2 May - Arrived at Naples/Marcos Island KOA. ANG SEA #2 Chief Alexander, Visit to Marcos Island

 

Another great travel day in southern Florida!  The vagabonds are on the move again!  We bugged out of MacDill Air Force Base FamCamp this morning at 0848 hrs and arrived at the Naples/San Marcos Island KOA Holiday campground at 1336 hrs after driving 187 miles and two stops along the way.  There is something to be said about traveling on Sundays.  Traffic was negligible.  I-75 was smooth sailing.  We were sorry to leave MacDill as it was a really nice campground, especially this time of the year.  Less campers is better for us and even though the temperature is rising, the snowbirds are leaving so campgrounds are thinner.  But we must move on and Naples was calling our name!

Doreen and I both took note of the warning signs along the way, with both of us graduates of Northern University High School and our mascot being the panther.  Of course Doreen is freaking out with the though of a panther out there somewhere and little miss Liberty in the campground!!

We rolled into the KOA right behind a 45 ft long fifth wheel and there we sat for about 30 minutes. Apparently when they say check-in is 1300 hrs they mean 1300 hrs Eastern time... sharp!! They were on lunch break when we arrived and we will see you at 1 o'clock! Well OK!  So we loitered in the parking lot but that's OK. No issues.   Doreen found shade under a local palm tree and walked little miss Liberty a bit.  She investigated the "local's"!!

While she was checking out the local lizards I was checking out the bugs on my front cap that I had picked up on the way down.  We have a good ceramic coating on the cap so they will wash off fairly easy.  We have been warned about their acidity and we are diligent about keeping the front cap clean on our Alliance coach!

The KOA here looks pretty nice.  They have a nice swimming pool and they place appears to be well kept.  

Soon we were in-checked and led to our site, a gravel pull-through, full hook-up.  Nice level site.  Not too long but will due just fine.  Quickly we were unhooked, leveled and connected to utilities.  All is well.  

So after lunch we looked things over and decided to head on down to Marcos Island and check out the beach.  The drive was not long, though.  

We thought we might get lucky with it being Sunday afternoon/early evening but public access parking is very limited and vacant spots were non-existent.  Ugh!  Most of the beach is private.  I understand why that is $$$$ but it sucks for those visiting.  We maneuvered through two very tiny public parking areas and there was just nothing, so we headed back north in defeat.  

Doreen did find an area called Tigertail Beach and we were able to find a parking spot there.  We headed to the beach waded through the shoreline that was very warm, bathwater warm!.  No many shells here as this is a lagoon area and not right on the Gulf. 

We finished up at Tigertail Beach and headed back to the campground, stopping at the gas station on the way since we will hit the trail again in the morning driving east to the boat ride launch site.  After fueling we arrived back at the campground and a vehicle pulled into the vacant campsite next to us and someone hollered "Hello Doreen!"  We were honored to have retired Air National Guard Senior Enlisted Advisor CMSgt Lynn Alexander and his wife Shirley visit us!  

Chief Alexander was the Air National Guard Senior Enlisted Advisor, later called Command Chief, from 1977 when I exited active duty and joined the Air National Guard, until 1983.  Chief Alexander has remained very active and we have attended many leadership events together throughout the years.  My USAF/ANG career spanned from enlistment in 1972 during the Vietnam War through my retirement on 23 Aug 2015 - over 42 years total.  After exiting the active duty in 1977 I joined the Air National Guard.  I was so fortunate to have had opportunities to serve under great leaders like Chief Alexander.  That is also why we enjoy traveling so much, reconnecting with those with which we have served.  We are looking forward to seeing Chief Alexander again while we are here.  He also has a model aircraft collection that he has built that is incredible!   

As we said before, tomorrow we will take a air boat tour of the mangroves and the grasslands.  We are looking forward to that!  

 

Trip Stats:  

# States Traveled Through So Far This Trip: 7 (IA, MO, IL, KY, TN, GA, FL)

Baseball Parks Visited So Far This Trip:  2 (Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays)

Point to point travel miles:  1755 miles

  - Avg point to point travel miles:  176 miles

Vicinity miles:  679 miles 

  - Avg vicinity miles:  61 miles

Total miles driven:  2434 miles

Total point to point driving time:  37 hrs 33 minutes

Total fuel purchased: 230.395 gals

Total fuel cost:  $685.11

Average fuel cost/gal:  $2.975

Max fuel cost:  $3.289 (New Baden IL)

Min fuel cost:  $2.799 (Townsend TN)

Avg MPG:  10.86 miles/gal

# Nights at end of this stay:  57 (Includes Griffs)

Lodging cost:  $2309.52 (includes Griffs)

 - Avg lodging cost/night:  $40.52/night