beaches – Page 2 – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

Two Trails

Current Location: Brookings, Oregon 49 degrees and 100 percent chance of rain

At the moment, it is raining and gray and we are comfortably relaxing in the MoHo. Just a warning for all the blog purists out there who say they don’t want too many photos. There are 20 photos in this post, more than I usually add, and yet it IS a photo tour of our trail walks yesterday. If you don’t like photos, then skip it. I made them big specifically for Nicki, who always requests the big ones so that she doesn’t have to click to get a bigger image. You can’t please all the people all the time, but you can definitely please some of the people some of the time!

The predicted rain finally reached Harris Beach early this morning. We knew it was coming, in fact it was expected to show up on our first day here. Instead, we enjoyed three days of gorgeous sunshine. Waking this morning to the sound of rain was soothing, and we actually slept in to almost 7:30. Of course, it helps if someone gets up at 4:30 or so to let the dog out, give the cat a treat, and feed the dog. Then they are ready to settle in and let us sleep. Two Trails_156 Yesterday, knowing that our sunny respite was soon coming to an end, we were happy for one more day to walk the beach and hike a couple of the trails. I know that someday, when I am hopefully much, much older, I won’t be able to hike these nice little trails with their gorgeous views, and decided I wanted to do a “Sherry” and take you on a hike, and give myself a place to go when I want to remember just how lovely these walks can be on a sunny day at the ocean.

A short trail we sometimes forget to do is the Harris Butte Trail. The trailhead is just north of the entry kiosk at the park. The Harris Beach Trail also begins at this location and makes a loop around the tree covered butte, but Mo remembered that there is a lot of poison oak along that trail. With the dog along, I get a bit paranoid about poison oak, so we decided to skip that route, lovely as it is.

The short hike to the top has a few switchbacks, is a bit rocky in places, and a bit steep. The hike takes maybe ten minutes at the most, but the view is wonderful. The hillside is covered with thick vegetation, with only a few limited views of the beach below through the trees.

The viewpoint is a great photo site, especially in the early part of the day when the sun is in the east. Sunsets viewed from this spot must be spectacular, but for no reason I can imagine, we haven’t hiked up here to view the sunsets.

Below the cliff where we stood, was a great view of the Harris Beach State Park Day Use Area, the one we walked to Tuesday afternoon.

This is the best spot to view Goat Island, and we noticed there was a kayak parked on the steep shoreline, with a few people (dots of color) moving across the slope. It seemed as though they were monitoring vegetation or bird sites or something, with the faint impression of some kind of marking posts on the north facing grassy slope.

With a bit of searching, I found out that Goat Island is the largest island along the Oregon coast. It was the first unit comprising the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1936. The island contains deep soils and a variety of native vegetation condusive to burrow-nesting seabird species.

Goat Island hosts 24% of the statewide nesting Leach’s Storm-Petrels and more than 109,000 nesting seabirds comprising 11 species. The island serves as a night roost for thousands of Aleutian Canada geese in the spring and a wintering area for a small group (40) of Dusky Canada geese.

In addition, it seems that the biggest problems for the nesting birds are boats approaching too closely, low flying aircraft, and “human trespass”. I would imagine that the people we saw walking across the slope were supposed to be there, and that kayaking to the tiny beach and exploring the island on foot would be illegal.

The second trail we walked was our favorite South Beach Trail. This trail can be accessed directly from the big parking lot just west of Highway 101 near the entrance of the state park.

In addition, there is a sweet little trailhead that begins at the southern end of the campground. This walk leads through deep spruce forest, and is lined with thick vegetation typical of the moist climate in the Oregon coastal forests.

Emerging at the aforementioned parking lot, the trail continues down the steep cliff to the beach below.

With asphalt pavement on the steep trail, it is a joy to walk, either up or down, and there is a nice bench for a break if you need it. On this spring day, we were surprised that the park staff has yet to do much clearing along the trail and the grasses and flowers were wild and overflowing and lovely along the path.

