Time To Update

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted....almost as long as our last camping trip. So I thought I would add a quick update on what has happened the last few months.

It hasn't actually been since New Years that we camped. We did go for the weekend to Ft. Desoto again for President's Day. We didn't have that great of a campsite but it was waterfront. We only had one good kayaking day....Delena got to try out her new kayak she got for her birthday. She also had a friend come with us. We spent time at the dog beach and park and met another family with a beautiful blue merle Australian Shepherd. Other than the camper rolling on us while we were trying to hitch up and coming off the tongue jack (thankful for the trees on our site to stop it)....we had a great weekend. We love love love Ft. Desoto - even better than Ft. Wilderness.

Now onto our updates.

The biggest and most exciting news first. I had blogged before about "sharing" the Ford F350 Diesel Dually with my boss. He was allowing us to use his truck to tow the RV with. How quickly we became attached to it!! It is much more conducive to camping - carrying all the kayaks, fire pits, etc. Well, my boss sold his home here in Tampa. Bummer because we stored our camper there - under covered storage. That was so nice. However, he decided to just GIVE us the truck! That's right! He gave us - did not sell or charge us one penny - a Ford F350! So we are officially the proud owners! That was so exciting. Now the not so exciting part....older trucks = repairs and not long after it was official, we discovered a rather impressive diesel leak. My hubby always fixes our cars but he had never worked on a diesel engine before. After research, he figured out what the leak was and while he contemplated doing the work himself, he ended up taking it to a Ford dealer to get fixed. I can't tell you the last time we took a vehicle into the shop for repairs - it seems so weird. However, it will be as good as new and ready for upcoming camping trips.

Then we had to put a spring camping trip on hold because we ended up purchasing new carpet for the bedrooms in our home. Not only financially, but work wise as well. But the house is coming along nicely and I'm glad we did it. The carpets needed serious replacing.

And we have added 2 new kayaks to our fleet! For Caleb's 8th birthday, he got a green 10ft kayak. When Mark took him to the kayak store to get it, he surprised me and brought home a kayak I have had my eyes on for a while....the Ocean Venus 12 kayak-in pink! I am so excited to take them out - waiting for the truck to get fixed first though.

So --- upcoming trips. We have one planned on Memorial Day weekend to Wekiwa Springs State Park. We have heard wonderful things about this park and are super excited to celebrate the end of the school year here! The kids all got new snorkeling equipment for Easter so they can practice in the pool and at the beach before the trips. We hear that alligator and shark teeth are common to snorkel for in the springs!

June 7-9 at Lazydays Campground. This is a bit different as this trip is for me and a few moms who are planning co-op for next school year. My family will spend one night, so we can flush our tanks out, and then they will head home early Friday morning while my girlfriends come for a day of swimming, eating, and planning!

June 30-July 7 - Curry Hammock State Park in the Florida Keys! Very excited about this trip - the reason we are stocking up on kayaks!

August 31-September 3 - Fort Desoto Campground Site 132. We got an awesome site for this trip!

We may take a trip in October for our 16th anniversary and plan to go to Ft. Desoto for Thanksgiving week, just don't have it booked yet.

And that about sums up the last few months. Can't wait to get back out in our Passport!!