11/29/19 - Winter Travel Plans

We are migrating south again, hopefully avoiding the worst of Chicago's winter weather by heading back to Florida, but this year we're leaving right after the holidays.

Last winter we didn't leave home until the 1st of February; that was a decision we still regret.

You see, last winter we departed in the midst of a polar vortex (that's Latin; it means colder than crap).

We were knee deep in a winter storm that had hit Chicagoland particularly hard. The temperature dropped to -22F and there was a wind chill so biting that it still hurts to think about it.

We're hopefully giving all that up for 12 weeks of therapeutic warmth. I'm talking temperatures where one can survive outdoors wearing a tee-shirt and cargo shorts, maybe even go fishing without having to break through the ice.

Not counting the distance from/to Chicago, we plan to cover approximately 1,300 miles over 3 months, starting in earnest at Grayton Beach State Park near Destin, Florida and winding up our winter adventures at Tybee Island, Georgia just outside of Savannah, probably the most beautiful city on the east coast.

Our average stay at any one location will be 9 days. (Yes, we are definitely nomads. That is what motivated us to downsize in 2018.) I will, of course, blog about our experiences as we meander. Know that we do have some fun activities planned, none of which include the sort of Chicagoland weather you might just find yourself thrown into at the end of January, struggling in a dark, snow covered parking lot trying to hookup a nearly frozen toad.

I did not care for that experience at all; neither did my toad.