Vaccine Road Trip

First a bit of catching up on what Sprinty and his humans have been up to. Monday, 1 February, marks the 10-week anniversary of our arrival at Riverside RV Resort near Port Charlotte, FL. We made the trip down from Canton in two days, and did not do any side adventuring - not even golf - on the way down. We drove about 3/4ths of the way down on Sunday, enjoying the drive through Atlanta on a Sunday instead of dealing a workday traffic. We spent the night at Sumter Oak RV Park in Bushnell, FL, an Escapees Rainbow park we have stayed at several times.

We elected to stay in dry camping - not only was it cheaper, but since we were not going to use any of the amenities, we figured we did not need to pay the extra. And the dry camping spots are usually the last ones to fill up, allowing us to make nearly last minute arrangements for the night.

We arrived at Riverside before noon. Charlie was just as we left her in June - no surprises. We got Charlie all set up, and quickly fell into the ground hog day routine, SW Florida version, of golf, bike riding, kayaking, and walks in the park. With the routine occasionally broken up by some projects.

A priority project we tackled quickly was to install a combination washer/dryer in Charlie.

Not only does it offer amazing convenience, we can maintain our COVID cautious behaviors and still get clean clothes. You may recall that we installed the dryer vent as one of the many projects we tackled on our May/June visit last year.

A second project we did was fixing the microwave oven in Tom and Heidi's trailer. It started blowing fuses last year just as we were leaving. Utilizing the wealth of information on the internet and YouTube, we figured the likely cause was defective door switches. The door switches in all microwaves prevent the microwave from operating with the door open which would allow microwaves out. When the switches fail they do so in a fail-safe mode - and blow a fuse. Long story short, Darrell learned a lot about microwave door switches and replacing them - and the microwave surgery was a success.

A third major project was to get Darrell enrolled in Medicare. A complicating factor was that he was not born in the United States, and had to furnish proof of U.S. citizenship. The default documents required to show proof of citizenship are an original birth certificate and the original naturalization certificate - two documents he can't find anywhere. And as his military health insurance ended with Medicare eligible age, the possibility of no health insurance created a bit of anxiety. As this is a long tale, he will share the deets with you over a cold beverage one day. In the end, he was successful. He even had to get a new social security card as his current card was not annotated that he was a U.S. citizen.

Life at Riverside RV Resort is similar to our experience last year. We have enjoyed warmer weather than at home, seeing many of the friends we made last year, meeting new friends, and doing outdoor activities. Typically organized golf every Saturday and every other Sunday. Bike riding on Tuesday and Friday. Kayaking on Monday and Wednesday. We have refrained from events held inside, or in too close proximity to others. We have leveraged ordering groceries online and utilizing curbside pickup to lessen our risk of exposure to the coronavirus. And like millions of others, we long for when things get more normal.

Matt and Lori from Canton came to visit in their RV. Originally planned as a one week stay, they fell into the Riverside life and extended their stay by another week. We enjoyed bike riding and golf with them. We hope they visit again.

We did a small day trip to Lake Placid to play golf someplace different, and visited Jan and Doug after golf.

And Sprinty pretty much had 10 weeks off relaxing in the Florida sun. We were fortunate that the RV park was understanding of the special relationship that Sprinty has with Charlie and allowed him to hang out at the campsite together with Charlie instead of banishing Sprinty to an over-crowded storage lot on the property.

Sprinty also benefitted from a few minor projects that would not have been possible in the storage lot. And Charlie could keep an eye on Sprinty lest Sprinty develop some wanderlust with some of the storage lot mates.

With the Emergency Use Authorization for two COVID vaccines in December, figuring out how to navigate the vaccine maze became a frequent topic of conversation. A benefit from spending the winter in an RV park with other RVers is that everyone else was also trying to navigate the maze and sharing what they learned.

Like many states, the initial primary vaccine opportunity in Florida was the county health departments. While they did their best at developing a plan, the demand quickly overwhelmed even the best of plans. Some counties set up drive through sites, while others did appointments by calling a specific phone number.

From the lack of success trying to get local appointments, we were beginning to resign ourselves to either waiting or making special trips to North Georgia for vaccinations, made a little more challenging, schedule-wise, as Darrell does not yet qualify for getting the vaccination in Georgia or Florida. When Sprinty saw a Facebook post by one of his cousins who was used in a line for a drive through vaccination line, he volunteered to spend the night in line as well.

While a generous offer by Sprinty, we considered it a bit of a plea for a road trip. Any road trip.

With Publix becoming a vaccination source in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, we started playing the Publix vaccination lottery. Our first opportunity had a minor set back as Florida issued a proof of residency requirement the day before we planned to play. As a result of a few folks flying into Florida to get a vaccine, Florida limited vaccinations to Florida residents. Fortunately, they defined "Florida residents" as including seasonal snowbirds who spent considerable time in Florida each year. The governor's reasoning was that snowbirds would need limited health care if they got COVIC. For those unable to show a Florida drivers license, Florida required other documents which showed you were a seasonal resident and not a vaccine tourist flying in just to get a vaccination. While Kris fit within the criteria to get a vaccination in Florida, we had to gather the required documents. While we were unsuccessful in securing an appointment the couple of times, we learned a lot about how the appointment system worked.

