The adventure within the adventure

So we left the goat farm in a bit of a hurry. We made the decision to leave late on a Saturday afternoon and were gone by noon on Sunday. That didn't give us lots of time to find a landing spot to lay low and plan our next steps so we settled on this lovely little town in the Big Bend of Florida called Steinhatchee. This town is famous for its scalloping. It is off season now but when it's in season, the town comes alive with visitors who are looking to get out on the water and pull their own haul of scallops right off the ocean floor.

I had found this town a couple weeks earlier when I took a quiet, solitary trip for a few days. On that trip, I rented a small car and drove down the coast a few hours from Tallahassee to a small tourist town called Cedar Key. I really needed some time to wander in solitude and work through some things, so I set out late on a Monday afternoon with only a vague destination in mind. I settled on Cedar Key because we had heard from friends it was a great little beach tourist town. It was really hard to find a place to stay there on such short notice as there were only a few small hotels and motels on the Key. I, thankfully, was able to book a room at a run down and sad feeling hotel, but I was grateful to have found something so I overlooked the overall poor upkeep and enjoyed the fact that I had a roof over my head for the night, a clean room and a lovely balcony - even it was a little sagging. The best thing about the place was how close it was to the pier and some restaurants. I knew I wouldn't stay there more than the night so I headed over to a restaurant and researched where to go from there while I waited for my dinner. Dinner was great - I had a bowl of steamed clams served in the most delicious garlic, buttery broth. It was the most delicious bowl of clams I had ever had. And that is saying a lot. Having lived on the South Coast of MA for so long, I enjoyed my fair share of clams every summer!

I found a little resort on air bnb that had some availability in a condo for a few nights so I scooped it up. I would return to Tallahassee and the goat farm on Friday so I wanted to have a place where I was super comfy for a few days. Where I could work comfortably and also enjoy some amenities. The air bnb was a 2 story condo with a balcony on each floor and there was an abundance of trees through out the resort so there was plenty of shade to battle the heat and the breezes that came through were just wonderful. The resort was right along the river with boat docks I could walk on. There was a pool and the most heavenly hot tub that was about 4 feet deep. The condo had a fully equipped kitchen so I was able to make breakfast and lunch each day but went out for dinners to check out the area. I got my haircut to the pixie cut I have slowly been working up the courage to get and I couldn't have been happier with it. I bought a 2 piece swimsuit from the sweetest and kindest woman who just knew i was fragile and she gave me the most warm hug and encouragement I needed at that moment. It was a magical few days and Eric came to visit me to for an afternoon while I was there because I just couldn't let him miss out on the amazing hot tub.

Because I had such a restorative visit, when it was time to find a place to land after the goat farm, Steinhatchee was an easy choice for me. We booked a week at a small rv park with a super nice pool. I spent the week there working and taking breaks at the pool. It was also a good choice because I had to have my coritsone shot on the Thursday of that week so we had to stay pretty close to Tallahassee but we wanted to be away from there. I thought getting that shot was going to be a big damn deal so I took the whole day off from work. Eric brought me to breakfast after and then we headed home to spend the rest of the day at the pool. It was the most relaxing day and so much fun sunbathing and swimming. Then we went for a nice walk that night to Steinhatchee Falls which is this teeny tiny water fall about 20 minutes from the park we were staying at. It was fun goofing on the size of the waterfall and walking around the river. We started to take the hiking path on the 1 mile loop around the river but after about 20 steps Eric and I quickly chickened out! Hahhaaha for such nature lovers, we sure as shit are scared of every animal and bug and reptile that lives in this state. (hashtag no shame!)

Also during this little stop over, I was in the middle of interviewing for a job and we were searching for where we would go next. It was a really busy week for us logistically. We had to stay in Florida because we have plans to meet up with Sammy and we are all going to visit with some life long friends we haven't seen in several years. Sammy is coming to see us on May 22, one day before his 20th birthday and we have plans to meet friends in the Tampa area the weekend of the 26th. So after a long search, we found a nice - a very nice - rv park just north of Ocala. I had never imagined us staying at an RV resort, you know the places that have full on concrete pads and everyone is packed in like sardines, yeah - one of those. But, it has a pool, a gym, corn hole boards, food trucks, a vegetable stand on Wednesdays and is close to Ocala but not in the busy hectic part. It's actually in farm/horse country with these long windy, hilly roads and the most beautiful rolling hills. I didn't think any part of Florida looked like this so it has been a very pleasant stay so far, and such a surprise.

