Glass Bottom Boat and onto Crystal River

 12/14 - I decided to go to Silver Springs and do a glass bottom boat tour.  It was really hard for me to leave Zoe in the van, though I parked under a tree and the windows were open, fan on, and only 72 degrees.  I knew she was fine, but it's still so hard!  I put a note in the window saying the van is climate controlled and if you see Zoe in distress, then please call my #.  After buying my ticket, I went back and sat in the van with her for another 20 min before the tour.  It was quite comfortable, but waiting for the tour (that supposedly leaves on the dot), I couldn't help but be anxious.  We left about 5 min late and then were gone at least 45 minutes for a 30 minute tour.  I enjoyed it, but it's going to take some getting used to leaving her.  So far, I really haven't been in much hot weather where it was a concern.  Since I have AC in the back, I'd really like to find something to keep her from getting in the front.  Some bungy gate system for between the seats.  That would be a good product to market if it doesn't exist yet!  I'd like to have her stay in the back section if it's hot out because the cool air doesn't really cool off the front section very well.  The AC unit is probably 1/3 of the way from the rear of the van, just in front of the bed.  

Glass bottom boat crew

Love the bubbles!

Spring

That gray blob is a manatee

There is an alligator in there.  Can you find it?

12/14-16 - Had a great BW stay in Crystal River.  The house is at the end of a street, right on a canal and I was able to park such that I could see the water from my van.  Jennifer, another boondocker, was fun to chat with and I just LOVE her travel trailer.  It looks vintage, but I guess it's a remake of the original.  The host, Jerillyn, is one of the nicest and most generous people I've met.  I thanked her for sharing her bit of paradise and her response was, "How can I not?".  To which I responded, "who else is sharing it?".  It's not always easy to do what she does.  I think you have to have the right personality to do it.  To be laid back, believe in the goodness of people, enjoy meeting people, etc.  Jerilynn suggest breakfast out, so I joined her at The Biscuit Barn and boy were the biscuits wonderful!!!  It was really fun to chat with her about her travels and upcoming 4 month biking trip in Africa and she's not even a cyclist!  😲

Jennifer's cool vintage style trailer and Jerillyn's Promaster on my other side.

Zoe wondering how to get back to me

soaking up the sun as always

Because this spot was so wonderful and I knew my next spot was going to be in an RV park and not nearly as nice, I ended up staying an extra day.  I spent the day sitting by the water, reading my book.  Thankfully, the lovely French biking family (Jerillyn is hosting them in her house) got back and noticed dolphins swimming by, otherwise I would have missed them.  They were quite big!  This French family is spending a year sabbatical riding their bikes.  They started in Montreal and have been cycling from there. After spending a bit more time in FL, they will be flying to Costa Rica and spending 4 months or so (until the rainy season) cycling around.  I am super impressed by them!!! 

They (Pauline, Olivier, Clementine (13), and Amelie (8)) invited me to join them for dinner which was a lot of fun.  Pauline and Oliver speak such good English!  It makes me want to work on my French again, which I had been doing until I wanted to start learning Italian before I went to Italy in April.  That was a big FAIL!!!  I started using Duolingo for my French again, but then recently I thought I should start working on Spanish as I will be heading West and who knows, maybe I'll drop into Mexico!  🤷  People say it's really helpful to have some level of Spanish when in Mexico...

Thinking of possibly hitting Mexico makes me think about how I am so unsure how long I should take between places.  I was thinking of heading to the Everglades, but I can't do anything there with Zoe, so what's the point?  I'd love to go to the Keys and go diving, but then what about Zoe?  I can't imagine leaving her in the van for more than 2.5 hours (assuming conditions are agreeable).  I'm not a beach person, so other than diving, there is no point in going to the Keys, especially with Zoe, and also without reservations, which I hear is a big challenge.  And, so after spending some more time on the West Coast of FL, I'm thinking of heading back north and then west.  I'm pretty sure it will be easy to kill the next 4-5 months out there.  I know I want to be in Durango, CO in May, probably 2nd half to avoid some of the worst cold/snow (🤞) and expect that I can keep myself quite entertained between TX, NM, AZ, UT, and CO.  

12/16 - I reluctantly tore myself away from the BW spot in Crystal River and headed south in the rain.  I was able to get Zoe out for a walk before heading out while the rain was holding off, but then had to head out.  I am now at an RV park in Spring Hill visiting with Mike, a friend from VT who lives here now.  Today we drove around looking for a tank to redo the sink gray tank design, but had no luck.  We took the pups with us, so they didn't have to be left behind for too long.  Today, with all the rain, I figured I'd pull out my muck boots and found that one of them had water in it and I know where the water was from - my leaking gray tank!!!  All the more reason to find a solution.  Since we couldn't find one that would work today, I guess I'll have to order on Amazon, but I need to figure out where to send it!  This is a challenge of living on the road!  I heard some folks talking about how it's harder to spend money, since it's hard to get deliveries.  So true!  

Another challenge is the small pee tank.  I figure, using it full time, it will last 1.5 days before needing to be emptied.  If I stay at a BW or HH for 2 days, what do I do with the urine???  It's pretty stressful worrying if the warning light will come on during the night...  I learned that in Brattleboro, VT there is a team that is trying to collect urine for fertilization.  I know it's sterile and has fertilization value if I dump it outside, but I don't think most people find this acceptable., even though dogs are peeing all over the place, but not 1.5 gallons at a time!

Tonight, sitting in the van in the pouring rain, I'm hearing a slow ticking noise around the AC (not on).  I can't help but think it's a drip from a leak, but no water to be seen so far.  🤞  I feel like this is the first time I've had to deal with heavy rain while living in the van.  I guess I've been lucky!

12/17 - Went to Lakeland, FL for something to do.  Someone had told me it was a lovely town, but I didn't know exactly why.  We ended up walking around one of the lakes where there are tons of birds and there are feeding stations where you can buy food for 25 cents.  We saw others doing it, but didn't have any quarters.  So many swans, blue herons, and many other birds.

Zoe likes Dolly and tries to play with her, but Dolly is a little unsure of Zoe's play style!

Zoe sunning herself while I do laundry

Took a good walk with the pups on a bike trail.  It was a really nice trail although it was beside a highway, but I just ignored that noise...

More mail issues...  I had some mail go to VT that I really needed, so had it sent to Mike's.  What a pain!  Ken and Laurie were kind enough to send it 2 day guaranteed delivery and it was delivered to the mail office at the RV park on Friday, but it didn't show up in Mike's mail.  Finally on Monday (the office is closed on weekends) we went into the office and pressed them about it and they realized they had mail with my name on it, but the number and Mike's name was smudged, so they sent it back.  The woman called the mailman (thankfully she had his number) and he said he'd bring it back on Tuesday.  So, I finally got it!  

Once I got my mail, I headed down to Fort De Soto State Park, where I was meeting up with Marta, Annie, Carol, and other new friends.  More on that in the next post!