Typically we’ll spend a maximum of two weeks at a single location (or we go stir-crazy), but lucked out to land at Alsatian RV Resort in Castroville, TX, which is about 35 miles outside of the city. This resort could easily be a getaway destination in itself with its spectacular swimming pool, hot tub, friendly visitors, and amazing staff, so we were happy to be here for our “travel pause” due to COVID19.

 

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Fast forward about six weeks, and we were feeling comfortable enough to get out a little. We decided to stretch our legs and take a short afternoon journey down to the River Walk and the Alamo to share with Caleb a few of the reasons why we loved this city so much. We were learning how to address concerns about our health and safety for the “new normal” but found It was super easy to stay socially distant at this point as many places were still closed.

While it was somewhat eerie to step down the ordinarily busy steps of the River Walk, we found ourselves relaxed and soaking in all its beauty. If you’ve never been before, the River Walk is just that, a walking path along the river located one level down from the city streets. It is gorgeously landscaped with beautiful flowers and trees that make you feel like you’re in a botanical garden. There are also a few bars/restaurants that line the area as well, and our favorite is Casa Rio for their fantastic Tex-Mex and margaritas (too bad they were still closed while we visited).

Just being able to walk along the quiet sidewalks, enjoying views of the Alamo, and teaching Caleb of its history and importance felt like a treat to all of us at that point. We have found that getting out and seeing/learning about history is one of our favorite parts of our travels.

We thoroughly enjoyed having the place pretty much to ourselves. We only came across five other people while down on the River Walk that day.

Fortunately, since we were there, things have slowly opened back up, and our country has learned how to return to life somewhat-as-normal safely. San Antonio is a city filled with rich history and culture, beautiful sights, gorgeous landscapes, and AMAZING food! It remains a must-stop for us again and again and we highly recommend adding it to your bucket list as well.

Here is a 360 photo we took of the Alamo. You can see we were the only people around.

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It was a fantastic day trip over to Clearwater Beach (about an hour’s drive).  The aquarium is located over the bridge near a super cute marina, if you recall from the movie.  The views of the intercoastal and all the way over to Clearwater Beach were incredible.

We chose the self-guided tour; however, there are upgraded tours of the facilities that will take you behind the scenes.  We would love to return for these at some point.  We did enjoy a few great informational shows while there.

The first show was the “real” story of Winter and how she came to the Aquarium.  While everything is dramatized for movies, the storyline is not identical but close.  We also learned all about her prosthetic tail and how it works.  It was a very interesting and informative show, and we even got to hold one of the (old) prosthetics.  Caleb was shocked by how heavy it was.

We saved the BEST for last.  We went down below to watch the trainers do some work with Hope and Winter both and learned about why Winter usually only wears her prosthetic for her therapy sessions.  She has adapted very well to life without her tail, and it was so amazing to see her swim about and play.

There is much more to see and do as you make your way through the facility, and the aquarium is very interactive, including a touch tank.  They even have a Great White Pelican rescue, where you’ll get to meet Ricky, who played “Rufus” in the movies.

While we were there, some of the areas were under construction.  The facility is getting an $80 million expansion.  The size is going to more than double in most areas, including the tanks. The renovation is due to be complete in the Fall of 2020.  We can’t wait to come back and check it out the next time we are in the area.

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It’s huge!!! We easily spent four hours just in the main exhibit hall. The second floor has several aircraft simulators and actual cockpits of aircraft you can climb into.

You may even get lucky during your visit, as we did, to witness a military retirement ceremony taking place.  The facility is commonly used for military events.  Over Jay’s 27 years in the Navy, I always loved attending the many ceremonies over the years.  Like homecomings, I still get emotional every time I witness one. 

The museum is on a Navy Base. At the time of our visit, increased security measures have temporarily limited access to current DoD ID cardholders and Veterans with a Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC) only. As a result, we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. They do allow those with IDs to escort non-ID holders on. If you can link up with someone who can get you in it’s worth the price of admission (free).

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Since we’re spending some time in the Tampa area we decided to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (@cmaquarium). This is the same facility which was featured in the movie “Dolphin Tale” . If you visit you’ll be able to walk over the exact areas where many of the movie scenes were filmed.

The dolphin “Winter” (who lost her tail due to a crab pot entailment) is still at the aquarium as a full-time resident. They do a group discussion with her and show the prosthetic tail to teach visitors all about it. They have hundreds of other rescued animal to view as well. It was very educational and we highly recommend! ·

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We were able to watch another SpaceX launch this morning from Jetty Park! Sorry for the shaky camera . This was the fourth launch of Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Always breathtaking! ·

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If you’ve ever bought a camper anywhere on the planet, there’s an 80% chance it was built in Elkhart, Indiana. On our visit to THE RV CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, we took the opportunity to tour the Grand Design Manufacturing Plant and visit the Recreational Vehicle & Motor Home Hall of Fame.

