Florida Winter Camping | Florida Panhandle | Topsail Hill Preserve State Park
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- Опубліковано 4 лют 2025
- #Travato #Travato59K #WinnebagoTravato #RetiredVanLife #rving #campinginflorida #rving
BACK WHEN YOU COULD TRAVEL... We left Apalachicola and headed in our van to Destin, Florida. There we stayed at a State Park RESORT, saw the most amazing beach sunset, showed you how we quickly do a Cousin Eddie and gave you our review of Topsail Hill Preserve State Park.
Wow! We can’t believe it but our 2020 Florida Winter Camping trip is just about over! In case you missed it we hopped back in our Winnebago Travato 59K and set out to find adventure in Florida. If you’ve never tried Florida camping then we think booking a site in one of the many Florida State Parks is the way to go. While it is true that they are often booked up, being persistent and flexible can land you a spot for a night or two and like us we think you’ll love it. There are a lot of Florida campgrounds to choose from but we love the seclusion and natural settings and Florida hiking. All these make a camping trip perfect for us. For this leg of our winter camping adventure we chose Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and found our why it’s known as an state park that think’s it’s an RV Resort. If you’re looking for a state park that has resort amenities then this is your park! Lots of hiking, lakes and the most beautiful white sand beaches in the Florida Pandhandle.
BE SURE TO WATCH UNTIL THE END OF THE VIDEO FOR OUR FULL REVIEW OF THE CAMPGROUND
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO:
Sand In Our Toes Song by Owen (download link... download for free or tips appreciated too):
owenpoteat.ban...
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🎥 Most of our footage is shot with DJI Osmo Pocket and iPhone 11 Pro cameras
✅ Our Equipment:
Our RV: 2019 Winnebago Travato 59K
Our VLOGGING Cameras: DJI Osmo Pocket, iPhone 11 Pro’s
Our Action Cameras: GoPro Hero 5 (yes, we know it’s old :-) )
Our Editing Software: IOS Luma Fusion, iMovie and Adobe Rush
About Us:
We are Owen and Lynn Poteat and Maggie. We travel the country in our Winnebago Travato 59K camper van and try to document what we see and experience at destinations we've always dreamed of going to. We hope you will consider subscribing to our channel and more importantly share your adventures with us as we share ours with you.
I loooooove that the song in your video is by Owen!! The lyrics are so spot on and its such a sweet song.
Topsail Beach state park is absolutely gorgeous!
We totally agree, thanks so much for watching.
So cool! You guys rock! 🤙
Thank you. We appreciate you watching and commenting.
Well done! One of our favourite Floria state parks! Noticed a different “feel” with this episode but still great.
The “feel” might be related to the this video being two years old. But curious was the “feel” better or worse? I’m sure we’ve changed a lot in two years.
We were at Topsail last year. Its mega crowded in the summer for good reason. Been rv camping 5 years. Topsail , imo, is the best RV park park we stayed at by far. We have been to 14 states so far. The white sands and the turquoise gulf is a sight to behold. Natural freshwater lake right next to the gulf is a geological wonder. Good video new sub here.
Tears come to my eyes seeing simpler times not so long ago. Be safe and stay healthy everyone.
It is so hard to believe how much things have changed in such a short time. Thanks for watching and be safe out there.
Beautiful sunset! They never get old and I love the panhandle white sand!
The sunset with the white sand was very special. thanks so much for watching. Stay safe out there.
Great adventure . Men usually get things done in their time zone Lynn . Lol . By the way cousin Eddie would be proud of you Owen for getting so close the dumping station . 😂. I admit great sunset !! Be safe from this virus so I can keep enjoying these video . Thank you for sharing.
Believe me I know how a man’s time zone works. We appreciate you watching and commenting. Stay well and safe durning this time.
This is one of our favorite parks. We too enjoy those sunsets too!!
It was one of the best sunsets we’ve experienced. Thanks so much for watching. Be safe.
Love the sunset! My daughter and son in law lived near Destin when my son in law was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base a few years ago and they loved Destin. Loved the song, Owen. Stay healthy.
The beach near Destin are absolutely beautiful. We loved the area. Thanks so much for watching.
Owen, it was great meeting Lynn and yourself...and Maggie too, at Topsail. We had a good time there, and
meeting you all made it that much better.
