Travel from Clermont to Homestead, Florida

We drove our coach 289 miles, about 5 hours of driving, from Thousand Trails Orlando in Clermont, Florida to Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south along Florida’s Turnpike:

Route map

An interactive map, showing potential stops:

Leaving TTO:

Leaving TTO

Toll plaza:

Toll plaza

Sinclair Road:

Sinclair Road

Toll plaza:

Toll plaza

Entering the Florida’s Turnpike toll freeway:

Florida's Turnpike

Service plaza rest stop:

Service plaza

Our coach in traffic cams:

Our coach in traffic cam

Service plaza lunch stop:

Service plaza

Earl of Sandwich; it was a very nice sandwich:

Earl of Sandwich

We bought and activated a Sun Pass toll transponder for our truck:

Sun Pass

Another traffic cam shot:

Traffic cam

Florida’s Turnpike:

Florida's Turnpark

Fuel stop, alongside another Tiffin Allegro Bus (slightly newer):

Fuel stop

Hard Rock guitar building:

Hard Rock guitar building

End of the turnpike:

End of the turnpark

Entering Everglades National Park:

Everglades National Park

The entrance station, with a lot of traffic (other times we went through only had one or two cars):

Everglades National Park entrance

The ranger in the booth loved seeing Paladin on the dash:

Everglades National Park entrance

The turn to the Long Pine Key campground:

Long Pine Key

Campground entrance:

Long Pine Key entrance

Our site:

Our site

Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort

We stayed at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in Clermont, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

TTO (as it’s commonly called) is the flagship Thousand Trails park, with over a thousand sites.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-01-07
Check out: 2024-01-21
14 nights

Weather:

Mostly cloudy, some rain, mostly drizzle
High temps ranging between 63-80°F, lows around 35-65°F
A little wind, gusts to 38 MPH

Noise:

No road noise
No train noise
Some neighbor noise, dogs and kids
Distant fireworks from Disney some evenings

Site:

#178, back in, asphalt
Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
Rather unlevel, high on right and front; used hydraulic leveling
Asphalt driveway about 50 feet long by about 18 feet wide
Passenger side to next site’s driveway about 10 feet
Driver side to next site’s driveway about 20 feet
No picnic table (but apparently available upon request)
No fire pit
Steep drop-off next to rear of site
Mostly clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, very inconveniently located; needed to use my extension cord
75 PSI water, inconveniently located
Loose sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 47 Mbps down, 6-14 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
T-Mobile: 24-30 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
AT&T: 1 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
Verizon: 2 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters only in a central location
Package delivery to office, for $5 per package (we got a local mailbox)

Our review on Campground Reviews:

The flagship Thousand Trails park

It’s good to know what’s what before showing up at TTO. Half the park is older, with rundown pads and a kind of state park feel, and half the park is newer, like a perfectly manicured RV resort. And if you’re used to the usual Thousand Trails “first come first served” rigamarole, you might be confused by how they do things here. I prefer the orderly check-in process with the rangers knowing what sites are available and guiding you to what’s there. This place is so huge, that you’d be crawling the lanes for hours before finding one on your own. I hate having to find a place at other TT parks. Our site was on the “older” side of the park, backed up to some trees, which was nice. There was a bit of a drop-off at the end of our pad, but it was long enough for our 40′ coach, and we were able to park our truck on the grass alongside it. It was kind of downhill in a hollow, so cell reception was not great but Starlink was just fine. We camped at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

A rather steep drop-off:

Our site

I needed to use my power extension cord for the first time ever (other than at Mom’s):

Power extension cord

I had fun tossing a ball for this very good boy whenever I went to top up our water tank or dump our waste tanks:

Dog

The nearby bathrooms were closed the entire time, but they had portapotties for the few people who needed them (and I did use one once, as we sanitized our fresh water tank while here):

Bathrooms

There were a few big storms that rolled through; here are a couple of screenshots of one (with a potential tornado southwest of us!):

Storm screenshot

Big checkers board:

Big checkers board

Rec center:

Rec center

Mail info; they charge $5 per package, and suggest alternatives:

Mail info

Group fire pit:

Group fire pit

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Pickleball courts:

Pickleball courts

Boat launch:

Boat launch

Hibiscus flower:

Flower

Tortoise:

Tortoise

Grasshopper:

Grasshopper

A large crane-like bird:

Bird

There were several that roamed the grounds:

Birds

Other sites:

Other sites

Bathrooms

Other sites

One section has buddy sites:

Buddy sites

A massive campground. We’ve already been back again since this, and no doubt will be back more times in the future.

