ice maker | Adventures with Doug and Jackie

We made it to St. Andrews State Park just fine and are having a great time, thanks to some smart planning and some good purchases. The tow dolly we bought worked great to bring the Rav-4 with us and the extra hour spent hooking the car up was worth it. The first part of the trip was tense, as it took a while to relax and realize the car was just fine, but a few stops to check all the winches and hitches made us feel better.

We stopped in Dothan, Alabama to buy a countertop ice maker at Camping World and have now put it to use. The first cubes were unimpressive, in fact they were six tiny little cubes that popped out in 10 minutes, making us wonder how that would ever make enough ice to handle cocktail hour. But we left it on for the afternoon and we now have a full ice bucket in the freezer. Another smart purchase.

The campsite we have is level with a nice cement pad, so it was easy setup once we arrived. Unhooked the car and stowed the tow dolly and we got ready to hit the beach. Sunday we took the paddle boards out in the bay and paddled to the inlet – just a spit of sandy beach where the current circles around. It was fun to walk along the white sand and splash in the warm clear water – spotted a sting ray in the water and two dolphins on the paddle back to the dock. Lots of boat traffic kicked up the wakes, but it worked out. Tried my JVC camera (similar to GoPro) and got some video, but need to learn the controls better. Hope to try some while snorkeling. Another smart purchase.

Paddleboard cart that we made from PVC and wheels was a big help to pull them from the car to the water, then back to the campsite.

Afternoon was at the beach near the jetty – snorkeling was amazing. New masks and fins (yep, another smart purchase) made it much more fun and we managed to keep the masks from fogging up! Always important. Did I mention one other smart purchase? The Tommy Bahama beach cart made it so easy to get chairs, towels, cooler and gear up to the beach … and this year the beach is nice and wide, so it’s a lot more walking to get to the water. Good day at the beach, nobody is burned. Going to try snorkeling early tomorrow and get some video if we can.