Hello from the warmest place we could find in the United States. It was a tough search and unfortunately, we’ll have to journey back up north in the weeks to come. But we are enjoying all the sunshine we can.
Florida was not in our original road trip plans. We figured we’d skip the state all together after our little Christmas celebration getaway with Trav’s parents in early December… but we couldn’t stay away!
What started as plans to travel up the coast after our stop in North Carolina quickly turned into heading the complete opposite direction. More cold and more snow just wasn’t appealing to us. The funniest part of it all was getting completely dumped on in Savannah, Georgia. SNOW EVERYWHERE! This resulted in our longest drive yet at nearly twelve hours from Savannah, GA to Homestead, FL. It was brutal.
The kids have been champions through it all. Of course, we always try and sprinkle in as much fun as possible amidst the long drives and constant new locations. They’re having the best time trying new treats, exploring the beauty of national parks, and finally settling down for nearly two weeks in Panama City Beach.
Possibly one of their favorite parts of the past week was the warm, delicious free cookies at the Double Tree Hilton in Gainesville. Props to Hilton, which even accommodates to my son’s nut allergies by having allergen-friendly cookies! This was one of our first free stays through our Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card. And this particular credit card is the FIRST card we’ve ever actually put money into. I typically only support free credit cards, but we knew this card would pay itself back in time, so we threw in our $69 and didn’t look back. Thank goodness we did because it’s already bought us a free night at this Double Tree, plus 70,000 more points to spend on whatever we want. Opening and even sometimes investing in the right credit cards is the way to travel for free!
We are working our way through SO many freebies from my sign-up list… probably hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth by now.
Free burgers.
Free ice cream.
Free coffee.
Free donuts.
Free money to spend at grocery stores.
Free discounts on gas.
FREE. FREE. FREE.
It’s the only way our family is surviving on this six month road trip. Well, freebies and Jesus’s constant grace and goodness of course.
Let’s talk national parks. Guys, how have I never been interested in visiting these incredible parks until now? I cannot believe the breath-taking beauty, real wildlife sightings, and kid-friendly adventures each national park includes. We’ve only been to three and yet I know the best are likely yet to come. Months ago, you may recall we visited the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg. Then just this past week, our family visited Biscayne, as well as the Everglades. Both parks are within thirty minutes of each other in south Florida. One on the coast; the other more inland. The four of us spent each visit hunting for fish, birds, turtles, alligators, and every exotic leaf we could find.
In case this whole teaching people how to live frugally thing doesn’t work out, my next career could be in bird photography. Maybe we’ve just seen a lot of birds on this trip or maybe I’m just at the right place at the right time, but I’m snapping so many incredible shots. Am I becoming an actual bird watcher?
Our next national park visit will be Mammoth Cave in Kentucky just a couple weeks from now. We’re counting down the days!
We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the warm weather, pure ocean, and clean upkeep of Panama City Beach. Maybe because I knew it as a popular spring break desination, but I figured this city would be somewhat trashy. On the contrary! This location has been one of our favorite spots yet.
Our current Airbnb in Panama City Beach is unique to say the least. It has plenty of space. We each get our own bedroom with two and a half bathrooms total. That’s more space than we’ve seen in eight weeks. But what the place offers in space it certainly lacks in essentials. Just enough towels for each of us. No hand towels. No shampoo, soaps, or cleaning products. There’s just a few plates, bowls, cups, and the bare minimum in baking necessities. Let’s just say I’ve been getting real creative in how I cook meals in this kitchen. For example, did you know a potato peeler can work well for grating cheese? Or that cinnamon rolls can be successfully baked in a Dutch oven is? No need for measuring cups when you can just guestimate every measurement, right? And I’ve been risking all my finger tips trying to cut things open with knives instead of scissors. Note to self – just because a place has laundry, space, and nice beds doesn’t mean it actually has everything needed to live.
I’ll leave you with this recipe I created yesterday. Strawberries were on sale at the grocery store and since I typically just snack plan around whatever is on sale, we’re making every different strawberry snack we can think of. I present to you Strawberry Bark. ENJOY!
See y’all on the road!
