St Joe

We made our move on Wednesday. It was a beautiful day. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. It was a short move. It was a scenic trip as well. We rolled into the park and we both agreed that we loved it. We hadn't been here before so we weren't sure how easy or hard the site would be to get into. Surprise we backed right into it! Yeah! The setup went well. Then the wind started blowing and the temperature dropped. We did walk around are camp loop. We can't wait to check out the rest of the park.

The first full day here was still windy and cool but that didn't keep me off the beach. Then we put on our sweatshirts and took off on the bikes to investigate the park and the camp store. They have awesome ice cream snacks and Jeff found a neat bug killing weapon.We checked out the Bay Area and the other camp loop. They have lots of birds, we have a female cardinal that keeps tapping on our windows. The day went by quick. We finished the day by watching the sun set on the beach. Bonus.... We saw dolphins leaping out of the water.

On Friday we watched the sun rise behind us, right out the back windows very pretty. We went for a walk and saw deer, they were fairly close to the road and didn't take off when you got close. They just watched you. It was still pretty windy so we decided to wait on the kayaking and went to the beach instead. It was windy and cool but the water is blue so we packed up our chairs and stuff and over the dunes we went. The sun was shining the waves were roaring and we enjoyed the beach. After much pondering Jeff decided to go back to the camp store and purchase the bug-a-salt. He saw it earlier and it has haunted him ever since . It's a gun you load with table salt to shot those annoying pests. He justified the purchase by saying its for our grandson Ashton.

Saturday.. The day to kayak . It was sunny the wind has quit blowing and the temperature was warm.We loaded up the stuff and rolled them to the bay. The water is so clear you can see the bottom and everything on it. Jeff tried fishing, me too but I was to busy watching everything, We saw starfish and a stingray swam right under my kayak. It was a beautiful day and just perfect for kayaking. We saw dolphins and tried our best to get some pics. The funny thing was those flying mullet, kinda freaked me out I thought for sure one was coming in my boat. Jeff assured me it wouldn't happen but I seem to recall a time when that happened to me. A fish in my lap but that's another story. We made it back safe, sun burned and fishless but the day was a success for sure. So much fun!!!

Sunday it looked like rain was heading our way so we took a bike ride before that could happen. We rode out of the park and about 3 miles on the bike path outside the park. We found a little doughnut shop. Lets put it this way it made the bike ride worth it . Very yummy. It started raining in the afternoon and continued the rest of the day. It looked like it was gonna keep on raining into Monday . We decided to make a run into town. We looked at the downtown area which was nice. We had to hit the grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly liked it. It started to clear up and we were on our way back. It was so nice had to go to the beach for a bit. Tuesday was still cloudy but I took a walk and got sprinkled on. Again it started to clear up so we took the fishing stuff to the beach. The waves were pretty rough and the fish weren't biting. Oh well the sun was shining. I can't believe we've been here a week already.

St. George Island

We hitched up the HOW and made are way to St. George Island. We had a longer drive this time. We also had a head wind which is why we lost a lid and hitch cover out if the bed of the truck. This was a return trip to this park. The last time we were here we had a different camper. We backed in without to much problem, it was a little tight but we got it done.

 We knew there was a couple things we wanted to do that we didn't get done last time. One thing was to ride our bikes to East Point and look at the waters and the beach. We saw birds and pelicans. We even saw a bird catch a snake and watched him gobble it down. The ride back was a bit harder...the wind. The sand dunes along the path kinda reminded us of Iowa in the winter.

I liked to start the days off with a walk to the beach don't know how much exercise I get but I sure do enjoy the sights and sounds. After walking along the beach Jeff and I went to look for a brand new geocache that the campground hosts had placed. We were the first to find!!! It was such a nice day we decided to ride our bikes into town. It was about 9 miles to town. We looked at a few shops and had an ice cream . We went and looked at the lighthouse there. The lady in the gift shop was very helpful by telling us a bit about it. We got tickets and went up. The steps weren't bad but that hatch hole was a bit tight. Before heading back to the campground Jeff stopped and got some fresh shrimp he was kinda excited about that.

Saturday morning we attended a campers coffee which also included a presentation on geocaching. The hosts did a really good job of introducing this fun hobby to everyone. Afterwards we were ready to go hunting. We found 4 more and 2 of them we were the first to find.

