A Happy Hive

The best in savings, home, food and travel

Help us plan! Heading west from Florida to Phoenix {February to April}

Shared

Florida_to_Phoenix-planning

We are currently tucked in near Tampa, Florida. Although we don’t have reservations past this Friday, we will are tentatively planning to spend the rest of January in Florida. . . we are enjoying the weather and the beaches so much more than I thought we would. We need to head back to Fort Myers next week to get our water pump replaced (it’s been ordered from Airstream) and after that we are free to move around the country. 🙂

Part of me wants to head back to the Eastern coast of Florida for some possible rocket launches in early February out of Cape Canaveral but then I’m anxious to get to the Emerald Coast and explore the panhandle, too. Choices, choices – what should we do? Maybe we’ll do both.

We have no time restrictions or dates – except I want to get to Phoenix by around March 20. My mom and dad are possibly flying in from Alaska to Phoenix to see us (and my grandma who lives in Mesa) and I really love Phoenix weather in late March and early April. We plan to spend around a month in the Phoenix area so I can spend some quality time with my grandma (and aunt/uncle/cousins).

And on the way to Phoenix we tentatively want to visit ::

  • Florida panhandle
  • Montgomery, Alabama – Jeremy’s brother and sister-in-law live here and we hope to spend 1-2 weeks in the area so the cousins can play together.
  • Austin and San Antonio, Texas – We have always wanted to visit this area
  • Socorro, New Mexico – Visit college roommate and her family

HELP US PLAN . . what cities, state parks, national parks, historical landmarks, campgrounds, attractions, restaurants along our basic route do you recommend! We aren’t set on this route . . . so we want your suggestions! We’ll drop pins on all the recommendations and we’ll calculate our routes trying to make the most of your recommendations. We have about 8 weeks to cover about 2,800 to 3,000 miles, depending on detours. . .

 

29 Comments

Dolphins Plus :: We swim and play with dolphins in a natural lagoon {Key Largo, Florida}

Shared

Dolphins-Plus-Key-Largo-Review

Today was our last day in the Florida Keys and we ended it with a splash – playing and swimming with bottle-nose dolphins in a natural lagoon at Dolphins Plus here in Key Largo, Florida. Less than 2-miles from our campsite at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park – this place is amazing!

Dolphins_Plus-Bayside-Location-Florida

Dolphins Plus has two facilities in the Florida Keys – one in Bayside (the location we went to) and one in Oceanside. Depending on the location you select, there might be different experiences available. You’ll want to arrive about 15 minutes before your scheduled reservation bringing your swimsuit and your towel. You can make reservations by calling the numbers listed on the Dolphin Plus website. 

The experience that we did was the Structured Swim with the dolphins. The whole experience takes about 2 hours – but I think you’ll find it goes by so fast because you’re having such a fun time. If you have children under 7 they generally recommend the shallow water experience, which also looks amazing, which has a minimum age requirement of 3.  But because our five-year-old is such a big girl (48-inches and can swim on her own) they had us do the structured swim. I would trust their judgement when they recommend a specific program for your family – they all look amazing and I know you’ll have a good time.

Wet-Suits-Ready-to-Go-Dolphins-Plus

We started by getting suited up in wetsuits and life vests and then we attended an educational briefing – where we learned all about dolphin anatomy, biology and behaviors. We were walked through some of the activities we’d do with the dolphins in the water and were brought out to the natural lagoon. About 15-18 feet deep the natural lagoon was about 71 degrees today (it was chilly today) but we were so warm in our wet suits we didn’t even notice!

We were the only people in the lagoon during the Structured Swim and we took turns doing various activities with the dolphins. Our trainer Kim was super patient and gave very clear instructions – so we always knew exactly what we should be doing – the dolphins did, too!