The toilet in the RV:

I know a lot of what I write about is the fun stuff we do, the adventurous outings and such and that is great, but I want to share a little of what it's actually like, day in and day out. Well, to be totally frank about it, it is just like living before in a house and in only one spot. Life is life where ever you are and you are who are where ever you are. Things don't magically or swiftly change when you move or make any major life change. All the things that need upkeep and maintenance in a house are the same in the RV, or they are harder. For instance, when we lived on the goat farm, there were no sewer hookups so each time the black tank got full, that's where the toilet water goes to, Eric would have to empty it into a portable tank and wheel it through the goat pen, across the parking lot, through a chain link fence gate and across the chicken yard to the sewer drain. Once there, he connected the portable tank to the sewer drain via this special tubing made to drain the tanks. Once connected, he had to literally lift the portable tank off the ground at least a foot to allow for complete drainage. Then connect a special adaptor and water hose to flush it out. It was a miserable task. To make it worse, when we first got to the goat farm and for about 8 weeks, the toilet regularly backed up. Eric did everything, all the troubleshooting under the sun, to make it work properly. Whenever the backups occurred, Eric would have to connect the portable tank to the RV, drain the tank into the portable one, then go empty it, come back and hook the tank back up and flush the system to clear out whatever the back up was there and often times would then have to go and dump the flush too. This was a constant headache for him and honestly I was no help. I have a no poop policy and stepping in goat poop every day was breech enough of that policy! After a lot of research, trial and error and a shit ton of work, Eric fixed the problem with the toilet and it functioning as intended now.

Living in an RV park is better in that sense because we have a sewer hookup so emptying the tank is simple, its just a handle to pull. Though at the spot we are at now the hook up is really far from the RV so Eric had to use both hoses for one set of tanks so he is currently having to move the hose around and that is both gross and annoying. We are going to buy another hose and a y connector so we can have all three water tanks connected via one drainage system and Eric won't have to remove the black tank hose and connect it to the gray water tank in the front the RV where now he is doing that. Why is he doing that - i will tell you - because he is as stubborn as me on some things and when we dig our heals in on something it takes a long time to change our minds. I helped him empty the kitchen tank tonight and it was the biggest pain in the ass. We are getting those extra parts on Monday!

Boondocking

When we leave Florida, we are going to boondock for the first time. Boondocking is camping with no hook ups. Sometimes this is done on National Forest Land or Bureau of Land Management Land and sometimes it is done in a Walmart parking lot and there is even an app called Boondockers welcome where people all over the country open up spots on their property for campers to stay with no hook ups. It's a great way to stop over and rest while on your way to a destination if you are just staying for a day or two. It's a money saving tool a lot of RVers use. I am both excited about boondocking and scared to death to do it. I have no idea what terrifies me so much about it so I can't wait to see what it actually feels like to do it. We might stay in a Cracker Barrel parking lot or a Bass Pro Shops lot, both are more preferable than the Walmart route to me but we will see what's available when its a little closer to travel time. It will only be for one night - how bad could it be?

New things needed for the RV.

Eric mentioned this in a video he recently posted on FB but I want to talk about it a little bit here. Anytime we buy something for the RV it is a strategic and well thought out plan. We have such limited space and we both get so anxious when there is clutter for a long time so we are very aware of these things when buying anything. The questions we usually ask our selves in some crazy internal dialogue are pretty standard. Do I NEED this or do I WANT this? Where will it be stored when not in use? Does it need to be stored outside, if so, is there room? How often will we use this? Do we REALLY need it? You get it right? We just can't buy things that have no plan or real use. That natural limitation of living in such a small space is an amazing motivator toward changing your daily habits to have MORE stuff. We buy less of everything and what we buy we use - we find we waste very little. We actually eat the left overs and empty the freezer and pantry before we do a big grocery shop - I used to stop at the grocery store every day on way home to pick up dinner. Now, the closest store is more than 20 minutes away so that's not an option anymore. We have to actually plan ahead, buy all the parts of a meal in that one big shop. If you forget something. whoof, what a pain in the ass.