Keep safe,
Pete & Kris
It was also great meeting you and we are glad you enjoyed your stay. We hope you are safe and healthy.
Very good video editing. Great views, thank you.
Thank you, we appreciate your comment.
Awesome camera tricks ! Great video. Stay safe cousins 😎
Thanks! You too!
Thanks, again, for another great "stay-at-home" trip for this "wannabee!" I really liked the addition of the map with your little Travato image, going along the coast, helps me understand where you are! Also enjoy seeing all the tips of your van-life, as it is so interesting to see you both handle the little everyday life-things in such a small space. I want you both to know that you have inspired and motivated us! This beautiful country of ours has so much to see, and your videos have altered our plans for the empty-nest years, thank you so much! Owen's song/music was icing on the cake! We, too, are in NC, but plan to move to Florida's west coast in the next few years. We own a Duck Donuts in Fayetteville, if you are ever in the area, let me know--love to send you on your way with a dozen, or two!
Thank you so much for this wonderful comment, it made our day. If we get down your way we will definitely stop by and get some donuts. We love duck donuts! We appreciate you watching.
Great watch again Lynne and Owen also great to hear another one of your songs Owen especially when you did have the sand between your toes.
We didn’t have any sand between our toes in this video, it was quite chilly, but there is not better feeling. We appreciate you watching.
Alright I’m way behind on my video watching but wanted to add my 2 cents to everyone else. Absolutely gorgeous sunset & beautiful pics & video of it! I haven’t been to the Destin area since the mid 90’s . I forgot just how beautiful it is. Love those white sand beaches!
It does have beautiful beaches there and the sunset was awesome.
Our last trip was to Topsail. We really liked the park. It was our first trip with our Ebikes. It was perfect for biking. Some good restaurants just down the road which we road our bikes to. Beautiful beach also. Thanks for the videos.
Topsail would have been a great place to have Ebikes. We are still researching and hoping to get a couple. Thanks for watching and be safe out there.
VAN TREKKING lifestyle As I’ve mentioned in the past, if you have any questions about the Ebikes let me know. It took me a number of months to pull the trigger on the Radpower Bikes. I looked at most available and Rad was the best bang for the buck. I guess the best way to contact me would be on Facebook. I think I had a friend request out there for your channel. If not I’ll send one. 👍
Beautiful video. The sunset was so pretty. Donna wants to know if that was Owen singing "Sand between my toes"? Sounds like him. Where do you get these names? Cousin Eddie and Puppy Pickles. The" Cousin Eddy" almost knocked almost knocked us to our knees! From now on, whenever I empty a black water tank, I will laugh. Thank ya'll.
Yes, that was Owen singing “Sand between my toes”, to bad we didn’t have our shoes off. The ‘Cousin Eddie” comes from the movie Christmas Vacation, I’m not sure where he picked up “puppy pickles”. If you watch the movie you will probably laugh even more when you empty the back tanks. Thanks so much for watching. Stay well and safe.
I just need to tell you, I really enjoy your videos, I hope you can come up with more, I know you are staying in now as you should, I am 80 and havent left the house since this began. I really like your Tips videos. Great work, keep it up. Cheers!
Jon
Thank you so much for letting us know you like the videos. I think we have two more videos from our last trip and then we are going to have to get creative. Thanks for the suggestion of doing more tips. We appreciate you watching and commenting.
Glad to hear you are safe at home. When this craziness is over, we hope to meet you on the road!!
We are very glad to be at home in a time like this. We cant wait until this is over so we can hit the road. Hopefully we will see you. Thanks for watching.
Another video from our beaches! Another 45 minutes west you would have been on our hometown, NAVARRE! We absolutely love living here with the white sandy beaches and amazing sunsets. Thank you for sharing! Hurricane Michael hit on October 10, 2018 and Mexico Beach is finally seeing some renovations now. With my work, I travel from Pensacola to Apalachicola weekly and it will take many more years to fully recover. #travatowannabe
We love the beautiful white sandy beaches. You live in an awesome place. Thanks so much for watching and commenting.
Thank you for this video. I loved watching it and we are headed to Topsail so it's really helpful
We appreciate you watching. Safe travels to Topsail.
My Florida cousin goes that park, once or twice a year. Like it when you sing your music.
