In mid to late June of 2019, my wife and I drove the RV to Florida.  My wife’s nephew is a Lt. Colonel in the Army and he was taking command of an Army Ranger Unit near Destin, Florida.  We made the trip without Titan and Choctaw because it was our first long trip in the RV, plus we were pulling the Jeep behind the RV for the first time.  Once we arrived in Florida, we were going to be gone a lot due to the festivities going on at the Army base.  We did not want to leave Titan and Choctaw in the RV for a lengthy period of time, so we decided to make the trip without them. Choctaw stayed at the pet resort that’s near our house and Titan stayed with a friend of ours who is also a K9 Law Enforcement Officer.

On the first day of the trip, we drove to Birmingham, Alabama and stayed at an RV park for the night.  On the second day of the trip, we got up that next morning and drove to Destin. We pulled into the RV resort on Miramar Beach around 2:00 PM.  We were a little late arriving due to a detour we had to take.  One of the bridges was being repaired so we had to drive about 45 minutes out of the way to another bridge so that we could cross over the water to get to Destin.  Needless to say, it was a long 45 minutes in traffic. When we finally arrived at Miramar Beach, we checked in at the RV park where we were staying.  Once we were escorted to our site, it took us a little while to set up and get organized.  After setting up, I looked like I had been in a shower because it as hotter than hell in Florida and the humanity was horrible. Needless to say, a shower was in order for me.

Since we had been driving most of the day, my wife and I decided to head to the beach and have dinner at one of the local restaurants.  The restaurant was right on the ocean and the view from our table was spectacular.  The restaurant was packed with family vacationers so the service was a little slow.  We didn’t mind because we were there to relax and take in that wonderful view.  When we finally decided to eat, the food was really good and we tried one of the locally brewed craft beers which was outstanding.

The next morning stated really early.  We meet my wife’s nephew at a location not far from the army base so that we could follow him to the ceremony.  It seemed like we drove forever before we actually saw another human being, but we finally arrived at the place where the ceremony was being held.  Like I said earlier, it was hotter than hell and a storm was brewing overhead.  My wife and I sat under a tent with the rest of the families and watched as my wife’s nephew took command of the Ranger Unit.  We took a lot of photographs and videos of the ceremony, but I didn’t want to include those in this post due to it being at a military facility. Needless to say, it was a wonderful ceremony and the storm held off.

We spent the next three days on the beach and doing a little souvenir shopping in between.  On Sunday, we started the long drive back to Arkansas.  My wife and I talked about stopping and spending the night somewhere, but decided to go ahead and drive home.  It was a LONG day and the weather was fine until we got to Arkansas. The storm from hell came rolling through and the winds were horrible.  I had to fight to keep the RV and the Jeep on the roadway. I can tell you that it wasn’t a fun experience, but it was “quality” learning experience.  I got us home safely and that’s all that mattered.

Next up, a trip to Colorado in the RV with my wife, Titan, and Choctaw!!!