Wow ... where are we? Oh yeah somewhere in central New York. Here's the latest journey of the Flying Scotsman and its occupants so far this spring. We've rumbled over 3400 miles around the perimeter of the eastern US and had a really neat time doing so as the map is getting worn and battered and I will add a little bit of tape for the last bit of travel.

 

We landed  at the Turning Stone resort and casino as it was advertised as one of the best in this area of New York. Just down the road is the casino and resort also on I-90 just to the east of Syracuse.

This is a really nice resort and the RV sites are level and paved although narrow and could be muddy ... pretty place though. They have a shuttle bus to take you from the RV park to the casino if you want but it's only a mile away and we decided to drive.

After managing to lose a few bucks in the slots we had a really nice dinner in one of the restaurants in the casino area. While it was in a casino it was still really a great dinner with first class service and super food ... Jo-Anne had their pot roast and a I had a shrimp pasta in vodka sauce both of which were excellent.

The park pond just to the rear of the RV was really picturesque and had a couple of geese waiting to make the final leg of their trip to Canada ... just like us.

Our next destination was the Pocono Mountain area of eastern Pennsylvania and we stuck a pin in the map near the town of East Stroudsburg. The Mountain Vista (neither) was a good park with nice level gravel sites although very rustic and steep for about $38.

 

And they even had a chain saw carving of Bandit among the many scattered around the resort. This is mainly a seasonal park in a very quiet and rural setting in the trees and hills.

Just north of the RV park was Bushkill Falls a regional tourist attraction billed as "The Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania." OK.

It was quite beautiful and the day was a perfect 72 with about 30 percent humidity and there were very few other folks at the falls or in our park ... still off season.

Below is Jo-Anne relaxing as we hiked down the many winding paths and stairs ...

And Bruce on the way up ...

Really a beautiful creation of nature and particularly this time of year with the recent rains and snow melt ... hey it is still snowing in Barrie where we are supposed to be next week.

We also toured a bit around the town of Stroudsburg expecting some colonial quaintness but only found a fairly poor town struggling ... a surprise in the midst of this nice forested area right on the Delaware River.

On Monday the 22nd we left Fredericksburg and headed northwest on US 17 to avoid the congested I-95 at any cost. We were headed for Gettysburg as it looked like a good trip for the day.

 

After the lunch break in a grocery store parking lot ... no Wallyworld in sight ... we then changed to Hwy 15 which led us into Gettysburg. We've been here before and as it was only a one night stop we opted out of the battlefield tours, however, if you are anywhere near this part of the country Gettysburg is a must see and plan on several days to soak it in.

 

 

We stayed at the Drummer Boy RV park conveniently off of 15 and have stayed here before. Several hundred gravel spots in a light forest (good sat TV) and some rocky outcroppings. Our spot above was about a mile from the main store in the park just to show how big the park is. Good park and support for about $55 ... little high but nice.

Because of another impending massive storm tracking across the country toward us we decided to make it Fredericksburg Virginia in one day rather than a more leisurely two day trip from Wilmington.

 

After about 320 miles we were pooped upon arrival at the KOA which is about 10 miles south of Fredericksburg ... easy drive up 95 but too many hours piloting the bus. We've stayed there before as we visited Sandy and without many more choices in the area decided to rest there again. It's an OK park deep in the woods and very quiet ... just a long way from her place.

 

The reason for the picture below is that the KOA is located on Guinea Station road off of US 1 and very steeped in history ... as is all of this area.

 

While visiting Sandy we were first hosted at her condo right in town and we have shown the inside of her place before on the blog ... actually couldn't believe it was in October of 2008 ... wow the time really does rip by.

The next day we went to a winery near Fredericksburg called Potomac Pointe and it was great.

Here's Sandy and Jo-Anne as they shopped for some wine related stuff in the large gift and tasting room area.

And the four of us with the wine toast of the day. In the picture with us is Sandy's friend Lawrence who we have heard about for at least 10 years but have never met. He and Sandy both work as contractors in support of the government in the DC area and he is a really great guy and we hope he remains a significant part of her life for some time to come.

Our excellent lunch consisted of a baked brie and a panini loaded with mortedella cheese, tomato, mustard, provolone, and grilled portabella mushrooms ... washed down with very good local red wines.

We had a super time because of these two and wish we had more time to chat about politics, government work, and our futures. Hopefully we can include them in our travels in the not too distant future.

And oh by the way the storm fizzled out ... a bit of a rain and wind but nothing else ... but better to be cautious, eh.

On April 17th we departed the Charleston area and headed north again. We decided to stick to US 17 which runs along the coast and weren't disappointed. It was a really good road with little traffic and a mix of swampy coastal areas where the azaleas were just at their peak.

