Back to Van Life: Virginia to Florida!

Oh boy.. didn’t I say in my last post that I shouldn’t let a month go by in-between blog posts? Yeah, I obviously have missed that goal!

Well, suffice it to say, we are solidly back to van life since leaving Y-Not safely behind in her winter storage location in southern Virginia.

And it’s been non-stop adventures since, with very little down time – which is needed for getting these posts out. A common problem we have with van life, as it’s just so much more hyper mobile for us.

And on that note, I’m also releasing ourselves from the expectation of producing videos while we’re in van mode. We simply have found we just lack the open time & motivation to film and create RV videos anymore (besides, boat videos are so much more scenic to share!).

There may be some sporadic videos and lives that pop up this winter, but we’re not aiming to create travel segments like we do when we’re cruising. So, no video companion for this entry.

Ok, so let’s get you caught up. For time line context, we left Chesapeake, VA on November 8 and this journal entry will take us through December 6.

First Adventure: Outer Banks of NC (OBX)

In all our 18 years of nomad life, we have never transited the Outer Banks by any modality – so when plotting our southward expedition, we decided it was well past time.

First stop was of course the Wrights Brother National Memorial in Kitty Hawk – a mecca for aviation enthusiasts. The birth of flight. The memorial is incredibly well done, telling an inspiring story of perseverance that changed the world in so many ways!

We next explored Jockey’s Ridge State Park – a shifting huge sand dune that we got to hike all over at sunset!

And speaking of sunset – it’s coming awfully early these days, cutting these explorer’s days shorter.

So we headed to Oregon Inland Campground, part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore where we had a reservation for the night. It’s a decent enough campground, but really nothing special other than a waypoint.

We picked up some amazing pizzas at Nags Head Pizza Company on the way – we were absolutely smitten with the hand written notes of inspiration & love inside the box!

In the morning, we ducked across the way to walk around Bodie Lighthouse, which was already closed for the season.

As we continued to make our way south down the Outer Banks of North Carolina – we loved exploring the beauty and remoteness!

Pea Island brought sand dunes that nearly covered the road (and apparently, many now are after another storm passed through shortly thereafter).

We made our way to Hatteras Island, and walked around the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse grounds. The lighthouse is undergoing extensive renovations and isn’t open for tours. But she’s going to be a beauty when done, including a brand new replica of a 1st order Fresnel lens.

As we knew the campgrounds on the island were wide open (and due to shut down for the season any day now), we decided to do first come first serve and pick our spot onsite.

The Cape Point campground near the lighthouse is kinda generic – so we passed and headed to Frisco Campground.

Frisco has much more character built into the terrain with lots of hills and trees separating sites. We picked one with pretty good visual privacy from other sites – which we always prefer.

There are several hiking trails here to explore, as well as paths to the beach – which we took advantage of for Sunday Runday!

And then we continued southward to Ocracoke – which requires a free ferry ride to get to!

After a ferry ride from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke, we found ourselves a nice spot at the Ocracoke National Park campground and paid for two nights. Our final stop in the Outer Banks of NC.

There’s always a transition phase for us when moving between boat & RV life. A bit of whiplash that happens when you’re used to life at 7mph and now moving at highway speeds. All that preparation, moving stuff and starting a new chapter.

And this was just the place to let it all catch up and wash over us with the crashing waves of the ocean.

The campground is about 3.5 miles out of town, but there’s a dedicated bike/walk lane that gets you there. We took that path often to explore this darling village only accessible by plane and boat.

As we’re in the off season, many things were already closed. But we enjoyed lunch at the brewery, seeing the lighthouse and exploring trails.

And we had the most amazing breakfast tacos at Eduardo’s taco truck before catching our ferry ($30) to Cedar Island to continue our migration south.

And mid-week – the ferry wasn’t full. It was a windy day with small craft advisories on the Pamlico Sound, definitely not conditions we’d even consider cruising in on Y-Not.

But on the ferry? Just a gentle relaxing rocking.

And we had a delightful wide open view right from the van!

So after wandering around all of the passenger accessible areas, we just sat in the van with the door open – enjoying the view while munching on some carrots and hummus.

It’s like a mini cruise vacation, in your own home!

So peaceful!

Once we docked, we headed to Swansboro for the evening to catch up with a new friend made on our way up by boat a couple months ago. We had such a good time catching up, we totally forgot to snap any photos.

