Week 33…The Rest of Florida

We were not carried away by mosquitoes the first night at Dupuis Campground so we decided to stay for three more nights.

This is a free campground but you still have to register for a permit online before being able to stay. The campground host was very diligent in checking on this and making sure Gus was secured on his leash. We picked a spot the first night that wasn’t our favorite but it worked. Our neighbor, Tom, was a veteran living out of a van. He was a soft spoken really nice guy who had just beat lung cancer and was living life the way he wants to live it. He left in the morning and we snagged his spot.

A cold front had come through and the nights were a nice 50 degrees and the days in the high 70s. The new spot we picked had no shade and even just high 70s felt pretty darn warm and the black flies and gnats came out when it got hot. The spot wasn’t as ideal as we thought. Our other neighbor vacated their shady spot just after noon so we packed everything up and moved again. The gnats were still annoying but we at least at some shade.

We met some of our other neighbors who told us about Rockin’ Riverwalk Sundays in Stuart, FL. We decided we needed to get away from the flies and gnats so we headed that way. We got into town and were surprised at how busy it was. We finally found a parking spot and all three of us walked down a boardwalk toward the sound of music playing. It was a beautiful area and great spot to listen. Everyone always loves to meet Gus. After the walk he seemed a bit tuckered out. We put him back in the Jeep for a nap and went to explore the town.

There was a little market and lots of bars with music. We were obviously drawn to the Vine & Barley Craft Beer lounge. We found two spots at the bar and were greeted by a nice couple who were locals. They recommended some beers and places to go. It was a really fun afternoon.

Monday we relaxed for a while. The gnats wouldn’t leave Gus alone and kind of ruined our nice relaxing time in camp. Late afternoon we decided to get away from them and took a drive through the Dupuis Management area to a pier that overlooked a lake full of water lettuce. We were able to see two alligators on the far side of the lake sunning themselves. We didn’t get an up close look but it was still cool to see.

We headed to Vero Beach on Wednesday. We went to Pareidolia Brewing first. They had pretty good beer and a really good burrito bowl. Next was Mash Monkey which turned out to be one of our favorites. Not only did they have great beer, the bartender was fun and Gus could hang out with us there. We got to have a beer called Resilience Butte County Proud IPA that is a Sierra Nevada recipe that has been brewed by 1400 breweries across the country. All proceeds go to the victim’s of the Camp Fire in California. The beer was excellent and we bought a growler of it to show our support.

Our next stop was Walking Tree Brewing. It was in a huge warehouse that was done really well inside. The bartenders weren’t as fun and the beer was okay.

Our last stop was Sailfish Brewing in Fort Pierce. It was downtown and a very nice place although the bartenders seemed indifferent to us being there. The day was fun we are glad we got out to see a little bit of the area.

But we were ready to move on. We headed north and managed to get north of Orlando to the Ocala National Forest but not without a little drama. We’ve noticed that Florida drivers are kinda of aggressive. At one point, two cars passed us on the right in a turn lane, the second had to cut in front of us in the middle of the intersection. He was so close we had to hit our brakes. Craig blared the horn and thankfully there was a police officer sitting in his car right there. He got out on the road, passed us on the right and put on his lights and pulled the jerk over. I was clapping and giving the police officer a thumbs up! Nice work officer! We appreciate you!

The first place we stopped at to camp was closed because of the shut down. The next place was a campground in the National Forest but it was stilled manned and charging more than we were willing to pay. The lady directed us to another campground and we were pretty happy to find we had the place to ourselves.

The St. Johns Loop South Campground is an equestrian campground right on the Cross Florida Barge Canal. It was only $5.55 to stay for the night and we probably didn’t even need to pay that since we saw nobody the entire time we were there. The porta potty was super clean and we had a fire ring full of wood. It definitely cooled off more than the previous nights and we enjoyed a fire.

We are glad we went to Florida but we just really wanted to keep moving. We realize we are moving around, changing climates and if we were on vacation with all the money saved for just that specific time, we’d have stayed. But when you travel how we are traveling, we don’t have the luxury of doing all the touristy things or renting an ocean view room. We knew this going in and we are okay with it. We like choosing the off highway option when traveling and just seeing the countryside. We’ve seen a lot of it.

We made our way to a boat ramp in South Carolina that is about 30 minutes from Savannah and Hilton Head. Hopefully we don’t get kicked out.

I’ve been to Savannah and thought it was a cool town and I think Craig will like it too. Neither of us have ever been to Hilton Head so we want to explore there as well. The temps look like they’ll stay above freezing so I think we’ll be able to hang out for a while.

Off to Savannah and Hilton Head…