Chapter 4: O'Leno State Park (Jan. 27-31)

The truck was very happy as we drove east and then south on perfectly flat highways with speed limits of 60 miles per hour, and so we got around 17 mpg. During the 180 mile drive we happened to stop at the same park in Perry, FL to eat our picnic lunch where we ate last year. We arrived at O’Leno State Park, which is about in the middle of the peninsula, north of Ocala, by 3:00. We had the camper half set-up before we realized we were on the wrong site so we had to take down and set it up again next door. ARGH! We found out from our next door neighbor that there was a gathering of about 200 Indian Princesses at the park for the weekend. This could be interesting!

It got down to 42° during the night, but we stayed cozy with blankets and our comforter. By the time we enjoyed scrambled eggs for breakfast and packed a lunch in a backpack it was warming up nicely and there wasn’t a cloud in the brilliant blue sky. Most of Saturday was a comfortable 68°, perfect for hiking and biking. We rode our bikes to the day use area, where we learned history of the area. Originally named Keno (changed to Leno because of the gambling connotations and then Old Leno and finally O’Leno) there was once a booming town of 600 people with hotel, general store and several mills driven by the Santa Fe River. The Santa Fe runs for 44 miles to this spot, where it disappears underground for just over three miles, and then reappears for 35 miles before joining the Suwannee. The first Federal road through Florida once passed nearby and the town flourished until the railroad came and did NOT come through town. By 1896 there was no sign of the town or its people, who moved to other communities and took even the lumber from the buildings with them. During the Depression the CCC and the WPA built a suspension bridge and some buildings and people began visiting the site again. We hiked over 3½ miles of trails and rode our bikes 4½ miles as we explored the area. Much of it is the palmetto/long leaf pine/live oak vegetation with which we became familiar last year. We learned from “Bob”, an ancient looking volunteer in the Nature Center, that we could get the combination to get in the gate at the nearby “River Rise State Park” to see where the river reemerged from its underground passage. It was very peaceful and pretty there and we chatted with an old guy, his daughter and his two teenage grandkids who were fishing at the rise. The river is very low and both the sink and the rise show no sign of flow or turbulence or anything. If we hadn’t been told of the interesting geography we would have had no clue. That night we enjoyed a fire to help us stay warm as the temperatures took another nose dive under a canopy of stars.

Sunday turned out to be a very interesting day. We wanted to go to the Dudley Farm State Park, which was about 20 miles away. The historic farm was donated by 88 year old Myrtle Dudley, the last of 12 children of the only surviving son of the original founder. It has been returned to its 1890 state and is maintained as a working Cracker Farm. It was very interesting to wander around the old homestead, which is well back of the highway so one feels like one has stepped back in time. We walked a mile and a half there. We bought four giant grapefruits that were grown on the farm and shared one and had a cheese stick at 2:00. We decided that would hold us and then we would have an early dinner at the “Outdoor Café” in High Springs, near the park. Because two people within an hour of each other had recommended it, we decided to go on to Paynes Prairie State Park which was about 27 miles further, just southeast of Gainesville. The GPS had us get on I75 briefly but no sooner had we entered it then we came to a standstill. It took us about half an hour to crawl to the next exit and then we wound our way to Paynes Prairie. At the park we found out that there had been a terrible accident in smoke and fire about 5:00 in the morning on I75 that killed 10 people and so they had closed that part of I75. We also found out that the fire we had seen just outside the park gate was a wild fire turned bog fire that was not a ”prescribed burn”. They were controlling it and none of the trails was closed but we were going to be aware of it from the ash in the air and the smell. By the time we made our way to the Visitor Center it was 3:35. Right next to the path to the center there is a bald eagles nest with a nesting pair and we could clearly see one of the parents sitting next to the nest. The Center closed at 4:00 so we didn’t spend much time there and we didn’t take the time to watch their 20 minute video. Instead we took the circular one mile hike there to the edge of the prairie and saw a small herd of wild horses, descendents of the horses brought by the Spanish Conquistadors in the 1500s. Then we drove to the nearby Bolen Bluff trail and hiked 3.34 miles through a highland hammock of huge live oaks heavily laden with Spanish moss. Halfway back, at the edge of the bluff, the trail dropped down to the natural prairie and there is a sort of raised land dike that goes half a mile into the prairie with an observation deck looking over it. While on the dike we walked right among another small herd of the wild horses who continued grazing as we walked through. One white mare had what appeared to be a newborn foal nursing and yet none of them paid any attention to us. As we made our way back to the truck at twilight two deer bounded away through the trees. The freeway was still closed going south but we got back on it going north at the same exit from which we had exited and drove back to High Springs. The recommended Outdoor Café appeared to be very busy and we were pretty hungry by then so instead we went to the authentic High Springs Diner and had their Sunday special of Broasted Chicken. The four piece dinner left us with lunch for Monday! We were looking forward to having the campground to ourselves when we returned. And there were indeed only 4 campsites taken on our loop (other than volunteer/host sites) but to our dismay we saw that one of them was right next door in the closest spot to ours. L

