March 1, 2002 -- Wekvia State Park First outing in our 2000 Coleman Niagara. We went with our other fellow pop-up campers, The Villalobos'. The highlight was the smoking of a 20 pound pig for dinner on Saturday night.
April 25, 2002 -- Fort Wilderness @ Walt Disney World This is a first class camp ground! We had a fantastic time at Fort Wilderness and got to test our pop-up out against the elements. Rained one night while we were there with no leaks! If you are going to stay at Fort Wilderness, do yourself a favor and call ahead to reserve a golf cart to get around the camp grounds. It was well worth it! Also, make sure that you check out the Hoop Dee Do Revue...What a show!
May 17, 2002 -- Long Point Camp Ground We made this a three night stay and had a great time with our other pop-up friends, the Villalobos' and the Bouchard's. Again we cooked not one pig, but two and invited a lot of friends to come and join us for dinner on Saturday night. A fun time was had by all! Again our camper got a test from the weather with a huge storm that passed by on Sunday morning before we could pack up. Took a week to dry everything out!
June 15, 2002 -- Manatee Hammock Camp Ground Went on this camp trip alone but did have some of the kid's friends with us for the weekend. Had a nice time just hanging out and having a few cocktails. Again we had rain around dinner time but no pigs were in site. Some friends of ours spent the day with us and hung out at the pool that is located there at the camp ground.
June 20, 2002 -- Long Key State Park What a trip this was...After arriving at the park, I find that the utility connections are on the opposite side of our pop-up and I come up 10 feet short for some power! I called the front office to see if they could put me on another spot, but since I reserved with Reserve America, I would have to call them back to cancel and then re-reserve again. I decided to drive to Marathon (~15 miles) to see if I could locate an extension cord. Of course I couldn't find a thing that would be sufficient for running the pop-up's A/C and everything else. I finally found a name of some guy that did Mobile RV Repair! Lo and behold he had just received a new extension the day before. Got back to the camp site and got all hooked up and...you guessed it -- More RAIN! This time we really got a test of the what the pop-up can handle. For the rest of the weekend, we had a great time with some rain off and on.
August 16, 2002 -- Manatee Hammock Camp Ground One of our best camp trips so far! All of our pop-up friends and even some motor-home friends were there. We cooked up a storm on Saturday for quite a crowd. We have all gotten into cooking with stacked Dutch ovens. Made some chicken, corn bread, baked beans and chocolate cake! A great time was had by all. The weather even cooperated for a change and not even a drop was felt. We made our famous mountain man breakfast for everyone on Sunday morning as we were packing up and it is the best! We got in trouble with Jim's homemade outdoor shower as we were putting "grey water" into the ground. Never mind all the RV's I saw with their kitchen sink waste dumping right on the ground! Oh well, please abide by the rules!
September 19,2002 -- Sebastian Inlet State Park We had new camping friends with us on this trip -- my neighbors the Riordan's and their friends, the Perden's(?). Once again the cooks outdid themselves on both Friday and Saturday nights. I know our new camping friends probably think we're all nuts with all of the stuff that we carry for cooking, but I think that we sold them with the Dutch Oven cooking on Saturday! We also had blackened fish as well as 250 clams supplied by our friend Keith Moore Friday night. The weather was fantastic until Sunday when some showers passed through. Of course, just before its time to pack up! The "no-see-ums" were unbelievable during the evening hours. In fact they were so bad, one family "bailed" on us Saturday night to head for the home front!
November 27, 2002 -- Manatee Hammock Camp Ground We spent 4 days camping over Thanksgiving with the Villalobos'. We fried a turkey on Thursday before our friends arrived and had a great time with just our family for dinner. We did meet some great folks from Georgia and spent the evening with them playing some fiddle tunes and guitar tunes. The weather was SO cold over the weekend. We managed with multiple blankets and thermal sleeping bags! Erick & Jim, along with the help of Wayne Weber, started writing their camping song. More work needs to be done though! On this outing we attempted to cook chili in the Dutch Oven with some corn bread. This was a great camp trip just to get away from everything for 4 whole days!
January 2003 -- Record freezing temperatures--NO WAY!
