Thanksgiving Week & Arrival At Our Winter Digs – Lithia & Ft. Lauderdale FL
We’ve made it to December! The end of our travels this year, the end of 2016. Can’t deny I’m kinda happy to see this year pass, but I’m also looking forward to doing the round-up of all our adventures and giving you the low-down on the best RV campgrounds we visited this year. We achieved plenty and managed some sweet locations this year, in between it all.
In addition it’s my FAVORITE month of the year so I’ve got my annual Christmas Gift List to write (coming very soon) and I’ll be throwing myself into decorating “the beast”, appeasing the ever-mischievous RV”nisser“ (very important) & procuring all the various food stuffs we enjoy for Christmas. With my family flying over in only 3 weeks (!!) we’ve got lots to prepare. Plus I’m determined not to miss a moment of the spirit. The Santa Hat is out, the Christmas Candle is lit and Christmas Music is running non-stop. Yes, I LOVE this time of year and I’m not ashamed to admit it!
But Before I get into December I should really wrap up what we did the last month of November.
A Week’s Rest At Alafia River State Park, Lithia, FL
After we finished our week at the RV repair shop we drove all of ~30 miles to settle in at one of our very favorite State Parks in Florida. It’s a hidden gem we discovered over 6 years ago when we first passed through the area, and honestly the only reason we even stopped here was because it was the closest place we could find to stay near Paul’s best buddy (of over 40 years!) Freddie.
The park itself is really in the middle of nowhere. It’s a super small campground ~45 mins SE of Tampa, smack in the middle of Florida’s farm belt. It’s an area dominated by large ranches intermixed with smaller towns. The “big stuff” is all up in Tampa so down here is mostly countryside and urban shopping.
And in the very midst of all this is where you’ll find the lovely, green oasis of Alafia River State Park (*updated review & video coming!)
The easiest way I can describe it is that it’s a wildlife, mountain biking, horse riding, hiking, kayaking and basically all-around fabulously natural paradise. There are several lakes, ~20 miles of hiking/riding trails and ~20 miles of the best mountain biking in the entire state of Florida. From easy to advanced the trails snake through dense forest, lakes and interesting formations left over from the old phosphorus mine that used to be in the area. The biking is so good it’s won numerous awards and attracts bike enthusiasts from all over the state. There’s even a few super easy tracks for wimps like me.
When we first got here in 2010 we immediately fell in love, so much so that it made our “top RV parks” list of the year. We ended up staying there again on our way out of the state in 2011, and it was the VERY first booking we made when we started our 2016 plans way back in December of last year. Thanks to our 11-month ahead planning we managed to snag the entire week of Thanksgiving, and despite all the crazy changes that we went through this year we were able to keep that one reservation.
Thanksgiving With Old Friends
We arrived on a warm Monday afternoon and both felt immensely relieved as we pulled into our generous and green site. The park was just as lovely as we remembered, even more so since the last 6 years has allowed the greenery to grow and mature giving the sites even better privacy than they had before. Plus the hiking/biking trails are just as naturally beautiful as ever.
We spent the entire week literally just puttering around the park and reconnecting with Freddie, his lovely wife Julie and their equally lovely kids Jessica and Juliana. Spending time with friends that you’ve known for over 40 years is not only special, but it’s also effortless and relaxing. Paul and Freddie mesh like two peas in a pod and since they both married tall, European gals it turns out us women have quite a bit in common too. Plus Polly totally hit it off with their doggie Lucky, so the pooches had a good time too.
We had Thanksgiving dinner together and enjoyed many hours just hanging, walking and and sharing hilarious stories of the boyz past shenanigans. It was a blast of a week and exactly what we needed to re-center and relax.
Settled For Winter In Fort Lauderdale, FL
We left our hide-out on the following Monday and made our very last drive of the year to Fort Lauderdale where Paul’s dad has helped us to find a leased site for the winter.
It’s the last drive of the year for the beast and hopefully the last drive we’ll have to do separately. After ~600 miles of not being able to tow after our accident in NC, we’re hoping to get the final collision repairs completed while we’re here. Our car is already in the shop (we dropped it off on Tuesday) and our tow bar has been refurbished by Roadmaster and will be on it’s way back to us shortly. Once ALL that is done we should be finally back to “normal”. What a relief that will be!
In the meantime “the beast” is settled in nicely to her new site. Since she’ll be stationary for the next few months we did our usual prep work to prepare her for sitting still. So we added biocide to our diesel, we cleaned, 303’d and covered the tires and we “lubed” the slide seals. We may even (if we get motivated enough) do a complete wash & wax too. These are all things that are tough to do when you’re in constant motion, but perfect when you’ve got a bit of travel downtime, and when you’re a fulltime RVer you’ve got to squeeze in the work while you can.
