Florida – The Grand Finale

HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE SCOTTY

YOU TOOK US SAFE TO THE 4 CORNERS OF THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY

FROM ALASKA TO FLORIDA – FROM MAINE TO CALIFORNIA

AFTER LONG DRIVES, YOU ALWAYS ALLOWED US TO HAVE GOOD NIGHT SLEEPS AT THE CAMPGROUNDS

YOU LET US TRAVEL IN STYLE ON HIGHWAYS, NATIONAL ROUTES, CITY STREETS

OKAY OKAY TO BE FAIR I WAS THE ONE WHO DID THE DRIVING AND CLAUDIA WAS MY COMPANION, MY SUPPORT, MY COPILOT

SO…. KUDUS FOR THE THREE OF US; WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THE EFFORT, ENTHUSIASM , DEDICATION AND TENACITY FROM EACH AND EVERYONE OF US NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH SUCH A TASK!!

TRAVEL THE 49 CONTINENTAL STATES OF THE UNITED STATES AND A FEW PROVINCES OF CANADA.

We approached Florida from the north and the first stop would have to be of course St Augustine!! We spent 3 days staying at a really nice campground.

While Scotty was sleeping, we spent quite a bit touring what is known as the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement city of continental US.

Those narrow streets resemble the old town of Valencia where we live. The heritage of Spain is so obvious that some shops still keep the names in Spanish, some others play Spanish music.

This dwelling claims to be the oldest house in town, now a museum.

There’s a square and a statue right in the middle of it, commemorating the man who “discovered” Florida back in 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon, born in Valladolid, Spain.

To make the long story short, he was a wealthy military who joined Christopher Columbus in his second expedition to Puerto Rico and was appointed as the Governor despite some resistance from Columbus’ son who also wanted that title. After a long court battle, Columbus (son) got the title. Ponce de Leon wanted to follow the steps of Columbus and decided to sail west in the Caribbean and it is when he made landfall in the eastern coast of La Florida. His wish was to start a settlement there but he found a lot of resistance from the local tribe known as Calusa. In one battle Ponce de Leon was seriously wounded and had to return to Cuba where he died.

These three individuals represent the diversity of America first colony: these are Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, founder of St Augustine, Chief Seloy, leader of the Timucuan indians at the village of Seloy, and Juanita Diego de Amaya, a conceptual character of an African slave who was present in the colony from the 17th century onwards.

Poor Florida…. everyone wanted to own it!! from the locals to the spaniards, to the english, to the americans……

Spain officially gave up Florida to The United States on July 10th, 1821. The territory was ceded through the Adams-Onis Treaty. In exchange for Florida, the U.S. agreed to assume $5 million in financial claims made by American citizens against Spain.

Now, a visit to the Castle of San Marcos.

Story tells that once the town was founded, shipments of gold and silver from central and south America were dispatched to Spain; they needed some security to keep the French away.

Finally, in 1672 – over 100 years after the founding of St. Augustine – construction began on a stone fort. It was built of locally quarried coquina stone and took 23 years to complete. Coquina is a sedimentary rock made of tiny shells that is actually soft and porous, but hardens when it’s exposed to air, so it’s easy to cut and shape.

This man ( Ignacio Daza, Spanish architect) was commanded to build the castle.

From the distance it seems to be a smaller version of the “Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas” in Cartagena, Colombia, a massive fort built to protect the immense wealth of the city from the Europeans and pirates roaming the Caribbean.

Everything is very well preserved… even the oranges !! Just joking

A castle with church included

Sir yes Sir!!

And here’s an interesting one… as we were walking the grounds of the castle, some Captain was calling volunteers to undergo a very stringent training session as preparations were in place for Spain to retake Florida!! Sure!!!

So, here’s Little Jaime being a good soldier ready to fight for the devolution of Florida to the Kingdom of Spain!! I hope I can get a condecoration straight from the King himself one day!!

Even helicopters were involved in the training session!! But I have to say, Captain Pete didn’t follow the directrices of his ” secretary of war” to reduce weight!! What a joke really.

Fair enough, no more military training here; let’s go to the marina to see some boats..

As in many other countries, people live in their boats in sheltered waters by the marina, not necessarily as members of any marina. But, this municipality offers laundry and other services to those who just drop anchor and visit the city for a day or more

An Italian Azimut

I had a chat with the captain (owner) of this boat. They were going to Stuart FL the following day… can I go pleaseeeeee

Want to know more about the ICW? Zoom in and you’ll learn how this canal was made…. I wish we had something similar in Europe!! 3,000 miles of a canal with inlets / outlets to the sea….

