Sad to
be leaving the seaside for a few days, but looking forward to a new
adventure. It takes increasingly less time for us to get ready to
leave, so we were gone shortly after 8:00.
We
only had 1 1/2 hours to drive and enjoyed good highways. As we
entered the area on the way to Blackwater River State Park (Site 15),
we saw Wisteria and Azaleas everywhere How beautiful.
The
park is amazing. There are only 30 sites and it is so well kept. The
sites are large, full service and only $20.00. We grabbed some lunch
and headed to the Nature Trail in the park. There are birds
everywhere: many cardinals (which is great since we have only had
sightings of four this winter), a Brown-headed Nuthatch, Tufted
Titmouse (below), a Hermit Thrush (below) and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Nice.
This
park is on a river but has an amazing sand beach along the entire
shore of the river. Beautiful. It's very much evocative of the deep
south, the bayou. So spooky but beautiful. We saw some turtles, but,
alas no alligators, despite the signs.
On our
return, we stopped and chatted with the Camp Host, who is responsible
for this beautifully maintained park. He said there WERE alligators
in the Ox Lake on a trail we hadn't taken, so we set off again.
We saw
this sign:
and
THIS:
(no
joke THIS time; this was a highlight of the trip).
3.5
miles of hiking today.
Back
to the MoHo and the peace and quiet we left is now gone; it's Friday
night and the families have arrived. We're not too unhappy to be
leaving tomorrow.
Here's the view (of amazing Pines-so straight and tall and once used for ships' masts-and Magnolia-in bud, we'll miss the bloom) from my chair:
Love the alligator signs. We got a picture of me pushing Brad into the pond at Fort Pickens next to the "Alligators. Swim with caution." sign last year. Funny one here in the Ocala National Forest too - I'll have to take a photo too because I can't remember the exact wording, but something about not feeding or "molesting" the wildlife!
ReplyDeleteHi Marilyn and Brad. We had some serious rain this morning as we headed for Alabama and Gulf Shores. The Gulf State Park was full so we\re down the road in a private and not too lovely park, but the sun is coming out and there are meant to be dolphins in the bay. Will have to reorganize my thoughts for the next few days which are meant to be gorgeous. I don't love Florida. We like seeing things enroute to places, and that doesn't happen here. I prefer the West, like you. Hugs to you both.
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