Okefenokee Swamp II

We just spent a few days at Stephen Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. It is in the middle of nowhere with very, very little cell phone service so it was a good chance to just get away from the world. We visited here 5 years ago when it was July and hot. I had all kinds of plans for us to take a swamp boat tour and then rent a canoe in the cool weather (70s). BTW, we didn’t experience any mosquitoes even though this is a swamp.

However, John came down with a cold. He didn’t want to spread it to other people on a boat tour and didn’t have the energy to canoe for hours. Plus, our 2^nd full day was quite windy making canoeing difficult.

The wind also meant hiking was more dangerous as pine needles, large pine cones, and small branches dropped to the ground.  Pine needles aren’t really dangerous (even though it meant more work to clean the RV) but the pine cones sounded like bombs dropping. Anyhow, we were still able to hike, bike, and just rest.

Our hike on a boardwalk was better than last time. During the summer large spiders take over the area (see that previous post) but are gone by this time of the year. We also saw some deer along the boardwalk.

My solitary morning hike on the boardwalk was kind of creepy. A hundred or so vultures started to circle my area. I didn’t see any animals and they didn’t come down to any dead creature. Then I started to wonder if they thought I was a potential meal! I decided to finish my hike.

The trails are relatively short (a couple of miles) but wide and well maintained. My morning walks were full of deer sightings. Small groups of deer were everywhere.

I think I saw a fox (no picture). I didn’t see a bear but we found recent bear scat on the trail. It was funny because afterwards we talked to another camping couple who had taken pictures of this scat too. You know you’re a camper when bear scat is truly exciting!

The park is a Dark Sky Park but with a full moon the stars weren’t as clear. However, I woke up the second day and realized the moon was less than half full and getting smaller and redder. Turns out it was a lunar eclipse which is a freaky occurrence to experience when it is unexpected. I was pretty sure it was an eclipse and not the end of the world. Anyway…with the reduced moonlight, I got to see a couple of meteors, the Milky Way, and lots of stars along with the lunar eclipse!

Huguenot Memorial Park

The weather has finally cooled down to 70s and 80s so we did a short RV trip to a local city campground. This was our first visit but we’d like to come back.

It was an interesting place. The biggest draw for many people is to drive on the beach. There are a lot of signs saying the park will not tow you if you get stuck. We weren’t tempted but lots of cars come out. There is a big difference between high and low tide on the flat beach. That means cars need to move around over time as beach disappears.

It also means that every beach walk is quite different depending on tide, moon phase, time of day, etc. Different places are uncovered when the water moves back. The park includes walks along the river, the ocean, and an inlet. The park has a peninsula where the ocean side is easy to walk with a wide (at low tide) beach. The inlet side is difficult. Low tide tends to be soft sand/mud. It took me 3 tries, but I finally walked that side by going as the tide was coming in to allow the most time for the sand/mud to dry.

Families were swimming and many people were fishing. Apparently high tide is the preferred time to fish but someone seemed to be fishing most of the time.

Florida means jelly fish, shells, and birds.

We had a tortoise walk thru our campsite.

The park is across the St. John’s River from a navy station. We saw around 10 ships docked there One of the navy ships deployed while we were there (it was on the local news). The river had different types of river travel like cargo ships and coast guard. 

The place had minor damage from the recent hurricane Ian. They were still cleaning up the park including seaweed, palm leaves, and building damage.

Of course, I love my morning walks.

FYI: 3.5" of rain fell in the area the morning after we left. Glad we weren't there!

Short Cruise

Other than our RV trips, we haven’t traveled in the last couple of years. We decided to take a cruise out of Jacksonville (Carnival to the Bahamas) so we didn’t have to fly or drive a long distance. I can’t say it was a great cruise (blah food, constantly being pushed to spend more money, limited activities), but it got us out of the house and out of the 90-degree Florida weather.

Our first stop was the best. We took an excursion to kayak among the mangroves. The group is kept small (12 people) which was good since we were quite spread out given the different skill levels. All the kayaks were tandem and the path was narrow much of the time requiring perfect coordination between the two kayakers. There was a lot of yelling as we all were caught by trees at times.

After the challenge of kayaking, we all really enjoyed the local beach. Our group was alone on the beach and it was gorgeous.

Just as we decided to come in from our swim, a shark was sighted! Very cool!!! It may have been perfectly safe, but we all decided it was a good time to walk the beach instead. The shark was just a dark shadow in our pictures so this picture from our walk is nicer. 

 

At Bimini, we took a taxi to Radio Beach and then walked 2.7 miles back with beautiful beaches pretty much the whole way to the ship.

The town had a combination of well-kept homes and those that were less so. I am sure the reduction in tourist dollars over the last couple of years isn’t helping. Anyway, I enjoyed a conch salad at Stuart’s Conch Salad Stand. BTW, to the right of my head is a huge pile of conch shells.

 

We had the traditional dress-up evening for supper. We don't normally dress this way for our RV trips!

Our last day was at sea. Nice view!

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!

Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway

The greenway is a path/park that crosses Florida. It was meant to be a canal connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf towards the top of Florida so ships didn’t have to go around the tip of Florida. Back in the 1500s, the Spanish talked about the need for this however it took until 1930s when some work was done until they ran out of money. In the 1960s, more work was done but was soon stopped. The area was eventually made into the Greenway where there are now water trails, hiking trails, and bike paths. 

We stayed for a couple of days at Rodman Campground which is along one of the canals.

The people that camp here seem to be very active. There were lots of kayaks and bikes in the campground. I wish we could have rented kayaks since we heard about how you can see manatees and eagles out on the water. We did see this alligator which was only two feet long.

Even without kayaks, there was plenty to do. There were lots of paths we didn’t have time to take. I rode my bike 9 miles total to see a lock up the canal. The trail was mostly flat but between the loose leaves, sand, grass, and my poor bike riding condition, it was a bit difficult for me. Luckily it was fairly cool (50s) and cloudy. The day before it was in the 80s and sunny which would have meant plenty of sweat. 

John and I rode to the nearby dam. We had a good conversation with a retired couple about the good and bad parts of RVing (it’s really hard to get a campsite anymore). 

Lots of people (and birds) were fishing there. There was this whole line of cormorants crossing the river to catch fish. 

We went geocaching. The first cache took us on a path we would never have found if we weren’t geocaching. It was quite interesting and pretty. Love the palm tree growing out of a dead log. 

The second took us on a rough fire break road. Again, not a path we normally would take. The final was pretty ugly. It involved bushwhacking through Florida woods and was the most difficult cache I’ve found. I ended up a couple of miles from where I entered the woods. It was cool and dry enough that I didn’t see snakes or mosquitoes. I wouldn’t want to do this again but did enjoy the challenge.