At the bottom of the trail, there are a few logs to walk over, arranged conveniently into a rough step like configuration, and the beach stretches to the north and to the south.

We usually walk south, because with the tide out we can walk a greater distance before being stopped by rocky cliffs. The beach shifts and changes with the winds and seasons, and we noticed that the ephemeral brackish water lake was gone, completely erased by tides and winter storms. The large pool was formed by a small stream, emerging from the cliffs, and the water was fresh enough that Abby could swim and even drink.

No more. Now the stream crosses the sand, circumnavigating the large stacks and going directly to the ocean.

My Keen Targhee boots did their job and I crossed the stream without getting the least bit wet. It was just a bit cold for barefoot hiking and wading, so I was glad for dry feet this time.

As I was taking photos, I realized that we rarely do this walk in the early part of the day. Most of my photos of the ocean from this part of the beach are against late afternoon sun. It was a treat to have the sun behind me for a completely different kind of light.

With low tide just an hour or so ahead of us, we saw only one red sea star, too far out to get much of a photo. There have been times when we have seen more than we can count, along with green anemones. It is never the same.

This time the most dramatic find was brilliant green moss on the rocks, soft as velvet, and many different kinds of algae covering the sea stacks, still dripping with seawater.

Just around the corner from the rocky jumble that stopped our walk, is another small beach that lies directly below Mo’s former condo. Sometimes we can negotiate the jumble, but this time it looked daunting so we didn’t bother.

We spent a bit of time wondering at how it might feel to ascent this tram, and remembered climbing steps like these to get to the beach from the condo.

I am not sure exactly where the state park boundary ends on South Beach, but we assume that once there are homes along the cliff above us we are outside the state park and Abby can run and play off leash.

Mo threw the ball for her until Abby finally refused to drop it. I think that was her way of saying she was finally worn out. For 12 years old she does great, and still loves to retrieve the ball, but she is getting a bit slower. Makes me a bit sad. Of course, I am slowing down as well, and that makes me a bit sad too.

Nothing Peaceful about the Pacific

Current location: Harris Beach State Park, Oregon Clear and sunny predicted high 61F

As anyone knows who has lived near the Oregon coast, the Pacific Ocean in this part of the world is anything but peaceful. It is wild, raging, cold, and big. Waves are monumental, even historical in some places. The wind often blows relentlessly, the skies are often stormy, although we have been blessed on this trip with brilliant sunshine.

I never thought much about this face of the ocean until I visited other places where the seas are gentle and the surf laps at white sands like a kitten at milk. Last night when we hiked down to the beach, my first thought as I stepped onto the sand was, “Oh my gosh! I forgot how dark the sand is here!” Before our Florida visit, I never gave it much thought, it was simply ‘sand’. Although as a sand collector, my jars of sands from around the world run the gamut from white to brown to gray to yellow to brilliant red, even black. There is a black sand beach just south of here on the California Lost Coast, so I didn’t have to bring it from Hawaii.

The winds in Brookings were howling yesterday afternoon, with a steady 20 mph blow. The ocean as far as I could see was whipped up into a frothy frenzy, and the waves crashing over the rocks had long veils of wind-whipped mist. It was beautiful, and energizing, wondrous to behold. Not peaceful or necessarily relaxing.

There weren’t many people down on the beach due to the wind, but a few hardy souls braved the wild weather. We saw a young woman get out of her car and climb the big rock overlooking the largest sea stack island on the Oregon Coast, Bird Island, also sometimes called Goat Island. She stood in a few yoga poses, a rather amazing feat in that wind, and then I heard her voice against the wind in prayer.

Down on the beach, a lone woman with gray hair to her hips was raising her arms toward the wild waves and chanting and singing loudly toward the sea, oblivious to us and our dog as we walked behind her in the wind. Crowds are definitely not a problem when visiting the beaches in Oregon. It is always a bit of a shock to me to see people lined up arm to arm with umbrellas and towels on those beautiful white Florida sands vying for space. Not here.

