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.

Getting ready to fish baby!

There is just one of the hundreds of Jelly Fish around us.

Jacobs's 20" Red Grouper

Aidens's 20" Red Grouper

Dad and I with the 8" White Grunts, man those kids killed us!

Team Hamilton catch of the day!

Waiting for the fish guts!

These cranes just take over when you get off the boat.

Massachusetts to Florida

So here we are, one our way to Florida to the next KOA and next adventure for the Hamilton Family. With the government shutdown the Hamilton's had to make adjustments to the plans. Since we were not going to stop in Washington DC we decided to go to our favorite campground at the time in Gettysburg farm PA. From there we went to see the covered bridge once more just in case the leaves were changing and to have some dinner. The next day we went to another of the sites that I wanted to see, Harper's Ferry in West Virginia. Now the national park was closed which meant we couldn't go into any of the buildings but it was still a great site to visit. Harper's Ferry is where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meet as well as where West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland state lines meet.

Shenandoah River

Gettysburg Bridge

Sunrise at the Gettysburg Farm campground.

     The next stop on the Hamilton train was Colonial Williamsburg where we stopped for the day. Laura mentioned this in her blog but I wanted to give my impression of the town. This was truly a wonderful place to visit with all the colonial characters walking around and working in all the stores and shops. I may have learned more this day than the rest of the family as I was not so up on colonial America.

Naughty Children

Shoe Maker

Store Owner

Cool Garden Trick

Making cotton thread

Dang British Governor

Unhappy Colonists

Kids learning the local games

Governors house entry hall.

     The next day of our trip was traveling through Norfolk Virginia headed to Virginia beach were we had a nice day basking in the sun and watching the kids play. The water in Virginia was not as warm as I had hoped but it was much warmer than Massachusetts. Another one of the things I have always wanted to see was the Chesapeake Bay bridge. This bridge is 20 miles long and goes under the bay for a mile in three places which I thought was cool. We got an unexpected bonus when we went to the end of the bridge and came back. They have a restaurant on the south end of the bridge and we got to see a wonderful sunset.

Air Craft Carrier

How'd she get to be so sweet

Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Dinner with the family

Our wonderful view of the sunset.

     Now, we made it through three states the next couple of days and stayed in North Carolina and Savanna Georgia where we tried to get some great pictures. It was raining pretty good and Savanna had a little flooding so no pictures other than the swans we saw at the KOA we were staying at.

Pretty

     Our last stop before heading to our next job at the wild wood KOA was a great little resort on the gulf coast of Florida called Natures Resort in Homosassa. We were on the bank of the river and were able to see many of this states great birds, a small alligator and a manatee.

They are so cute

Awesome

Small indicator attached to a Manatee which we got to see when it surfaced near us.

This guy came by the dock to say hi!

Sunset

     We were able to check out a small beach the next day and the kids were able to see blue crabs, hermit crabs, sea snails and even a live horseshoe crab that was trying to eat Jacob!

Horseshoe crab that fought Jacob

Snails & Hermit Crabs

Sunset

Jacobs first blue crab catch

Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine

So for our last outing before we left Massachusetts we went to see some leaves changing in Vermont, to have lobster in Maine and drive through New Hampshire. We didn't get to see a full change of the leaves but it was still very beautiful in Vermont.

Welcome to Vermont

Really a wonderful thing to see

I believe the full change would be something I really want to see.

Covered Bridge

Covered Bridge

     The bridges we have seen on this trip are something and I think if we stay on the road I think bridges are going to be one of the things we concentrate on. We didn't stay long in Maine or New Hampshire but were able to take in the beauty of each state.

Moving into New Hampshire

Lighthouse in Maine

     Our last stop of the trip was at Lowell National Historic Site where the boys received their 10th badge and learned about the manufacturing that was the center of this town. We were able to get this sunset picture as well on our drive home which was one of the best we have seen so far.

Learning the Time Cards

Learning the machines

Getting those badges

What a sunset