I just moved into a mobile home in St Pete: It’ll be my hidey-hole for the duration of this virus thing, and once that is all over it will become my base camp, from which I can make roadtrips with the van.      

As some of you know, I make my living by doing books for Red and Black Publishers, and all of my diaries here are draft chapters for various books that I am working on. The recent lockdowns have given me time to finish a few that I was working on, and they are now available. … More A Shameless Plug

Even though I’m hunkered down, I’m still taking occasional walks outside when the cabin fever gets too heavy. (Sawgrass Lake Park is right across the street.) So I’ll keep posting some photos and updating everyone on things. A few photos: ​Cormorant takes a nap ​Tilapia fish chases a turtle away from his nest ​Great Blue … More Some Critters

It keeps looking more and more like this epidemic is gonna last a long time …. So I’ve gone ahead and moved into a mobile home in one of the local 55+ parks here in St Pete. It was always my Plan B in the event that something prevented me from vantraveling, though I had … More Well, Now I Have a Base Camp

Things in Florida are getting worse. All of the tourist attractions and beaches are closed. Most of the campgrounds are also closed. All gyms and fitness centers have been ordered closed, and all restaurants are ordered to become “takeout only”. I expect a total lockdown will happen soon. These are not normal circumstances, and they’re … More OK, Folks, I Am Tossing in the Towel ….

While spending the day at Fort Pickens in Pensacola FL, I got to have lunch on the nearby beach and walk around for a bit. Some photos. ​The park is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore ​Along the beach ​Nice day for sailing ​Willet pokes in the sand ​Pensacola Lighthouse, on the other side … More Pensacola Beach

The first shots of the Civil War, it could be said, were not fired at Fort Sumter in April 1861, but three months earlier in Pensacola FL. On January 10, 1861, Florida became the third state to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy, and that made US Army Lieutenant Adam Slemmer a target. … More Fort Pickens, Pensacola FL

So here I am back again in St Pete. Since I know this area, I figured it’d be easiest for me to ride out whatever happens, here. My plan is to mostly just stay in the van for the next couple weeks. It’ll give me time to work on some manuscripts. I have a couple … More Greetings From St Pete–Again

[NOTE: I’ve blogged all these “how-to” posts before, but am gonna re-run them on occasion, since folks may have missed them, and many of them have been updated or expanded since they were first posted.] For most van-travelers, finding a place to temporarily camp is not a problem: they stay out in the countryside (known … More Vanlife: The Logistics of Parking in Walmart

Well, it looks like the whole coronavirus is gonna be causing us dwellers some difficulties: some places like libraries are already closing down for a few weeks, and I suspect other places like malls will follow. So I think I am gonna head back to St Pete for a few weeks and ride it out … More Covid-19 Plans …..