Camping Tales

Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna, FL

2011-11-19T20:33:00.005-05:00

I visited this park to tour the caverns many years ago but have never camped here. They redid the campground late last year and now offer full hook-ups, which include the sewer connection. Fairly rare in a Florida state park!

This is the most beautiful campground I have ever been in. Now, that opinion might be influenced by the time of year in terms of the foliage. Another rare thing in Florida is fall color, but this park had it bursting out all over. Given that, the woodsy nature of the campground, and the fact that it was less than half full all contributed to this being a great park experience.

I had chosen site 8, which would have been fine, but since so many were available, I drove through the campground upon arrival and then changed my site to 18. Later, after walking the campground, I decided that my favorite site would be 24, or 16, both of which would offer only woods out the camper door (rather than another RV). I think that every one of these sites would be excellent for a tent--they are flat, and the ground is just dirt; no tent pads, but they aren't really necessary. Large bus-sized RVs would fit in the sites as well, though with less front-to-back room. Here is my site, #18:

Here is the view out the back of the site:

This is the campground road; this curve is right before #18, so my large off-door side window looked out on this road and woods.

Here is a view of the site across from me, to show you an empty site.

It rained the second day I was there. We are still basically having summer here, and the rain only added to the humidity. On that second day, every RV in the park, including mine, was running AC until late into the night. The hot (84 degrees) and humid (97%, and that's when it wasn't actually raining) weather took a little of the enjoyment out of this trip.

The next day was sunny. A bit warm for any hiking, but I did take the bike out. There is excellent riding in this park, since the campground is 3 miles from the entrance. My first stop was at the boat ramp on the Chipola River.

This sign is posted at the ramp.

This trail meanders along the river, looking very inviting:

And then back on the bike to continue riding the park road. I came to this large limestone just off the road.

Pivoting to the left from that, I spotted these little cave-like structures in the woods.

Then back on the bike to ride to the caverns. They do not offer tours on Tuesday or Wednesday, which I knew when I made my reservation (for which those were the two complete days). I had seen them already anyway. Nonetheless, I rode to the caverns area and wandered around the exhibits and information panels inside the visitor center. I locked my bike to a post and walked the half-mile paved trail to the cavern entrance.

It just looked so strange. Two things: first, it looked like the home of some evil troll in a scary children's book, and second, walking down the steps led to air that was significantly cooler than at ground level (I considered setting up my chair there to do some reading in comfort...). If you tour the caves, no matter how sultry it is in the park, take a jacket!

I got back on the bike and rode to the picnic and swimming area. Another great-looking trail leads off of an open, grassy area. I guess sometimes there is swimming allowed in the blue spring.

And then back to the campground. I spent a lot of time chatting on this trip with Helen, one of the park hosts.

Verizon wireless service went from non-existent to strong enough for texts. I was never able to take or make any calls, it dropped out immediately when I tried. I did not see a landline phone for use, but I didn't look for it, so there may have been one near the bath house (which, by the way, was very large and very clean, though the interior walls were always wet and dripping from the humidity, which was a somewhat strange effect). There is a Winn Dixie within an easy drive, as well as assorted sub and pizza restaurants. There is a Walmart and more a bit farther, at the interstate. There is a washer and dryer in the campground. For paddling, in addition to the Chipola, this is near Merritt Mill Pond, which is a very neat place to paddle. They rent canoes at the park, next to the boat ramp.

A note for any campers who tow trailers, particularly solo: I decided to get a Swift wireless camera system to assist with the hitching process. I found it to be nothing short of amazing. When I hitched the camper at home before leaving, I got the ball and receiver aligned perfectly the first time. At the campground I was coming in at an angle and was offset by a tad, so I pulled forward, corrected, and backed perfectly into position--without getting out of the car! If you have never used a camera and the method appeals to you, I highly recommend you try one of these!

I still have a lot of campgrounds to get to, but I have decided to put camping on hold until the temps drop below the AC-necessary level. Possibly going north would help with that if I go far enough, but I tend to stay within about a 3-hour drive. We'll see.

Stephen Foster State Park in White Springs, Florida

2011-11-05T16:49:00.004-05:00

Back to this park again, one of my favorites. I was in site 14 again, one that I like. I think I might try site 15 next time, though.

I hadn't intended to post this trip, since I have posted from this park before with photos of much of it.

However, I have a few photos from this trip that I want to post.

I got there and was set up and ready for a little lunch and some reading by about 2:30 or so. I settled into my chair with my trusty Kindle. I was sitting with my back to my car.

After a while I became aware of this repetitive tapping sound. One or two quick taps, then silence, then one or two more taps, and so on. This went on for a fair period of time; I assumed it was someone in the site behind me, perhaps staking down an awning or screen house.

After about 5 minutes of it, I turned around to see if I could see where it was coming from. Well, it was coming from a bird. On my car. This mockingbird stood on the top of the passenger side mirror. The window on that side was open. It would drop off the mirror and stand on the window ledge, then fling itself at the mirror, tapping it with its beak, and then it would go back to sitting on the mirror. And it would repeat this act. Again and again. I watched for a while, went back to reading for a while, and then decided to see if I could get the camera out of the car and get some photos of the process. The camera was on the front passenger seat. The bird flew to the hood of the car while I opened the door and got out the camera. I settled back in my chair, and it went back to pecking at the mirror. I took a lot of pictures of the bird pecking the mirror...Here are some of them.

It starts on top.

Then drops down to the window...

...and sits there for a moment looking at the bird in the mirror.

The attack begins.

It escalates...

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And the bird goes back to the top of the mirror.

Over and over. I don't remember why it finally left...or maybe I just went for a bike ride and it was gone when I got back.

I had never hiked any of the trails at this park. They are fantastic! Lots and lots of deer tracks, though I never saw any deer (probably too early in the day). The trails are wide, well-maintained, and meander far into the woods.

There was a rope maker at the craft shop area. I was the only one wandering the shops and so I got a private lesson on how rope is made, and even got to keep the short length that I twisted myself. It was interesting.

As I have said in other posts about this park, it's a great place to camp!

I'm looking forward to trying another new-to-me place on my next trip.

Reed Bingham State Park in Adel, GA

2011-10-21T11:40:00.003-05:00

The last time I was at this campground was in November of 2006, when I was tenting (the post is in this blog). Since this is very close to my home, I decided to visit it again.

It's a small campground that consists of two loops, 1 and 2. Loop 1 has a newer bath house, otherwise they are essentially the same. Sites are positioned on either side of the road, with the outer ones generally being more shaded. As is the case in other Georgia state parks, you cannot reserve a specific site. The campground was somewhat crowded when I was there since there was an Ag Expo going on in a nearby town.

I selected site #5 in Loop 1, which was a nice pull-through site with a pretty view out the door side of the camper.

This was my view out the door. Beyond the grass is the park road, and beyond that, the lake.

This was the view toward the rest of Loop 1:

This campground is only about six miles from the I-75 exit. Near that exit is a grocery store, some fast-food restaurants, and what used to be a huge outlet mall but is now a few small shops.

There is a 375-acre lake that leads to a river. Here is the lake view from one of the fishing docks.

(I had rainy weather for a day and a half.) There is also a beach with a pavilion. This was taken from the same dock:

There is good biking at this park over the paved roads, and many trails to hike. Because of the weather, I only walked on one, a short half-mile loop through the woods called the Gopher Tortoise Trail.

The Gopher Tortoise is the Official Reptile of Georgia, and there are evidently several at this park. This sign was alongside the park road.

And in fact, there appeared to be a Gopher Tortoise Corral just outside the campground.

I never saw any sign of life within the corral, but there was a deep hole near that tuft of grass to the right of the sign, so perhaps one was hiding out.

There's nothing particularly special to distinguish this campground, but it was very peaceful and scenic. Park employees and hosts were very friendly. There was a mix of camper styles, from large fifth wheels to several tenters. My site was level and the others appeared to be so as well. Verizon cell service was strong, and there is wifi available in the office and the area around it (where there is a picnic table conveniently placed). The bath house was clean, with two showers and two stalls. There was a washer and dryer in the bath house area.

The Parks at Chehaw in Albany, GA

2011-10-07T18:15:00.009-05:00

This place has been on my campground list for a long time--I missed it all last season and so I decided to finally go.

WOW, what a super place! And a nice easy drive from my home. This will be a regular spot for me.

There is a lot to this park. Let's start with the campground. I normally post a photo of my campsite. Since I was the only camper there for the first day, I took a slightly longer view to show you the campground as well. This is shot across site 1 into site 2, which was my site. As you can see, the sites are quite roomy.

I went with the full hookup...I'm getting a little spoiled by staying at places with sewer hookups... There is also a large open tent area with its own bath house. There are also 4 cabins; three small ones and one larger one with a deck. I could peek inside the larger one--fairly spartan as far as furnishings, but still comfortable.

The park is very spread out, with lots of flat paved roads for walking and biking. If you have young kids, you'll want to take them to the playground.

This sign shows what the park offers:

One day I went walking and wandered into the large brick building called the Creekside Education Center. Inside the front door I came to three large meeting rooms on the right and a doorway leading to offices on the left. There was a deck of some sort out the back doors, so I went out there. The doors locked behind me, which was a little disconcerting, but there are no fences separating that back area so no worries there. Walking down a small hill led to a wooden dock overlooking the stillest water I have ever seen.

There is a path that leads alongside the creek. I followed that, and it led to this pond, with a fountain at one end, a picnic table and grill next to it, and a sign indicating that there were otters about.

A very short walk from the campground takes you to the wild animal park.

Hey, let's go in there!

Admission is about $7 and well worth it. This animal park reminds me of the one in Homosassa, though with different animals. This is one of only 2 accredited zoos in Georgia; it was set up by Jim Fowler (Wild Kingdom); I was told he lives in the area and often visits the park to check up on things.

First I came to a group of light flamingos.

A little farther along the way were some meerkats. I really, really like meerkats. So cute!

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The thing about this next one is that this face reminds me just a little of my father-in-law (but I wouldn't tell him that):

Later, a rhino.

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DH happened to be walking through the room while I was processing the photos. He knew they were from my last camping trip. When this one came up, he said "Wait! When did you get that??" Heh heh, I should have said "Oh, out my camper door one morning..."

They have a very large enclosure for the cheetahs. I was told that in cooler weather, they set up a running course for them and the cheetahs go tearing around it--I'd like to see that. This one was blending in well while napping.

This one eyed the cool green grass...

...yep, gotta roll...

Wait, were you watching me?

Oh well, one more roll....

And more resting time.

This lemur had also been napping.

They have two alpacas there in a petting zoo area. I normally think alpacas are really cute, but these two needed a little dentistry...

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And then--sorry, couldn't help myself--another quick swing by the meerkats.

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As if all the park activities and the wild animal park weren't enough (and there was more to the zoo than I have shown here), Albany has the Flint Riverquarium. So let's just take a quick trip there to look at some fish. And turtles.

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The Nile Monitor is a really bad lizard. It's not native to the US, but has been introduced to south Florida through the pet trade. The one at the Riverquarium was about four feet long or so. You really don't want to run into one of these...

They have an aviary at the Riverquarium that is populated with all sorts of birds that have come from a rescue group; all of them have been injured or sick and now live in the aviary. They have wood ducks, egrets, a Canada goose, ibis, great blue heron, whistling ducks, and assorted songbirds and quail and so on. One of the birds there is a blue jay. One of the people who works at the Riverquarium has discovered that this jay likes pennies. While I was there, she came in and decided to show off this trick for all of us in the aviary. Offering the penny:

And he takes it!

So, to sum up this campground, it's a great spot. Lots to do at the park, and the Riverquarium is less than 5 miles away. I definitely recommend this one!

Holiday Campground, Panacea, FL; aka Plan B

2011-09-23T16:31:00.003-05:00

I had reservations at St. George Island, my favorite campground. When I got there and went into the ranger station to check in, a man was there asking for a refund. Evidently he had just arrived and was swarmed by mosquitoes when he tried to set up. I thought well, maybe he is kind of a wimp when it comes to bugs, it might not be that bad. I asked him where he was from. He said South Florida, and that he often camps in the Everglades but they have never been this bad there. Hmm. Then one of the rangers said that he couldn't walk from his house to his car without inhaling mosquitoes. I had planned this trip based on weather; I had forgotten about the bug problem here before our first actual cold spell. This just didn't sound like the makings of a good time, so I cancelled those reservations. I immediately thought about Holiday Campground, a place I always pass on my way to St. George. I called to be sure they were open (on this trip I saw no campers there when I passed) and if they had any sort of bug problem. Yes, open, and no, no bugs.

This campground is right on Ochlockonee Bay, at the bridge where Hwy 98 crosses the bay. Angelo's Seafood Restaurant is across the street, the Mashes Sands beach area is across 98 and down a short road. I had my choice of sites and selected #10.

(Note how that is actually sites 9 and 10.) There is a fishing pier near that site; this is the view back toward the campground from the end of the pier. The large building is the bath house.

This is the first campground I have been in with this camper that has sewer hookups. I see why some people insist on them--very handy! In fact, this park has a lot to offer. There is a pool, which looked to be well-maintained. The sites, while extremely close together (there were only 3 campers in the 27 or so sites along the water, so this was not a problem for me), are sandy and level. The picnic tables are clean. Their wifi signal was very strong at my site. The bath house was not only clean and new-looking, the women's side in bright blue and white, but it was air conditioned--a real treat since the switch to this place meant a significant increase in temperature for me. I find shampooing easier in the roomy bath house showers at campgrounds, so I had a chance to use their facilities. The woman who was at the desk most of the time was extremely nice and helpful; the men who assisted her slightly less so. Verizon had a good signal there.

There is a very nice beach at the far end of the campground.

I drove over to Mashes Sands beach one day to see what was there. It's a nice beach, not too long, with only a little parking.

I walked the beach for a while. Right before you get to the beach, there is a very small area of tidal pools, which had a lot of egrets in them. This is the view across part of that area.

I spotted this egret in the grass by the water.

I guess he didn't like being watched...off he went.

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He didn't go too far, just to another grassy area. Coming in for a landing...

...and touch down!

On my second day, I was sitting on my couch in the camper reading, occasionally looking out the back window at the water or the traffic on the bridge (were all those RVs also fleeing St. George?). One time I looked up and was thrilled to see a pod of three dolphins swim by just beyond the fishing pier!

I have been lucky with sunsets in my last two trips, after not seeing any good ones for a long time. One evening after dinner I noticed the sky turning red. The sun moves fast and so I grabbed the camera and went down by that beach pictured above to get some photos.

And it got lower,

and was nearly gone.

As has become fairly typical, it began raining just before dawn on the day I was to leave, and in fact was not only pouring but also thundering with the occasional flash of lightning while I was packing up and getting the camper hitched and so on. I'm pretty used to it by now, although I wasn't crazy about the lightning part. My car seat is still wet as I write this.

On a weekend during their busy season, I couldn't recommend this campground just because of how close you would be to your neighbor. However, mid-week when things are slow, such as when I was there, is a good time to camp here. Unfortunately, they don't allow tents (I doubt a tenter would appreciate the closeness, either).

I plan to wait to camp again until it gets cooler. I was glad to be out and I appreciated the change of scenery (and seeing the dolphins from the camper), but having to close the windows and run the AC all the time takes a lot of the pleasure out of camping for me. Hopefully when October rolls around we will have better weather. I have a new place in mind for the next trip.

Eastbank Campground near Chattahoochee, FL

2011-09-10T15:42:00.006-05:00

At about noon on Tuesday, I realized that we were in for at least two days, starting Wednesday, of cool (82-ish) days and nights (60-ish). Sounds like camping weather to me! Since over the summer I have gradually been removing things from the camper for use in the house, this meant scrambling to get it re-stocked. I had to wash the summer dirt and dust off the outside. And of course choose a campground. It was a rushed afternoon but by Tuesday evening the camper was hitched to the car, clean and white again, and ready to go.

I picked Eastbank, a campground I had discovered online over the summer. It's a Corp of Engineers campground on Lake Seminole near the town of Chattahoochee, which is less than 2 hours from where I live. I stayed 3 nights.

I got there at around 1:30. The air was cool, there was very little humidity and a wonderful breeze coming off the lake. What a joy to be setting up camp after so many months--it has been a long, hot summer for everyone. I had site #4, which was an excellent site, very close to the lake.

Here's the view from the chair, where as always I got in a lot of reading on this trip. Note the "dangly thing" (thanks, Pam!).

This is the view from my site across sites 5-8. Lots of grass, very little shade in this section.

There was a great blue heron that hung around the campground a lot, particularly on a little grassy spit of land at the end of the section I was in. I saw him down there one day while I was sitting and reading. So I grabbed the camera and walked to where he was.

He let me get just a bit closer.

I decided that was close enough and went back to my site. He was still there hours later. He could be heard squawking after dark.

I saw a few egrets, heard Canada geese one night, and this little blue heron stopped by my site one day.

Just down the road in Chattahoochee there is a Subway, a fairly well-stocked IGA grocery store (with a very minimal wine selection), and a restaurant or two. I drove in one day to get gas for the car and pick up a sandwich. On my way back I took this photo of my camper. As you can see, while there is no greenery to give privacy in this section, the sites are roomy and far apart.

I camp next to lakes or the Gulf fairly often but I almost never see any photo-worthy sunsets. It wasn't too bad on Thursday night of this trip, though, so I got a few photos.

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The showers in the bath house are just plain weird. You push a button and warm water shoots out of a pseudo-showerhead. The water stays on for one minute, at which time you have to press the button again. And again. And again. There are four uni-sex shower rooms. I used the shower in my camper for all showers except, unfortunately, when I needed to shampoo my hair. This took a long, long time. Given a choice between the push-button shower or filling my gray water tank, I think I will opt for filling the tank next time! There was the option of using the old bath house, which was in a section with only one extremely shabby RV in it. There was no way to lock the bath house door and the showers only had curtains. Didn't seem like a good idea.

One day I walked over to the boat ramp. Next to it, down steps from the parking lot, were two little areas with picnic tables and grills and fire rings. I thought they had been set up for boaters. I walked over to them and noticed they had numbers on posts, like the campsites. Ah ha! These were tent sites. They were pretty nice, especially since I don't think this boat ramp ever gets much use (but I don't know that). This one, 64, would have you right at the edge of the lake, with a fantastic view at dawn.

This one, 65, has more shade and more privacy from anyone on the water.

The down sides of these sites are that they are right off the parking lot, didn't seem to have power or water, and they are quite a distance from either bath house. They were also small. But what a great view!

There are 3 sections of campsites. The one I was in was grassy with little shade but many sites were very close to the water. The section where the two bath houses are had a lot of trees and was very shady, but with little or no lake view. The third section was on the lake but most of the sites were farther from the water. However, there were more trees. The sites I liked were mine (4) and 2, 5, and 8. I also liked sites 26 and 28 in the other lake section.

Verizon cell service varied from strong to almost nonexistent. There is a phone in the campground that can be used for local calls or with a calling card.

I picked my days right. Friday, my last day, was warming up again, enough so that I had to use the AC in the camper in the afternoon (probably wouldn't have been necessary with shade). And now we are back in the 90's again, so I don't know when I will be able to get back out....but at least I got a start on the season!

Springfield Campground near Anderson, SC

2011-05-13T13:59:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I posted here, though I have been camping since the last post--to places that have already been well-covered on this blog. And now it was time for the long spring trip, most likely the last camping trip of the season.

I stopped at Pine Lake Campground on the way north, which is near Bishop, GA. I had stayed there before and posted some photos here, so I did not take any this time. Pine Lake is an okay campground, owner is very nice. There seem to be a lot of permanent residents of the campground. I did not bother unhitching the camper since I was only staying one night.

The next day at around 3:00 I arrived at Springfield Campground, a COE campground directly on Lake Hartwell near Anderson, SC. Lake Hartwell is a huge lake with a lot of fingers and islands--this campground is on land that juts into the lake and so there is water on three sides of it. Almost all the sites are on water, though a few are across the road from the lake.

One very neat thing about this campground is that not only is the campground map available online (nothing new there), but so are photos of all the sites. If you go to this site, page down to Springfield, and click on the map link, you'll get there. I tried to just put that photos link here, but Blogger wants to add odd formatting to it, making it useless. If the link I added also doesn't work, you should be able to get there via a search.