Dolphins-getting-acquainted

Hadley was a bit apprehensive when we first got there. But thankfully our trainer asked at the beginning if anyone was nervous and Hadley said she was. The trainer answered Hadley’s immediate question (Do Dolphins bite?) and explained a few more things . . .so Hadley quickly felt more at ease and after we got acquainted with the dolphins and she realized they were friendly – she was all smiles for the rest of the experience.

Kissing-Dolphins-Key_largo

I think one of my favorite activities was giving the dolphins kisses . . . .here Liam and I kiss the dolphins. . . .

Continue Reading…

4 Comments

Hadley’s Adventures : December 25 – 31, 2015 {Florida Keys}

Shared

Hadley-Smiles-Key-Lime-Restaurant-2Me and a wooden bird statue in the Florida Keys.

Hi, I’m Hadley. I’m 5-years-old and I am traveling around the country with my family. I got a digital camera from Santa for Christmas this year. Mom said I could share my pictures on our family travel blog, so I’m starting a series called Hadley’s Adventures and I will share my photos and stories with you.

All photos are mine (except if I’m in the photo!). All captions and stories are mine, too.

Sunset-Long-Key-State-Park-FLorida

This was taken at sunset at our campsite at Long Key State Park in the Florida Keys. I like the colors in this picture.

Long-Key-Beach-Other-View

This photo was also taken at Long Key State Park at our campsite. The brown stuff is seaweed and plants from the ocean. I didn’t like the brown stuff because it had bugs (sand fleas) in it. But I liked our campsite.

Continue Reading…

56 Comments

Happy New Year from the Clarke Family, our year in review. . .

Shared

Happy-New-Year-2016

Happy, Happy New Year to you! We are ringing in the 2016 at Bahia Honda State Park, here in the middle of the Florida Keys.  We’ve had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season here in the Keys – we can honestly say it’s been one of the best holidays we have ever had.

TODAY marks our 200th day on the road! When I did the calculations I was shocked that today would land on the 200th day. Time has flown by since we left Olympia, Washington on June 16, 2015. We’ve had our share of ups, downs, u-turns, milestones and breakdowns – but what a year it’s been!

Here are some numbers since we started traveling ::

Total miles driven: 12,730.8 miles
Total spent on gas (diesel): $2055.47 
Average mpg (diesel): 13.2 mpg
Average price paid per gallon (diesel): $2.58

Total # states visited: 25 states! Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida

Junior Ranger badges earned: 15
These are badges our kids can earn through the state and national park system for learning about the places we visit.

Total # of family and friends we have visited along the way : 40 (plus lots of extended family in Minnesota!)
Total # of speeding tickets: ZERO, we are slow pokes
Total # of times missing our exit (as in taking a wrong turn): Surprisingly only 5 or 6 times, probably because we are slow pokes.

Most miles walked in a day (as a family): 11.2 miles on Dec. 2 while at DisneyWorld
Total # of pounds of weight lost (between Jeremy and Heather): About 25 pounds and still going. .  .although our lifestyle is more active we are also enjoying things like lobster rolls, philly cheesesteaks, Key Lime pie and other local fare. The kids are growing like weeds – so going the other direction!

Total # of Costco Warehouse visits: 12 Costco stores in 12 different states. Same polish dog and pizza everywhere we go. 🙂
Total # of Target store visits: Ha! We lost count early in the trip. It’s our go to store on the road.
Total # of Airstream repair appointments: 4 (although the first one doesn’t count since they didn’t fix anything)

House-Contract-for-sale

Here are some of our highlights from this year ::

Preparation before hitting the road ::