Last Friday morning, we were on-line at 6am when the appointment reservation system opened. Along with over 500,000 others trying to get one of the 40,000 Publix appointment slots state-wide for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. While we were in the electronic waiting room, we watched as the number of appointments at Publix stores in the two nearby counties dwindled. We also noticed that some counties were filling up faster than others. By the time we entered the appointment system at 6:45am, all 1,100 appointments in Charlotte County and almost 5,000 appointments in neighboring Lee County were gone. Fortunately we remembered Sprinty's generous offer, and expanded our search. We hit paydirt with an appointment in Palm Beach County, about 140 miles east of Riverside. Road trip!!!!

Monday, 1 February

While Kris' appointment wasn't until late afternoon, we wanted to leave ourselves extra time in the event of any unforeseen road construction, or traffic. Although Google maps indicated a drive time of 2 hours and 33 minutes, we left at 9am and headed east. As the cold front passed through Riverside about 3:30am, we knew we would be driving behind the front as it crossed Florida. Although no rain during the drive, we had a blustery tailwind all the way across Florida. Sprinty enjoyed it and delivered 19.5 mpg on the day.

Our first stop was Lake Okeechobee Park in Okeechobee, FL. Lake Okeechobee has a trail that goes around the entire lake - 110 miles long. While about half of the trail is closed due to construction, we wanted to check it out for a possible future bike ride. Along the north shore of the lake, the trail is on the top of the levee. It is paved in some places, and a gravel trail in others. Our stop at Lake Okeechobee Park was also a good rest stop as well.

As planned, we arrived in West Palm Beach before noon. We went to Dyer Park located about 5 miles from our Publix appointment to have lunch and relax. Dyer Park is a former landfill that has been capped and now has walking trails, mountain bike trails, ball fields and a First Tee golf training area.

After chilling for a couple of hours at Dyer Park, we decided to head for the Publix to arrive early. Just maybe, they might be running ahead of schedule.

Kris checked in about 30 minutes before her appointment time, then joined about 6 or 7 others in the waiting area. Seems like everyone wanted to arrive early too - no one was taking chances on being late for their appointment.

As Kris was waiting, others who were waiting shared their story. A guy with an appointment after Kris was from Naples (also on the west coast of Florida) and had driven over for his appointment. And arrived over an hour early.

At the appointment time, Kris was summoned to the pharmacist.

After a brief check of the details, she was given the first shot of the Moderna vaccine. She then had to wait in an observation chair for 15 minutes in case she had a reaction to the vaccination. Publix already scheduled her second appointment at the same time, same place in exactly 4 weeks. Sprinty gets another road trip!

In planning this road trip, we reviewed campground options along with Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome. Being unsure of whether the vaccination would be on time, we elected not to drive back to Riverside the same day so as to avoid driving after dark. We found a Boondockers Welcome host near the Publix that had availability for the night. Lynn B. accepted our request to stay. Her arrangement is a driveway in a housing area about half a block off US 1 just north of Palm Beach. Very convenient. And the price was right - free.

Lynn B. advised she was planning to be out of town, but was fine with us boondocking in her driveway for the night. In fact, she was planning to stay at a Boondockers Welcome herself. Once we got Sprinty settled, we went for a short walk down to the water. It was a way for both of us to relieve some of the day's anxiety.

With the cold front, temperatures were forecast to drop into the mid-40s overnight. While perhaps balmy to many readers, it is downright chilly in this part of Florida. We saw lots of people even wearing socks. The wind and temperature reminded us a bit of the weather we had in Quartzsite two years ago.

Tuesday, 2 February

Despite being only half a block from US 1, the traffic noise was insignificant. Even the trains that went by were almost unnoticeable. A very pleasant place to spend the night.

As we relaxed through our morning routine, trying to figure out if the day might include golf - on a chilly (for Florida), blustery day - we noted that today in Ground Hog Day. Literally. And figuratively as most every day for the last 10-1/2 months has been ground hog day. In West Palm Beach, it was overcast, so Punxsutawney Phil would not be seeing us shadow if he were wintering in south Florida.

We departed about 9am expected golf was not going to be enjoyable today. We headed back to Riverside along the south side of Lake Okeechobee. It provided different scenery and a golf opportunity if we changed our mind. After 1-1/2 hours of being buffeted by the gusty winds 25mph, with gusts near 40mph), it was clear golf was not going to be fun. Most of the return trip was into the wind - and the resultant fuel mileage was only about 16.8mpg. What Mother Nature gives, she takes back.

As our route back took us near Fort Myers, we made a slight detour to stop at the Camping World store to get a more comfortable camp chair for Kris.

Overall, a quick trip. And one we will have to make again at the end of the month. Maybe the weather will be nicer and we can make more of an adventure next time.