Earlier this month my husband, Kyle, and I took a 10 day trip to down to Florida where Kyle went to a firefighter conference to learn about machinery rescue with our dog and camper in tow. I was quite nervous for the drive, considering the last time I had driven that distance was when my family drove home with my brother, sister, and I three deep in the back end of an Astro van looking like lobsters (I burned SO easily when I was younger). Thankfully, we didn’t end up looking like lobsters this trip so the drive wasn’t quite as miserable! 😉
The first stop in our travels was to Prattville, AL, just north of Montgomery, where we stayed at the sweetest little RV park. You know, most people go south in the winter to get away from the cold and snow, but there was actually snow on the ground when we got to the RV park and the low that night was 28. TWENTY EIGHT! Nevertheless, we had fun and used that night to decorate the trees that I had put in our camper and get into the christmas spirit. Even though we’ve gotten a lot done on our camper we’ve still got a little bit more work to do until we’re totally finished with the interior of our camper!
We woke up early that morning to finish our drive down to Pensacola, FL! While we were in Pensacola Kyle attended a machinery rescue class and I enjoyed the quiet time listening to the waves gently crashing on the shoreline. It was a little cold while we were there (lows in the 40’s) and we actually saw people in parkas walking around the campground! Even though it was a tad chilly, we were thankful that we weren’t experiencing the old man winter that we know from Indiana!
Our campsite had a beautiful view of the beach, and Trapper had the absolute best time visiting the beach for his very first time. He found so many new smells and birds to watch! There were a few families with little children staying at the same campground, and Trapper made quick friends with them on our walks and they gushed every time they saw him.
Funny enough, we felt a little bit like the “cousin Eddie” of the bunch and just about had the oldest camper on the grounds. (Not even kidding, I took a Buzzfeed quiz and learned that I’m the cousin Eddie of my family. Who knew?!) We learned during our stay that most of the people there lived in their RV full time so their campers/RV’s were really nice and big, which is totally understandable. It was just really hilarious to look at the big, huge campers around the grounds and then stroll up to our little abode that barely took up half the length of the pad!
Next, we went a little farther south (east, really) and stopped in Destin, FL. We had the best weather there and our site had the best view of the water. It was so wonderfully relaxing to open up all the doors and windows and actually hear the water gently lapping the shoreline. Because our site was also at the end of the loop in the grounds, everyone who walked by ogled at sweet Trapper and gave him lots of love. He was certainly in heaven with all of that attention! He even got to make a few new dog friends and play with them.
Our final destination was Gatlinburg, TN, where we got to see the most beautiful light displays everywhere we went! There were even displays set up right behind our very own campsite. There, Kyle introduced me to Krispy Kreme hot donuts (where have those been all my life?!), we drove around to the different vantage points in the Smokey Mountain National Park, and we visited the cutest boutiques and stores. Gatlinburg around Christmastime is someplace that I’d love to return to again in future years, and it was a wonderful way to end our trip!