Return to Wilmington, NC (or, rather, Carolina Beach)

We of course had to stop in the Wilmington area on our way down the coast. So we made a reservation at the lovely Carolina Beach State Park.

We had last stayed there in 2015 when we were boat shopping in the area.

Returning was bittersweet, so many memories of our summer in the area came flooding in. And top of mind was losing our Kiki. We almost couldn’t make the stop as we approached the area, reminded of all the roads we navigated for her final vet appointments and attempts at finding anything she’d eat.

And quite honestly, moving back into the van has been tough, with so many reminders of her everywhere we look. RV and van life always was her favorite, and we so miss her excitement as we’re pulling into our next stop and she was plotting what explorations she’d have.

But despite the challenges, we had a great stay to recharge a bit, catch up with a friend we made over the summer, get in some awesome hiking and finally got a chance to visit the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

Myrtle Beach & Beaufort, SC

From Carolina Beach, we took the Fort Fisher Ferry back to the mainland – now having had all three of our current nomadic vessels having crossed their wake at this exact spot (how cool is that!).

As we made our way south we stopped at Brookgreen Gardens just south of Myrtle Beach – an amazing sculpture and botanical garden that one could easily spend many hours wandering through.

We ended our day’s drive down Hwy 17 in Beautfort, SC where we had booked a Harvest Hosts overnight stay at a drive in movie theater!!

Our host at Hwy 21 Drive In Theater got us parked for the night in the back row of screen #1, where we caught a double feature of ‘Elf’ (delightful classic as always) and ‘Red One’ (new release.. eh).

But how cool is it to watch big screen movies right from our little rolling home?? And then sleep overnight right there? Definitely a unique fun experience!

And much to our surprise, the theater is right next to the Spanish Moss Trail – which made for an awesome morning run for Chris and, bike ride for me (I was feeling a bit under the weather, so took it easy).

Savannah – Skidaway Island State Park

I seemed to have picked up some crud along the way, so we opted to book 2-nights at Skidaway Island State Park in Savannah, GA on our way down the coast.

In looking back at our records – it had been over 14 years since we were last at this marvelous, gorgeous park!

We enjoyed just wandering around the trails, a little light running, biking and resting up.

There’s really not much to do other than that. As the entire rest of the island – aside from a grocery store (which is thankfully an easy walk/bike ride) – is behind gated neighborhoods. Including any dining options.

Florida – Anastasia & Blue Spring State Parks

We had a couple days to kill before our next planned arrival, so we booked up last minute sites at two favorite Florida parks – Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine, and Blue Spring State Park in Orange City.

We always love love love returning to St. Augustine – it’s probably the city we have returned to most by RV & boat without having any reason other than we love it (our other frequent stops are usually around people we love).

We were able to grab a last minute spot for the night, and got the bikes on the ground to visit Osprey Tacos (amazing!) and strolling downtown.

Blue Spring was just a quick stop with an unlevel spot. Which reminded us how we continue to love our Flat Jack inflatable leveling bags (sold by Vanlife Outfitters). Our friends at Mobilemusthave.com recently also sent us Viair’s battery operated air inflator which has been a perfect mate for the airbags.. and what we carry in our bike bags!

Sanford Homecoming?

Of course any visit to Florida will always include returning to Sanford. One place in all our 18 years of travels that has ever felt like ‘home’. Thus why we ended up velcoed there as a basecamp for nearly 4 years.

We left our slip behind in late April as we resumed our Great Loop aboard Y-Not. This time we returned as visitors by van for a few days.

We immediately hit many of our favorites – Theater West End for an amazing performance of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens for the Asian Lantern Festival (always magical!), many of our favorite restaurants and our timing aligned with the ‘Bad at Business Beer Festival’ (the bad part is that they don’t charge anything.. FREE BEER!).

We also got caught up on some medical appointments (clear of skin cancer!), did some provisioning and reconnected with many of our dear friends. One of whom has perfect van parking in their back yard for our visit.

Sanford has access to so many amazing bike trails that can get you around the Orlando area. And during our time there over the past years, we explored many of them with our biking buddies Theo and Pete.

But there was one trail we never got around to – the East Central Regional Rail Trail, a portion of the Florida Coast to Coast trail, out to Titusville.

At ~38 miles each way, it’s feasible to do out and back in one day. But overnight seemed more sane.

