A very wise person once said that summer vacation was not intended to give kids a break, but instead to provide enough time for teachers to forget why they wanted to quit teaching in May.I live for summer break. Unfortunately, summer seems to be shorter and go by much faster each year. What happened to the days when kids didn't go back to school until after Labor Day?! We now end around the last week of May and start back around August 10th (the students at least - a teacher pops in and out through the summer, is required to be at work about a week before the kids, and usually comes in even earlier to get the class ready before then).This summer my kids and I decided to have a vacation adventure. Instead of planning out every little detail and making reservations, which creates commitments that tie down a free spirit, we decided on a few places we'd like to see and set out with the RV to find them and anything else along the way. The one place that we did decide to make it to was the Atlantic coast. Unfortunately, the scheduled lives of others hampered our spontaneity and lack of reservations crushed that little dream of ours. BUT, that did not stop us. And neither did beach rats. Yes, unbeknownst to us, and perhaps some readers out there, there are places along Florida beaches that host a wide variety of wildlife. At one stop (this ended up being a one nighter coincidentally), the rats came out to watch us set up camp. We were camping right at the beach: it was the beach, sand dunes, and then us - oh, and the beach rats. We could actually hear them thump around in the palmettos and even on top the camper rooftop late in the evening. But hey, we wanted adventure.We also stayed at Florida Caverns State Park, which I highly recommend, and toured one of the only caverns in the state of Florida that is high enough above sea level to actually walk through. The park has many nature trails; one of them takes you through another smaller cave tunnel. Do beware of black widow spiders however. Being the good cub scout mom that I am, I demonstrated to my son the importance of taking a broom to sweep around and under the picnic table before sitting down. I had no clue that I would uncover one of the largest black widows I have ever seen! I should have taken a picture of it but at the time all I could think of was, "kill this spider!". Did I ever impress my boy. I am now super spider killin' mom.About an hour away from Florida Caverns is Ponce de Leon State Park. You can't camp here but the natural spring is wonderful to swim in. They have even constructed cement steps leading into the spring so that you can enjoy nature without too much trouble.
All in all we had a great two weeks, even if we didn't see the Atlantic. I have to say that for me, the best part of the trip was being with my kids and watching them have fun - from my oldest to my youngest and even my precious little grandbaby (made 5 months on the trip). What is really important is family spending time together. And there's always next summer. We have all school year to anticipate it!
All in all we had a great two weeks, even if we didn't see the Atlantic. I have to say that for me, the best part of the trip was being with my kids and watching them have fun - from my oldest to my youngest and even my precious little grandbaby (made 5 months on the trip). What is really important is family spending time together. And there's always next summer. We have all school year to anticipate it!
