Three Flags Campground, Wildwood, FL

We left Suncoast Designers in Hudson at 10:45 on Friday March 25. Acey’s mileage 81,128.2 Thor’s 100,569 and we have logged 1839.6 miles on our bicycles. Traffic was backed up for a few miles as we headed north on I-75 merging with the turnpike, so it took a bit longer than anticipated to get to the Thousand Trails Park in Wildwood – we arrived at 1:45. This will be our last stop before we head north for Easter in Nashville.

After we got settled in, we went for a walk around the campground and this cat came up to greet Jim – it has 4 white socks and a tuxedo blaze on its chest.

The roads in Three Flags are named after states – most of which we have been to with Acey. We have not yet been to Arkansas – or Kansas.

This summer, we hope to visit the 10 states that Acey has not yet been to! The last state we filled in was West Virginia back in July last year. We have a big hole out west and we hope to go to Alaska with a Passport America Caravan! We have been to Hawaii a couple of times, but since Acey will not be going there, the map will only have a maximum of 49 states filled in.

Sunday morning, we worshipped with Stephens Valley Church via YouTube, watching the worship service from March 13. This was our second week to be in 1 Kings 17 – Elijah was a faithful servant and God provided for him, even when things seemed impossible. We are thankful for God’s provision and blessings while we travel! We also zoomed with our Sunday School class – we are studying Colossians. Afterwards, we packed up lunch and headed out for a bike ride. Along the way we passed this car wash, cute name!

We had our picnic lunch and then rode from the Santos Trailhead on the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway to the landbridge over I-75.

Traffic was pretty heavy on I-75 where we will be heading north on Saturday. Maybe if we leave early, it won’t be so bad; it’s “Spring Break” time… lots of folks coming and going, and snowbirds are starting to head north too.

This paved trail is hilly and very scenic!

We saw lots of other cyclists and hikers out today – several dirt trails cross over for hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking, indicated by different colored posts. This recumbent bike was interesting – she had her dog in a basket behind her and a canopy that she also uses on her kayak. She clips the hook down on the bike.

It was another perfect day to be out enjoying the warm weather and we rode 15 miles. We got back to Acey for showers and later we made our usual Sunday night pizza and zoomed with the family.

We use a thin crust and add BBQ sauce, pineapple, mushrooms, tomato, pepperoni, chicken, feta, parmesan and mozzarella

On Monday, Jim cleaned the carpet. Most of the campgrounds we stay in are sandy and/or dirt with SOME grass (and weeds) – it’s hard not to track in dirt and etc. We try to clean the carpet twice a year. Since Jim has his carpal tunnel surgery scheduled for Tuesday next week, we won’t have time to do the job with our carpet cleaner in Nashville, so he rented a machine. We also washed the other removable rugs.

Tuesday, we rode on the Withlacoochee State Trail, starting at Inverness and headed north – Linda’s big turtle friends we saw last year still could use a bit of sprucing up…

Spanish moss hangs from many of the trees along the trail

Lots of palms growing in the shade of the trees

This rail-trail is 46 miles long – we rode from just before the 30-mile mark up to mile 40 and back – riding 20. 6 miles – our longest ride so far this year. We stopped at Aldi on the way back to Acey, got showered and headed to The Villages to visit Adele and Russ. We had dinner at the Havana Country Club.

Adele and Linda had the Bourbon Peach Pork Ribeye, Russ had the Coconut Curry Monkfish and Jim had their “Famous Cuban” – we all enjoyed our dinner and the service too! After dinner we went to Russ and Adele’s and played Five Crowns – a rummy style card game that we had never played – there are 5 suits – stars being a 5th suit. It was a fun evening!

Wednesday, we went to check out the minigolf course. It needs some work – there is no carpet, the holes are full of debris, and some have water in them.

One of the holes had a cute squirrel couple in a corner…

We played a few holes and then gave it up and played some shuffleboard instead. Linda went to the clubhouse where they have a book exchange/library and got another Sue Grafton book, exchanging X for U of for Undertow.