We use less water - remember the whole tank draining thing above - the faster we fill the tanks, the sooner the herculean effort of draining them has to be attacked. So we actually wash all our dishes by hand and use a dish pan in the sink to minimize water use. We know people who use a lot less than us still, but we are very pleased with our reduced consumption. We have less laundry, I mostly wear bathing suits and sundresses now so I generate very little laundry. On average, we have 1-2 loads of laundry a week. Its pretty cool how that naturally changed.

There is way way less space in the pantry, freezer and fridge so that is always something to consider during a trip to the grocery store. Planning meals and space needs appropriately are really important. I have done really really well with that. We bought some really cool knives, silverware and kitchen utensils that have this super cool metallic sheen to them and the knives came with a countertop knife block so our kitchen looks pretty dope! We cook so much now and rarely eat out. Unless we are out and about on an adventure, we cook our meals at home

I have been making some bomb ass tacos, bacon wrapped stuffed pepperjack cheese chickens, steak and more. I always liked cooking for the family but I have turned it up a notch lately and dinners have been amazing - except when they are NOT. I have had a few meals have been just terrible. LOL Usually if that happens its because my mind is clouded with smoke.

Ocala North RV Resort

We settled on this area because it is close enough to the Tampa area to visit our friends but we don't need to be that close. Eric hated living in that part of Florida when we lived there about 15 years ago so It's not a great idea to spend extended time there - Ocala felt like the right place. It's plenty busy and built up so there is plenty of stuff to do but since we are a bit north of Ocala we are not in the midst of the chaos. Also Gainesville is equally close - just north instead of south! I like it here. In the evenings, we spend time at the pool, we love playing catch with a football and floating on the pool noodles. The park is huge! There are several hundred sites, three distinctly different sections and all the roads are paved ---- it is a GREAT place to ride our bikes! There is a fitness room that also has a pool table. We ride bikes through here like we are 12 years old - it feels like we are living in a bubble of our 12 year old selves.

We play corn hole, cookout, swim in the pool, take mid afternoon naps, workout sometimes, take evening walks - but our favorite is riding our bikes!

Some other really neat things about being here for 41 days is that we have met people and become friendly with them. Granted these are not going to be the close connections we made on the farm, but we have plenty of socializing to do for sure. I am bronze from daily exposure to the sun and water and the most relaxed about everything that I have ever been in all of life.

Silver Springs

On our first weekend in the area, we had to check out Silver Springs. It was Florida's first state park and has water the color of aqua. There were plenty of trails to ride our bikes on. We spent a couple hours following the trails through the forest. We also took a ride on the glass bottom boat tour to see a dozen or so of the most well known springs. The water is crystal clear, we could see so many fish and water life as we rode the boat. There is a really nice walk through the woods on a raised wooden platform that stayed pretty close the water so it felt like walking through a jungle! We had lunch in the park - I had packed us a few sandwiches and chips. We sat at some rocking chairs in the shade while we ate lunch and watched the people walk by. The staff was preparing for a small wedding so we got to sit there among the wedding decorations as we ate. We wrapped up eating lunch right around the time they asked us to move along as the wedding was about the begin! It was great timing. We went for a stroll along the spring again and then I rented a kayak to see more of the spring while Eric meandered for a bit on land. As I was kayaking toward the last and largest spring on the route, I looked up and saw Eric standing there waiting to catch site of me as I paddled by. It was really romantical and made me feel really special. There was also a baby alligator hanging out by the edge of the spring in that area. I didn't dally long! I made my way back to the boat launch and then we headed home. It was a really nice with lots of little adventures mixed in.

I am wrapping up this session for now. I think there will be one more Florida entry before we hightail it out of here and head north. Sammy is coming to visit next week so I am sure I will have lots to share again soon. Be well my friends!