Laura S Walker SP Georgia

We are just outside of Waycross. We have been here before but it was probably in the original MP and neither one of us has a clear memory of our prior visit. This is our last stop before Beaufort. Our stay here will be for 2 nights. 

Ocklockonee day 4

Our plan today was visit a State Park not too far from here. All of our Nav systems gave us different directions. Turns out, that park is 16,000 acres and it does not have a headquarters building. There are several roads that enter the park property and none of them has a sign indicating that fact. Massive confusion. We eventually gave up. That deer is a famous resident of this park. It has given birth to 2 white fawns but neither one survived. We move tomorrow into Southern Georgia.

Wakulla Springs

We are still camped at Ocklockonee but we decided to drive 30 miles to this place, which is another state park, and take in the sights. The park covers over 6000 acres, most of it off limits to people. We did a boat tour on the upper portion of the spring. Tons of wildlife that was completely habituated to tour boats. Even the turtles didn't flinch. The spring is gargantuan, I think the guy said 400,000 GPM. The Lodge was built by the previous owner. His name was Edward Ball. Kinda weird. We are here one more full day. There is another place we can visit tomorrow.

Okeedokee river day 2

OK, let's talk about the Red Cockaded Woodpecker or RCW. This park has a large stand of old growth Longleaf Pines. The RCW is our only woodpecker that makes its home on old growth living trees. Only 1% of that habitat remains, you know, because we cut down all the friggin trees. The RCW is very rare. It was declared "endangered" in 1970. The trees that support RCW nests here in the park are marked with paint and are given special protection during the periodic prescribed burns. Other than being rare the RCW isn't particularly noteworthy. It's a little bigger than a bluebird. The red-cockade (on the male only) is a small red streak above the cheek. The nest in these live trees can sometimes take years to make. The male incubates the egg helped by "helper birds" from the previous nesting season. You will be tested later. We did a long hike around the park this morning and I took these pics.

Ochlockonee River State Park

This park is 4 miles south of the bustling community of Sopchoppy. We arrived here a few hours ahead of a tornado warning. As the storm approached we moved to the campground bathroom. That's twice we've made that move on this trip. The storm ended up being disappointing so we were only hunkered down for half an hour. I took that pic of the Ochlockonee river a few minutes before the storm blew through. 

St Andrew's last day

We had nothing on the agenda today. Our next state park looks like it's in the boonies so we did an inventory of our staples and went shopping to stock up on things we needed. The weather was good so we rode our bikes into town after lunch. This place is pretty bike friendly with wide sidewalks and low speed limits. We saw this building on that ride. There is a strip of land just outside the park where the tornado did the damage. It is a mess. Roof damage, windows blown out, fencing knocked down, an insurance companies nightmare. Not sure about cell coverage tomorrow. Satellite TV probably won't work because we will be under a bunch of trees.

St Andrew's day 4

We were in a fog bank all day long. At its worst the visibility was a few hundred yards. We did get out and do some exploring even though we couldn't see much. I took this pic from the top of a sand bluff that I'm pretty sure used to be a sand dune that has been eroded away by half. I'm pretty sure tomorrow is our last full day here. I'll have to check. Today we talked to a guy that we camped next to in Alabama. Weird. That unusual looking thing is a Sea Hare, a form of sea slug. We saw a bunch of dead ones on the beach yesterday. That one was alive and swimming near the shore. If you poked it with a walking stick it would expell purple ink. Great fun.

St. Andrew's day 3

Today was an epic hike. The city of Panama City Beach is on a peninsula that gets narrow at the end. The State Park occupies the tip. We hiked around the perimeter of the park walking along the beach on both the bay side and the Gulf side. 6 miles. That bird is a Little Blue Heron. It is obviously way more blue than a Great Blue Heron. A couple of those pics were taken yesterday. 

