Van made it to USA

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house everyone was on their phone.

Happy Xmas to all who have bothered to follow this post.

Does anyone else think it is strange that we allow an old, fat man to sneak into our house in the middle of the night, eat cookies and drink milk and then fill our socks with the wrong present.

Enjoy

Gary & Glenda
 
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house everyone was on their phone.

Happy Xmas to all who have bothered to follow this post.

Does anyone else think it is strange that we allow an old, fat man to sneak into our house in the middle of the night, eat cookies and drink milk and then fill our socks with the wrong present.

Enjoy

Gary & Glenda

Thanks again, really enjoy your posts. Have a great Christmas.
 
How much do they charge for a whole pig?
Happy New year to you both. Love your thread. Thank you once again for your write up.
Cheers.
David.
 
I do not think I could eat a whole pig/hog
OR even a piglet !.. and what about the stuffing ?
OR even a deer/antelope (wherever they roam)
Sausages !!!

On a semi serious note
Do they have lamb in USA/Canada
 
I do not think I could eat a whole pig/hog
OR even a piglet !.. and what about the stuffing ?
OR even a deer/antelope (wherever they roam)
Sausages !!!

On a semi serious note
Do they have lamb in USA/Canada

Don't remember seeing any Lamb meat for sale in Canada. Plenty of pork and beef though. Chicken not that cheap either in Canada. Daughter lives out there so I am a regular visitor.
 
I do not think I could eat a whole pig/hog
OR even a piglet !.. and what about the stuffing ?
OR even a deer/antelope (wherever they roam)
Sausages !!!

On a semi serious note
Do they have lamb in USA/Canada
We don't see lamb sold often but we have purchased some.
 
Out of the keys 29 December

We are now settled at North Lakes campsite after a two day journey .Nothing on particular to say other than the only road in to the keys southbound as we went north was packed with traffic from Marathon to Key Largo.Thats a lot of miles in crawling traffic and 28 Deg.After 3 hrs we overnight in a Home Depot west of Fort Lauderdale.
I wanted to travel along the A1A ,the coast road,north from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach before heading inland westward to Lake Okeechobee.
Not surprised by the endless hotels and condos hiding the beach and no signs of coffee shops,bars, restaurants which presumably are on beach side in hotels.No chance of parking for a stroll.
Pulled away to the i95 to burn up 30 miles before returning to the beach road to view West Palm Beach.What a difference,all very smart and the millionaire's mansions looked great Ferrari,Rolls Royce,Bentley are the cars of choice around here.Bet I stood out with a right hand drive Hymer.
Personally I prefer the idea of a friendly bunch of campers on a site to socialise with than cooped up in a condo or mansion
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After motorhome, over 55s resort ?
30 December

We have visited two over 55s campsites here in Florida and think they are a great idea.
A lot of pitches taken up with permanent caravans that have been extended to look more like a building but enough left for tourers.
Many live here all year or less as suits them.They pay for twelve months regardless.Any one under 55 can visit for up to a month per year so at this time of year there are many families .
There are of course over 55s sites in the UK called Park Home Sites and we have checked them out.They differ in that our units cost vastly more and have virtually no recreation facilities despite the selling point of buying in to a "lifestyle of like minded owners"
Here you pay approx £50,000 second hand and about £5,000 per year rent covering utilities
But you get a lot of activities available and social opportunities.
In UK you are lucky to get a social hall.
If you want recreation facilities in UK then there are plenty of holiday parks with statics similar to this USA set up except one crucial difference.
All ages use them giving it a transitory feeling compared to a settled community .Everyone gets about on golf carts,if there's a group you know it's a party .Many still have touring units when they want to explore. If we were not full time travelling and wanted a settled lifestyle the American idea appeals.
Off to use their heated pool after just purchasing our New Year's Eve tickets for their social hall to include food and live music.
Nothing "clicky" here with the residents,all welcome .IMG_20181230_171201.jpgIMG_20181230_171230.jpgIMG_20181229_181745.jpg
 
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North Lakes RV campsite, Okeechobee, Florida

Unusual end to our evening.Food and dancing to a live band playing rock and country went fine.
At midnight we opened a cheap bottle of champagne given to each table of six.We toasted in the new year.Immediately after the toast everyone started to leave.We had gone on the dance floor for a last dance.Coming back we found the table empty with our chums for the night clutching our phones,etc.
With plates and glasses provided in plastic the organizers had scooped up the tablecloth with our real glasses containing drink along with the champagne in to bins!
They had to rummage in to them to retrieve our glasses with apologies.
What a strange way to end the night,hall cleared by 12:05 !!
 
