Florida 2012 - Week 4

Sitting by the fire with Grady at our first campsite

Our third & last campsite

Our stay at Jonathan Dickinson State Park between Jupiter and Hobe Sound includes three different campsites.  It is so difficult to get a spot at most Florida State Parks this time of year, so we have to keep checking on the internet for availability due to a cancellation, and we get lucky especially to find something for the weekend.  When we were out west last year, we never had to book anything in advance - we would just show up at an RV park and there was always several spots available, or we would just find a spot in the desert on federal land and camp for free!  But here in Florida, nothing is free and everything is full!

The park is big, the two campgrounds are over 4 miles apart!  The Loxahatchee River runs through the park so there is kayaking and canoeing, also motorboats for rent and a river boat cruise, but we don't rent a boat here.  We go to the source of this river just outside of Jupiter and rent kayaks there in Riverbend Park as this is the most scenic part of the river. 

Gator on the Loxahatchee, me in a kayak

On the river, we see two alligators, one which worries me as he swims out a bit in front of our kayak (which is only a few inches off the surface of the water), then turns and swims right toward me veering off to my right a few feet away from me.  I realize I was holding my breath.  He's about 5 feet long, not really a very big gator.  We also see a few turtles, one funny little one which has all four feet suspended above his perch and he's resting only on his soft belly.  The other turtle is big, almost a foot in diameter.  The ride on the river is beautiful, with cypress trees sprouting from the water; it reminds us of Okeefenokee Swamp in Georgia.  But a word to the wise: don't rent a double kayak unless you are sharing it with your lunch and not your spouse.  There will be less fighting that way.

We also spend an afternoon cycling around Riverbend Park.  There are many hiking/biking trails here - you could get lost except that there are maps at most trail junctions.  We pass swamps, forests and marshes; have a picnic lunch next to the Loxahatchee canal; we see a Limpkin and a White Ibis (both water birds) as well as a pair of Sandhill Cranes which pass us on our trail only about 1 foot away from us.  We can almost reach out and pet them, although I'm sure we would be nipped for our trouble.  This is an excellent park, and I recommend it for anyone in the area - it's outside of Jupiter on Indiantown Road just west of I-95 and the Florida Turnpike.

The trees lining the road to the Hobe Sound Beach

Once we go to the beach - it's as beautiful as every other southern Florida Atlantic beach - aqua-coloured water near the shore and deep blue a few hundred yards out.  The water is already about 75F, warmer than usual for this time of year.  The town of Hobe Sound has a beautiful entrance to the beach area - strange trees lining both sides looking like a runway to an exotic, tropical location, which it is of course.

Marilyn at Blowing Rocks Preserve, Jupiter

Marilyn at Blowing Rocks Preserve, Jupiter

 We came this far south to visit the Blowing Rock Preserve, an outcropping of "coquina" or Anastasia rocks found only here.  When we typically think of Florida beaches, we think of sand stretching for hundreds of miles along the coast, but here on the Preserve, these rocks that look like Swiss cheese make a small cliff wall for a stretch of about 1/2 a mile or 1 kilometer at a maximum height of about 6 or 7 feet.  The rock is made up of crushed shells and coral, with fossils and sand.  There is an education centre here, but nowhere do we find the reason these rocks are here (or at least exposed here) and nowhere else along this part of the coast.  But it does make for an interesting view, with the waves crashing up the side of the rocks and splashing us.  People are also here just beaching and there are signs to say to be careful if swimming, snorkeling or scuba diving, but I wouldn't swim here for fear of being crushed against the rocks in the strong current, although we read that the coral reef just a few yards out in the water is interesting to snorkel (that's the black shapes in the water just off shore in the photo).

On one day, we drive down to the river inside the park and just have a picnic lunch.  There is a swimming area roped off in the river but, knowing that there are alligators in this river, who would actually swim here?  And shortly after we finish eating, we can see a large ripple of water being pushed towards the shore.  Maybe a gator!  I grab the camera and head towards the edge of the water, and this very big water ripple comes straight towards me.  Now, I know it's something big.  This isn't just a fish (although mullet are jumping further out) and it's not the wind - I can see the crest of the water but not what's causing it.  The sheer size of the ripple stops me dead in my tracks about 4-5 feet from the water's edge and I can see that whatever it is quickly changes direction and swims off to my left only about 2 feet from the shore.  We ask another couple who kayaked up to the beach and are eating lunch if they think that might have been an alligator.  "Oh probably," she says.  "One lives here, I see him all the time."  She and her husband live about 5 miles away and kayak here all the time.  Yikes!  Too bad I didn't get a photo.

