Our daughter has flown down to visit us for the holidays. We picked her up at the Fort Myers airport the other day and she will be here through Christmas. It is fantastic that she is able to visit us during our time here in Florida. This Christmas will be the first time ever for us to be able to go to the beach and wear shorts outside if we want too.
Of course the first place she wanted to go was to the beach… so yesterday was a delightfully sunny and warm beach day. There was a bit more chop to the normally placid gulf coast waters and there was a lot more activity at the beach. I guess there are a lot of sons and daughters visiting their parents as the average age on the beach has gone way down over the last week as well. Parking was also a bit harder to find… so it must be nearing Christmas.
At the beach there were a lot of rays swimming very close to the shore in large groups. Hundreds of these rays could be seen as close as five feet off shore as they made quite a spectacle. It was fun watching the fins break the surface as they were frolicking in the surf. We also had the pleasure of spotting a couple of dolphins very close to the shore as well… I wonder if they feed on rays?
With Christmas nearing it is time for us to resume our search for our next camp site which now appears to be more north of here… We have been striking out finding a nice affordable site for January or February near here. I have been spending a lot of time searching on the web and utilizing RV Park Reviews as well as a new RV review site I discovered today GuestRated.com. This site is similar to RV Park Reviews as it provides rating of peoples camping experiences. It is affiliated with the National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds so we may have another useful tool for searching for site in the future if more people submit their reviews
Does anyone have any other useful sites for park reviews?
Sympathize with you on trying to find a spot for January and February. We've given up on that and have booked a week here, a week there.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I'll be happy to hear how it turns out for you.
So glad your daughter made it safely. She is a smart gal...wanting to hit the beach FIRST!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the new link. I have never heard of that one. Have you ever tried... http://www.uscampgrounds.info
You may have heard of this one...
http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/campgrounds.htm
A new one we found...
http://www.campgrounds-by-city.com/index.php
We read We Called It Home...they do a great job of reviewing sites...
http://wecallithome.blogspot.com/2010/07/loons-point-rv-park-and-campground.html
Hope this helps. Good luck finding a place to spend the winter.
I try to check other bloggers reviews. I was just looking at Howard and Linda's review of Midway campground, in preparation for our trip to the Keys next week. Good luck finding a nice site.
ReplyDeleteNice to have your daughter there for Christmas. Good luck on finding a affordable site.
ReplyDeleteWell, we just left a beautiful site in northern Florida ... wait, Mom says that spot is booked - sorry. What do you guys like in a site? Do you boondock? Do you like social activities planned for you? Is it more expensive now because you're in peak snowbird time and location?
ReplyDeleteWe're shivering lately here in Texas, and naturally, my goosebumps are bigger than they'd be in any other state in the nation.
If you are interested in the Nature Coast area, Crystal River to be exact, there are still sites available at Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park where we winter. Check it out-great area-great people.
ReplyDeleteLots of inexpensive sites available here in Mexico, and with perfect temperatures as well!
ReplyDeletewww.travelwithkevinandruth.com
You're in a wonderful place for Christmas .... not too different to us.... at the beach!
ReplyDeleteSadly Christchurch people experienced some nasty earthquakes yesterday. Just when everyone was staring to think the worst was over..... which it probably is but 6 on the richter scale is not good. You can see here how shakey Christchurch is right now http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/recent
Our family are not really affected except for feeling shaken, anxious and nervous but mostly they take it in their stride.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Blessings from Anne and John, New Zealand.