February 2003 -- Manatee Hammock Camp Ground Took some first-time camping friends with us - Luke & Teresa. The weekend was great except for some rain in the area all weekend. We did manage to get a few games of horseshoes and badminton in on Saturday for some entertainment. Kathy's sister, Marcia and her husband, Rich, came out Saturday evening for dinner and some fun around the fire. Of course when it was time to pack up, it rained all morning on and off. So needless to say, everything went home wet and got unpacked again in the garage for a couple of days.
April 2, 2003 -- Longpoint Camp Ground Did a long, long weekend at Longpoint for a total of 4 nights starting on Wednesday after work. What a Great Weekend! The weather couldn't have been better...No Rain! Erick had his fishing boat down for the weekend and ended up taking Kathy, my wife, for a couple of fishing trips early each morning. A lot of "fishing stories" were brought back each time. Kathy had some friends from her work come down on Friday and they all went to the beach which is nearby to the Camp Grounds. On Saturday more friends showed up with their boat and gave everyone a ride over to Captain Hiram's for some drinks and snacks with an island atmosphere. What a great place!
April 23, 2003 -- Longpoint Camp Ground Yes, I know, we went to this camp ground again! We had the exact same spots as we had earlier in the month. This time The Bouchard's camped with us. Erick and I arrived on Wednesday and camped through the weekend and Jim even went fishing Wednesday evening! We had a great time with our fellow pop-uppers except for the storm that we endured on Friday evening and into Saturday morning. Friday night we even got some hail at the camp site. That was pretty nerve racking! Saturday afternoon, we visited with some other friends that were at the park in their brand new fifth wheel, the Miller's. We had a few beers with them and even got to play some tunes with Bob's mandolin, Jim's guitar, Homer's (Bob's friend) guitar and Haley's fiddle. I could have sat there all night jammin' with everyone! And as always, all good times must come to an end...especially when the weather clears up!
June 25, 2003 -- Bahia Honda Key State Park For our yearly family trip, we made it to Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys! What a difference from last year's trip to the Keys. This is a great park with plenty to do right in the park. The first day we kayaked about a 1/2 mile out to a small island for some snorkeling. The kids had a great time doing that. We had a our usual weather blow in a couple of times with rain and some wind, so down came the awnings! On Friday, it rained all morning so off to Key West for lunch and some fun! On Saturday morning we took a snorkel trip right from the park out to the reefs. We all did fine going out except for Jim who started to get the sweats by the time we arrived to our destination. With only 10 minutes in the water, Jim decided that he had had enough and boarded the boat for some "lying-down-time"! Jim got a 2 hour "rest" while the rest of the family did some snorkeling in the beautiful waters of the Keys. Saturday night, our friends, the Carmody's from Melbourne, stopped by the camp site for dinner and some more kid snorkeling right off the shore next to our site.
November 2003 -- Longpoint Camp Ground We did Thanksgiving again with a camp trip to, I know, Long Point Camp Ground with our pop-up friends! We had such a great time again, as usual! Most of conversation this weekend revolved around -- should we move up to something bigger! I guess the fifth-wheel parked next to our camp site didn't help matters much. Oh well! We cooked up a storm as we always do with our Dutch Ovens and even fried a turkey again this year. The weather was fantastic for most of the weekend until Saturday morning with a severe cold front blowing through! Dropped from a high of 85 degrees on Friday to a high of around 50 degrees on Saturday. Makes for a cozy fire and pretty cold sleeping as our pop-up doesn't have heat like our fellow pop-uppers. Again should we get something bigger with heat and more storage for more things to carry -- time will tell, but the "mule" is getting tired and is ready for something else. Will keep everyone posted on the outcome.
May 2004 -- Jetty Park Camp Ground Finally finished remodeling our kitchen and decided to get the pop-up out for a weekend. Tried a new camp ground north of Melbourne right on Port Canaveral where all the cruise ships go in and out. We had a great time with the Bouchard's for a 3 day weekend! Our other pop=up friends, the Villalobos', couldn't make this trip, but did come on Saturday afternoon. Jetty Park is also located right next to a real nice beach that we spent a lot of time on. Still kickin' around the travel trailer or a fifth-wheel in the case of the Bouchard's...but no one has done it yet. The weather was great and everyone as usual had a great time!!!
April 2005 -- SOLD THE POP-UP!!! Moved up to a Keystone Outback Travel Trailer!
