Track - Free falling- Tom Petty.
"The good man is the friend of all living things" Mahatma Gandhi.
Day 39.
Started drive at 4am, partly to make up for the wasted hours the day before retracing our steps past New Orleans, and partly to put some miles between us and the wierd RV park in Breaux Bridge! By lunch time we had crossed through Mississippi AND Alabama and were in the Florida tourist information centre having a complimentary o.j!
We did have a waffle house stop off in Mississippi which was a good break but again a bit small-town-strange. The scenary changed again arriving in Florida and our first night was spent in Pensacola at Big Lagoon State Park.
The office had been vandalised the night before so were waved straight through and had a picnic lunch amongst Pelicans on a very windswept beach followed by a lovely walk through the boardwalks to the beach. Dylan had a swim and made a tiger out of palm leaves. We had a little campfire and then quite an early night.
Day 40.
Drove further along highway 98 to another state park. The road was initially pretty dull. Lined with touristy towns and lots of traffic lights, the road made for slow progress, but it improved as the day went on. We had a stop off for a supermarket shop and family hair cut, and arrived in St Josephs Peninsula State Park late afternoon. We had a great spot. The Gulf of Mexico 50 yrds on one side of us and the bay 50 yrds the other side, right on the point of the long arm.
The area is well known for turtles nesting and the other commonly seen species include sharks and jellyfish. The weather had been unseasonably cool and the wind had stirred up the waters to a murky colour. There were signs up saying to beware of the strong rip currents and it was dusk so we decided on balence, swimming was not a good idea! We were the only people on the beach however snd had a lovely walk. Back at the campsite we found lots of cotton rats so had supper inside the van. Fresh tuna steak and scallops...Mmmm.
Day 41.
Started with a double breakfast for dylan and more rat spotting. We then made our way to the beach to relax after A long day on the road yesterday. A few clouds in the sky so it was beautiful one minute and then a bit cold the next but a beautiful quiet place. We dipped in and out of the bay and made some sand sculptures.
After lunch we drove on again through some stunning coastal scenary to Manatee Springs State Park. Having crossed another time zone we arrived quite late in the day but there was stilltime for a dip in the waters of the spring. An unbelievably beautiful place where manatee come to the warmer waters during the winter. A mother and her calf had been spotted here last week. It was possible to see to the bottom of the 25ft pool and there were lots of fish including quite large carp. It amazes us that these places are so accessible. For 20 bucks we can just rock up here and sleep in a stunning part of the forest surrounded by flora and fauna and have fantastically maintained facilities.
After a little walk down to the river we settled in for a lovely campfire surrounded by racoons, armadillos and deer. Listening to the cracking branches we even thought we had bears nearby.....
Day 42.
Started the day with a swim and snorkel down at the spring and amazingly manatee springs did actually deliver a manatee! It was a juvenile feeding in the river and was very late in the season to be still be present. Lucky us.
After packing up the van we set off towards Orlando to meet Becs folks for a week's holiday Disney style.
We booked ourselves into a state park outside Orlando called Wekiva springs and although not quite as rustic as previous state parks, was still beautiful. Feeling very pleased with ourselves after orginising the week ahead we enjoy some red wine around the campfire.
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