RV Life in Florida: Our New Pup, Family Meet-Ups, Disney Fun, and Space Coast Wrap-Up

Kicking Off the New Year in Orlando

We began the New Year in Orlando, spending January 4th to the 18th at Thousand Trails Orlando in Clermont, FL. Even though we were about 40 minutes away, we visited Walt Disney World several times, making the most of our annual pass. It's the best place for us to get our daily steps in! We also prepared for a big moment—welcoming our new puppy, Sierra.

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Welcoming Sierra

On January 16th, we were thrilled to pick Sierra up. Although our hearts were still heavy from losing our beloved Myah, we were ready to open them again. Sierra was exactly what we needed—sweet, calm, and easy to train. To our surprise, she was housebroken within a couple of weeks. She slept a lot, learned quickly, and was the spark of joy we definitely needed. From the very beginning, she felt like the perfect fit.

Miss Sierra joins our family at 8 weeks old.

Family Time at Disney World

On January 18th, we moved to Encore Sherwood RV Resort in Kissimmee for 18 nights. The main reason for the move was to meet up with family at Walt Disney World from January 25th to 31st. This is the closest RV park to Disney that is part of our membership. We were only about 10 minutes away from most parks. We had a wonderful time with Eric, Ethan, Apryl, Matt, Lauren, and Ryan in “the most magical place on Earth” together, making memories we’ll cherish.

The best of times are spent with family at Disney.

Sun, Sand, and Sarasota

From February 5th to 24th, we stayed at Encore Terra Ceia RV Resort in Palmetto, FL. More family joined us from February 5th to 12th, staying in Sarasota near Ryan. My mom, dad, sister, Tricia, brother-in-law, Marc, and niece, Ava, flew in to visit with us. Ava was especially excited to meet Sierra and couldn't get enough puppy cuddles with her! We spent every day with them—sharing beach time, meals, and activities. Marc's parents, Wendy and Arnie, who live on the west coast of Florida, joined us too!

Family visit in Sarasota

Sierra got her first taste of the beach, digging in the sand and making new dog friends. We visited the Night Market with Ryan, and Sierra experienced her first fireworks from the comfort of her daddy's arms. I'm always seeking out good Kombucha breweries and had an awesome tasting at Beech Kombucha in St. Pete. The inside of the brewery had a very cool vibe, too. We also took Sierra to Mazzaro’s Italian Market in St. Pete to work on her socialization skills and for a cute photo op, and even introduced her to kayaking. She was a little unsure at first but quickly settled in.

Beaches, markets, Kombucha, and water fun!

A Day with Dalí

Ryan and I spent an afternoon at the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, exploring both the galleries and the immersive Dalí Alive 360° dome experience. The museum’s collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photographs was incredible, and learning more about Dalí’s life and creative journey was fascinating. We topped the day off with a relaxing lunch.

Dali Museum

Revisiting Wildwood

On February 24th, we headed to Thousand Trails Three Flags in Wildwood, FL, for nine nights. We like this park for its easy access to The Villages, a well-known retirement community with plenty of shops, restaurants, and neighborhoods to explore. Sierra continued her socialization training on our outings. We met up with friends, Mike and Cindy, who moved to The Villages from Rochester several years ago and enjoyed catching up with them.

The Villages.

We enjoyed lunch with Aunt Carol and Uncle Jay in Sumter Landing and met up with RV friends Mike and Sarah, whom we’d met in the Florida Keys, at a brewery in Leesburg. We always enjoy catching up with more family and friends. We even made a plan to meet Mike and Sarah again at the next location.

More Meetups

New Adventures on the Space Coast

On March 5th, we made our way to Encore Space Coast RV Resort in Rockledge, FL, and settled in for two weeks. This was our first visit to the area, and Ryan joined us for part of our stay.

One big highlight was tandem skydiving with Ryan—his first time, my second. We didn’t splurge on the photo package this time, so you’ll just have to believe us when we say it was a success, and Ryan was able to check this experience from his bucket list!

We also visited Kennedy Space Center, which was even larger and more impressive than I had imagined. There was far too much to see in one day, but we soaked up as much as we

could about NASA and the history of space exploration.

Pre-flight Skydiving and Kennedy Space Center

The beaches, especially Cocoa Beach, were beautiful, and we were lucky enough to witness a couple of SpaceX launches—one from the campground and one from the beach. The Space Coast had so much to offer; we’d happily return.

Cocoa Beach fun in the sun.

We met up with fellow RVers, Sarah and Mike again, this time in nearby St. Cloud, and enjoyed a few beers, dinner, laughs and friendship.

St. Cloud visit

Reflections on Our Florida Winter

As our time in Florida came to a close, we found ourselves reflecting. We were still mourning Myah and thought of her often. Sierra had been a welcome distraction—a sweet, steady source of joy as we adjusted to life without our first RV travel buddy.

We enjoyed the Sunshine State’s warm weather, endless beaches, palm trees, and time with loved ones, but the shadow of loss lingered. Even so, we looked forward to the road ahead, eager to show Sierra more of this beautiful country and share with her new adventures of life on the road.

One more pic of Sierra in case you missed any. ☺️

Next stop: Coastal Georgia.