Modern Nomads: Florida

All I can say so far to our family and friends is WOW! Now I would not like Florida if it were the summer temperatures of 110 degrees and 100% humidity but right now in October it is beautiful. After checking in at the Wildwood KOA we spent a week looking around and found this funny little 55+ community that was just up the road and it was hilarious. All the older people have custom golf carts ad they have their own little highways and of course multiple golf courses. We pulled into the Villages thinking it was family orientated but no luck, all the entrances to the housing areas were gated but the shops and stores around the Villages were open to the public but lined with golf carts. It looked like Sturgis during bike week and our photo will be uploaded soon.

Moon Rise the first night in WildWood

Pool with the Camper and Truck in the background

We were able to get time off of Laura's job to go down to Tampa and pick up Cyndi at the airport and checked out Bradenton for a couple of days. Cyndi let us stay at the apartment in Bradenton and took us to the beaches on St Ana Maria Island which had those white sandy beaches and the water was as warm as a bath. We got to see lots of fish swimming around us and tons of shells which all of you will be receiving for Xmas in various art projects from the kids so act surprised. Laura and Cyndi decided to send our resume out to a few of the campgrounds around this area and we got a hit from Pine Island who needed a maintenance guy. After seeing the place and comparing the two campgrounds Laura and I decided that the Pine Island KOA was a better fit for us and our kids needs.

Hey, Give me the boogie board!

Yes, thats Aiden with a bucket on his head in the ocean!

I know that a bunch of you are getting gealous back in Colorado as you freeze but we wanted you all to take this journey with us so that means you ahve to see everything that we do. After making the decision to go farther south to Pine Island we left our Wildwood friends and have since taken residence up with Dad and Cyndi in the Apartment until the 1st, they have been most gracious taking us in during their vacation to Florida. Thanks to Beth, Laura has been working a ton on her online job so we are taking it easy for the week here in Bradenton. We found a great National Park just 10 minutes from the apartment which we checked out yesterday and it just so happens to fall into jacobs explorer corriculum. The park is none other than De Soto National Memorial and thanks goodness its open with all that garbage in Washington on hold for another month. We spend the morning learning about De Soto's 4 year exploration for the southeast and how he died here in North America.

WE had never seen a tree like this!

Learning to be a conquistador!

Boardwalk over the marshlands in the mangrove trees

Did I mention the park is on the coast!

Spanish moss that really isnt Spanish or Moss!

Checking out the Spanish settlement!

One more badge under the belt!

Today we spent the morning on a fishing charter that dad and Cyndi took us on for our birthdays and it was awesome. Jacob and Aiden were able to pull in the only Red Grouper's that we could keep and of course they out fished dad and I. Now I am not one to complain but I think the captain was putting something different on their hooks but I let it go since the boys had a blast learning about fish and of course fishing. We saw lots of large jelly fish floating all around the boat and caught enough fish to feed us all for the next two days.