So, I had selected site 53. This was a very good site--it looks like a pull-through on the map but is actually a back-in site. Great view of the lake. Site 54 is a pull-through with a great view and a large patio area by the lake. Here is my site:

This is the view while sitting outside the camper (where I spent a lot of time, reading):

I suggest avoiding weekends if possible--my stay spanned a weekend and there was a significant difference between those nights and the ones after the weekend folks left. On one side I had three families tenting with kids; the kids were loud, but that's what kids do, and they quieted down after dark. They were not a problem at all. On the other side, however, I had the Country Music Fans. This couple played their music at a very loud volume, starting from sometime before I arrived and continuing that first night until about 11:30. I found out the next day that the tenting people had complained to the park staff about them. A ranger apparently had come out around midnight, but by then they had gone to bed. The next morning, the kids were at the playground across from the CMF site, yelling "Turn your music down!" Later that day the couple came to my site to see if I was the one who had complained. I said no, it was probably the people in the tents...without windows to close against the noise (hint, hint).... At any rate, the tenting people left, either went home or to another site, the ranger made more visits to them, and then finally they left and peace reigned. I spent some time riding my bike around the campground; they were the only ones producing that much noise, but there were other campers that looked like less than ideal neighbors. After the weekend ended, it was back to more of an older, state-park-like crowd. I strongly recommend picking weekdays if possible.

In my opinion, the best sites are 44 and 37. Any one from 34-38 is great, as are 43, 45, and 49. If you have a boat, any of the sites near the boat ramp would also be very good. The sites are all level and a mix of pea gravel and white clay. The roads are paved. The bath houses are clean.

Within an easy drive you can get to three large grocery stores, two liquor stores, and a Walmart. There is no wifi hotspot at the park, but there is a McDonalds nearby that has wifi. The town of Anderson, with all the usual shopping center stores and restaurants, is very nearby and easy to navigate. I had a very strong Verizon signal at the campground. There is a gate that is closed at 10 and opened again at 7.

In addition to the boat ramp, there is a beach.

Sites 27-32 are in the trees to the left, going out along that point of land.

There were Canada geese! And they had babies with them.

They brought the youngsters up onto the grass below my site. So cute!

And off they go into the sun...

One day I was sitting outside and saw this go by out on the lake:

I kept the camera up and he circled back closer to my site.

He was close enough to see me taking the photos. Later he stopped by my site and asked if I got good pictures. He said the dog seems to really love being out on the water, that it will try to get on the jet ski by itself. It certainly seemed to be having fun!

As much as I rail against the air boats on our placid, narrow Wacissa River (where they simply don't belong and they are a safety threat to both wading birds and paddlers), I think that jet skis are perfectly suited to large lakes like these. I've never ridden on one, but I think I would like it; it just looks like fun to me. This guy was out there swirling around and nearly getting lost in the plumes of water.

This campground is not far from the South Carolina Botanical Gardens in Clemson, a beautifully laid out park (no admission fee). I went there one day. I took a lot of flower photos, most of which require no caption, so I will just post them. And then I will be back to ramble a little more...

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The walkways in the garden area meander around through trees and past ponds.

This one shows the hosta garden in the foreground.

So then I went to the duck pond to see what I could see.

There were two mallards there, and this goose.

I saw a footpath that led alongside the pond, so I left the paved walkway and started walking on that, with the hope of getting closer to the mallards or the goose. Much to my surprise, I heard a splashing from bushes between the footpath and the water, and out swam a mother wood duck with her babies!

Ooops. sorry! Didn't mean to bother her. She swam over to the other side and settled under a different bush. No sign of a male wood duck, but there must have been one at least briefly!

I caught up with the goose.

I really liked this one; a very handsome goose. I took a lot of pictures of it.

And then finally I headed back to my campsite.

In addition to the Canada geese, there were a couple of mallards that visited my site every day. This one was the bolder of the two.

One day I was sitting outside reading in the late afternoon. I didn't have the camera with me, but I did have my cell phone next to me. My duck buddy jumped up on the little ledge and was eyeing my birdfeeder. I knew he would leave if I got up to get the camera, so I took a photo of him using the camera in the phone. The duck never did attempt to get closer to the feeder, although it pecked a bit at the seeds that had fallen.

After enjoying the lake for five days, it was time to head home. I had made reservations at a KOA in Forsyth, GA, between Macon and Atlanta. I have never stayed at a KOA before; mostly this campground was in a good location as a midpoint stop, it just happened to be a KOA.

Strangely, while it could not be more different from my usual choice of campground, I enjoyed the night I spent there. I was pretty tired by that time. Having someone escort me to my site was greatly appreciated. Again, I didn't unhitch, but I did connect the power and water. While I was doing that, the guy came back with two huge homemade chocolate chip cookies--they give them to all arriving campers. They have a pizza kitchen set up in the office area; you can order a pizza and they will bring it to your camper. This was also greatly appreciated. The campground was not at all appealing, at least not the area I was in--RVs were parked very close together, many were clearly longterm residents, with potted plants and flags and little fences and assorted other things around their campers. Some, like me, didn't even have a chair outside. The campground is directly adjacent to I-75, which might have been terribly noisy if it was cool enough to have the windows open, but I was back in AC-worthy temps now and so I couldn't hear traffic noise over the AC unit. What a great spot for people-watching out my window! I went into the bath house but it was very mildewy, so I opted to just shower in my camper that night. I could see a pond they had with a fountain in it, and even spotted a Canada goose with babies! I was too hot and tired to take the camera over to them, though. It was time to go home! While this is certainly not the kind of place I normally recommend, if you need an overnight spot and don't care about trees or privacy or traffic noise, I suggest you check this place out. I actually kind of liked it. I doubt I will go back (this was an experimental route home; turned out not to be the best way), but if I do ever need a place to stop in that area, I would pick this one again.

I will absolutely be going back to Springfield Campground. They close November 1 and reopen on April 1, so I won't be able to do any winter camping there, but I can fit a couple of trips in next season.

Meanwhile, October 1st, the usual start of camping season here, is only about 141 days away (from today). I doubt I will get out camping again till September at the soonest, so this blog will probably languish for a few months now. Maybe it's time to get back out paddling...

Kolomoki Mounds State Park near Blakely, GA

2011-03-26T12:51:00.007-05:00

When I was looking around for a place to camp for three mid-week days, I ran into a wall of spring vacationers--families with kids had filled all my usual places. So I needed to find the anti-spring-vacation campground. Where would you not want to take the kiddies for a week? I know--Indian mounds! I had planned a trip to this park back in early February, but cancelled because the weather was just too cold. While St. George and Ochlockonee and Stephen C. Foster were all completely full, this campground had only one site taken when I arrived. Over the three days I was there, the most sites filled was seven, with nary a child in sight. While this park would not be of much interest to young children, I found it fascinating.

As I have mentioned, you cannot reserve specific sites in GA state parks, so I didn't know what to expect in terms of my location. Their web photos only show one view of the campground, site 2. It looked just right. When I got there, the other campers had chosen another site, so I got site 2. Here are some views, first of Kolomoki Lake to the right of the site:

This is a small lake that was created when they dammed Kolomoki Creek. No boats over 10 hp are allowed on it. If it hadn't been so windy during my stay, I would have deeply regretted not taking the kayak. This is the view of the rest of the lake, looking to the left from the site:

There is a small, somewhat ramshackle dock that goes into the lake in front of this site. Here is the view from the end of that dock.

In that photo, note the pole with the gourds on it for purple martins on the far left. They were nesting while I was there and I spent a lot of time watching and photographing them.

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This one bird spent a great deal of time one morning trying to get a particular piece of twig into the gourd to add to the nest. Here he comes with it.

He perched at the entrance, turning this way and that, trying to fit it through the opening.

While he was working on that, another bird came to a nearby gourd to work on his nest.

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The bird with the twig took off, flew around the circle of gourds, and came back to try it again.

I was very happy to see a pair of Canada geese strolling by my site one morning (I do love those geese!).

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It took them until the evening of second day to find it, but the small birds did discover the feeder I had hanging at my site.

So, on to the mounds! The main one, and the one that fascinated me, is Temple Mound, a monster of a mound. I spent a lot of time at this mound two of the days I was there, and I always had it to myself. Here's the trail that leads to it.

Here is a long view of the mound, which doesn't really do it justice, particularly with nothing to use for scale.

Here is what that plaque in front of it at ground level says:

This depiction was to the right of that text.

There are 81 steps (I know because I counted). The top is mostly flat, with a small rise to one side.

The plaque at the top says:

The view is amazing, the peacefulness at the top is wonderful. I took many photos from up there and none of them really convey the feeling that you get so high up, looking down on little birds flying from tree branch to tree branch and contemplating the history of the ground under your feet. I walked away from the steps over to one side and took three photos that comprise this panorama:

There is a small mound at the other side of the field (former plaza), which was discovered to contain several burials as well as pottery and other items that were presumably buried with the dead.

This is the view from the top of the steps, where I sat for long spells, just taking it all in.

There is a museum inside the park office building (which is itself set in a mound) that gives information about the Indians and also the excavations of the mounds.

I stopped on the road back to the campground to take this photo at the end of the lake where the dam is located. The campground is on the shoreline to the left.

When I got back to the campground I recalled my difficulty in finding any photos of sites at this park, so I took a photo of site 6, which was empty and is typical of the sites alongside the lake.

There are 10 sites next to the water, 24 sites in all. There was a sign about tenters being required to use the tent pads in sites, but I didn't see any tent pads in any of the sites, so that was puzzling. Some of these sites, such as #1 and 2, which I was in, are double sites, which share the picnic table area and are about five feet apart. The others have trees between them and are sufficiently private. All of the sites are good, whether on the water or in the woods. Some are a tad on the short side, which could be a problem for the bus-sized RVs, but there are enough that are large enough. They are all level side-to-side, but a few seemed to be inclined front-to-back, which is less of a problem, in my experience. The bath house is clean, but only one of two showers was functional while I was there. Given that there were so few other campers, I never had to wait to shower. There are nature trails, but I didn't hike them since I spent most of my time at Temple Mound. The park is a short drive from the town of Blakely, which has very little to offer that I could find, but it does have a large grocery store.

This was an excellent campground for adults, particularly if you are interested in historical exhibits and locales. I'd like to get back here again before the heat and bugs of summer keep me from camping.

Lake Seminole State Park near Bainbridge, GA

2011-03-13T11:39:00.005-05:00

I've been to this park several times over the years. As with other GA state parks, you can't reserve a specific site, so, while there are many sites right at the lake, you may also end up in a site that views the lake through trees and past other campers. I was lucky this time, it turned out that I arrived shortly after someone had vacated site 11, which is a lakeside site I have had before. More on sites later. This was taken after I had set up:

This is the view from the back of the camper, looking toward the main part of Lake Seminole (the park is located along an inlet):

I had wonderful neighbors on this trip, Billie and Bud from Chicago, who were camping with their wonderful Springer, Sunshine. They got Sunshine from Springer Rescue in Alabama.

I spent a lot of time chatting with them; it turned out that I am currently reading a book that Bud had just finished.

As always, the Canada geese were there, though it was too early for goslings. I like these geese a lot (possibly because I don't have any around my home, so I don't see them as pests--I know that they can create problems sometimes).

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I arrived in a terrible storm, but the weather cleared and warmed up over the 3 days I was there. One day I was sitting outside reading and enjoying the view when I heard a bird call that was unfamiliar to me. I looked around and spotted, much to my surprise, a bluebird perched on a nearby signpost. I have not seen a bluebird for years. Of course I had the camera next to me. I put the Kindle down, picked up the camera, and took several photos of the bird as it flitted from signpost to signpost and into the branch of a tree.

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Here's the thing about the sites at this park. I went for a walk to explore the sites that were closed, which are out of sight of the part of the lake that the rest overlook, but they had views of both the lake and the wetlands that are along a hiking trail. These sites are grassy, level, wonderfully shaded, and quite large. All of these sites would be better for tents than the gravel ones close to the lake. In fact, all things considered, I liked these sites a lot better. But they are closed off. I talked to one of the hosts about when they were opened, and she said that they open them when the front sites fill up. She said people want to take the sites all the way at the far end of the closed section and then complain that the bath house for those sites is closed. Apparently it's expensive to open/operate a second bath house, which makes sense. However, I think that these sites are greatly preferable to many of the ones on the lake side, which are neither lakeside nor woodsy, just somewhere in between. I would like to get back to this park again soon and I plan to ask if I can use one of those woodsy sites, well aware that there is a short hike to a bath house. It seems a shame to me that the best sites (IMO) at this campground are closed (they have been closed every time I have been there, but perhaps they are opened in summer?). Lakeside is really nice, and I enjoy the geese, but there are more powerboats and jet skis than birds in that section of water. If you are a tenter and you encounter the "This Section Is Closed" sign across the gate, and there are no other good sites available for tenting, you might want to ask about those sites. It's so pretty and peaceful and green back there. Oh, and one site, I think it might have been 28, had a bluebird house next to it!

Next planned camping trip is to a new (to me) campground--I'll let you know how that goes.

New Views from St. George Island, Florida

2011-03-01T14:03:00.003-05:00

Back again to St. George, this time my friend Deb from Indiana had driven down to join me. Deb's tent and my camper both fit nicely in site 57, which is a very roomy site. We had fantastic weather and did a lot of biking and beach walking over the four days we were there.

One day when we were driving into town we saw this unusual cloud formation over the water--basically a cloud tube. It was moving out to sea and losing its form, but I was able to get this photo of it.

On another day, we took our chairs down to the beach to sit and watch the surf. The little sandpipers were darting around at the water's edge.

And then the dolphin show began! We saw many, many dolphins, in groups of from two to six or more, swim by. These two were fairly close to the shore.

While I was waiting for one that had submerged itself to reappear, I got more than I expected!

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And it lands with a splash!

We saw several dolphins jumping that afternoon, but since it's a somewhat unpredictable event, those are the only photos I got of jumps.

We saw several people walking on the beach that afternoon, all looking down at the sand for shells or ahead of them at the breaking surf, completely missing the show going on offshore.

It was another great trip to St. George, which remains far and away my favorite campground. It was almost full every day that we were there. I imagine that it will stay that way from here on until fall. I'd like to get in at least one more trip before the bugs arrive.

Old Town Campground and Retreat in Old Town, FL

2011-02-01T13:59:00.005-05:00

My friend Pam from south Florida spends a lot of time in this campground and so I decided to join her for a couple of days last week.

This campground is different from my usual destinations. It's very large but with very little greenery (actually, none) between the sites. I'm normally drawn to places that offer more privacy, but this was a special occasion. I was, however, very glad that my new camper has tinted windows. Meanwhile, I was able to not only see what was on TV in the camper behind me, but read any text that appeared on the screen. Kind of close quarters.

The owner of the campground, Joe, is a wonderful person. He escorts you to your site and will help you set up if you want assistance. He's always around if you need him. He helped me tremendously with a question I had about the water heater in my camper.

Pam was camping with her doxie mix, Sophie, with whom I fell totally in love. I have a very soft spot for dachshunds to begin with (my favorite dog of all time was a doxie mix), and Sophie is simply perfect. One morning Pam and Sophie came over for coffee. Pam took this photo of Sophie at my site after they left, and so I am using this as the site photo for this post.

After I had set up on my first day there, the three of us went for a walk around the campground. I took this at the entrance:

There are two resident ducks and a few chickens (and at least one rooster, who doesn't seem to grasp the concept of "dawn") in the campground. On our walk, we saw this young boy feeding one of the ducks.

It seemed like I was the only camper there without a dog with me (mine stay at home). Between the ducks, poultry, people, and other dogs, Sophie had a lot to look at!

Day Two was sunny and warm. The 32-mile Nature Coast Trail, a paved bike trail, passes within a couple of miles of the campground (this is the same trail that can be accessed very close to Manatee Springs State Park, in Chiefland). I have been wanting to get on this trail for a while, and so we drove our bikes to a convenient parking area near the trail. Shortly after we set off pedaling, we came to a long bridge crossing the Suwannee River.

It's a fantastic trail--very wide, very smooth, and very flat. We rode to where the trail passes close to Fanning Springs State Park and there we left the trail and rode alongside Hwy 19/98 to a river overlook, where we stopped for a while. Then back to Old Town. This trail has many benches, as well as a few restrooms (the one next to the trail in Fanning Springs was closed, so don't count on them being open all the time). It passes by woods and houses and through some small towns. Great ride.

We are both back home now, but I'm sure we will meet up in Old Town again. Meanwhile, I have two camping trips to St. George planned for this month. I hope your winter is going well.

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville, FL

2011-01-22T12:50:00.004-05:00

I had camped here once before, back in 2005, when I was still tenting. I found the traffic noise from I-75 to be just too loud at night, and I didn't return. Now that I am in a camper, I thought I would explore it again. (As it turns out, I could still hear the semis rumbling and roaring by on 75 at night even with the windows closed, but it was muted enough to be a non-issue.)

There are two types of Florida state parks--the manicured ones and the somewhat more unkempt natural ones. This is a natural one. The sites are fairly narrow and many of them are on uneven rock with pebbles embedded in the rock. If you are tenting, be sure to get one with a tent pad, since there's no way you could stake a tent in that rock. I was in site 35, which was fairly typical. The ground around the rock and near the road is an odd light clay-like substance, which was mostly gritty mud while I was there, given all the rain.

It rained nearly the entire time I was there, which limited my explorations somewhat. This is an ideal park for biking since the distances between spots of interest are significant. It's a great ride from the campground to Lake Wauberg, and from either of those to the visitors center. One of the two full days I was there gave me a little sunshine and so I was able to put the camera in the bike basket and ride around. There is an eagle's nest near the visitors center--I saw the nest but no sign of eagles. So I rode to the lake. There is a wonderful boardwalk near the parking lot that overlooks the lake in an area popular with wading birds. This great blue heron and egret were having some lunch and watching the lake while I was there.

The heron decided to try his luck a foot or so away and hopped over to a new spot.

Something made the egret perk up, as the heron was geting itself settled:

And so off goes the heron.

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The egret was not far behind.

There were a lot of sand hill cranes in the area--I did not see any within the park, but saw several in fields alongside the roads near the park. I didn't get any photos since taking gray cranes against gray clouds makes for a very, well, gray photo. I drove out looking for them on the sunny part of the one clear day, but did not find any.

This is a pretty good park--better than some, not nearly as good as others. The sites are very private and arranged well, so that none of them are directly adjacent to any others. Site 35 had a large expanse of woods on either side. The campground road is narrow but paved. At about 9:00 in the morning on the day I was leaving, there was a knock on my door. It was the campground host, informing me that a water main had broken and there was no water and would likely not be any for most of the day. Good timing for me since I was going to be packing up anyway and could wash my breakfast dishes and so on when I got home (I use bottled water for coffee and so had not turned on the tap yet). I assume this outage is a rare event there.

I'm off to a new campground (for me) next week.

Back to St. George Island!

2010-12-25T13:08:00.005-05:00

I don't always post trips to this campground since I go so often, but a few things were different about this trip.

It's winter here in north Florida, which means taking a big chance on the weather. I camped at St. George two weeks ago and there were only 4 other occupied campsites--strange to see it so empty! On this trip, the campground was more than half full. Surprising given the holiday (I was there from the 20th-23rd). There were a few families with kids but more without. I lucked out with the weather this time and one of my three days was wonderfully warm, in the 70's.

One of the new things on this trip was that I had found out on my last visit to this park that you can pay a fee and get the lock combination to the gate that blocks the road to the end of the island. I didn't bother with that on the last trip because it was cold and overcast every day and not great photography or walking-around weather. This time I decided to take a look.

It's a little over four miles from the gate to the end of the island. I was the only one on the road, and when I got to the end and the parking lot, I was the only one at the end of the island.

They only allow 20 people to drive down there at any one time, since that's all the parking lot will accommodate. Anyone can bike down there any time, just bypassing the gate.

There is a path that leads from the parking lot to the beach.

It was very quiet and desolate at the end, with a different feel than being the only person on the beach near the park. There were a lot of birds at the end, mostly white gulls. This very large darker gull flew by as I stood there.

I walked the beach to the end, which I had hoped would come to something resembling a picturesque point, but no such luck. It was more rounded, with a jagged shoreline. This is the view toward the end.

While I was there, three pelicans flew by and then headed away from me, watching the water for fish. I think that might be Dog Island in the background.

I stood there for a while just enjoying the total solitude. I'm sure at more popular camping times it gets busier at the end. This lone sandpiper was making its way down the shoreline.

And then I left. On the road back to the gate, I passed this great blue heron standing in the sand.

It decided to stretch, showing off one wing.

When I got back, I got my chair and Kindle from the campsite and took them to the beach near the campground to read a little and enjoy the nice weather. There was a guy fairly close by to my right with three fishing poles in the sand and a kayak. After a while I looked up from my reading to discover that he had launched his boat into the decidedly choppy surf and was struggling to paddle out.

