Florida 2012 - Week 7

On our last night at Manatee Springs State Park, we have a firefly trapped in the trailer.  It flies around our bedroom as we are trying to go to sleep and many times flies in front of the closet mirror door, perhaps thinking its reflection is a mate.  Grady follows it to the living room, then back to the bedroom, but never tries to catch it as he does with regular flies.  It puts on quite a light show for us, but in the morning, Brad finds it drowned in our dishes in the sink.

Only about one hour away, near High Springs, we stay in O'Leno State Park for two nights.  There is no spring here, just the Santa Fe River which is unfortunately low of water right now so there is no swimming, snorkeling, canoeing or kayaking allowed.  Being inland about 50 miles or so from the Gulf, we are again in the forest - with bugs (ticks, house flies, horse flies, yellow flies, a few mosquitos and no-see-ems).  After we set up the trailer, we take a short hike (nothing spectacular to report other than cool trees dripping with Spanish Moss and very tall pines), but on our second day, we go to Ichetucknee Springs State Park, where there is not only one spring, but two.

Brad diving in the Blue Hole at Ichetucknee Springs

Blue Hole is a deep cave about 40 to 50 feet down and leads to a series of underground (and underwater) caves where divers are allowed to explore from Memorial Day (at the end of May) until Labor Day (at the beginning of September).  The spring around Blue Hole isn't very big, and only Brad swims here as there's a lot of grass on the bottom of the swimming area, and that just freaks me out.  I like to be able to see a clear bottom so I know nothing is hiding.  Brad really enjoys this swim and pulls himself down into the hole for about 20 feet before his ears can't take the pressure anymore.  The main spring, Head Spring, is not as big a swimming area as many of the other springs we've visited on this trip, and there are very few fish, but we explore it a bit anyway.  The water is cool - always 72F so we don't swim long.

Marilyn on the beach at Grayton Beach State Park

Since we've had enough of forests and springs, we decide to head to the beach and go to Grayton Beach State Park in the panhandle near Destin.  It'll be nice not to have to worry about ticks!  It's hot and humid while we're here, so thank God for air conditioning!  This is a great park; excellent sites and a beautiful beach with powdered sugar white sand.  The water is rough because of high winds they had before we arrive.

Brad and Marilyn eating lunch on the beach

We spend some time on the beach just relaxing and doing a bit of walking, although Brad's not up to much of that yet with his bad ankle.  We do swim in the water on our last day; it must be 80F and it's much calmer than it has been since we arrive.  We explore a bit in the truck and on our bikes east and west of the park.  One day we have a fantastic lunch at Pompano Joe's which is a seafood restaurant overlooking the beach.  We watch surfers in the big waves left from the winds, and enjoy great food - Brad a seafood soup and huge breaded shrimp, me a Caribbean salad which was to die for!

Marilyn crossing the lake outlet to the Gulf

We also gawk at the million dollar mansions on the beach, some over $5,000,000 (six zeroes!) - but WOW!  No big condos here.  This county (Walton County) doesn't seem to allow big condos to be built, although there are some three-story high ones.  Mostly there are private residences - lots of money here.  There are some shops, but we don't browse.  The communities in this county seem to be very resident and guest conscious.  A bike trail follows the coast all the way - about 20 miles.  We ride a part of it.  One of the communities called Watercolor has all of their streets done with interlaced brick!  And there's lots of construction going on.  Each community runs into the next, but they have a small town feel, not like a tourist trap.  Absolutely lovely.

Overlooking the beach in Seagrove

Western Lake - a coastal dune lake (Gulf behind dunes)

One of the things that makes this area unique is the presence of "coastal dune lakes" which are found only here and a few other places in the world, namely South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Oregon.  These lakes are fed by streams, underground water sources, rain and storm surges, and are only connected to the Gulf during high tides and storms.  Some lakes are brackish whle others are fresh.  There are 15 lakes here on this 26 mile stretch, and they make for some beautiful scenery.

Captain Fantastic - The Village at Baytowne Wharf

When we arrive at a new location, we usually try to visit the local Tourist Information Center.  Through the one here, we discover that there are free concerts held weekly at the Village of Baytowne Wharf near Destin in a private community with this public space in the middle of it.  What a gorgeous place - again must be tons of money here.  The residents' taxes alone must be atronomical just to pay for the upkeep of the roadsides and medians!  What we can't belive is that everything is free - parking and the concert.  Perhaps the local business owners pay for the concerts to attract business.  It's a small park where the bandstand is, but we arrive early expecting that there might be a crowd (which there is) and get a good spot on the grass for our chairs in front of the stage.  Then Brad is in heaven because he finds out that he can get a tallboy (big beer can) for $2!  AND drink it in the park!  Many people bring their own wine bottles, others visit local restaurants and bars to get a traveller.  It reminds me of New Orleans' Bourbon Street.