Another difference: both in Texas and Florida, along the Gulf Coast, we found beaches, long level gorgeous beaches where you could walk as far as you could manage. There was nothing to make you actually turn around and walk back. Here, walk one way and get stopped by cliffs, another way the jumble of rocks is too complex to navigate, or the tide has come in and there is another small sea stack blocking your progress. I saw no tide pools in Florida, or in Texas. I saw so many beautiful shells, but no agates or crazy weathered sea rocks.

There are three major routes down to the beach from the campground. The first route is a road, paved, but rather steep, and that route ends at a large parking lot. There is an accessible paved trail down to the sand, restrooms, and picnic tables. From this area, the beach can be accessed either along the paved trail, or to the north down a short rocky walk over huge driftwood logs to the north end of the beach.

The second major route is called the South Beach Trail, another steep, but narrow path that has been partially paved to withstand the severe beach erosion that can destroy it annually. We like the South Beach Trail, and Abby likes it as well because it leads outside the state park boundary and she can be off leash. It is a bit more distant from our campsite, so last night we chose the road to get down to the beach. Walking back up the same way is a boring long steep haul up.

Instead of returning that way, we found the meandering path the winds over rocks and driftwood, and then up another steep and very narrow Rock Beach Trail that ascends an overlook with benches to enjoy the view.

We have hiked down this trail before, but going up was much easier. None of these trails are particularly long, and ‘real’ hikers might get a bit bored with them. We saw plenty of real hikers in the park, loaded down with backpacks, hiking the coast. There are many beautiful, long, and strenuous trails in the vicinity, especially at the nearby Samual Boardman State Park, but we simply haven’t wanted to find them. We come to Harris Beach to relax! No matter how many times we visit, the beach is never the same.

Another fabulous feature of the beaches here is that they are dog friendly. Some areas require leashes, but there are many off leash areas nearby where Abby can run, chase balls into the surf and hike the trails with us on her own. After spending so much time trying to find dog friendly places along the Gulf Coast, it is wonderful to be back in the happy dog land of Oregon

For reasons I cannot begin to fathom, in spite of the high winds above us and around us, our little campsite on the northeast side of the campground was protected. Our awning barely fluttered, and then only now and then. After returning from the beach we couldn’t believe how still the air was in our space. Mo built a nice hot campfire without a bit of trouble from the wind. Above us, we could see the giant spruces whirling around, but the campfire smoke didn’t even go in circles as usual, it rose in a nice column straight up most of the evening. Crazy, but welcome.

02-26-2014 Key West, a Different Perspective…or Two

Current Location: NAS Key West Sigsbee Campground 78 Degrees F, 87 % humidity

First, let me say that this is not a travel blog about Key West. There are plenty of places to go to read all about the delights and attractions of this historic town. I am writing about Key West and how I felt about being here. The history and delights are well documented elsewhere.

I am relaxing in the MoHo this morning under high overcast skies and warm temperatures. The generator is going again, but the air conditioner isn’t on. The breezes are lovely, and sufficient for cooling the rig as I write. I took a morning walk down to the water to check on conditions for a kayak to discover a surface smooth as glass. Might have been nice to slip those boats in at just that moment, but those little details of living life now and then get in the way of recreating.

Today will be our last in Key West at Sigsbee Campground and we need to make a much needed shopping excursion at the Commissary and the Naval Exchange for some supplies. In addition, we finally managed to snag an appointment for a haircut for Abby. (Mo has yet to be successful in this endeavor and her hair is quite lovely with all that wild humidity contributing to her wild curly look)

When we first arrived last weekend, I attempted to find a groomer for Abby, leaving messages as directed. So far not one groomer has returned my call. I would imagine that they prefer repeat customers when appointments are at a premium. Yesterday, however, on our route home from town, in an attempt to avoid the construction on Highway 1, we took a side route. Lo and Behold! A small local dog groomer was just closing his doors and we begged for an appointment and got one for 12 noon today. Hence skipping the morning kayak in favor or an afternoon sojourn on the water. Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate.