After a 36° night, Monday was really a five star day. I made chili in the Crockpot (but not for tonight—for Ocala, when we won’t have electricity) and packed a lunch with our leftover chicken pieces while Marv loaded up the bikes, in hopes of taking the kayak to the Ichetucknee River, drop our bikes, and then kayak back to them. We drove the truck to the nearby Ichetucknee Springs State Park. The sign at the south entrance said that the park often closes for overcrowding. But it was clearly not a concern on a winter Monday as all entrances had no ranger and offered self-registration. But there was a ranger working outside there and when we told him our plans for the day he told us that we should put the kayak in at the tubing take-out site (closest to the river and only open in the winter) and paddle up the river because the current wasn’t too swift and then float back to the same spot. We drove to that gate and found one other vehicle parked, but it soon left. Because it was still cool we decided to bike the 4 mile round trip on the Tram Road (the only way to get to the river in the summer), eat our picnic and then kayak. At the mid-point dock we enjoyed watching a river otter on the bank across from us and saw one kayak go by from farther upstream. From there to Dampiers dock we took the nature trail along the river. After lunch we got the kayak ready and climbed in. A snowy egret was feeding as we left and an anhinga led us the whole way up the river. We heard the “hoo hoo hoo-hoo” of owls, screeches of hawks and, twice, incredibly loud drumming of a pileated woodpecker, which we saw the second time. The crystal clear spring water revealed schools of fish and waving grasses the entire length. We also saw many turtles sunning themselves on logs. We saw only one other person—a park employee in a kayak monitoring the river flow at Dampiers dock, where we chose to turn around. After having worked pretty hard to paddle up stream, the easy float back was a welcome respite. The wild and protected area, full of cypress trees and knees, Spanish moss, and towering oaks, was incredibly peaceful and lovely. Apparently in the summer one can practically walk across the river on tubers but today we had it to ourselves. Take-out was easily accomplished and we loaded up the truck and then drove to the north entrance to the park. The north and south areas of the park are connected only by the river; there are no roads or trails to get from one area to the other. There we hiked just over a mile to Head Spring, the beginning of the Ichetucknee River, and Blue Hole Spring, a tributary to the river which is also open to scuba divers who wish to explore the underground depths. We saw a couple of snorkelers but no scuba divers. Back at camp we found that our right hand neighbors had been replace by a left hand neighbor. One wonders why they put campers right next to one another when the entire loop had only two other campers?!?! We got most of our packing done for a quicker get-away in the morning and enjoyed leftover pork chops and beans for dinner.

Chapter 3: St. George Island State Park

Chapter 3: St. George Island (Jan. 24-27)

We had another uneventful drive from Montgomery to St. George Island on back roads and several National and State Forest Scenic Byways. The temperature rose into the low seventies and we drove mostly in sunshine and then in and out of light showers. When we got to the coast just east of the causeway to the island we encountered a lot of fog. After getting some groceries we drove over to the island, arriving at the park by around 3:00. Last year when we were here it was windy, rainy, & cloudy with temperatures in the fifties. Even in the fog, we knew this trip would be better. We did a minimal set-up and then rode our bikes the half mile or so to the closest beach access and walked along the sand for a while on the Gulf side of the island. There were lots of Portuguese Man O’ War (deep, inky blue with edges of pink and purple) and Cannonball jellyfish (nearly clear with short stubby tentacles like bundles of cables) along the tidal lines. Back at our #27 campsite we did more setting up and moved many of the items in our back seat into the camper and made a light supper. We marveled that we could hear the waves crashing right from our campsite. After a good night’s sleep in temperatures that didn’t go below 60 we rose to a sunny day and temperatures that would soon rise into the low seventies. We spent a leisurely morning until about 11:00 when we took the Eastern Slough Interpretive Trail through the slash pine forest and beside the Slough. It came out at the park road so we crossed over and walked back up the beach and to our campsite. Along the way, near one of the freshwater ponds, we saw mergansers, a Great Blue Heron, an egret, and a majestic Bald Eagle. Lunch at 2:00 was very welcome after what was about a three and a half mile hike. After some reading in the sun we drove over to the boat access point on the Slough to put in our inflatable kayak and enjoyed a quiet hour’s paddle on the protected water which we shared only with the leaping mullets and a few herons and a merganser. Marv grilled pork chops for dinner and we finished the evening by listening to MSU defeat Minnesota in basketball on Spartan Radio on our very tenuous phone connection at the camper.

