Back into the frying pan

Time to wrap up the X-America trip journal. (To start at the beginning of the trip - click here.) We've been in Florida for a few weeks already, but I'm just getting around to writing/posting this.  The trailer is tucked away in storage for the winter and we're planning our next steps.  But there's a little bit left to the story of how we got here.

Roadside BBQ joint in West Memphis

I left off the last time in Memphis.  After our roadside bbq lunch, we crossed the Mississippi and got a campsite at T.O. Fuller State Park just a few miles from Beale Street.  Of course I figured out how we could catch a bus to go downtown for a fun night out.  It worked - even better than I expected when the park ranger felt sorry for us walking down the street (a street without a sidewalk) on the way to the bus stop and gave us a ride to our connection.  Had lots of fun on Beale Street hopping from bar to bar and sampling lots of ribs and beer. And we marveled at the convenience of taking Uber back to the campsite - it was a first for the driver as well.

Friendly park ranger and our ride to the bus stop!

Our first Beale Street Beer stop - with live music, of course

Matthias on the Mississippi

We didn't have any particular destinations in mind for the rest of trip, but we did happen upon some fairly interesting places.  Our nextcampsite in Alabama was lovely (and lonely - we were the only ones there on that Halloween night) in mountains I never knew existed in Alabama, close to the Georgia border.  Then, as if on cue,  the moment we got into Florida,  it became unbearably hot and sticky.  We had some trouble finding the national forest campground I mapped out for us and I almost wish we hadn't.  The campground itself was not bad - next to a slow river - and although we were used to sites without electricity (we rarely plugged in at all), we REALLY wished we had access to A/C.  Matthias was annoyed by the campers (he dubbed "swamp people") who arrived before us (big family with rickety RV) and I was taken aback by the snake in the grass the host nearly stepped on while showing us where to park.   Despite the heat, once we settled in we made a fire (gotta have a fire!) and were almost starting to enjoy it when Matthias spotted a coral snake (poisonous!) which sent us running into the sweaty trailer.  It was a tough night for sleeping.

Alabama Campsite - just us and the leaves

Wild Florida Scenery - by the Suwanee River

Yes, Florida is hot...and weird.  But things  improved the next day - our last day on the road.  We had a nice drive along the coast and decided to live large at a state park campsite with full hookup. And, we enjoyed our A/C for just the second time ever.  We laughed about how we only used the air conditioning twice - on the first night in Leavenworth, Washington and the last night at Manatee Springs, Florida.  For the whole rest of the time we were cursing the fact that we were carrying around the A/C unit all those miles.

Upon arrival in Sarasota - PARTY TIME!

So here we are in Sarasota, waiting for my mom's big event - Bat Mitzvah and 75th Birthday party this weekend!  Looking forward to seeing the family and celebrating the milestone.  Then really looking forward to the next stage - Germany and Thailand/Cambodia!

Links to all X-America Trip photos
Part I
Part II