It is a bit humid, but for me that isn’t intolerable, different for sure, but not intolerable. We couldn’t be in a better place right now for balmy temperatures and no storms. Looking at the national weather maps this morning, I saw all the rain hitting the southeast with the Floridian Peninsula completely out of the path of that bright green radar. Southern Florida seems to be spared for the time being. We have been sleeping with a very light cover and all the windows open, even the front door, and the Fantastic Fan running. It is another nice thing about being in a military campground, it feels fairly safe.

I have learned an invaluable lesson on this trip to Key West. Several lessons actually. For one, sometimes returning to a location for the second time after an amazing first visit can be a bit of a disappointment. The second big lesson is that there actually ARE some places that are less fun in motorhome with pets than they were at a delightful little B&B within walking distance to town. We first spent a short vacation in Key West in 2010, (post here). At the time, I couldn’t wait to get back with the ‘freedom’ of our own motorhome to enjoy the area and with our bikes and kayaks and snorkel gear along with us.

Most people who stay here at Sigsbee ride their bikes to town rather than dealing with the traffic in a car. For us, a ten mile round trip in the heat isn’t all that exciting, in addition to competing with the crazy traffic that includes all sorts of motor scooters, motor cycles, bicycles, and lots of cars and crowds of people. We followed John Herr’s advice and found free parking down by the Coast Guard Cutter and walked the mile or so to downtown with Abby on the night we decided to watch the sunset at Mallory Square.

Our walk was fun, and we took the back routes toward the square before negotiating our way through the heavy crowds toward the famous point for sunset watching. Getting there an hour early was perfect, since we got a place to sit along the seawall where Abby could rest and be comfortable. The sunset was interesting, quite lovely part of the time, and then a cloud obscured the horizon as the sun descended and no one seemed to know exactly when to cheer. I missed that big group chorus to honor the setting sun, but loved watching the sky change and shift.

Our plan included trying to get into the Hog’s Breath Saloon for dinner, one of the few places we could find in town that had a patio for doggie dining. Once we arrived, however, the crowds and the noise were completely overwhelming and we couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We walked back toward Whitehead Street, past our favorite old haunt for happy hour, Kelly’s. I asked if they allowed dogs on the patio, and nope, not an option.

Giving up on my fantasy of great gulf shrimp for supper, we wangled our way through the traffic and construction back to the base and slipped into Five Guys. It was our first experience with this burger chain, and it was pretty darn good, although it wasn’t exactly my idea of the kind of food I was hoping for during our time in Key West.

Another lesson, is that number three? that I have learned is that Key West is not necessarily “The Keys”. The middle keys and upper keys are much more quiet and quaint, with lots of wildlife, trails, secret kayaking coves and beautiful beaches. Reading back over my own blog I was surprised that I hadn’t remembered that my best meal in the keys was not in Key West, but back on Islamorada. Karen and Al and several other blogging couples are camping in RV parks at various locations along the Keys, and choose to come to Key West for a day or two of entertainment.

I do know that Randy and Pam and Carol and John love staying at Sigsbee, but maybe that is because they are here for extended stays rather than just a few short days. Hence the title, two perspectives. For a long term stay in Key West that is affordable, this is the very best option. I probably will never return for a short term stay, but that in no way diminishes the excellent experience of other friends who love this place.

I also thought that perhaps our timing was a bit off, and that the folks who love staying here and spending more time are visiting in November, December, and possibly January. We are here right after President’s Week (did you know that is now a week, not just a long weekend?) and right before Spring Break. Might have something to do with it as well, so keep that in mind if you want to come to Key West.

A friend made a comment suggesting that perhaps they could change the policy for the campground and allow fewer people into the sites. I would hate to see that happen. If this park became a reservation park, it would end up like all the others in the Keys where it is nearly impossible to find a place to stay. At least if you drive several thousand miles to experience Key West, it is a given that there will be a place to park at the end of the line, right here at Sigsbee. That was so reassuring as we drove the long distance to get here.

