Five Nights At Gamble Rogers

The final stop on our first round of camping for this season was at Gamble Rogers State Park in Flagler Beach Florida. This is a very nice coastal park, just slightly north of Daytona Beach. It was our first time in this particular campsite, but our fourth time camping at the park. It's becoming a Thanksgiving weekend tradition. I hang out and relax (I know, what else is new?), while Gary goes to the Turkey Rod Run car show inside the Daytona International Speedway. This year, I didn't see any squirrels at all. As you probably know, I often count on squirrels to entertain me while Gary is off having fun. Luckily, there was a "Growing Pains" marathon on Antenna TV, and I quickly got hooked on watching that. That's a show from the 80's and early 90's, but I never saw it when it was on originally. I LIKED it! With all the car show activities, I only saw Gary when he came back to the campground to shower and sleep. I miss him when he's gone, but I'm used to it. If it isn't a car show he's at, then he's off antique shopping. He's a busy guy! He did stay at the campground on our final night, and walked the beach for an hour or so. Looks like fun. Unfortunately, there are no trees at the park to provide any shade, and it can get hot. Air temperatures got as high as 82, but my thermometer in direct sunlight read 98. That's a LOT different than the mid 60's temperatures we enjoyed in Georgia. Our five nights at Gamble Rogers went by SO quickly, but time always seems to accelerate during the camping season. Too bad that the intensely hot summer days in Florida are just the opposite. I hope we can stay at Gamble Rogers again next year. Like all of the coastal Florida parks, it's difficult to get into unless you book as soon as the rules allow, which is 11 months in advance. I know that Gary will try to reserve us a spot as soon as the reservation window opens. In this first round of camping, we spent 3 nights at Reed Bingham State Park in Georgia (campsite #1), 2 nights at O'Leno in Florida (campsite #5), and 5 nights at Gamble Rogers in Florida (campsite #37). A total of 1131 miles were logged on my buddy Dodge's odometer. I was along for 490 of those miles, while Dodge and Gary traveled 641 miles without me. As of this afternoon, we're back home in St. Augustine, and I'll be counting the hours until our next trip. Have a GREAT week, my friends.

Two Nights At O'Leno

Hi Folks!  It's me, Toaster the road warrior. I'm already a tad bit behind on posting during our travels, but the photos wouldn't download while we were at O'Leno State Park. So now that we're in a place with better internet reception (more on that during my next post), I'll get caught up. I was given strict instructions before we left home that I was supposed to not get behind on my blog posts, but I can't help it if technology doesn't always cooperate. We were at O'Leno for just two nights, so Gary didn't set me up with all the frills like he does when we stay somewhere for three days or longer. I got my power and TV antenna hooked up, my step put out next to my door, and my porch light attached. No stabilizer jacks, no water hook-up, no tablecloth, no pink flamingos, no "Serra" (my little metal Scottish Terrier). TV reception was perfect. Gary and I watched the NASCAR Championship race from Miami-Homestead, and then Sunday Night Football. We were in campsite number 5 for our stay, and it is directly across the street from the restrooms, which Gary says are VERY nice. The campsite wasn't perfectly level, but close enough for us. Gary scoped out campsite number 4, and he thinks it's a little better. We will try to stay there on our next visit. It was nice and quiet during both nights, and we all slept well. On our second and final day, Gary and Dodge went to the HUGE Webb's Antique Mall. It's just a few miles away from the park, and that was one of the deciding factors for our stay at O'Leno. We never pass Webb's that we don't stop. As usual, I hung out at the park, fed the squirrels, and greeted all the people that pass by and stare at me. From Webb's, Gary and Dodge drove all the way home (about 170 miles round trip). While there, all of the purchases made at the car show in Georgia were dropped off, as well as all the purchases made at Webb's. Gary also washed a load of laundry, and unloaded the warm clothes he brought for our stay at Reed Bingham State Park in Georgia. In Florida, warm clothes are seldom necessary, and our next stop would be a five night stay in Flagler Beach (again, more on that during my next post). He also brought back my air conditioner just in case we may need it during our Florida camping. There wasn't any point in carrying it to Georgia with us, since temperatures never got higher than the mid 60's, and got down as low as 35. As we left O'Leno, it was raining lightly. That kept up until we got down to Ocala. I'm not thrilled with traveling in the rain, but at the same time, I was anxiously awaiting the next stop on this round of camping. Like dealing with working or non-working technology, we can't do anything about the weather. I'll write more soon, no doubt about it!

From Delays To Better Days

Hello from Reed Bingham State Park in Adel, Georgia. I am THRILLED to be here! March 2nd was a LONG time ago, and that's the last time that Gary and Dodge and I went camping together. This trip was LONG overdue, and even though I could hardly wait to get started, first things first. I like to look halfway decent when I'm out and about. I get SO dirty sitting in the garage all summer. I looked so bad it was embarrassing. I got rinsed, scrubbed, and then Gary "exfoliated" my skin with a fine grade Scotch-Brite pad. My pal Dodge got a bath too. I didn't think our camping season was going to get started at all this year. It is currently November 17th, and we were originally scheduled to be at our first destination on October 1st.  Here's what lead to the delays in leaving home:  1) We had a 20 day trip planned at 5 different parks from October 1st through October 20th. My wonderful owner and best buddy Gary had a VERY busy summer, and as the time quickly approached to go camping, he simply wasn't ready. So, we decided to reschedule that entire trip instead of cancelling it. We will now be going to all those places in February and March of 2019. Fine with me. It will be colder then than it would have been in October, and Gary and I LOVE cold weather.  2) On October 26th, we got a call from Georgia State Parks. We had camping reservations at Seminole State Park beginning on October 29th. But the park was damaged by Hurricane Michael. They needed additional time to get the park back in shape, so they gave us the option of cancelling the reservation (which we did) or rescheduling. We were also supposed to go to Florence Marina and Laura S. Walker State Parks after Seminole. We were still planning to go to both of those parks, but a couple of days before we were going to leave, Dodge's battery died, and while checking me over for the trip, Gary discovered that my electric brakes weren't working. So, we decided to take some extra days to get everything working properly before going anywhere. Better safe than sorry, right?  Finally, on what was originally going to be our third camping trip of the season, everything was set and ready to go, and here we are. We arrived here at Reed Bingham two days ago, and we've had a FANTASTIC time. Gary has gone to the nearby car show in Moultrie, and I've been hanging out here at the campground, enjoying all the sights and sounds, and feeding my little squirrel buddies. From here, we will go to O'Leno State Park near Gainesville, Florida for two nights, and then we'll head over for a 5-night stay at Gamble Rogers State Park near Daytona. Gary will be spending lots of time at the Turkey Run Car Show at the Daytona International Speedway, and I'll be doing my usual thing.  I KNOW we'll have fun. Now that we're rolling, I don't think there will be any more delays, cancellations, or rescheduling. We are booked pretty heavily from now until mid-March. I'll post as often as I can from the road, so stay tuned!