  • Deciding for sure that we want to travel full-time January 6, 2015
  • Going to the Tacoma RV show January 10, 2015 to tour possible RV options
  • Purchasing our 2015 Airstream Flying Cloud 30 foot bunk model February 28, 2015
  • Purchasing our 2015 F-250 truck in early March
  • Researching and learning all about towing and owning an RV – purchasing things like a truck canopy, hitch, generators, solar panels, tools, etc.
  • Selling all our possessions and downsizing to only a 5 x 10 storage unit and our possessions in the Airstream
  • Having two garage sales, taking countless loads to Goodwill
  • Re-roofing our house, painting every room (and all the trim) in our house and staging our house for sale
  • Listing our house for sale and getting 3 full-price offers in the first 2 days (yay!)
  • Having a BIG house-cooling party – inviting all our friends and family over to tour trailer and to TAKE home items they want from our house.
  • Wrapping up the school year
  • Packing up our trailer and hitting the road June 16, 2015

Harrisville-State-Park-view-camping

Since we’ve hit the road ::

We end 2015 with a sense of wonderment over the last 200 days. We feel incredibly blessed to be on this journey. I can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store for us. In the next week or so we hope to sketch out a general route for the next few months.

Stay tuned for more posts and adventures!

Not-All-Wander-Lost

8 Comments

Curry Hammock State Park {Florida Keys}

Shared

Curry-Hammock-State-Park-Review

Up through October I was blogging chronologically and I got behind once we hit the East Coast and when I hit my busiest time for work. I was feeling overwhelmed by all the posts I wanted to share to get “caught up” so I’ve made the executive decision to hop ahead to current time (for now) and plan to fill in some of our East Coast fun as I’m able. It’s not ideal – but I had hit a roadblock and missed sharing updates. Sound good with you!?!

Travel dates :: December 19 – 21, 2015

Christmas is just around the corner and we’re tucked in down in the Florida Keys. We arrived on Saturday (Dec. 19) and it was a blustery, windy and rainy weekend. I’m not complaining though, temperatures are still in the mid-70s and the views are breathtaking.

Florida-Keys-Curry-Hammock-State-Park

We spent our first two nights at Curry Hammock State Park and it is wonderful. We are tucked into back-in spot #22 – with just a small dune between us and the beach.  We have peek-a-boo views of the beautiful water and thanks to the wind, we saw lots of kite surfers this weekend!

Curry-Hammock-campground-spot-22

This is looking from the beach back to our spot. The dune is roped off and there are signs saying to stay out of the dunes. But it’s a very, very short walk from our spot to the trail that takes you to the beach.

Curry Hammock State Park is just north of the famous 7-mile bridge and the more well-known Bahia Honda State Park. It’s a small park (which we like) with a security gate, lots of waterfront sites and some nice public space areas.

Curr-Hammock-Campground-2015

The spots on the beach side are not as long in terms of length (ideal for smaller rigs – probably 25-40 feet) but the inside of the loop looked liked it had room for bigger rigs. Although there are only 20-25 camping spots, we saw four other Airstreams within the same park (that’s not ours pictured above) and even one leaving as we pulled in. 🙂 Florida looks good on these shiny, tiny homes.

Continue Reading…

6 Comments

Checking in from Florida and our December plans. . .

Shared

North-Beach-Camp-Florida

Okay y’all, I feel like we’ve been in a time warp . . .how is it December 10th already? Where did November go? How is it almost Christmas!?!  The last three weeks have just flown by.  Last time I updated the blog we had just gotten back from a fun-filled trip to Washington state and were enjoying the fall colors in North Carolina. Since then we visited South Carolina, Savannah (Georgia), Blythe Island (Georgia), St. Augustine (Florida), Orlando (Florida) and now we’re near Tampa (Florida).

Beauty-Beast-Disney-World-550

We spent a crazy SEVEN days at Disney World the first part of December (see photos on Instagram) and although we had a magical time – I’m not gonna lie – I’m soaking up the quiet, empty county park we’re staying in now. I’ll share more about Disney and the Disney campground later.

As we’ve traveled south over the last few weeks I’ve been working a lot. I’m not complaining (mostly explaining my absence) – I’m so grateful for the opportunity to make a living on the road – but it doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for travel blogging and even exploring. I have so much that I want to write about – so many stories to tell, photos to share, and places to gush about . I still have a busy 10 days or so of work and then things slow way down – and I’m hoping get caught up with stories and posts here. The rest of the family has been busy getting caught up on school (we took a break for Washington and for Disney). It’s been a lot of quiet, productive days around the trailer.

