February 2023
After a few days off from work for the Switch It Up Huddle at Camp Margaritaville, we headed north to a KOA in Jennings FL. It was right off the highway, a place that would be more of an overnight place passing through between Georgia and Florida. I (Sian) focused on work for the week. Working while on the road forces us to travel on the weekend, so I can work during the week. Therefore, our preference would be to stay in a location for two weeks so we would have the middle weekend to see the area.
Our next destination was Live Oak Landing in Freeport, FL (about 30 minutes from Destin on the panhandle).
It was here where I first experienced internet connectivity issues. Up to this point our “Internet on the Go” Peplink Router with two cell carrier SIM cards was doing the trick.
Knowing we will be heading to other areas of the country where Verizon and AT&T cell service for internet was going to be a challenge, I decided it was time to pull together my long term back ups.
At the Switch It Up Huddle in February 2023, there were some conversations about everyone’s experience with internet connections, highlighting some areas where Verizon and AT&T cell coverage is limited. Thanks to Ed for sharing his experience with T-Mobile Home Internet. Knowing I had my first issue with service coverage with my existing cell services, we headed to Destin to pick up T-Mobile Home Internet, which was the answer for our internet connection in Freeport, FL for sure.
We had also been contemplating when to jump on satellite internet for areas we will travel to with limited cell service. Knowing we need to plan for the delivery and we will be heading to the mountains of TN and KY, we now ordered Starlink RV service which is now called Starlink ROAM.
We now have even more internet options, as we cannot rely on the campground WI-FI. I have more confidence having back up options for our internet connection. We cannot afford to have any connection issues (Sian works remotely).
Enough about Internet connections, let’s get back to our experiences. On one of our excursions to the Destin area we visited shopping outlets searching for new sneakers. The area was much busier than when we visited the area while staying in Navarre, FL in November.
We treated ourselves to a wonderful lunch at Tommy Bahamas Restaurant in Sandestin, FL. The food was amazing. If you are a foodie and near any of their locations, you should check out Tommy Bahama Restaurants and Marlin Bars (with specialty drinks and light fare). They are located in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, New York and Texas, and we highly recommend stopping in. Of course, I headed into their store and purchased a top (I love the quality of Tommy Bahama clothes). Out with the old and in with the new. (If something comes into the RV, something goes out!)
At the end of February we traveled to central Florida back to Thousand Trails Orlando, and looked forward to some fun times at Walt Disney World.