Travel from Carrabelle to Clermont, Florida

We drove our coach 263 miles, about 5 hours of driving, from Carrabelle, Florida to Clermont, Florida. Our first travel day of 2024.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading southeast:

Map route

An interactive map, with possible stops:

We pulled our coach out to toad up:

Toading up

Bye beach:

Bye beach

Look out birds; you can come back to your tasty roadkill after we go by:

Birds

We stopped in front of a gas station for lunch:

Stop in front of gas station

Gas station lunch; not ideal, but not bad:

Lunch

Joining I-75:

I-75

A traffic cam, showing our coach:

Traffic cam

A rest area stop:

Rest area

Joining Florida’s Turnpike toll road:

Florida's Turnpike

The Villages:

The Villages

“Florida’s Turnpike, The Less Stressway” (maybe if they improved the road surface a bit):

Florida's Turnpike

Another traffic cam:

Traffic cam

Toll at the exit; our Freedom Pass transponder worked:

Toll at exit

Citrus Tower:

Citrus Tower

Arriving at our destination, Thousand Trails Orlando:

Thousand Trails Orlando

Normally in Thousand Trails parks you roam around to pick your own site, but TTO is different; they have people guide you to a site. We were directed to this parking lot to await a guide:

Thousand Trails Orlando

Guided to site:

Guided to site

Arriving at our site:

Site

Not ideal, but nice to not have anyone behind us:

Site

Carrabelle

We didn’t really do anything during the three weeks we stayed at Ho-Hum RV Park over the holidays. That seems to be fairly typical for us, just taking some downtime to relax. Especially with some very busy times coming up after this (stay tuned!).

Ho-Hum is in a kinda out-of-the-way area, but near a town called Carrabelle (population 2,778). We did go to one restaurant, the post office, and the local grocery store; that was pretty much the limit of our exploring here. There are definitely a few more things to do and see, e.g. we considered going to check out a couple of nearby lighthouses, but we’ll save that for our next visit.

Here’s an interactive map:

Carrabelle

We had lunch at Marine Street Grill:

Marine Street Grill

Pizza

Next to the post office is the world’s smallest police station:

World's smallest police station

The Gulfside IGA Plus grocery store is a little small, but had almost everything we wanted:

Grocery store

(There is a Walmart 45 minutes away, for people who use that as a marker of civilization.)

Clock and memorial:

Clock and memorial

We do enjoy cute little towns, and this is definitely one. We’ll have to make a point of exploring it more when we’re here again.

Ho-Hum RV Park

We stayed at Ho-Hum RV Park in Carrabelle, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice casual RV park, with the gulf literally feet from our front door.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-12-17
Check out: 2024-01-07
21 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, some cloud and rain
High temps ranging between 52-67°F, lows around 33-60°F
A little wind, gusts to 42 MPH

Noise:

Highway noise
No train noise
Some neighbor noise, dogs, but few kids

Site:

#48A, pull in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
Rather unlevel, high on left and front; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel site about 50 feet long by about 30 feet wide
Picnic table on gravel
No fire pit
Clean site
Waterfront, facing the water

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
32 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (less than 1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 50 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 48 ms ping
AT&T: 57 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Verizon: 26-42 Mbps down, 26 Mbps up, 160 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
Waterfront (gulf)
Package delivery to office

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nothing ho-hum here

We spent three weeks here over the holidays and loved the laid-back vibe and beachfront views. Watching the birds along the shore right from the window of our motorhome was wonderfully relaxing. There is some road noise from the highway, but it is pretty nonexistent at night. Some of the waterfront sites are a bit sloped and could be problematic for larger rigs, but ours was fine enough that our leveling system could cope. The staff were all friendly and helpful and the amenities were well-kept. We loved our stay so much that we booked our stay for the end of 2024 before we left. We camped at Ho-Hum RV Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our waterfront site:

Our site

It’s been ages since I flew my drone, but this seemed a perfect place to get some aerial photos:

Aerial

Now that we’d made it to Florida, it was time to add its sticker to our coach:

Florida sticker

We stayed here over the holidays, so of course we did our 20th annual The Lord of the Rings movie marathon, watching the extended editions of all three movies (though like last year, we split it over two days; not quite as much a marathon, but more relaxed):

The Lord of the Rings

One of the other guests dropped off a little Christmas gift:

Christmas gift

We really enjoyed having the beach right in front of our site:

Beach

A fishing pier:

Beach

Fishing pier

Beach

Water

Waves

Fishing pier

Birds

Bird

Birds

Waves

As you can see, there was quite a difference between low and high tides; I liked to watch the tide charts; fascinating how the two tides (from the moon and sun) merge and split to create single bigger tides or two smaller tides:

Tide charts

Our neighbor moved from a oceanfront site to one further back:

Neighboring site

Other site

Most of the RVs on the oceanfront were motorhomes, fronted in, but there were a few trailers, backed in:

Other sites

I’m glad we didn’t have a trailer next to us, with their door facing ours:

Trailers

Other sites:

Other sites

We’re planning to stay here again for the next holidays; this is the site we’ve already reserved for next time:

Other sites

Beach area:

Beach area

Dog park:

Dog park

Rec room:

Rec room

Entrance and office:

Office

We enjoyed our stay here, and are looking forwarding to returning at the end of the year!

Travel from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida

We drove our coach 257 miles, about 5 hours of driving, from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida. Our last travel day of 2023. (Yes, the blog posts are a bit delayed; we do things faster than I can post about them!)

Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:

Route map

An interactive map, with potential stops marked:

Leaving the state park:

Leaving state park

I-10:

I-10

Entering Florida:

Florida state line

“No stopping; photo opp in welcome center”:

Photo opp in welcome center

We did stop at the Welcome Center rest stop for a quick break, though didn’t go into the Welcome Center:

Welcome center rest stop

Home of the Blue Angels:

Welcome center rest stop

Our coach at the rest stop on a traffic cam:

Welcome center rest stop

I had fun spotting our coach via other traffic cams too:

Our coach via traffic cam

Bridge over Escambia Bay:

Bridge over Escambia Bay

Bridge

More traffic cams:

Our coach via traffic cam

Another rest area stop, this time for lunch:

Rest area

Sleepy Paladin enjoying the stacked dining chairs:

Paladin

Rest area

An interesting feature of the rest areas was a truck windshield washer:

Truck windshield washer

We also appreciated signs that displayed the rest area truck parking availability (which was also available via the traffic website):

Rest area truck parking count

Speaking of, a couple more:

Our coach via traffic cam

Then we exited I-10, for some highway travel:

Exit

Starting with a fuel stop:

Fuel stop

While Jenn fueled up, I went in and got some Cokes (to help us stay alert) and snacks:

Snacks

$284.62 for 77.787 gallons of diesel; we saved $22.17 off that with our discount card:

$284.62 for 77.787 gallons of diesel

Paladin watching us from the dash:

Paladin

Cotton field:

Cotton field

Blountstown mural:

Bloutstown mural

Blountstown

The bridge where we entered Eastern Time Zone:

Bridge

An uncomfortably narrow road:

Narrow road

A portion was also a little under water; not ideal:

Road under water

Roadworks to alleviate the flooding; a tight squeeze:

Roadworks

Our destination for the end of the year:

Our destination

A long drive, but then we were stationary for three weeks.

USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park

We explored the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama.

It includes exhibits of various military planes, plus a submarine and the eponymous battleship.

Entrance

Aircraft exhibits:

Aircraft exhibits

The USS Drum is a WWII-era submarine, the oldest American sub on public display:

USS Drum

The WWII-era USS Alabama battleship:

USS Alabama

Fascinating.