While we could have stayed here longer, it's time to move on.  Next, St. Lucie for a few days, then we head to the "west coast" and north.

Florida 2012, Week 3

Wekiwa Springs

We spend three nights at Wekiwa Springs State Park just southeast of the Ocala National Forest.  It's on the Wekiva River - not a spelling mistake.  In the native language of this area, wekiwa means bubbling water (the spring) and wekiva means flowing water (the river).  The spring itself isn't as impressive as Alexander, Juniper or Silver Glen Springs in Ocala.  The pool bottom here is covered with tiny, broken shells and very large seaweed-covered rocks, unlike the other springs which had a beautiful white sandy bottom with some clumps of algae spread around.  The spring itself is a small hole about 5 feet in diameter and 15 feet straight down, unlike in Ocala which were huge open areas with several springs bubbling forth from rocks on the bottom about 25 feet down.  We don't even swim in Wekiwa Springs because ... because ... I don't know - we don't really feel like it.  There are also lots of kids here because it's Spring Break, so that doesn't entice us either.

The "view from my chair" - our campsite

Our campsite is beautiful though.  It's surrounded on two sides by a forest of very tall pines.  Our neighbours are not too close, which is why we prefer state or national parks to private RV parks.  This campground, like the others we've stayed in before it, is very quiet - day and night!

One evening after dinner, Brad and I are sitting outside the trailer and Grady starts meowing at us through the screen door.  So I decide to bring him out on his leash.  He hates the leash because he has to wear a harnass - it's a small dog harness that I bought because he "Houdinis" out of everything else I've bought him.  Anyway, he slowly walks around a bit but, being a scaredy cat, he wants back in the trailer.  Now, have you ever seen how a cat behaves when wearing a silly kitty t-shirt or "clothing"?  They don't like it.  They think they can't walk, jump or move in any way.  It's freaking hilarious.  Because the harnass fits him so snugly and is bulky, this is how Grady climbs the three steps to the trailer door.  At the top while standing on the left edge hoping the door will magically open, he proceeds to fall over sideways landing on his side with his nose in the dirt.  He never even attempts to right himself during the fall, as cats usually do.  It almost looks like slow motion.  He slowly picks himself up and licks the dirt off his nose.  Brad and I are killing ourselves laughing - you know otflmao.  "Mowww!" he says.  I pick him up and sit with him in my lap.  This he likes and we sit for about 20 minutes before I put him back inside.  Our entertainment for the day.

probably an Eastern Racer, 10 feet behind our trailer

Grady also alerts Brad to a black snake that is right outside the back window of the trailer one afternoon.  Here's a pic.  It's a small snake, about as big around as my index finger and maybe almost 2 feet long.  He's a beauty, very shiny and all black.  He's afraid of us though and slithers off into the woods with me and the camera chasing him.

We do a bit of cycling in this park, but there aren't many trails and it's very hot during the day.  At least we have electrical hookup and we can run the AC in the trailer.  Somehow, we putter away the days, and on Thursday, take off for Jupiter - Jupiter, Florida.  We will be staying at Jonathan Dickinson State Park between Jupiter and Hobe Sound for the next week.  This is on the coast, although the campground is just west of the intra-coastal waterway.  But there's a constant, beautiful breeze blowing off the ocean, and FULL hookups (water, sewer and 50-amp electrical) for $26/night!  It'll be the first time we visit a beach and we've been in Florida for three weeks!

Until next time...

Florida 2012 - Week 2

Our campsite at Alexander Springs

We've decided to call this trip our "Spring Tour" since it seems we'll be visiting many of the springs in Florida and - it's spring!  Apparently, Florida has the highest concentration of springs in the world!  Who knew?  We're still camping in the Ocala National Forest at Alexander Springs.  There are four recreation areas in the Ocala NF: Juniper Springs where we were last week, Alexander Springs where we are now, Salt Springs in the north (and the only campground in the NF with services) and Silver Glen Springs which is the only area without camping.