It’s an awesome place to go for sure. We appreciate you watching and commenting. Stay safe and well.
I am glad you are safe and watching out for each other. I think Nomad couples can handle this the best since they are used to being in small places together all the time.
We appreciate you watching and comment. Stay safe and well.
Beauty of a sunset! The burgers looked yummy and I laughed when Lynn asked you what you had on your burger and Owen u said whatever you cut up🤣 Was that a deer on the dunes at sunset? I couldn’t tell for sure. Nice that they have tram service and I love that State Park thanks for sharing it
It was! It was the icing on a beautiful cake for that trip. Glad you're with us. Looks like someone is binge watching. 😂 Makes us happy!
I wish my Carolyn could have seen that. We were connoisseurs of fine sunsets. Thanks!
It was definitely one of the best sunsets we’ve ever seen. I wish you both could have seen it with us. We appreciate you watching and commenting.
It’s nice dreaming of travels ahead with a new puppy we don’t have yet! Thanks for sharing!
I think we are all dreaming of traveling in the near future, at least we are. Good luck with the new puppy, that’s exciting. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Hi guys hugs Destin so nice stay safe ☝ jp
Thanks for the hugs. We appreciate you watching.
I really enjoy your videos very good and thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your kind words. We really appreciate you watching.
Always fun to watch you 3. As you review parks, try to include that they have cabins or not. Although I watch everyone of your videos along with many other RV travelers for ideas, I’m in several car clubs so most of my trips are with auto enthusiasts. We try to use Air BNB, but would like to have the RV park experience in a rental as well
Thank you for the suggestion, we would have never thought of that. We will start adding that information. We appreciate you watching.
That looks like a lovely park.
It was a very nice park that we enjoyed very much. Thanks so much for watching and commenting.
My wife and I are wanting to take off for months but because of the present issue with the caronavirus we are delayed. I thought we are a little old to start this but I think you and I are almost the exact age, I’m 62 and born in January as I seen in one if your shows you were also lol. We really enjoy watching you three.
If this way of traveling is something you want to do there is no time like the present. I say go for it. Of course after Coronavirus craziness is over. We are the same age and we feel like we have many more years to enjoy this way of traveling. Thanks for watching and commenting.
VAN TREKKING lifestyle Thank You!
Cheers!!!
Cheers to you! We appreciate you watching. Stay safe and healthy.
I love the “cousin Eddie” reference.
What can I say Owen loves his little references. Thanks for watching. Stay safe and healthy.
Topsail was our last state park before hi-tailing it back home to Canada. We were there 2nd week of March for two nights. It was actually hot enough and the water warm enough that I swam both days for about 1/2 hour. I felt like a little kid again! Lol. Before that, we stayed at Grayton Beach just down the road. Actually between the two parks, my husband and I prefer Grayton because 1) It's half the price 2) smaller campground area 3) Better bathrooms 4) more private sites and 5) a lot closer to the beach. The laundry room was awesome though as Lynn said lol. So just looking at the back of your van with your door open. What is that mesh storage thingy on the wall? I'm looking for something similar for my van and would love to know where to find one and how you stick it to the wall that it stays. Thanks for sharing your Florida journeys! Hope we can all get back on the road someday soon. Stay safe and healthy you too!
We are glad you got to enjoy the warm weather, I wish it had been warm enough for us to enjoy the water. We will put Grayson Beach on our list for next time, thanks for the suggestion and we appreciate you watching.
Question for you Owen, in your video of the sunset on the beach at henderson Beach is that you signing? My husband and I both think it sounds like you. A wonderful voice and song. Thank you for all your video's, Lynn and you have inspired us to get out more. Thank you so much and God bless you both.
That is so sweet of you to say. Yes, that's me. Before retiring I was a musician who worked hard to make a living at playing music. Glad you liked it.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle you are very talented, we need to hear you more. LOVE IT!
My brother lives 7 miles from there down on 30-A. He was the one having the concern with outsiders coming and if became sick would cause potential stress on healthcare system in FL
I totally understand your brothers concern. I am really glad we have a home to hunker down durning this time. We hope you stay safe and well.
Owen love what you did with the little trap door in the bathroom did you put a hinge on the little door.
