If you have been following our progress on the van you know we were ready to test everything out on a trip someplace warmer than South Alabama. Since there isn’t a whole lot of land south of South Alabama, Florida was it. We finally left on a freezing morning with frost covering all the windows with the knowledge that South Florida is always in the mid-70°s this time of year.

To escape the Alabama cold on Day 1 we went through Eufaula (kinda the same route we took here Weekend Drive to Pensacola and Gulf Shores), down to Tallahassee, and then over and down to just north of Tampa. We try to avoid the massively clogged interstate traffic when we can so we skipped I-75 and opted for Highway 19/98 where we stayed at an iOverlander trailhead overnight.

Steinhatchee Florida

One of the first day highlights was a side quest over to Steinhatchee Florida to check out a few marinas on the water. For those unfamiliar with The Great Loop or the importance of Steinhatchee, this little spot on the water is where the boats running The Great Loop cross the gulf from the Panhandle side with Steinhatchee being the landing point after the crossing.

This is also the time of year they make the crossing so we wanted to see if any looper boats were in the area since we were close by. I think we counted about 5-6 boats that were clearly ones that had made the crossing. It was neat to see the area in person after seeing so many post about it on YouTube.

For this trip we are making a rather quick run down to Key West, along the west coast, and then returning through the interior of Florida. I’m calling it a “van circumnavigation” for the sake of we are going in a circle and covering all of Florida on some level. I’m going to attempt to post each day on our site, maybe with a quick video like the one below. We will see how it goes. I know being in 78° weather in December couldn’t be better.

If you missed the first three days of the trip they are below for you, thanks for stopping by!

A Week Around Florida

• A Week Around Florida Auburn to Tampa Day 1
• A Week Around Florida Tampa to Tamiami Day 2
• A Week Around Florida Tamiami to Bahia Honda Day 3
• A Week Around Florida Key West to Homestead Day 4
• A Week Around Florida: Homestead to Okeechobee Day 5
• A Week Around Florida: Istokpoga to St. Augustine Day 6
• A Week Around Florida: St. Augustine to Valdosta Day 7
• A Week Around Florida: Valdosta to Eufaula Day 8