June 23, 2008 by steve.

The CurbCrushers took a weekend to go to the beach…. again. Actually Mr. CurbCrusher is beached out, but we’ve got two more beach trips planned this summer. The latest trip was over to Jetty Park at Port Canaveral the weekend of June 14th (Father’s Day weekend). Jetty Park is located about 45 miles from Orlando, where State Road 528 pretty much runs in to the Atlantic. That made this a nice trip, no need to put $4.00 gas into the motorhome.

As noted the campground is located at Port Canaveral. There are about 130 sites with varying degrees of service, but all with grills. Some have concrete pads, some have full hookup, there’s a bunch of water-electric and about 20 that are water only. In addition, there are probably about 50 tent sites located in three concentrations throughout the campground. The 20 water only sites are located just south of the inlet, and overlook the water. The rest of the RV sites are located a little further south. The closest sites to the beach are located about 30 yards from the boardwalk, and the campground stretches back to the west about a half mile or so. There are two dump stations, and a camp store. The sites really vary around the campground. The CurbCrushers had a site near the registration and store with full hookup. We had a concrete pad, and it was fairly level and not too close to our neighbors and no shade. Just across from us though, the sites did not have pads, and they looked to be less level, but offered more shade. One thing to note if you camp here is that the water is more haphazardly placed than the sewer (if you have it) and electricity. We shared our water with the campsite on our right, and the spigot was at the front of the campsite, so it took two hoses to reach the city water inlet on the back left of the rig. Walking around the campground this seemed to be a common theme. One should also note that some sites seem very close together, while others seem of offer large spaces.

While we enjoyed our weekend at the beach, we did comment that this is one of the dirtiest campgrounds that we’ve been to. There was litter everywhere, cigarette butts, juice envelopes, cans, paper, just about anything you can think of. This was very discouraging to Little CurbCrusher, as one of her jobs on departure morning is to pick up trash around the campsite. Her bag was full, and we hadn’t spent hardly any time outside at the rig. Obviously a number of people visit here and don’t follow the “leave only your footprints” mantra.

Not a lot was going on while we were there. The Space Shuttle landed, but came in from the north (it landed on runway 15) so we didn’t get to see it. Some of the people that had driven into the park to watch said that when the shuttle lands from south (landing on runway 33), it passes right over the park. There was only one cruise ship that departed during our stay, a Carnival ship, and it sailed on Saturday afternoon. Little CurbCrusher and I walked over to the inlet and waved at all the people on the ship. The casino cruises come and go, but they don’t fill up the channel like that big cruise ship does. We were asleep Sunday morning, so we missed the arrival of the Disney and Royal Caribbean ships.

Pictures from the trip are here.

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June 6, 2008 by steve.

Just wanted to add a note. Blackwater River State Park is located between Holt and Milton off US98 in Northwest Florida. The park has a campground with about 30 sites, but is currently undergoing renovation. The CurbCrushers drove over to the park the morning of the wedding in order to kill a couple of hours. We wandered around the campground undergoing refurbishment and chatted with some of the crew that is staying on site during the construction. They are paving the campground roads, and putting in new water, electric and adding sewer, along with building a new bathhouse. The pictures show one of the sites under construction and the view of the river. This will be a very nice fall/winter campground once it is complete. The guys there said they thought it would be done in August.

I also got around to updating the pictures from the last month or so. Pictures from Cedar Key, Topsail, and Milton KOA are at the links.

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June 4, 2008 by steve.

Well the big reason for going to Northwest Florida was the CurbCrusher cousin wedding on the 30th of May. The trip to Topsail was a bonus, so on Friday is was time to move over to the KOA in Milton. There were two reasons for this: First it would put us only about 30 - 45 minutes away from the wedding site; Second the KOA is located at exit 31 on I-10, so it put us right ready to get up and go on Sunday morning.

The Milton KOA is a nice place. The level pull thru sites are all very long (advertised at 100 ft), and you get water, electric, sewer and wi-fi. Well you get one code for wi-fi, a problem since the CurbCrushers have three laptops with them. So we asked for an additional code and were told that we would have to pay for it. Then the nice lady slipped me another wi-fi code as I walked out the office door. There is a heated pool, good sized, and a putt-putt course on the campground also. The putt-putt course has seen better days, as much of the “grass” if worn threadbare and the concrete is showing through.

It was easy to park, easy to set up and easy to leave. The park filled up as the afternoon wore on. Obviously this is a place that gets a lot of overnight visitors.

We went to the wedding on Saturday afternoon, then decided that rather than sitting around the KOA all night, we’d get a head start on driving home. The drive was nice. Headed East on I-10 as the sun is setting is better than headed East on I-10 as the sun is rising. Also there was very little traffic on I-10 or on I-75. We made the trip back to Orlando in about seven and a half hours. That was setting the cruise control around 62 MPH and just riding in the right hand lane for most of the trip. It was the first time we’ve driven the motorhome at night, and it was just as easy as daytime driving.

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June 1, 2008 by steve.

The CurbCrushers took the first week long vacation of 2008 with a trip to the Panhandle of Florida. A CurbCrusher cousin was getting married the last Saturday of May in Pensacola, and with Memorial Day occurring the Monday before, it seemed like a good time to combine a bit of vacationing with family business. So on Monday morning, we started up the motorhome and headed to Topsail Hill Preserver State Park near Destin, Florida.

