Heading West

This is the start of our journey westward! Up to this point, we have been traveling South from Charlotte, NC; we hit Orlando and took a right towards the Florida Panhandle. We're kind of in a hurry to get out West before it gets too hot, so we're just making stops along the way where it might be comfortable to work from.

The following two stops are a goat farm and Destin for a night.

WFP Working From Parking Lot

We left super early Friday morning, way before the sun came up. We did about half the work of undocking the night before, which is still not enough. We learned a lot about getting ready to move in a hurry, though. The trick is to hook everything to the truck the night before, like be completely prepared to put the truck in drive. This first time we got out a little late, our timing was important because the plan was to work from the road halfway to our next stop. This was all a test of our next stage in our travel planning, changing places on weekdays.

We drove that morning about two hours to a Cracker Barrel. We could use the hotspots, monitors, and laptops like normal, thanks to our inverter! So we were pretty productive (we planned our workdays carefully in case this didn't work out). The animals, yes, we have a zoo, all needed a place to stay while the slides were in. They sat with us while we used the dinette as our shared desk. That only lasted about ten minutes, then we violated our new no-animals-in-the-bedroom rule and shoved them all in there for the day. They were all really happy to cuddle with warm blankets in bed.

Now we have a couple of improvements to make to be more comfortable next time we try this.

1. The bikes are stored in the office when traveling; we will put a bike rack on the front of the truck.
2. It was cloudy, so the pitifully small batteries we have could only barely make it to the next morning's sun. We are going to double their size.

Goat Farm

Golden Acres Ranch was something we found through Harvest Host. So we knew it was a farm, and it would be dry camping without any hookups. Thankfully it was the weekend, and we didn't need to worry too much about working, internet or even water.

We lucked out because they put us in a closed-off field. So the whole RV and truck were fenced in, and we could open the doors and throw the dogs out, which they loved. For the first time in several weeks, they could jump out the front door and sprint as much as they wanted on about an acre of space.

The tour was pretty cool. It was a 42-acre farm, but there were fainting goats, sheep, peafowl, and chickens! In the end, we got to explore their country store, which was full of locally produced stuff like you might find at a farmer’s market. I’m a sucker for fresh organic food. Of course, we bought lots of things. Especially stuff you don’t see very many places. Here we got locally produced honey with a pretty rich flavor, and best of all, we got some Mayhaw jelly. The Mayhaw is like an apple but the size of a blueberry. It only grows in specific climates, and you don’t see it too often. I certainly have never seen it before. It’s my current favorite for toast now!

Destin

We stayed at "A Cozy Corner" it was cozy alright, with only about 12 sites. It was also in the middle of Fort Worth, so not remotely quiet. I think it ties with the Savanna trains. We enjoyed this stop, though. The proximity to the beach and stores meant we could get all our chores done and spend almost every day after work doing something.

The first full day we were there we decided to check out a few different activities around the city. First was a small buddhist temple in Fort Walton Beach. Melissa found out they had a small market on Sunday's so we decided to go check it out and try some thai food. While there we ran into an older couple that had just arrived at the RV park the day before just like us. Of course, they were still snowbirds, but they were more kinda like mobile snowbirds. Instead of spending all winter at one campground, they moved every week or so all around the coast. We all had lunch together outside the temple and they even got a picture of us before we all continued our day.

Continued by Melissa……

Another nice stop was Okaloosa Island. We checked out the beach and visited the fishing pier. We were surprised by how nice the water looked but sad it was too cold to go in. Considering how cold it felt there were several dozens of people in bathing suits enjoying the beach. We were a bit too cold so we found a little coffee shop on the pier called Pino Gelato Cafe At the Beach and enjoyed a nice warm latte while we watched everyone below.

Before we left we actually went back to Okaloosa Island Beach one day after work. We took advantage of the bit of warmth that day and just relaxed on the sand while we continued to plan our travel for the next few months. Plus it was Justin's birthday so why not go out for a food and drinks too!

During the rest of the week we pretty much handled multiple chores. The truck finally got cleaned for the first time since purchasing it. Yes, It was terrible with the amount of animals we have. Justin still had a few things to wrap up with selling his townhome. And we finally got to visit Henderson Beach State Park! Why finally? Well we were in Destin back in 2020 and due to crappy weather we weren't able to go. It definitely is a nice park. We did a small trail with the dogs and then enjoyed the sunset before checking out the rv campground for any future trips.

Next our Journey to Mardi Gra continues!!!