John,
I agree with all the comments about game over once the head gasket leaks. In reading your question, I think you may be describing a different scenario. I would say you could not have driven hundreds of miles with a leaking head gasket and not have evidence. Driving would make it leak far worse than parking it. If you are seeing water in the oil, it could be condensation depending on the amount. While I would not advocate driving hundreds of miles with a suspect head gasket, you might change the oil and start the car. Once the engine is hot and running see if you have any water vapor in you exhaust. Stop it and see if you have coolant in your oil or oil in your coolant. If you are using coolant, it should be more obvious IMHO than plain water. Of course if the engine is running rough as mine was when I got it with a blown gasket -- you don't want to run it for long or as well explained above, there's potential to do a lot more damage.
Since you live in a pretty humid state, water could come from condensation. One reason they have the 3 month / 3,000 mile saying is because of the breakdown of the additives that help deal with water condensation. That is aggravated by short trip driving where the oil never gets hot enough to fully vaporize and remove the water.
HTH, YMMV, and any other suitable acronym