First of all, I want to thank everyone here who chipped in to my posts with ideas and suggestions. Second, I want to thank GS for the discounts on the fuel at Pilot/Flying J, which we took advantage of several times.
We took off from snowy northern MI with a foot of caked up snow on the roof of our 28 ft. 5th wheel on Feb. 23.
First night, after our longest haul of 571 miles, we stayed in a truck stop in Georgetown, KY. It was full-all the truck stops are always full, we've since found out, unless you pull in for the night before 6 p.m. or so. But we found what we thought was a spot, pulled in, and spent a fairly peaceful night, only to discover that we had parked in a "No Parking" zone the next morning when we saw the printing on the pavement which could not be seen at night...so, we left fairly early in the a.m., relieved no one had awakened us in the middle of the night.
Second night, we spent in a GREAT little campground with full amenities right alongside the freeway in Byron, GA-Interstate RV Campground. Great wi-fi, nice and quiet, $30. Stayed there on our way back, too. It is far less stressful to know where you are going instead of venturing into new territory. Highly recommend to anyone heading down I-75.
Third night, we spent in our first Florida RV park in Tarpon Springs, Florida, finding it so tight we couldn't breathe without our neighbors seeing it, not all that quiet, and expensive. That was the case in another private park we stayed in in Ft. Myers as well. We were checked out in the Ft. Myers RV park to make sure we weren't the Beverly Hillbillies, as well. Overall, we are not fans.
We also stayed in Lake Manatee State Park, Collier/Seminole State Park, and Highlands Hammock State Park. With the exception of poor road and parking site signage in Highlands Hammock, we LOVED the Florida State Park system, and hope to use it again the next time we head for Florida. No wi-fi, but we didn't have any in the Ft. Myers private park, which was much more expensive, either. No sewer, either, but their dump stations are convenient and easy.
We learned a LOT, and found traveling in the high traffic and tight metropolitan areas of Florida very stressful, but we had a great time.
Looking forward to our next trip!