Leaving Oleta River State Park

We just finished our volunteer stint at Oleta River State Park.  We had been at Oleta since early December and it feels just right to hit the road again.  After a few months in one spot, we can’t wait to travel again.

I finally was able to really enjoy my job at the Gatehouse.  There was so much to learn and it’s so fast-paced – but I loved greeting the guests – who, in spite of 40 seconds of interaction, I became friendly with.  One weekend I worked both mornings and it was very busy.  On that Sunday, there were four pavilions rented for large events and a day camp in session.  That meant hundreds of people entering the park in addition to the sunny weather bringing in many hundreds more.  I work with lots of cash, plus credit cards, so I have to be on my toes to be accurate. 

I think I mostly enjoyed the challenge of this job.  I’m happy that I’m physically able to stand on my feet for four hours and walk back and forth from the cars to the register.  I’m happy I have the mental capability to make change, answer questions, and still continue to smile.  I’ve had lots of support from the staff here and I’m grateful to them for all their patient help.

Doug has been involved in a maintenance project that has brought him some satisfaction.  He designed and built fold-down tables for the 14 cabins in the park.  The design is great and he managed to get them all installed before we left.  It wasn’t that easy since our cabins are very popular and he had to squeeze in the installations between check-outs and check-ins.  In addition to the washing machine, he has fixed a Gator or two, the front gate, a power source for the gate camera and still did a field shift once in a while.  You can be certain that when he was done with his shift, that area of the park was free of trash.

In February we were treated to a really nice Volunteer Appreciation Day. Our supervisor Chelsea rented a car to take us and another volunteer couple to Bill Baggs State Park. We were served a very nice breakfast and lunch and were given tickets for a lighthouse tour, a boat tour, beach chairs, beach umbrellas and bike rides. The park itself is beautiful with lush sandy dunes on a sparkling white beach. Doug and I spent our time walking on the beach and we rented a two-seater surrey (bike) to really get to see the park. There was an award ceremony and through that we learned about the other Southeastern Florida State Parks and some of the unique volunteer opportunities with them. It was a beautiful day that showed off the impressive contributions of volunteers in this state.

This last month we’ve spent more time with my brother Dan and his wife Lisa.  Dan has had some health issues but is improving.  He was able to walk to the beach on our lagoon last week with just a little stabilizing help from us.  We drove to their home in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea to indulge in Taco Tuesday at our new favorite restaurant –Taco Craft.  We also met his high school friend Nancy there and those tacos we all shared were amazing.  On our last night, Dan, Lisa and Emily came our way to eat.  We planned to eat at a Thai restaurant here in North Miami Beach but switched to our new favorite – Kabobji, a Middle Eastern Restaurant.

We discovered Kabobji when Doug’s brother, Nelson and his wife were on a few days’ layover in Miami on their way to Buenos Aires, the Falklands, and the Sandwich Islands.  We experimented with Kabobji’s and were excited to have such a great meal – fresh baked pita, luscious hummus, fluffy rice with toasted almonds, shwarma, kabobs, falafel, wraps – all delicious!  So good, in fact, that Doug and I went back the next day for lunch and then brought our family there again.  We are sorry we discovered it so late in our stay!

It will be hard to say good-bye to Dan and Lisa since we are not sure when we’ll see them again.  But we are hoping they take their beautiful RoadTrek to visit us in Arizona next winter.

Two years ago we spent 2 months in Florida and had beautiful weather.  This winter was not as good – much more rain and overcast days in between high humidity, which means more bugs.  We are still being bitten by no-seeums and are now seeing some mosquito bites too.  I have two fire ant bites on my ankles which are over 6 weeks old and still look scabby and itch.  So leaving this beautiful mangrove and sea grape jungle will mean our skin will heal and we won’t have to slather ourselves in lotions and oils just to exit our RV.

We will be saying good-bye to the staff and other volunteers here too.  We’ve made connections with some of them and hope they keep in touch.

One of the hard parts of leaving a long-term stay is getting the RV back to travel mode.  We found that when we are stationary we accumulate – extra food – more clothes – STUFF.  So a purge and a thorough cleaning had to happen before we left.  We ate whatever was in the pantry and refrigerator and I prepared food to freeze for easy meals on the road.  We made one last charity donation as we weeded through our closet, drawers and cabinets. 

We will definitely miss the free washer and dryer we had access to here.  The first two months we were here the washer wasn’t working, but Doug fixed it and we figure it saved us about $10 per week in laundry costs.  I will definitely miss that Doug left for work at the shop with a bag of dirty laundry and returned with clean laundry.  All I had to do was fold and put it away.  Once we are on the road, laundry is usually my job.  But I enjoy using the campground facilities when available.  That’s where I meet like-minded travelers who share their journeys and ideas with me.  Doug and I enjoy the times when it’s just us.  We settle into a gentle and comfortable routine.  But once in a while I need a little bit of conversation from someone else.

So it was a busy week of getting ready to leave, but the lure of the road ahead was great incentive as always.