Changes in Seasons

02 Friday Feb 2018

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Airstream, ChILL, F150, Hanna Park, Island Time, North Beach

Changes in Seasons

As surely as the seasons change, we pass through seasons in our lives. In 2012 we set out on an adventure to see how we would like camping in a moderate-size travel trailer. In July of that year, after a vacation to the northern latitudes to see family, we purchased our 2013 Coachmen Catalina 222FB and put in motion a chain of events that would change our lives in a most positive way.

Our cozy little travel trailer, affectionately named the Island Time, became our escape vehicle from the stresses of the everyday routine. We purchased it as a great starter kit to see if we enjoyed the camping and RV lifestyle. We learned a lot about what the modern RV world was about and found that we truly enjoyed our time in this mobile “tiny house”.

Over the next few years we continued to enjoy the Island Time and week-by-week filled it with great memories of adventures. Everything from weekend trips to local campgrounds to longer trips to the Keys, Hilton Head, Gatlinburg, Chattanooga, Naples, and so many other stops along the way only served to feed our desire to do and see more. Wonderful visits with family allowed us to share in the everyday lives of our children and grandchildren with special outings.

Simple times in the woods at Hanna Park or wonderful relaxation at North Beach only more firmly cemented the idea that we should do this more often. Even time with our dogs seemed more special as we spent time together walking, talking, listening to nature and calming our minds. Each outing served to feed a satisfaction deep within our souls.

Of course, we were never roughing it. Air conditioning, HD TV, walk around queen bed, full Internet connectivity, range, oven, microwave, hot water and shower are accommodations a long way from what most people think of as camping. All of the luxuries with just enough space to live and wheels to take us to new places or revisit the best of the places we had been made this an attractive alternative to being stuck at home.

As we filled the Island Time with memories we were also filling our hearts with joy. We came to realize that this camping thing worked well for us and that touring the country while bringing our condo with us would be a great way to make the transition from a career of busyness to a retirement full of adventure and intrigue. The vision materialized and became named the Victory Lap and achieving it meant careful planning and execution. We had decided on the approach for our next season, now we needed to align the resources.

As the season changes from occasional vacations and outings to fulltime travel, so does the need for the appropriate tools to support the dream. While the Island Time was a great if not a perfect vehicle for vacationing, we would need something more appropriate for fulltiming.

And now at the start of the change of the season, we are excited to be the proud owners of a new 2018 Airstream 25 FB Twin Flying Cloud we have named ChILL and a new 2018 F150 Lariat 4×4 pickup! Of course, we are also sad to say goodbye to the Island Time as part of the transition. There can be no replacement for all the memories it provided, but at the same time it was not up to the task for the next season. Fortunately, as part of the trade-in process we were able to park the Island Time and ChILL in close proximity to each other to transfer a few items. Deep in my heart I believe that during that transfer all of the great memories and experiences moved over as well. When I step into the Airstream I can feel the excitement of the memories yet to happen as well as the memories from the past.

The Island Time will continue to be with us as we travel the country in ChILL. We celebrate the past by including a reminder from it in the future. The Airstream will continue to have the ISLNDTM license plate as the reminder of a special travel trailer that started the whole adventure. We always believed that the license plate brought a smile to those that were stuck behind us as we lumbered along the highway. Hopefully, the feeling will continue with ChILL.

We are so excited to be moving into the next season of our lives. We can never know for sure what the future holds, but we are truly blessed to be well positioned for our next season with family, our health, adequate resources and a burning desire to explore. Thanks for coming along on our adventures so far. We look forward to sharing the joy of our next season. Stay tuned!

Thanks,

Captain Skip

First adventure for the new ML350

ChILL and our new F150

New Island Time license plate

Labor Day 2015 at North Beach

07 Monday Sep 2015

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Island Time, North Beach

Labor Day 2015 at North Beach

it’s hard to believe, but another Labor Day has come and gone. Once again this year we were fortunate enough to be able to celebrate the long holiday at one of our favorite campgrounds, North Beach in St Augustine. The primary attraction here is the rustic setting with the Atlantic Ocean at one end and the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) at the other end.

This year we were in site number 58 which was in the area closer to the ICW, but not all the way at the end. As it turns out we had one of the best sites in the entire park! The site was on the corner and was narrow at the entrance but opened up to be a very large site at the back. Additionally, the site was nicely private with foliage all around us making the site very secluded. It gave us the feeling of being in nature rather than being in an RV park.