So this is the adventure Chris picked for his birthday!

We started the morning with a ride around Lake Monroe to catch up with Theo, had breakfast in Osteen – and then we parted ways, with us continuing on to Titusville.

It’s a completely dedicated trail the entire way, some miles from any road. And then, you’re in the heart of downtown Titusville.

We booked a room for overnight, rendezvoused with friends Amanda & Jesse who were serendipitously were in town too – and then biked back in the morning after breakfast.

We were too exhausted to get up at 5am to catch a SpaceX launch.

All and all, a 90 mile adventure.. lots of exercise, lots of great food and lots of time with friends! Can’t beat that!

Thanksgiving with Family

Family is so important to us – so a lot of our timing coming to Florida after storing the boat was for the holidays.

We are so blessed that our parents are friends too, and both live in Florida. So we never have to choose who to spend time with. We all just converge and enjoy!

And bonus.. Chris’ aunt has moved to the area too. So we get to see more of the people we love!

Thanksgiving had a lot to be thankful for, for sure!

And of course, we were gearing up for our big day at the end of the weekend. Our marathon! Having our family’s love and support in that meant the world to us.

Space Coast Marathon!

After Thanksgiving with family on the west coast of Florida – we needed to get across the state to Cocoa to pick up our race bibs for the Space Coast Marathon & Half Marathon. For we both were running a marathon this time!

This would be Chris’ second (he did his first for his 50th birthday two years ago), and my first (I did my first 1/2 two years ago as well).

And we’ve both kept at regular running since! It’s such a wonderful way to explore all the places we visit.

Like two years ago – we ran the same race, it’s a fabulous mostly flat waterfront course and so well organized. We parked in downtown Cocoa Village overnight in the van – which is PERFECT for an easy race line start and finish!

We loved poking into the shops and exploring after picking up our packets, grabbed dinner at a Thai place to load up some carbs and enjoyed a show at the Cooca Village Playhouse – which helped keep our minds off what we were about to do to our bodies.

And then, we were up early for a 6am lift off! It was RACE ON!

We both crushed our personal expectations for this run (and I freaking ran my first marathon!!!!), and there were lots of tears of joy at the finish line.

We both have written personal recounts of our marathon adventures that may turn into a dedicated blog post, as we did two years ago. We’ve heard from so many in sharing of our fitness journey who have been inspired to pursue their own.

Naked RVing & Hot Tubs – Cypress Cove in Kissimmee, FL

So what do you do after running a marathon? Go to Disney World?

Close (proximity wise), but not quite.

We booked instead a 3-night stay at Cypress Cove Nudist Resort in Kissimmee (so thus, no photos!)

It had been far too long since we had gotten our naked on, but that really wasn’t the reason for this visit. It was HOT TUBS!!

Nothing feels so great after a long run as lots of soaking.. and unfortunately, we left ours behind on Y-Not. And not dealing with wet swimsuits in a van was a huge bonus.

It was actually too chilly for much other nakedness .. so unlike our last stay, we didn’t partake of naked dining, paddle boarding or such. And nor were others. But Chris did get a naked recovery run in.

We mostly just rested, recovered and got massages at the onsite spa.

Next Up – A Cruising Adventure!

After some hot tub soaking, we drove to Miami, got Blooper safely (?) parked and embarked on an adventure of a different kind.

A cruise!  And one in which we didn’t have to handle navigation, docking, engine maintenance, cooking, cleaning or pumping our poop.

We’ll be back later with our thoughts of our first experience aboard Virgin Voyages (kid free!).

Real Time Update

We’ve wrapped up our time in Florida, and are now westbound to Texas for Christmas with more family. We haven’t fully decided what is next after that.

Traveling without Kiki in the van has been tough on us both, so we’re not sure if returning to Zephyr and the ‘Cat-sita’ in Benson, AZ is what is calling us this winter. Both were just so much.. her, and we don’t know if we can face another round of de-catting another two shared living spaces that have so many memories so soon (this is definitely a downside of a nomadic fleet!).

And, we’re honestly really enjoying forms of travel that just weren’t possible with an aging cat – such as cruises and overnight cycling trips. What else might be possible now?

So we’re considering options for other adventures until it’s time to return to Y-Not and resume our Great Loop this spring. If you have ideas or opportunities, please send them our way – we’re considering everything from monthly rentals, housesitting / petsitting to international travels.