Sunday walked to the beach and it was really windy, the water was wild and pushing in some really yucky foam. We decided to go fishing in the bay. It was way more protected back there. We had high hopes for some fish but that wasn't to be. We did see some dolphins. At first they were out a ways then they started moving in. I couldn't believe how close they were. They were feeding and it was so awesome to watch them feed. They would splash around and smack the water. It was like watching a national geographic show but live! Then to top off the day a fly over by a bald eagle.....nice!

The weather cooled off and the wind was picking up. We wanted to get the kayaks in the water and try to catch some fish. We decided Monday was gonna be our best shot. We waited til after lunch and put in. We went out to the point and fished as we let the wind bring us back. Jeff found a spot were he caught some trout. He caught 4 total but only 2 were keepers. I did see a dolphin but only for a moment and it was gone. Still better than working,

Our last full day we decided to make a trip to Apalachicola. We looked in all the shops, mostly just window shopping but the stores were so unique that it was great fun. Did get a couple really fun things. Jeff enjoyed our lunch. We ate at a place called Up the Creek. He had alligator white chili and lobster bisque . He couldn't decide so he ordered both. Even the dogs made out, we found a pet store and they had sheep ears. Both of our dogs LOVE them. A good day for everyone.

We both loved this spot. What we didn't like was we only stayed 1 week. We will know better next time.

Over the Rainbow Springs

We made it to Rainbow Springs with no problems, we got some tips from John & Joan because the entrance is not marked very well. We had another great spot. This one was a pull through so simple to set up. It was also a full hook up so that's always nice. I didn't feel to good moving day so after we landed I just rested.


The next day we were just checking out the campground when we met our neighbors Tim and Issy. We made plans to kayak the river with them. This river is unbelievably clear and we had a wonderful time getting to know them a bit. First we kayaked up toward the head springs then floated down. We got pictures of otters, turtles, and lots of birds. It was a great day. We finished the float at Swampys and John & Joan were eating there as we floated by.

The first weekend the park had Cracker Days at the head springs. We went there and looked around. It was so beautiful there.

We really enjoyed the birds here. We could watch the bald eagles from our camp spot, also lots of other birds. I never realized how many different sounds the birds made.

We also drove to Inverness to ride on the bike path. It was really nice. It is a 46 mile paved trail that is a popular biking route. We rode around 18 miles and had lunch at Beef O Bradys afterwards.

We did get another float down the river in. I was in in the boat while Jeff was in the water snorkeling. He really enjoyed that but got a bit cold .

The 2 weeks really went by fast. A bonus was we met up with our friends John & Joan and got to spend more time with them. We had them over for supper and had a very nice evening.

This is definitely on the return list. I loved this campground! I have decided to give our camper a name I'm gonna call it The HOW...(home on wheels ). We are also gonna try and post a little more regularly. We are kinda getting the hang of this so if we post more frequently we won't have to remember as much.

Lake Louisa State Park

We arrived on February 6th. We didn't have a problem finding the place. It was really unique in its own way. It was close to downtown and anything you wanted to do, but after you drove in the park it was like another world. We found our spot and backed in. I think we had one of the best spots, it was private because of the shrubs but had people on both sides. The weather why we were here was mostly warm and blue sky's but it did rain a day and the weather chilled for awhile.There were a number of different lakes. In the campground there was Dixie Lake and Hammond Lake and both had fishing piers.
 

We put the kayaks in the Hammond lake and tried fishing. We didn't do any good with that so we rode our bicycles to Lake Louisa and it was a beautiful sight. They had a wonderful place to walk where you would walk through some orange groves and the smell was wonderful. The biking there was really nice as well and we saw plenty of people taking advantage of that.

We were in an area were we could get together with some old friends from school. We haven't talked to them in ages and we called them and we drove over to there house. It was so nice to catch up with Paul & Jann. They have a beautiful home and it was so nice to visit and see what's happened in there lives.

We spent most of our time here walking, biking and relaxing. We found a really nice movie theater and we took advantage of that a couple of times. When we were driving home from the movies and on our way back to the campsite we saw something in the road, after getting closer we saw that it was a HUGE rattlesnake.... I didn't have a camera but Jeff took a picture with a phone. It was at least 6 feet long and so thick...yuck. We had planned on hiking but that experience kinda changed our plans.

We were here on valentines day so we drove over to Kissimee to Krispy Kreme.. Yum!! and to make the valentines day better we hit Starbucks as well. On the way back home we saw a stand on the side of the rode and we actually found a alligator head for Ashton.

We also found a church we both loved. It was called real life and the funniest thing happened they had a guest speaker and that's why Jeff picked it. Long story short it was suppose to be Pastor Randy's brother from Bayside but an emergency came up and so Pastor Randy preached from Bayside it was AWESOME!!!!