April 2005 -- Jetty Park Camp Ground This was our first outing with the new Outback just to make sure everything was in working order. As usual, there were things that did not work. The fridge didn't work, the indoor shower leaked and our dog got so PO'ed for leaving him while we were at the beach that he tore up two of the miniblinds in the trailer! Anyway, everything got fixed to our liking and we did have a great time with the McDermott's who had Therea's dad's RV for the weekend.
May 2005 -- Longpoint Camp Ground Our first big outing with the new "rig"! This weekend, all of our camping friends were there-- the Villalobos', the Bouchard's, the Weber's, the Adam's and the McDermott's! As usual, we cooked a pig for everyone and had blackened seafood by "master chef" Marci. It was a great weekend with rain only seen once in the morning. We love our new Outback Travel Trailer and can't wait to take it on another trip!
June 2005 -- Fort Wilderness @ Walt Disney World Spent three days at a fantastic camp ground. Since we had been there before, we did get our reservation in for a golf cart to tool around in. The weather sucked all weekend with rain, but we came prepared and watched movies all weekend with a dinner show at The Hoop-Dee-Do-Revue!
July 2005 -- Jetty Park Camp Ground Took a couple of days off from work and took Evan and one of his friends camping with the girls meeting us on Thursday afternoon. Had a great time going to the beach and just hanging out! We did have to keep a watchful eye on the weather as there was a tropical storm out in the Atlantic that threatened all weekend but never really developed...just rained on us as usual.
November 2005 -- Jetty Park Got away for a short weekend with just the family. The weather was beautiful and we had the Outback open all weekend! We were visited by the Duncan's on Saturday for some beers and good cheer. Made a great batch of chili on Saturday that we really enjoyed. The only hitch in the whole weekend was that Evan, our son, was sick and just laid in his bunk all weekend and played PS2...bummer!
November 2005 -- Manatee Hammock Had a long stay in the new Outback for the Thanksgiving weekend! We were joined by the Weber's and surprised by the Bouchard's on Friday for the rest of the weekend. We had great weather and a great time with just the family and friends. Kathy's sister's family came to visit on Saturday as did our friends from Dallas, the Liles'. As usual, we cooked and ate way too much...but again as usual, the food was great!
January 2006 -- Long Point Camp Ground Met up with the Weber's for the weekend to have some great times. As usual, Wayne was always entertaining with stories from the past. On Saturday, Haley and I attended a small free bluegrass concert put on by some campers at the park. It was quite enjoyable and something different to do rather just sit around. Didn't cook too much on this trip as it was a short weekend...Evan did have a friend along for the weekend so that he would have someone to play PS2 with.
April 2006 -- Williston Crossings Luxury RV Resort First time taking the rig this far--3 hours away! After finally finding this Resort, in the dark, we found that this is a very nice place with plenty of plans. Kathy & Haley (Evan was on band trip to Chattanooga) brought old chairs along to paint (for our new Tiki Hut). Our main goal this weekend was for Haley to get a good look at the University of Florida campus with a full student load. She is so excited to be accepted at UF for next year! While we were gone visiting the campus, a major storm blew up and pretty much ripped our awning off of the rig. Found it on top of the camper and draped over the opposite side. Spent the next day looking for parts and putting the awning back together so I could at least get back home for major repairs. All in all we had a great time with some friends visiting from Gainesville and getting the know the owners of Williston Crossings and hearing about their future plans for the resort.
July 2006 -- Jetty Park Camp Ground Got away for a weekend after sending Haley off to the University of Florida. Just spent some time at the beach and just hanging out!
October 2006 -- Williston Crossings Luxury RV Resort Returned to this resort with Kathy & myself for a long weekend and to visit Haley at the UF. Had a great time just hanging out and seeing Haley who brought along all of new friends from school. Kathy & I made our famous Mountain Man breakfast for all of her friends one morning and then they all took off for UF Homecoming activities. We ended scoring some tickets for the UF-LSU football game on Saturday and hooked with a lot of Gator friends before the game. The rest of the weekend Kathy & I just hung out at the site visiting again with the owners of Williston Crossings and viewing their progress with the resort.