Another great treat was the Atlantic side beach for military personnel inside the gates at Truman Annex. We drove there yesterday, having learned some side routes to avoid traffic, and settled in to a great shaded table overlooking the turquoise water. The skies were a bit overcast so the photos didn’t catch the amazing color that I saw as I swam south toward the rocks. I snorkeled a bit but didn’t see anything, but the water at 78 degrees or so felt fantastic. The water was clear and clean and beautiful, with no sign of the dreaded Man-o-War jellyfish that could plague the beach later in the season.

Mo sat under the shade and read with Abby, since there was a sign proclaiming no dogs on the beach. After a time she came down to take a photo of me swimming and took a chance and brought Abby down to cool off. No one seemed to mind and Abby loved swimming in the warm water as much as I did.

We thought that around 2 would be a good time to once again try the Hog’s Breath Saloon, thinking it was before happy hour and after lunch. What we didn’t realize was that Key West is a big cruise port, with 1 to 3 ships in port every single day. Have I been under a rock somewhere to not know this? Looking back at our photos from our last visit I was right, there were way fewer people on the streets last time than we found this time. The place was a horror of crowds and weaving our way through the throngs with Abby on leash was not a bit fun.

The Hog’s Breath was again jammed and loud and Mo said, “I’ll wait here on the bench while you go find your Key Lime stuff.” I had to get at least a slice of key lime pie and also bought one of those key lime pie slices on a stick covered in chocolate. No clue if we would get dinner since I didn’t take anything out of the freezer expecting to eat a late afternoon lunch.

We continued walking along Duval when suddenly a cool, shady path leading back to a quiet restaurant beckoned. I left Mo on the street, walked back to talk to the waiter, and sure enough, dogs were completely welcome on his patio. There wasn’t another soul in the place, the birds were singing, the trees shaded the table, and he brought water for Abby. Our food turned out to be pretty darn good, and I got some nice pink gulf shrimp cooked Cuban style, with Cuban rice and a green salad with fresh fruits added to the classic tomato and cucumber. We decided that Cuban food was excellent, especially in a shady patio with the dog.

As I was writing this blog, I had no idea of the name of the place, and had to hunt and hunt using Google Street View to find it. It is called the Jungle Café, but there are other reviews for another place called Jungle Café that is NOT this place. Then I did find a review or two, very outdated, that said it was closed. In case you want to find it, it is right next to the Diamond International just a door or two down from the Smallest Bar on Duval Street.

Something else I should comment on: Several people have suggested that we do some of the wonderful things to do here. The Dry Tortugas are beautiful and remote, and we loved taking that all day boat trip the last time we were here. We also climbed the charming Key West lighthouse and loved the museum there, and visited the Hemingway House, another great treat. Didn’t feel we needed to do those things again on this visit. On this trip, we found the great Higgs Beach Dog Park, a bit of a misnomer because it is a dog park near Higgs Beach, not a beach dog park, but still quite nice for a morning playtime for Abby. The dog park here at Sigsbee is quite nice as well, although not as shaded.

We had parked the car a couple of blocks north of Duval, in front of a lovely old church, no charge and no signs prohibiting parking except for Sunday and Wednesday afternoon. On the way back to the car, I stopped in at my favorite place from the previous visit Pelican Poop Shop to purchase something I had daydreamed about since the last time I was here. The brilliant turquoise fish sculpture is all wrapped up in bubble wrap so there won’t be a photo till I get back to Rocky Point and hang it in my tropical themed bathroom. Last time I refused to pay shipping to buy it, so this time I didn’t have to since we had the MoHo along. Another one of the good things about having our rig along on this visit.

I also found a nice little shop, a bit less crazy than the tourist shops on Duval, that had some nice pastel visors that I wanted. I found a perfect one for Mo’s birthday, coming up shortly. She had been looking at my Hell’s Canyon visor with a bit of envy so it was a good present.

