Florida-relaxing and terrifying!!

[KyDan]

We just returned home to not too cold Kentucky after a whirlwind trip to
Florida. We were on the road 23 days.

We had some pretty good weather and some absolutely terrifying weather

1st stop Red Coconut in Ft Myer Beach. A well managed mix of permanent and short term sites. Very tightly packed but that was expected since it has
2 rows of sites ON the beach as well as many more just behind the beach road. WiFi was overloaded and very difficult to acquire or maintain for any length of time. Bath houses were clean and fairly well maintained but they
still use KEYS. Really??? ONE key per site and a $10 deposit. When I mentioned push button combo locks found on many other bath houses they acted like
it was news to them!
Our 3rd night there a TORNADO warning was issued in the middle of the night. It poured rain as hard as I've ever seen and got pretty windy but
the actual funnel cloud passed just north of Ft. Myer. Many homes damaged there but no damage I know of in our place.

2nd stop Hide-A-Way RV park in Ruskin. Near St. Pete. Also a mix of permanent and short term sites. Also very well managed. Not nearly as
crowded. We'd consider going back there some day. Also good bath facilities and something on the agenda every day. Don't miss the ice cream social every Saturday afternoon. They also have daily exercise and
weekly community campfire and on and on. Nice place!
Exactly one week after our scare at Ft Myer we had another TORNADO
warning!! Are you kidding me?? Middle of the night- high wind and pouring
rain with non stop lightning. This one missed us a little further but the
weather guy on TV was still pretty excited! Next morning we found a 4 inch 8 foot long limb laying on our picnic table just 2 feet from our roof!!!

3rd stop St. Andrews state park in Panama City Beach. This is a great
state park with miles of paved road to walk-bike plus the beach and bay.
We had a site with a beautiful bay view. At night the lights across the bay
reflected on the water along with those sail boats anchored out there gave
us a picture post card view.
Yep we had another TORNADO warning!! Again it was the middle of the
night. 3 AM. Non stop lightning- torrential rain and the "hook echo" passed
right over us. The guy on TV is hollering to take cover now. We got
up and got dressed with rain coats and boots on and flashlight in hand.
We were about to dash out into the monsoon and run for the bath house
when it hit. Wind and rain so loud we could not talk to each other. The TV
was on max volume and we couldn't hear it. Even with all jacks down tight
the trailer rocked like a boat and it was pummeled with pine cones and limbs and flying debris. Looking out a window we could only see a gray wall
of water. And then it was over...... we didn't die. Man oh man- is this
Florida or Kansas???

I'm taking my rig to the dealer next week to get a storm shelter installed.

And .... finally at our last stop in Top Sail Hill Preserve while preparing to
eat supper- Rita was taking her evening meds. Vitamins and calcium pills.
She got a calcium pill stuck in her throat. She tried to cough it up but it
wouldn't come back and when she gasped she INHALED IT!! OMG!! She just
sat there and calmly told me she had inhaled her pill. She could breath
normally but there was a little wheeze. I called 911 and Santa Rosa Beach
fire and rescue arrived in under 10 minutes. The paramedics checked her
out and convinced us she had not inhaled the pill. They said she would be
on the floor turning blue if she had inhaled a pill that large. (We showed
them one so they knew what it looked like.) They said they would take
us to the hospital but thought she'd just bruised her throat when the pill
"went down sideways". After about 10-15 minutes with no problems they
left and we stayed.
An hour later she started coughing. She could breathe OK but had to cough
every minute or 2. Then she said she could taste the pill. Over the next
couple hours she coughed up pieces of that damn pill until she was done.
The coughing subsided and she seemed fine.
We went to bed.
The next morning she coughed a little but felt fine and here we are 5 days
later with no symptoms. We know the pill was in her wind pipe. Thank
goodness it never blocked her air way!! It was a square pill. WHY would they make a pill that large square??? She's had trouble before and I told her to stop using that brand but she didn't want to "waste" them. Never again!! We're calling the maker to file a complaint and we will find another
brand that's chewable or smaller with an easier shape. Square pills.... sheesh.

We're home now- safe and sound. I won't talk about the guy towing the
double wide up I 65 at nearly 70 MPH who suddenly changed lanes from
the far right side all the way across 3 lanes to the left shoulder nearly
taking us out in the process......

We had some great times and some really good weather mixed with not
so good and boy did we give our guardian angels a work out!!

Stay safe out there!
Happy Trails!