 

About noon we needed our usual lunch break and also to restock the pantry so where better than Walmart. In addition to the generally better pricing they always have a place like below where we can park the Flying Scotsman, eat lunch without bothering anyone, and then pop in for needed supplies.

 

 

After the lunch break in Myrtle Beach we came to rest for the night at the KOA in Wilmington North Carolina which was about a 180 mile journey for the day ... very comfortable.

The KOA in Wilmington was fairly well laid out and our new metal, glow-in-the-dark cat kept watch over the cabins in front of the RV for the night.

Upon leaving Jacksonville on Tuesday we went over this awesome bridge over the port of Jacksonville ... spectacular design and engineering, eh.

 

 

And then another 250 miles up the road we came to rest just outside of Charleston in a really nice park. This was the Plantation Oaks RV park on 17 about 15 miles to the southeast of town. Competing with our arrival were about 40 Prevost units attending a Harley Davidson rally ... keep thinking we need to get a new bus to keep up with the bike crowd.

Anyhow it was a great park, the weather is still about 80 in the day and 64 at night and smooth sailing.

Because we were stationed with the Air Force just west of Charleston and Savannah we chose not to spend a lot of time here and decided to motor on down the road the next day.

This guy has nothing to do with Charleston but was left over from the Key West visit ... just couldn't get over the thumbs on that cat!

On Monday the 15th ... tax day eh ... we arrive near Jacksonville and decided to find the Navy base which had a camping facility. The GPS and super phone help there led us to the Navy Mayport base.

 

This is a destroyer base and there are many neat ships moored in the harbor once you get on base.

 

As a side note here and why this would have been more difficult several years ago; as we were stopped at the gate security they asked for our ID and current vehicle insurance proof. Upon fetching our papers they pointed out that my insurance cards had expired the week before. OK ... cut the generator on ... get the desktop and printer on ... go to my insurance website ... and in less than five minutes had printed current ID cards for both vehicles ... couldn't do this life without the tech stuff.

 

 

The Pelican's Roost RV park on the base right on the Atlantic was great for our $19 and we had a couple of nice walks around the area ... still quite windy and about 78 degrees.

The place was easy to get to, the folks there great, and the sites were concrete with paved roadways and full hookups for the bus.

If you wanted to spend a week exploring the area around Jacksonville this would be an excellent place to base out of.

RV Condo living at its best.

 

We have been trying to maintain about 250+ miles per day as we work up the coast still keeping mindful of the weather and our projected arrival date of May 1st just north of Toronto.

 

We stuck our pin in the map near Port St Lucie and it turned up a place called St Lucie West RV Resort so we decided to give it a try.

 

This is a closed, gated, condo, RV facility where you buy your lot although they have a couple of overnight slots to show off the place. Behind the Flying Scotsman above are the clubhouse, tennis courts, and pools.

There's about 430 lots so far in the place that you can buy and fix up to suit your budget ranging from $49,900 to $249,900. Below you can see one of the lots with the added tiki structure on one individual's lot which houses the outdoor kitchen and wet bar as well as seating and golf cart parking.

And here is a layout of the place which shows that all of the lots allow the RVs (coaches only) to face the lakes and golf courses ... well thought out design.

This concept is becoming more popular as the larger coaches become the way of life for RV'ers. Really awesome ... all we need is the fifty grand for one of the basic lots and central Florida will be home ... we'll think about it.

A little text recap on the spring adventure so far and we are now in Charleston South Carolina:

The Flying Scotsman has logged 2423 miles since we left  Austin and is performing extremely well. We have been getting an average of 9 mpg on the diesel tab making for about 269 gallons being combusted so far to make this thing go ... at times over 75 mph. We have been averaging $4.00 a gallon pretty much evenly for the whole trip with very little variation for a total gas cost of about $1076.

The nightly site rental has been much more extreme.

Panama City (Tyndall AFB) $22
Williston $38
Fort Myers $60 for each of two nights
Key Largo $70
Key West $120 EACH NIGHT for two nights
Port St Lucie $60
Jacksonville (Mayport Naval Base) $19
Charleston $38

I would like to say the quality was usually equal to the cost but far from it as I have posted on the rest of the blog ... with more to follow.

Oh yeah, the old HHR has logged the same 2423 miles behind us and ... jeez ... hasn't burned a gallon of gas yet ... pretty efficient I'd say.

More Key West

 

One of the things we wanted to see in Key West was the former home of Ernest Hemingway one of the greatest writers of our time. You can read all the normal facts about him and this place elsewhere and his life here after 1931.

