We’d never seen the Blue Angels perform before, but while we were in Fort Pickens we were told they’d be practicing one morning and the best spot to watch was right at the fort itself. I’ve never been much of an airplane guy, and have never been to an air show, but watching the Angels fly was really impressive nonetheless. It was also just a beautiful morning to be out and about.
There are a hundred projects to be done to the bus, but it still feels good to tick off a simple cosmetic procedure now and then. Internet, twenty bucks, and shiny almost new turn signals.
Strolling around Fort Pickens. Whenever we visit these places it makes me realize how every year of America’s very short history seems to have been spent preparing for war or waging war. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the only time this fort actually took fire was when America was fighting itself.
We were out of firewood, so the kids went scrounging around other empty campsites to see what had been left behind.
Got kicked out of the campground a little earlier than we’d have liked, so we found a side of the road spot with a view in order to work for a bit before calling it a day and moving on.
We would have been happy to stay at Fort Pickens and watch the weekend airshow from the beach there, but without planning everything out months in advance, that sort of thing is impossible these days. Pretty much every National Park is booked solid Friday and Saturday night for the rest of the century. So, we moved down the road a bit to Big Lagoon State Park. Even the smaller State Parks are a scramble to get a weekend spot. We had both Fort Pickens and Big Lagoon booked about three weeks earlier and had barely secured those in time.
Working through Junior Ranger books.
It was a kid’s weekend, from start to finish. The Pensacola Fair was a pretty small one, but had plenty of fair food, and more than enough fun rides for the kids. They had a building full of photography for a contest, too, which was really nice. It was freezing, though! Weather in the fifties requires snow boots and a parka, none of which we own.
I liked that this grandma was rocking the Grinch while enjoying the fair with the grandkids.
Ali wanted to bring this beauty home with us.
The only downer about the fair was that the only non-fair related booths were turned over to Trump propaganda. The three of these were the only political booths anywhere in the fair. Not even local politics were represented. Sure felt to me like an attempt to indoctrinate children.
The day after the fair was Halloween, to round out a great weekend. We asked a friend from Pensacola to recommend a good trick-or-treating neighborhood, and he nailed it. We’ve done Halloween at least four different times in the States, that I can think of off the top of my head, and somehow we always manage to find the perfect place, full of houses that are really into celebrating. Ouest went as a deer, and Lowe as the Grim Reaper.
We are not a night owl family. Getting home after dark for us is an anomaly. While Ali got the bus ready for sleeping, Lowe wound down for the night with some drawing. Bus looks kind of funny like this. We are just happily going about travel and life in a bus that is split almost in half by construction. We just need some yellow tape to divide it. I feel like this past week goes to show that things don’t have to be perfect in order to go out and have a great time. Glad we chose to just hit the road again, and not worry about the little things.
22 Comments on “Making the Most of our Time”
We related to your comment:
“We would have been happy to stay at Fort Pickens and watch the weekend airshow from the beach there, but without planning everything out months in advance, that sort of thing is impossible these days. ”
This past May we tried to visit Glacier Nat’l Park but everything-campings, park shuttles, etc.-was booked solid through summer 2022! We were told we’d need to reserve a year in advance to get in! Crazy.
What do you use for Internet? Ours has been so spotty, this is the 2nd time I’ve tried to post this but the page keeps getting “dropped”???? Frustrating.
Great to see you all rolling along enjoying life on the road despite the challenges! Happy trails!
Hope this one makes it to your page-LOL!
We are actually having pretty good luck making reservations at the State Parks a few days in advance (for weekdays). Then there are the crappy RV Parks where we usually have to stay for Fri and Sat, it has been working and we get the laundry caught up. We will see what the west coast is like soon…
We have 2 GoogleFi’s for work/school, and then a AT&T hotspot. It is working for us so far. No boosters, nothing fancy.
Yikes. A Black Sambo bumblebee ride.
We were in Navarre, just down the road, until end of 2019. It’s a nice area.
Working in and around construction and sawdust should be a way of life for every child! Ha
It develops a “can-do” attitude for all generations and generations to come!
Great legacy 👍!
Well our kids are going to be all set then! 🙂
There are so many nice state parks in the Florida panhandle, St. George, Grayson Beach, St. Andrews, Topsail Hill Preserve and many more and the town of Seaside is a real hoot!
Yes, could definitely bop around from park to park, if you can find a spot. 🙂
I’ll be curious how your adventures go with the packed campgrounds. Even Thursdays and Mondays can be problematic, at least in the summer. We hate the wall to wall people crammed into the campgrounds.
Yes, fairs are becoming overrun with that propaganda. Wait until you hit up a state fair. It’s MAGA central. 🤢
Yes, hear it isn’t going to be getting any better with more COVID variants. Problematic for both our homes, and where to go.
You should try the west coast. Politics is not so in your face and fewer people. although, there is still plenty of both.
I use this bot sometimes to find campground cancellations. https://wanderinglabs.com/ A lot of people are booking sites as soon as the dates open up for reservations but then they cancel as the reservation gets closer. This bot was created by a full timing couple who were spending the winter in Florida a few years ago and having the trouble finding sites. It’s not fancy but it works.
Thanks, will check it out. The biggest problem for us, is the planning in advance. You can make the perfect road trip but then you end up missing things or wanting to stay longer… or like us breakdown and then cannot cancel the two parks you paid for because it was short notice. Anyway travel is an adventure.
Where are you headed? Fort Myers? Haven’t seen you since ocean view Delaware!
Heading west for family time for the holidays.
I love Ouest’s deer headband — was that something she made? It’s so unique and pretty — just like its wearer! The MAGA propaganda at the fair is very depressing. It’s 2021, for god’s sake. Guess I’ll avoid fairs until after 2024. Sigh…
Ouest looks so grown up all of a sudden! Love their simple costumes.
Aw your boys on the old truck with the sunflowers – so cute! And yes, O. had a huge growth year. 12 is just a few days away, ugh!
I’m guessing by this post your next vehicle will be an airplane…
🤣🤣🤣
It’s so awful to meet people who don’t agree with me on everything.
Nice try, Rich. These stands were selling conspiracy theory t-shirts. “2020 WAS RIGGED!” That isn’t a political slogan, or opinion, it’s demonstrably false. It is a conspiracy theory no different than flat earth. It is put out there to instill a mindset that American democracy doesn’t work, and that whatever harm you’re feeling in your life, you can blame it on another group that you falsely believe is trying to keep you down. Peddling that garbage in the midst of a children’s fairground, to me, is wrong.
If you will be coming through Northeast Texas on your way west I can offer you free boondocking at my place.