''Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.''
Rabindranath Tagore
We are coming to the end of a year that has been full of 'cloudy' moments. As Christmas approaches, we, like so many of you, just want to enjoy some family time. And we want to enjoy the holidays in the safest way possible. For that reason, we have been trying to stay as socially isolated as possible during our two week trek from Arizona to Florida. We are grateful that traveling in our van has allowed us to maintain the social distancing that becomes even more important as Covid cases continue to rise. At the same time, there has been a lot of 'together' time, as I am sure many of you can relate to. But I'm not going to complain. As we walk the beaches together, there is always something beautiful on the horizon.
Our first stop was a three day visit to Fort Pickens, located along the Gulf Island National Seashore. Located across from Pensacola, Florida, this area was originally the site of a military fort that defended the bay and nearby navel yard from the Civil War era until WWII. During our first visit here five years ago, we fell in love with the lovely long beach that wraps around the tip of this island. A couple of months ago this area suffered damage from Hurricane Sally. Despite the fact that they lost a number of trees in the campground area and the fishing pier was in shambles, the beaches are still pristine. The campground had just reopened the week prior, so there were still quite a few empty sites ... making this an easy area to enjoy solitude along with the colorful sunsets.
Our next beach stop was a place that we explored during a day trip there a few years ago. St George Island State Park boasts nine miles of undeveloped beaches and dunes with Apalachicola Bay on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. We were delighted to find ourselves surrounded by some of our favorite Florida greenery, We had the trails all to ourselves as we walked through the pine forest and along the beach.
It is often tricky to find campsites on the weekend, but Doug found an opening at a 'new to us' Florida state park. We traveled slightly inland to check out how many manatees have arrived at their winter home at Manatee Springs State Park. From the park's boardwalk, we could see some manatees hanging out in the area where the park's natural spring feeds into the Suwanee River. Renting a canoe was the perfect way to keep our social distance from the many other park visitors while getting 'up close and personal' with these gentle sea creatures.
Something New and Mighty Tasty at Chris' RV Cafe
Traveling these two weeks while maintaining safe social distancing has, for the most part, been very easy for us. By staying in public campgrounds, we enjoyed campsites that were typically more spread out than private RV parks. Since local masking requirements vary greatly, we stick to Walmarts for our grocery needs as they have a nation-wide masking policy. And as much as I miss the occasional treat of eating out, I am really having fun creating some delicious meals in my little kitchen.
I have been researching one-pot meals, and the other day I came across a new recipe that was a great hit (as well as easy to make) ... Cheesy Black Bean and Corn Quinoa Taco Bake. Doug was raving so much about the nice amount of spiciness that I don't think that he even realized that it was packed full of veggies and high protein quinoa. Best thing about this recipe is that I can 'doctor' up the leftovers to create many new-to-Doug meals. It's great just in a bowl with some of the optional toppings, or you can ...Wrap the filling in a tortilla to get spicy quinoa burritos. Serve over salad greens for a quinoa taco salad. Spoon over a brat for quinoa chili dogs. The recipe is here. All you spicy food lovers out there ... let me know what you think.
We decided on one last beach stop in the Tampa area before we go 'home for the holidays'. A couple of years ago, we found a food truck in this area that serves 'the best' lobster rolls according to Doug. I have never really developed a liking for lobster, but I happily went along with my 'lobster groupie' in order to enjoy a few more beach walks. What a bonus to not have to cook my first meal in the last two weeks! We stayed in the quiet yard of a Boondockers Welcome host, and while we would have loved to visit with our host, she understood our need to social distance. The brewery had a large outdoor patio where we enjoyed a craft brew, lobster roll, and blackened shrimp mac & cheese. This meal reinforced Doug's desire to put Maine on our travel route next year!
While traveling is still thought of as risky during these times, we feel a little safer since we are able to travel with (pretty much) everything that we need. It is nice to not have to use public facilities very often. I enjoyed trying some new recipes as well as 'tried and true' classics. We enjoyed a daily routine that included a couple of walks each day. But during this time, this kind of travel also leads to a lot of time together ... and as you well know, a few 'challenges' ...
Despite all the 'togetherness in tight quarters' during these cloudy times, we try to stay positive. For as the first Covid vaccines begin to be distributed to our front line health care workers and our most at risk citizens, we know that ...
Something Beautiful is on the Horizon!
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