Goodbye Harry Potter, Hello Everglades

We started the year alongside our trusty travel companions, 13roads. We visited Hogwarts and Hogsmeade one last time and also crossed Less Junk More Journey while there. We spent more time in Florida springs and enjoyed the mild winter weather. We had booked a site in Everglades NP a while back so we were headed south. 13roads was headed north but as we had plans for another trip to Alaska, knew we would catch up somewhere out west.

On the day of our departure towards the Everglades, our water pump died. The pump location in the Airstream bunk model is not optimal for troubleshooting. It is buried at the bottom of the pantry, effectively under the stove. After a troubleshooting a while, we decided to switch to our spare unit, one that we had since our Alaska 1.0 trip in 2018. We were back in business and thankfully the park allowed us the use of an emergency site for the night. The next day we headed south from Orlando and ended up finding a spot on the north side of the Everglades. Having driven past many times, we took advantage of opportunity to visit this side of the park. We eventually made it down to the southern side of the Everglades. Even though it was a couple hours’ drive from Miami, it felt like another world completely. We saw ample wildlife, birds, crocodiles, manatees and dolphins. We also met a nice couple who were relatively new to RVing, No End Adventure and hung out with them a bit.

On our way out, we stopped for a brief meetup with Less Junk More Journey, who was in the area. We also paused on the Gulf Coast, while I had a security conference to attend in Miami. I planned ahead and brought my camera gear for photos on the back across Alligator Alley. From here we spring-hopped our way up to the panhandle and the Gulf Islands National Seashore. We were finally able to camp and visit the area. Unfortunately the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola was closed for security reasons. There is always next time.