Left Ocala National Forest (NF) at a
reasonable time and headed NorthWest toward the PanHandle. Turned
West at Perry to stay along the coast and was lucky to secure a
campsite at Ochlockonee River State Park (SP) – the home of the
elusive White Squirrel. Got setup quickly and erected the tarp to
keep a passing shower at bay.
After a leisurely breakfast (coffee and
shake) down at the river's edge, we headed to Carrabelle to pickup
some seafood (Oysters, Flounder fillets and flash frozen Tuna steaks)
before claiming our favourite site at Rock Landing in Tate's Hell
State Forest (SF). The seafood in the PanHandle is awesome and I tend
to try everything they have available. This three campsite campground
with picnic shelter and clean pit toilet is rarely used by anyone
except daytime fishermen using the boat ramp since it is about three
miles off the main road. Have seen some evidence of Hurricane
Michael's fury with a few snapped trees along the edges and cottage
dock destruction, but in general this area escaped the main wrath of
the storm.
Tried to camp at St George Island SP
but with its late opening due to storm damage it was not possible to
get a campsite (St Joseph Island SP with over a hundred campsites is
closed for the season) so we continued on to Cash Creek on the west
side of Tate's Hell SF so we could secure something for the weekend.
Of course we picked up supplies and more fish in Apalachicola which
has recovered completely from the storm surge where places near the
river got around four feet of surge. Cash Creek is very quiet with a
great dock available to escape the SandFleas/No-See-Ums.
Took a chance on Sunday and retried
successfully to enter St George Island SP; we got one of the three
unforeseeable walk-in sites which allowed us unlimited time (maximum
two-weeks). The beaches where great and we got to view the final
March Madness game on our TV using the portable aerial. Over our five
day stay, we saw Porpoises, an Otter plus numerous fish being caught
from the shore which was extremely entertaining. Songbirds are also
plentiful and bold around the campsites.
The walks and sea breezes
kept everything cool even with the thermometer over 80C/27C; this was
a hard place to leave but the River Styx was calling.
Travelled sixty miles (100 kilometres)
to paradise but ten percent of the trees east of the Apalachicola
River had been toppled or broken by Hurricane Michael. The Barred
Owls are always active around the boat launch and we also saw a
Glossy Crayfish Snake. Swallow-Tailed Kites are plentiful and they
are fun to watch feed from the tree life and drink water from the
river. We also had great campfires so the trailer is now cleared of
all firewood for the upcoming border crossing.
Left the River Styx campsite early
before the forecasted rain arrived. Drove through Bluntstown Florida
on our way North; the trees have been decimated like in a war zone
with at least forty percent of trees levelled or broken in many
places – a really sad sight and I assume Mexico Beach was even
worse. We caught up to a storm in Alabama which dropped torrential
rains plus twisters hit thirty miles north of us in Troy; needed
sunglasses to see the road during lots of the rainfall.
We ran out of
energy on reaching Tennessee and stopped for the night in a cheap
motel.
Left early again and made it to Tracy
and Patrick's house the next day. After a couple of days relaxing in
Iowa, I am returning to Canada while Cindy stays for a while longer.
So ends another winter escaping the snow...
Stay tuned for upcoming summer travels
in Canada and hopefully, also Overseas...
Tidbits:
- Coming North on I-24 from Kentucky, we crossed the Ohio River and ended up in Illinois!
- Bypassing Tallahassee delayed our visit with Kim & Jim Burke's new place until next year.
- Southern people are always overly polite and respect their elders.
- I wonder how exotic species (Gecko and Fire Ant) arrived on islands (built rafts?).
SPOT:
- Ochlockonee River SP 2019 04 01: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=30.00203,-84.47729&ll=30.00203,-84.47729&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- Rock Landing Tate's Hell SF 2019 04 02&03: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=29.98038,-84.56753&ll=29.98038,-84. 56753&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- Cash Creek Tate's Hell SF 2019 04 04-06: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=29.81633,-84.83678&ll=29.81633,-84.83678&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- St George Island SP 2019 04 07-11: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=29.71902,-84.74921&ll=29.71902,-84.74921&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- River Styx Apalachicola NF 2019 04 12&13: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=30.09876,-85.11282&ll=30.09876,-85.11282&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- Super 8 Motel 201 Holiday Dr, Interstate 24, Clarksville, TN 37040 2019 04 14: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=36.52388,-87.22974&ll=36.52388,-87.22974&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- Tracy & Patrick's Place, Eldridge IA 2019 04 15-17: https://maps.app.goo.gl/hS1XX
Deb
2019-04-17
Hope to see you and Cindy soon! Great story and pictures as always!