On the way home we got a call from our friend Paul and he and Jann came to our place for a visit, again a wonderful time. That's what's so nice about this you can reconnect with people you haven't seen for awhile.

Our last big adventure was a trip to Dade City to the park...Wild Things. We signed up for tiger encounter which meant we would be able to pet a baby tiger. We took a trolley to the park and the walking tour was really nice you got to get close up and really learn about each animal. The tiger encounter was my favorite and we got to pet and play with the baby tiger named Meg...LOVED that!

Lake Louisa was another really nice state park and we would come back here again. The park was clean, quiet and close to anything you would want to do. Even the theme parks aren't that far away. We really enjoyed our time spent here.

Lake Manatee

   

We arrived at Lake Manatee on Wednesday January 23rd. The move went smooth and the weather was good as well.  We liked the park almost as soon as we drove in. We found our site and backed the rig in without to much trouble.  The site was private and had trees all around too.  We kinda like that kind of campsite. Our site wasn't a full hookup so we went to check out the shower house and we thought they were nice too. Very clean.

 

 

         We weren't here very long when a knock came at our door it was a ranger inviting us to a thing.(carry in and a movie) We didn't go cause we had already made dinner plans. One thing I can say about this campground is its FRIENDLY!!! The park is close to town for necessities but far enough away to feel very private.  The park has lots of walking or hiking. There is lots of geocaching too.

 

We had a couple visitors that kept coming to visit...they would tap tap tap on the back window. It took us awhile to figure out what that noise was...It was a female cardinal that would sit on the ladder then fly into the window and tap. We noticed the male was up in the tree watching her. It happened everyday. I kinda liked it, others complained about the redbirds

 

 

 

They have a Saturday morning coffee at the campground hosts...we went to that and met lots of friendly folk. We met some fellow kayakers and took a day trip to Robinson Preserve which wasn't to far away.  It was a really pretty area but we didn't do very well with our fishing. We also made a trip to a flea market that had really good produce...yummy strawberries. Also we stopped at a family farm were you can pick your strawberries standing up.  They had sweet corn that was really yummy. 

 

      The weather while we were here was great..sunny and warm most days.  We really liked the feel of this park, and again the place was so friendly. It was so comfortable and welcoming. We found a church that was just down the road and we both loved it. It was big but that didn't matter because  we loved the music and the message. We felt very good there. We have had some great experiences here and we didn't really want to leave but we know there will be more great places and parks to come.

 

 

Myakka River State Park

Pulled into our Pull-thru site at Myakka River State Park on Weds. January 9th after an uneventful  105 mile drive from Ortona South. We like those short drive days and those easy pull-thru campsites. The only problem is they don't help me with my backing skills. Oh well there will be plenty of back-in sites in the near future.


One of the oldest and largest Myakka River State Park is a beautiful place with lots of hiking, biking and wildlife. We hiked one trail that has a canopy walk and 75 ft. lookout tower. We saw deer, wild hogs, birds and lots and lots of alligators. We also hiked into a place called Deep Hole. It is a preserve and you have to get a permit from the ranger to go back there. Its about a 5 mile round trip that is well worth the effort. When we arrived we saw over a hundred alligators in this one area.

Our stay in Myakka was really layed back and we put lots of miles on our bikes and shoes. With the full hookups and nice spacing between sites Im sure this will be on our return list.

Ortona South

We pulled in to Ortona South Campground on December 28th after a 200 mile drive from the Keys. We landed in Site 19 which was reserved about six months earlier. This is a Corp of Engineers Park that is very clean with concrete pads and a covered picnic table. This is in a pretty remote area on the Okeechobee waterway with a lock and dam  to control water flow and boat traffic. Our spot was across the road from the water and out are back was a few palms and a grass field.

At first I wasn't sure I was going to like it here after just leaving our most wonderful site on the Atlantic at the Curry Hammock State Park, I decide not to draw any quick conclusions and give it some time.

We decided this would be a good time to do some cleaning and maintenance and so we washed everything down to get that salt residue off and I took the hitch apart and cleaned and lubed it.

As time went on here we really started to appreciate the simplicity and laid back feeling of this place. Also this was probably the friendliest  campground that we had ever been to. We met a lot of really nice people and listened and learned from some seasoned fulltimers with 15 yrs on the road!

And wildlife, we saw a family of otters, turtles, an armadillo and I caught 3 really beautiful snook.

After 12 days of camping here I would say I would most definitely return here.