The Sanibel Stoop

After driving through central Florida to the Keys I was getting very confident towing my car with the motorhome.  Perhaps I was actually getting a little cocky.  The actual driving part had never bothered me, since the car follows along just fine.  What really scares me is stopping.  I don't mean at a red light or something; the car has it's own braking system.  I mean stopping for gas, food or to sleep.  I can't just pull in anywhere I would like.  First rule with towing-  you can not back up.  Not because I am inexperienced; because of the steering system you actually can not back up.  If you are in a pickle you have to unhook the car, etc.  We had two nights before our reservations in Tampa and we had plans to dry camp through the Fort Meyers area.  WRONG.

And so it all began...  Twenty-four hours of our trip that will live in infamy.

It started in Key Largo. Pulled into a gas station that looked plenty large not noticing the small construction area that blocked my desired exit.  UNHOOK.
  We started looking for somewhere to park early, but it was dark by the time we had found three Wal-marts that did not allow overnight parking.  [I found out later that this is becoming  a trend all over Florida.  It is not Wal-mart policy, but community ordinances because of the growing homeless population living in cars in central Florida :( ]  On a chance we headed out of town and saw a state park sign.   Turns out this is an award winning state park that is booked a year in advance.  Of course you can't tell this from the road or when you get to a gate that is locked at sundown with no turn around.  As we were blocking the driveway contemplating (freaking out) our next move a huge truck pulled up (of course).    Turns out it was the campground hosts returning from dinner out.  They sympathized with our dilemma and offered us overnight parking in the overflow area.  Unfortunately my efforts to turn around had gotten us in a jam so first we had to UNHOOK. 

The next day Andy and I went for a World Record in number of times you can UNHOOK a car in a day.  There was a ton of stuff I wanted to see in Fort Meyers, but the area was just not working out for us.  We called Tampa and checked in a day early. 

On a happy note, before leaving Fort Meyers and after UNHOOKING, we took my car over the bridge to Sanibel Island for some brunch and beach combing.

This is referred to as the "Sanibel Stoop."  You just can't resist checking out all of the unique shells.  Everyone walks down the beach just like this.