More and More State Parks

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Tuesday morning we left Blue Spring State Park and drove to Hontoon Island State Park, which we though was only about 10 miles out of our way. We had tied up to their dock overnight last spring when we cruised the St. Johns River. They were out of patches last year, so we thought we just pop in and snag a patch. The book says it’s 6 miles from Deland, but it seems farther and there are twists and turns until you think you’ll never get there. Once there, you stand on the dock and wait for the boat to come pick you up and take across the river to the island. All that for a little patch, but it made for a few laughs and a memorable day.

From there we drove to St. Augustine and Anastasia State Park, right on the Atlantic Ocean. We went down to the beach to see if it was too cloudy to see the moon rising over the ocean, and it was. It was quite windy, too, and we were happy to get back to the camper.

Wednesday we went to visit Ruby and Milton Herlong, my friend Janet’s parents. I guess I’ve known them my whole life. They have been married for 69 years. Milton is 90 and Ruby is 87 or 88, depending on who offered their opinion. We had a nice visit and I’m so glad we saw them.

Wednesday night was a second full moon night, so we went back down to the beach to wait for moonrise. We could see the St. Augustine lighthouse and one of the bridges over the ICW from the overlook. Finally the moon peeked over the horizon, bright red and round as can be. The higher it climbed, the whiter it became. The water was pretty choppy, so we really didn’t get a good reflection of the moonlight, but it was pretty. There were some thin clouds, too, that kept the pictures from being real clear. Pictures of the moon are a little tricky to take, but it’s a lot easier from a boardwalk than from a moving boat.

This morning we took our time breaking camp then headed north towards Jacksonville, then onto I-10 west. We are stopped for the night at Suwannee River State Park near Live Oak. It is a really pretty park, nice and quiet, with the Suwannee River meandering through. The weather is turning cooler. I guess this is the last day for wearing shorts, back into jeans and long sleeves.

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