St. Andrew's day 2

This morning we caught a ferry to an undeveloped barrier island. It's surreal to walk on a spectacular beach and have it completely to our selves. We took too many pics to post in one day so I'll post a few more tomorrow. You might remember that we had to hide out in the campground bathroom during a severe storm a couple of weeks ago. That storm blew through here and a tornado destroyed a dry dock marina. Pics included

St. Andrew's State Park

This place is in Panama City Beach. Driving here was like driving through Myrtle Beach on steroids. Souvenir shops, putt putt golf, water parks and thrill rides lined both sides of the road. That was left behind when we entered the park. We think this park must have taken a hit from a hurricane in the not to distant past because there seems to be a lot of new construction and there aren't any trees in the campground. That fact Is good for satellite reception. We are here for several days but there is rain in the forecast, however it will be warmer. It's always something. There are gobs of deer roaming around and there is supposed to be a colony of pure white squirrels. Haven't seen any yet.

Rocky Bayou day 4

Today was an admin day. Laundry. The campground's Laundry is disconnected because of the cold temps. I tried to talk a ranger into hooking them up for a few hours during the day but all I got was an enthusiastic nope. We found a Mexican restaurant that makes fantastic soups In Niceville. We have eaten there twice and bought some soup to take with us tomorrow. We did have an afternoon hike and I took those pics. I think those are racoon tracks. We move 60 miles to a park near Panama City tomorrow. 

USAF Armament Museum

The weather has been so yucky that outdoor activities today, were ruled out. We drove a few miles to visit The Armament Museum on Eglin AFB. Eglin is where most of our bombs and missles are tested because it is the largest AB in the world. Over 600 square miles. The pic of the white bomb is "Fat Man", the bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th 1945. It weighed (10,800 Lbs ) more than those airplanes hanging from the ceiling. One bit of trivia, that bomb exploded 2000 feet above the city doing massively more damage than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima called "Little Boy" that exploded after ground contact. It weighed 9,700 Lbs. Now, the SR-71 was first flown in 1964. It still holds all speed and altitude records. 2150 MPH, 85,000 feet, LA to DC in 1 hour and 4 minutes. Try to remember that stuff, there's no telling when you might need it. Deep Freeze tonight. Probably more frozen pipes. 

Rocky Bayou day 2

No alot going on today. We did find a disc golf course and I played 18. It was horrific. I've always been terrible but today I took it to the next level. Jenny took the Forrester into town to buy some stuff after lunch. She has a more pleasant shopping experience without me participating. I rode every trail in the park while she was out. It took me 58 minutes. That pic is the end of one of the trails. We are here for several more days. 

Rocky Bayou SP

This park is still in the Pan Handle, not far from Hurlburt Fld where Jenny and I were stationed when both of our kids were born. We drove down Hwy 98 right past where we used to live and recognized nothing. We are here for 4 nights, 2 of which are going to be sub-freezing. Not sure what's happened to Florida but I don't like it 

Big Lagoon last day

It got to 21° last night. I got up at 5 just to see how things were going. None of the faucets would run. We were on internal water. The pump would run but it wasn't getting any water to pump. We had a frozen pipe somewhere. I fiddled around with the Dyson heater and Jenny's hairdryer for awhile to no avail. It thawed on it's own around 10:30. No obvious damage. After that fiasco we went out to lunch and then visited the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. Extremely well done and very informative. It would require 2 days to see it all. We were there 2 hours. We move alittle further south tomorrow. We don't think it will freeze tonight. 

Big Lagoon day 3

We are in the deep freeze with everyone else in the country. It was low 30s all day. Tonight low 20s. We have done what we can to prepare. I guess I'll have a report tomorrow. The tanks are insulated but I'm not sure about the pipes. We were told by park staff to disconnect from the water tap and set up a drip. I think everyone has done that. We did do some walking in a nearby refuge and then a lap around the campground. Other than that we were staying home. 

Big Lagoon day 2

Today was a trail day. The trails have so much loose sand in places, they would be nearly impossible to ride on. Actually, the walking wasn't particularly pleasant either. This park is only 600 or so acres so I feel like we have seen most of it already. There are a few other points of interest nearby that we might visit. Cold weather is supposed to be here tomorrow. 

Big Lagoon State Park Fl.