We’ll be here on and off over the next months, just hanging with family & enjoying the area. We’ve rented a house in Miami for a few weeks while my side of the family comes over from Europe, then we’ll come back here and start planning whatever it is we’re going to do in 2017. This past year has triggered a lot of questions for us and we’re not sure what that means yet for next year. We’ve had lots of discussions and lots of ideas, but nothing I can talk about…yet. You’ll know when we know 🙂
I’m not sure how prolific my blog will be this month, but I’ll certainly be doing the usual end-of-year round-ups and the few bits and bobs that I usually cover in December. Until then, here’s wishing you a most enjoyable start to the very last month of the year!
Related Blog Posts
- 3 Simple Steps To Protect Your RV During “Downtime”
- Washing the RV – How the Beast gets Gleaming Clean
- 5 Ways To Decorate Your RV For Christmas (Cheaply & Compactly)
“annus horribilis…” The Queen had one back in 1992, and it seems this year it’s been your turn! So at least Next Year has GOT to be better! Good luck to y’all! 😉
Love it! Miss you all already! Have fun in Miami.
Miss you guys too! So glad we were able to spend some quality time together.
Nina
Good to see you settled and almost back to normal. Enjoy the holiday with family and keep your eyes on the road ahead! Can’t wait to see your next plans, I hope we’ll be able to cross paths somewhere this next year.
Merry Christmas!
If you can find a pet sitter, then Fort Lauderdale has a boat Winterfest that you can go to.
I wouldn’t mind spending winter in Florida! 🙂
It’s nice and warm right now. Temp says 81F (~27C) which I’m sure is just a touch warmer than Sweden. We’re actually having to run the air conditioning today. I’m not complaining 🙂
Nina
It’s good to hear you’re settled in for year. Sounds like you picked a good spot to do it!
I’m looking forward to hearing about your next year’s plans but that will keep till next year.
Merry Christmas!
Wow, this sounds like a wonderful way to end the stressful year you’ve had. Thank you for sharing this wonderful gem of a place to stay, and the Nisser appeasing rice pudding. Can’t wait to hear what you’ve got up your sleeves for 2017.
By golly you are truly lucky! We used to live in Winter Haven, close to where you were and then near FTL in Cooper City years ago. Florida (except for May through September) is great, now we are Mickey and the gang’s neighbors! Have a great “Winter” here!
We feel very lucky to have landed here. The next few months will give us room to breathe and figure out where and what we do next. Plus weather is warm and sunny. We’re happy 🙂
Nina
I had not heard of the state park you stayed in east of Tampa so began an investigation. It turns out that most likely the name of the state park was changed from Manatee River State Park. A small park right where you were and it caters to horses.
Have we arrived at the proper answer?
Harrison
I honestly have no idea. The park was built on a reclaimed phosphate mine (called Lonesome Mine) and has been called Alafia River SP since we originally came here in 2010. The park land was donated to the state in 1996 so I suppose it might have had a different name before then?
Here’s the park link:
https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/alafia-river
Nina
Just looked up Manatee River and it looks like that’s another State Park located further SW of Lithia. Is this the one you were thinking of?
https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Little-Manatee-River
There’s also a Lake Manatee Park, but that’s near Bradenton:
https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Lake-Manatee
Nina
Looks like we did not carry our investigation far enough. Sorry for commenting too soon.
Enjoy your relaxation mode.
This is all new to me, as my wife & I are now looking for a Class A motorhome up here in the cooler western part of Canada. It’s above freezing, but not by much, so the weather sounds just the opposite of what we have at the moment! I’ve never been to Florida, so ‘one day’ hopefully we’ll get to bump into many of you good people down that way! Heading to Palm Springs in January possibly…so that will be as warm as we’ll get for this winter, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for having a bus/coach of one type or another by then. Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!
Palm Springs will be wonderful this time of year. The past 5 years on the road we’ve stayed there for a month every winter and have always enjoyed it. We’ll keep our paws crossed that you get your coach in time!
Nina
It feels so good, when plans get changed, to end up somewhere special that you didn’t have to change. Your Thanksgiving sounds perfect – always best with friends. A few months along the coast and family visiting – you’re going to have a lovely time. Even with the cleaning :-))))
Family time is definitely going to be good. It’s been many, many years since both sides of our family were together. This is the year!
Nina
Have a wonderful Christmas season Nina and Paul!
