We pulled into the Tampa area and found a place to stay. The resort was just 6 miles East of Tampa, appropriately enough named Tampa East RV Resort. Anywhere south of here was pretty much booked for the winter so we decided this was good as any place to stay for the winter or longer.
The park was huge, it had 3 pools which came in handy as October, November and December were very warm and humid.
Florida’s weather was a bit of an adjustment. The humidity and dew point often were about the 80% range, which made it hard to be outside for any length of time. Fortunately we had a nice shaded lot and were under huge trees on each side. It was even nicer once all the acorns finally dropped and the constant pounding of them falling on the roof at all hours of the day was over! Gecko’s and tree frogs were everywhere. They seemed to love hiding in the compartment doors of the motor home and jump out every time we opened them. The bug issue wasn’t bad, at dusk the mosquitoes came out and everyone seemed to stay indoors.
We had a little friend who came by each day around noon. I think someone spoiled him long before we arrived and he learned that if he stood up on the picnic table and stared at us long enough, we’d give in and feed him. It worked!!
Around Christmas the park started to get festive as people decorated their rigs. They even had a Christmas parade with Golf carts and they tossed out candy.
Venturing out in this area takes careful planning and timing. The traffic is just plain crazy. Shopping trips can take over a half hour just to drive 8 miles. If it’s a Friday after 3pm, it could take you an hour. We came to rely on our traffic app to avoid the more congested areas.
Airstream Ranch, right around the corner and off of I-4. You don’t see something like this everyday..
We decided to take a little side trip for the weekend and check out Fort Desoto just south of St. Petersburg, FL.
The park has gorgeous white sand beaches, one is even designated as a dog park where they can run off leash and swim in the Gulf of Mexico. Sami and Ozzie love the water , we were hesitant to let them off leash with the worry they loved it so much, they would just keep running or worse yet, swim to far out. When it was time to go they didn’t want to leave.
Next to the beach they have huge gated dog runs with doggie showers. You can rinse of the sand and let them run until they dry off. I know of two very spoiled dogs who were going to sleep very well tonight!
The north beach was by far the nicest of all them.
Wasn’t sure what to make out of this, but there were quite a few washed up on the beach. Apparently, it’s a Horseshoe Crab.
We walked the beaches until the clouds rolled in and then checked out the rest of the park.
Back at the campground, the dogs were out like a light.
The sites were tight, lots of vegetation and it was very tropical.
It was hard to leave and wish we could have come back here again, but like usual, our plans change….we had to break the news to the kids…
We’re moving to California!!
4gslivingthedream 