Thursday, we returned to the Withlacoochee State Trail, starting at Inverness again – but we headed south this time. We started earlier than usual, since rain is expected later today. It was a scenic ride! We saw lantana blooming – and some pink and purple wildflowers, gopher tortoise holes and lots of other cyclists as we rode.

We rode 24.89 miles; our longest ride in a long time – which brings our total bike miles to 1900.2. We won’t be riding again for a while because of impending weather, travelling and Jim’s surgery on Tuesday. After our ride we had our picnic lunch by the lake at Liberty Park.

We got back to Acey before the rain and were able to pack up the chairs and big outdoor rug and put the bikes under cover; all prepared for the big storm they say is coming! Sure enough, light rain started around 5pm and it poured all night long – leaving large puddles and mud everywhere. Fortunately, the rain stopped on Friday morning, and everything dried up for the most part.

On Friday, we were remembering the fun trip “Down Under” that we took with Linda’s Dad in 2014 – the year he turned 90. Linda made a Shutterfly book about the trip. If you are interested in seeing it, here is a link you can open and go back in time with us! Be sure to go the “Full screen” option.

in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia April 2. 2014

We got up fairly early on Saturday, packed up and got on the road by 8:40. We went under the landbridge on the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway just after 9am.

Traffic on 1-75 moved along fairly well – a few slow spots along the way. We stopped for fuel in Marianna, FL but could only get 25 gallons – the pump was running VERY slow and after 30 minutes or so, we called it “good enough”. We fixed lunch at a rest area, crossed the Alabama state line about 2:30 arriving at Folklore Brewing & Meadery in Dothan, AL around 3pm. This is our first “Harvest Hosts” overnight stay. We have no hookups but have a place to park! One other RV was also parked on the premises, and we could leave Thor attached, saving some time in the morning.

We stay free and are encouraged to support our Hosts by purchasing their local product with each stay! The craft beer was very tasty, and we also sampled their mead.

Dogs are allowed here – and we saw a few – this Great Dane was impressive!

There was a good crowd there enjoying their late afternoon/evening on the patio.

Sunday morning, we left Folklore at 8:45 on our way to Cullman, AL. We stopped at a rest area at 9:20 to Zoom with our Sunday School class. We stopped for more fuel at 12:30 in Montgomery. We stopped again – at a rest area to make lunch. We had to disconnect Thor when the GPS was wanting to send us over a 3-ton limit bridge as we neared our destination in Cullman, AL! We got Acey turned around and drove separately to Goat Island Brewing – our overnight Harvest Hosts stop. We arrived just after 4pm and parked out back. There are 2 other motorhomes staying here as well.

The building is nothing fancy – but serves the purpose! They have a small outdoor seating area.

We sampled several of their beers and enjoyed the variety they had on tap.

We headed back to Acey and fixed some soup for dinner. Afterwards we tuned into YouTube and worshipped with Stevens Valley Church, watching the services from April 10 and 17 – continuing the story of Elijah (I Kings 18) as he faced evil King Ahab the worshippers of Baal and proved how our God is the faithful God who heard Elijah’s prayers. We will be heading to Nashville tomorrow – leaving EARLY!

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6 thoughts on “Three Flags Campground, Wildwood, FL”

  1. You have had a wonderful trip! I pray that Jim’s surgery will help a lot; that’s a painful situation, as I hear. That’s ONE thing I have not had!!! 🙂
    We’ll need to catch up sometime. Lots happening.

    1. His left hand was repaired in November and recovery was quick! He only needed a few doses of Tylenol for the pain after surgery – the pain was so much less than prior to surgery! The right hand is not a big problem, but he wants to “nip it in the bud” so to speak. Call anytime! 🙂

  2. Hi Linda,
    I like the menu at the Havana Club in The Villages. Very imaginative. Great photos all around. Thanks for posting. Happy Trails.

    1. Adele says it’s one of the most popular restaurants in The Villages – we sure enjoyed it!

  3. Loved your pictures of the bike trails. Would love to ride them myself. Pray that all goes well with Jim’s surgery and that he has a quick recovery. Have a great visit at home.

    1. The surgery went well, and Jim had very little pain afterwards – we are thankful! We’ll miss out on riding our bikes till he is all healed up… Hope you and Floyd are doing well!

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