Florida Sunshine

November 2, 2015
After experiencing the beautiful autumn colors of the Appalachian mountains, we now find ourselves back in summer. As soon as we approached the Atlantic ocean, everything changed. We went from the cool mountain air to the soft, silky humid ocean air. Our skin rejoices to the moistness.

Our pathway over the sand dunes to the beach

Dolly is parked next to the sand dunes in St. Augustine Beach, Florida. Unlike Southern Florida, where the beach is lined with tall hotels and apartment buildings, when you look down the beach here, you see nothing but sand dunes all up and down the coast. Behind the dunes are low profile homes and buildings. It gives the beach a more natural setting. The sand is more like powder than sand. We are living at the beach! We could get used to this.

An interesting feature of the beach at St. Augustine is that automobiles are allowed to drive on the beach. The sand is packed and easy to drive on. There's a one-way line of vehicles that drive down the beach looking for a place to park for their day at the beach.

Playing in the ocean

The ocean water is warm. I've gone swimming in the ocean every day of our visit. There is a long shelf, so it's easy to walk way out into the ocean and still be able to stand on the sandy bottom. Satch and Bebop joined me at the beach with Cheri. I went out where the waves were breaking and Cheri stayed at the edge of the water. They would run out to me with their up-and-down dolphin type of swimming. Then, when they got to me and a wave would start breaking, they would turn around and ride it back to shore. Bebop was particularly very expert at this.

Sunrise over the Atlantic

Because we were parked so close to the ocean, it was easy to get to the beach from our rig. We made it a point to be up for sunrises, which is a new experience for us who have lived on the West Coast. Instead of watching the sun set into the ocean, we now are watching the sky begin to get lighter and lighter and then the sun pops out of the ocean. Also, at night, Cheri would walk across the sand dune and sit and take in the steady rhythm of the ocean waves under the canopy of the nighttime stars.

Ponce de León stands guard at the Fountain of Youth

St. Augustine is a historic city. It is the oldest city in America settled in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. The city had a huge 500th birthday party will all kinds of festivities. Because the city has been around so long, the downtown core is full of history. The city has done everything it can to maintain and restore all of the historic buildings. We strolled through the downtown area walking up and down St. George Street and admired the beautiful architecture. Like New Orleans, there are tons of restaurants and bars up and down the street. Out of each one, live music filled the air.

Symrna display at St. Photios

We stopped in to visit the St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine. It is dedicated to the first colony of Greeks who came to America in 1768. The exhibit that was on while we visited was the Greeks who from Smyrna (now Izmir). That's the area of the world my family is from, so it was fascinating to see the display. My cousins Diane and Bill have done much genealogical research about our family roots.

Cheri has been friends with Jennifer since they were at Boulder High School together. She had a great time reuniting with her. We had a lovely time visiting Jennifer and her partner. I also connected with my cousin Jumpin' John, who lives in the area. He was on his way out to go back up to Maryland for a week, so we didn't get a chance to hang out.

We loved camping right on the Atlantic Ocean, and started fantasizing about what life would be like if we just lived in our RV. Then we could camp for a few months in Maine, then a few months in Asheville, then a few months in Florida, etc. Who knows what's in store for the long term. For now, it's time to pack up and move West. See you on the road!