We kayaked from the rocky shore here at the base on our first day, and plan to do so again this afternoon. That is the other good thing about having our rig, bikes, and kayaks along. The water is beautiful and clear, but there is a lot of boat traffic that requires vigilance to avoid. We heard there was a manatee hanging out in the channel we explored the other day but we didn’t see him. Today we will know what to look for and maybe we will find him.

This has been a difficult post to write, trying to capture the good parts of being here and not let the disappointments overwhelm overshadow the delights. I am so glad we made it here, and glad we experienced Sigsbee camping, glad we were in the keys when the weather was so awful elsewhere. Still, I will have a better idea when we get back to Northern Florida and the fresh water springs if my disappointment is directly related to Key West, or if I am possibly just a bit worn down from moving too quickly across the landscape. However, moving out of Key West tomorrow may not come quickly enough. I am ready.

2-19-2014 John and Carol share J.N.Ding Darling NWR with us

Currently: Midway Campground at Big Cypress Preserve 71F at six AM and no internet

The sunrise at our KOA campground was incredible, so I was definitely frustrated that I could find no open sky to actually photograph it! Giant motorhomes were everywhere and even walking to the end of the campground yielded nothing.

I had been in contact with Carol and John, of “Our Trip Around the Sun”, since last summer when I first knew when we would be near Sanibel Island. They are NWR volunteers who suffered through a summer season at the J.N. Ding Darling NWR and as a result were considered and selected for the primo winter positions. John does heavy maintenance and Carol is responsible for several administrative duties, in addition to giving talks about the alligators and crocodile in the park.

We knew Carol’s talk was at 11AM so planned our morning route with enough time to arrive at the park an hour early so that we could see the beautiful Visitor Center before meeting Carol. Oops. We knew there would be traffic, but didn’t plan for the congestion to be as bad as it was. Even with our 8:30 AM departure, it was just a bit after 11 when we walked up to the kiosk where Carol was beginning her talk.

Still makes me smile to remember how warmly Carol greeted us, she seemed genuinely delighted to have us there. Her talk was wonderful, and I learned more about the Florida alligators and the salt water loving croc that lives at Ding Darling. Carol is deservedly proud to be working at this primo refuge and does a great job sharing her knowledge about it.

Having a park volunteer offer to do a tour is a genuine treat. Carol was laughing because she knew I wanted to see spoonbills and she was all worried that she wouldn’t manage it until she saw the spoonbills on my blog that Judy found for me. Phew…no more pressure!

We didn’t see spoonbills, but Carol took us around the wildlife drive, knowing the right places to stop to see the birds. Carol is a “real” birder, and when I only watched a bird for a few minutes and gave up on getting the proper pose she laughed and said, “Well, you aren’t a “real” birder yet, but you are close”. Ha!

We laughed and talked and walked and shared bird sightings until the afternoon got a bit too warm and the birds all went under cover. Carol invited us to do the same at her shady patio with drinks and snacks while we waited for John to get off work. Before long, John joined us on the patio and we all decided that a trip to the beach was in order.

There are several beaches on Sanibel and they picked the one they thought would have the best parking and the least crowding. The beach was lovely, with soft sand and gentle lapping waves, and enough space between chairs and umbrellas that we found a nice place to sit and walk and let Abby swim.

Of course, the highlight of the day was something other than the refuge OR the birds OR the beach. Insisting that only tourists tried to leave the island before dark, Carol invited us to what she called a “simple” dinner of roast pork loin, (which John cooked to perfection on the grill), roasted potatoes, and fresh salad with ice cream for dessert. With some tasty wine and delightful conversation we lingered long past dark enjoying their company and hospitality.

02-13 to 02-18-2014 Five Days in Fort De Soto

Current Location: Fort De Soto Campground 67 degrees F and sunny

The front door is wide open to the dappled sun coming through the trees here in our campground. It feels very much like some kind of tropical jungle, with lots of palms and thick vegetation surrounding the campsites. The temperatures are cool but the sun is absolutely brilliant.