The wind and waves pushed him in my direction; he turned around to paddle back to shore, arriving about five feet in front of me. I said "Gee, you could have just walked over..." He smiled and headed back to his fishing poles, dragging his kayak behind him...

At about 5:00 I took the camera along the path near my site to the bay side of the island, hoping to see an egret or heron. My timing was off for that, the tide was all the way in, leaving very little shoreline. A woman that I had met earlier at the campground was letting her dog have an off-leash run around. We chatted while the dog cavorted in the sand and surf. She was from New Jersey, in Week One of a four-month camping trip with her dog and cat. I suspect that at the end of the four months, some of the sand that Scruffy, the dog, was picking up in the beach that evening will still be in her camper. After a while a couple came down with their dog, which they let off-leash to play with Scruffy. They were from Ontario. We watched the dogs and talked. Time went by and the sun started to set. We talked some more and the sun got lower. I had only brought the large zoom lens with me, which is not appropriate for scenic photos, but I couldn't let this sunset go by without at least trying to get some of it.

And then the dogs were leashed again and we all headed back up the trail. I left the next morning so I didn't see them again.

There was another new element to this trip. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know how much I love my little Scamp camper. However, through a somewhat convoluted series of events, I now have a new camper. This one is a Coachmen Apex; it's 17', and therefore longer than the 13' Scamp. This was my second outing in it and I have to admit I am already spoiled by having a bathroom and refrigerator, as well as a few other conveniences. Here it is in the site:

Yes, I know, it's not nearly as cute as the Scamp. And the hitching process is far more complicated now to compensate for the increased weight of the thing over the Scamp (and now I am noticing a difference in gas mileage). One of the things I really like about it is the windows, which you don't see in the photo above since only the kitchen window is on that side. There is a very large back window, as well as one over the couch on the side (and another next to the bed, which is at the front of the camper).

A cool thing about these windows is that they are tinted. Unless there is a light on inside the camper or the windows are open, people outside the camper can't see into it, which is nice from a privacy standpoint.

And so that was this trip. I am not letting the new cold Florida winter weather keep me home this year and plan to camp as much as possible through spring--I just wait till the last minute to make the reservations, keeping an eye on the temperature forecasts. I'm hoping to get out again in early January.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, White Springs, FL

2010-11-25T17:23:00.003-05:00

How's that for a catchy park name? Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

I had been to this park a year or two ago to paddle on the Suwannee River, but only as a daytrip, not as a camper. This is less than an hour from my home, and the campground gets rave reviews from campers, so I decided to try it. It deserves those reviews! Super place!

It's also a popular place to camp. I had to just guess at which of the few sites available would be good. I lucked out and guessed right. I was in site 5, which was just the type of site I like--it was deep and level with thick greenery on each side for privacy. Many of the sites are like this, while some have less greenery, and some are right out in the open with no greenery.

There is a lot to do and see at this park. I passed on the paddling this time, as I think their river access is very poor (it's a long way from where you unload your boat from your car to where you launch) and I am not that crazy about the Suwannee at this location anyway. I did, however, take the bike, for the riding is great here. There are three campground loops to pedal through, as well as getting on the park road to go to the various exhibits.

There is a bell tower with a carillon in it. This strikes the quarter-hour during the daytime, and four times a day it plays a few Stephen Foster tunes. It's loud, but not obtrusively so. This is the bell tower as seen from the road leading to it from the campground.

Those candy canes along the road have spirals of lights on them. During the month of December, the park is presenting a Festival of Lights. Their poster claims that there are 4 million lights strung throughout the park. In addition to the candy canes lining all the roads (but not in the campground), there are Christmas trees and assorted sleighs and so on with lights. I'm sure I will be back to this park in December, so I can see what this all looks like lit up.

There is a Stephen Foster Museum (free admission once you are in the park). It is in a rambling plantation-style house. This is the back of the museum.

I went in to look around. There are essentially two rooms. The one you come into has dioramas set into the walls that were created for Foster's songs. I took a few photos of them, with minimal success due to the glass and lighting...

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The other room has several pianos, a mannequin dressed in period clothes, a desk and table, and a few other things, with varying amounts of information about them.

This is the painting that is on the wall:

On that desk in the corner of the room photo was the lyrics to Way Down Upon the Suwannee River in Foster's handwriting.

I rode from there to the bell tower and went in to look around. The spire reached into the sky.

There were some displays related to the carillon, another mannequin in period dress, and one or two more dioramas. This one was easier to photograph. These are quite large.

I had fun at my next stop, the craft cottages. These are little cottages, open at apparently different times of day and days of the week (they are staffed by volunteers), in which there are craft demonstrations (weaving, pottery-making, blacksmithing, rope-making for a few) and the products are sold.

At the head of this walkway is the main gift shop, which has an assortment of wares, including many of the crafts sold in the cottages. Of course, I made a few purchases there...

The next stop on my bike ride was the gazebo overlooking the river. I parked my bike at the top and took the walkway down to the gazebo.

From there I strolled down to the river. The water level was very, very low.

And then back to the campsite for some reading. This was a short trip that I squeezed in before Thanksgiving, so I only had the one full day there. Next time I will stay longer.

I highly recommend this park!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

St. George Island State Park (Again)

2010-11-17T15:22:00.007-05:00

I have stopped posting most trips to this park since I go there so often and have described several of those trips already. But I took a few photos on this last visit that I wanted to add.

The park was nearly full this time but I was able to reserve site #17. I haven't been on this side of the campground since this time last year. The sites are generally smaller and less deep than on the other side, but a few of them are very nice. This is one of the nice ones.

I went down to the beach to watch the birds and look for dolphins in the water. The pelicans were very active. I took a series of photos of this one as it spotted something from high up and dove to get it:

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This was the last in the series. Since I was looking through the viewfinder and focused only on the pelican that was diving, I did not notice the gull there, nor the other pelican already in the water until I got home and processed this.

Later on I walked on the beach. This beach does not have a lot of shells; mostly it's just sand. But there was this one small section that was loaded with little shells--all in one place. Here's how they looked with the foam of a wave washing over them.

I spent a lot of time on my bike; this is an ideal spot for riding since it's so flat. It's four miles from the campground to the park entrance, with the water on one side and huge white dunes on the other. Once out of the park, there is a bike trail that runs adjacent to the road on the water side. It's a great place to ride to look at the different house styles.

When I got back to the park after one long ride, I went back to the beach for a moment. I got to see the dolphins I had been waiting for--three of them were passing by, headed for the end of the island. The pelicans were still around. This diving one came out as a silhouette because of the sun's position.

I took a photo of my bike parked in the rack by the walkway to the beach before I rode back to the campground to fix dinner.

I am heading out to a new (to me) campground next week. There are several new ones on my list to try this season, but it's hard to not just keep coming back to St. George!

Pine Lake RV Park, Bishop, GA

2010-11-03T15:41:00.004-05:00

This was the first stop on my fall camping trip! (Next two posts are also from this trip.) It was easy to find, and the woman at the desk was very friendly. I had a pull-through site, which was very convenient, since I did not unhitch the camper. I was only staying one night, so it made more sense to save time by just leaving it hooked up.

This campground was completely full. This was very puzzling since it's in a small town, but it's also very close to Athens, where there is a university. I also think there was some sort of hunting event going on in the area; perhaps that explained some of it. However, there was one odd thing I have never encountered before. First, the school bus pulled into the campground the afternoon I was there, and let off a few kids. Later, the woman in the RV next to me drove off and returned shortly with a little girl with a school-type back pack. So some of those campers must be permanent residents of the campground.

This is a really nice campground. It is very woodsy and natural. There are a lot of cute little touches here and there, like this mailbox on a tall post that was located next to my site:

There was a very large cleared dog-walking area.

There is also a pond (or could that be Pine Lake?) with a nice dock that juts out into it.

I spent some time before dinner sitting on a chair on that dock reading.

I wasn't here very long but I enjoyed it. It's quiet, there are no bright security lights shining into every site, and the bath house was clean and roomy.

And then I was back on the road to my destination...

Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, Hiawassee, GA

2010-11-03T14:45:00.008-05:00

Wow! In a word (actually three): Best. Camping. Ever. I had found this campground back in September when I was camping nearby at Tallulah Gorge. I had made reservations last spring to stay at a campground near Hiawassee for my fall trip, but I had noted that over the summer, reviews for that campground (Enota Mountain Retreat; don't stay there) had been getting progressively more negative. I was concerned about my big fall trip, so, since I was so close at Tallulah, I drove out to Enota to check it out. And decided I did not want to spend 5 days there. What to do, when it was already September? I had seen the website for the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds campground on Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee back when I was looking for a place to camp and it wasn't too far, so I decided to check it out. And reserved my site while I was there (#84)!

When I got to my site, I was the only camper in this campground (they have two, this side closes November 1 and re-opens in April. The other side, not nearly as nice, in my opinion, is open year round). My site was surrounded by water on three sides, with the highway bridge and some lakeside houses to the left and just trees and water straight ahead and to the right. It was overcast when I got there--I took this picture a couple of days later when the rain had passed:

It rained hard that first night, which was actually very pleasant. The next morning I emerged from my camper and looked out at the lake. The sun was trying to peek through.

There was more drizzling on and off that day. In late afternoon it seemed to be moving on, so I went outside to read. A double rainbow showed up on the bridge side of my site. The top layer is hard to see in the image, but there are two.

The next day the sun came out and stayed for the rest of my time there. I went for a walk through the campground, which was still empty except for me.

Later on, an RV pulled into a site up the hill from me. Turned out to be Kathy and Conrad from St. Augustine. They were a lot of fun and we spent a fair amount of time chatting over the next few days. Eventually another RV set up down the road from them, and two more appeared at the other point that extends into the lake. I still had my point to myself, which was just wonderful (there were about 6 other sites on it that anyone could have taken).

I spent a lot of time reading by the lake. A line of yellow trees across the water lit up every day when the sun reached a certain angle in the sky, at about 4:30 or so.

I took a panoramic photo to try to show more of the view (it was spectacular). I tended to face this direction most of the time rather than looking at the highway and homes. In this image, the rest of the campground is to the right and up a slight rise. I took this standing next to the Scamp.

Kathy and Conrad had gone to Brasstown Bald (highest point in Georgia) and it sounded like something I'd like to see, so I drove over there the next day. When you reach the parking lot, you have a choice, if you wish to visit the observatory at the top of the bald, of either paying $3 to be driven to it, or hiking the very steep half-mile paved trail to it. I knew if I took the shuttle I would feel lazy, so I set off on the paved trail. It was .....steep. Very steep. My calf muscles are still yelling at me. (It was not a good day to be wearing Earth shoes, which drop your heels down, as does walking up a very steep incline.) It was similar to hiking up to Clingman's Dome in the Smokies, with the same phenomenon when it comes to fellow hikers. Those hiking up the trail are trudging (with the exception of young children) with a somewhat stricken, lost-all-hope look on their faces. In contrast, people coming down the trail are jaunty and ebullient, all "Hi!" and "How's it going?" and hail-fellow-well-met about the whole thing. I spent time, while resting on benches and rocks, chatting with two different couples who were also climbing. I made it to the top. I could pick out my yellow car in the parking lot below.

The views are very good from the observatory and I spent a lot of time walking around and taking photos.

And then it was time to walk back down. A shuttle was stopped and I jokingly offered the driver $1.50 to just take me one way (too late, the worst was already over). This is the path smart people took to the top:

The next day was my last so I spent it at the campground, except for a quick drive into town for ice and to put gas in the car. While I was sitting outside reading, I happened to glance up into the sky and saw this:

Cool! Hang gliders! There were seven of them and I watched them through binoculars for a long time while they swooped back and forth above the mountain ridges.

There was one resident great blue heron on the lake who I heard squawking now and then. One morning he was on the beach right outside my camper door. There were some ducks on the lake (mallards?) and I saw a few grebes swim by my site. And several times a day Canada geese flew back and forth. I love Canada geese. So of course when they landed and stood at the water's edge near my campsite, I had to take their picture!

I talked to one of the security guys there before I left. It seems that many campers settle into this campground for months at a time starting when they open in April. I suspect that this trip was one of those wonderful flukes that you can't reproduce. If anyone else had been camped on the point with me, it would have changed my experience, since I wouldn't have the perfect peace and privacy that I had this time. Other sites are not as close to the water, but they are much farther apart and the sites are staggered so no one is looking into their neighbor's windows. I'd like to return to this campground in the spring but I doubt I will reserve this site; there's no way I could be lucky enough to have the whole point to myself (and I could always move to it if nobody is there). Maybe next year right before they close I can try for it again. If you can get to this campground during their season, I highly recommend it!

Scenic Mountain RV Resort, Milledgeville, GA

2010-11-03T14:00:00.002-05:00

Here's the deal. Next time I say I am staying at an RV "resort," somebody stop me. This may be the worst one. First, their website directions are wrong; they have you turning and driving into a decidedly bad area of the town. Luckily, the Scamp is so compact that I can pull into the smallest of parking lots to turn around. I stopped, locked my doors, and called them to find out where I was really supposed to turn. The female who answered sounded like a 6-year-old, and gave me directions as if I were a local and knew all the landmarks. When I finally arrived, I discovered that she had to be all of 15. Great. I was given a site in what was basically a grassy parking lot.

No picnic tables anywhere, and there was a very foul odor. I thought they might have a septic tank problem since it seemed to be emanating from that area of my site. However, it might be from some nearby paper mill. It was in the air the whole time I was there.

Although they make a point about their spacious sites on their web page, I was close enough to the RV next to me to hear their side of phone conversations, their own conversations, and their TV. If they hadn't had their blinds drawn, I could certainly have seen what they were having for dinner as well.

I can't possibly recommend this campground and will not be staying here again! But by this time in my trip I was eager to get home, so this was a pretty minor blip. I didn't bother unhooking the camper and was out of there the next morning and home by mid-afternoon.

Tallulah Gorge State Park in Tallulah Falls, GA

2010-09-26T11:47:00.003-05:00

Well, this was pushing the camping season start just a bit--daytime temps still well in the 90's in north GA, humidity high as well. But the overnight lows were dipping enough to have the windows open and hear the crickets and other night sounds (something we haven't been able to do here at home since May, and apparently won't be doing for some time yet), which was a pure joy.

I was in site 4, which is a good site with only woods on the left. Had anyone been in the site to the right (#3), I would have lost a lot of privacy. The sites are built like steps on an incline and so they are tiered, with site 3 about five feet higher than site 4. There were few campers, though, and in fact I had this whole side of the campground to myself until my last day.

The road that leads from the park entrance to the campground passes close to and slightly below sites 1 through about 9 or so. There is little traffic, but if you don't like traffic noise, I suggest a higher-numbered site.

This is going to be a somewhat short post with only the above image from the park, since the weather was too hot to consider any of the hikes that the park offers. There is a very short one that leads to two overlooks with scenic views of the gorge, but a terrible storm hit the morning of the day that I was going to take that walk (winds so strong that a tree was toppled onto the campground road. The two tenting couples left the campground when the storm began). So I didn't get to see it this time.

This campground is an easy drive on a wide divided highway from Clayton, GA, which is a fairly large town with many shops and stores and restaurants, etc. If you take Hwy 76 west from Clayton, you will come, after a bit of winding through the mountains, to Hiawassee and Lake Chatuge, a very scenic area.

The campground sites are midsized, some more private than others. There are two odd things about this campground that you should know before you go. The water and power hookups are strangely placed. While many of the sites are deep enough to accommodate the largest RV rigs, the hookups are located essentially at the extreme front end of the sites, near the campground road. While I had an extension cord I could have used for power, I only had a 25' freshwater hose, which prevented me from parking at the back of the site. I extended the hose from the camper to the faucet and backed as far as it would allow, which you may notice in the photo is far from the end of the site. And of course, the closer you are to the entrance to each site, the less level the ground. A second 25' hose is on my shopping list so that I don't end up in this predicament again. And there is a second odd thing about the hookups (made even more puzzling by the fact that this campground is operated by Georgia Power). The power boxes are shared by adjacent sites. So site #3 would plug into the same power box as I did. Think about this: not only is the power box up by the campground road, but for every other site, it is on the wrong side. This is the case for all sites, pull-through and back-in. This is a great park and I recommend it, but be sure to have extra lengths of hose and power cord. Site 4 was good; I am returning next month and have reserved site 7, which is also large and private. There was another higher-numbered site that at first appeared ideal, but then I noticed that it was nearly directly under a huge powerline tower; I don't recall the site number. The bath houses (2) are huge and clean though they show their age, with 3 regular shower stalls and one handicapped stall. Oddly, there are no benches in the area outside of the shower, though there is a door between the shower and outer area of the stall, so you can keep your stuff dry while you shower. I needed a clothes dryer after the rain storm since I had used up most of my towels drying stuff off. I asked one of the campground hosts if there was one; turns out there is a washer and dryer in one of the two bath houses, but I didn't use it since she offered the use of her personal dryer in her RV and I took her up on the offer. The dryer costs $1 a load. It's behind the door between the men's and women's bathrooms in the bath house farthest from the entrance.

There is an interpretive center with information about the area--this is where most of the trails appeared to originate. There is a cute little gift shop in the center as well.

Tobesofkee Recreation Area near Macon, GA

2010-05-17T18:00:00.001-05:00

This was my first stop on this camping trip. This journey was my last of the season; the following five posts are from this trip. I'm home now, the Scamp will be stored until about November, and this blog will doze until then as well. Come with me on this trip via these next posts (this one, Victoria Bryant State Park, Solitude Pointe campground, Hard Labor Creek State Park, and Georgia Veterans State Park), and then I hope you will join me again when I hit the road this fall. And now let's get back to the trip posts!

I had chosen to stay in the Claystone campground (there are two in the rec area), in site #43.

This was a good site as far as the view, as you can tell, but there was no shade at all. This was also one of four sites situated very close together; I was lucky that there was an empty site between me and the next camper over (and mine was the last one in the row). On the plus side, it was a pull-through and very level. The sites with shade and privacy were surprisingly unlevel.

I think the last person who camped in the site next to mine had been feeding a pair of ducks, as they showed up several times a day and wandered around as if looking for food. This female was particularly bold. I was glad I had an extra dinner roll to offer them...

After I had set up, I walked down to the lake. The park is located in a finger of the lake; this man was fishing at the end of that finger.

A family of ducks swam close by.

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After letting me get a few photos, off they went.

The next day before I left, I went for a walk around the park. There is a very large beach there.

When I got back to the camper, a family of Canada geese were swimming by.

I headed out to the next stop at about 11:30 or so. I'm glad I got to see this campground but I don't anticipate returning.

Victoria Bryant State Park near Royston, GA

2010-05-17T17:14:00.008-05:00

This was the second stop on my way north to SC. There are two camping areas, a small upper circle and the lower loop, which I never got around to seeing. You cannot reserve specific sites in GA state parks (a very frustrating policy), so after registering, I headed to the upper loop to see what was available there. Apparently my timing was excellent; there were only a few available sites in this very small circle, and the one I ended up with seemed like one of the best (it was site #9, not that that helps you if you are planning a trip to this campground...)--later my neighbors told me that someone had vacated it shortly before I arrived. It was a very roomy pull-through site with woods providing the backdrop. This is a hilly area and there was a sharp drop at the outer edge of the campsite, putting me about halfway up several of the tree trunks in height. There was a wonderful breeze.

This is the view from the camper.

You may notice that pink bicycle showing up in photos. I decided that it would be fun to have the option of riding around some of the campground roads, so I bought the bike and finally located a carrier that would let me easily transport it, positioned between the camper and the car. I knew that on this particular trip there would not be many biking opportunities since much of it would be too hilly for me, but I took it specifically for use at my last stop. For the rest of the trip, it was just along for the ride (so to speak).

There is a hiking trail that leads from this campground down to a stream and beyond. I walked down it before dinner on the day I arrived and took some photos of the stream.

I left this park at about noon or so the next day. This park is somewhat near I-85; the sites, at least in that small upper loop, are all large and level, all have gravel, and are fairly far apart. I don't anticipate being in this area again any time soon, but I would definitely return here to camp if the opportunity presented itself.

Solitude Pointe campground near Cleveland, SC

2010-05-17T16:00:00.004-05:00

This was my primary destination on this trip; I was going to be here for four nights, which seemed a total luxury after two one-nighters in a row.