So what’s next?! We are hanging out at this quiet county park for a few more days, then heading to Tampa, Florida – and I’m so excited to see one of my very BEST childhood friends (from Alaska) who lives there now with her family. Last time I saw her was for her wedding nearly 5 years ago here in the Tampa area. I haven’t met her kids yet – and I can’t wait. We will also be meeting up with the Curren Family (we last saw them in Minnesota!) and I’m looking forward to the kids playing together while the adults get to catch up on Airstream tips and stories of our travels. . .

Florida-Keys-Christmas

After Tampa. . .we are headed to the FLORIDA KEYS!! I cannot tell you how excited I am for this. I had completely GIVEN UP on finding a state park reservation over Christmas in the Florida Keys. Every time I searched ‘next available date’ for ANY availability it would show me dates in May 2016. Seriously. And I had looked at private campgrounds in the Keys – but couldn’t find much less than $80-$100 a night. . . and we just did that at Disney (read = EXPENSIVE campground), so I wasn’t feeling it, especially when I knew the state parks were $38/night.

And then today, I’m working away. .  .and I get an email about an campsite opening from a cancellation (thanks to Wandering Labs). . . for a full SEVEN days at a state park in the Florida Keys. I had it booked within 2 minutes of the email hitting my inbox. I’m just giddy. AND. . .  I found another reservation for New Years Eve in the Keys. . . so we’re set (except for 4 random days in between the two reservations, but I’ll figure it out). If you have favorite places, tours or beaches on the Florida Keys – please share your advice!

decorating-for-christmas-trailer

Honestly I am pretty sure we would be happy anywhere for Christmas. We weren’t sweating the details – everyone kept asking where we’d be for the holidays – and I knew as long as we were together, that was all that mattered. We have our little tree decorated (Ikea!), Christmas lights up in the kid’s bunk area, Christmas presents ordered off Amazon (and delivered to my friends house in Tampa), the Elf on the Shelf causing trouble every night, Christmas carols on the radio, Christmas movies on the TV, the kid’s advent calendars. . . almost everything we had in our big house – but on a much simpler level. 🙂

After the holidays. . .who knows where the road will take us!?! We’d like to see the Everglades, I’d like to spend more time near Tampa to see my friend and her family, I have a great uncle in Sebring, Florida. . .and I want to see the Florida panhandle. We have family we want to see in Montgomery, Alabama and in Atlanta, Georgia.  . . .and we didn’t really get enough time to explore the Carolinas. So many places – so little time! Where do you think we should go in the south!?! 

Ultimately, I’m just hoping for fair weather (doesn’t have to be perfect, just no hurricanes) and happy memories. . .as we wrap up 2015 on the road. . . .

7 Comments

5 month check-in – My “real job” heats up, a trip home to suburbia and what’s ahead. . .

Shared

Queen-Bee-Logo

I’ve been a serious slacker in the world of Take That Exit blogging these past few weeks. I have lots of reasons for this – but the biggest reason is this is the busiest time of year for my “real job” which is my website QueenBeeCoupons.com. Since that website is our sole income source on the road (you know. . . how we pay the bills around here) it’s getting my undivided attention lately. It’s a busy time because I post and share the VERY BEST deals online and in stores – which we all know are going crazy this time of year. . .

Queen-Bee-Coupons-Best-deals

If you’re looking for the very best Black Friday deals, online sales, gift guides and more, you are certainly welcome to follow me over at QueenBeeCoupons.com – you’ll be directly supporting my family if you shop through the links on the site. And I appreciate your patience as I get through the holiday season and can hopefully return to more frequent posts here on TakeThatExit.com.