WiFi was not really available, so we connected the I Time Repeater to our cell phone data plans and had more than adequate Internet access all weekend. The cable TV access was just SD, but it provide sufficient channels for the limited time we spent watching TV in the evenings.

Jeannie was recovering from her recovery of her broken foot and was not able to walk long distances, so I took the dogs on their longer walks. With the privacy of the site, the dogs were not as easily distracted with bikes or scooters and were able to relax as well, which makes it more relaxing for all of us.

The weather was Florida hot, but with the shade and the fan, we were very comfortable outside. There was a little rain at night but, it did not really cause us any issues. Of course being in the prime portion of the hurricane season, we are grateful for any weekend that is not dangerous or a washout.

It had been such a long time since we were truly able to get away even for a weekend that this seemed like a vacation. It was great to watch the swimmers in the ocean or watch the fishing on the ICW. In fact, while the Salty Dogs and I were at the ICW, we witnessed a large fish taking a fisherman’s bait and running with it, pole and all! Apparently, that was the second time that had happened to this fisherman this weekend.

Overall it was a great (and necessary) getaway. We were able to start our process of decompression. We need the practice so that we are prepared for our vacation later in the month. I am pleased to report that we are making great progress on our goal for relaxation. It sure is nice!

Thanks,

Captain Skip

Campsite at North Beach St Augustine

Site #58 at North Beach St Augustine

Island Time at North Beach

01 Sunday Sep 2013

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North Beach

Labor Day weekend at the Beach! This weekend finds us enjoying an extra day at one of our favorite campgrounds, North Beach Campground in St. Augustine. We were last here a little over a year ago. At the time it was only our second outing with The Island Time. We realize as we visit this time how much we have learned since the original visit.

North Beach Campground is unique because nestled back in the Florida natural woods is a campground with the Atlantic Ocean on one end and the Intracoastal on the other end. We are in campsite #95 which is only about 100 yards from the entrance and the Atlantic side. Going the other way about the same distance is the Intracoastal with a fishing dock and beach.

Our campsite is a back-in (which with perfect direction from Jeannie) we backed into perfectly on the first time. The site is a little small length-wise but the width is just right. There is barely room to get the ML out of the road, but it is all working out great.

It is so nice to have the extra day this weekend. While it is not really a problem to setup and break camp, the reality of being able to sleep-in and just enjoy the setting for two days in a row is a real treat.

This weekend is the debut of our new cooker; the Cobb. While browsing my favorite Airstream blogs and bemoaning not being able to cook on the Big Green Egg, I cam across a posting for the Cobb cooker. The Cobb appeared to be the perfect blend of flexible cooker and portability. Needless to say, after a little research I put that Amazon Prime membership to use and we received the Cobb on Friday, just in time to pack for the weekend.

My first learning experience with the Cobb was to cook some mahi mahi in a foil pouch. The fish came out great in about 25 minutes. I learned a great deal about temperature control while cooking the fish and am now ready for something more involved.

Sunday evening I am planning on cooking some country style ribs “low and slow” on the cooker. I am planning on using nine briquettes for this cook, which should take about 2 hours to complete. I am going to cook them dry, with a dry rub, but beer in the lower tray to help keep them moist. I hope they are good! I think it will be so cool to be able to put a roast or ribs or other large cut on the grill and slow cook it for several hours without having to give constant attention to the cook. We will see how it goes.

Somewhat of a concern this weekend is that Sailor seems to have developed an anxiety about being here, much like he gets from gun shots or fireworks. We have given him a small amount of Benadryl to help calm him down, but it does not seem to be helping much. Hopefully, he will work his way out of it.

I have been having fun with my camping technology. I could not get my router/repeater to connect here. The park admits that they do not have great wi-fi coverage. However, there is an access point next to our campsite, but it is cycling on and off every nine seconds. Unfortunately, I can not reach any of the other access points so we are having to rely on our cellular data. Cellular coverage here is not that great in this area so I guess we are really “roughing it” this weekend. iPads and iPhones are getting through when outside. I am also playing Ham Radio this weekend. I have the Yaesu FT857d on VHF and seem to be able to raise the local repeaters, but not much traffic.

That just leaves me with the blog. We are having a great and relaxing time. It is much needed as our lives seem overly stressful at the moment for some reason. Perhaps this will give us just the time we need to regain our perspective and enjoy the journey. We are having fun.

Thanks,

Captain Skip