The concert is fabulous.  It's a one-man show - a tribute to Billy Joel by 52nd Street and Elton John by Captain Fantastic.  Both acts are the same guy and he's GREAT!  The average age of folks here is about 60!  Many get up to dance to his music on the cobblestone apron in front of the stage.  The best part?  We're home by 9pm!  Just what us old farts like.

But our time comes to an end and on Saturday, April 21st, we leave for home.  We'll take 4 days to drive it since Grady doesn't like to spend too much time in the truck.  Well, I guess it's time to go - it's getting too hot anyway!

Florida 2012 - Week 6

In Crystal River, we stay in our first private RV park instead of a state or federal park.  Big difference.  Here, the sites are really close together and we get really unlucky parked between a couple of "seasonals" - people who stay the entire season (summer in this case).  During our second night, the folks on the one side of us are partying so loud, it's hard for us to sleep, even though I ask them at 11pm to keep the noise down (11pm is also "quiet time" in the park).  Not to go on about it, we complain the next morning to the office and get an upgraded site on their "lake" in a very quiet area of the park where we spend the last night of our stay.  Plus, they refund our one bad night.

Brad with a Gopher Tortoise on the trail

For entertainment, we spend one afternoon cycling in the Crystal River Preserve State Park on the 7-mile loop trail.  We are told by a couple of locals that we won't see any wildlife, but we see a cottonmouth snake and two gopher tortoises.  The snake and one of the tortoises I almost run over on the trail, breaking hard at the last minute.  Cottonmouth snakes are very venomous, so we have to be careful.  As the snake is stretched out across one side of the path, Brad moves to the opposite side so the snake is between us.  As soon as Brad steps too close for comfort, the snake instantly coils into a strike position.  I unfortunately miss that shot, but get a few other good ones.  This trail is great riding, and easy on the hard-packed sand surface.  The palm and pine forest is lush, with several water holes and a creek or two.  We also see only a blur of a wild boar in the bush, but we definitely hear him grunt as we startle his foraging.  So great wildlife viewing when we weren't expecting it.

Manatee eating lettuce at Homosassa Springs

As recommended, we visit the Ellie Shiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Homosassa Springs just south of Crystal River.  The park accommodates native Florida animals that are injured, hand-raised or unable to return to the wild.  There are, of course, manatees and alligators, as well as a Florida panther, bobcat, black bear, numerous birds like flamingos, hawks, eagles, egrets, and a variety of fish, snakes and turtles.  There is also an eastern couger here - she had been hand-raised and was given to this park when she got too big for her owner; and a hippo - "Lu" who used to appear in TV shows in the 1960s but was retired here as an attraction when the park was privately owned.  He will live out the rest of his days here.  There is a manatee show with a park volunteer.  He feeds these large aquatic mammals heads of lettuce.  They must eat 10% of their body weight everyday, and they are strictly vegetarian.  The manatees swim near the spring which is a hole 35 feet under the surface surrounded by rock cliff walls.  The park has built an underwater viewing area, which is a sight to behold, with hundreds of fish (snook, perch, and something that looks like a small tuna) and the feeding manatees.  Wow!  What a great place to visit for a couple of hours.

On the day we are to leave, we rise at 5:30am to get a 6:15 boat ride to the springs to swim with manatees near the Three Sisters Spring on the Crystal River.  We spot manatees right away, and one by one ease into the water.  There are four boats of us, about 50-60 people, and the sun has just risen, but the water is warmer than the air.  There are many rules because manatee are protected.  You are allowed only to touch them with one hand as they swim by you and you must not touch their face, flippers or tails.  We are also told not to talk louder than a whisper or very quietly and not to thrash about in the water kicking our feet as this scares them.  One of the manatee has a baby which we see nursing from under its mother's side flipper (this is where her nipples are).  I get to touch the baby, all 500 or so pounds of him, as he surfaces for air which they do about every 5-10 minutes although they can go up to 20 minutes.

We also swim in the actual spring which is down an alley of sorts off the main part of this creek feeding the river.  It's a large, deep hole this spring.  As we are swimming back out of the spring to our boat, our captain/guide says "baby manatee swimming into the spring" and the baby swims right under us.  It's apparently unusual for the manatee to go right into the spring, so this is a real treat.  There are about 4 or 5 manatee swimming with us this morning, which our captain says is the most they've seen here at one time since the winter, when the manatee come here to bask in the warm 72F waters coming out of the spring.  It's a very moving experience.  Unfortunately no photos since we use a disposable water camera, so have to get them developed when we get home.

