I want to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am very thankful this year, as I am finally able to do what I love. I am very thankful for my health as it allows me to travel, for my family who give me their support, and for all of you who watch and listen.
Last weekend we returned to the Florida Keys in order to visit the Dry Tortugas National Park. This has been a bucket list destination of ours for a while now. The Yankee Freedom ferry has been having a special price since they returned to operation after hurricane Irma of only $99. That includes entrance to the park, breakfast and lunch.
Key West
We made our usual three-and-a-half hour drive to the “Conch Republic”, and we were surprised to see how much rubble is still on the side of the road, particularly in the Lower Keys. Key West, however, is 99% back to normal. We did the usual: a little bit of eating, a little bit of partying. We also visited Fort Zachary Taylor, which we had not seen before, and the freshly repainted Southernmost Point. We stayed at Boyd’s Campground, located in Stock Island, just one mile from Key West, five miles from Duval Street.
Southernmost Point
Fort Jefferson
Fort Jefferson is the main thing to see in the Dry Tortugas. I also attempted to do some snorkeling but the weather conditions were not optimal. It is a beautiful archipelago, and the color of the water is unbelievable.
Dry Tortugas National Park
Video:
I made two versions of the video:
The long one which also documents the trip to Key West and out stay there
This weeks video is about the beginning of our fall road trip, which happened in Central Florida.
Thunderstorm in Central Florida
Central Florida
The first leg of the trip is driving to the Orlando area, more specifically Lake Louisa State Park. I had heard about this park through John and Kathy Huggins podcast some years back. While I was there, I met up with a viewer and producer Eric O., visited the President’s Hall of Fame, the Citrus Tower, Sugarloaf Mountain, Howey-in-the-Hills, the Dade Battlefield and Dade City among other places.
Video
Affiliate links:
Check out RVShare for your next RV rental
If you find value or entertainment in the work that I do, please considering becoming an executive producer by going to Patreon
OK, it is no secret I have neglected the blog. First there was the rest of our road trip to see to solar eclipse. Then there was that pesky hurricane Irma who came to spoil the party. Now I am in the middle of another road trip, to experience the turning of the leaves in northern Georgia. Meanwhile, I leave you with this video. This is pretty much where we left off: Our three-year RVversary.
Check out RVShare for your next RV rental
In case you havent seen it here’s a link to that video in the thumbnail below.
Three Year RVversary Video
Sponsored
If you find value or entertainment in the work that I do, please considering supporting at Patreon
Today I am releasing the first detailed video of our recent solar eclipse road trip. During the first 3 days we visited two main sites in the state of Georgia. First we explored historic Macon, and then we spent some family time east of Atlanta, at Stone Mountain Park.
This city was completely off our radar until we drove through it on our way to Atlanta last year. I didn’t realize how important and wealthy it was in past. We visited a palatial mansion from the 19th century called the Hay House, named after the first family who lived there. We also toured the Rose Hill Cemetery, which is the final resting place to over a thousand confederate soldiers, several prominent political figures, and the Allman Brothers. The cemetery is the largest and oldest in the city, and one of the most picturesque I’ve ever seen. We also visited the Ocmulgee National Monument, which consists of several ancient indian mounds, but the scorching heat and numerous insects greatly diminished our enjoyment of the site.
We decided to cool off at the Ocmulgee Brewpub. This trip was one of the few times that we didn’t get a chance to sample the typical local cuisine, but the brewpub made a pretty substantial burger, so we left satisfied.
As a conclusion I recommend at least one day in this charming antebellum city, however, not in the middle of August.
Stone Mountain Park
The other main attraction we visited in Georgia was Stone Mountain Park. We stayed at the campground, and while it was perhaps a bit pricey at $58 per night, we had a beautiful site by the lake. We spent some time with the family, particularly with my brother in law Pepe, who lives in the area. He even has an annual pass. Among the things we did, we saw the old covered bridge, the Grist Mill, the Quarry Exhibit, but our favorite was the Historic Square, which features a collection of old original Georgia buildings. We also visited the Stone Mountain Village and discovered a German brewpub called Village Corner, also the Stone Mountain Brewing Company. Check out the video below for more detailed information about our time in Georgia.
