Check out the trail cam footage I got from Arkansas and near Pensacola Florida
Notes about this video:
Yeah, it is a long story. In the last 2 years, my parents and I did 2 trips to the east coast and back. What happened was this:
Back in Spring of 2018, my parents organized a road trip where the drove down to Florida (visiting some family friends along the way, especially in Colorado and Arkansas), then in Pensacola Florida, My dad (who is retired in the Navy) went to a navy reunion after that, they drove to Fort Lauderdale Florida and went on a Carribean cruise (which lasted about a week). At the end of that cruise, I flew out to Fort Lauderdale from Seattle and joined up with my parents. Soon after, we basically went on a road trip up to Washington DC and eventually back across the country (even visiting Gettysburg, old friends in Illinois, as well as Mount Rushmore in South Dakota along the way back).
Highlights from that trip included:
- visiting Holiday Park near Weston Florida and see alligators (basically like a wildlife park where you can go on an airboat ride in the everglades and see alligators, iguanas and other wildlife). By the way, even in March, it was nice and hot there (definitely alot warmer climate than say Seattle for that time of year, even snowed in Seattle about 2 days before I flew out to Florida). Not sure if they really get cold winters in the Miami area in Florida (or if they do, I am sure winters are going to be shorter and not as cold as say Seattle area for example). Wasn't able to stay for the Alligator show though since soon after that, we were back on the road and headed to Orange Park (near Jacksonville)
- Visiting some old friends (Matt Bleich and his family) in Orange Park
- Had lunch in Savannah and then drove to Charleston South Carolina (we stayed in Charleston about 3 days, even visiting Bill LeJune and his family, a first in many years).
- Visited Virginia Beach and was there overnight (our hotel room overlooked the beach at the Courtyard by Marriott there)
- Visited Colonial Williamsburg for a few days. You definitely feel like you have gone back in time there as it is basically a giant living history museum (kinda like Old World wisconsin and Winston Salem) where people who work there are basically reenactors and working and living as people would have back in the 1700s (colonial times), barring some obvious differences in present day (such as more tourists, cars, newer hotels, hostilities with the british no longer the case among other things).
- Spent a week in Washington DC (during the 2018 trip, we stayed at the navy lodge at Bethesda). Also marked my first real times riding a subway system (I have no memories of riding the subways when I was living in the Chicago, 1984 to 1994, and the closest thing that Seattle has to a subway are the sounder train, which only runs a few times a day instead of round the clock, as well as a new light rail system that is being built, though it will be many years before it gets extended all the way my neck of the woods near Everett / Snohomish, so I would have to drive or take a bus if I wanted to go into downtown seattle at this time). Didn't do the white house tour that year, but we did tour the capitol building, along with doing a bus tour around the city.
- Visited Gettysburg one day
- After Gettysburg, we did a road trip all the way back to Snohomish Washington, visiting old friends in Lindenhurst and Grayslake Illinois, La Crosse Wisconsin, Mount Rushmore, and Cour De Elene along the way.
After that trip, fast forward to the Fall of 2019, my parents and I did a second trip to the east coast (with some differences from the first trip). I decided I would bring one of my trail cams along with my night vision monoculars with me along the way (with the idea of seeing some wildlife). My parents took my trail cam with them along the way down to Florida and set up the camera twice: once in Arkansas, and once near Pensacola Florida. Arkansas wasn't too impressive (mostly deer and squirrels), though the family friends they visited: Keith and Linda have a trail camera too, and have gotten more impressive footage (such as bears among other things). My most impressive captures (all credit goes to my parents of course) was in Pensacola Florida. Like the 2018 trip, my dad went to a different Navy reunion event there and he and my mother stayed in these Cottages along the beach there, and sure enough, they set up the trail cam while they were there and the results were stunning. The caught some gray foxes (officially marks my first time getting foxes on the trail cameras as opposed to the usual coyotes we get here in Snohomish), armadillos (yeah, they don't exist in Washington like they do in Florida), opossums, raccoons, squirrels, and even a coyote. Parents did put out some food by the cameras, so that helped. Yeah, while feeding animals tends to be frowned upon, I find that sometimes putting out food by the trail cameras can bring about interesting results and can attract wildlife to the cameras too (such as coyotes, raccoons, foxes, squirrels, stellar jays and other animals). Pensacola was definitely the most impressive on trail cam results. A few days later, like on the 2018 trip, I flew out to Florida (this time Jacksonville, with short layover at Charlotte, NC) and met up with my parents. That time around, we stayed at a courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Jacksonville Beach and visited the St Augustine area while we were there (didn't visit the Bleichs that time around due to time restraints). After St Augusting, we did a similar trip up the east coast and back with some differences from the first trip, including:
- staying 3 days and 2 nights in Savannah (unlike the first trip where it was more of a pit stop instead).