Grand Design Tour

Grand Design RV loves to show customers & potential customers how they build their RV’s. The company, known for its customer service and quality, is relatively new in the industry and has a pretty interesting story.  Production happens early in the morning at the GD facility, and it’s nearly a ghost town when the public tours start at 2:00 PM. Cam Boyer, the company’s CFO, actually joined us and answered many questions along the way.  We enjoyed the tour and found it very interesting and educational.  Details on factory tours are here.

Recreational Vehicle / Motor Home Hall of Fame

We also took the opportunity to visit the Recreational Vehicle / Motor Home Hall of Fame. The RV/MH HoF is 100,000 sq. ft. Museum, which features various historical, recreational vehicles from Airstream, Winnebago, and other American makers.

The museum features RV’s dating back 100 years and continuing through the 1980s. The oldest vehicle on display is a 1913 Earl Travel Trailer, and it’s the oldest surviving specimen known. The museum is divided into areas that highlight key events in the history of RVs, such as the introduction of the first microwave oven, the first indoor toilet, and other features. Vehicles from the 1980s are displayed at the Go RV’ing exhibition hall, within walking distance of the museum.

One of the vehicles on display is the 1931 Chevrolet Housecar offered as a bribe to Mae West by Paramount Pictures to persuade her to make movies. The oldest Winnebago and the smallest Airstream ever built are also to be found in the museum.

Our trip to “The Crossroads of America” also allowed us to visit many local farms, Amish businesses, and even a cattle auction or two!   All things not too easily found on Oahu! 

It was great to show Caleb all of this “‘Merica” at once!

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SuperShow numbers have been tabulated, and the “Tampa Show” did indeed set a record with 74,861 people having passed through the gates this year, which is about 600 more than last year’s record total.

Hosted by the Florida RV Trade Association (FRVTA), the show took place Jan. 15-19 at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa and featured some 78 manufacturers, 1,550 RVs and 450 vendors on the venue’s 120 acres. – Source

We arrived on Wednesday morning (Jan 15th) and promptly realized we were “late”!  Nearly all the daily guest and overnight parking was occupied – so we were directed to what “I believe” was the furthest spot from the front gate!  I guess thats what we get since it was our first time attending and we were learning the ropes.

We spent our four days boondocking in the fairgrounds parking area with hundreds of other RV’ers.  Several clubs and groups had special areas sectioned off where electricity was available.  If you want one of those sites you’ll need to reserve early as they were all booked up well in advance.  TIP: Next time we attend we’ll arrive near “closing time” as the lot had much more availability to choose from at the end of the day.  They also didn’t seem to regulate where people set up too much after hours. 

We attended the show for three of our four days in Tampa.  Our fee was $20 per night to stay at the fairgrounds and show entry was $12 for each adult.  Kids under 16 were free and all tickets were good for “one” re-entry at any later day during the show.

We saw a ton of RV’s – from teardrops, TT’s, 5th Wheels to all drivable options – including a “top of the line” $1.4Mil motor coach.  There were way too many to even talk about, but if you want to freely look & compare several makes and models then an RV show this size is the way to do it.  Luckily we still like ours “the best” so we didn’t end up trading down :-)!

We also saw several of the YouTubers we’ve watched over the past year (Less Junk More Journey, You Me and the RV and Finding Our Someday).  We even ran into our “Super Salesman” Ken from General RV (Ashland).  

Overall it was a great experience and we would go again in a heartbeat!  Great seeing all these RV’s and RV people!

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We really enjoyed our time at the Florida RV SuperShow. We toured tons of great RV’s and while we found some really nice ones, we kept coming back to the same conclusion…we really love the one we have. We did so much research into what was the best option for our family and our needs/wants that it still feels like the perfect choice for us. We also LOVE @granddesignrv – the brand we chose. This is not just a brand, it’s a fantastic community!
On our last day at the show we had the great opportunity to show some aloha and say hi to many of the Grand Design folks at the show and got to meetup with more of our favorite YouTubers, who also happen to be new ambassadors for GD. This is the sweetest, kindest family and Corey’s photography skills are insane!
We also happened to run into our favorite RV salesperson (all the way from Virginia). If you are in the market for an RV, I would highly recommend reaching out to Ken Wilson with General RV. He is not only a great guy and Veteran, he is well educated about the RV lifestyle and has experience with full timing with his family. He has been so incredibly helpful to us along our journey. Thanks Ken! It was so great running into you and finally getting that long overdue photo op. @findingoursomeday Aloha! #findingoursomeday

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Got to meet with some of our favorite YouTube creators yesterday at the Tampa RV Supershow! It was great to finally see you all you in person! ahui hou

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Nice visit to #threesisterssprings today. We saw about eight manatees from the shore. During our hike we also ran into a baby ring snake.

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