~Friday, March 18, 2022~
Day 642
I am so excited and in shock actually!! Setting the alarm for 4:48 a.m., to which I slowly awoke, I began my quest in booking our week at Collier Seminole State Park in Florida. After our last experience in Florida for the winter, where everyone seems to descend from the North, the state parks fill up the fastest. They are by far the nicest, most affordable campgrounds at $25/night. The only way to successfully book online is to be at your computer right at 5:00 a.m. West Coast time, (8:00 a.m. Eastern time), logged in, with the dates up, ready to hit that button. I must have timed it just right. We’re in!! 8 days it is for February of 2023. One down, three more to go since we have plans to stay in Florida the entire month of February/early March, including The Keys. Curious, I went back in the system to see what sites were left. Zero. Seriously, if you were to go in at 5:01 a.m. you wouldn’t get in. It really is insane.
Duty calls, water duty that is. It’s nice that we have a water source only a few miles from our boondocking spot rather than having to drive the 20 minutes to Dead Horse. This water has a little more chlorine in it but has been tested for safety as the sign states. Plus, Derek can attest to it being safe since his family’s been using it for the past week with no problems. Jeff and Derek chose to make this a team effort since there were numerous water bottles to fill and load. And once full, these bottles are heavy. Plus, it made for good bonding time for the guys. Both families are just lovely!
After filling the fresh water tanks, it was time to dial in our Canada schedule and make a few more reservations. A few campgrounds that really looked appealing are not opening their reservation window until April so all we can do for now is mark the calendar as a reminder to book at that time. We’re not descending into Canada from Alaska until September, when most of the tourists would already be south. So we’re banking on not having much trouble getting into these places.
By 5:00, it was Cornhole time along with O Be Joyful Hour. The Ridgeway family of 7 (the ones that do the wood carving), Derek and Mike all took part. Their wives and kids made a day of shopping at the Tlaquepaque Shopping Village, so we didn’t see them until dark. Derek used his tailgate for mixing Tom Collins drinks while we brought out a few light horderves and Tequila concoctions. There’s nothing that brings more people together than a good game or two of Cornhole. In the end, the pairs got labeled “The Winners” and the “The Losers”, where I was included in the latter. Jeff was clearly the best player. We ended up playing until dark with the barely full moon rising just over the mountains. It was gorgeous but a bit chilly. Enjoyed more conversation by a nice warm fire before we all called an end to the day around 9:00 p.m. It was a late dinner of omelets and potatoes. When in a pinch, breakfast dinners are simply the best.