2014 Feb 12 - 13 Still at Highland's Hammock State Park

We've just been hanging out at the park for the past couple of days. The weather's been so cold (50s) that we haven't done any hiking of trails until today (Saturday, 2/13). It was in the 70s, so we walked about five miles back into the park and checked out a few places where gators are known to sun themselves, but no luck.

I've included a few scenic shots from today's hike for your enjoyment. We leave here in the morning and head south to Flamingo Campground at the very southern tip of mainland Florida in Everglades National Park. We'll meet or friends Jim and Jan there and spend eight days in the park. I can pretty much guarantee that I will be posting some gator shots from there, assuming I can find someplace that has an Internet connection. I know I won't have phone service most of the time.

Until then, I hope you're enjoying your weather. It's getting better for us.

2014 Feb 5 - 10 Long Point, The Outrigger, & Scamp Camp

On Friday, 2/5, we went in to Sebastian to pick up a few groceries. On the way, I realized that we weren't far from The Outrigger, one of our favorite little bars in the area. So we dropped in there for lunch before going to Walmart. They had some of their homemade clam chowder left from the Thursday special, so I had a bowl while Marsha had some kind of a wrap. The chowder was outstanding! We got our groceries and headed back to camp to get into the warm camper.

Saturday, we went to visit my brother, Scot, in Barefoot Bay. After Marsha got the laundry started, we went to lunch at the Pelican Diner. It was good food. We went back to Scot's house and visited while the laundry finished up. We had to go past The Outrigger on the way back to camp, so we figured we might as well stop in for a beer. It rained like crazy and every time we started to leave, it was raining so hard that we decided to have another beer and wait it out. I think it was about midnight when we got back to camp. 

On Sunday, we drove to Palm Bay to visit Marsha's cousins, Mary Ann and Marge, and their husbands, Leroy and Tom. We went out for lunch when we got there, then went to Tom and Marge's house to watch the Super Bowl.

Monday, we packed up and headed south by way of Ft. Pierce where we stopped by Oakley Trucking where brother Scott works. He had a big trailer in his bay when we got there. About 60 miles later, we pulled into Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring.

There is a rally here called a Scamp Camp because most of the campers are Scamps, but there are several other brands here as well. There was a hot dog pot luck on Tuesday evening and plenty of other activities, most of which we'll skip, scheduled fore the rest of the week. The temperatures have barely made it into the 60s, but we're having a good time.

I stuck a few pictures of Scamp campers at the end of the group so you could see what they look like.

2016 Feb 04 - A day at Long Point Park

Today, we just hung around the park. The park is actually on an island which is connected to another smaller island by a foot bridge. The campground takes up the entire island. We took some pics of a few pelicans hanging out on the dock.

The Alto in today's pics belongs to Jack, from Virginia. It's the first Alto that was registered in the USA. Jack wasn't there today, but I talked with him yesterday. He's very happy with his Alto.

They're forecasting rain for this evening, so we fired up the grill around 4:00 and cooked a pork tenderloin. It's my favorite thing that we cook on the grill. We also baked muffins on the grill. The jury's still out on the muffins. We finished dinner quite a while ago and the muffins are still baking. It's not raining yet either!

2016 Feb 01-03 Anastasia SP and arriviong at Long Point County Park, Melbourne Beach

On Monday, we went for a stroll down the beach from Anastasia State Park. We walked about a mile to a fishing pier. They only charged a buck apiece for sightseers (fishermen, 2 bucks) to go out on the pier, so we splurged!

On Tuesday, we hiked the nature trail at the park. It was an easy 7/10 mile.

Wednesday morning, we left Anastasia at about 10:30 and headed south for Long Point Park, a county park on the south edge of Melbourne Beach. We weren't real sure what to expect here, but it turned out to be a pretty nice park. I'll post more pics as we explore.

We'll be here for five nights. My brother and a couple of Marsha's cousins live nearby, so be prepared.

2016 Jan 29-2731 Larry & Kris' house and arrived at Anastasia State Park

I typed a narrative for this post and lost it twice. Enjoy the pics. More later.

2016 Jan 26-27 - Crooked River State Park, St. Marys, GA

We were going to leave home on Sunday, January 24, but the roads around Nashville looked pretty bad, so we left on Monday. After 673 miles, we arrived at our favorite Flying J truck stop in Jackson, GA. After a late dinner, we hit the sack. After breakfast the next morning, we hit the road and headed for Crooked River State Park in St. Marys, GA.

After a short 256 miles, we arrived at Crooked River and got set up. Had to take site 49 because a couple from Connecticut had our usual site, #48. Turns out Georgia state parks sell fireproof firewood, just like Florida, so we fried burgers in the electric frying pan. Finally got a fire going and we relaxed for a while before turning in.

Wednesday afternoon, we went into St. Marys and walked along the river and checked out the sights. That afternoon, we went to Seagle's Tavern for our usual beer. Again, Cindy wasn't there. Sick again, but Kelly took good care of us.

We walked down the street to Lang's Seafood Restaurant to have dinner. Unlike years past, they were open! It was OK, but not worth the wait. After dinner, it was back to the camper where I sat down at the laptop to type this blog entry which I'll probably post at the ranger station on the way out of the pork in the morning.