There were many good things about this campground, although overall it fell a little short of my expectations. The good things included the owners, who were extremely friendly and helpful--at least for my first two days; they seemed to be avoiding me for the second half of my stay, and I will probably always wonder why...gee, was it something I said? Or perhaps they just decided to put the solitude back in Solitude Pointe? At any rate, another plus was the roomy and sparkling clean bath house, which was actually two separate full bathrooms side-by-side. Less appealing to me was the setting, which is more a function of location than anything else. It was beyond "hilly" there. One walk around the campground loop was physically exerting. On the day I arrived there were tenters on the other side of it, some people involved in a wedding reception that was being hosted by the property were staying in the cabin directly opposite my site, and I believe they and I were the sole residents. The tenters left the next morning, and the bride and groom took over the cabin the next night. Everyone was gone the next morning, but later someone moved into the RV that had been parked next to my site. Speaking of my site, I was in #2.

One note about that site. In order to back into it, you have to overshoot it (as usual), which has you going down a very steep hill as well as over a large speed bump. And then you must push your camper in reverse up the hill and over the speed bump to get into the long, narrow site. Given the amount of trouble my car had with this (the towing capacity of cars does not reflect their ability to push that same weight while in reverse....) with my tiny Scamp, I can only imagine the struggle it would be with a large, heavy camper. There was really no way I could conceive of for them to avoid this, given the layout of the campground. If you are going to camp here and this seems like something you would want to avoid, I would get a site numbered 5 or above, at the bottom of the hill. Unfortunately, the only bath house is next to site #2, which means, if you use the bath house, negotiating that hill on foot if you are in a site at the bottom of the hill.....

I visited Table Rock State Park one day, which is just down the road from Solitude Pointe. Now this is a spot I highly recommend! Nice park with a lot of trails, a lake you can paddle in, and many, many waterfalls. And great views of Table Rock itself.

This is the lake near the visitors center, which is across the road from the park itself.

This is a view of the visitors center, with Table Rock in the background.

Here is Table Rock from a park road, along with a smaller mountain, which was considered by Indians that lived here long ago to be the stool that goes with the table.

And then off to Carrick Creek trail and the waterfalls!

Here are some waterfall photos that I got as I hiked the trail, which followed the creek for some distance.

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I spent several hours at the park; the weather was fantastic.

There is no cell service at all at the campground so I stopped at a gas station/diner on my way back to call DH and touch base. I parked around the side of the building and got out of the car with the phone. While it was ringing at home, I turned around to see what was behind the building. I was more than a little surprised to see this staring at me:

There was a young one, too.

I took this long shot before I left.

There were also large white geese in the enclosure; it seemed to be on private property. Very strange!

I stayed at the camper the next day and relaxed and did a lot of reading. I was ready by then to head back south. I left before noon the next day.

Hard Labor Creek State Park near Madison, GA

2010-05-17T15:00:00.003-05:00

Ah, and now I came to my favorite spot of the whole trip! I had never heard of this park, did not know what to expect. I registered and was warned that they had just gotten new signs and they were wrong and confusing, so to be aware of that as I drove around looking for a site. The woman in the office recommended a site near the top of the campground (which is very large with many loops and turns in a wooded area) on the lake. I made the mistake of following signs to try to find it...luckily I ran into Bob, one of the campground hosts, at a bath house and he pointed the way to the lake sites.

There was no one even close to those sites except for Jim, another host. The lake was a small brown pond and not much to look at, so I drove on. And I found the best campsite I have ever had, bar none. It was next to a shallow, swift creek (Hard Labor Creek itself?), which turned to follow the site perimeter. I couldn't see any other campers from the site. A Canada goose swam by while I was setting up, following the creek current.

The stream is in the background of that photo. Here is the view of the stream from the camper.

And the bike finally got some use, though not a lot yet.

If I had known this site existed, I would have simply stopped here on my way north and stayed here for all my vacation days!

Again there was no cell service at all. I drove back down to the office and used my calling card on their phone rather than leave the park to find cell service. On my way back to my site....I got lost. I honestly could not find that road I had followed to get there! It was site 40, but following the sign (I had been told to ignore signs, hadn't I?) that had the arrow pointing to "Sites 38-51" of course took me on a loop that started with site 45. Luckily good old Bob was still around in his golf cart and again pointed to the narrow road leading to the creek. It didn't seem likely that I would have neighboring campers that night.

My last pleasant surprise at this campground was that when I turned out the light, it was pitch dark. I don't know if they have security lights in the lower level closer to the entrance, but there were none around site 40, and that was a joy. In every other campground, I had security lights shining so brightly through my curtains that I could have read by them. I got my best sleep at this park.

However, I don't plan to return to this park, since I cannot reserve this site. It would be a long drive to end up in any other site, which would be as likely as not. Their policy is very puzzling to me.

I had only a short drive to make to the next stop so I stayed here past noon the next day, just enjoying the peace and quiet. If you go to this park, try to find site 40--you'll like it!

Georgia Veterans State Park near Cordele, GA

2010-05-17T14:00:00.003-05:00

My last stop of the trip!

I was surprised by how crowded this park was, given that it was a Wednesday night. I was fortunate to find an empty site along the lake.

Here is the view of the lake from alongside the camper (and my windchimes).

There were many Canada geese there, which, as you may have figured out, are favorites of mine. They came right up to the campsite.

Another family of geese came by with two parents and about a dozen large goslings. I was standing in my site aiming the camera at assorted goslings, taking several photos such as this one:

I had the camera to my face, concentrating fully on taking photos of the little ones, when I heard a hissing sound quite close by. I lifted the camera away from my eye and looked down to see one of the adult parents of the little ones I was photographing--standing about eighteen inches from me, head about waist-high, hissing at me and drooling a little. This can be somewhat startling. They are big birds. I backed up slowly, making my excuses and apologizing. It actually followed me as I backed up. Kinda scary. But then it left, having made its point.

But I still got more photos of them later, heh heh.

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(Not sure why the leg is protruding, it was not injured in any way....)

My pink bike got a lot of use at this park--it's flat and there are lots of roads to explore. I put the little camera in the basket when I went for a long ride before leaving. Near the registration office of the park, they have a large field display of assorted planes and tanks used in various wars. I'm not a war fan, but this park celebrates and honors veterans of wars, and that's a whole different thing. I rode to the field where they have the planes and first took this photo of a B-29.

Farther down the line they also had a Huey.

This park is kind of like the redneck/good ole boy/fishcamp version of Seminole State Park near Bainbridge. Another one I don't think I will go back to--if I want to camp on a lake, my best bet is Three Rivers State Park here in Florida, or Seminole State Park. As much as I enjoyed the geese and the bike-riding, my camper neighbors left a lot to be desired, and they were the common element here.

And so I headed home the next morning in heat and humidity!

Ochlockonee River State Park

2010-04-28T17:01:00.006-05:00

Our weather took a turn for the cooler and so I decided to try another camping trip, this time away from the Gulf (and the bugs). My most recent trip to St. George, not posted here since there was nothing new to post from there, was indeed very buggy.

I reserved site #29, a site I had been wanting to try since I tent-camped here over a year ago. At that time, deer were plentiful in the park and they often entered the campground at this end; site 29 is the site closest to the road at the end of the loop. It also is a large and pretty site, with woods behind it, no sites to the right, and many palmetto bushes between it and the next site to the left.

Site 30, across the campground road, is also an excellent site, even bigger than 29, with direct access to the trail that runs along the river; I'll try that one next time, which will likely be in the fall.

The weather was ideal; significantly less humid than at home, though only a 90-minute drive away. There was a very strong wind both days that I was there, which helped keep the no-see-um bugs away. The nights were cool enough to have to actually have to close all the camper windows.

This trip stands out in particular because of the wonderful people that I met while I was there. Campers are nearly always friendly (with exceptions, as noted in an earlier post from a different campground...), but I met some very special people this time, with whom I plan to stay in touch.

The white squirrels are still at this park (and I spotted a large fox squirrel as I was leaving this morning), though all the ones I saw were running around in the picnic area rather than in the campground itself.

While I was walking on the long trail on my first day there, I spotted a red-headed woodpecker. It was very far away and the photo was not clear enough to post here.

Later that day I mentioned to a woman I met there that I had been disappointed to have hiked for an hour and a half through the woods without spotting a single deer, even from a distance.

The next morning while I was still lazing around having coffee and reading in bed, she went out to the trail. When I was up and out and about, she came over and showed me a photo she had taken of two deer on the trail. Argh. So, even though I suspected it was too late in the morning by then (and I had to pack up and leave soon), I headed back out to see if I could find them.

No luck. I did see another (the same?) red-headed woodpecker on a distant tree (again, photo too blurred to post).

I also passed by this bird, which I am going to venture a guess is an Eastern Phoebe (yes? No?).

This used to be one of my regular spots during camping season, but I had not been here since I came with Deb last November; it has been overlooked in favor of new places. I think I will spend more time here after summer has passed.

Meanwhile, I have a long camping trip planned for next week--five new/different campgrounds in eight days, the farthest one in South Carolina. Great way to wind down the camping season until fall!

Indian Forest Campground in St. Augustine, FL

2010-04-09T16:42:00.004-05:00

I was making another trip to the bird rookery, but this time I wanted to camp closer to the interstate, so that I would not have to tow the camper through several miles of very busy city traffic, as I did last time I went to the rookery (when I camped at Anastasia State Park). On my way out of St. Augustine last time, I passed this campground and it looked nice enough from the road. I read the reviews of it when I got home and it sounded fine. So I stayed here on this trip.

This is by far the best privately-owned campground I have visited; in fact, it's the only one I have really liked. I had a wonderful site, #77. When I was checking in, the woman said she had planned to put me in 66 (which was also a good site) but she told me that 77 was the one she would want if she were camping there. Great choice. It also was suitable for my small camper.

The camper was 100% shaded, which was appreciated since we are getting warmer here. I had a nice view of the small pond nearby.

It was a little strange how many people in the campground were from Ontario--and in particular Quebec. People walking around, women I encountered in the bath house, and my neighbors in site 78 and their friends that visited them all spoke French. I was walking through the campground one day and passed a large rig that had a TV set up on the table outside. The guy was watching something that was being broadcast (or had been previously recorded?) in French. It was very much as if I were the one in the foreign country who did not speak the language. DH told me that the Canadian dollar value puts them at a significant advantage right now, and maybe that has something to do with it, but it still seemed odd that so many French Canadians had found this particular campground in this particular city. It's a very large, sprawling campground and I don't think all of them could have been part of a group traveling together. It would be a very, very large group. Anyway, kind of unusual.

I think the best site here is #71. It is an extremely large site. I would like to request it next time, but they may prefer to reserve it for the very large RVs. It is right next to the pond. Here is the view from site 71:

I doubt I will get back to this campground again until next spring, since I have no other reason than the rookery to go to St. Augustine, and by the time I make my next trip there in a couple of weeks, it will likely be too hot to camp. But I very highly recommend this campground if you are going to be in the area. My site was along the row farthest from Rt. 207, and there was still some traffic noise at night, which doesn't bother me. They do not allow tents.

I'm heading back to St. George next week for what I am sure will be the last camping trip there until fall! It was hot and buggy there last week, I wonder if it will be hotter and buggier this time?

St. George Island--Again

2010-04-04T12:12:00.008-05:00

I didn't plan to post this trip--I have already posted two trips to this park in this season, and I didn't imagine there would be anything new to show or tell, but it turns out there is.

It's spring break all over the place and so there were a lot of families camping this time, with a lot of kids, aged about 5 to 15. Lots of tenters. All the sites were taken. And one of the bath houses was closed for renovation. I wonder if they considered the timing when they planned that...

I had managed to nab site 34 a couple weeks ago when it magically became available in the midst of all the reserved sites--probably a cancellation and I happened to check the website at the right time. I have been in this site before, it's a good one. I had the campground host on one side and a group of three adult couples who were tenting on the other, with a lot of foliage at each side. I have added a new element to my site, a colorful pinwheel that brings a certain festive flair.

Another new element I added a month or so ago is the birdfeeder. I had a few cardinals come to it on my last trip, to O'Leno SP; prior to that, no takers. Well, I was still setting up the camper this time when a cardinal showed up. The feeder was at the edge of the woods, on the far side of the camper in the above site photo.

And that was just the start. (I ended up purchasing more birdseed the next day since I had not brought nearly enough.) I was particularly excited to discover my new favorite songbird, the rufous-sided towhee. What an incredibly vivid bird!

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There were several of them that were regular diners at my site, including a female.

After a while the grackles and blackbirds discovered the feeder. When they were there, the other birds stayed back.

Then they would move on, and the others would return. As you know if you read my blogs, I always need help with small bird identification, and never more than on this trip! No idea what this one is. Solid gray with a dark cap on its head:

And this one, which was the same shape and size as the towhee, but light gray with darker gray wings:

While the one above had mockingbird colors, and certainly the right tail for a mockingbird, it seemed too round-shaped to be one.

This next bird appeared for the first time in the afternoon of the second day. It was very shy and mostly stayed on the ground just inside the wooded area between my site and the tenters'. It spent a short time once in the feeder. I looked this up when I got home and it seems to be a brown thrasher.

Normally when I sit outside to do some reading, I face my chair toward the campground road so I can watch passers-by, but this time there was a lot more of interest going on at the feeder, so I spent a fair amount of time sitting there with the camera and my Kindle. I was surprised to see a red-bellied woodpecker (edited after a comment corrected my initial identification!) decide to have some seeds!

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And speaking of sitting outside, it involved citronella candles and spray-on repellent this time. The bugs called no-see-ums were out in masses, which probably means that my camping season is winding down. When I got the birdseed, I also bought some stuff to spray on my camper screens to keep them out, and that worked well. But if I can't sit outside without dousing myself in chemicals or covering up from head to toe....why bother going? I have reservations to return to St. George soon--I'll be taking the screen enclosure on that trip! And that may be it for this campground until the fall.

There are two freshwater ponds between the campground and the Gulf, and a resident alligator that travels back and forth between them (actually, according to the ranger, it's not always the same gator in the ponds...). He was on the bank showing off his jaws when I walked by.

Of course I spent a lot of time at the beach, which was beautiful, as always. On the first day, the water was very flat and calm. I sat down to enjoy the view and almost immediately saw the familiar fins of dolphins passing by.

The sandpipers and gulls were gathered here and there as well.

There were a lot of people fishing along the shoreline.

On the second day I thought I would walk toward the end of the island. This couple seemed to have had the same idea.

I didn't make it all the way to the end (the couple turned around before I did), maybe next time. On my way back down the beach, I came to an interesting sight. Which of these objects is different from the others?

Yes! It's the great blue heron on the right! He was just standing there, quite close to all the people, and unconcerned about any walking by him. I took pictures as I got closer and closer, expecting him to move off at some point. He didn't.

Time to do a little preening.

He stayed there as I passed him, and was still there when I left the beach.

Another great trip to St. George, despite the bugs! This is a wonderful campground--if you are going to be there any time soon, don't forget bug spray, and bring some birdseed!

O'Leno State Park near High Springs, Florida

2010-03-21T17:56:00.003-05:00

Well, back to state parks. But I have to say that of all the parks I have camped in, this is definitely at the bottom of the list. I'm glad I went, I have always wondered what this park was like, but once is enough. The road into the campground looks like a logging road, and in fact Dogwood Campground (one of two in the park) looks very much like a logging camp. They must be doing some sort of major landscape renovation, as there are many high piles of tree debris as well as several large felled trees scattered everywhere (the advantage: free firewood!). As usual on a first trip to a campground, I had to take my chances with my chosen campsite. I did pretty well this time--not the best in the park but far better than some. On one side I had woods and a downward incline leading to an empty site, so total privacy there. On the other I had a guy in an old small camper who was working elsewhere during the day. He would arrive at the site at around 5:30 and would be gone early the next morning.

The bath house was in the center of the campground, with foot trails leading from it to every site. This bath house was the largest, newest, and cleanest of any I have encountered anywhere. Very low water pressure but plenty of hot water.

My biggest problem with this campground was the ground itself. It was covered with what seemed to be a bizarre mix of fine sand and ash. This powdery substance stuck to my shoes, almost immdiately became packed into my welcome mat, rendering it useless, and was impossible to avoid tracking into the camper. The full day of rain didn't help matters much.

I walked the mile and a half to the Santa Fe river from the campground along the park road (no deer in sight). They have a very large and impressive picnic/exhibit area near the river. This sign greets you as you approach the water:

This is a view of the river from upstream of the suspension bridge that crosses it.

I walked to the bridge,

and then across it. At first it seemed rock-solid and I thought it must not be an actual suspension bridge. But as I got to the middle, it had developed a definite sway. This is the view of the river looking downstream from the bridge. You can see from these photos what a cheery bright day it was....(not):

As I said, they have quite a few exhibits, and a statue, in this area, describing the logging history of the town of Leno. I didn't linger long as the sky was getting very dark gray and I had the mile and a half to walk back to the campground. I did stop on my way out to get a photo of this, a gristmill exhibit.

Given the other parks in the area, including Paynes Prairie not too far away, I can't really recommend visiting this park. Perhaps in a couple of years when they get all the tree stuff cleared away it will at least be more scenic. It's not conveniently close to a grocery store or any attractions. I'm glad I saw it but I don't anticipate returning. The next trip will be back to St. George Island, which has already appeared here at least twice, so I may not post that trip unless there is something new and different to show. After that I plan to try a new place in St. Augustine. I'll let you know how that goes.

Otter Springs Campground and RV Resort near Trenton, Florida

2010-03-12T17:11:00.007-05:00

Tacking the words "RV Resort" onto (or in place of) "campground" seems to be an arbitrary action made by the owner of the property and does not in any way actually reflect the nature of nor amenities at that facility. This one falls a tad short of being a resort. That was fine with me, I was not looking for another resort!

Strange place, and it took me a while to figure out where the out-of-whack vibe was coming from. As with most non-state-park campgrounds, there was no privacy in the sites--no shrubbery of any sort. I gather that they are kept that way to make it easier to mow. I also suspect that I am more sensitive than many campers to this. If you live in a residential neighborhood, you are used to being in full view of your neighbors while you grill, wash the car, mow the lawn, and anything else. Therefore, this would seem normal, and they probably feel isolated when surrounded by woods on three sides. I can't see any neighboring houses from any of my windows here at home, so I feel sort of like I am in a fishbowl in these open parks. But that wasn't the odd thing.

The bath house was very small, but clean. The showers (2) were small stalls with no little enclosed adjacent areas in which to dry off and dress and put all your stuff. More lack of privacy.

When I got to the campground, there was no one in the office (though there was a sign on the door with a phone number). I drove around the property looking for a site, but it was very confusing, with some of the roads just looking like openings between trees. For example, this is a view of several sites....not that you can really identify them as sites too well...

I parked the car back at the (still empty) office and decided to try walking around to see if I could get a better idea of the lay of the land. Some people from the power company passed me and the driver stopped to ask if I was looking for Nancy. I said I was looking for whoever is handling the office, and he told me that Nancy was on the Deere golf cart. Ok, so off I went looking for that. I came to the golf cart, but no woman in sight. There was a maintenance man, though. He turned out to be Harold, and he was very helpful. We couldn't find Nancy, but he said he would drive me around to look at sites. He suggested #101; he said that there was a very quiet older man on one side and a couple that are rarely there on the other. I said fine, I'd take it, could he drop me off back at my car? On our way there we passed a convoy of four monster RVs in the middle of the campground. The driver of the one in front stopped and seemed very peeved. He hollered to Harold, "Where am I going?" Harold asked "Well, where are you headed?" and the man said "Well, I don't know! There's nobody in the office!" Harold asked him if he could back up and he said no, not towing a car! He was pretty mad, and I don't blame him. I told Harold I would walk back, he should go ahead and tend to them, but he said he had to get into the office anyway (I guess to check on any sites that might be reserved) so we went back there, he got campground maps for everyone, and I drove to #101 and set up.

My site should have been ideal, being on the outer loop and overlooking the spring.

Here is the view of the spring from outside the camper:

Unfortunately, the spring was flooded so it was just a dark swampy mess.

There is a nature trail there, a mile long, that leads to the Suwannee River. I considered walking that the next day.

They have a pool. I had taken a suit, just in case I wanted to use it. I went to investigate it after setting up, but the door was locked. There was a sign on the door saying that they keep it covered in order to keep it heated, and something about locking the door for guest safety. It said if you want to swim, find someone (probably Harold) to unlock the door and uncover the pool. I'm not a fan of overheated pools and that seemed likely if it had been covered, so I decided swimming wasn't going to happen.