My muscles feel like jelly in that good way that happens when they are getting properly used. Mo is reading and napping in the back of the rig while I process photos and try to condense our days into something readable. Mark Johnson, over at the Box Canyon Blog, is lately one of my favorite writers. Last night he wrote about how so many of us, RV bloggers specifically, talk about all the wonders of this lifestyle and none of the downside. Problem is, I can’t at the moment find a downside. I think it might be like labor…when it is over, you forget. Especially when the sun is shining.

Because of the mix-up in our original reservation, we had to move after our first night here, and tomorrow will have to move again to another campsite. It isn’t a big problem, though, and we like the new spot we are moving to as much as the first one. This site, 147, is huge and is one of the few pull through’s in this part of the park. Even though it is also private, it is so big that it feels a bit like a road and we are just plopped down in the middle of it. Still, the shade on this warmish sunny afternoon is lovely.

Fort De Soto is actually a Pinellas County Park, south of St Petersburg. It consists of five offshore keys, or islands, lying to the city’s south-southwest: Madelaine Key, St. Jean Key, St. Christopher Key, Bonne Fortune Key and the main island, Mullet Key. All are connected by either bridge or causeway to each other. The island group is accessible by a toll road from the mainland. Water everywhere! Many of the campsites are waterfront, and half the park is dog friendly. Campsites become available six months before your intended booking date, and when I attempted to book our sites, I had a bit of difficulty getting one, much less a waterfront site. I keep forgetting about little things like holiday weekends.

It is a truly beautiful park, with gorgeous white sand beaches, calm bayous for kayaking, mangrove swamps and sea oats on sugar sand. The campground is thick with palms and life oaks that hang over the roadways, with warning signs saying to watch for low hanging branches, yet I have seen many very large rigs parked in the private, spacious campsites. It is a bit spendy. I keep forgetting what we paid for this park, maybe on purpose…maybe because it was prepaid six months ago. With taxes and such, I think it was a bit over $40 per night, probably will qualify as our spendiest camp for the entire three months.

It is worth every single penny. As I said, water everywhere, even a large off leash dog beach and a huge doggie park with a cooling wash station for hot summer days or getting out the salt water after doggie swims.

A paved bicycle trail runs the entire length of the key from end to end and past the campground with workout stations placed here and there and an occasional sign naming trees or plants in the area.

The park is named for Fort De Soto, located at the point where Mullet Key intercepts the channel into Tampa Bay. It was first surveyed in 1849 and Union troops were stationed here during the Civil War to aid in the blockade of Tampa Bay. It wasn’t until the Spanish-American war however, that the fort was built. It operated as a strategic defense from 1898 to 1910 and was decommissioned after that time.There are a few cannon and some ramparts to view at the site of the fort, but the most interesting exhibit are one bunker with old photos of the history of the fort and old maps of the surrounding keys.

I don’t think many people come here to see the fort, however. This place is all about the water, with a large boat launch area to the north, and countless spots where a kayak can launch. On one of the blustery days when we explored North Beach, we saw kite surfers doing their thing on the wild water. The winds were over 10 mph and watching those guys fly across the water was almost as impressive as watching them fall. Neither of us could figure out how someone would go about learning this crazy sport.

Wildlife is everywhere, the small variety, especially raccoons. They are so dang cute, and of course they raid the garbage cans and campsites. Signs everywhere proclaim, don’t feed the wildlife!. And the birds! There are birds everywhere, especially shore and water birds. Mo keeps saying…oh another egret? How many photos of egrets and herons can you take? Egrets here seem a bit like robins in the north country in springtime.

We have so enjoyed our time here. With good weather most of the time and several days to enjoy it, we have biked the trail, walked the beaches, kayaked the bayous and taken Abby to the dog beach. I do not remember when we did what at all, everything is running together. I think that is how it is supposed to be when relaxing at a great camp, right?

All the spacious restrooms are an open design with round buildings and open drains around the inside edge. Interesting and functional. At each restroom there is a washer and dryer for a buck each outside on the breezeway. There are also a great number of garbage cans, almost a pair for every few sites, and it seems they are emptied quite often. There is a boat launch, and a small camp store. Getting back to town for any kind of shopping requires a bit of driving and two bridge tolls of less than a dollar each, so it is better to come here with all that is needed for your stay.