On Easter Monday, it's off to Manatee Springs State Park, northeast of Crystal River.  Sadly, there are no manatee left in this spring as they've all headed out to the Suwannee River or the Gulf in search of warmer water.  As with most springs, this one is a constant 72F.  There is a lot of wildlife in this park, including deer which hang around the campsites, snakes which hang around the spring meaning I (Marilyn) won't be swimming, and ticks which seem to like Brad.  There are also mysterious sounds at night some of which we can identify as owls, but others - who knows?  Their prey certainly.  It's all very spooky although Grady isn't interested.  He likes watching the multitude of squirrels which chase each other around the trees.  The ground is covered with dead, dry leaves, and every movement sounds like a herd of buffalo.  Also there are many cardinals and other song birds which like to bathe in the water dripping from our water connection tap outside.

swimmers and scuba divers in Manatee Springs SP

Brad swims in the spring a couple of times, but because we saw a snake there on our first day, AND scared it INTO the water, I chicken out.  I just can't bring myself to do it knowing that I could come face to face with a snake.  Now, apparently, these are NOT water mocassins (aka cottonmouth snakes) which are deadly poisonous; these are brown water snakes and are non-venomous.  Even so, I'm not interested in sharing my pool with them.  Other people who come here more frequently say these snakes are always here but they never bother anyone.  I don't want to test the theory.

Brad at Salt Creek on the Lower Suwannee NWR

We also travel outside the park to drive a dirt road between two highways very near the Gulf.  This is the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).  There is a lookout over the estuary (a tidal flood plain that creates its own eco-system) (photo of Brad) and we cross several bridges over creeks along the road, but the water level is very low.  We see lots of tiny crabs, and we hear a wild boar, but see no other wildlife.

We'll be heading home soon.  We'll probably only make a couple of more stops before making the long trek.  Until next time...

Florida 2012 - Week 5

St. Lucie South federal campground at St. Lucie locks

Well this is a different kind of RV park.  St. Lucie South is a federal campground with 9 RV sites, 3 tent sites and 8 boat slips at the St. Lucie Locks on the Okeechobee Waterway.  The waterway is a canal that connects the Atlantic Ocean on Florida's east coast at Port St. Lucie with the Gulf of Mexico on the west coast at Fort Myers through Lake Okeechobee.  There are a lot of fish in the canal - those acrobatic mullets which jump 3, 4 or 5 times resembling dolphins in a way, but the mullet always seem to land on their side; alligators; and snook which people are fishing for.  We bike ride in Phipps Park, a county park "next door".  Here there are several ponds, which look man-made, full of black ducks, turtles and a small gator, about 2-3 feet in length.

St. Lucie lock overflow and incoming pelican

All kinds of boats come through the locks, from big sailboats to personal fishing boats.  We learn that a boat is limited in the number of times it can pass through the lock system, because if the locks open and close too many times the water levels drop too much in Lake Okeechobee, which is already too low of water.  We also go to Jensen Beach on the Atlantic.  Again, a beautiful, eastern Florida beach.  Nothing spectacular to report.

Brad, Marilyn, Mike, Marion and Noah

Next stop, the Tampa area to visit our friends, Marion and Mike.  We've played volleyball with Marion for years and she now spends her winters down here in Valrico.  We spend one day just shooting the breeze with them, and another day cycling in a local county park - Aldermans Ford Park, which is so tropical Florida, with palms everywhere.    It's just beautiful.

Brad on the beach at Fort DeSoto County Park, St. Pete's

Brad and I also visit Fort DeSoto County Park on the peninsula near St. Petersburg.  It's a nice beach with the palms and pine trees providing shade right on the shore.  It's fairly crowded even though it's a weekday; I'd hate to see this area on a weekend or during March Break.  They also have cycle trails throughout the park, and a campground.  But what a great visit with Marion and Mike, whom we rarely get to see anymore since they moved to Ridgetown.

Off to the next adventure, Crystal River and then Manatee Springs State Park.

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.

Calling All Saints

Our last two parks are both state parks on peninsulas east of Panama City in the Florida Panhandle.  It's our last week before we start our drive home .

St. George Island State Park is on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico.  We cross two incredibly long bridges that make us think we are in the Florida Keys.  Unfortunately, the weather while we are here is horrible.  Cloudy and windy for the first day, and steady rain for the other two with severe thunderstorm warnings.  So we don't get out to explore much, but we do hike most of the way out to Gap Point where primitive tent camping is allowed.  Along the trail are many 50 to 60 foot tall sand pines, one of which is tapped to show how they used to make turpentine; it reminds me of the tapping process for maple syrup in Ontario and Quebec.  Unfortunately we have to turn around before we get to the end of the trail because it is getting dark, and we get back to our trailer just as it gets dark.

It's impossible to sit on the beach even when it's not raining because of the wind, but the beach looks nice - beautiful, white sand, and a long stretch of beach for walking, running, or just kicking back and relaxing.  The campsites are quite nice, not too close together and lots of trees for shade which would be important if you camp here in the summer.  The humidity is already killing me!