The next day was gorgeous and sunny. The campground is near Chiefland, which in turn is near Cedar Key--and I get to Cedar Key at every possible opportunity, so I headed out there the next day. I had another reason to go that way--I wanted to investigate Shell Mound. I had read that this was a good paddling spot, and I also had heard from two people that there was a campground there. The first guy who told me about it seemed to think that its location was some sort of state secret and that he could only give out minimal information about it. At that time I found only very oblique references to it online and all his hemming and hawing led me to think he had confused it with somewhere else and just didn't want to admit his mistake. But then I reached someone who had actually been there. He told me more about it, including the suggestion that it might not be the best place for me to camp. It was on the way to Cedar Key, so I stopped in.

There is indeed a campground there, and if I were camping with at least one other person, I can see a camping/paddling trip there, but I would not camp there alone. Possibly the unshaven fellow in the tent that seemed to be held together with duct tape contributed to my hesitation. On the other hand, if you drive past the campground and on the dirt road through the wildlife refuge, you come to a very pretty area. This walkway extends out over the water, ending in a fishing platform.

I stood on that walkway and took this of the boat ramp.

There were a lot of egrets flying around, but I didn't get any photos of them.

On to Cedar Key. I checked at Fenimore Mill to see if Spike the egret or any other birds were in the water there (what? What sign on the dock?). This snowy was wading in the water near the fishcleaning station.

After that I wandered over to Nature's Landing and walked out on their path alongside the channel. When I got to the end, I startled two pelicans, but they decided I was harmless and did not fly away.

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I walked from there along Dock Street. This fellow was out on the water enjoying the warm day:

As I approached Seabreeze restaurant, I saw this huge gathering of gulls, pelicans, and cormorants on the old dock over the water behind the eatery.

I continued walking to the new fishing pier and wandered along that. This guy was at the very end, with a very opportunistic pelican right next to him!

When he caught a little fish, that one and another adult and a youngster (pelican, not child) came in for their share.

The fisherman left the area temporarily; one adult pelican flew away. I was watching that one and lost track of the others.

I brought the camera down and became aware of a sort of quiet slapping sound right near me. I looked down and the young pelican was walking by me, its webbed feet slapping the pavement, less than a foot away. I could have easily reached down and patted its head! I just stood there watching it walk by; my mouth was probably open in my amazement at how close it was (and how tall!). When it passed me, it turned around and paused.

Very strange and very cool. The other large one was perched on the railing.

When I got back to the campground, I discovered what was so odd about it--it was the other campers. I realized that they had been far less friendly than those I had encountered at other campgrounds, with the exception of Harold, and also Larry, a volunteer helper. Most of them did not speak when they passed you walking on the roadway, nor even smile or meet your eyes. When I returned from Cedar Key it was about 4:00. The lights were on in the pool building, so I walked over there and opened the door. It was steamy inside, and there was a woman, perhaps 65-ish, in the pool. I smiled and said "Hi!" She did not smile, just gave me a frosty (good trick in there) hello. I had intended to put my hand in the water to see how hot it was, but her tone stopped me in my tracks. I said "Is it warm?" and she said yes, 82 degrees. I said oh, okay, and left. The woman in the site next to mine glanced at me quickly as I passed but said nothing. That's about when I realized that's it! That's the vibe! Unfriendly!

At about 8:15 that evening I gathered up my stuff to go shower--the bath house is next to the pool house. The pool lights were still on. I peeked in; nobody in there! I felt the water. It had cooled down perfectly. I checked the sign--open until 9:00. So I went back to the camper, threw on my suit with shorts and a t-shirt over it, grabbed the shower stuff again, and went into the pool building. It was wonderful--I had time for several laps before Larry showed up at about 8:50 to close up. I asked him for five more minutes, got in a few more laps, and then gathered up my stuff and went to the shower. So that was great.

It started to rain at about midnight and was still raining when I left at about noon. Despite the rain and unfriendly residents, I still had fun on this trip, enjoyed getting back to Cedar Key, enjoyed being in my cozy camper. Though I won't be returning to this campground. Off to a state park next week.

9/13/10--Well, this post has suddenly gained a lot of comments, so I feel compelled to add some clarification. As I stated, both Harold and Larry were very friendly and helpful to me while I was there. It was the other campers (and not all of them) that were very cold and unfriendly. This is something wholly out of the control of the park staff....but not something I have encountered in state parks. Again--crabby residents but friendly staff.

Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine, Florida

2010-03-04T12:02:00.003-05:00

This state park is virtually across the street from the Alligator Farm; the bird rookery in the zoo was my primary destination on this trip. This park stays pretty full so I was lucky to get a site for two days in a row. (It turns out that my little Scamp is small enough to use one of their "tent-only"sites, which are nearly always available. Might be a moot point, though, since I found a different campground to try nearby.) I will be returning to this area often in the near future to watch the progress at the rookery.

This time I had site #27, which was ideal for me.

This was in the older loop and so the sites are a tight squeeze for the monster RV rigs but just right for my little one. And the heavy woods on three sides gave me nice privacy.

It's an easy walk from the campground to either Matanzas River, which runs just inland across the dunes from the beach,

or to the beach itself, which is wide and, at this (cold) time of year, fairly empty.

I spotted this egret in the river on one such walk.

I took the walkway to the beach. This walkway crosses over a salt marsh area. The lighthouse can be seen in the distance.

And then I got to the beach.

I noticed a pier over to the right so I decided to walk to it. On the way I saw a lot of gulls--I had not realized there were so many varieties. I particularly liked these, which I don't think I have seen before on the Gulf side.

I got to the pier. Not a lot there to see, but I took a photo from underneath it.

On my way back to the campground I saw this kid surfing. Each ride was pretty short--it was windy and wavy but the waves weren't very high.

This campground has over 100 sites. I toured all of the loops to make notes about the good, bad, and okay ones, just in case I come back here again. I came up with quite a list. There are sites where the water and power hookups are very far apart; one or the other would be beyond the reach of either my hose or power cord if the other was connected. Some have trees directly in the center (and not the tent-only sites!). Some were visibly un-level, which would be a problem in either a tent or a small camper like mine with a somewhat minimal leveling system. Others were sublime. The bath house was clean, though unheated. This park offers two wonderful conveniences, though. First is Island Joe's--a combination camp store, cafe, and book trade/sale center. It's located near the beach. There is wifi available in the immediate vicinity of the store.

It also has a little shack that rents kayaks and other little boats. This is located on the river.

As much as I liked the proximity to the Alligator Farm, I plan to try a different campground on the next trip to St. Augustine, which will hopefully be later this month.

Williston Crossings RV Resort in Williston, Florida

2010-02-20T16:44:00.003-05:00

One of the many things I am enjoying about having my little camper is being able to go to new places without worrying about being in a less-secure tent. It also opens the door to the anti-campgrounds, or RV Resorts. That's not necessarily casting aspersions on them but just suggesting that they are different from, say, state park campgrounds.

Williston Crossings is an RV Resort. In my opinion, staying there puts you at the extreme outside border of the realm of camping. Not that it isn't a fine place, but if you enjoy nature, this might not be the spot for you. There was very little nature to be found (though I did finally stumble on some; keep reading).

The registration office is very similar to that found in highrise/condominium resorts. Among other things, there was a large painting that represented the proposed shopping center complex that is planned for this property.

A man named Roy escorted me to my site in his golf cart and helped me back in. The sites are concrete, the back-in ones resemble a driveway with an apron at the top. There are mature trees between the sites, which in many cases leaves only the trunks to provide privacy (a bushy boxwood might be a nice addition here and there).

The site numbers are on lighted posts at the bottom of the "driveway." Trash pickup is at 10:00 every morning; leave your (no smaller than 13-gallon size allowed) bag at your address sign and they will take it.

Needless to say, I was in by far the smallest camper there; I thought I was the only unit without multiple slideouts until I spotted a long Airstream. I'm not sure how many sites there are, certainly well over 100, and a workman told me they had plans to put in 160 more.

I had asked when I made my reservations whether there were picnic tables at the sites and was told that there were. So I brought meals geared toward grilling. There was no table at the site. I walked back to the office and explained the problem. The woman said they would provide a picnic table and would bring it by in an hour, which would be 3:30. I was getting concerned at 5:30 that I would be crouching down to use my little grill on the ground, but they did indeed provide me with a table. I think my neighbors were jealous. Of course there is wifi provided (if spotty at the far end of the resort) and so I wasted no time in locating a roll-up table and ordering it, so as to prevent a repeat of this problem.

I asked about the lake and got directions to it. I walked past the clubhouse and into an undeveloped area, except for steps and platforms down to the lake. The water level was very low; the lake depends on the aquifer. It's interesting that we have standing water everywhere in my part of Florida and the rivers are very high, while just a little south of here they are so low. This is the long view of what there was of the lake visible from the steps.

The next day I went exploring beyond those steps and wandered down a gravel road. It led to an open area (nature!), possibly the site of the next 160 sites, and got me to the lake. This dock shows how far down the water was--those steps should lead into the water.

On the way to and from the lake, I passed these derelict trolleys; kind of an odd sight.

I wandered around the resort and took a few photos. Here's the community firepit:

Shuffleboard, anyone?

I saw these little stops or stations scattered here and there,

and finally put the pieces together. The painting of the planned shopping center, the 160 additional sites, the abandoned trolleys...they are probably planning on being so large that you can take trolleys from one part of the resort to another, boarding at these stops. Yikes.

I walked back to the Community Center. Last time I had peeked in, there had been some sort of ballroom dancing gathering going on (at another time, a woman bicycled by my site with a yoga mat under her arm...they have a lot of activities here). This time no one was around. It is a huge room.

This Christmas village was set up in one corner.

At the other end was a large fireplace setting.

Across from the Community Center is the future home of the pools. They are starting with a shallow kids' pool. Next to that (though now it is a neglected-looking sandlot) will be the adult pool, with a bridge connecting the two (I got all this from a workman I peppered with questions). I pointed to this:

and asked what that was going to be. Well, water is going to run along that flume, with some of it spilling over to fall down those rocks, and some of it will run the water wheel. Beneath all that will be a large koi pond. All this is in addition to the 160 new sites and the shopping center (and the trolleys).

I usually can spend my entire second day just hanging around the camper and reading....but I am also usually enjoying a view of a lake or woods or perhaps a wandering deer. Not that the RV across the road wasn't nice, but I decided to go somewhere. Rainbow Springs State Park wasn't too far away and so I thought I would explore that.

The park and the associated campground (which I toured and didn't care for) are located far apart (7 miles). At the park itself, you leave your car in the lot and the rest of it is all on foot, along paved trails that go by many waterfalls and gardens, as well as the spring. I was very sorry to have left the equipment I would need to properly photograph the waterfalls at home.

Here is a view of the spring from the walkway above it.

Here are several of the waterfalls:

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The waterfalls are actually water that is diverted from the river and cycles back to it. The rocks that make up that large waterfall were taken from the river.

Here is the water leading from the spring to the river. The spring is to the right.

This water is so clear! I took this from a bridge over the water (not from in the water):

And some flowers were blooming!

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I walked back to the butterfly garden (nothing growing there now) and was following an old decrepit and torn fence along the pathway, when I saw this great blue heron perched on top. That was unexpected.

Later on this cardinal looked bright against the drab background.

When I first got to the resort and saw what it was like, I thought this would be a very short post, but instead it's very long! While this resort is significantly different from my usual and preferred destinations, I actually ended up enjoying it as a change of pace. I found four sites that were more private and/or more wooded (at least on one side), and it seems possible that I will return to this place before the season ends. They are very reasonably priced for what you get (good grief, the bath house was huge. The showerheads were those dinner-plate sized rainshower type (I know, isn't every shower like rain?) and were mounted at least 4' over one's head, which made for a very nice shower experience!). I discovered that many people stay here for 4-6 months of the year. Everyone was extremely friendly, both campers and staff. One guy came to my site and said his wife had told him there was a Scamp at the resort, and so he had to come and say hi; he said he had a similar one and that although he was there in a large RV (for three months), he greatly preferred his little camper. I know I like mine....

By the way, all the photos from this trip were taken with my little Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 point-and-shoot camera--a very basic camera and not even the latest in the line, but one that I think is very capable for images like these. I had only taken the long lens for my #1 camera and, aside from the heron and the waterfalls if I had had the right accessories with me, there was no need to use that one. It never left the car.

More camping coming up (back to state parks for a while).

Dr. Julian Bruce St. George Island State Park (again)

2010-02-07T13:00:00.005-05:00

Last week's trip to Steinhatchee put me in the mood for saltwater camping so I decided to return to St. George Island--a known place for me, and one that I have enjoyed twice previously in this camping season.

On the drive into the campground, I noticed a small Aliner camper in a site on the right side. I had been set on getting an Aliner very nearly up to the moment that I called Scamp to place my order for the camper I have. I had decided at that last moment that, having been a tenter for years and having dealt with setting up and taking down my little home away from home, I didn't want to have to do any setting up, as required (very minimally) by the Aliner. As I was just finishing backing into my site at St. George (#20 this time; no photo as it is virtually the same as #16, which is pictured in an earlier post), two people walked into my site. They told me they were in the Aliner and had been considering switching to a camper like my Scamp. My car was still running, so I suggested they stop back by in a few minutes and I would give them the Grand Tour. We introduced ourselves (they were Linda and Jerry) and they went on their way and I unhitched and connected the power and water.

They still hadn't come back when I was finished, so I decided to wander down to the beach. It was an overcast day, as has been typical in north Florida of late. There was a breeze, and the water was somewhat choppy. But that didn't keep the pelicans away. This one very nearly caught me off-guard as it swooped overhead.

I walked a little way down the beach. This group was taking a siesta along the shoreline.

When I got back to the campground, I settled down to read for a while, and later had dinner. No sign of Linda and Jerry. I decided if they didn't come by the next morning, I would mosey down toward their site to say hi.

Many people had their pets with them, as usual. On this trip I saw more cats than I typically do, though there is always at least one site with a cat in it, it seems. One guy had a large black-and-white kitty that he walked along the campground road on a leash. It seemed very happy. And then on one of my walks I saw a pet I don't often see on a lead at a campground.

The next day moved from breezy to windy, and the sky was gray. The surf roared in the distance. As I was just finishing washing my breakfast dishes, Linda and Jerry came to the door. They looked at the camper interior (seemed to like it), and we chatted. They had been for a walk on a trail I was unaware of that leaves from the campground and winds through some wetlands and ends up on the beach. When they went on their way, I headed out to the trail.

The sign very clearly indicated that it was a 1-mile trail. Hm, seems pretty short, but off I went. It was sandy and clear and started out winding through scrub pine and other beach-y type shrubbery. I came to the half-mile marker in no time. I continued on from that point, which was over a boardwalk. The "wetlands" weren't wet at all, just brown grasses. The first boardwalk is very long and offers a nice view of an estuary in the distance.

I walked some more. And then a little more. I started to wonder where the mile marker was....this second half-mile seemed significantly longer than the first (I never did see another marker). I walked. And walked. I eventually started wondering where exactly this was going and would I be better off turning around or continuing? Clearly this was more than a mile. About an hour after starting off on this simple, short hike, I came to a guy walking from the other end. I asked him just how far it went. He said I was very nearly to the road, it was just a short "bloop" around a bend. "And just where on the road will that put me?" I asked. He said I would be at the first set of shelters. The first set of shelters??? Good grief, that was a LONG way from the campground! I continued on for two reasons: first, it would have been weird to turn around then, since that would put us walking together, which would be awkward; also, if I continued around that bloop, I would at least have new scenery.

I later measured the distance (using the car odometer) from my campsite to those first shelters, which was 1.8 miles. That was approximately the same distance I had walked before getting to the shelters, based on the time it took. Slightly longer than the simple 1-mile hike I had in mind. However, it occurred to me while walking along the beach right next to the surf, since the sand was firmest there, that I could be in a worse place. I could be in an office cubicle with no window in sight. I could be fighting my way across a frozen parking lot while sleet fell around me. I could be in any number of less pleasant spots. So I was content to put one foot in front of the other with the waves stopping just short of my feet, while the gulls and pelicans soared overhead.

And then when I finally got back to my campsite, I got in the car and drove the short distance into Apalachicola and went into Boss Oyster, where I had a cold beer and a dozen raw oysters on the half-shell at a table right over the water. Of course.

When I got back to the campground I noticed that Linda and Jerry were at their site, so I walked over. I had never actually seen the inside of an Aliner, and theirs was the size I would have purchased. They were nice enough to let me go in and look around. I could go on at length about my impressions, both of the camper itself and their choice of conditions inside it, but I won't. I will just say that I now feel certain I made the right selection with the Scamp, just on a size/shape basis (for the same price). I've never been inside any of the other campers or RVs at the various campgrounds, so I don't know what is typical in terms of space usage. It occurred to me that I have posted several photos of the outside of my Scamp here, but have never given you a peek at the inside. So I took a few quick photos.

This is the dinette area as it generally looks during the day. This converts into the bed, but I don't change it till bedtime, and I put it back this way before leaving the camper in the morning. The pillow is there because I often sit sideways across that bench seat to read. It's right by a window and really comfy and well-lit. I took these during a moment of sunshine.

Here's my kitchen. It seems impossible to take a straight picture of this, I think it's a perspective thing. I had to stand outside the door to get it all in (it's a small camper!). That's a small window over the stove.

Here's the couch at the front of the camper. It magically converts to bunk beds, but I doubt that will ever happen in this particular one...

On my second and last night there, the wind was fierce and the surf was a constant roar. The rain started at about 7:30 and continued on until and while I prepared to leave at about 11:30. On the drive out of the park, I was astounded at how high the surf was. Normally the Gulf is placid, sometimes even lake-like. I pulled over into one of the little access areas, opened the car window, and quickly took this photo of the surf from the road.

(The blue in front is part of the handicapped access....which doesn't look very accessible.)

Another great camping trip! I have reservations to get out again this week to a new (to me) campground. Of course more rain is predicted, as well as overnight lows in the low 30's....looks like more quality reading time is coming up! I'll let you know how it goes.

Nature's Coast RV Resort in Steinhatchee, FL

2010-01-28T16:26:00.003-05:00

I didn't go very far afield at all with this one, which was barely over an hour from my home. I had read a lot of good reviews of this campground. Given the cold temps that were predicted, the presence of wifi was appealing. I do a lot of reading on my camping trips, but greatly prefer to sit with my book outside during daylight rather than in the camper. On this trip, chilly winds forced me inside by 4 pm both days I was there.

This is a very small, privately-owned campground. The owners, Anthony and Yvonne, are very friendly and helpful. I believe there are only 15 sites, which are lined up in a row next to a small pond.

Here is a closer look at the pond.

The campsites are very close together with almost no privacy. I think the owners would do well to plant some pittosporum or tall grasses or something between the sites so that you would not be looking out your window and into your neighbor's during busier times. There were only two other RVs there at this time and I had empty space on either side of me, so this was not a problem.

This is a relatively small property and it was oddly like camping in someone's front yard.

They have a pool --

--and next to that is a deck with several picnic tables and a large gas grill. This would be an excellent place to hang out if you were camping with a group.

There are several cats, but they are extremely skittish; all but this black one took off running before I could get close enough for a photo.

The town of Steinhatchee is small, but it is only minutes away and has two good restaurants. Fiddler's is the fancier of the two, with Roy's being more family-style. I chose Roy's for lunch on my first day since it is right on the Steinhatchee River where it empties into the Gulf, and the pelicans and gulls put on a good show soaring around outside the windows.

On my second day I went in search of those pelicans and found a large group hanging out near the Gulf Breeze condominiums.

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I decided to check out Steinhatchee Falls, an area on the river where the water supposedly drops about 3 feet over some rocks. It's not far from the campground off Hwy 51; there is a short dirt road that leads to it. When I got to the falls area, I discovered that it has been developed into a park of sorts; there are picnic tables along the river and it is extremely scenic. Unfortunately, the large amount of rain we have had recently brought the water to such a high level that it was just flowing rapidly over the falls--wherever they were. There were a couple sets of stairs leading down to the river, the bottom few steps on each of them were totally submerged.

It was getting late and chilly when I left. I took one more turn through the condo property to see if there were any herons or egrets around. No luck there, but I did get more pelican photos.

With all the new (to me) campgrounds still to visit (and familiar ones to revisit), I'm not sure I will get back to this one again any time soon, but I am giving it a thumbs-up if you are going to be in the area. If you like Gulf fishing, this seems like it would be an excellent place to stay.

Manatee Springs State Park near Chiefland, FL

2010-01-18T11:23:00.003-05:00

I had been to this park a few times as a tenter but this was the first time with the camper. My post from a previous visit was helpful in selecting my campsite. I went with #83 this time, which was a very good choice.