We choose a sunny, open site instead of the usual shady ones so that we can get a signal with our satellite dish (TV is important!) and use our solar panels to recharge our batteries.  These sites have no services (electricity, water and sewer) so we have to fill our tanks with fresh water and provide our own electricity.  We do a lot of relaxing since we are here for 11 days, but other than hanging around our site here's a rundown of our "adventures".

Springs are the bright blue spot on the right

We swim in Alexander and Silver Glen Springs.  Alexander Springs is a huge natural pool with a 25-foot deep hole at one end where the water bubbles up through the cavernous limestone underground.  There are a few caves at the bottom where several springs erupt.  The flow of the water is immense and difficult to tread in.  The water is a constant temperature of 72F (about 22C).  We snorkel in the spring and see a few fish including a black catfish.  While sitting in the picnic area, a guy at a nearby table says, "Hey, that snake just fell out of this tree!"  Yikes, it's raining snakes!  It is a small snake, barely 18" long, but nobody can identify it, so let's not bother it!  Fair enough.

Brad, water mocassin home on the right in the rocks

Marilyn at Silver Glen Springs

Silver Glen Springs is very similar, except that when we pay at the gate, the attendant tells us that we have to enter the spring by the canoe launch because there are two water mocassins at the usual entry point.  She has a man posted there to watch for the snakes and to keep people away from the rocks where the snakes are living.  Water mocassins are highly poisonous snakes.  Fortunately, 72F water is too cold for them to want to swim in.  Are you sure?  We never see the snakes, but one little kid gives the posted sentry a heart attack when he swims towards those rocks where the water mocassins live - the guy rushes to the rocks to save the kid, but the snakes don't make an appearance.  There are many more fish here than at Alexander Springs - some big fish and mullet that keep jumping out of the water.

Stupid sign about Alligators:
"Alligators are present in this forest.  They are an important part of Florida's ecology and may be found wherever there is a natural body of water.  They have a natural fear of man, but may lose that fear by being around people especially if they are fed.  When this happens, alligators can be dangerous.  For this reason, alligators should not be fed or molested in any way."  Who the hell wants to "molest" an alligator?  Besides Crocodile Dundee or the Croc Hunter, Steve Irwin (and he's dead)!  Funny wording.

We also make a trip to Daytona Beach which is less than an hour's drive east, but we never go to the beach (been there, done that!)  We are here to visit our RV friends from Quebec whom we met at the Mojave National Preserve in California last year - Jean and Denyse (Jean is a guy - they're French).  They have been in Florida all winter, 4 months in the south near Miami and two months in Daytona Beach.  They are staying in an RV Park where your trailer is 10 feet away from your neighbour's.  Not our style.  It's also Biker Week in Daytona, so the area, including this park, is full of Harleys and all kinds of motorcycles.  We have lunch with Jean and Denyse and catch up with what each other has been doing this past year.  A great visit.

It's Spring Break, here in Florida as well as all across the country, hence the reason we are staying inland.  We see a lot of campers come and go from the park, but where we camp isn't even full all the time.  Weekends are busier of course, but still not bad.  Next week is Spring Break for the surrounding counties, so maybe it'll be busier then.  We have to find a place to stay next weekend as our reservation at Wekiwa Springs State Park where we're moving to tomorrow is only until Thursday.

Grady is having a good time, although it gets really hot in the trailer during the day (90F), especially since we're in the full sun.  We're not able to run our AC, but we do have air vents in the ceiling with fans, so those help.  It's nice sitting outside in the shade, however we've discovered that we often get ticks on us.  And they hurt when they bite.  Brad has found one on him two or three times, me once.  I'm afraid of bringing them inside the trailer to the cat, so I buy him a flea and tick gel so he doesn't become a flea-bitten varmint.  And ants - ants everywhere outside.  Give me the scorpions and spiders of the west - at least they hibernate in the winter!