I’m terribly jealous of you sitting there in that warm and sunny weather. Lol! I’m up here in this cold, damp Ky winter. Considering I have severe psoriatic arthritis, winter is my mortal enemy! Sadly, I had to retire from teaching in Oct because of this horrible disease. So my class of Special Needs Students won’t be able to follow your travels anymore. But my hubby just retired from teaching yesterday too, so maybe a trip south this winter will be in our plans! Can’t wait to read of your winter adventures in sunny Fla. and your future plans!
Oh I’m so sorry to hear that! If our travels had taken us to KY this year (as originally planned) I would have loved to meet you and the class. Hope you manage to get away somewhere warmer soon!
Nina
Well, you got my attention when you mentioned Alafia River State Park has the best mountain biking trails in the state of Florida.
Will definitely have to check this place out. Looks like lots of space between camp sites also.
Thanks
The biking is phenomenal, at least that’s what all the serious mountain bikers tell me (I’m a wimp, so I only did the wimpy stuff). Very pretty and interesting trails too. If you like biking, you’ll love this place.
Nina
Sounds like you are making the very best of your time despite those darn repairs. How nice to be able to spend quality time good friends and family. You must be so excited that your family arrives in a few short weeks. Have a wonderful Christmas holiday making memories with family:) Looking forward to where 2017 might take you.
Totally excited for the family being here! Can’t wait!
Nina
Greetings, and thanks a million for the emails, I read each and every one and have learned so much from you. We are running into sort of the same type deal, since we returned to the same RV park, even the same spot to park, I am finding it difficult to take new photos. I have a small following on Facebook who always ask where the new photos are! This year I replaced my ancient Sony camera that saved the photo’s to mini CD’s with a newer Nikon that boasts a 21X zoom with 14 megapixal sensor. Love the new (to me) camera, and picked it up for a song on stealitback.com I paid 30 bucks plus shipping for the camera which was advertised as suffering from battery leakage. When I got it, I found the leakage, while quite large, was only on the flip-out door where the 4 AA Batteries reside. A quick cleaning showed that there wasn’t a lot of damage, and I am super pleased to be able to take much sharper photos of the desert and mountains around Golden Shores Arizona. So again, thanks a million for the posts, because of your accident, I watched our Jeep on the rear view camera nearly the whole trip down. Nothing bad happened, but had it, I thought perhaps I could avoid the damage you folks suffered when your pin became dislodged.
Sounds like you got an EXCELLENT deal on that camera. The 21X zoom is a fun bonus.
Nina
Dear Nina and Paul…
We love your blog and all of the great information. We are setting out on the road in 2017 and have our 5th wheel and truck “on order” and meet with our agent tomorrow to gear up for selling our home. We live vicariously through you two, and hope someday our paths will cross.
Thank you so much for all of the great information. The biking here sounds perfect for a visit! Also, had fun watching your wi-if booster video! I am not sure if I want to make the committment to keep a blog but feel the pull of photography (like you) and the need to inform friends of our travels. How much time do you spend a week keeping your stuff updated? Just wondering….
Laura (and Greg, too)
Oh gosh, I spend WAY more time than I probably should on the blog. It started off as a fairly small thing, but I spend at least 20-30 hours a week on it now. There are definitely ways to do it in less time (I’m too detailed for my own good), but it just depends how much you want to put into it.
Nina
Glad your settled in, at least for a while, and will be surrounded by family and friends for the holidays. Perfect way to end the year. Look forward to what 2017 will bring. Cheers to your Elf on a shelf.
Of all the funky foibles that ended up in your lap this year, you managed to make some pretty good lemonade out of those lemons. My favorite has got to be…without a doubt…the most awesome picture ever of Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse gods…and maybe my great-grandpa…were smiling down on you that day!
I noticed the heart shaped basket (red and white paper) under your elf decoration and was reminded of my friend Helena from Denmark who taught me how to make them back in 1980’s. we made them every year with our kids to give (filled with candy) as gifts to neighbors and relatives- thx for the “memory jog”. Sheldon and I are spending the winter west this year but are planning to stay east coast next winter so l really appreciate the review of Alafia state park- gotta get on those reservations soon.
Oh yes! The hearts are a Danish Christmas tradition and something we make every year. I wrote a post on how to make them here:
https://www.wheelingit.us/2013/12/23/easy-rv-mod-make-danish-christmas-hearts/
Glad I could jog your memory in a good way 🙂
Nina
I’m in Ft. Lauderdale also. If you want somebody to wash and wax your beast, I have a great guy and very resonable
Somehow we got off your email list. Please put me back, i love hearing about your adventures.