The sites at this campground are very wide, and while there isn't a lot of foliage between them, they are set so far apart that one still has privacy. I highly recommend Hickory Loop over Magnolia if you will be using the bath house, as it is much more conveniently located to all sites. I saw a greater variety of camping modes here than I have recently encountered elsewhere--several tents, a couple of pop-up campers, a truckbed camper, an Aliner, and some mid-size travel trailers. While the sites are wide, they seemed a little short for the monster RVs that I usually find myself among.

Site 83 has a small pond (which I believe is actually a spring) behind it and beyond that is woods. The walk to the main spring and the boardwalk that leads to the Suwannee River is next to site 94.

After I had set up the camper, I went in search of deer; this is one of the best parks for anyone wanting to see them, since they are very tame. I didn't have to go far--four campsites away, to be exact. Site 88 was vacant, and a group of 6 deer were feeding on the grass along the edge of it.

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I walked around the campground and then wandered over to the Magnolia campground to see if there were any more deer to found. Then I headed down to the spring and the boardwalk.

Last time I was here, there were a lot of turkey vultures in the trees by the river. Their numbers seemed to have doubled this time, and they were also in the trees along the boardwalk. This beauty had settled on the ground next to the boardwalk.

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What are you looking at?

The boardwalk leads to a shelter at the edge of the Suwannee River. A long dock extends from that shelter. These people had found a scenic spot to sit and while away the warm afternoon.

I walked back toward the spring and discovered that about four manatees had appeared in the inlet from the river to the spring. The water there is very shallow and crystal clear, so they were clearly visible, though difficult to photograph through all the reflections on the water. When I arrived at the spring, I met two women who were also busy photographing the flora and fauna of the area. While I was talking to one of them, I noticed a very large green bug making its way along a wooden railing. How could we resist a portrait or two?

That evening I read outside the camper until it was nearly too dark to see the page, just enjoying the warm temperature (after weeks of record-breaking low temps here). I heard something moving noisily through the surface growth between my chair and the small pond/spring. I got the little camera from the car (closer than the big one in the camper) and managed to get one picture of a visiting armadillo before it went scampering away (as much as an armadillo can "scamper").

It was great to be out camping again and fun to return to this park. I recommend this campground if you will be in the area. It's a short drive to Cedar Key, one of my favorite spots, and Chiefland has some good restaurants if you like to eat out when you camp.

Lake Seminole State Park in Donalsonville, GA

2009-12-25T15:43:00.006-05:00

I had been to this park once before, at which time I stayed in one of their very nice cottages. This time I was going as a camper.

I arrived midweek a few days before Christmas, and when I got there the only other sites taken were those for the two hosts, and one for a foursome of campers with two tents. For the first day I had the whole lakeside row to myself!

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I had not taken the kayak since I knew it was going to get very windy, which it did. But it was warm during the two days I was there and so I spent a lot of time either reading by the lake or walking on the nature trail.

On the first afternoon I was sitting in my chair near the camper reading and watching the ospreys circle overhead. The sun was getting low in the sky. A little sparrow (previously identified as a wren--thanks SNB for the correction. I am the first to admit, and often have, that I am fairly clueless when it comes to small bird identification!) landed on a stalk of something tufted in front of me and proceeded to pull off the tufts.

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Shortly after that I had dinner in the camper, read some more, and went to bed.

The next morning I decided to go out exploring. The "Gopher Tortoise Nature Trail" starts in the campground. There are a lot of offshoots to the trail, but I continued on it to the boardwalk over a wetlands area. I was very surprised that there were no wading birds or osprey in the area. I spent a lot of time on a bench in a little shelter at the middle of the boardwalk while I was at the park, and never saw anyone else on the trail. Very peaceful. This is looking back from the shelter to the start of the boardwalk.

This is the view off the other side of the boardwalk.

This is from the shelter, looking toward where the trail continues into the woods. I never went any farther on the trail, but I did spend a lot of time watching this area for deer late in the afternoon....with no luck.

They have a lot of fox squirrels there (I may be guessing that they are fox squirrels...). I've never seen any of these up close before. For one thing, they are huge! Nearly twice the size of the squirrels that run our around our yard at home. They are really attractive, for a rodent.

On the afternoon of my second day, I drove to the picnic area to look for the Canada geese that I had heard honking over there. I found a large group of them at the swimming area. This one was coming in for a landing to join the rest.

Touchdown...

And putting on the brakes.

I have always liked Canada geese; I find them very striking.

As I was taking that last photo, I heard an osprey peeping overhead and was able to get this one as it headed for a tree branch.

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This is a popular area for the birds. This great blue heron was fishing near one of the docks at the boat ramp.

I guess this is a shy one....

This picnic area is across the small cove of water that the campground sits on (called Fish Pond Drain...how picturesque sounding...). While I was there I took a photo across the water of my camper, looking very little and solitary!

That's the bath house in the background, which is convenient to all the sites.

I drove back to my site to spend the rest of the afternoon reading. An osprey circled overhead and I couldn't resist photographing it as it searched for food in the water.

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I hoped it would see something and dive for it, but it never did, and eventually flew off to search somewhere else.

At about 4:00 that afternoon, which was December 23rd, several RVs started arriving at the campground. I had not realized that Christmas was a popular camping time... I soon had a neighbor in the site to my right, and someone else was beyond them. Soon a third lined up next to those, while someone else pulled into a site near me on the other side. These sites are very large and wide and so even when someone is in the adjacent site, there is no sense of being crowded.

You cannot reserve specific sites at this park, which I find somewhat annoying and pointless--why not? But even if all the best lakeside spots are taken, nearly every site has a good view of the lake. You could launch a canoe or kayak from most of the lakeside sites. They all have power and water and can be used by RVs or tents--most of the lakeside sites have raised, level tent pads. The bath house is small (the women's section has two showers and two stalls) but clean. There are washers and dryers for laundry. You can buy firewood and ice at the campground. This park is a bit out of the way--it's about 20 miles to Bainbridge--but there are a few convenience stores nearby.

I plan to return to this park again soon with the kayak, and stay for three days instead of two.

Yellow Jacket Campground in Old Town, Florida

2009-12-18T16:58:00.003-05:00

Time to try a new campground! I have been reading the few reviews of this campground that exist and while they varied a bit, it seemed worth a try. Very pricey for the sites along the Suwannee River at $44 and $48 a night, depending on the site. The interior ones are less. I wanted to be on the river, so I chose site #13, a $44 one. The photos on the campground website (yellowjacketcampground.com) are very deceptive since they show two views of the same two sites, #1 and #3 (#2 is offset somewhat from those two), the only two sites with an unobstructed view of the river. The rest of the sites are set back from the river and the view is obscured by palmetto bushes and shoreline cypress trees. Here is my little camper set up in site #13.

This is the view of the river from the far end of the campsite, where the picnic table and fire ring are located. This is the same view from every premium site from #4 upward.

I did not formally meet the owners, though I did speak to the man at one point and saw the woman riding her bike through the campground. I was checked in by a very nice woman named Kathy. I discovered several advantages to a privately-owned campground over a state park, including the availability of ice. In addition, they had a very tempting freezer in the office stocked with ice cream and other goodies...

They have free wi-fi at this campground, though it was out the day I got there. It was back on the next day and stayed on for the remainder of my stay there (only two nights). They also had a heated pool and hot tub. Another thoughtful convenience is that in addition to two large dumpsters located by the side of the road near the exit, as often found, they have groups of five trash cans lined up in several locations throughout the campground, so you are never far from a place to discard your trash.

The bath house surprised me, but this is only the second privately-owned campground I have been to, so perhaps this is somewhat common. Basically it was a large building with standard doors lined up on either side; doors with doorknobs and deadbolts. Each of these doors led to what was essentially a full bathroom, including a sink with a mirror over it, a toilet, a stall shower with a curtain, a large checked bath rug, and many hooks set up high on the wall. Since each room was a full bathroom unto itself, they were unisex. I thought this was just great.

The best sites are #1-3, with #1 being ideal for a paddler. I did not take my kayak this time since I knew it was going to be extremely windy (as it was). Next time I will get site 1, which is right next to a huge sandy launch area for canoes and kayaks.

This sign was next to the launch area.

They say that they have a nature walk, but I did not find it. This is, however, a really large property, and so I went exploring the first afternoon I was there. The tent sites are at the far end of the campground. This campground is referred to on their signs as an "RV Resort." This usually means that tenters, if they are allowed in at all, get short shrift when it comes to sites. This is not the case here, though. The tenting area is basically a very large space with bushes and trees and power and water poles, along with picnic tables and fire rings. The site boundaries are not designated, but there is power and water for each. The tent camper can set up basically anywhere in the vicinity of the power and water pole they want to use. It is quite far from the bath house. It's a very large area and hard to photograph. I took these photos while there.

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Walking beyond the tenting area takes you to more open area with three ponds.

Back to the RV sites. They are of normal size. The owners have just started the process of putting in greenery between the sites to offer some privacy. They were working on site #15 while I was there.

I also thought that site #4, a premium $48 site, was particularly attractive. The fence along the right side borders the path to the dock.

Sites #63 and 64 are both very nice, very long pull-through sites with trees and shrubbery nearby. I advise against site #61, it seems to have squeezed into its spot as an afterthought.

This is an excellent campground and I felt that it was worth the cost if one was only going to stay a few days. It was only about half-full, and I was the only camper in the row next to the river; the rest of the campers were staying for several weeks to a month, which would be expensive on the premium sites. I will definitely be going back when I can take the kayak, and stay in site #1.

St. George Island State Park

2009-11-08T13:20:00.003-05:00

After nearly two years of sitting idle, this blog is being brought back to life. Earlier this summer I bought a 13' Scamp camper, which makes me far more comfortable on my solo camping trips than I felt in a tent. And so I can visit some new campgrounds--this blog languished because I was sticking with my few favorites, places I felt safe in a tent, places that were often better for tenting than being in a camper. I now want to present my thoughts (reviews) about campgrounds from both a tenting and RVing perspective.

I went to Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park (that's a mouthful!) last week to camp for a night with a friend. We were not familiar with the campground and so made the reservations online with no knowledge of the sites. She reserved site #17 and I took the one across from her, #19. When we got there, we discovered that all the sites were largely either hard gray clay with lots of oyster shells, or mostly gravel with a little bit of grass. She was in a tent, so this was a bit problematic, but she set up after removing most of the oyster shells. The sites are, for the most part, less than ideal for tents, although #30 is very suitable for tenting, and very large. Site #17 was deep, with lots of foliage on three sides.

My site, #19, was horrible for an RV and would be even worse for a tent. It was basically a parking space with virtually no foliage whatsoever. Do not reserve site #19. We called the ranger station and learned that site #16, next to hers and similarly deep and private, was available for the night. I moved to that site.

Most of the campsites are fine for RVs (or tents if you don't mind not having grass or a tent pad). I particularly recommend sites 20, 23, 40, 34, 33, 32. Site 29 is a huge pull-through and would be ideal for very large rigs. Site 24 is across from the bathhouse. I would avoid site 60.

You cannot see the water from the campground but you can hear it at night. You could easily walk to the Gulf beach from the campground, passing two small inland ponds on the way.

Here are some scenes taken from the approach to the Gulf and the water itself.

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On a non-camping visit to this park a few years ago I got a speeding ticket for driving over the 25 mph speed limit (actually, I got the ticket in the short 15 mph section near the picnic area). Be aware of the speed limit signs and that they will ticket you.

Manatee Springs State Park

2007-12-14T09:55:00.001-05:00

I returned again to this park for a couple of nights since we are having such unseasonably warm weather, with temps in the 80's during the day. I referred to my last post from this park to see which site I recommended. As it turns out, I am amending that. I liked 83 last time. This time I think 85 is best for tents (both of these in the Hickory campground, not Magnolia). However, it was taken, so I got myself moved to site 88, which is also nice. Very woodsy behind it. There was, however, a small problem with the very bright yellow light on the bath house shining directly into my tent. I don't believe the light would reach site 85.

I set off in search of deer immediately after setting up camp. I found a group of them near the road.

Later I came upon this doe in the woods.

Late that afternoon I walked along the boardwalk next to the spring run and ended up at the small boathouse at the end. The sun had gone behind a cloud as it was getting lower in the sky.

I slept well the first night (both nights, in fact). The site was visited by a few possums after dark, but that's all (that I was aware of).

The turkey vultures are still very present in this park, at least at this time of year. The trees by the river are filled with them.

The next day I made the short drive to Cedar Key, a place I have wanted to visit for a long time. Of course I took the camera, and photos from that day trip are posted on the Photo Miscellanea blog (or they will be after I have processed them).

I have several other campgrounds I want to visit after the holidays. Until then, I wish you all the best in this holiday season!

Ochlockonee River State Park

2007-11-11T15:50:00.001-05:00

I decided to return to this park to camp since I haven't seen deer for a while, and I know this is one of several parks where they are relatively easy to spot. The good news was that I finally had a camping trip without any rain! The bad news was that I was there on the two coldest nights we have had this fall, with temps dropping below freezing with "patchy frost." Just what you want in a tent. But it was dry!

It warmed up during the day though to excellent hiking weather. This was my first deer sighting. She was in a group of about 5 does.

This is the campground with the white squirrels, though I only saw one on this trip. He was darting here and there through an empty campsite.

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What? Is there something special about me?

I spent a lot of time on the hiking trails and sitting by the reflecting pond. The scenery is so pretty throughout the piney flatwoods that the trails meander through that it was thoroughly enjoyable even if the deer were napping and out of sight. There are a lot of wildflowers blooming,

as well as these puffy things (no idea what they are... but they are pretty when the sun is low in the sky):

The second day I was there I headed back out to look for the deer at one of the best times to see them, which was around 4 pm. I'm sure early morning was also an ideal time, but a tad too chilly for me to come out of a warm sleeping bag for anything less than Bigfoot himself.

One of the does in the park had 2 fawns with her. On this walk I spotted her in the woods just a short distance off the trail.

One of the little fawns was behind her and looked back at me as they moved off into the woods. Check out those ears!

I stayed in site #16 this time, which is one of my favorites, but I believe that I might try #29 next time. The disadvantage is that it is right by the road, it's the last site in the loop, but an advantage is that I saw deer tracks in the sand of that site and I suspect that the deer often come in off the road as far as the site, which could be interesting.

I have my next three camping destinations all planned, but after 2 very cold trips, with one also rainy, I may wait for this cold snap to end, hopefully soon.

St. Andrews State Park in Panama City

2007-10-26T13:22:00.001-05:00

I have been planning a trip to St. Andrews State Park for some time now. I saw a photo in someone's Webshots album of site #108 and realized that I could launch the kayak right into the Grand Lagoon from the site, which is fantastic. However, this is a very popular park and only a few sites are set up in such a way that launching from the site is possible. In fact, those sites are 106, 108, 110, and 112. And, being waterfront, they are popular. But finally #110 came up available for two nights.

As with the recent NC trip, I had rain nearly all day of the 2 days I was there. But in between drizzles (never a real downpour, just enough to keep you under cover) I was able to get out and about. For a few hours on my only full day there there was beautiful blue sky and sunshine. Photos of birds are posted on Paddle Tales (even though I never did actually get out in the kayak).

The campground is located on the lagoon. The Gulf is only a short drive away within the park--you could certainly ride a bicycle there, and possibly walk to it as well. During the sunny part of the day, I drove over to the Gulf. It was in a form I have rarely seen--the surf was very high (it was very windy) for as far out as you could see. I noticed that it was breaking over a rock jetty and so I braved the wind and sand to walk down and get some (many) photos of it. Again--we just don't see this that often along the Gulf (during non-hurricane times).

That jetty is at the end of a point, which is where the Gulf runs into the lagoon. I walked around the point and discovered a beautiful beach stretching along the lagoon. The difference in the water was amazing. This was taken about 15 minutes after the photo above, only a short walk around the point:

Here's how that same beach on the lagoon looks in the other direction--away from the Gulf and toward the campground:

I would imagine that this area gets extremely crowded on early summer days before the real heat hits but when everyone is tired of winter weather. It's well-maintained, you have a choice of the Gulf or the calmer lagoon, there are rest areas and changing rooms. There are many picnic tables under shelters that overlook the water.

I went back up to this same area later as the sun was setting.

I like this campground a lot and plan to return soon. There is enough to do that I may leave the kayak at home next time. Captain Anderson's restaurant, a favorite in Panama City, is extremely close by, along a drive that does not include any heavy traffic. The Treasure Ship restaurant is even closer to the campground. The campground itself has a large playground. The bath house is roomy and was very clean (great water pressure, too). Some sites are covered in gravel so tenters will want to be aware of that when reserving. The sites are small, which is ideal for tenters or those with pop-ups or little trailers. The people in big rigs were a bit cramped in some of the sites. This campground has been there so long that thick vegetation has had time to grow between sites. I had low palms on either side of my site that totally blocked the views on either side. Even-numbered sites from 106-112 are long and narrow. Simply parking my car in the entrance also gave me privacy from the road side. The view across the lagoon is of condos and other developments. However, not only did I hear a great blue heron squawking as it flew back and forth at night, but one day at about 4 pm I was checking the crockpot to be sure that it was still cooking in the rain and a great egret walked into my site. I held completely still. It wandered around, getting to within about 10 feet of me. It was wonderful. I saw deer twice while driving back and forth to and from the Gulf. Interestingly, I saw no raccoons in my site at night, which is somewhat rare. So, although the surrounding area is highly developed, wildlife is present in the park. The campground was nearly full the entire time I was there, which was midweek in late October (a time when many campgrounds are less than half-full). There were only a few other tenters.

I recommend this campground.

While I was at the Gulf on the first day, I saw several kite surfers in the water and took some photos of one, which I compiled into a slide show, which is posted in the Photo Miscellanea blog.

Smoky Mountains Meadow Campground near Bryson City, NC

2007-10-07T10:50:00.001-05:00

You really never know what you will find when you select a campground using only the Internet. Win some, lose some.

This campground, Smoky Mountains Meadow Campground, falls way, way on the win side. It's small and family run. Many residents have rented space for their RV and they return when they can or choose to. Fortunately, the best spots, alongside the creek, are not filled with vacant RVs. I was the only tenter at this time (which is not unusual these days). I had chosen site #17, as recommended when I called to reserve, and it was possibly the best campsite I have had yet. Grassy, shady, roomy, and right next to a stream that burbles over rocks. I had power and water (I needed to borrow an adapter for my extension cord as the power hookups only accept the large plugs found on most RVs).

Other sites along this stretch (see "Site Map" on their website for site locations) would also be fine, but I think this was the best. Not all sites along the stream have power and water. The stream runs just behind my picnic table and lounge chair in the photo.

The stream is wonderful. Given the recent drought conditions, I did not expect it to have any water, but, while a longtime visitor to this campground informed me that it was low, it had enough to make a wonderful noise as it tumbled over the rocks.

In fact, I set my sound recorder down next to it one evening when the crickets and cicadas were accompanying the water sounds and I now have a CD of the stream and night sounds. Here's a short clip (about 20 seconds long) of what it sounds like from site #17:

Stream sounds.

It was overcast and rained for most of my three days in the area (prior to leaving, the forecast was for 10% chance of rain...why do I pay attention to forecasts?), which did not stop me from getting photos--I just had to get out and about before the actual rain fell, or between showers.

This is the view from near site #17 (I imagine it's even prettier under blue sky and sunshine...)

The people there are very friendly, and I met one woman in particular who lives about an hour from me here in Florida. In addition to the human company, I was delighted to meet a couple of dogs who live near the campground but spend most of their time there; one in particular, a female named Blue, was welcome company.

Blue was very sweet, I never heard her bark, and she did not beg for food or bother me while I was eating. I missed my own dogs and it was nice to have her spend some time filling in that gap. She made her rounds every day, spending a little time at each campsite (everyone seemed to like her, I never heard anyone chase her away). I would look over when it was my turn and spot her napping in front of my tent--

--and then when I would look back, she would be gone, having quietly gotten up to move on to the next site. One afternoon she brought a friend who was also very friendly and quiet and unobtrusive.

This campground also offers small cabins. I meant to ask for a peek inside one but never got around to it. I believe there are four, with two of them right next to the creek.

I highly recommend this campground and plan to return in the spring. It's ideally located, very close to the Smoky Mountains and the town of Bryson City. There is an Ingles grocery store only a short drive away. The access road in is fully paved, and though sections are somewhat narrow, those sections are very short with several parking lots (mostly by churches) to pull over. The road it is on dead-ends at some point past the campground and so there is almost no traffic noise at night, only locals. The bath house is clean, the grounds are well-kept.

Photos taken on this trip in Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway can be found on the Photo Miscellanea blog.