[Steeljag]

Well, that was an adventure...lol! Good to read you, your wife, and the TT came through in in good shape!

[CaptnJohn]

Thanks for the trip info. We are in FL until the 7th. One tornado gave us enough wind/rain for a month but sadly we received more of both. Looking to make reservations for next year so your CG descriptions are helpful. I am shoe-horned into this site and don't want that again ~~ ever.

[KyDan]

Here's one of the boats we had admired just the day before... Looked like it
dragged it's moorings and ran into shallow water. When the tide went out it
was practically laying on it's side. This is Grand Lagoon as seen from our
door in St. Andrews SP.

[phillyg]

Sounds like to still had an okay trip in spite of the tornados. We were at home and alerted (smart phone) at 4am to take cover. It missed us but tore up some homes near Sarasota and killed a couple of folks in Arcadia. Must be that darned El Nino weather pattern.

[Platokidd]

TornadomagnetKyDan, thanks for sharing your adventures and it was a fun read.
Glad you left out the part about the double wide on 65

[ependydad]

KyDan, momma said there'd be trips like that,
Momma said,
Momma said.

Glad that you all made it through safe and sound.

[KyDan]

Gas in Fort Myers Beach- on the strip- was $1.68 gal. That and some
days we could do this (see photo) will bring us back again!

[aceinspp]

Wow what a read. Glade you all made it through the storms. Sounds like a lot of nice places to visit. I remember being in St Pete around 1992 when a Tornado came close lots of wind and I was on a boat lot looking. Back then I was living in KS and I said what I'm not there am I Later RJD

[CaptnJohn]

Red Coconut is a nice place to stay. My only problem is the sites are tight for backing a big 5er... not the best backer here

[KyDan]

Our site was pretty tight but my main complaint was there wasn't room to
park my truck.
We're paying almost $80 a day and they told me to park under my awning
or next door in the art center lot.
I parked next door and the next morning there was a note on my truck that
I was liable to be towed if I parked there again! Told them at the office and
they sort of shrugged sorry.... but didn't offer any help.
The site across the street as well as a couple dozen others throughout the park were empty so I parked on an empty site. I figured they could see
my hang tag and call me if I needed to move. It never happened.

Here's a pix of our rig at Red Coconut.

[CaptnJohn]

I'm going to be near so will be checking out another CG in FT Meyers tomorrow. Cannot beat the location of RC if you like the beach ~~but we live just a few minutes from a NC beach so not important to us. I prefer to have some space ~~ did not plan on going back and after your observation of office help (others had the same) I'll pass.

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

I'm going to be near so will be checking out another CG in FT Meyers tomorrow. .

Let us know what you think about that other CG.

[mcnabbwr]

We checked out the RC last year and again this year. They told us that we would need to drop our 5er in the road and they would place it onto the site with a tractor, NOT happening. I am not going to feel like sardines in a can. We are looking at the Gulf Waters resort.

[AquaMan]

We had stayed at RC for a couple years over the kids' spring break. The first year, they actually had me park sideways across 3 sites, because they didn't have any sites big enough. The following year we got the same site, but they changed it to make it a pull through, had 2 sites. It was very tight getting moved around, and had spotters on front and back. This year we are staying across the bridge at San Carlos RV park. Not sure how it is, but seems nice and is 1/2 the price of RC.

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by AquaMan

This year we are staying across the bridge at San Carlos RV park. Not sure how it is, but seems nice and is 1/2 the price of RC.

Like the sound of that! Please give us a report when you have time- from there or after you get back home.

[AquaMan]

Originally Posted by KyDan

Like the sound of that! Please give us a report when you have time- from there or after you get back home.

Will do. I have a friend that has a house on the island, so we can park there and walk to beach or the square. Dealing with the traffic is the biggest thing during spring break.

[BillScott]

Originally Posted by KyDan

We're calling the maker to file a complaint and we will find another
brand that's chewable or smaller with an easier shape. Square pills.... sheesh.

Go to Walgreens and buy your wife a pill cutter. They are cheap and really help. My mother used to have a problem swallowing large pills. The little pill cutters can cut them down to size, and it's a good idea to not try to breathe while your swallowing a pill. I've had small ones go down my windpipe more than once in my life.

[Steelframer]

Glad to hear the misses is doing better. I know all to well about those tornado warnings, my son was in Ocala Florida at the same time all that was going on.


TT-2015 Cherokee 274dbh TV-2011 Ram 3500 Longhorn Limited