HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Tim and I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas spent with friends and loved ones and good health and wisdom for the Happy New Year to come. I have recently posted additional pictures from a few of our latest trips onto FLICKr. Enjoy . . .

Anastasia State Park (day trip visit) - St. Augustine, FL

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wymer/sets/72157628529262643/

Koreshan State Park - Estero, FL

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wymer/sets/72157628529729595/

Little Talbot Island State Park - Jacksonville, FL

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wymer/sets/72157628530675101/

In just a few short weeks we will be taking off again to Florida's Panhandle.

Stay tuned . . .

Gloomy Departure

Rain. Lots of it from all night. Mud and a wet dirty dog.

Breakfast 4

Fifteen people this morning ...

Got Christmas lights?

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011

Beautiful. Untouched.

Florida. Beach.

Little Talbot Island State Park

This will be a great weekend to enjoy here in the campground with friends and family. The park is beautiful and it will be good campfire weather.

Little what?

Thats right . . . Little Talbot Island State Park. It's just located north/east of Jacksonville on the Atlantic Ocean. The Airstream is washed and we are all loaded and ready to head north. For the most part the blog for this trip will be pictures only. ENJOY!!!

WRAP'N IT UP

Once all our fellow Tin Can Tourists departed on Sunday morning Tim and I decided to depart as well. We had one more scheduled day there by ourselves but the house was calling . . . there was drywall waiting to be hung in the new closet. So we packed up and arrived home late Sunday afternoon. On our return travel home here's some of what we saw ....

Bright blue bucket
White Igloo cooler lid
Half dozen orange pendant flags on sticks
Orange cone
Convoy of a 1,000 mud buggies heading south
(I bet they are missing some orange pendant flags)
Goats on bails of hay
Long horn steer
Two buffalo
Half dozen not worthy vintage travel trailers
A random boat mold in a field being used as a water trough
Army trainer bi-plane
Red gas can
Pallet
Three Sand Hill Cranes along edge of I-4

(look out)

Monday was spent hanging the ceiling drywall in the new closet and we hope to knock out the top half of the walls today before the clock runs out on the lift rental. Before I foret I have a new product to review. It's the Coleman 4D CPX LED Duo Lantern. At first we were hesitant about the purchase since it's not what you would consider a traditional lantern. But now that we have used it we really like it. The lantern has two removable pods that can be used independently of the base. This is great if one person needs use of some light at a different location. You can just take off with one pod light leaving the base with a pod still on and attached. This one uses four D batteries and gives off really great light. Coleman also offers a QUAD LED Lantern (with four pods) but since we don't have kids and don't want to replace eight D batteries we went with the two pod lantern.

http://www.coleman.com/coleman/home.asp

Until next time safe travels to all and here's to pink flamingos, Airstreams and road trips!!!

VINTAGE OPEN HOUSE

Both Tim and I have been so inspired by each of these magnificent trailers and their owners. Here are just a few pictures from the TCT vintage open house . . .

1976 Scotty Gaucho

1964 Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier

(with a camping package)

1968 UltraVan

1955 Trottwood Cub

(1964 Airstream Bambi II in the background)

1984 U-Haul

(1953 Chevrolet Truck in background)

1950 Spartanette Tandem

Interior 1950 Spartanette Tandem

Interior 1950 Spartanette Tandem

1946 Spartan Manor

1974 Argosy

1974 Argosy

(Interior)

THE WEATHER IS HERE. WISH YOU WERE BEAUTIFUL.

The weather has been GREAT!!! We are having an amazing time with our fellow Tin Can Tourist members. It has been a very interesting event. This has been a great time to catch-up with old friends and meet some new ones as well. We are so very envious of those who full time in their vintage travel trailers. On Thursday we took it easy for the most part. In the afternoon we explored the Koreshan settlement on the Estero River. Then we did a mini pre-tour of the open house. This gave each owner an opportunity to give us a run down on the history of their trailers, the restoration they have done and what is in their future. Tim and I spent the evening at the settlement where all the vintage trailers are parked. Since we are not vintage we are camped out in the campground within the state park.

This will be a mini blog entry. So until then I will keep it short and this will be just a teaser for the vintage open house today . . .

1946 Spartan Manor

(owners live full time in this rig)

TACKY TIKI PARTY

Once we recovered from breakfast yesterday we got ready to attend the Tacky Tiki Party. Little did we know that there were contests involved and I won 3rd place in the ladies costume contest. Since there are no signed photo releases and since minors may view this. . . this is all you get . . .

I could have won the hula hoop contest as well but didn't enter because I had already won one contest and didn't want anyone to think I was hustling since it was for amateurs only. Plus I didn't bring my personal/professional hula hoop. Someone should have told me!!!