Reed Bingham State Park near Adel, Georgia

2006-11-30T14:30:00.001-05:00

This park moved up to the top of the list when I found out that they are draining their lake on December 9. It will stay low through the end of January. So it was pretty much a matter of going now or putting it off for quite awhile. I decided to go now.

This park is only about an hour away from where I live, but I had never been there before. I find that the webpages for Georgia state parks are less informative than those for Florida parks. Also, they do not allow you to reserve a specific site—you can reserve a campsite and when you get there just hope all the good ones aren’t taken. Of course this is not much of a concern in the middle of the week this time of year. I read a review of this campground written by an RVer, who mentioned that the campground had been recently improved and now had gravel sites. I called the office last week (which is when I found out about the planned lake-draining) and was told that tenters were allowed to set up off the gravel, and that they had several sites ideal for tenting.

I got there around noon, as usual. There are actually two campground areas. There were a few RVs set up, almost all of them in the open middle section. I looked at all the available sites and found several that looked good. I settled on #11, which I think is the best tent site in the campground.

As you can see, there is a rectangular gravel area for an RV, and the square area to the left is also mostly pea-gravel. However, the rest of it is pine-straw-covered dirt. I decided to also take a picture of the tent area. Very nice and woodsy. The sites on either side are drive-throughs and so are set much closer to the road than this one.

While the view from the site is of the open center area, #11 extends far enough into the woods that it allows a certain amount of privacy from those in the center.

It was overcast for essentially the entire time I was there, except for the mornings. Both mornings started out with blue sky and a few clouds, but by 10:00 the gray clouds were back. It rained both nights, which delighted me since I was warm and dry in my tent and the pattering sound of drops on the rainfly was wonderful. This is the first time it’s rained on this tent and I found that I could leave all the windows open and stay dry. (Probably not the case if there’s wind, though.) I was glad that my tent is large enough to accommodate a chair as well as the bed, so I could read in the early evening while it rained.

The daily threat of rain put a bit of a damper on my paddling outings, but did not change my hiking plans. They have really great hiking trails at this park. I chose the longest one, 2.5 miles, for my first hike. All of the pictures from this trip, both here and on the paddling blog, are a bit darker (let’s say more dramatic) than usual due to the lack of sunshine.

The longest trail leaves from a parking area at the end of the park road. Shorter trails branch off of this one. I often refer to park trails as being “well maintained,” by which I mean there are no fallen trees, no trash, low areas that might fill with water are either covered with a walkway or a go-around is provided, etc. The beginning of this trail takes “well maintained” a bit far, given that it is gravel.

That goes on for awhile. I had hoped to perhaps see some deer, but walking on gravel is very noisy so I just enjoyed the scenery.

And then after awhile it becomes a boardwalk that is raised off the ground.

This boardwalk goes over marshy, swampy areas that at this time were only partially filled with water. Given all the warnings posted around the park about gators in the lake and river, including a picture of a resident 15-footer, I expected to see at least one in what looked like a perfect environment for them. No such luck. However, the boardwalk is very scenic, particularly now with some fall color remaining.

So then later the boardwalk ends and the trail becomes a normal dirt path that runs right next to the river (a few feet away), with no fence or other obstruction between the trail and the water, in which resides the 15-foot gator.

That goes on for a way. I was glad when it veered off into the woods. I have no worries being in a kayak on the same water as a gator; I’m not as comfortable on foot.

These trails are extremely well-marked, but I came to an intersection that had no colored arrow or sign of any kind. I took the path to the right. Next time I’ll take the other path. The one I was on turned into another boardwalk. Another feature of these trails is the regular spacing of benches along the way. I thought this one was particularly nice:

Eventually I returned to the parking lot. This park has a lot of gopher tortoises. On my way back to the campground I passed a large section that has many, many dens or holes or whatever they are called that these tortoises dig. On the left I saw a tortoise just outside the entrance of one, but by the time I stopped the car, parked, and got out, it had retreated back inside. Later I came back on foot and walked slowly alongside the area with many holes dug out—the wildlife people had marked them all with different colored flags (some sort of monitoring project). I spent a lot of time walking slowly back and forth but never saw even one tortoise, except that one I spotted from the car. Later I walked the half-mile “Gopher Tortoise Trail,” which is very nice but revealed no gopher tortoises to me. In fact, the only wildlife I spotted on land in the park was the armadillo that visited my campsite after dark one night.

The paddling at this park was excellent, as described in the Paddle Tales blog. I recommend this park as a camping destination. There are hot showers, flushing toilets, and a washer and dryer available. There are bikes for rent, as well as canoes. While I would not choose to come here in summer, it offers a lot of activities—there is a swimming beach and a miniature golf course. This is a popular water-skiing lake and so the paddling would be bad in summer. I also suspect that the bugs would be a major problem—I had mosquitoes coming around after dark even at the end of November. It’s a good off-season spot, though. There is a large catfish restaurant immediately outside of the park gates. The town of Adel is about 6 miles away and has various things to offer, including a few outlet stores, if you enjoy mixing shopping and camping.

The next trip is planned for two weeks from now; another new place. Stand by.

Manatee Springs State Park near Chiefland, Florida

2006-11-15T19:47:00.001-05:00

Ah, the first new post in this blog for quite awhile! I did go camping at Three Rivers again earlier this month, but it was so similar to all the previous trips that I did not blog it. I have several new campgrounds in mind to visit this camping season so this blog will finally have some new posts!

Trips to campgrounds for the first time are not my favorite outings. There are a lot of unknowns. This campground has over 90 campsites in two loops (I think there is also a primitive campground and a youth campground). I had reserved site 91. I asked when I checked in at about 2:00 if I could look around and if I prefer another site, change. The woman at the entrance said yes and told me some sites that were available for my two nights.

I did not like site 91. It was in Hickory Loop. I decided to explore Magnolia Loop, across the road. Most of the sites are there, and they have some tent-only sites (with power and water). I wasn’t too far into the campground when I spotted a large group of deer just milling around in the wooded center part.

I spent some time photographing them—they were curiously unafraid. Then some dogs nearby spotted them and started barking. I discovered that the only residents in this area at that time were two tenters across from each other. One of them was an older guy with the two dogs. I have several barking dogs of my own at home and so I didn’t want to be anywhere near barking dogs on this particular trip. But I wanted to be in this loop because of the deer. So I chose site #44, as far from them as possible, and set up camp.

At about 3 pm, as I was finishing, the older guy walked by with his two dogs. Well, actually, he staggered by, pretty clearly inebriated. This wasn’t encouraging, but the tent was up and he was staying all the way across the campground. And I figured I could take him if he bothered me… So I finished setting up camp and had a late lunch. At 4 pm I decided to walk over to explore the spring area. As I was passing by the dumpster near the entrance to Magnolia Loop, I saw this older guy throwing a six-pack’s worth of empty glass beer bottles in the dumpster one by one. Hmmmmm…it was only 4:00. And he was with someone else, who was an unknown as far as age and demeanor but could very well also be drinking at this level at this time of day. My husband and I have an agreement that we will do our best to stay alive and well in order to fulfill our plans for the future together, and I didn’t think he would be real happy knowing that I was sharing this entire campground with these two. I went back to Hickory Loop and selected site #82. A ranger was driving by so I explained the situation and asked him to radio the entrance (which is some distance from the campgrounds) to see if #82 was available. It was. So….back to #44 to take everything down and toss it in the car. It took three trips to get it all moved and it was 5:20 before I was set up again—only to find that site #82 had no power in the outlets! I always check that first thing, but this was not a typical situation. The rangers all leave at 5:30 and lock the gate, so I hurried back to the entrance and told the woman there about the problem; she said she would send someone. This was not a huge deal—I carry a 100-ft extension cord that would easily reach the outlet in site #83, and I knew this. No one was in site #83. Site #82 was wonderful. However, I later decided that #83 is a little better, and #84 better still—but none beyond that as the bath house floodlights shine brightly into them. The nice thing about #82—and I recommend any of those three—is that there are large empty spaces (brush, trees, etc.) on either side. However, it is directly across from the campground host site. While there is less space between #83 and #84, it is across from grassy parking spaces and not other sites. Also, it is a little better distance from the bath house—not far, but not right next to it, either. At any rate, I was extremely happy in site #82. I was the only tenter in the campground but there were several RVs set up.

Ok, so anyway, that’s how my first day went.

That night I had raccoon visitors while I sat by the campfire. One of them came over to me and actually walked right under the footrest part of the chaise-type folding chair I was sitting in. It then stood next to me on my left, as if it were going to jump in my lap like a cat. This might not be great, so I said “Hi…” to it, in case it didn’t realize I was animate. It wasn’t particularly startled but did wander away. More on them later.

I could hear the dogs from Magnolia Loop barking in the distance through the night.

The next day I took a walk to Manatee Springs. There is a boardwalk that circles half of the spring area and then continues alongside the “spring run,” a channel that leads to the Suwannee River. The water was, of course, a bright turquoise, made even more vivid by the reflection of the bright blue sky.

I walked along the boardwalk, which juts out over the water at intervals.

On the other side is an expanse of cypress knees. The boardwalk is very well-maintained and ends at a large dock on the river.

When I got back to the campsite, the deer were in Hickory Loop. The story from the ranger is that the campers have been feeding the deer and so they have become somewhat tame and that’s why they hang around. While I agree completely that this is not a good thing—how many people carry appropriate deer food (as opposed to potato chips, etc.) with them on camping trips?—I can’t help but enjoy being so close to them.

This one is looking at me but its ears are listening to something behind it…

I went out paddling for a few hours. As always, that story and accompanying photos are on the Paddle Tales blog.

When I got back I decided to go for a walk along their somewhat short nature trail. It’s short but it is very nice. I usually go on these hikes hoping to see deer and raccoons. However, the deer and raccoons were in the campground. This is the only wild animal I saw on this hike.

(It’s an armadillo. These are extremely common in the southeast states.)

Behind site #82 is a strange depression with water in it. I asked the ranger about it. There are water-filled caves under the park. Apparently divers will start someplace—probably the spring—and swim through these caves. He said there were three holes like this where they would come up, and then follow the caves to the next hole. I didn’t see any divers, but it was very clear that there were springs under there as the surface water was moving in a way that indicated upwelling water.

So the next night I was ready for the raccoons. I had the flashlight and the camera next to me. I sat by the campfire. Sure enough, here they come again.

One of them explores under the table while two others check out what’s on top.

And then, at about the same time, the raccoon and I both realized that there was a trash bag on the picnic table bench. Whoops!

It grabbed it and dragged it away while I went after it to retrieve it. I won, and after picking up the trash that had scattered, put it in the car. And went back to the campfire.

I knew it would be back.

Where’s that trash bag?

This one thought there might be something good in the kayak.

(It looks like I have strung it with Christmas lights but that’s just the reflective deck lines showing up under the flash.)

I spent some time that last day wandering through Magnolia Loop checking out campsites. After all, the old guy and his dogs and his beer are not always going to be there. Here are some notes I jotted down about good tent sites. These may not be great for RVs, I wasn’t looking with those in mind. Site #2 is private and roomy. However, it is far from the bath house. In fact, all of the best sites seemed to be far from the bath house in Magnolia Loop (which is actually two loops, an inner and outer). Sites 26-38 are for tents only, all with water and power. #26 was good, as were #29 and #34. Site #36 had a raised tent pad, as did #37. (Others may have as well, but I was only noting the ones with enough greenery on either side to afford privacy.) #83 and #84 remain my recommendations for Hickory Loop. Also, the trail leading to the spring is between sites #93 and #94 in Hickory Loop, so those sites will get more people wandering by. All of the sites at this campground are dirt and sand—no gravel sites. The bath house in Hickory Loop was surprisingly minimal—no soap dispenser at the sinks and no paper towels. The shower stalls are very small with no outer area or bench to put your clothes on—only the handicapped one was of any size. I had no cell service there, but both loops had pay phones. There were posts for clothesline but no actual line strung at any site, so if you want to hang towels, etc. up to dry, take your own line. This park is located at the end of a road far from any interstate—there was no traffic noise at night whatsoever.

It’s a good park. I hope all the other ones on my list turn out as nice. Stand by for my next camping report.

Three Rivers State Park

2006-04-13T21:32:00.001-05:00

Another great camping trip to Three Rivers State Park! I didn’t blog the last trip here since it was essentially the same as the one before, as far as the camping experience. Hike, paddle, campfire, sleep, breakfast…and repeat. It’s great. Our season is winding down and I will be sorry to have to put the tent away till fall.

This time was a little different for two reasons. First, it’s April, and therefore it’s spring vacation somewhere, all month. As a result, there were children in the campground this time. This was novel; usually, since I camp mid-week during the school year, I am actually the youngest person in the place (and I am no spring chicken myself). But this time there were boys and girls having a great time on their vacation, and I enjoyed having them there. They rode bikes—

and they were out on the pier late at night with flashlights fishing. They had a good time.

The other thing that was different this time is that April-June is gator mating season. It was eerie—all night they could be heard all along the shoreline (and I was in site #9 so I was right at the shore) grunting at each other. Very strange; a little alarming at first but I got over it.

The squirrels at this campground are like those at others—very tame and used to being fed by campers. I had a regular visitor this time who seemed partial to Planters peanuts and partial to me when it discovered I was willing to share. I’m not usually a huge squirrel fan, but this one was kinda cute…

Hopefully we will have enough cool nights left for me to get back to this park one more time this year. I hope to also get back to St. Joseph Peninsula State Park as well. Stand by to hear about those trips. Meanwhile, the paddling portion of this trip is posted on Kayak Paddle Tales.

Torreya State Park (by way of Three Rivers)

2006-03-31T22:04:00.001-05:00

Well, ok, technically I was camping at Three Rivers State Park. I have been here before and this trip was no different, camping-wise, from the previous ones blogged here. No new pictures, pretty much the same experience (though wonderful—this is a great campground).

So I packed up the campsite this morning and since it was too windy to paddle, I decided to check out Torreya State Park as a camping destination, and also as a place to hike. I have heard very good things about their trails. This park was a couple of exits off the freeway on my way home.

I went to the campground first. It has more greenery between the sites than Three Rivers does, but it is oddly planted. It’s thick toward the road, but nonexistent near the back, where one would put a tent. This is another campground that is very RV-oriented, where privacy is not an issue. Since there is no paddling available here, I think I will back-burner this spot till fall, when it is too cool to paddle but ideal for hiking. At that time, I will choose between two sites. Site #30 (the only one available on this day, interestingly) is the best for tenting as far as privacy. It would be fine. It’s across the road from the one yurt that this campground offers. On the other hand, site #17 has its appeal as well. It has basically no privacy, but what a view! This was taken from an overlook that is immediately adjacent to site #17. I wouldn’t mind setting up a chair to have my morning coffee overlooking this hilly vista that is peculiar to this area of Florida!

I decided to go for a hike on one of the many trails that this park has. Given the hilly terrain, these trails provide excellent exercise. I understand that one of them is known as the “Torreya Challenge”—a 7-mile hike. I opted to take the River Bluff trail, which drops down a ravine to follow, for a short way, the Apalachicola River. What a pretty trail this is!

At the start of it, you are above the river, looking down at it.

The trail winds downhill, using both man-made steps and tree roots to offer footing in the steeper parts. Eventually it gets close to the river and offers some super views.

I was the only one on the trail, so it was very peaceful. Yellow wildflowers are scattered all along the way.

This particular trail is a relatively short one, taking about 45 minutes to an hour. This was a warm day and there were a few mosquitoes out and about. It may get a lot more buggy in summer.

As a viewer of the TV show “House,” I got a kick out of these signs, of which there were many:

In this case, however, Gregory House is in fact an actual house (rather than a cranky doctor), a Victorian mansion that was moved across the Apalachicola River piece by piece and reconstructed in the state park (I don’t know the particulars—tours are available on weekends and there is a visitor center and gift shop, which was closed when I was there). This is the back of Gregory House:

The River Bluff trail starts behind the house, and in fact the photo above looking down on the river was taken from the back of the house.

This is a fine park that is located in the only area of Florida that is actually hilly instead of flat. Great campground as far as the view from the overlook by site #17. The bath house is very nice with two hot-water showers. They have something I have not encountered before in a campground, which is large sinks with hot water that are provided for washing dishes. That’s nice!

I plan to get back out camping again in a couple of weeks, stand by for the next report.

Ochlockonee River State Park

2006-03-03T20:41:00.001-05:00

Another great two nights at Ochlockonee River State Park. It was very crowded; mostly RVs but a few other tenters.

Back in November and December you couldn’t walk anywhere in this park without bumping into deer, including just going in and out of the campground. This time they were much more scarce. I went out for a walk on my first day there a little before I had dinner and was lucky enough to see this one.

She continued into the woods a way and peered at me from around a tree.

This is my favorite park for hiking. The trail that starts in the picnic area was flooded out a little way in, so I had to backtrack from that one and start elsewhere—the rest of the trails I walked were only a bit soggy in places. I never encountered another person on any of the trails, and I spent hours hiking them in the time I was there. The woods are filled with these bushes with yellow flowers on them, making for some wonderful scenery.

While I was out hiking the first day, I came to the Reflection Pond, and so I sat on the bench to enjoy the view and have some water (that I had carried in, not from the pond...). A little bird came chirping into the tree next to me. It kept hopping to branches closer and closer to where I was sitting, chirping the whole time, and so I finally picked up the camera and took a picture of it.

This is the most crowded any campground has been so far, and the first time I have had noisy neighbors at night. I guess that happens as the weather turns camping-friendly, and they did eventually settle down.

On my second morning there I lingered awhile over coffee and a book in my chaise chair, a short distance from the picnic table, at which I had had eggs for breakfast. I always keep the camera nearby since you never know when a photo opportunity will present itself. I became aware of several birds in the area of the picnic table, and while I watched, one jumped into my plate, looking, evidently, for leftover scrambled eggs.

Shortly after that, one of the nearly-tame squirrels in the campground decided to investigate the kayak.

This is a great campground and one I highly recommend you visit if you are in the area. And speaking of recommendations, if you like deer, I’d like to suggest you pick up a copy of the book I was reading (and finished) while on this trip. It’s called The Gift of the Deer, by Helen Hoover. It’s one of a series of books written when she and her husband left their jobs in Chicago and decided to live in semi-isolation in the North Woods of Minnesota. This book is all about the deer that they came to know (as much as you can know deer) over a period of about four years. She doesn’t write about the deer in a sappy, gooey way, but rather writes from the standpoint of appreciating them for the wild creatures they are. Other animals make appearances in the book as well. It’s a really good read if you like that sort of thing—I enjoyed it immensely. It’s the second I have read of the four she wrote in this series. I’ll read the other two soon.

As usual, I took the kayak on this trip. Hop over to Kayak Paddle Tales for the paddling report and photos from the water.

Stand by for the next camping report!

Three Rivers State Park

2006-02-18T11:53:00.001-05:00

This was my third trip to this park—this time I was staying for two nights. I got site #9 again (my favorite—though #8 is also a good tenting site) and was set up by about 1:00 (one advantage of living so close to the park!). I took the kayak out for a quick paddle on the lake, but the wind and waves got the better of me and I returned to the campground after less than an hour and decided to take off hiking.

I followed the trail that leaves from the campground, which is a fairly short one. If you go straight on it, you simply come out at the public boat ramp (as opposed to the one in the campground). However, if you take the path to the right when it splits, it makes a nice loop that takes you into fairly high ground (yes! In Florida!), with some great views of the forest. I was absolutely amazed not to see any deer—though there were numerous deer tracks on the trail and the campground hosts had seen them often. Nonetheless, it was a warm day and it’s a nice trail.

The next day there was an event taking place in the park as part of the “Step Up, Florida” fitness and exercise initiative that is being promoted throughout the month of February. The park was offering free admission for the day, as well as free canoe rentals. The reception table for this event was in the picnic area, which is where their longest trail, the Eagle Trail, begins. I decided to hike that trail and stopped at the reception table on my way in, where I was pleased to be given a "Step Up, Florida" cap and a Nalgene-type water bottle! Other visitors while I was there included a couple from Ontario, Canada (I suspect their timing was coincidental—it was a fun event for a worthwhile cause and the promotional items were very nice, but perhaps not of drive-down-from-Canada caliber), and a woman who was hiking the entire Florida Trail, one of only eight National Scenic Trails in the United States, and had so far logged over 1,000 miles in this pursuit.

Eagle Trail is well-marked, well-maintained, and very picturesque. Portions of it follow a service road, other parts are narrower and wind through the woods. It was an ideal hiking day.