Fire ant bites on Marilyn's foot

There are two ponds as we drive into the campsite area.  There is a sign at each pond that says "Alligator.  No swimming."  Brad wants to take my picture by the sign.  So I go and stand just behind the sign and while he is adjusting the polarizer and determining the best focal length, blah, blah, blah, I feel sudden stinging sensations on my right foot.  I quickly look down and see that I have about two dozen fire ants all over my foot.  I yell to Brad to quickly help me get them off as they are biting me and it freaking HURTS!  I was standing on their nest.  We get the ants brushed off quickly, but I sustain almost a dozen bites, which drive me crazy for about a week.  They are itchier than mosquito bites.  From this point on, I watch where I walk.

St. Joseph Peninsula State Park is on a cape about 30 miles west of St. George Island.  Thank goodness the weather clears by midafternoon and is supposed to be great for the next few days, because I want to work on my tan before I go home.  We manage to book an extra night, and we hear from our Quebec friends Jean and Denyse, whom we first met in Mojave National Preserve and later spent a few days with near Tucson, that they want to come this way to spend a night or two in the area and they manage to scoop a site in this very overbooked park.  Here's the story of the campsites - it's really insane.

We are originally booked into site #38 at St. Joe's for Thursday and Friday nights.  When we arrive, I ask if there's been a cancellation for Saturday night because we want to stay an extra night since the weather on Saturday is supposed to be so nice and we want to spend the day on the beach.  The Ranger tells us "Sorry, no, but keep watching the website and maybe something will come up."  But the Ranger Supervisor walks by and says "We could move you to a non-reserved site now for three nights, but you won't get the site you originally booked."  "We don't care.  We'll take it as long as it will fit our trailer."  We work out the details and we're good to go - we move into site #18 for the three days!  Earlier this afternoon our RV friends from Quebec, Jean and Denyse, asked us to find them an RV park in this area for Friday and Saturday night.  There is nothing available at this park we were already told, and we passed no RV parks on our way from St. George Island, but I had found a list of parks on the internet in a couple of nearby beach towns that I had sent to Jean.  However, now our old site #38 becomes available at least for Friday night, so I call Jean on the cell phone and tell him that if he hasn't reserved another RV park (he hasn't), to call Reserve America and book site #38 here at St. Joseph Peninsula right away because we just gave it up.  So he does and he gets it, but it is only for the one night.  Not the end of the story.

Jean and Denyse arrive around 5pm on Friday after a long drive from New Orleans.  We all enjoy Happy Hour, have dinner and a campfire and I tell them that they should continue looking on the Reserve America website to see if a cancellation comes up for Saturday night so they can stay in the park and not have to go to one of the beach towns tomorrow.  Jean says, "We are not so good at doing that like you are."  "Come on inside and I'll show you how to check," I say.  I take Denyse inside and show her how to get to the website and how to search for a free campsite and voila, site #38 comes up as available for Saturday night!  Someone must have cancelled!  OMG!  "Denyse," I say, "your campsite is available tomorrow night. I can't believe it!  Shall I book it for you right now?"  Denyse runs to the door and "blah blah blah" en Francais to Jean who doesn't believe her at first, but she convinces him and he runs back to their trailer to get his credit card to make the booking.  So here we all are for the beautiful, sunny weekend in this usually full state park, sitting on the gorgeous white sand of this fabulous Gulf beach, enjoying each other's company until we leave for Canada on Sunday morning.  What are the odds of the stars aligning in the right direction, at the right time?  And for the one site that became available to be the site that they are already occupying so they don't even have to move.  AND for me to show them how to use the Reserve America website at the right time when the cancellation of site #38 had been made but no one else had reserved it yet.  So many pieces of the cosmic puzzle just fall into place.

Alligators - Swim With Caution!!!

Brad and I take a hike along St. Joseph Bay, where we see tons of tiny crabs and beautiful views of the bay and the mainland, but here we see a funnier alligator sign than the one at St. George Island (which wasn't funny really).  Beside every pond at St. Joe's park is a sign that says "Alligators.  Swim with caution."  Swim with caution?  Who the hell wants to swim in skanky ponds with alligators?  Well, we couldn't resist a silly photo.  Brad emailed this one to a bunch of friends saying that I'd had enough of him after 5 months (ain't it the truth!).

Anyway, for our last day in Florida, of our 5 month journey, we enjoy the day on the beach with Jean and Denyse and we have our last campfire (we have to use up all of our wood that we got in New Mexico since we can't take it across the border) and in the morning we say our last au revoir to our Quebec friends.  Well, for this season.  Au revoir nos amis.  Adios to the southwest and warm temperatures (although some temps during the 5 months were downright freezing!).  Until next year.