- Stayed in a different hotel in Charleston SC from the first time around and after that leg of the trip, instead of going to Virginia Beach, we visited the Charlotte area, Asheville area (yes we treked all the way there and yes it is more up in the Appalacians), along with Winston Salem before heading to Virginia. By the way, most of the time, we stayed in hotels, so I wasn't able to use the trail cam in most of those stops (with the exception of Williamsburg, will post that footage on a seperate post). Tried setting up my trail camera in Asheville, but I accidently botched it (set up a password feature to help deter theft, but I forgot to reenter the password to activate the camera, so I didn't catch anything). I was able to used the night vision monoculars, but unfortunately those footage got corrupted when I tried loading them onto the computer.
- In addition to Williamsburg (stayed in a different hotel that time around), we also visited Charlottesville, Vernon, and Fairfax while there.
- In Washington DC, we stayed at a different navy lodge (the one at Bolling Anacostia base), though personally, I liked the Bethesda one more. The one we stayed at in 2019 didn't have an elevator, so we had to carry everything up the stairs manually. There was a metro station relatively closeby, but it was in a rougher area compared to the one at Bethesda, so we weren't able to use the subway most of the time (though eventually, we did take one in from the Virginia side one of the days), usually took a taxi cab there instead. That time around, we did do the White House tour (had to get through security first obviously, but I can now say I have seen the inside of the white house at least once (sorry I didn't see Trump when I was there, so I can't say I have met him nor seen him in person yet as of 2020). On a side note, I did see a red fox at one point at the base we were at (saw one wandering around in an open area with my binoculars). I tried setting up a trail camera while I was there, but I didn't catch anything, besides random dogs and kids checking out the camera. Would have liked to scout out an open area there with my binoculars or night vision monoculars, but I was there with my dad (retired from the navy) and I figured people would likey get suspicious of me if I tried wandering around there on my own, so I stayed close to the hotel most of the time I was there. At the end of the DC leg that year, I actually flew back from Dulles and my parents drove back. They had my trail cam with them, but didn't get any footage during the drive back, so I don't have any footage to share from the drive back. Would have liked to gone for the whole trip, but I had to get back to work after going back home.
As of 2020, I don't anticipate any more trips to the east coast for a while (we may go to New England at some point, but I don't know when, especially with the corona virus going around right now). Will start trying to bring a trail cam with me on other trips too and share wildlife I get too.
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Notes about this video:
Yeah, it is a long story. In the last 2 years, my parents and I did 2 trips to the east coast and back. What happened was this:
Back in Spring of 2018, my parents organized a road trip where the drove down to Florida (visiting some family friends along the way, especially in Colorado and Arkansas), then in Pensacola Florida, My dad (who is retired in the Navy) went to a navy reunion after that, they drove to Fort Lauderdale Florida and went on a Carribean cruise (which lasted about a week). At the end of that cruise, I flew out to Fort Lauderdale from Seattle and joined up with my parents. Soon after, we basically went on a road trip up to Washington DC and eventually back across the country (even visiting Gettysburg, old friends in Illinois, as well as Mount Rushmore in South Dakota along the way back).
Highlights from that trip included:
- visiting Holiday Park near Weston Florida and see alligators (basically like a wildlife park where you can go on an airboat ride in the everglades and see alligators, iguanas and other wildlife). By the way, even in March, it was nice and hot there (definitely alot warmer climate than say Seattle for that time of year, even snowed in Seattle about 2 days before I flew out to Florida). Not sure if they really get cold winters in the Miami area in Florida (or if they do, I am sure winters are going to be shorter and not as cold as say Seattle area for example). Wasn't able to stay for the Alligator show though since soon after that, we were back on the road and headed to Orange Park (near Jacksonville)
- Visiting some old friends (Matt Bleich and his family) in Orange Park
- Had lunch in Savannah and then drove to Charleston South Carolina (we stayed in Charleston about 3 days, even visiting Bill LeJune and his family, a first in many years).
- Visited Virginia Beach and was there overnight (our hotel room overlooked the beach at the Courtyard by Marriott there)
- Visited Colonial Williamsburg for a few days. You definitely feel like you have gone back in time there as it is basically a giant living history museum (kinda like Old World wisconsin and Winston Salem) where people who work there are basically reenactors and working and living as people would have back in the 1700s (colonial times), barring some obvious differences in present day (such as more tourists, cars, newer hotels, hostilities with the british no longer the case among other things).
- Spent a week in Washington DC (during the 2018 trip, we stayed at the navy lodge at Bethesda). Also marked my first real times riding a subway system (I have no memories of riding the subways when I was living in the Chicago, 1984 to 1994, and the closest thing that Seattle has to a subway are the sounder train, which only runs a few times a day instead of round the clock, as well as a new light rail system that is being built, though it will be many years before it gets extended all the way my neck of the woods near Everett / Snohomish, so I would have to drive or take a bus if I wanted to go into downtown seattle at this time). Didn't do the white house tour that year, but we did tour the capitol building, along with doing a bus tour around the city.