Washington-visit-Oct-Nov

Another reason that I’ve been remiss about blogging is we just spent TWO whole weeks in Washington state visiting family. We found a great deal on airline tickets direct from Raleigh-Durham to Seattle, it was Grandma’s birthday and we had a couple (very minor) things on the trailer that we wanted repaired under warranty – so it all came together for us to take a trip home while we dropped the trailer off at the shop.

We had a wonderful time “home” in Washington visiting family and friends – catching up with friends from Snohomish to Battle Ground, we logged quite a few miles on I-5 in those two weeks. We stayed with Jeremy’s parents in Lakewood, Washington who have a nice big house and who are gracious, kind and generous – a true pleasure to be around. We enjoyed the benefits of a bath tub, 2-ply toilet paper, grandma’s home cooking, driving our tiny sedan (we could park where ever we wanted!), a babysitter, our local bank and post office, our favorite restaurants and so much more.

Halloween-at-Grammys-house

BUT if I’m being honest, it was hard, too. The kids had a tough time transitioning back to a house – so much space, so many toys, so many TV channels, not enough fresh air and exercise (it rained a lot!), so much candy and sweets (Halloween in suburbia). They bickered more, acted more impulsively and were a bit on the wild side – what should have been a more stable environment actually resulted in the opposite behavior. We were spread out across many rooms and I definitely missed the close knit feelings we have while in the trailer.

North-Carolina-county-parkOur first night back in our Airstream in High Point, North Carolina

We left Washington so grateful for the time with people we love, but also grateful and relieved to return to the simplicity of our shiny, tiny home. Our trip back to “the real world” has us asking the question, “are we going to be ready to transition back to suburbia in 6 short months or do we want to do this longer?!”  We have always tentatively planned for this adventure to last about a year, pulling into the Portland in the spring 2016 so Jeremy could find a teaching job in time for the following school year. Now we aren’t so sure that’s what we want – could we possibly do this TWO years? Frankly, only time will tell how we’ll feel. . . we’ll keep journeying on with an open mind.

The-Road-Ahead-South-CarolinaHadley and I hiking to a lake near our campground in South Carolina. 

We are so happy on the road right now – if it stays that way, why stop? Well the other thing we have to consider is finances – I want to make sure we have enough money saved so that we can buy a house when the time comes to transition back. We currently have a down payment stashed away and as long as I can earn enough on the road to cover expenses we can avoid tapping into that.  If we want to do this two years we might need to boondock more, eat out less and make similar sacrifices to stretch our budget a little longer. I’m no stranger to frugal living (that’s how we were able to save for our trailer and truck!). But am still navigating how to live more frugally on the road while still enjoying the sights and places that we’re visiting. I haven’t shared our travel budget in a couple months because honestly it was stressing me out a little – I was worried about the money we were spending – mostly worried what others would think if our totals were higher than people thought they should be. Every time I start to settle into a budget – things change – like the expensive Northeast campgrounds and the extensive touring we did in the spendy cities, or expensive Florida in December, or Disney World. . . I know staying in one spot is the key to saving the most – but we want to explore and we just need to adjust accordingly. It’s something I’ll probably write more about at a later time. . .

North-Carolina-Poinsett-State-Park

So what’s next? We are currently at a beautiful state park in South Carolina and on Monday we head to another state park near Savannah, Georgia. We have family in the Savannah area so we’ll hang out there before heading to Florida.

We’re struggling to find a state or county park in Florida with openings over Thanksgiving – so currently we aren’t sure where we’ll be during this time.  This has me a bit worried because that’s also the week of Black Friday – my busiest work week of the year and I need a stable spot with rockin’ wifi.

After we get Thanksgiving out of the way, we head to Disney World the first part of December! I found a campsite cancellation at Fort Wilderness (the Disney World campground) – we’ve always wanted to go and no better time than while we are here and able to camp (so much cheaper than flights, hotel costs!). It’s going to be an early Christmas for us.