The above picture of the outside of the place is right off Wikipedia because I forgot to take one of the outside. Really neat landmark and a tribute to a truly eccentric however brilliant writer during his all too short life. There is no air conditioning so the place with its original furniture looks and feels like it did during his tenure there.

Here is one of the six toed cats that now live in and around the house. There are quite a few wandering about in all the rooms and gardens and all have names of past celebrities or other famous persons ... really funny fat feet.

And more to the oddness of the man ... hey you didn't expect the normal house tour here did you? OK, the flat thing forming the base of this fountain is a urinal dragged by the author himself after a dispute at a local bar and placed in the garden where the gardener made it into a functioning fountain ... and cat drinking place.

And the bathroom off the master bedroom upstairs. Apparently Ernest could sit here with the window open and yell at his friends passing on the street out in front of the house.

This was a really informative and fun tour of one of our national landmarks and wrapped up our visit to the Key West area.

On our way out of town there was a local event featuring scuba diving so of course you have to have a 20 foot long scuba person kite.

Then into the Flying Scotsman and off down I-95 to the north for more adventures.

Key West!

 

We are here at the most southern place in North America and about 90 miles to Cuba as the post proclaims. Actually would like to go to Cuba so we will see.

 



And here is the GPS location on the travels of the Flying Scotsman. This is at Boyd's RV park in Key West, the most southern RV park ... according to them of course.

Key West is an eclectic combination of Charleston, New Orleans, and Savannah on a much smaller scale. You have to keep in mind you are here because of the location not the culture or ambiance of the place.

Other than that a really whacked place where they have naked transvestites parading the streets. Here's a couple of flamenco dancers in front of the court house.

And one of the more stable residents watching the boat traffic go by on the emerald blue water. Temp is a really hot 93 degrees and the humidity of about 90 percent making the guy below really happy and the humans really sticky and hot.

The sun sets on Key Largo

 

I was just returning from the pool which is to the immediate left in the above picture and turned around to see the spectacular scene of the sun sinking into the Gulf ... cool!

As we got away from the super Fort Myers park and headed south we saw this sign ... panther crossing ... neat. Let's see panthers, pythons, and alligators ... what next?

 

 

Then we took a left on Hwy 41 across the Everglades and below is one of the many Indian thatched roofed places either as homes or places selling Indian artifacts.

 
Once back on dry land after the swamp we turned right and headed down the famed Hwy 1 toward the Florida Keys toward Key Largo.

Once arriving at the Calusa RV park in Key Largo we parked the bus ... or tried to park it in spite of the "security guard assigned to help us". Anyhow the picture above of our spot and the one below really look a lot better than what this park is but it was a place to park for the night ... for $70.

And for your $70 you get a toilet, eh. Actually the portapotty belonged to the construction site in front of us but this was the view out the front window ... charming.

Heading South!

We then got off our scenic US98 and hit the I-75 south toward Key West. Our first stop was Fort Myers where Jo-Anne's cousin Leslie has a winter condo. This was touted as a 10-10-10 park by the Good Sam folks and was in-town near Leslie so we gave it a try.

 

 

Beautiful ... Beautiful ... Beautiful!

 

Wow, here's the boss on our tiled patio overlooking the lake and fountain. In the building in the distance beyond the fountain was the Tiki Hut serving your favorite crushed ice concoction ... jeez.

 

We did some nice steaks on the barbie and hosted Jo's cousin for the evening. It was about 90 in the shade and 90 percent so most of the talk was indoors ... but a great evening talking about her side of the family. Hopefully we'll get to see her in Canada this summer as she lives in Toronto about an hour from where we park the Flying Scotsman for the summer season.

 

 

Then I shot the sign which is posted just in front of where the above picture was taken and thought "ha" pretty funny.

Then I blew up the picture and OMG it really is an alligator which then paddled his (her) way over to the other side of the pond ... still about 100 feet from the bus!

While this is a long shot the Flying Scotsman is the center of the picture across the alligator pond from the Tiki Hut.

This is a really great park very centrally located in Fort Myers and very close to the beach and all activities and shopping.

After our trip down 98 toward Williston we were rewarded with a fairly nice RV park. The town has nothing to offer and the park was very difficult to find ... even the GPS tried to send us somewhere else.

 

Once there though it was a level concrete pad with a nice treed setting and really quiet. Unfortunately for these guys though there is no reason you would want to be here ... somewhere south of Gainesville and north of Ocala ... good night though.

Oh-oh ... Car 54 has nailed us! Cool old Chevy patrol car which was sitting at the entrance to the park in Williston ... I have no idea why other than maybe the owner's dad or earlier was a cop and the city forked it over ... nicely maintained.