Today I am coming to you from the road, from our Winnebago Micro Minnie, somewhere in Western Kentucky, strategically positioned to watch the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017.
Winnebago Micro Minnie 1706FB Review After Three Years
Today’s video, however, is about our trailer. At the end of the month it will be three years since that momentous day in which we signed on the dotted line and purchased our travel trailer. In the video I talk about what we like, what we don’t like, and the many modifications I have made to make it feel a little more like home.
Almost Daily Vlog
Also, since we’ve been eclipse chasing on the road, I started making a somewhat daily vlog. I haven’t been very consistent during the past couple of days, but that will probably change after the eclipse on Monday, August 21st.
Make sure to check out the three videos I have posted so far, and make sure to tune in on Monday. I’ll do a live video, bandwidth permitting, and soon later, an edited video of the experience. Looking forward to good weather here in Western Kentucky.
If you find value in the work that I do, please considering supporting me at Patreon
If a Winnebago engineer stepped onto our Micro Minnie 1706FB he or she might not recognize it. I have made many modifications to it, some myself, some with the help of professionals, in order to make it more comfortable, more reliable, more like home.
One of the fist upgrades I did was installing a Fantastic Vent. All RVers seemed to rave about them, and while it doesn’t turn the inside of the RV into a category 3 hurricane, it does freshen up things quite a bit on cool nights. It is however useless in the south Florida summer, even at night. I make a video of the installation.
Solar Energy
My second RV modification was a Solar system. I got a 100 watt kit from Renology which came with everything I needed to install it. All I needed to buy extra was the roof sealant. The main reason I wanted to get this, besides off grid camping, was not having to disconnect my battery every time we planed to leave the RV parked for more than a week. I also made a video of that upgrade.
Dinette Replacement
We also replaced our dinette with two folding tables. This however is still very much a work in progress. We might go for a sofa in the future or perhaps something even more flexible. Stay tuned for that. Here’s that video, a playlist because there are two parts.
Other Modifications: Wardrobe closet, TPMS and Water Heater
Finally, last month I did three major upgrades and modifications to Minitini: the Trailer. The first one was removing the TV set, and ripping apart the cabinet behind it. That gave us enough room to build a small wardrobe closet. That was something that our trailer hadn’t come with from the factory. I also bought and installed a tire pressure monitoring system, which is something I should have done from day one for safety. Better late than never, right? Finally I got the dealer to replace my faulty Atwood on demand water heater. I could have put up an uphill fight trying to get the to cover it under warranty. I decided my time is more valuable than that and decided to take the plunge on atop of the line, state of the art piece of German engineering. We went with a Truma AquaGo. I hope it will provide us with many warm showers in the future. Here’s the video of all this latest upgrades.
If you find value in the work that I do, please considering supporting me at Patreon
They are now somewhere in the Caribbean, sailing the blue waters, but not long ago they were here in South Florida and we got to meet them. I am, of course talking about Nikky and Jason “The Wynns” Former RVers and now sailors, they have one of the most successful YouTube travel channels. I’ll admit I could relate to the much more back in their RVing days, but it is still very entertaining watching sail around the world particularly the learning process.
The Meetup
I made a quick video about the meetup they had at the Lauder-ale Brewery, and here’s a video of that.
A couple of weeks ago we decided to return to Delray Beach and Boca Raton to explore the area a little more.
RV repairs and updates
Right before this trip I decided to take advantage and do a couple of maintenance tasks I had been meaning to make. First was removing and eventually replacing one of the Winnebago decals which had become pretty badly cooked by the scorching south Florida sun and was starting to show its age. Second, the latch that holds the door open has started to disintegrate in Florida heat and should no longer work.
After that we departed for Delray Beach and stayed at the same RV park where we stayed last time: Del Raton RV Park. The name is a nice play on Delray and Boca Raton, as the Park stands very close to the city limits of both towns. I spent the day working on some videos, barbecuing some burgers, and catching some rays at the beach.
Boca Raton
In the afternoon we visited downtown Boca Raton, mainly an upscale shopping and dining center called Royal Palm Place.
It was a short, yet fun weekend and I hope you like our video of it.
Remember to shop at Amazon by following our link, it cost you nothing extra and we get gas money. It is a win-win situation. Thank you!