I have really enjoyed following your post we used to visit Florida every year over a 10 year period but in a hire car not an rv the last trip being being 2005 and we did the same route as you we visited key west but it didn’t feel a safe place and stopped at marathon instead we went up the east coast stayed at palm beach . We found st Augustine to be the friendliest place and was there when hurricane Katrina hit we visited Jacksonville and the sea was full of hundreds of surfers waiting for 30 feet waves had to park in the central reservation due to all parking lots full.looking forward to your next adventure
 
Same as last post
Thankyou
If all goes well we plan 3 months in US (Baltimore) and 3 month in Canada(Halifax) in 2020
So we have Chicken Maryland and Chicken Balti to look forward to
 
Decided to visit Walt Disney in Orlando enroute north from Okeechobee Lake for nostalgic reasons.We came here with the boys about 25 years ago !
Just visiting one of the venues called Disney Springs for the afternoon before we pass through Kissemmee where we had our villa.IMG_20190103_120932.jpg
 
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Got a good overnight spot here at Cracker Barrel only half mile from the Old Town tourist attraction.
Many years ago I did the Sky Coaster with my young Michael and it brings back memories of that scary moment when you realise you don't have a very good head for height's.Never again!IMG_20190103_193328.jpgIMG_20190103_193414.jpgIMG_20190103_173809.jpg
 
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Jacksonville, Florida 4 December
Early rise to drive to St Augustine.As recommended it is indeed a nice place to visit.The oldest settlement in USA ,oldest street,oldest school house, etc by the Spanish.
Many original buildings but now given over to shops, restaurant,bars making it feel touristy on the main street.The surrounding streets are interesting with the many Victorian properties.
The fort,built 1695, was closed due to the government shut down.
Moved north to Jacksonville to overnight in a Golden Corral buffet restaurant.We are wise to this place now and did not eat anything all day to do the huge selection justice on our evening meal.IMG_20190105_082003.jpgIMG_20190105_081859.jpgIMG_20190105_081837.jpg
 
Savannah, Georgia 6 January
Free parking on Sunday ! Saved us twenty dollars.
As expected Savannah is a lovely place.Set out in 1733 by the English it has a grid layout with many garden squares surrounded by every architectural style of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
With canopies of ancient oaks covered in Spanish Moss providing shaded respite from the heat and the cobbled waterfront we had an enjoyable walk under blue skies .The free ferry gives perspective from the river of the large cotton warehousing once full from the efforts of the poor slaves .Even the Cathedral of St John the Baptist was a treat for the eyes.
Everything you could want to have a nice lifestyle is here with good value properties.IMG_20190106_144135.jpgIMG_20190106_143320.jpgIMG_20190106_143831.jpg
 
Yorktown , Virginia 9 January
The drive today has taken us passed the 17,000 miles after leaving North Carolina in to Virginia.
Passing Windsor,Suffolk, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Gloucester and other English names along with an unusual road kill sight.A fully grown black bear lying face down in the central reservation!
Despite the government shut down affecting NPs
we got a good feel for Yorktown in the few remaining daylight hours after our arrival.
Famous for the British surrender of General Cornwallis to General Washington bringing to an end the fight for independence.Here America was born.
Plenty of info boards and the Victory Column to view along with colonial style buildings.IMG_20190109_205923.jpgIMG_20190109_205755.jpgIMG_20190109_192502.jpg
 
Jamestown ,Virginia 10 January
Cold morning,below freezing last night.Arrived at Jamestown ,Englands first succesfull settlement in 1607.Although partly run by the goverment closed NPS there were volunteers using a tent as booking office so it could remain open.
Extremely cold in the biting wind meant taking pictures of the info boards to read later but did get good info from a volunteer on the small site .Much warmer in the building they call Archaerium ,the museum of artifacts from the ongoing digs.Again another volunteer gave us a one hour lesson on all things archeological about the digs.
The afternoon spent driving north to Washington.We did want to visit Colonial Williamsburg but now have to speed up our arrival in Baltimore .Snow forecast for Saturday & Sunday so only Friday (tomorrow) available for Washington when we had planned two days.
Weather turning just as we have only a four hour window to make our dock delivery Monday morning.
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