November 2006 -- Manatee Hammock Camp Ground Met up with our friends the Weber's for Thanksgiving. Left Tuesday after work for a long holiday weekend. Haley joined us on Wednesday and it was sure great to see her! Was freezing cold the first night and furnace ended not working the entire night -- Brrrrrrrrr! Think the regulator had some water in it, works just fine now. Had a great Thanksgiving dinner with the Weber's and some of their camping friends too. Kathy's sister and family also joined us for dinner as well. Movie was Saturday night with the showing of RV with Robin Williams.
February 2007 -- Long Point Camp Ground Just a quick weekend to get out somewhere. Our camping buddies were supposed to join us, Cathy Weber had some abdominal surgery that has put her up for awhile. Haley ended up surprising us by showing up Friday night -- said she was homesick and missed everyone. Didn't do much as the weather was chilly and breezy.
March 2007 -- Long Point Camp Ground Just Kathy & I went for a long weekend again to Long Point. Since the Weber's bailed on us last month, I had to reserve another weekend or loose the cash -- oh well, had a GREAT weekend! The weather could not have been better. Jim's secretary Marguerite and her husband Mario, visited on Saturday for some snacks and beers as well as our camping buddies the Weber's. It was Cathy's first venture out since her surgery. Had a great time with the snowbirds that were at this park for the season -- Jim the hotdog guy from New England -- what a hoot!
April 2007 -- Jetty Park Camp Ground Kathy had a conference in Cocoa Beach for a couple of days so why not haul the trailer up for a long weekend. As always, Jetty Park is always great and the beach is fine! Jim and Ghett just hung out in the trailer while Kathy was at her conference.
June 2007 -- Blue Water Key RV Resort This is definitely the farthest that we have hauled the Outback -- a 7 hour drive to the Keys! The kids absolutely refused to ride that far in the back of the Tundra, so I told them to follow me in one of their own cars! So that is what they did! Once in the Keys, the drive was fantastic -- what a beautiful drive. We arrived at the private gate of Blue Water Key and are escorted to our water-front site. WOW! This is heaven. We had our own dock (don't own a boat) and our own thatch covered tiki hut! I'm set for the week. Spent some time in Key West shopping and eating and visiting our favorite "watering holes". One day we took a full day excursion to the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson. Very beautiful and long boat ride out and back. The rest of the time we just hung out at the pool or under the tiki hut. Jim had his birthday while we were here -- the kids hung streamers and blew up balloons to cover the inside of our trailer -- what a great surprise! A great relaxing birthday week!
October 2007 -- Seasons In The Sun RV Resort Another weekend with just Kathy & I. So we invited some first time camping friends with us. Billy & Sandy joined us for a weekend of eating and drinking beer. Watched the Gators get beat by LSU on Saturday but other than that, had a great time goofing off and laughing all day with Billy & Sandy.
January 2008 -- Long Point Camp Ground Spent 4 days here with just the wife and I joined by our son Evan on Saturday. Our camping friends, the Weber's, showed up on Friday for a weekend of camping and just goofing off. Kathy and I spent a couple of relaxing days before everyone arrived just sitting around a reading--Kathy her book that made her cry and myself reading on how to take better pictures with my new Canon Xti. Fired up the dutch oven over an open fire and cooked a chicken type stew for the crew with the Weber's making breakfast for everyone.
February 2006 -- Long Point Camp Ground Met our friends the Chancey's who wanted to try out a popup for the weekend as they are taking a popup up to Virginia this summer. Jim left on Thursday evening and spent Friday to himself and cooking some chicken casserole in the Dutch oven. Everyone arrived on Friday afternoon and Jim got the Chancey's set up in their popup...now I remember why we got rid of ours! Had a great weekend of fun with Marguerite (Jim's secretary from work) and her husband Mario coming down on Saturday for some snacks and drinks! As usual, all good things must come to an end!
April 2008 -- Jetty Park Camp Ground We were supposed to meet up with our friends the Bouchard's, but Theresa ended up in the hospital the week before and ended up not being able to go. Oh well, Kathy and I had a great weekend anyway along with Ghett. Kathy had a pulmonary conference in Cocoa Beach so Ghett and I hung out at the trailer for a couple of days. Jim walked the beach and the jetty for some pictures and on Saturday we went to the beach in the morning for some beach sun and sipping on mimosas! The weather again was beautiful the whole time that we were there.