I have to admit that I much prefer the southwest where the desert is dusted with the warm reds, oranges, pinks, purples and yellows of the western sun.  I have never really understood people who love to come to Florida, year after year.  Yes, the beaches are nice and the winter weather is great (in the southern part of the state), but I couldn't put up with the frequent humidity and all the nasty bugs.  Our legs and feet are covered with bites from insects we've never even seen!  Oh well, we don't expect to come back to Florida for many more years, when our bodies have given out and we can't hike or cycle and just want to sit on a beach all winter, which we hope won't be too soon.

Florida 2012 - Week 1

We leave home where it's sunny and fairly warm for March 1st.  It's a hectic morning and a tearful goodbye with our new baby niece and her mommy, but we head off looking forward to warm sunshine in a few days.  We expect to arrive in Florida at our reserved campground in the Ocala National Forest on March 4th, giving us four days to make the 1,300 mile journey.  At the end of the Day 1 drive in Lima, Ohio, we arrange to stay in the parking lot at the Cracker Barrel where we have dinner.  But after eating, we check the weather forecast on the computer and learn that Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee (our route south) are all expecting "severe winds, large hail and possible tornadoes" on Friday afternoon - tomorrow!  After about a 10 minute discussion, we decide to pack up and drive through the night, getting past Tennessee by Friday morning.  Amazingly, we manage to reach the Tennessee-Georgia border by 6:30 am.  Brad and I drive and sleep in shifts; Grady just sleeps.

By 6:30 Friday morning, arriving in Georgia at a rest area, we pull in and sleep until about noon, then pack up and take off again.  Trees here are blooming - red, purple, white and green.  Wow!  We only reach Macon, Georgia by about 5pm and we decide to pull into a beautiful rest area to have dinner.  We end up staying the night again because we get too comfortable and because we're so exhausted.  We learn that there were tornadoes in Tennessee and northwest Georgia on Friday.  Our drive on Saturday is plagued by very heavy rain, but once we cross the border into Florida, the skies clear and temperatures rise to 28C.

What an adventure, but we're grateful to miss most of the really bad weather.  We let everyone at home know we're still alive.

Since we've driven south so quickly, we arrive in Florida a day early, but we don't have anywhere to stay, except Walmart, rest areas, etc.  Now this is for Saturday night - one of the most-reserved nights at a campground, so we did go online again and get lucky enough to find one site left at a State Park right outside the Ocala National Forest which is our intended destination.  What a find!  It is a really nice park and we're sorry that we don't have time to explore it before heading off to our reserved campsite.

Brad chopping wood at our campsite, Juniper Springs

Our first campsite in the Ocala National Forest is very nice with our "backyard" overlooking the lush forest of palms and pines.  Our first night is very cold - down to about 35F or about 1C or 2C.  Grady remembered from our trip out west last year where the nights were below freezing in New Mexico that if he scratched on my blanket, I will open it and let him under the covers.  He NEVER sleeps under the covers at home, but here we don't run the heat all night, just pile on the blankets.  He makes me hot (Grady, not Brad) and I sweat all night long even though it's only about 50F (10C) inside the  trailer this night. 

Juniper Spring, Ocala National Forest

We swim in the 72F Juniper Spring, for which this campground is named.  Good thinking to have brought our wet suits and snorkel gear.  There are no big fish in the spring pool, only small minnows, but the swim is refreshing and the sun warms us after.  We also hike and bike the trails in the park, going to a second spring near our campsite where there are "boils" - springs bubbling up through the sand and causing underwater volcanoes.  It's really interesting to see.

On Thursday, we replenish our groceries and transfer to another campground in the Ocala National Forest, Alexander Springs.  Funny story - when we get to the campground gatehouse, the attendant says, "Oh, you've arrived a day early, but that's okay, your reserved site isn't occupied."  Huh?  A day early?  "Isn't this Thursday, March 9th?" I ask.  "No.  It's Thursday, March 8th."  Oops!  That's what happens when you're on retirement time.  We actually select a different site that is less shaded so that our solar panels work to refuel our batteries and our satellite dish works.  The first night and next day are STINKING hot - humid with thunderstorms predicted, but none come.  There is a beautiful spring pool here too, much larger with more fish.  More on Alexander Springs adventures next week.