Author: tophatpat

Port St. Joe SP, Port St Joe, Fl.

The creator is a talented artist!

All these in one day!

Port St. Joe SP, Port St Joe, Fl.

We like to get an early start to the day and watching the sunrise or the sunset on a barrier peninsula is a walk or bike ride away. In fact, many of the snow birds here fill their beverage cups and head for the gulf side beach to watch the sunset (not so much the sunrise).

Later in the morning, this cute little cat bird entertained us for awhile:

On the way back into the park from my 15 mile bike ride, I thought I could demonstrate how narrow these barrier islands and peninsulas can be. They are wider in most spots, but still vulnerable.

 

Port St. Joe SP, Port St Joe, Fl.

There were some more sights to see when we returned to camp:

What a fantastic day!

Port St. Joe SP, Port St Joe, Fl., 72 mile jump

The ocean is so big; it is humbling to be dwarfed by such immensity! The white sands took eons to refine and the sound of the surf is mystically relaxing!

Wright Lake NFS Campground, Sumatra, Fl.

The bees love the fresh Azalea blossoms!

The artist is stirring!

We were given an armful of firewood, so after a dinner of mahi and beet salad, we had a perfect night for a warm, bright campfire:

 

 

Wright Lake NFS Campground, Sumatra, Fl.

Today was a good day to hike! We started with a late morning .25 mile jaunt around the lake (it’s a big pond). At lunch, we decided to do the 5 mile hike through the forest. Here are some of the interesting points:

Wright Lake NFS Campground, Sumatra, Fl., 55 mile jump

After a very inauspicious departure from Ochlockonee SP, we were glad to arrive at Wright Lake NFS Campground without rain. Last night, we did as much packing  as possible, including backing the truck up to the trailer hitch. All that was left was the four stabilizer jacks, retracting the awning, and raising the trailer up a few inches to back the hitch ball under the hitch.

We had until 1 pm to check out, the overnight rains had abated, the forecast had no more rain. So, we got our breakfast and tea; Penny headed for the shower. As I was retracting the  awning, a cloudburst nearly drowned me! The downpour left as quickly as it arrived; I was soaked to the bone. Penny arrived back from the shower house looking as if she showered in her clothes! She put on dry clothes and I went to the shower.

I put on dry clothes and we were ready to travel. All we had to do was hookup. As I did so, another squall let loose. We had put on rain coats, but our shorts, socks and shoes were drenched. So, after dumping our waste tanks sans rain, we changed clothes once again.

This park like campground has huge sites with water hookups, but like most national parks, no electric hookup.  And there was no cell phone service! It’s been awhile since we primitive camped. We’ll make the best of it!

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Ochlockonee River SP, Sopchoppy, Fl.

These bird pictures were all captured within 30′ of our campsite!

Some scenes of the Longleaf pines in the pine flatwoods. These fast growing trees have all their branches high above the forest floor allowing fire underneath to inhibit choking shrubs. In early pre-European times, Florida and other southern states were predominately pine flatwoods, a wonderful habitat.

 

Ochlockonee River SP, Sopchoppy, Fl.

Penny and I rented a canoe for a 7 mile, 4 hour loop around the Ochlockonee and Sopchoppy rivers. The tide and the wind were sometimes helping and other times not. It seemed like more not. But we had fun enjoying the isolation and stark wilderness. We encountered only one other boat all day!

Ochlockonee River SP, Sopchoppy, Fl.

Yesterday we visited the Gulf Specimen Marine Labs (GSML),  an aquarium of sorts with an emphasis on education about marine biology. Not only do they have tanks of sea creatures that can be picked up or touched, but other tanks of hostile creatures such as moray eels that are definitely look only. Bus loads of children arrive daily during certain times of the year. Last time, we were among the excited throngs of kids. This year we were there virtually alone where we could speak with the staff about the concerns of overfishing vis-a-vis the plight of the fishermen. They were certainly concerned about both, but the reality is too many fish restaurants and dwindling fish populations. Not to mention increasing pollution levels in the waters,

GSML also provide marine specimens to universities and research centers across the south to help forestall the extinction of a great number of species besides turtles. They are located in Panacea, Fl. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find a panacea for the survival of all these wonderful animals?