Having left St Augustine we headed south in direction to Miami and surrounding cities, many of them very familiar to us ( Florida is the state we have visited the most in the past). Cities or neighborhoods like Hollywood, West Palm Beach, Aventura, Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles, Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach, etc…

South Beach always busy

The big city in the distance .. Miami!

What you see here is a floating palace; couldn’t get the name of it but it was humongous

I always wonder who owns these yachts right in front of those mansions!!!. I guess I’ll never know the true facts…

The ICW crossing Aventura

Speaking of yachts, I thought these were good size boats but then I found this one moored near Hollywood Beach

I’ve seen many many yachts in different countries but this one is a completely different animal to me!! A fully glassed surrounding bow!! just imagine the view in high seas….

Everytime I want to know about a yacht that catches my attention I just google the name and I find it!!. That yacht is Nausicaa, built by Lurssen in Germany spanning 114 mt ( 375 ft) and it was ordered by a japanese millionaire, Yusaku Maezawua, founder of Zozotown, the largest online fashion retail website. It was just commissioned in March 2026!!

Remember the luxury mega liner we saw at the Port of Miami? There she is sailing towards Fort Lauderdale

Time to put the feet on the ground and take the girls for a good seafood meal in Jensen Beach. Meet Doris, Claudia’s sister!!

A visit to Florida must include the southernmost point of continental US, which means we go to Key West baby!!. And here’s where the eyes of Scotty will stear at both the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Gulf on the other side

Driving down to Key West we had to cross Miami and I could see that there was some construction going on… massive structures being erected. Doing some research, I found out that in the near future this is what you’ll see…. the Signature Bridge on I-395. So similar to the type of construction you see in Dubai or Doha.

After crossing the big city from north to south, a few more miles and the great Overseas Bridge is there for you to enjoy a nice drive over blue waters

The view from the Captain’s chair is spectacular!

One thing that surprised us was to see so many roosters, hens and chickens all over the town. Doing some research we found out that the hens, chicks, and roosters roaming the streets of Key West—often called “gypsy chickens”—are there because they are the descendants of birds brought by early settlers that were later released and protected by local culture.

A very welcome visitor came in and stole my ice cream!

What a remarkable picture….. if we draw a straight line from this very point to Anchorage in Alaska, it’ll measure an astonishing 4000 miles or 6400 kilometers. Hard to imagine we visited both places!!

What a beautiful picture taken the evening before our departure from Key West headed to Naples, Fort Myers and Cape Coral.

Most travelers who want to cross the state from east to west or viceversa would normally make the crossing of the alligators, the evergaldes. And this is just a couple of pictures of it, driving on a very hot day

A very popular attraction is exactly this: boat rides over the everglades. We did this 20 years ago with the kids… it was fun!!

We arrived in Naples, with no idea that the campgrounds in this area would host the final nights of our adventure

Just approaching Naples what really impressed us is the large amount of high end golf communities!!! Been told that the rich New Yorkers come to spend winters in this area….

After Naples we just spent a few days in Fort Myers and Cape Coral, all coastal cities embracing the heat of early summer

The vehicules have to be kept tidy and clean!

As I said on the previous chapter, we had to plant the tree for Georgia in Florida! Pictures were taken at the St Augustine RV Resort

Kind of hard to believe that we’re not going to visit Lowes anymore, being the place we bought most of the trees from in the past 5 years!!!

THE END OF THIS WONDERFUL ADVENTURE

We knew this moment would come: arriving in Florida means that the adventure is over, that we had to sell Scotty and the Ford, and all that we have bought in the last 5 years. We came to the US in September 2022 carrying just 2 suitcases and we need to leave the US with the same luggage back to Europe. No more.

Meet Jeff and Kim, a nice couple from Cape Coral who bought the motorhome. They will spend summers in Ohio and winters in Florida. They also plan to travel to a few National Parks so it looks like Scotty will stay on the move but not just as intense.

It took us 2 hours to explain the systems included in a complex machine like Scotty, all under 100 deg F… not an easy task!!

Right after we said good bye and good luck, they packed everything ( 7 people and one dog) and left the same evening to Ohio for a 1100 miles journey. Later I heard that they made it home safe!. Well done Scotty.

The mileage right after we got the RV in Greenbrier AR and right after I stopped at their home in Cape Coral FL: 31286 miles or 56300 kms. I’m happy to report that we did not break anything, did not have an accident. Thanks Goodness !!!