Thursday we wanted to ride out to the eastern point of the island. We had done so last year on a bitterly cold, windy day where the enjoyment of doing so lay in the finishing. Today it was sunny and in the low seventies with a breeze out of the south from which the dunes protected us when we left about 11:00. What a difference! The 5 mile “road” is mostly crushed oyster shell gravel but about a mile in the middle is still the original black top of the old County Road 300 which apparently used to go down to the point. About the half way along there is a bisecting bit of black top that goes about 50 yards each way to Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. We walked out to the Gulf and saw only two other people (far in the distance) as far as we could see in both directions. At the end of the road we walked a while to the left and then for a long while to the right and around the point. There were many different kinds of birds/ducks/gulls in the water right off the point and when we had walked around it we found hundreds if not thousands of sea stars that had washed up. I filled my pockets with complete ones and interesting shells and we stayed about an hour before biking back. The sky had clouded over, winds had turned to the west (so we biked into them), and it appeared that the predicted thundershowers were on their way. It was a bit cooler and our return wasn’t quite a pleasant as the ride out had been. Surprisingly, though, when we got back to the campsite, the sun came out again and the rest of the afternoon was very nice. About 4:00 we walked over to the bay side shore on the short path behind our campsite and watched the pelicans, grebes, mergansers and even a couple of loons. Two women joined us and we talked about favorite camping spots and travels and life. They left and we talked to another couple before going back to the camper to batten down the hatches for the severe weather that was on its way. When the rain hit us it was pretty spectacular with lots of lightning and thunder. But the high winds for which we had been warned didn’t get down into the protected campground. It rained most of the evening but quit sometime in the morning and we awoke to bright sunshine and about 60°. By the time the camper was packed up and we were ready to leave things were dried up and we had no problems getting on our way to our next stop.

Chapter 2: Analyn's First Birthday

Chapter 2: Analyn’s First Birthday

When we made our plans for the camping part of our winter trip we thought we’d have three full days to pack up the camper and close down the house before going to Carmel on Saturday. However, the weather report sounded pretty grim with as much as 6 inches of snow expected overnight Friday and into Saturday morning. So we decided to do everything in time to leave Friday afternoon and stop at Ken and Jen’s in Fort Wayne, where they were only supposed to get an inch or two. We got everything done AND I played Scrabble with my monthly group AND we both got our hair cut and did everything else we had to think about to be prepared. Because of the weather we put things that needed to go in the camper by the back door, pulled it out of the garage, put it up, packed it, immediately closed it back up, and put in back into the garage, all in a small window when it was cold but not snowing. But the timing meant that we couldn’t put much food in the fridge and even some of our clothes couldn’t be packed yet. So we started out with a very full back seat in the truck. Our plan was a pretty good one, although the snow came a little earlier and went a bit farther south than predicted. As we drove from Auburn to Fort Wayne the roads were getting slick and the snow was becoming more earnest. We arrived about 5:00, just a bit before Ken got home from work (Jen had had the day off). For dinner we went to 800 Degrees, a woodfire pizza place near them, and the car had several inches of snow by the time we came out. We woke the next morning to 5 or 6 inches and Ken and Marv had to dig out the driveway and the truck and camper, which we had left on the street and the snowplows had had to go around. After a hearty breakfast which Ken made us, we all got on the road to go to Carmel by about noon. The roads were clear once we got to the freeway and there was less and less snow as we went south. Linda and AJ and Connie and Bill were already there and we all went into full blown party preparing mode to get the food ready for the 4:00 Birthday Party. Linda kept the three boys entertained with a book on Super Heroes which resulted in them all dressing up and flying around the house part of the time. Three other families with little ones came and a good time was had by all. Cessa had made two adorable teddy bear cakes and Analyn went at her “personal bear” with increasing gusto, occasionally shaking her hand to try and clear off some of the chocolate frosting. It was all very cute and she was a perfect one year old birthday girl. All the kids went to bed without complaint after the very full day they had had. On Sunday Ken, Marv & I sang with Sarah in choir at St. Peter’s. Craig had taken Eli to mass with Connie and Bill and then he dropped Eli off at St. Peter’s, where Linda, Jen and AJ joined us for the service. Craig had a few minutes of peace and quiet at the house after his parents left. He was listening to coverage of Joe Paterno’s death and the two play-off games that were being played later in the afternoon when we got home. We had Linda’s yummy gumbo and cornbread for lunch and then Craig took his two boys and Ken over to see CSO’s building, because Ken hadn’t seen it yet. Because AJ fell asleep while the boys were gone Linda ended up staying later than she had planned so they could play a bit before heading back to East Lansing. Craig and Sarah did a smoked pork loin and rice for dinner and we all curled up in front of the play-offs to watch the New England Patriots beat Baltimore Ravens and then the New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers. Our grandson Eli was very happy because he wanted #10 Eli Manning to win and he did! The next morning we got up with the rest of the fam, ate a quick breakfast and left just before Sarah and Ana took the boys to school. The temperatures had risen overnight and it was in the forties when we left. There was some drizzle for the first few hours but the rest of our drive south on I65 was smooth sailing as the sun slowly worked its way through the clouds and the temperatures rose into the mid 60s. Stopping only for meals and gas we made it to just south of Montgomery, AL before we pulled into a Days Inn to spend the night.