The little trap door has a strip of Velcro around it, that works very well. Every little bit of space helps. Thanks so much for watching.
That lake needs a name... might I suggest "Maggies Spot".
Now... where on earth did you get the name "Cousin Eddie" for dumping a black tank?!?
I think if I was cousin Eddie, I may have an issue with that! 😆
Be seeing you!
Cousin Eddie comes from one of Owen’s favorite movies “Christmas Vacation”. Cousin Eddie visits during Christmas and has an RV, it’s a funny movie you should watch it. Thanks for watching.
Hi Guys: We finally did our “maiden voyage” to Edisto Beach State Park right before the shut down and since then we’ve been working on our set-ups including“Cousin Eddie” routine for Tamaste. Did you get a different hose (gray) to store in van compartment? And connectors to keep under the toilet? Would product links be possible? We’re hunkered down for the duration and glad to see that you are, too. When it’s all over, hope we can do a meet up!
Janis, Jon + fur kids...
That is great that you at least got your shake down trip in before this hit us. Here's a link to our Cousin Eddie setup. Check out this Idea List on Amazon: Our Cousin Eddie Hose by VAN TREKKING lifestyle www.amazon.com/shop/vantrekkinglifestyle?listId=1PDDJTVKQYILG&ref=idea_share_inf
Thanks for all those links! 🙏
We stay there every CHRISTMAS. We usually stay in the Palm?? Section Our favorite place.
Topsail was such a great place to stay, I can see why you go there every Christmas. Thanks for watching and stay safe out there.
Do you know if they had a Veterans discount? Thanks! Love your videos.
Yes they do. 25% off entrance fees. Thank you for your service!
Loved this. We hope to do this loop when we get our camper. Wes is in real estate so Winter is a good time to get away. How far ahead did you need to get reservations? Nice that they had bikes to rent and showers and laundry.
We booked our January reservations in December. And we booked our February reservations at the end of January. But each year is different so you'll just have to be flexible.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle We are very flexible. No worries on that.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle Did you ever find beaches that were dog friendly?
Yes, a lot of the beaches were dog friendly before 10am and after 5pm. Many in the posh areas or many state parks banned them altogether. The BringFido.com website helps you know rules and rule out ones that are not dog friendly.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle I have been using that website for years for hotels. It is awesome.
Thanks.
Awesome video! I love the music! Who sings it? I tried to Shazam it but it didn’t work! You two are awesome! Thank you!
Thank you! Owen spent most of his adult life working as a musician so music is really important to us. The first song, if that’s the one you’re talking about, is Go With The Flow. Here’s the link: I used Shazam to discover Go With The Flow by Jesse Lawrence. www.shazam.com/track/495897073/-?referrer=share
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle thank you for the link! That’s a great song. It was the second song I was referring to. Maybe it’s called Sand Between our toes. I love that one!
did you get the awning fixed? I might have missed it!
We have not gotten the awning fixed yet, Owen couldn’t get the cover off to check it, he was afraid he was going to strip the screws. However we did find out it is the motor $$$. That will be in another video. Thanks for watching.
Did you figure out the awning? Hope it is still under warranty.
It is the motor and it is not under warranty, bummer.
Destin is where my wife and I spent our honeymoon.
Destin is a great place for a honeymoon. We love it there.
"Numerous times..." LOL...
That’s good to hear. Thanks for watching.
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What a sign of the times when we are using disposable gloves and hand sanitizer to go to the grocery store instead of a “cousin Eddie”!
So very true. Thanks for watching.
Thought Maggie would enjoy this video in the your back woods... I know she is getting anxious with all this social distancing... stay safe and enjoy
Watch "Bobcats stalking prey behind our home in Hendersonville, NC." on UA-cam
ua-cam.com/video/TscITv0E8PI/v-deo.html
Thanks for sharing. We love watching wild life and we love the Hendersonville area. We appreciate you watching.
Why do you call it a "Cousin Eddie?"
The “Cousin Eddie” reference comes from one of Owen’s favorite movies “Christmas Vacation”. Cousin Eddie visits during Christmas and parks his RV in front of their house, and you can guess what he does when his tanks are full. It’s a really funny movie that we have to watch every year at Christmas. Stay safe and healthy.
Jed Clampett Huh ?
Yep.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle See ya