Floridays
- Leanne Haughian
- Dec 27, 2017
- 5 min read
Our first weekend in Florida was rainy and chilly. Actually these pictures are our last stop in Georgia, Brunswick. The image with the van was a beach parking lot we overnighted in. This beach was very wild and desolate. Lots of sea treasures for Paul to look at. Picture #2 is a horsetail crab that washed up along with so many others.
We have invested in silver insulation for our windows at night to keep the heat in otherwise our furnace runs almost uninterupted through the night. We dug deep to make the best of a less than picturesque week, in hopes of warmer days to come. Again we camped at a National Forest, Oceola. Specifically Cobb Campground. In this forest the there are 3 dispersed camp areas. It is hunting season here on the weekends its not uncommon to hear gun shots in the distance on weekends. Taking a glance at their laws for hunting, depending on the time of year they can shoot a plethera of animals, including deer, raccoon, gator, and squirrel.....mmmm squirrel! This particular campground was pretty full, some people it seems stay much longer than the stated time and everyone dresses in camo so its tricky to tell if they are actual hunters..oh and everyone carries a rifle....we stayed for a weekend, worked tirelessly to burn wet deadfall. We finally got to use the tarp awning I was so adamant that we bring...thank god we did. It rained pretty heavy at times and we even had a thunder storm....in December!
Ocala National Forest
We had assumed that Ocala would have an abundance of free camping, according to a free camp website. Again because of hunting season, which is quiet long here it seems unsafe to camp anywhere in the forest. Our first night we parked just off a sand road as we didn't really know the details for camping here. That moring we woke up to a thick layer of frost...in Florida!! Our second night we paid $6 for a camp site again pretty primitive, but a nice spot.
We were able to speak with the camp host who gave us details for dispersed camping just up the road. Davenport Historic site, it is historic because it used to be a port to pick up passengers on a steam boat. The original stairs down to the river are still standing.
When we pulled in there was an incognito camper van that looks like a plumbing van. Jim and Shannone are from Connecticut and have been on the road for almost 2 years. Jim being close to retirement age, lived in a large house and worked hard, but sold it and most of their things to live a life more suited to their dreams. There van has been featured on a well known you tube channel created by Bob Wells, I think its called "cheap RV living". We stayed here for almost a week enjoyed their company.
This site was beautiful! At night the sky would light up with bright stars, the forest would come alive. We would sit around a camp fire and listen to neighboring crickets, frogs, possum a couple resident owls(the loudest owls I've ever heard) and herons. Jim and Shannone had a black bear visit their site one night. Across the river and a safe distance away we could spot sun tanning alligators(they were only a few feet long). We spent one day driving into Ocala city, with plans to pick up a few things for supper. But we left with a tiny backpacker guitar for Paul. No we can't really afford it, but I've been messing around on the harmonica and we thought worst case scenario we can busk for money..haha. No its evident we have a lot of down time and filling that time with things that fill your cup is important. Doesn't he look so handsome!
We haven't spent much time hiking, I think we are a little spoiled in Canada, or the southeast doen't have the best hiking trails. We did do a little of the Florida trail. The highlight was a swamp we came upon, otherwise it is a pretty desolate landscape with palmettos and pine trees. It still felt good to get out and see nature other than our camp site. Pictured above.
Time to move on...Daytona Beach is only 1.5 hours from Ocala. Our weather in Ocala was increasingly better than Oceola, but Daytona Beach was like a different world. Hot and humid....seems like we have been holding out for this for a long time. We spent two days on the beach, swimming in the ocean and biking around the area. Daytona is home to the Nascar Speedway, in fact we parked at night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot that was beside the speedway.Daytona also hosts 2 motorcycle rallies. The strip caters to sun bum travellers and bikers.
We continued down the coast to Ft Lauderdale. Paul's parents are meeting us for Christmas. We are so excited to have family for the holidays. We were fortunate enough to have a very shady area to park the van. We tried a variety of combinations with the cat. Including sneaking him up to the room to try and sleep. Can't you just picture it, Benny was burrito folded in his bed and I'm running up the stairs and his tail is sticking out from under my arm, very inconspicuous! In the end us and Benny in the van as per usual. In fact we both slept better in the van than in the hotel room. We were in Ft Lauderdale for 5 days(22-27th). The weather was great! Our Christmas was quiet filled with good conversation and eating, as Christmas usually is. Paul and Ipurchased some body boards and spent a day on the waves, otherwise we were jumping from ocean to pool. Our gift to Paul's parents was to prepare a bunch of meals. First because we have then means and second because preparing food and entertaining is close to our hearts. We shared with them a jar of clams all the way from New Brunswick that were gifted to us....thank you Jean and Jeanette! Local shrimp and a feast of greek souvlaki and salad. Oh and of course the sourdough pancakes!
This being my first Christmas away from Canada and my parents, I did have moments of longing for old tradition. I realize that those traditions are memories of love and laughter. And that not all traditions will always happen, but sharing some of yourself and your traditions with those around you create new laughter, as to not replace but to continue to grow. And in that love and laughter new traditions sprout. We are truly blessed and surrounded by such wonderful love, thank you.
As we departed from Chris and Martin feeling sad to see them go but also excited to move along. We are heading still south in an attempt to quickly see the Keys and the Everglades before the 30th of the month. We will be spending New Years with my Uncle Bud and Auntie Sue on the gulf side of Florida. We"ll chat again in 2018. Happy New Year and so much love to you all!
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