Winter Adventures 2012: The Beginning

Because we could find no other way to work it out, we made two trips to Florida this winter. Larzeleres invited us to spend some time at their condo in Cocoa Beach and we could come anytime between January 3 and January 21, when they would be returning to East Lansing. But we needed to fit our camping trip between Analyn’s birthday on Jan. 23 and Jordan’s birthday on Mar. 8. After many tries we decided the best thing to do was use Frequent Flier Miles (which we never manage to use anyway) to fly to Larzeleres’ from Jan. 11 to 19 and then begin our camping trip the weekend before Analyn’s birthday.

CHAPTER ONE: Cocoa Beach, Jan. 11-19

Patty Good drove us to the Lansing airport early Wed. morning and we flew Lansing to Detroit, then Detroit to Orlando where Mary Anne and John not only picked us up, but had packed a lunch for us to eat as we drove to Cocoa Beach. We had a marvelous 6 days with them at their time share at Los Olas (The Waves). Their three bedroom suite on the fifth floor is right on the beach, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and affords wonderful sunrises over the water. We had plenty of time for the beach, lounging in the pool or hot tub, playing cards, reading and just plain relaxing. I found myself magically awakening nearly every morning at 7:10, just in time to watch the sun rise, which never disappointed. Our planned activities were only three. On Thursday Marv, John and I took a 3 hour kayaking trip on the Banana River, which with the Indian River and the Intracoastal Waterway, forms a long lagoon that is an entire ecosystem of its own. It straddles temperate and tropical zones and so has a vast array of plant, animal and bird species. We enjoyed seeing horseshoe crabs, comb jellyfish, sting rays, dolphins and many herons and other birds. The weather was sunny with just a slight breeze and temperatures in the upper 60s so it was a perfect day. Our second planned activity was to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve. This area was set aside when NASA expanded Cape Kennedy to accommodate the Space Shuttle Program. It is extremely rich in bird species particularly. At the Visitor’s Center we even saw a painted bunting! As we drove the 7 mile nature drive we saw large flocks of ibis, egrets, roseate spoonbills, and white pelicans as well as occasional Great Blue Herons and Storks. We stopped at two spots to view a large bald eagle nest, which had a pair of adults that were easy to see and we were told there are two babies in the next. Towards the end of the drive we saw many alligators lounging in the sun on the banks of the waterway. Our final planned activity was to watch the MSU/Northwestern basketball game at Beef O’Brady’s with the Brevard County Alumni Association. First we stopped by to meet up with Melody and Bill Glick. Melody was Sarah’s second grade teacher and she and Mary Anne have become friends through the New Horizon’s Band in East Lansing, then were surprised and pleased to find that they winter just a few miles from each other in Florida! The six of us drove to a nearby canal where Jess, our kayaking guide, had virtually guaranteed we would see Manatees gathering to find some warmer water during the cool nights they were having. There were probably 30 or more of these gentle giants in the water that was only a few feet deep and about 15 feet wide. One could have practically walked across their backs to the other side without getting wet! It was a fascinating sight. We then went on to Beef O’Brady’s where about 25 people gathered in good spirits but sadly watched MSU lose their first Big Ten game of the year. L After the game we all went to the Glicks’ fabulous condo at Satellite Beach, where we enjoyed Bill’s yummy pork bar-b-que sandwiches. It was a lovely evening enjoyed by all. Our time in Cocoa Beach ended much too quickly and our gracious hosts drove us back to Orlando (where it was in the low 70s) on Tue. Jan. 17 to return to East Lansing (where it was in the low 20s).