After the party we returned back to our camp site for another evening camp fire under a full moon. This morning was our early breakfast at Haney's just up the road. This gathering was one of our scheduled events and was defiantly, just slightly healthier than yesterdays breakfast. Then after breakfast we drove the coast over in Ft. Myers Beach and stumbled upon The Red Coconut. It's a campground on the beach of the gulf coast that I have heard of many times. The sites are really close to each other and I would love to stay there when it's in their slow season.

http://www.redcoconut.com/Index2.htm

This afternoon we will get private tours of the vintage trailers prior to them being open to the public tomorrow. Then this evening we have a pot luck dinner to go to at the settlement. Until then . . . safe travels to all!!!

Here's to pink flamingos, Airstreams & road trips!!!

WE LANDED!!!

As to where The Wymers are . . .

For those of you who guessed Kenansville, Florida ... WRONG. But for those who guessed Estero, Florida ... Ding ding ding ... You guessed correctly and for your efforts will receive a Christmas card in the mail soon.

We are at the Koreshan Unity Settlement which is now a state park. The drive down was easier than expected. By taking the back roads most of the way here it took a little longer but the scenery was much better. Located in snow bird country Koreshan lies between Ft Myers and Naples. The park is just off Corkscrew Road. The Koreshans believed that the universe existed within a giant sphere. We are here to meet up with the Tin Can Tourists who will be hosting a vintage RV show at the settlement this Saturday. Until then we have a just a few things to attend.

Upon arriving we are next to a row of six other Airstreams. We are not sure if they are a part of a local rally or caravan. Once settled into our camp site we took off for some seafood. The Florida stone crabs, oysters & grouper were the best at Rhodes Fish Market in Bonita Springs. When we returned to camp we had a lovely camp fire to finish off the night.

Now this morning consisted of the amazing camp coffee and a twist on Big Al's Famous Waffles ... Oh no she didn't ... Oh yes she did ... Brownie waffles for breakfast!!!

BREAKFAST OF TRAILER TRASH CHAMPIONS

OMG. That was insane. We are on a crazy sugar rush now. The peanut butter knocked those waffles out of the camp! I never sat down to eat . . . just stood up and ate 'em hot off the grill. CRAZY YUMMY IT WAS. Did we really eat all that? My tummy hurts now. I need some more coffee.

WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE THE WYMERS?

We are departing today before noon for our next expedition. This is one day earlier than originally anticipated. The Airstream aka/The Silver Palace aka/The Trailer Park Lounge will be in tow and Roxy will be on board as well. The last few days have been spent making preparations, getting the Airstream road ready and gathering supplies. Here are a few clues as to where we will be:

We will be heading south

Birds flock here for the winter

Our arrival will be prior to sunset this evening

Spanish explorers and pirates once sailed the coast here

We will be among two groups

For one group we will display a tin can on the hood of the truck to show we belong

The other group, a utopian community, has no more followers and they believed that the entire universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere

There will be seafood nearby

We will be next to a spring fed river

It will take a “corkscrew” to get us there

BIG hint . . . 26°26.0′N 81°49.0′W

Keep the guesses coming. Come back to this blog daily for our updates and to find out where we are while on this expedition:

http://airstreamn.blogspot.com/

For those new to my blog you can look back at previous trips by clicking on the dates below the BLOG ARCHIVE on the left side of the page.

Here’s to pink flamingos, Airstreams and road trips!

HUNDREDS OF PHOTOS FROM THE SUMMER OF 2011

We are still at home and after many painful hours of switching over to my new MacBook Pro . . . I have finally completed the task of compiling my photographs from our summer trip to Alumapalooza (at the Airstream factory) last month. These photos include all of our stops along the way. Please, if you have a moment, go to the following link to view the hundreds of photos I was not able to include in this travel blog . . .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wymer/sets/72157627114348236/

If you are having problems with the link . . . just go to flickr.com and search for my photos under Wymer4249. I hope to post most of my photos on this site in the future. I'll keep you posted on when we get the next trips finalized.

ENJOY!

SITTING IDLE

As of now the Airstream is sitting idle in our yard. Over the course of the last few weeks it served as our guest house for my sister who was in town visiting from Montana. Hopefully one day, when time and the pocket-book allows, we will be able to courtesy park at her place. We are currently still planning for our next trips to take this year. When we get those finalized you will be the first to know. So for now I will leave you with two things . . .

1. A link to the YouTube Alumapalooza 2011 video done a few weeks ago while Tim & I were in Ohio. See if you can spot us . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYh1WB83Q5U

2. A photo of a vintage Airstream I took a few years ago. Ohhhh . . . one day I'll have that fleet of Airstreams. Enjoy!