We try to walk at least 3 miles every day and our location here at Cortez is perfect to achieve that goal. It is a mile to walk across the bridge to the Anna Maria beach. Then more miles on the beach or else to the Moose club for eats and drink. The food and drink are the reward for the walk. Anyway, that is my story. On other days, we just cross the street from the RV park and enter the Cortez fishing village. By walking all the streets in the village, it is exactly 3 miles.
Family Visit on Anna Maria Island
We recently had a visit from both of our sons and our daughter-in-law. A slightly early Christmas gathering on the warm sunny island. Unfortunately, our daughter could not make this trip due to some college coursework she was completing. It was great to have them here for a week to see the island sites, take a few hikes, eat many meals, have a few drinks, and walk the beach admiring the many beautiful sunsets.
Arrived in Florida
We survived a rushed loading session back in Virginia due to a delay in getting the rig. The low stress five-day loading process turned into a hurried 1.5 day controlled chaos. I only missed packing a couple of things, and I believe Pat got everything needed for the kitchen. Pretty amazing since the weather turned cold at 22 degrees on the morning that we left. That was just a nice reminder of what we will be missing!
The Snowbird Trip That Almost Wasn’t
We are officially, finally, off on our annual snowbird pilgrimage to the warm south. I’m writing this post from our RV park from Savannah, Georgia, an overnight stop on the way. I did have a few unexpected snags with the RV this year. Just to make things interesting, I guess.
Claytor Lake State Park Campout
Every year we load the RV for a fall foliage trip to our local state park. It is the perfect time of year for warm days, cool nights, brilliant colors, hiking, and ham radio! I make a campfire each night to keep warm by as we watch the sunset. State parks are some of the best camping places to enjoy the great outdoors. More on this 5-day adventure to Claytor Lake State Park…
The 611 J-Class Steam Train
We had the extreme good fortune to be able to ride this special train excursion on a beautiful and warm Sunday. Our ride was planned about four months ago when the Roanoke Transportation Museum announced the fall rides over six weekends. The website was launched two months later and then we were finally able to logon to the on-line queue to buy tickets. Waiting something like an hour for our time to click on the buy button. We got our five tickets! And not just regular tickets, but we splurged on the dome seat tickets! I was looking forward to this time with family and a reminder of train rides from years ago!
Cascades Hike
Recently I took this scenic hike up to a waterfall on a warm fall day. It had been about ten years since I did this very popular local hike. It is about a medium on the difficulty scale with some gradual uphill climbs and can be quite rocky.
Summer of ’23
It has been a crazy long break since my last blog post! That last one was a wrap up of the Italy trip. Two months ago! I had not intended to take a long break, but it has been a good but busy summer, with many projects and activities. We have been quite occupied with home ownership projects, family, hobbies, and life in general. In this update, I will look back on a quick recap of the Summer of ’23 and then what’s ahead!
Italy Tour – Capri Island
This is the last stop on our 11 day tour of Italy. I’m trying to capture what we saw and some of my thoughts on each area in this blog. For other travelers and to review myself over the years. Capri Island is just an hour by boat off the coast of Sorrento Italy. It was another up early, catch a bus, then a boat to the island, then a boat tour around the island. It was spectacular!
Italy Tour – Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast
The final stop on our 11-day tour of the highlights of Italy was in the city of Sorrento. It was to be our home base for the next three nights as we explored the Amalfi Coast. Sorrento is located on the southeast coast line of the country. The coastal roads are some of the narrowest and twisty in the world!
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