While the days were warm, the nights were still a bit chilly for us weather wimps. But a hot breakfast, hot coffee, and the sun helped warm things up in the morning. On my last morning, while sitting by the lake enjoying that hot coffee, I spotted a woman fishing from the pier. Our spring greenery has not popped out yet and so her umbrella lent some vivid color to the otherwise somewhat gray landscape. I also admired her headgear.

The campground was more crowded than I have ever seen it—all the lakeside spots were taken first, and then the ones in the center were claimed, and finally latecomers occupied the woodsy sites farthest from the lake. There is one small cabin in this campground—I didn’t walk down there but given the number of campers, it was probably occupied as well. I had the only tent in the campground—the other accommodations ranged from a conversion van in the site next to mine to small truck campers, and then on to RVs that may have had more square footage than my house.

I spent more time hiking the trails this time than paddling, though I did get out for a great 3 hours on the water the morning following my second night. Visit Paddle Tales for pictures and the report from my time on the water.

While it would be nice to always have this park nearly to myself, as I have in my previous trips, it’s too great a park to be kept secret. Fishing, boating, hiking, water and power at every site, fantastic lake views. The bath house is the nicest I have ever encountered. While I couldn’t get cellular phone service there, the campground host got a clear signal through Verizon, and there is a land-line phone available in the center of the campground. Overnight fees are $12—hard to beat that—and they are half-price for anyone over 65.

I have a few more parks in this area that I want to get to for overnight camping before it gets too hot, but I doubt any will be ideal as this one.

Stand by for the next camping trip report.

St. Joseph Peninsula State Park

2006-01-27T14:39:00.001-05:00

This was a one-night camping trip to St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. I had never been to this park before. Since it has many sites and this is off-season, and it was mid-week, I did not make reservations. When I got there, the kindly ranger told me to drive around and select a few sites and he would put me in any one I chose that wasn't reserved.

I chose Shady Pines campground over Gulf Breeze, which I had read was more RV-oriented. Shady Pines is beautiful! Nearly all the sites were wonderfully private with a lot of greenery around them. I settled on #116. It was very close to the bath house and yet the trees and shrubs were so thick around it that I could not see the structure, nor did its minimal lights come into the site. But it was conveniently a few steps away. I set up camp.

I later walked around the campground with my handy-dandy PDA and made notes on other sites; if you are going tent camping in this park and would like some info on a few sites, send me an email.

It was too windy to take the kayak out so I set off on a hike along the nature trail that leaves from the Bayview Picnic area. This is a sandy trail that winds alongside St. Joseph’s Bay. There were many deer and raccoon tracks on the trail. When you get to the end, you have the option of turning around and following it back to the picnic area or looping back using the paved road that leads to the cabins and goes by some residences. I chose the road, as there was a lot of wooded area to the right—perhaps I would spot a deer or two.

And I did! Two deer were grazing on low branches as I approached slowly. Since this is a somewhat public area of the park (several people walk and bike on this road), the deer are not overly skittish.

I finished my hike and returned to the campsite to prepare and eat dinner, as I planned to be out on the Gulf beach to see the sunset.

I had time while there to take a few pictures, including this one of the beach.

It was a beautiful sunset.

This park is very quiet at night. I could hear the wind blowing in the treetops from the cozy comfort of my tent, as well as the waves breaking on the Gulf side of the peninsula.

The next morning I had breakfast (took the second cup of coffee back to the beach to enjoy the morning view) and took down the tent and checked out of the campsite so that I could enjoy the rest of the day without worrying about that 1:00 checkout time. And then I went for another hike. I had intended to head out toward the point, leaving from the end of the road near the cabins. It’s a 7-mile hike; I was not going to do the whole thing, just a portion. However, after going a little way in, I decided that I wasn’t in the mood to hike on deep and loose sand (great exercise, though) so I opted instead to take a trail that was labeled “Gulf access.” It started out paved and then became a wooden boardwalk, and then became hilly sand.

The payoff at the top of that hill was well worth it. Nice view. The sand here—as in most panhandle beaches—is snow white and very fine.

I followed that path and took another picture of the dunes as I approached the Gulf.

When I got back from this walk I checked the water to see if the tide had come far enough in to paddle in the bay. It had, and so I spent the rest of my time in the park out paddling around. Visit Paddle Tales for the paddling report and several photos.

This is an excellent park, and another one that requires more than one day. With so much to do, there isn’t enough time in one day to paddle and hike and have time to take a chair out to the beach and enjoy some simple relaxation.

The website for this park can be found at http://www.floridastateparks.org/stjoseph/default.cfm

Three Rivers State Park

2006-01-07T15:31:00.001-05:00

This is such a great park! In fact, though I usually only camp for one night, I have decided that my next trip here needs to be for two nights. The paddling is too good to limit the time spent on the water, but it turns out their hiking trails, though not as extensive as at Ochlockonee, are more interesting. More on that later.

I had reserved site #7 with the thought of moving into site 8, which is not reservable. Site 8 is closest to the boat ramp. When I got there, I decided to look around a bit at different sites. Last time I was there, there were more people than this time--when I arrived, only one tent was set up in a distant site. Well! It turns out that site #9 is ideal--it's right on the lake and next to the pier. It's a little close to #10, which is their only RV pull-through site, but this time of year, particularly on a weekday, there's a good chance 10 will be empty. It's also set a bit back from 9, so even if someone were there, they wouldn't be right next to you. So I checked to see if #9 was available and got the ok to set up there.

I paddled for a couple of hours and then at about 4:00 headed off down the hiking trail that leaves from the campground. I came to an unmarked fork. I went straight--it comes out at the boat ramp. I turned around and decided to take the other route. But by then it was 4:30, I had no idea if it was a loop, and if it was a loop, was I 1/4 into it, halfway through it, almost finished? The sun was getting lower so I decided to head back to the site.

Another excellent feature of site 9 is that you can launch and take out a kayak right at the water in front of it, no need to go down to the boat ramp (which is close, anyway). It offers a lovely view for dinner, as the sun goes down and turns everything golden:

After dark I discovered one small flaw with this site. The bright security light in the center of the campground beams into it. If you have an RV or truck camper, this would not be a problem, but it lit up the tent in a big way! So I spent some time trying to resolve this problem. My first thought was to take off the rainfly from the tent and double it up and drape it over the back to block the light (this light might not bother someone used to sleeping in a bright environment--it's pitch dark where I generally sleep). So I took the rainfly off...only to find that the light came in equally on one side as from the back and the fly would not cover all that when doubled up. I put the rainfly back on and considered draping a fleece throw I had over it. The throw was not large enough. (Fortunately there were no campers near me to witness all this.) So I had to go to Plan C, which was to pull up the stakes and move the whole tent forward, which left enough room to pull the car up behind it to totally block the light. That worked fine, and next time I will know where to position the tent in the first place to eliminate this little problem.

After all that activity, I was sitting by the campfire enjoying the flames. I was about 6-7' from the picnic table. As I sat there, I saw two raccoons approach from the lake side, well illuminated by the fire and the security light. One walked under the table and beyond to investigate the kayak paddles I had leaning on a nearby tree. The other got up on the table. All the food I had with me, as well as the cooler, were in the car. The raccoon rooted around up there for awhile through the stuff spread out on the table (a hand towel, pot lid, washed bowl, etc.), apparently totally unaware of my presence. It finally got bored and they wandered off and I went back to enjoying my campfire.

The next day I paddled for awhile and then decided to pack up the tent and explore the Eagle Trail, which leaves from the picnic area.

It's a wonderful trail!!

This part of Florida is oddly hilly (though the photo doesn't show this aspect). This makes for very interesting hiking. Walking along shallow ravines and hills gives you much more of a landscape view than walking in a perfectly flat area. They say that there are fox squirrels here, which, in the pictures they provide, resemble the white squirrels at Ochlockonee. I didn't do the whole trail but didn't spot any this time. Next time I will be able to cover more ground since I won't be trying to fit everything into a period only a little longer than 24 hours.

I decided to walk through the spacious and open picnic area, which is right on the lake, to look for squirrels--mostly I was postponing leaving for home. As I was walking near the lake, I saw this:

Was this poor snowman the victim of foul play? You decide.

It's likely that this park will be my next camping trip destination if the weather is suitable for paddling. With more time I will be able to get out in the kayak and explore their trails to a greater extent. I saw deer tracks over most of the Eagle Trail--maybe I can spot one next time.

Visit Paddle Tales for the kayaking report from this trip and wildlife and scenic pictures.

The website address for this park is http://www.floridastateparks.org/threerivers/default.cfm

Stand by for the next camping trip report.

Back to Ochlocknee River State Park

2005-12-02T20:04:00.001-05:00

I decided to ignore the cold weather and head back to this state park for another camping overnight. No kayak this time--it seemed the temps would be too low. My mistake, both days would have been fine for paddling. However, this park has a lot of great trails so I spent hours yesterday and today hiking them, mostly looking for deer to photograph.

This is the state park with the white squirrels, and this one seems to have staked out site #22 as its own. It was never far away.

Last time I was here I was in site #18 and I didn't see any white squirrels. There is an earlier post with more information on this campground, so I won't get too descriptive here.

On my way back from hiking yesterday afternoon I saw the same mother deer with two fawns that I had seen on a previous trip here. The fawns are older and a little bigger, though they still have their spots. The mother deer is pretty tame and didn't mind my standing some 7 feet from her (she was in a thicket munching leaves off a tree, no way to get a good picture, though I was close by), but the young ones are still pretty skittish. I did get this one as it contemplated crossing the road to join its mother.

The days were warm enough but it got downright nippy at night. But all the better for a campfire! I did discover on this trip that my ebook reader does not function well at 50 degrees or colder, though.

This morning I went for a long walk down a new trail, one that passes the Reflection Pond. I decided to try out the panorama function on the new camera to see if I could take the whole pond. I should have extended it a bit more to the right to get all the edge, but this isn't bad for a first attempt (and without the camera manual handy so a lot of guesswork went into it):

On my way back from that walk to pack up and head home, I ended up on another new (to me) section of trail. Two deer spotted me and were much more timid than the mother with fawns. I did, though, get this one crossing in front of me. She's pretty far away but I like the way the sun lights her.

If the weather doesn't get any colder, and I can get a couple of days with no rain or work to keep me here, I will be heading out again some time next week.

Stand by.

Paynes Prairie State Park

2005-11-17T16:01:00.001-05:00

Got to the park early, at about noon or so. I had selected site #44 basically at random and it turned out to be ideal. The only other site I would recommend (this is from a tenter standpoint) at this park would be #11. There were other good sites as well, but those two got top marks from me. They both have 17' square tent pads on them. There is also a tents-only area. I did not even look at these sites as they are true "walk-in" sites--you park in a 6-car lot (there are several of them) and walk through the woods to get to the sites. I'm sure they are wonderfully scenic and no doubt private, but since I have my kayak with me and like to unload that at the site, and I use the car as a combination closet-and-all-purpose-cupboard for my stuff, having it not right there at the site wouldn't work. Maybe it would for you. I set up my campsite before heading out to paddle Lake Wauberg (see the paddling blog for all paddling info, linked below). The sites are spread out nicely and are slightly offset, so had anyone been in the site directly next to mine, they would have been set up slightly forward of me, rather than directly next to me, which I thought was a good plan. The other side of #44 is solid woods, as is the back.

When I got back from paddling, I went for a short walk around the area. I saw some wild turkeys wandering through the campground--took their picture but it didn't come out as well as hoped. When I checked in upon arriving, the ranger said that there were deer "everywhere." I saw this group, and two darted away from me while on a hike, but that's all I saw. In fact, the deer and the turkeys were about it for wildlife spotting.

I decided to drive to the tower that overlooks the actual prairie. This is a very large, spread-out park, unlike Ochlockonee. When I got to the tower area, which is also where the visitor center is, I found a parking lot and a paved trail leading to the visitor center and past it to the tower. It's a nice walk; the visitor center looks new. The tower is a tall structure--there's a picture of it in the "Photo Gallery" section of the park website, which I will link to at the end of this report. It has several levels, with an overlook area on each level. There are bison and wild horses in the prairie. Or so they say.....

When I got to the top, there were 3 people there. Far in the distance were some dark dots that might have been the bison (forgot to take the binoculars...whoops). Other than that....it's a wide open space. Granted, this is rare in Florida, but as an Ohioan, this is somewhat less than compelling or unique to me. Interstate 71 from Cincinnati to Columbus is essentially one long "prairie," and I've seen that enough to hold me for a lifetime. So I didn't linger at the tower.

I started to hike one of the trails near the campground, but it was getting late and I wanted to get in a shower before fixing dinner.

At about 5:30, it got somewhat unpleasant. It was still very hot out from the warm day, and there were hundreds (no, make that thousands) of mosquitoes that descended upon me at about the time my dinner was finished cooking. This sent me running into the tent to eat, since it was not possible to fight that many mosquitoes off, and I would likely end up consuming some of them with my dinner (ew). And of course there's that whole West Nile business to worry about.

So I basically hid out in the tent reading for hours. At around 9 pm I ventured out. I had bought firewood and had even laid out the fire--this was before the mosquito horde arrived. At 9, it was cooler outside and only one or two mosquitoes buzzed around me as I stood by the campfire trying to decide whether to light it. Conditions were less than ideal for a campfire--I was, after all, still wearing shorts and a t-shirt. But still.... it was all laid out... So I lit it.

That worked out very well. The smoke kept the few remaining mosquitoes away, and as long as I didn't sit too close to it, I wasn't overly warm. And there really is nothing quite like a campfire burning in the dark with some night sounds behind it.

Which brings me to the second problem I encountered at this park, and one more permanent than annoying seasonal insects. Paynes Prairie is really close to I-75. This interstate is a busy, major north-south route through Florida. The traffic noise is substantial. I live in a woodsy, rural area far from any busy road. We have train tracks half a mile away, but that's about it for man-made sounds at night. This road noise was a real problem. This road noise is why I will not be returning to this particular campground. If you live in a city or near an interstate, it would probably sound just like home for you, which can be soothing.

So after a less restful than usual night, I got up and made breakfast and decided to hit the trail. I took one that was to lead to a pond (why not?). It was a nice trail that changed as it took me through the woods. It started out sandy, then the ground became harder. It then merged with a road that was grassy underfoot. I turned off of that and was back in the woods, this time walking on pine needles. The vegetation varied from palmettos to tall pines. The trail varied from being one-person narrow to wide open areas.

But the only signs of life I saw were two park employees on vehicles (in two separate places), and these people who had taken their horses to the trail:

I walked for about 2 hours in total. I never made it to the pond, and since I don't plan to return (it's too far to visit as a day trip), guess I won't be seeing that.

This is a nice park. It's very big and spread out, as I mentioned. The ranger station seems to be occupied during all open hours. They sell firewood there. There was no campground host, but one was due to arrive soon. If you don't mind traffic noise drowning out the quieter night time sounds, I recommend this campground.

The park website is at:
http://www.floridastateparks.org/paynesprairie/default.cfm

For Lake Wauberg and Orange Lake paddling photos and info, visit
Kayak Paddle Tales.

Next week is Thanksgiving week, so no camping planned, but I hope to get out the week after--when it will be cool enough, hopefully, to sit closer to the campfire.

Stand by.

2005-11-10T11:04:00.002-05:00

Ochlockonee River State Park, in Florida

Ok, first post to the new camping blog, a companion site to my paddling blog, Kayak Paddle Tales. The point of this blog is to give somewhat in-depth information about the campgrounds I visit and the sites I occupy, and to display photos taken while in the campground and on the trails nearby. I don't always camp when I go out paddling in the kayak, but I will pretty much always paddle when I camp. All paddle-related stories and pictures will be on the paddling blog linked above.

This was only my third camping trip, so we are starting near the beginning. Camping season in Florida will run till around April or May, when the nights may get too warm for camping, at least for me...

This was my second trip to Ochlockonee ("Oh-clock-nee") River State Park. This is about 2 hours from where I live, an easy drive, enabling me to get there early. Last time I had site #22, which was excellent from a tenter standpoint--all of these campsite reviews will be from the perspective of a tent camper. I had eyed site #19 last time and reserved it for this trip. This is the most remote site at the campground and the nearest to the river. It's even more remote if no one is in sites 18 or 20, as was the case when I was there. Those two sites face each other. Site 18 is better than 20, as you can set your tent up deep in the back of the site and then park your car to block the view of your site from anyone in #20, and no other sites are visible from there. Another site I can recommend is #16, which is on the main dirt road that runs through the campground, but is sheltered on either side by greenery, and only palmetto plants are across the road from it. I suggest you avoid tent sites 12 and 14--they are filled with attractive scrub oak trees with low-hanging branches but there is almost no ground vegetation in the area.

The bath house at this campground is clean, though it could be more attractive if they had not chosen prison-gray as the color to accompany the institution-green walls. However, there's hot water, soap and paper towels, and spacious shower stalls, so just ignore the poor color choices. The present campground hosts are from Newfoundland and have a large Canadian flag in front of their RV. They are very friendly and helpful.

I got there at about 1 pm and set up camp.

I then decided to go for a walk around the trails. Spotting and photographing deer is one of my main objectives on any hike (or paddle trip). Not an easy thing, though my experience with 3 deer on my last trip to this park indicated that these deer are somewhat used to people and not as skittish as those not living in the woods near a campground in a National Wildlife Reserve area. Both times I have been to this campground I have awakened to find deer tracks in my campsite that were not there when I went to bed.

The land around the campground is all piney flatwoods.

The trails are wide and flat and well maintained. They are not, however, marked in any way except at the entrances. This is a serious oversight. Once you get deep in these woods, on a winding trail, it's easy to lose track of which way the road is. And so when you come to a fork in the trail, or an intersection of two trails, there is no way to know which way to go to stay on a loop that will take you roughly back to where you started, and which way will take you deeper into the woods and possibly to the next town. It's a big forest. They really need to mark their trail intersections. At the head of one of the trails is a paper that tells you the length of the trails. It's .8 miles from one point to the Reflection Pond. I thought it would be nice to see the Reflection Pond. I can now tell you, since I just happened to make the correct turns, that if you leave from the parking lot at the picnic area, you make your first right when you have a choice, and then make a right at the bench (there are all these benches seemingly in the middle of nowhere--probably for hikers who have been wandering these unmarked trails for hours, if not days), you will come to it. If you want to do a sort of loop, then make that first turn a left and you will come back out on the paved road--turning left there will take you to the campground. If you continue on past the Reflection Pond, you are on your own, I have no idea where that leads. But I'm pretty sure you'll come to a bench.

[I mentioned this lack of signage when I checked in at 4:00.]

I sat at the Reflection Pond (there's a nice wooden overlook with--of course--a bench) for awhile, hoping a deer would come by for a drink. No such luck.

One of the reasons I wanted to be at site 19 was so I could take my chair down by the river and have my morning coffee there. So, after a peaceful night's sleep, I did just that.

It was such a lovely morning, still somewhat cool (daytime temps for both days were mid-80's or above....still summer here!), and so I decided to hit the trails one more time before breaking camp and getting out in the kayak for the rest of the day.

I followed that same woodsy trail as the day before. As I got near the Reflection Pond, a startled deer took off to my left. I was in mid-stride at the time and came to a complete halt, somewhat like children playing the game of statues. To the right was a mother deer and a younger deer. They had not seen me, they had only registered that the other deer had bolted. Then the mother deer spotted me.

My left foot was forward, with the weight on it. My right foot was behind me, with only the ball of my foot on the ground. The camera was below my waist. And the deer was watching me very closely for movement. I really wanted a picture of this deer.

After standing utterly motionless for what felt like an eternity but was probably only about 3 minutes, my right calf muscle was really fussing. I could hear my watch ticking and smell the powdery freshness of my deodorant, which I assumed was also wafting over to the deer. A small biting fly was having a great time on my ankle. The deer finally lowered her head to graze and I was able to move my feet and get more comfortable. I started to raise the camera.

Surprisingly, the deer started to move toward the path I was on, which would have her crossing right in front of me. Great! I got the camera turned on and watched through the viewfinder for her to come into view.

Got it! She was quite close to me, both of us on the trail. The young one had followed her up to the trail's edge but was wary of getting closer. I decided it was now or never to get a picture of that one.

At about this time the mother began stamping her feet at me. This is such a curious thing that they do--does it ever work? I felt like I had been standing in one position for hours and I had many pictures, so I started to back away and the two deer went prancing off down the trail.

I went back to the campsite and headed to the boat ramp (see Paddle Tales for that stuff).

This is a great park and I highly recommend it. Here's the website:

http://www.floridastateparks.org/ochlockoneeriver/default.cfm

Another camping trip to another destination planned for next week. Stand by for that.