- Visited Gettysburg one day
- After Gettysburg, we did a road trip all the way back to Snohomish Washington, visiting old friends in Lindenhurst and Grayslake Illinois, La Crosse Wisconsin, Mount Rushmore, and Cour De Elene along the way.
After that trip, fast forward to the Fall of 2019, my parents and I did a second trip to the east coast (with some differences from the first trip). I decided I would bring one of my trail cams along with my night vision monoculars with me along the way (with the idea of seeing some wildlife). My parents took my trail cam with them along the way down to Florida and set up the camera twice: once in Arkansas, and once near Pensacola Florida. Arkansas wasn't too impressive (mostly deer and squirrels), though the family friends they visited: Keith and Linda have a trail camera too, and have gotten more impressive footage (such as bears among other things). My most impressive captures (all credit goes to my parents of course) was in Pensacola Florida. Like the 2018 trip, my dad went to a different Navy reunion event there and he and my mother stayed in these Cottages along the beach there, and sure enough, they set up the trail cam while they were there and the results were stunning. The caught some gray foxes (officially marks my first time getting foxes on the trail cameras as opposed to the usual coyotes we get here in Snohomish), armadillos (yeah, they don't exist in Washington like they do in Florida), opossums, raccoons, squirrels, and even a coyote. Parents did put out some food by the cameras, so that helped. Yeah, while feeding animals tends to be frowned upon, I find that sometimes putting out food by the trail cameras can bring about interesting results and can attract wildlife to the cameras too (such as coyotes, raccoons, foxes, squirrels, stellar jays and other animals). Pensacola was definitely the most impressive on trail cam results. A few days later, like on the 2018 trip, I flew out to Florida (this time Jacksonville, with short layover at Charlotte, NC) and met up with my parents. That time around, we stayed at a courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Jacksonville Beach and visited the St Augustine area while we were there (didn't visit the Bleichs that time around due to time restraints). After St Augusting, we did a similar trip up the east coast and back with some differences from the first trip, including:
- staying 3 days and 2 nights in Savannah (unlike the first trip where it was more of a pit stop instead).
- Stayed in a different hotel in Charleston SC from the first time around and after that leg of the trip, instead of going to Virginia Beach, we visited the Charlotte area, Asheville area (yes we treked all the way there and yes it is more up in the Appalacians), along with Winston Salem before heading to Virginia. By the way, most of the time, we stayed in hotels, so I wasn't able to use the trail cam in most of those stops (with the exception of Williamsburg, will post that footage on a seperate post). Tried setting up my trail camera in Asheville, but I accidently botched it (set up a password feature to help deter theft, but I forgot to reenter the password to activate the camera, so I didn't catch anything). I was able to used the night vision monoculars, but unfortunately those footage got corrupted when I tried loading them onto the computer.
- In addition to Williamsburg (stayed in a different hotel that time around), we also visited Charlottesville, Vernon, and Fairfax while there.
- In Washington DC, we stayed at a different navy lodge (the one at Bolling Anacostia base), though personally, I liked the Bethesda one more. The one we stayed at in 2019 didn't have an elevator, so we had to carry everything up the stairs manually. There was a metro station relatively closeby, but it was in a rougher area compared to the one at Bethesda, so we weren't able to use the subway most of the time (though eventually, we did take one in from the Virginia side one of the days), usually took a taxi cab there instead. That time around, we did do the White House tour (had to get through security first obviously, but I can now say I have seen the inside of the white house at least once (sorry I didn't see Trump when I was there, so I can't say I have met him nor seen him in person yet as of 2020). On a side note, I did see a red fox at one point at the base we were at (saw one wandering around in an open area with my binoculars). I tried setting up a trail camera while I was there, but I didn't catch anything, besides random dogs and kids checking out the camera. Would have liked to scout out an open area there with my binoculars or night vision monoculars, but I was there with my dad (retired from the navy) and I figured people would likey get suspicious of me if I tried wandering around there on my own, so I stayed close to the hotel most of the time I was there. At the end of the DC leg that year, I actually flew back from Dulles and my parents drove back. They had my trail cam with them, but didn't get any footage during the drive back, so I don't have any footage to share from the drive back. Would have liked to gone for the whole trip, but I had to get back to work after going back home.
As of 2020, I don't anticipate any more trips to the east coast for a while (we may go to New England at some point, but I don't know when, especially with the corona virus going around right now). Will start trying to bring a trail cam with me on other trips too and share wildlife I get too.
Sponsored links section
Featured ads from Amazon
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