I traveled to Palm Beach County, Florida to establish new residency. I have a lot of family there and particularly, my youngest sister Barbara who lives with our 93-year-old father and is willing to get my mail at their house. There’s also no state income tax in Florida, which I see as a big plus when I start withdrawing money from my retirement account. My 401k contributions were not taxed when I earned them and if I don’t have to pay a state tax when I use it, I figure I win!

A sunset view from Dad’s house. This is my new address… too bad I don’t actually live here.

While there, I would get my Florida driver’s license and my vehicles registered. A word of caution to those relocating to Florida: they charge $450 to transfer a vehicle title from another state. Since I had two, I nearly choked when the woman at DMV gave me the bill. I also planned to spend 3 to 4 weeks of quality time with Dad before setting out for good on my adventure since I’m not planning to return to South Florida any time soon.

When I arrived the first day, I was too early to get into the campground so what does any smart girl do? Well, I don’t know about the rest of them, but I called my sister and asked her to pick me up at the local Walmart and we’d go to lunch! She brought our cousin Pam and the three of us went out for Mexican food and Margaritas. Just my luck, it was $5 Margarita Monday!

L-R: Pam, me, Barbara at Calaveras Cantina in Jupiter, Florida. Check them out for $5 Margarita Mondays!

I got a site at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound. This campground is newly built (they relocated it from a different area of the park), very well laid out with beautiful bathrooms and showers. The only thing it lacks is shade from the brutal Florida sun but the trees they planted will eventually do the job. They also only allow a maximum 14-night stay with a minimum 3-night break. I scheduled 9 days to start and planned to go to the west coast to visit friends then return for another 14.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Hobe Sound, FL.

Florida has stunning storm fronts.

A change in plans

Barbara and her husband, Dave, relocated to Florida from New Jersey three years ago in anticipation that some day, Dad would need someone to care for him. Well, that day hit almost the minute I arrived.

I was barely there 24 hours when Dad needed to be hospitalized for congestive heart failure. He responded well to treatment and was home in a few days… and just a week or so before Barbara and Dave left for a trip back to New Jersey. So, when they left, I became his caregiver. It wasn’t really an inconvenience because I had already planned to visit him every day but I wasn’t going to be able to visit my friends on the gulf and I still needed to leave the campground for 3 days.

Remember the broken generator circuit breaker switch from my previous post “The Great Smoky Mountains and my arrival in Florida”? Well, I found Waits RV Center conveniently located near my father and sister and stopped in to ask about repairing it. Eric was very nice but told me that, unfortunately, they do not repair generators. “But,” he said, “you’re in luck.” It turns out that Cummins/Onan generator has a large service facility just a few blocks away.

I ended up using the 3-day break from the campground to get the generator repaired and it hadn’t taken long to realize I needed a second air conditioner in the motorhome; one wasn’t cutting it in South Florida in the summer. So, Wait’s installed a unit in the bedroom and performed a few other minor service items for me. During that time, the cats and I moved in with Dad and then went back to the campground for another two weeks.

Waits RV Center installed the second AC unit towards the back and fixed my awning that I couldn’t unroll.

My sister has made a lot of friends in Florida already and I hit it off great with them, too. So while Barb was in New Jersey, I was hanging out with her friends. We hit a couple of Friday night Happy Hours and Karen, Linda, and I went down to Fort Lauderdale for a day.

Linda and Karen at the eclectic Briny Irish Pub in Fort Lauderdale.

In all the years I’ve been a photographer, I’ve never had an opportunity to photograph lightning. One night while driving back to the campground there was a wonder lightning show going on to the west of US-1. I grabbed my gear from the motorhome and set up in the parking lot at the front gate where I had a wide-open view to the west. I wasn’t able to focus very well and hopefully my next attempt will be better.

Lightning display west of Hobe Sound, FL.

During this time, I thought Dad was doing pretty but on the day before I was scheduled to leave, he had a bad fall before I arrived in the morning. He had contusions, abrasions, and bruising from his head to his knees and I had a lot of guilt. I felt terrible that I hadn’t been staying at the house at night but I wanted to be living my RV lifestyle and Dad has always been so independent, I thought he wanted to have the house to himself for a little while each day. I was wrong.

Now, Barbara was still in New Jersey and the plan had originally been that Dad could take care of himself for a week between my leaving her returning and we had cousins who would stop by each day to check on him. But it was now apparent that he needed someone with him all the time and that responsibility was hers and mine and shouldn’t be transferred to other family members. I told Barbara I could stay a few more days but I had a lighthouse photography trip in Quebec booked that I didn’t want to miss so I needed her to come home early.

I had exhausted my stay at the state park and since I’d decided to move in with Dad, I brought the motorhome to my cousin’s house next door where I could have easy access to my stuff and I had additional repairs to do. The town frowns on vehicles like these in driveways so I kept my fingers crossed they wouldn’t throw me out. They didn’t.

My motorhome conveniently located in my cousin’s driveway next door.

One of my cats likes to spend most of her time hiding behind the sofa in the motorhome. Unfortunately, she shredded the thin dryer ducts used for my heat vents. I replaced them with more rigid, yet flexible aluminum ducts but boy, did I feel like a pretzel trying to wedge myself under the sofa!

 
Heat ducts before and after.

By now, my brother Bill had surprised me and come down to care for Dad so I wouldn’t have to stay so long and would be able to get to Quebec in time to join the photography group.

My brother, Bill and Dad enjoying a beautiful evening by the water.

I left Florida on July 12—5 days later than planned—but I was so glad I was able to be there for Dad and give Barb a much-needed break. Barb and I even managed to meet up in a Walmart parking lot off I-95 in South Carolina as I was going north and she was going south.

Barb and me in a Walmart parking lot off I-95 in South Carolina. We met there as we were traveling in opposite directions.

Upcoming post:

The lighthouses of the Saint Lawrence River.

My name is Lindsay Reed and I’m a photographer and retired graphic artist with a passion for both lighthouses and road trips. I am living as a full-time solo RVer in my 31 foot Coachmen motorhome and plan to spend the next few years traveling the U.S. and Canada photographing not only lighthouses, but everything else there is to see in this wonderful land. I hope you enjoy my blog and will follow my adventures in the months and years ahead.