What I do remember is early yesterday morning, rising before sunrise to get over to Pass a Grille Beach south of St Pete Beach for my little ceremony for Bel. I had promised her I would take her to the beach, so after almost a year since her passing, I finally was able to keep that promise. Bel was honored with a setting full moon over the gulf as the sun rose in the east over the bay.

Pass a Grille is a tiny treasure, a peninsula less than a mile wide south along the gulf with a long lovely beach. Unlike much of the Florida coastline, here the houses are less than two stories and are on the other side of the road from the beach walk and access to the beach is completely public. Much of the town is on the National Historic Register. No dogs again, but that wasn’t a problem for us on this early morning since we left Abby back at the MoHo to keep Jeremy company.

Afterward, Mo and I decided that a good breakfast was in order and driving north past the gorgeous Don Cesar Hotel toward St Pete Beach, we found a funky little place called the Toasted Monkey. With friendly down home waitresses in shorts, mimosa’s on the breakfast menu, and several menu items with gravy, we had a great breakfast. One shared plate was plenty for the two of us. We even got a touch of TV. I think there were at least a dozen in the restaurant and we could see 4 or so from our table. Maybe it was a sports bar. We did get to see the US hocky team playing Russia and were glad to hear that they won.

We then tried to find somewhere to buy our traditional Sees chocolates, with the official Sees website stating that a kiosk was available in St Petersburg. Suddenly we were in Florida hell, the Florida that all the westerners cite when they say they would never come to Florida because it is too full of people and traffic. It was nasty. I kept thinking about how awful it would be to actually live here.

I found the Sees at Dillards, my favorite department store, but I wasn’t in the least bit of a mood for shopping and got out of there fast…in time to get back on a busy road and try to find our way across a busy town back to our idyllic little island campground. Whew!

More excitement came on Saturday as we waited for the month’s mail to arrive USPS Express. With a guaranteed Saturday delivery, we were a bit anxious when nothing had arrived at the campground by 4 pm. Finally the desk help, and old southern boy, said, “Well, I don’t think anyone went to get the mail today.” Seems as though the mail is delivered in a box on the other side of the bridge and the post office refuses to come out to the island. (Sure wish they had told us that when they insisted we should have our mail sent directly to the campground!)

The help decided they could make the 15 minute run to the Post Office to pick up mail after all, and after another half an hour I returned to the office to find that the expected packet of mail did NOT come with the Saturday delivery. UhOh. There is a lot of stuff in that packet, including a big refund check for our Michelin tires and all our income tax papers. Sheesh. With the holiday I was in a panic thinking we would have to figure out a way to wait around until Tuesday afternoon for the mail to be delivered.

Home to the rig to check the tracking number which said the packet was out for delivery on Saturday at 10 AM. ??? I went back up to the office, where the old southern boy sheepishly held up our packet saying, “I guess someone delivered it this morning and it was on the desk. No one thought to look on the desk”. Ok Then. All is well that ends well and we got our mail. I am glad we only have to do this one more time on this trip and hopefully the mid March mail delivery will be without incident.

I used the crock pot again to make some carnitas beef and as it was cooking, instead of those wonderful smells wafting through the MoHo we kept thinking, “What IS that smell?!” I had purchased a carnitas spicy sauce slow cooking packet at Whole Foods, one of my few luxury purchases. After several hours it was so bad that I had to put the crock pot outside and turn on the fan. I can’t even give the meat to the animals because it is too spicy. I have no idea what the weird flavor in that sauce was, but I hope I never encounter it again.

See, Mark Johnson? All isn’t perfect in the RV world.

Tomorrow the forecast is for even warmer temperatures, clear skies and no wind. That calls for another kayak, another walk on the dog beach, another bike ride and hopefully something tasty for supper. Tonight it will be tasty cheese quesadillas, with lots of jalapenos and no meat.