You might, but probably don't remember, that we were barely in Alabama at our last stop. Well, this place is barely in Florida. We only drove 18 miles. We are kind of in Pensacola. Our site is private, we are not far from the bathroom, and I was able to get the satellite to work. Sweet! There is indeed a big lagoon here. I brought a kayak so it's possible I might get it wet. Sort of depends on the weather. Sub-freezing is a couple of days in the future. Jenny and I rode around the park after we got set up and I took those pics.

Gulf SP day last

It was kinda chilly this morning.  I rode anyway. I wanted to finish the rained out ride I aborted yesterday. We ate lunch at the world famous, Michelin 5 star rated local hotspot "Mikee's". We haven't done much walking since we arrived and we haven't spent any time on the beach so we killed both of those with a long walk on the beach. We move tomorrow. Back into Florida. 

Gulf State Park III

When I left on my bike ride this morning I noticed the clouds were alarmingly dark. The Wx channel was fairly optimistic about my ride being dry. It wasn't. I was about as far away from the MP as I was going to get when the overhead flood gates were opened. I was soaked and it didn't look like there was going to be a let up. I found a place to get out of the rain and I called for rescue. After that fiasco things calmed down somewhat and we visited the nature center where a couple of rangers were trimming that owls beak and talons. If you think trimming your dogs nails is a dangerous challenge you should have seen the owls response to having its beak trimmed. I stayed at what I considered to be a safe distance.10 feet. We are here one more day.

Gulf SP day dos

I like to keep my Spanish sharp. Jenny and I hit the trails on our bikes today. So did everyone else. This is a very bike friendly park. Everyone rides bikes. As I mentioned yesterday some people don't peddle their bikes but they are called bikes anyway. Jenny received another document from Charlie Haymore's office that she needed to print, sign and return. We decided to try something different this time. We found a public library and used their computers and printer. It took us a while to figure out how to log into her Gmail account from a different computer but after fumbling around for 15 minutes her emails miraculously appeared on the screen. The 3 printed pages cost 45 cents. We are going to be here for a few days. Somewhere out west there Is another storm brewing. I wore shorts and a T-shirt today. The Mullett Wrapper is the local paper.

Gulf State Park

We are in, or are close to, Gulf Shores Alabama. Alabama has a small finger that touches the Gulf. We are just barely outside of Florida. Anyway, this park has a huge campground. There are nearly 500 campsites. We are in 437, close to the end of the road. Many, many miles of paved bike trails. The park is full of old retirees riding electric bikes. You can hear them approaching because the motor has a whistle. If you see me on an electric bike, be certain the end is near. The armadillo was grazing in the grass near our campsite. You normally see them on the side of the road after being hit by a car 

Florida Caverns day 2

Our phone alarms went off this morning at 5:30 with a warning to seek shelter. We put on our rainsuits, grabbed a couple of camp chairs and headed for the campground restrooms. People started to follow our lead until there were about 20 people in the men's room. Half of them had wet dogs with them. There is nothing quite like a room full of wet skiddish dogs during a severe thunderstorm. We returned to the MP 3 unscathed after a few hours. We took a trip into town and saw a mobile home flipped over on its side and a bunch of uprooted trees. We move to Alabama tomorrow. 

Florida Caverns State Park FL.

We drove pretty much due south all day. We are in Florida and in the central time zone. We have tried to stay at this park a couple of times but once it was closed because of a flood and once it was destroyed by a hurricane. We did the cavern tour after we got set up. We have been in a bunch of Caverns. We are thinking that maybe we have seen enough. I am including 2 pics from our campground yesterday because I want to. 

Hamburg SP Georgia

This is the first day of our Winter trip. We were at Tega Cay for 3 days but that doesn't count. Our plan will keep us away from Beaufort until 3 Feb. We're headed for the Gulf Coast and will be spending the majority or our time in Florida. Today is the for real birthday of Caroline and Stella. We had to hit the road this morning so we met up with everyone at a restaurant and had brunch. I really have no explanation for that last picture. I think Seth ate the last nacho and I lost it briefly. Panhandle of Florida tomorrow. 

Birthdays

Yesterday was seth, 44. Tomorrow is the twins, 14.

I forgot to post on Christmas