June 2008 -- Fort Wilderness @ Walt Disney World Went to Fort Wilderness with the whole family in tow...probably the last time that all of us will go on vacation together. Had a great time considering the rough start that we had on the way over with BRAND NEW TIRES! About half way there, someone pulls up next to us on the highway and points to the back towards the trailer. Uh oh, something must be wrong! Sure enough--I get out to check I out and one of the brand new tires had come off! After about a two hours of struggling with the spare, we were on our way to Disney World. We ended up having a great time at the Magic Kingdom and taking the "Keys To The Kingdom" tour. Of all the times we have been to the Magic Kingdom, we had never done this tour before. What a great time and very informative on the history of Disney. Had our usual golf cart rental to tool around in and this time the kids were both old enough to drive on their own and not get stopped by the "Mickey Cops". Watched fireworks from the top of the Contemporary Hotel by sneaking up the outside stairwell to get to the top for the best view in the park!
July 2008 -- Jetty Park Camp Ground Had planned on going with some old friends that just purchased a pop-up. They ended not being able to make it this particular weekend -- but as usual, Kathy & I always have a great time just by ourselves. Kathy's sister, Marcia and her daughter, Grace came up on Friday and spent the night with us, as did our son, Evan. On Saturday everybody went home and we were all by ourselves again. Spent the day at the beach just soaking up some sun and having a couple of beers. Didn't do much of anything else the rest of the weekend.
September 2008 -- Treasure Coast RV Park Met with some fellow Outbacker's at this great RV Park! What a great weekend and what great people we met. Arrived on Thursday afternoon and met Chuck-n-June as well 5th Time Around and Jim Savage. 3LEES and some friends of theirs arrived Friday evening. Saturday, Kathy & I spent the day cooking starting out with breakfast and finishing up with dinner all cooked in Dutch Ovens. Much to our surprise, 2 other families showed up with Dutch Ovens too! What a great dinner including desserts! Also got to watch a fantastic Gator victory over UT. As always, great times must come to an end...but not before we made some great new Outback friends who we look forward to seeing again!
November 2008 -- Long Point Camp Ground Spent a few days at one of our old stand-bys! We were met by our friends the Chancey's who showed up with heir tent and van packed to the ceiling with "stuff". He weather was great and we had a great time visiting and laughing all weekend long.
January 2009 -- Manatee Hammock Camp Ground Kathy & I spent the MLK weekend starting on Thursday afternoon. Friday we had to get up early and head back to Melbourne for a memorial service for a good of ours whose mother had passed away. Finally got back to the camp site and got a fire going as it was really cold this weekend. On Saturday, our son, Evan showed up with our favorite pizza from Kelsey's in Port St. John! In the afternoon our daughter, Haley, came down from Gainesville for the night. On Saturday night we tried in vein to see a Delta lift-off that was plagued with delay after delay. It finally took off and what a great site! On Sunday Haley returned to Gainesville and Mom & Dad alone again. So Kathy & I decided to try our hand at geocaching. Jim got a new GPS for Christmas and this would be the first geocache find. Unfortunately, we could not find and later read on the Geo-Cache web site that the item may have actually been moved or taken. Oh well, we will try again somewhere else.
February 2009 -- Road Runner RV Resort Surprised some pop-up friends for the weekend and caught the Daytona 500.
February 2009 -- Manatee Hammock Camp Ground Met up with the Weber's for the weekend.
March 2009 -- Jetty Park Camp Ground Spent the weekend with some tent friends that admired our "condo" all weekend,.
June 2009 -- Topsail Hill Sate Park This is definitely he farthest we have ever hauled the trailer! Broke the trip up and stopped at Stephen Foster State Park just north of Lake City, FL. We met up with 5th time around (Cliff and Jennifer Lahman & family) and they cooked up some lasagna in the Dutch oven for everyone to try. The next morning we all packed up and headed for Santa Rosa Beach, FL. This is a great state park with all the necessary RV amenities. The beach there, although quite a hike, was beautiful and HOT! Temps while we were there reached 102 degrees one day. We had a great time meeting new Outback friends -- including John and Phillip (jdpm) from St. Augustine and the Holcombs (jcat67) from Williston, FL. We will all definitely be meeting for some sort of Florida gathering again! After a week of great fun and having Jim's birthday on Friday, it was time to pack up and head home for the 11 hour drive!
Summer 2009 -- Trying to go somewhere