WRITING FROM SPAIN

As I write these final words in Valencia Spain, I reflect on how something that started as an action pulled out from my own Bucket List, has resulted in the successful execution of an adventure of huge proportions, and I mean it!!: searching for a reliable motorhome fit for purpose to travel thousands of miles; hiring an inspector to make sure the motorhome is road worthy, spending a good deal of money and time “furnishing” the home you will live in for the following 4 to 5 years for 3 months every year with all the accessories you need. On top of that, subscribe to a proper RV navigation system, membership cards for discounts in campgrounds, road assistance, etc, etc.

The adventure has been just fantastic and here’s why: the Americans are expert in transforming any, and when I say any is a river, a waterfall, a desert, a forest, a castle, a mountain, a picturesque town, etc into a tourist attraction adorned with a large parking place, a massive visitor center, a well appointed souvenirs shop, etc. and all of this for the locals and tourists to enjoy. The fact that you can visit so many places makes it easier to hit the road and travel. Now, the highways….. the Interstate Rest Areas, the fuel stations, etc…. are so great that it invites you to get the odometer rolling and rolling for long distances every time.

Since the second world war traveling and doing camping became so popular that two things were missing: campgrounds and motorhome / RV manufacturers; they all worked hand in hand to make an industry so massive that last year alone the U.S. camping and caravanning market exceeded $27 billion in revenue. Of this total, the specific sector representing privately owned RV parks and campgrounds generated an estimated $10.9 billion.

The dots represent the number of overnight stops in the complete trajectory from September 2022, date when Scotty was purchased, until June 2026, date when Scotty was sold.

Below are some figures that will blow your mind:

• Number of trips driving the motorhome from Point of Origin to Point of Destination: 114

• Shortest drive: one hour between Little Rock AR to Greenbrier AR

• Longest drive: 15 hours between Tok in Alaska to White Horse, Yukon, Canada

• Mileage in total: 31286

• Nights at a campground: 334

• Gallons of fuel ( assuming an average of 9 MPG on the Caterpillar C9 engine): 3476

• Trees planted: 52

• Highest altitude: Sonora Pass, Route 108, CA: 9624 ft

• Steepest road inclination: 26% in Sonora Pass, Route 108, CA

• Closed encounters with storms: one in Wichita KS and another one in Dallas, TX

• Close encounters with bears, bisons and alligators: quite a few but they all were very friendly 😂 😂 😂

And probably the most important statistic of all: less than 2% of Americans have traveled the 49 continental states of the US, with the average American visiting only about 12 states in their lifetime!! I wasn’t wrong when I said Scotty had made history!!

FINAL WORDS

When you are young, you don’t think about a so called Bucket List. However, as you grow older, it looks to me that you start to realize that you have certain number of years to live, that one day you won’t wake up, and that is a reality. It is when you decide to think about things that you’d like to see and do. To me, everyone should have a list of activities to do in their lifetime, and I’m not talking about fishing on weekends or playing golf every week; I’m talking about things that you always wanted to do but for one reason or another, it was not possible…. what about playing in a music band, writing a book, creating a Vlog, climbing the Everest or similar!!

Everyone of us have certain level of accomplishment in life, some level of enthusiasm that helps you achieve your desires and here’s where you see people living a quiet lifestyle and on the contrary, people who live a very active life in their dusk of their existence.

Ultimately, I want this blog to push people of all ages to go for what they want, rather than just sitting by the window and letting the day fade away.

As for the people we have met in our travels during the past 5 years, the comparison of ” life is like a train ” is completely valid: people board, stay there with you for a few stations and then leave. Others stay with you until the journey comes to an end at the last station. To those of you who are still riding with us on this journey, we are very grateful, much appreciated!!

This journey is dedicated to those who believed in this crazy idea and helped me to get there: my lovely wife Claudia, such a supportive sweetheart; she helped me navigate the waters in the Persian Gulf as good as she helped me as ground support in the US, navigator and copilot on the road. Our children who kept us encouraging us to enjoy the ride and look after Mila, our Cocker Spaniel while we were away across the pond.

To the readers who would get an email notifying you of a new chapter every weekend. I hope the smile I put in your face while reading the lines, was worth it!!

And of course, Scotty!! I know I have been treating a bus like a person, but there is something in me that want to believe that they have a soul and if you treat them well, they will take you places safely.

I will miss you Scotty!!

The end of a wonderful adventure

As for us, it is my turn to support lovely Claudia in her activities of music, painting and singing ( not that I am a good looking model for her to make an artwork of me, or be the second voice in her music practices) and of course, enjoy a nice summer in the Med.

See what darling wife has done in the past couple of years….

And for the future, knowing me, it is just a matter of time to grab the laptop, open the xls file named bucketlist.xls and pick the next adventure…

I hope you do the same!

Thanks for reading ☺