Florida Finally

View of the ocean out the camper door.

On December 1st we arrived in Florida to stay at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Park in Flagler Beach.  What a cool spot!  This is the closest campsite we've ever had to the ocean.  This park has a beachside and riverside campground.  We stayed beachside (obvi).  We were very happy to arrive to this little slice of paradise. 

Happy Campers!

Flagler Beach at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Park

We had a little "business" to attend to during our stay.  In October, while still in New York, we discovered that the unit that functions as a combination furnace/hot water heater in the camper was not working on electric.  The Truma Combi is a unique system that can operate on electric, propane or a mix of both by cycling through a propane to electric to propane... cycle.  The Truma worked on propane but not on electric.  When we took the camper to our dealer to diagnose, the Truma rep said it looked like we'd need to replace the whole unit.  As we were about to hit the road, the recommendation was to go directly to the Truma Service Center in Lakeland, FL.  

Our appointment was for 9:00 am Tuesday, Dec. 3rd, and was 3 hours from the campground and meant driving through Orlando traffic.  We decided to leave the day before and find someplace to stay overnight in Lakeland, so we could just get to the dealership easily in the morning.  Unfortunately there were no Harvest Host locations in the area.  I called the local Walmart and they said we could NOT stay overnight in their parking lot.  (I've learned that it's an individual Walmart decision whether to allow overnight RV stays, so you always need to call first to inquire.)  Next on the list of places that might allow an overnight stay; Cracker Barrel.  We called the local Cracker Barrel and asked if we could stay overnight in the parking lot.  The young lady that answered the phone said she didn't know and would ask her manager.  She came back and said, with clear surprise in her voice, "Why yes you can stay in our parking lot overnight."  We slept (I use the term loosely because we were a few 100 yards from I95 and heard traffic all night) in the parking lot Tuesday night and ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel the next morning.

Cracker Barrel parking lot, Lakeland FL

I had spoken to Dave at Truma a few times before we arrived.  He's the service technician everyone dreams of finding!  He's a genuinely nice guy AND he knows his stuff.  He did the diagnostics and determined that instead of replacing the whole unit, he needed to replace the circuit board that controlled the electric coming in and going to the Truma unit.  This was a much faster solution and while it was under warranty so not an out of pocket expense, it was nice to know the whole unit wasn't being scrapped unnecessarily.  I can't say enough about what a positive experience we had at the Truma Service Center.  We are so grateful there are honest and knowledgable skilled mechanics and technicians to do what it takes to make our home "all better'!  😀 Thanks Dave!

We let Dave back the camper into that space!

Stella Lance in the bay at Truma Service Center

On Thursday we took a walk on a nature trail at the Betty Steflik Memorial Preserve.  It was a nice place to get out and walk on an extensive network of boardwalks that take you along estuarine creeks and out to the Intracoastal Waterway, offering panoramic views and birding opportunities along the way.

Carol on the boardwalk

A heron we were watching

Heron taking off after we got closer

Views from the marsh walk

Nature was decorating for the holidays.

Nature was decorating for the holidays.

This is an awesome campground.  We'd rank it as an all-time favorite.  In addition to getting out to see nature at the preserve, nature brought the show to us as well.  We had both beautiful nighttime skies and morning sunrise glory.

Thursday evening sky over our campsite.

Friday morning sky over the beach

Friday morning sunrise

View of the campground (Stella Lance in the foreground) from beach overlook 

As you can see, we enjoyed our short time at Gamble Rogers.  Getting campsite reservations in FL in the winter must be done months in advance.  We made these reservations last February and were only able to get a 5 day spot.  Plan ahead if you want to take advantage of this beachfront location!  As wonderful a location and short stay that we had, there was something else that made this week even more special.  We received a wonderful gift of handmade love from our friend Melissa.  A Sun 🌞 and 🌊Waves pattern quilt.  

Getting packages shipped while on the road is tricky.  But Melissa mailed this package to the campground we were staying in Jekyll Island, GA four days before we were due to arrive there, and we were there for a week.  The package was due to arrive the day before Thanksgiving.  It did not.  Tracking showed it was in Atlanta, GA so we were hopeful it would arrive the day after Thanksgiving.  It did not.  Then tracking showed it was in Memphis, TN.  That didn't seem right.  It was moving further away, not closer.  We were leaving on Sunday, so there was only one day of mail delivery left for the package to reach us before we left GA for FL, so I was beginning to panic.  I called the USPS 800 number, finally was able to speak to a human.  She said, "I see your package is available to intercept, you could try that."  What is this intercept of which you speak?  Apparently you can go on-line and "intercept" a USPS package en-route and either return it to sender or have it re-routed to a US Post Office.  So for a fee, I had the package sent to the post office in Flagler Beach.  Fortunately it worked and we finally were able to enjoy this magnificent quilt.  It looks perfect in its new home, doesn't it?!

We are enjoying visiting east coast Florida state parks for the first three weeks of December.  One of our favorite parts of being on the road is seeing new places.  The adventure continues.  Life is Good!