Center.  The sites are just big enough for a 45 ft. motorhome.  This is a no-frills campground with no activities other than a screened in pool.  There is a small restaurant located at the park and there is a Cracker Barrel right next door.  A shuttle runs continually from the campground to the sales and service center.  Lazydays offers seminars including an RV driver’s education course which my wife took advantage of.  It is free if you stay at the campground.  I spent the morning walking around the hundreds of new and used RV’s at the sales facility.  From Lazydays we headed south to Crystal Lake RV Resort in Naples.  This is a premier, gated resort which was named one of the top 30 RV Resorts in North America.  Virtually all the sites are owned with some rented by the owners.  The sites are beautifully landscaped with stone or stamped concreted patios.  The sites surround a 60 acre lake.  Our site was a large pull in site which gave us a great view of the lake out our windshield.  We enjoyed hard wired internet at our site which was really fast.  There are two clubhouses, two pools and many other activities.  The best part was that the site was very inexpensive to rent.

Our final stop was at Point of View RV Resort in Key Largo.  This is a nice, although very expensive, park located on the Florida Bay.  Sites are a nice size but the entire park is white gravel which makes for a lot of dust.  The WiFi has a good signal but is unbearably slow.  The view of the bay and the sunset is stunning.  The Florida Keys are a great place to just hang out and relax.  We have good friends in the Keys so we enjoy our extended stays.  In fact, our very gracious friends let us park our motorhome and toad with them while we visit home for the holidays.

So far our retirement has been great.  We have thoroughly enjoyed living in our coach and touring the eastern part of our country.  After our two month stay home and some additional time in the Keys we plan to saddle up and head west.