March 14th: Providence > Boston > Ft. Myers > LaBelle FL

After the weather that the Northeast has been having so far in 2015, it felt only natural to feel to warmer geographies. Of course, this would make me a snow-bird, but if I only go for a week it's not so bad, right? Florida, Arizona and New Mexico, here I come!

What better way to start my trip off that breakfast at Seaplane diner, with Jim from Old Dead Volvos? I can't think of one. Okay, actually I can, but this will have to do for now.

While the weather the last week hadn't been all that bad, the day of departure reminded me just why I wanted to flee. Drizzly and cold (low 40's) I was only wearing a winter jacket on my trek from the car park to the bus to the terminal, and needless to say I was chilly. Spirit Airlines isn't my favorite carrier by far, but considering they almost game me two roundtrip tickets anywhere they flew (HELLO PERU!??) I can't dislike them all that much. 

Of course anytime I see an old car it's going to catch my eye, so at the Ft. Myers airport when I spied a cutout of Edison next to a Cadillac (what looks to be a late-oughts model) I couldn't resist taking a picture. I didn't dawdle however, as I wanted to get out of the airport and out into the heat. 

I am a man of habits, as everyone that knows me can attest, and it should come as no surprised that the first place my parents took me was a place that I had actually let slip into the dusty recesses of my mind: Sonny's BBQ. 

Crinkle-cut fries, BBQ baked beans and pulled pork on texas toast? Yes, please.

My parents might have been glad to see me, I'm not sure. 

The ongoing debate for this portion of my trip would be who would sit in the sideways facing jump seat in the back of the truck. This time, my mom "won". Or lost. 

Of course it wouldn't be South Florida without a 4pm rain shower. 

Ah, that's more like it. Something so soothing about the heavy, but brief downpour that makes me feel at home. It's moments like this that I actually do miss living in Florida.

Finally, made it to the campground in LaBelle FL, and to Hugo, our home-away-from home. 

Time for everyone to have a little refreshments. Beer for me, and a little glass of wine for Mom and Dad. Ah, this is the life.

As the evening wound down, the bugs came out. Before that, however, was a spectacular sunset. 

The rest of the short night involved a small dinner, and then to bed. It had been a long day, and while tomorrow wasn't going to be jam packed, an early night felt right. Camping, even in a rolling home on wheels seems to align your body more to the sunrise/sunset cycles than you'd think.