Bushnell,FL

We're in an Escapees park in Bushnell, Fl, Sunday thru Thrursday.

 We left Tallahassee and went to the Ochlockonee State Park. We traveled down to it on state hwys that were well paved with little traffic. The trip was great, very senic, very Florida, lots of forrested land  with pines, palmetto and palms. We got to the park and the gate was about 14' wide, the MH is about 12, plus the mirrors, so it was a squeeze through the gate. Then it was a long drive down a narrow road to the ranger check-in. We could tell this was going to be a nice place. There were only 30 sites and it was an old park but they said they could fit ours into a back in site. Now, we're talking about a shoehorn fit but we got it parked and set up.

We went and looked around and it was just beautiful! There were trails every where and we were right along side of the river. We decded to look for a cache and explore around some. Here is a shot of the river and of me holding the GPS while on trail.

 We arrived on Friday about noon and as the day went on other folks came in, by nightfall the sites were all full. We found the caches that were in the park by 2pm and then decided to take a drive down to St George Island, it was about a 35 mile trip. Again the drive was fantastic, it traveled right along side of the gulf, I mean right beside, 10' or so from the edge! All along the way we were seeing signs cautioning for BEARS! the real kind. This was rural FL, no high rise condos, strip shopping cntrs or even gas stations. A town we went thru was Carrabelle, FL.It was a fishing/tourist town but really quaint and not over-done.

 

Carrabelle out the Jeep window, it doesn't do it justice.

We got back about dark and it seemed everybody had campfires going but we were tired and it was sooo quiet and dark. We had listened to traffic at night for the last ?? nights and we both had good books, so we just went to bed to read. We were asleep before we knew it.

The next morning was bright and clear, and warmer. We went for a walk...... we had found out that our friend, John Couch, had been diagnosed with advanced cancer Friday. We found a quiet bench overlooking the river and reflected and said some prayers. It was so peaceful that surely God was listening.

We continued our walk and found a childrens playground, canoe rentals and more trails. We had to check out at noon so we went back and broke camp and got on the road. We had been told that Hwy 98 was slow with many stop and goes, but we didn't find that to be the case, at least the section from Appalachiacola to Invervess.  It was actually a beautiful drive.

 We stopped in Perry, FL for lunch in a WalMart pkng lot. There were about 4-5 other RV's doing the same thing so we met a few, One couple was from New Zealand. They flew to the states and bought a motorhome and were traveling all around the country. They were haveing a blast and doing it dirt cheap, going from pking lot to pking lot. We had lots of time so we went and searched out 3 caches, We stayed overnight Saturday in a Lowes pkng lot in Inverness, FL. We went to Mass there Sunday morning and then traveled down Hwy 41. then got back on the road heading for Bushnell, FL. We passed thru a town named Floral and it was incredibly beautiful. The streets were like a tunnel through big oaks draped with moss. It wasn't to far from Bushnell so we decided right then we would go back and explore later.
We got here at Sumpter Oaks RV Park in Bushnell and set up. It's a real nice place with full hook ups, a heated pool and a great give and take library. Lots of activities to do but we were mostly concerned if they could get the Auburn/Oregon game. They assured it would be on in the Clubhouse and probably many people watching the game. GOOD !! We're set. We plan on going to the big RV show in Tampa Weds & Thursday. Today is Monday and it's raining but supposed to clear out in the late afternoon and be a high temp of 72. Think We'll read for a while..........