Barberville Pioneer Village
Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah
Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah from Central Florida!
We have completed another 12 months on the road (18 total) fully exploring what it means to be full-time RV’ers. We have been blessed this year with time to visit with family and friends, meeting lots of new people and visiting places all over the country.
We started out in Washington after having a wonderful holiday with Rebecca, Jason, and Alex. By mid-January we were ready to head to warmer, drier weather and headed south to spend a bit of time in Phoenix, Carlsbad, and Roswell, then it was on to Memphis to visit with our niece Rose and her husband David. After a lovely visit we headed down to the FMCA Rally in Perry for a week of volunteering & seminars. We had a brief stop in Tupelo before we took our first trip to the Tiffin Factory in Alabama for some warranty service, and while there, we got word that our house in
Pennsylvania had sold. We rushed up to PA to sort through a house full of stuff, the kids each came to snag what they wanted (which wasn’t much), and then we had an estate sale to sell the rest. Finally, we were free and clear of the sticks and bricks and we headed to Florida to set up our domicile. Once we were legal, we hopscotched around the southeast visiting Stone Mountain, The Smoky Mountains, and Myrtle Beach. Our week in Charleston was ended early when Hurricane Florence came for a visit so instead we went inland to Stateboro, GA then we got back on track and headed down to Tallahassee, St. Augustine, and Ft Lauderdale to see the rest of the family. Hurricane Michael even paid us a brief visit while we were in Ft. Lauderdale. Then we headed back north to Central Florida to start our first Workamping jobs at the Barberville Pioneer Settlement for the Creative Arts.
Whoa! By the numbers that was:
- 17 States
- 8,511 Miles by RV
- 11,732 Miles in the Jeep Exploring
- 38 Campsites
- 1 Rally
- 2 Trips to the Tiffin Home Base
- and 2 Hurricanes
We have now been at Barberville for almost two months. Our primary jobs are to do school programs for students that come to visit from as far away as Orlando and Jacksonville. We bring the late 1800’s and early 1900’s alive demonstrating life on the early frontier of Florida. From the farm, to making butter, spinning, weaving, woodworking, blacksmithing, candlemaking, and lassie cakes, we give the kids a glimpse of the past. We also have programs on the Seminoles and currently, we are doing our Traditions program showing Christmas traditions that were brought to the US from countries around the world. We even get to be Santa and Mrs. Claus! In just 2 months we have worked with over 2,700 students and assisted with two major special events, our Fall County Jamboree and A Christmas Remembered!
We are settling in to the little village of Barberville and exploring nearby towns of DeLand, Ocala, and Ormond Beach finding the best places to shop, joining the YMCA, and attending a couple of events. We’ve taken a couple of excursions, one to Homosassa Springs to see manatees ….
…. and one to Disney Springs.
Now that the learning curve at the museum is starting to flatten out, we hope to spend more time exploring the local parks and finding places to get the bikes out again.
We had a lovely “Friendsgiving” potluck with our fellow Workampers and now we are ready for Christmas with our own Charley Brown tree and plans to spend the holiday with our co-workers.
As this year comes to a close we have so much to be thankful for and know that we have been blessed to be able to enjoy this adventurous lifestyle. We want to wish everyone a joyous Christmas with family and friends and a safe and Happy New Year.
Till Next Time,