Morning Adventure

I always mention my morning walks. This one couldn’t really be described as a walk…more a scramble or some other word. We are at Cary Forest again (it was our trial stay with our new RV). I tried to hike one of the trails but after a rain four days ago (6+ inches), the trail was wet. However, I was able to keep dry by walking on the edges of the trail. 

I was pretty proud that I stayed dry even though I was tired of hugging those bushes which included burnt areas so my pants, jacket, and hands were covered with black carbon.

I kept thinking I was getting to the end of the wet area and turning around always seemed like more work. Then I got to a place where I couldn’t walk the edge or break through the bushes. I gave up and walked through the water which was up to a foot deep.

I finally reached a road which turned out to be outside the park! After checking different maps (google maps had few roads and no trails), I found a way back to the campground on the roads. It was only two hours total but it seemed much longer. 

On a morning bike ride the next day, I was stopped by water across the road. Maybe I could have crossed it but after my hike experience, I decided to just turn around and retrace my ride.

For a less stressful time, John and I rode our bicycles on the dry roads, walked the boardwalk, and just enjoyed sitting at the campsite listening to the birds.

BTW, our RV has been vibrating when we are over 50 mph and a tire blew on the last trip. We found out that the tires get a flat spot if sitting for a while (maybe quicker in Florida weather). We ended up buying all new tires and don’t have the vibration anymore. RV maintenance isn’t cheap.

Relaxing, tiring, and explosive!

This trip was to Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park. We’ve been here before but never visited the lower campground where we stayed this time. This opened up a different area to explore. Plus, it’s been five years since our last visit so we’ve forgotten parts or it’s changed.

The park is full of small lakes. I love morning mists. The mists, sunrise, and the overall quiet were very relaxing.

I love morning walks to see animals. This is a Sandhill Crane which can be quite noisy if you make them mad by passing them on the trail!

I saw lots of deer with varied group sizes of one to six deer together. Besides these, the squirrels were very active in the campground and plenty of other birds.

As far as tiring, we did some fairly extensive biking and hiking. We visited the fern boardwalk area along with some other trails along a ridge and to a lake. A portion of this hike was on the Florida Trail. We've been seeing that trail a lot!

I had to laugh about the differing trails. John and I hiked the marked trails. I also hiked a little on the sandy service roads behind our campsite. One morning I did some exploring around the lakes. None of the trails were marked and were more like paths that sometimes disappeared.

On the explosive point, we were driving home and suddenly heard a large explosion. The RV was rocking. John was able to pull it over and found we had a tire blowout. Luckily we had a spare and all the tools necessary. John was able to change the tire in 45 minutes. But it was hot and heavy work for him. What an ending to our trip!