This is how it all started…
Steve and I sold our house- sticks and bricks- in October, 2023. Sold or gave away all (said) furniture, stored some personal items for the time being and bought a 30 foot Grand Design Reflection pull behind camper and a new “Beast” of a truck to pull it. then we hit the road!! Started off in Silver Springs, Florida for a month at a private park to get acclimated to the RV life and finish up some Dr. appointments locally. We also stayed to help one of our daughters’ get settled in her new home.
Then we traveled to Missouri, stopping at a 3 RV parks on the way. We spent the holidays with one of our daughters and Martha’s sister near St. Louis, Missouri. We took the two little granddaughters to the Polar Express experience, drove down to Branson for a three day get-away by ourselves. We also attended the Trans Siberian Orchestra with my oldest daughter and her family in St. Louis. Then we started the next leg of our journey.
We traveled a couple of days to Denton, Texas, where we hung out with some nieces, nephews, and other family members. We attended a baby shower and were able to get all of Martha’s siblings together for a short reunion.
We did do a short road trip to San Antonio to see the Alamo with Martha’s sisters, Anne and Mary, and Jim, the brother-in-law. Rented an Airbnb and got to see the Alamo and also went up in the tower to gaze at the whole city from above!
Finally, we headed back to Florida, driving through the storm with much rain and wind. Took three days to get to Micanopy, at Paynes Prairie State Park. We began our first CAMP HOSTING assignment! Camp hosting includes a free RV site with a full hook-up. (Water, sewer, and electric) We give 24 hours a week of our time to stay at the campground for free. We clean a couple of bathrooms, clean out firepits, and make sure the sites are clean for all in-coming campers. We stayed on the campground for 2 months then moved over to the ranch part of the park (another 2 months) where the barn and a maintenance shop is. Only camp hosts stay on the ranch. We get other duties while at the ranch. We empty trash on the trails, clean a couple of bathrooms, and do projects like painting, mowing, and working in the ranger station.
On our off days we have been traveling to Cedar Key, Crystal River, Flagler Beach, Eustis (to visit daughter and grandson), Middleburg (to visit another daughter and two grandkids), and Hudson ( visiting Steve’s sister and brothers). We do not stay around the camp much on our days off!!
We have added a new adventure to our retired life-bike riding on trails! Electric bikes are the greatest! Not much pedaling, (saves on the hurting knees), so we can see some beautiful scenery in nature! Click the link below to see some cool photos!!