RVing With a Purpose

Manatees , Sea Turtles and Hiking

March 16, 2026

We left Flamingo Campground in the Everglades on February 25th to reposition to Ocala for another RV gathering. Since we had an extra day before we were due at our friend’s campsite, we made a couple of stops on the way. The first was a quick stop at the Oasis Visitor Center in the Big Cypress National Preserve to stretch our legs walking on the boardwalk and watching the wildlife (mostly alligators).

Oasis Visitor Center of Big Cypress National Preserve

Then as we approached Tampa we saw a listing for the Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center. That sounded like an interesting stop. We expected a small, quiet area to rest a little while and see some manatees. We were surprised that we had happened on one of the top 10 free attractions in the country selected by USA today in 2025. Apparently, many other people knew this. Traffic was backed up and we were immediately directed to overflow parking. After spending a couple of hours there we agree that it is worthy of the rating.

The Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center is located near the Manatee Viewing Center so we visited it while there.

As we approached Ocala, Anne was looking for something to do before we parked for the night at Cracker Barrel. In her search she found the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park. Another great place to hike. We also spent about an hour there talking to the manager about RVing, NOMADS, and how the park was built to help refill the Florida aquifers with clean water.

The Ocala Wetland Recharge Park is a real hidden gem for hiking. We had a great conversation with the manager while there.

Since we had a few days at our friend’s RV site, we took a day to spend at Silver Springs State Park which was only a few miles away.

Since we had just done a kayak trip we just watched the kayakers in Silver Springs while we hiked.

We did the glass bottom boat ride several years ago.

While staying at our friends RV site, our friend in the neighboring site was testing and programming an autonomous robot lawnmower. That was fun to watch.

Camping in the Everglades

March 15, 2026

On Sunday, February 22nd, we left the South Florida Fairgrounds and headed to Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park. We had made a reservation for a free ranger guided kayak tour and decided to stay in the campground for a few days.

On our way down we stopped at Robert Is Here produce stand which is famous for their key lime milkshakes.

We stopped here on the way into the Everglades and again on the way out. Our first time here was with Barry and Donna several years ago.

One of the more unusual finds at the produce stand

We enjoyed our time at the Flamingo area of Everglades NP. We saw lots of wildlife and did lots of hiking. We also ran into some of our friends in the campground.

One of several manatees at Flamingo Marina

A red-shouldered hawk posing for us on a sign

This osprey nest was right beside the trail we walked almost every day.

The Christian Point Trail was not what we ever pictured hiking in the Everglades would be like.

We spent quite a while watching the manatees eating the sea grass in the marina.

We ended our time at Flamingo with our kayak tour. The highlight was seeing a large crocodile on the bank just before the end of the trip. It happened to be on the beach beside the RV parking area for volunteers. Maybe we can volunteer here someday when we grow up.

We had to get used to driving a kayak again.

Some people brought their own canoes on the kayak tour.

Notice how the roosting pelicans change to color of the trees.

United Rally 2026

March 14, 2026

On Saturday, February 14th we left South Carolina headed to the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach to volunteer at the 2026 United Rally organized by Switch It Up and co-hosted by several other RV related YouTube channels. We arrived on Sunday and got set up and started meeting our neighbors. Monday was a set up day, making name tags and goodie bags etc, with hot dog and hamburger supper for the volunteers.

Anne and friends putting together name tags

Parking the guests on Tuesday was a challenge since the RV sites at the fairgrounds are very small and some of the RVs were not. We had a great group of volunteers who worked very hard to get everyone situated in their site. After helping with parking and making two trips to the airport for pickups we attended the Rally kick off with a barbeque dinner followed by a great concert by Ryan Harmon.

Co-host YouTube personalities opening the United Rally

Wednesday we were at work by 7:00am setting up our service project. This was in conjunction with Convoy for Hope who furnished us an 18 wheeler full of food. We assisted in getting the many pallets of food into the correct locations for our production lines. Once we got everything going, it took us about two hours to fill 3,700 bags of food and load them back into trucks for distribution by the local churches. So proud of all the hard work by all the United Rally attendees.

Volunteers setting up the lines for guests to load food bags

The Rally attendees packed over 3,700 food bags!

Thursday was a slower day for us and we were able to attend some of the seminars and visit with some of our friends. Thursday evening was a pizza party and worship service that was wonderful! Then the rally was over with lots of hugs and a few tears.

Worship night was the highlight of the Rally.

We stayed in West Palm for two more days just to rest and visit with friends. The weather was wonderfully warm as compared to the snow in South Carolina the previous week. Winter in south Florida is nice.

Ice and Snow in South Carolina

March 13, 2026

The Tampa Campout ended on January 19th. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone. We found out shortly before that that our planned volunteer project in North Fort Myers didn’t pan out. We also were aware of the winter weather that was forecast for the southeast so we decided to drive back to South Carolina from Tampa. While there we got to experience an ice storm and some snow, which are both unusual for that area. We all survived just fine. After the weather warmed up a little, we helped Randy and Debra with a few projects around the house. Of course it is always great to spend some extra time with Randy and Debra so the storms were a blessing in a strange sort of way.