From there, we head west to Tampa, Florida  . . .and then we end up in mid-December with no current reservations anywhere. 🙂 We are finding Florida parks are completely booked on weekends, and very full on weekdays, so I’m not sure how long we’ll spend in Florida. We have family in Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia that we want to visit and are tentatively planning to be in Arizona by late March to spend some solid time with my grandma in the Phoenix area – but that’s all we have “planned” on the horizon!

Guess we’ll see where the roads take us. . .  we’d love your advice on places to stay in Florida . . .or where we should head after that. 🙂

Thank you for your patience through the holiday season as I juggle a busy work schedule with travel and family. Follow us on Instagram for snapshots of where we are and what we’re doing.

16 Comments

Niagara Falls, the Maid of the Mist boat tour and we walk to Canada!

Shared

Niagara-Falls-Canada-US-visit

This blog post highlights our adventures for September 9, 2015. Follow us on Instagram to find out where we are currently!

While staying at the Branches of Niagara Campground we took a day trip to see Niagara Falls! Just a short 20 minute drive from our campground it was a very quick drive into town. Our truck is huge, so we just parked in the main parking lot of the visitor’s center, it was $10 but worth skipping the headache of trying to park a massive truck on busy city streets.

Niagara-Falls-US-side

Just a short walk from our parking spot and there it was, Niagara Falls in all her glory. . .breathtaking!

Niagara-Falls-Kids-Tour

You can see photos and hear people describe it – but until you actually see the size and power. . . and you hear the roar, and feel the rumble, you don’t get the full experience. Wow, just wow.

Continue Reading…

1 Comments

Branches of Niagara Campground and Resort Review – Amazing camping, close to Niagara Falls {New York}

Shared

Branches-of-Niagara-Campground-Resort-Review

I’m a bit behind in blogging about our adventures – this post highlights our travels around September 8-9, 2015. Follow us on Instagram to find out where we are currently!

After leaving Evangola State Park we headed to the Niagara Falls area! When trying to decide where to stay while visiting Niagara Falls, I kept coming across Branches of Niagara Campground and Resort. It was recommended by many reviewers and it had some of the best reviews I’ve ever seen for a campground! Located just 8.2 miles from Niagara Falls it’s one of the closest campgrounds you’ll find to the falls. After considering the great reviews and the proximity to the falls we decided to give it a try!

Branches-of-Niagara-resort-reviews

I knew the minute we drove onto the property that we were going to enjoy it here. The entire campground felt like a resort. . . .or like a very nice park. . .

Branches-of-Niagara-campground-review-2

Mature landscaping, native plants, a pond, lots of grass, manicured paths. . .it was gorgeous.

Continue Reading…

1 Comments

Evangola State Park – Swimming in Lake Erie {New York}

Shared

Evangola-State-Park-Visit

I’m a bit behind in blogging about our adventures – this post highlights our travels around September 6-7, 2015. Follow us on Instagram to find out where we are currently!

After spending a couple nights at Harvest Host locations in Ohio and Pennsylvania we landed at Evangola State Park in Western New York. We lucked out and grabbed the last available spot on the Monday of Labor Day and I’m so glad we got it!

Evangola-State-Park-spot

The campground was packed but we had a nice back-in spot with electric for around $35/night. The campground is not close enough to walk to the beach, you had to drive – but there is plenty of parking at the public beach. (Photo above was taken AFTER the holiday weekend, when most everyone had left!)

Imagine boondocking for two nights – without hook-ups (read: no air conditioning or showers) in HOT, humid weather. We were feeling super grimy by the time we parked at Evangola. It wasn’t 30 minutes after we unhitched the trailer that we headed straight for the BEACH.

Evangola-Public-Beach-access

I can safely attest that it has NEVER felt more refreshing to jump in a lake. The sun was shining, the sand was soft and the waves made Lake Erie feel like a tropical ocean.

Continue Reading…

Comments

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.