We’ve been trying to find the perfect time weather-wise to visit family in south Florida and with this trip found out that April is perfect. We got to spend 3 weekends and 2 weeks with our Florida family as they lived their busy lives. A county park on a waterway is our home for this stay; if it looks familiar, you’re right. We’ve stayed here before—but this time we had hook-ups for water and electricity at Phipps Park.
our view of the canal
On our way south, we spent a couple of days with our friends Jay and Rhonda, who have a site for our RV with hook-ups for water and electricity. If these pictures look familiar, you’re right. We’ve stayed with them before at their home. Recently they bought an RV for short trips now and longer trips when Rhonda retires, so our little RV had a friend to hang out with.
our RV with a new friend
our view Jay uses the pond for fishing and the wide expanse of land in front of it for practicing his golf swing.
starting to enjoy the sun in Florida
Such a nice time with these friends who live west of Daytona Beach. Thanks, Jay and Rhonda!
Brian’s family
The first Sunday after church we enjoyed brunch at Maria’s Café in downtown Stuart. They come here so often that the staff know the boys by name. This is definitely a do-again place for brunch!
One of the outside games the boys enjoy is spikeball. Ever heard of it? We hadn’t. It’s also known as roundnet and was inspired by volleyball. My research found that it was created in 1989, and it was even mentioned in a book I just finished reading!
The boys have limits to their electronics time, so they really enjoy the time they do have with any screen. Cash had just washed his hair so used a towel to keep his headphones dry. Yes, he’s watching videos on a tablet while Colson is watching a video on the large screen.
One afternoon the “guys” took the boat out to a slip of land to enjoy each other and watch the sunset. Such fun.
The boys enjoying tidepools as the tide is out.
Colson and Cash get to play on the same soccer team together along with 2 of their buddies.
Our Mandalorian (Colson)! We keep current with the new seasons when we visit the family in Florida.
yard project
One Saturday afternoon Brian decided to clean out and organize his backyard sheds. If these items had been in the front yard, I bet people driving by would think it was a garage sale.
Everything now has a place in the cleaned out shed, and Brian is ready for a dump run.
The backyard looks so nice now!
As a reward, the guys wanted to go back to the ocean, and I joined them.
beautiful waves rushing to shore
This roped off area is for the sea turtle nests made by the females for depositing their eggs.
Remember the poem about 2 sets of footprints in the sand? Brian and Barney decided to recreate the first part of the poem. The city is bring in more sand as they get ready for summer visitors.
About 1/2 mile from their home is their favorite ice cream shop, Shark Shack Sweets. It’s a favorite walk in the evening with their dog Oreo. Barney is lactose intolerant so has to be picky at stores like this one. Luckily, they had a coconut “ice cream” treat made with coconut milk and flakes of real coconut.
We got to sit inside this Chick-fil-A, probably one of the few open franchises in the country. Can’t wait for ours to open.
On Mondays, Charlie’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill has a special deal on hamburgers, so on almost every visit we’ve come here for lunch. See the party of 3 at the table in front of us? Fun story.
We ordered some pins on Amazon that say we’ve been vaccinated. I figured if we wore them and went into a store without a mask, no one would be worried. I had a pin on my jacket as we walked in, and the woman with her back to us commented on it, and we chatted for a few minutes. Then I remembered that we had more pins in the truck, so Barney went out to get them. I gave a pin to her and another pin to one of the men for his wife. When we were ready to leave and called our server over, she said the folks at this table paid for our lunch since we had been so nice. I really enjoy connecting with strangers on our trips.
On our last Sunday in town, Jana’s parents and her uncle had us over for lunch after church. We so enjoy our time with Joe and Vicki.
St. Lucie Lock and Dam
Our campground is on the canal system that runs east and west from the intercoastal waterway to the Gulf of Mexico through Lake Okeechobee in the middle of the state. Along the way, 5 locks balance out the water so boats can go back and forth.
We’re at the far eastern lock on the St. Lucie River.
The US Army Corps of Engineers runs the lock system. They also provide most of the outdoor-based recreation in the country, managing over 450 projects on almost 12 million acres of public land. We’ve enjoyed boondocking on some of the land they oversee.
The lock is on the left in front of the orange barrels. Water is being let through the dam in preparation of storms predicted for the next day.
This is the waterway that is coming into the canal from the intercoastal waterway that surrounds Stuart.
Boats motor under the bridge through the pilings in the middle of the picture. We’re standing on a boat ramp that our son and his family have used.
One of our favorite boats moving toward the lock.
Boats on the right side are waiting to enter the lock. Boats on the left are coming out of the lock.
This boat is entering the lock for the 28 minutes that it takes for the water to match the water level where the boat is going.
This attractive boat is leaving the lock and heading toward Stuart.
This is our view of the campground as we turned away from the canal. Phipps Park is a pretty county park available to all. This summer they’ll be making all of the sites full hook-ups so we won’t have to empty the tanks half way through a visit.
It was sad to say good-bye to our Florida family. We look forward to seeing them next fall!
