We love it when Doug's friend Dave plans a vacation in the area where we happen to be. In the past few years, we have enjoyed exploring the Florida Keys, Tampa, Destin, and San Diego with him. Following his motto of "at least three activities a day", our days are filled with fun times while exploring interesting parks, beaches, and local attractions. That's just the kind of friend Dave is!
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| Bring on the sun and the fun! |
A visit from Dave means that we need to be ready for anything. Little did Dave realize that during his December trip to Ormond Beach, Florida, that he needed to also be ready for anything ... as he became a valuable part of our "moving crew".
It had been a stressful couple of weeks for us ... as we made the decision to sell the Wildebeest. Ads were placed on Craigslist and RVTrader resulted in various inquires. Unfortunately the majority of these inquires came from "questionable" parties trying to make a quick buck.
Arriving at Gamble Rogers State Park, we were looking forward to taking a short break from the hassles associated with selling an RV and were ready to enjoy Dave's visit which would certainly include lots of beach time. But three days before his arrival, we got our first "legit" inquiry from a possible buyer. Donny and Doug had been in communication a few times previously, and now he wanted to fly down to check our RV out at the end of the week.
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| At that point we probably should have been more optimistic that the sale would go through and started packing up our belongings ... but we just said a quick prayer and decided to take a beach walk instead. |
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| Activity #1 - A walk along the board walk ... |
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| ... that gave us some spectacular views of hundreds of manatees hanging out near the warm spring. |
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| Activity #2 - A canoe ride ... |
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| ... that brought us up close and personal with these beautiful creatures! |
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| Activity #3 - A stop at the World's Most Famous Beach ... |
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| ... and a walk on the Daytona Beach pier. |
Our prospective buyer was scheduled to arrive on Friday. With rain in the forecast, we got going early.
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| Activity #1 - A walk in the woods ... happy that the native gods were smiling on us by keeping the rain away so far. |
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| Activity #2 - A beach walk along Flagler Beach. |
Little did Dave know that Activity #3 would involve "not so typical" vacation fun. The prospective buyers, Donny and his daughter, Karen arrived a little after 1 pm just as it started raining. Tours commenced of the inside and outside of the RV. A test drive (in the now steady rain) resulted in an agreement of a sale price and a trip to the local DMV to sign the title over.
Which brings us to Dave's Activity #3 ...
The Wildebeest's new owners were excited about their purchase, and wanted to get on the road ASAP to start back home. By this time the sun was setting and the rain was pelting down ... and true to form, Dave sprung into action helping Donny return their rental car as Doug and I frantically packed up all our belongings.
No time to think about renting a U-Haul ... all our worldly belongings would have to fit into our two cars and be transported to the hotel on Ormond Beach where Dave was staying. What followed is
The greatest packing feat ever accomplished by two engineers!
Doug and Dave managed to fit all our worldly possessions into Dave's rental car and our Honda CRV. Donny, a truck driver who is used to driving at night and in heavy rain, drove off shortly after 6 pm. I had mixed emotions of sadness and relief as the Wildebeest headed north towards her new home in Maryland. It's been fun, but I know in my heart that we are ready for something new.
Meanwhile, my heroes were drenched, exhausted and starving. Time reward them with ...
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| Activity #4 - Dinner, a Dew for Dave, and a craft beer for Doug while planning for the remaining days of Dave's visit. |
We found a room at the hotel where Dave was staying and were prepared to unload the stash from both cars into our room. Our plan was to rent a U-Haul to get our belongings back to Doug's parents after Dave's vacation was done. But our plan was not going to hold with Dave. He insisted that we leave the cars packed and drive them both to Ocala the next morning, unload them at Doug's parent's home, drive back to Ormond Beach, and continue with our "vacation" ... that's just the kind of friend Dave is.
Since Saturday started out on the rainy side, we felt a little less guilty about taking away from Dave's "sunshine time" by driving to Ocala ... not that he would have even cared ... that's just the kind of friend Dave is!
On our way back to Ormond Beach, we stopped at Silver Spring State Park to get in Dave's other required daily activities.
Grateful for all Dave's help, we hoped to make sure that his last three days in Florida were jam-packed full of fun exploring. I think that we succeeded.
St Augustine Lighthouse, The City of St Augustine, and Anastasia State Park
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| Sunrise on the beach before more rain moved in. |
Since Saturday started out on the rainy side, we felt a little less guilty about taking away from Dave's "sunshine time" by driving to Ocala ... not that he would have even cared ... that's just the kind of friend Dave is!
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| After unloading the cars (Activity #1), the boys took a golf cart tour of the On Top Of The World Communities ... |
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| ... while I tried to figure out how we still had So. Much. Stuff. |
On our way back to Ormond Beach, we stopped at Silver Spring State Park to get in Dave's other required daily activities.
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| Viewing the springs from a glass-bottom boat, |
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| followed by a walk through the park made even longer by having to retrace our steps back when we found that the loop trail had flooded. |
Grateful for all Dave's help, we hoped to make sure that his last three days in Florida were jam-packed full of fun exploring. I think that we succeeded.
Daytona Beach and Ponce Inlet Lighthouse
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| Activity # 1 - Tour of the Daytona Speedway |
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| Ready to race your Porsche around the track, Dave? |
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| Fun Fact: Dave's home state of Michigan has the most lighthouses ... we are glad that he chose to explore one in Florida as Activity #2. |
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| 203 steps to the top ... Doug wants extra credit for this activity! |
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| A walk to the Ponce Inlet Jetty and back along the beach rounded up our three activity day. |
St Augustine Lighthouse, The City of St Augustine, and Anastasia State Park
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| A road trip north to St Augustine brought us to Florida Lighthouse #2. Climbing its 219 steps to the top was a fun Activity #1 for the day. |
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| St Augustine lays claim to being the oldest city in the U.S. A walk around Castillo de San Marcos ... |
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| ... and through the cobblestone streets to the oldest house in St Augustine gave us a historical Activity #2. |
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| A beach walk on Anastasia State Park nicely finished up our three activity day! |
Canaveral National Seashore and New Smyrna Beach
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| Up early to catch the sunrise over Canaveral National Seashore ... |
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| ... and hopefully catch a scheduled NASA launch. Fingers crossed for this perfectly timed Activity #1! |
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| Alas ... the launch was scrapped at the last minute. The hundreds of spectators, like these gulls, quickly scattered, so we had the beach all to ourselves for Activity #2 ... a beach walk and search for seashells. |
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| Knowing that his beach time was coming to an end, we went to New Smyrna Beach for Activity #3 ... |
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| ... enjoying another view of Ponce Inlet Lighthouse across the channel. |
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| Seeming to know that it was Dave's last beach day, the dolphins gave him a farewell performance. |
We are so grateful for the ways that Dave used his "vacation" to help us out with the stress of moving out of the Wildebeest ... and renew our spirits with a few days of fun at the beach!
But ... That's Just the Kind of Friend Dave Is!
Until next time ... Make it a fun Three Activity Day ... and enjoy the adventures in your life!
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