Fort Morgan State Historic Site

We explored the Fort Morgan State Historic Site in Alabama, at the end of a peninsula between Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s an interactive map:

Brochure

Museum:

Museum

This fort had quite an interesting history:

Historic flags

Battery Schenck:

Battery Schenck

Battery Thomas:

Battery Thomas

Roof

The famous phrase “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” was (perhaps) uttered near here, something we previously encountered in Idaho at the Farragut Museum at the Brig:

Damn the torpedoes

Battery

The fort:

Fort

Tunnel into the fort:

Tunnel into fort

Fort Morgan

Fort

Another battery:

Battery

A fascinating historic site.

Meaher State Park

We stayed at Meaher State Park in Spanish Fort, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A delightful state park with spacious sites and lots of wildlife. The I-10 freeway across the water isn’t ideal, but not too bad.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-12-03
Check out: 2023-12-17
14 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy, some rain
High temps ranging between 57-72°F, lows around 39-59°F
A little wind, gusts to 28 MPH

Noise:

Freeway noise across the bay
No train noise
Negligible neighbor noise, other than kids on weekends

Site:

#54, back in, asphalt
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
Fairly level; used hydraulic leveling
Asphalt driveway about 55 feet long by about 12 feet wide
Grass between sites about 52 feet wide
Picnic table on asphalt patio about 18 by 14 feet
No fire pit
Clean site
Waterfront, though with the back of our coach facing the water

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
25 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 4-9 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
AT&T: 180-395 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 22 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 9-12 Mbps up, 120 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
Waterfront (bay)
Walking paths

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Gorgeous sunsets, distant hum of I-10

This is a lovely state park along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Gorgeous views of the water, and various shorebirds. I-10 is visible, but the hum is distant and pretty much just background white noise. There are many nice walking trails in the park, including a boardwalk through the wetlands. Sites were large and nicely spread out. We’d definitely stay here again. We camped at Meaher State Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site, backing onto the water:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Shortly before we left, I got out my telescoping ladder to clear off a bunch of large pinecones that had fallen on our coach:

Ladder on our coach

Pinecones

Not too bad, though (a rare look at our roof; I’ve still never been on it, and this was only the second time I’ve used the ladder to clear stuff off it):

Roof

Behind our site:

Behind our site

“Do not feed or harass the alligators” — we didn’t see any, but they’re probably all brumating by this time:

Behind our site

We were warned that there were invasive ants in the area, and advised to sprinkle borax around the coach (which we did). We saw some ants, but none near our coach:

Ants

Other sites:

Other sites

Cabins:

Cabins

Tents:

Tents

The entrance station:

Entrance

Baby turtle crossing:

Baby turtle crossing

Fungus:

Mushrooms

Fungus

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Other bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Picnic shelter:

Picnic shelter

Boat ramp area:

Boat ramp area

Kayaks etc:

Kayaks etc

Boat ramps and dock:

Boat ramps and dock

Dock

Kayak dock:

Kayak dock

There were lots of birds in the area:

Bird

Birds

Some bees:

Bees

A small beach, popular for fishing:

Beach

A nice delta boardwalk:

Delta boardwalk

A fishing pier:

Fishing pier

One evening I went for a walk to the fishing pier shortly before the sun set, and enjoyed watching the sunset and hundreds of birds:

Sunset from fishing pier

Back to our coach:

Sunset from fishing pier

Another day, another sunset behind our site:

Sunset behind our site

A very nice state park. We’d definitely stay here again.

Travel from New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama

We drove our coach 146 miles, about 2 hours of driving, from New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast:

Route

An interactive map with potential stops; we actually only stopped at the Flying J:

Preparing to leave our site:

Preparing to leave our site

Hooking up our truck, with the City of New Orleans paddleboat in the background:

Hooking up our truck

Rail crossing and onramp:

Rail crossing and onramp

Drawbridge:

Drawbridge

Bridge:

Bridge

Another drawbridge:

Drawbridge

I-10:

I-10

“Welcome to Mississippi”:

Welcome to Mississippi

We stopped at a Flying J truck stop for lunch:

Flying J

The truck parking was rather full. With our toad attached we can’t back up, and this parking area has back-to-back spots, so we could only park where there was two adjacent ones empty so we could pull through. It was a difficult turn and tight squeeze, but Jenn’s driving skills got it done:

Parking between trucks