Travel dates : January 19 – 23, 2016

After a few days at Myakka State Park we said, “later gator” and continued north. We had our eyes set on getting to Montgomery, Alabama by January 29, so that’s where we were headed. The next reasonable stop without driving too far was O’Leno State Park about 30 miles North of Gainesville, Florida.

Unlike Myakka State Park we didn’t do much at O’Leno. It’s a very small state park and even the park rangers office/visitor’s center is only open on the weekends. Plus, it was cold while we were here – so we did a LOT of just hanging out in the Airstream, doing homeschool, and catching up on work and sleep.

This park has a LOT of deer. I didn’t get any photos – but we saw them often in the trees and in the empty campground spots.

We were originally only going to stay at O’Leno State Park two nights, but ended up extending our stay two extra days after the place we were headed (St. Andrews State Park) was expecting severe storms. St. Andrews State Park ended up having tornado warnings the night we were supposed to be there, so I’m glad we changed our plans to stay put until after the storm. Read my post about severe storms and what apps we use for planning.

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Travel dates :: January 7 – 16, 2016

After leaving the Florida Keys (see our Christmas in the Keys post here) we spent most of January jumping around the western coast of Florida – it feels like a blur and was honestly a bit of stressful time. Our water pump was on the fritz (suddenly no water pressure and it sounded horrible) so we had a repair appointment January 8 in Fort Myers, Florida.

We stayed at WP Franklin campground the night before and we loved it. It’s a Corp of Engineers campground and we found it to be clean, affordable and close to Fort Myers.

We brought the trailer into the repair shop at North Trail RV for what we were told would be a one-day appointment. Worst case scenario they’d just replace the water pump which would only take a couple hours – and they said they had the water pump in stock.

While the trailer was in the shop we spent the day exploring Sanibel Island. Our first stop was the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge Visitor’s Center – which was a fantastic place – don’t miss it if you are in the area.

Great educational exhibits – especially for children and the kids did the Junior Ranger badge program here. This was our first blue and gold badge and I think it’s still one of the kid’s favorites!

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We spent December 19, 2015 to January 6, 2016 in the Florida Keys – nearly 20 days of hopping between state parks and playing in the sun, sand and surf. We even celebrated Christmas here – and it was unlike any Christmas holiday we’ve ever had before. Balmy temperatures, endless sunshine, a tiny Christmas tree, minimal decorations – it was honestly one of the most magical Christmas celebrations we’ve ever had. Let me tell you about it. . .

Because we waited until the last minute to book our Florida Key State Park reservations, we didn’t have any reservation longer than 6 days. This meant we did a lot of hopping from park to park . Our first stop was Curry Hammock State Park (read our blog post about it here) and we were there only a few days before heading to Bahia Honda State Park.

Bahia Honda State Park is one of the most popular of the Florida Key state parks and has some of the most amazing views and an incredible beach for swimming. We had three nights in spot 15 – and I declared it the best camping spot in the park and probably one of my favorite campsites since we hit the road.

Located right on a corner of the campground it’s a large spot with breathtaking sunsets nearly every night. It’s crazy to me that this is a state park campsite for under $40/night. If you stay in a private campground in the Florida Keys you’re going to be crammed in with a bazillion other RVs and fork over $100 – $160/night. The state parks are the way to do the Florida Keys. . .

On the morning of December 23, Jeremy took the kids to a Bahia Honda Nature Center program (making seashell necklaces!) while I wrapped Christmas presents. Hiding, wrapping and storing presents is a lot trickier in 180 square feet than it was in our house. There is no big garage or closet to store gifts – so this was a delicate dance we did. And I have to admit, I’ve never wrapped presents with a more beautiful view (usually it’s on the cold concrete garage floor!).

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