The adventure began with starting the motorhome. The night before CurbCrusher had paid a visit to the driver’s seat and turned on the driver’s reading light. This light is controlled by the panel dimmer switch, unlike the passenger light which is controlled by a regular switch. The impact of this is that the driver’s reading lamp runs off the motor battery, while the passenger’s reading lamp runs off the house battery. Well, CurbCrusher forgot to turn off the lamp when he was done. So Monday morning when he went out to start the motorhome, it balked. Fortunately there is a “battery boost” button that will take the house batteries and allow them to “jump start” the motorhome. This worked, but only after pressing the correct button. CurbCrusher spent about three minutes trying to turn the grade brake on and start the motorhome. Then he leaned over and read the labels on the switches carefully. After switching the “Battery Boost” switch to the on position, the motor started right up.

What follows can best be described as eight hours of boredom. Up the Florida Turnpiked to I-75, then take a left at I-10. Travel I-10 until you get to exit 85. There only bit of excitement was the stop at Exit 142 to fill up with gas. Lady CurbCrusher had suggested this exit as there was a Super Walmart, and they sometimes have an affiliated gas station with cheaper gas. Well there is a Super Walmart, but the configuration of the gas islands at the gas station were not RV friendly, neither was the Pilot station. The TA plaza appeared to have their gas pumps circled by chain link fence. So the CurbCrushers ended up at the Chevron ( which has an RV friendly icon on the exit signage), which was full ten cents more expensive than all the other gas stations at this exit. Oh, well.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park is located near Destin, Florida right on the Gulf of Mexico. It is on State Road 30A, right off of US 98. The park used to be a private RV park, which the State of Florida acquired when the owners sold it. The State has converted it into a State park (The Gregory E. Moore RV Resort at Topsail Hill Preserver State Park), but really the only thing to do there is camp and go to the beach. The park has 168 sites and they are all full hookup. There is a small swimming pool, shuffle board, tennis courts and a club house. There are cabins also available for rent, and they appear to be the old park models that were at the former RV Park. All of the campground roads are paved, and there was plenty of room to back in the motorhome. CurbCrusher is not sure that he would have wanted to back up the old fifth wheel into some of the spaces, but others seem to do so with no problems.

All of the sites are paved and have patios. Most sites have concrete pads and as such are extremely level, although some up near the front are asphalt only. There are no grills or fire rings, this is probably because the sites are located in fairly close proximity. It should be noted that even though the sites are close, the landscaping is extremely good at creating private areas around each rig, this is especially true in the “100’s” loop. The CurbCrushers noted that since you spend most of your morning and mid-day at the beach, it appears that getting a site that puts your rig facing North is best, since the afternoon sun will be blocked by your right creating a nice natural shady area for afternoon and evening lounging. There are a number of rules at this park. They do not want any carpets on the ground, nor any tents or dining flys. However, a number of people had these things set up, and the rangers did not seem to be enforcing the rules.

The sites are about a mile from the beach. In the CurbCrusher’s case it was exactly .93 miles from the beach boardwalk to the site (Those speedometers we put on the bikes are proving beneficial At the back of the campground, there is a bike/walking/tram path that runs down to the beach. It is not entirely flat, but the uphills are not enough to complain about. The tram runs on some schedule, which was of no consequence to the CurbCrushers as bicycles were the transportation mode of choice. Once you get from your site to the end of the tram road, there is a boardwalk that is probably about a quarter mile long which takes you over the dunes and to the beach. There are restrooms at the end of the tram road, and a whole bunch of bike racks.

Once you get to the beach you are rewarded with sugar white sand, turquoise water, small gentle waves, and not a whole bunch of people. Most people congregate near the end of the boardwalk. A two minute walk in either direction and one finds themselves pretty much alone on the beach. A five minute walk and you are alone.

For this trip, the CurbCrushers acquired an InStep bike carrier/Stroller. Little CurbCrusher is too big to ride in one of these things, but it makes a great trailer to haul behind a bike. Over the course of the five day stay at Topsail, there were dozens of people hauling their beach gear behind their bikes on these carriers. There was maybe one person using it for what it was intended, hauling a kid. This thing is great for hauling stuff, CurbCrusher is even thinking of using it at home for grocery shopping, which is only a mile from the house.

All in all Topsail was a great place to camp. It’s easy to spend 3 or so hours on the beach. Come back for lunch and then spend an hour of so in the pool. An afternoon nap, and its time for dinner. The town of Destin is close by, and the town of Grayton Beach is even closer. There is a Publix about 2-3 miles west of US 98 & SR 30A, and a Super Walmart about 11 miles west. There are two other state parks nearby on the gulf. Grayton Beach State Park is about 7 mile east of Topsail on SR 30A. It is an older state park with about 30 campsites (water and electric only) that are all gravel or dirt. Henderson Beach State Park is 11 miles west on US 98 (across from the Walmart). It has 60 sites that are all gravel, water and electric only. If one needs to be in the area and doesn’t want to be near the beach, there is Rocky Bayou State Park, located north of Destin. It has some nice sites overlooking the bayou, and would be a great place to stay if visiting the Ft. Walton/Destin area if you didn’t really care about going to the beach. If the CurbCrushers head back up to this area, the first choice would be Topsail, followed by Henderson, then Grayton.

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