Enjoying Sunny Florida

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Enjoying sunny Florida



The sun was brilliant this morning. I went outside and didn’t need a coat at 8:30 am. Oscar wanted to go out too so we sat outside for a short time even BEFORE coffee.

I had a plan for the day but it was evolving slowly, no more rushing. After coffee and a wonderful shower I just couldn’t leave the camper in the mess it was in. I washed the dishes, wiped down the cabinets, made the bed and swept the floor. Boy, that made me feel good.

Now I was free to get ready for the day’s adventure. Bottle of water, bisquits and dog food, dog dish, camera and telephoto, and maps. We were heading out to Big Shoals State Park not too far down the road. I unhooked the car in record time as everything worked like a dream, maybe I’m getting the hang of this.

It was just noon as we headed out and entered old Florida. Huge southern oaks with Spanish moss, sandy pastures and old falling down houses with red pick up trucks. ( I noticed out west that the pick-ups were all white).

After asking for directions we found the dirt road (sand) 1 mile long that led to the park. Pictures.

There was a mile trail that led to the shoals and I talked to a really cute ranger that explained that they had just built a new platform to view the shoals last year and there was a storm Debbie that came along and undercut the platform so there was a really big step now but still a good view.

Off we went through woods of oak, holly, gumball and ground cover of saw palmetto. Picture. The temp was 72 with a light breeze and a dazzling sun. Oscar was excited to smell all the smells but he had to stay on his leash. He was a good boy and very grateful that I brought water and his dish with us.

It took about 35 min to get to the platform as I was examining everything that caught my eye. The trail was along the Suwannee River up high so we didn’t have to worry about the alligators eating the dog. The platform overlooked the rapids but hard to get a good view because of the vegetation. Pictures. The river is usually a deep slow river but here the rapids can become a class 3 in heavy water. The water is almost black from tannic acid and foamy near the rapids. Very beautiful.

We left to go home early as I didn’t want to over do today.

At camp I got my chair out, sat in the sun and just relaxed, both of us.

I watched part of the first football game on my new tv and ate an early dinner. Great day!



Tomorrow it is off to Wauchula where I will meet 2 friends who are already there. I will set up camp and stay there for 2 weeks, something new for me.

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