Kathleen's Window: Returning to Florida and Back to Maryland

December 3-19, 2018

December 3^rd, 2018 we drove back down I-95 from Maryland to Florida. We were due to leave Florida again on December 19^th to return to Maryland for the holidays. In the meantime we had managed to schedule reservations in more Florida State Parks. After an overnight in a hotel in Brunswick, Georgia, which felt odd since we usually carry our bed with us, we arrived in Green Cove Springs to be united with the Airstream. That evening found us camped at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park south of Gainesville. The small campground was quiet and a short walk to one of the preserve's lakes. The sun set over the lake and we enjoyed the birds at dusk.

Sunset along I-95

Rescuing the Airstream from prison

Paynes Prairie Sunset

Another part of the preserve held the visitor center and a short walk to a three storied platform tower looking out over the prairie towards Gainesville. Wild horses grazed under the trees beneath us and in the distance we could see a herd of bison! The prairie and lakes were being brought back to the original state they were in when the first European naturalists explored it. Both animals existed there at the time.

Bison frolicking on the shore of Alachua Sink

Wild horses

Luxuriant Spanish Moss

We stayed five nights at Paynes Prairie and enjoyed the nice weather and relaxed. Sunday, December 9^th we left there to travel over to west of Orlando to Wekiwa Springs State Park. A small park, Wekiwa Springs is surrounded on three sides by suburbs, with a preserve on the fourth side. Greg did some bike riding while I puttered in the rig and caught up on writing blogposts covering the past year.

Wekiwa Springs Campsite

After four nights we had to move on. The weekend had arrived, so December 14^th we moved over to a another park that had openings for Friday and Saturday night. After a spell of nice weather, the rain moved in for our two days at Lake Griffin State Park outside of Leesburg. A small park just outside of town, it had a large Live Oak tree that Greg hiked in the rain to check out. I was happy to have a laundry just across the road from our campsite, so that was my outdoor activity. Laundry facilities in Florida State Parks are usually in a covered walkway attached to the bathhouses. So, technically I was outside for a while!

Lake Griffin Campsite

When we made reservations earlier we tried to situate ourselves in a park close to where we would be storing our trailer for the holidays. Faver-Dykes State Park near the Atlantic Coast south of St. Augustine had a three day opening that would take us up to our day of departure. We had used that park for a home base several times previously when we were changing our residency to Florida, and needed to be close to our mail forwarder in Green Cove Springs and the county offices. A couple days before we were to transfer there, an e-mail popped up from the reservation system showing us a revised reservation at Faver-Dykes from three nights to one, and a notice that we would receive a refund. Huh?! I called the system and told them I had not made the change and was informed that the park would be closing for several months for construction and we had to leave after one night. Apparently, over 500 reservations had been canceled. Greg jumped on the reservation system and we lucked into two days at Anastasia State Park right on the Atlantic Ocean near St. Augustine. There was one site open for two nights. We have never been able to get into a beach park since reservations for them open up 11 months before, and fill up as soon as the system comes online each day. Someone must have canceled at the last minute!

Faver-Dykes Camp in the jungle

We spent our one night December 16^th at Faver-Dykes, looked for Ranger Chris, our friend from Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, discovered he was off that day, and enjoyed a quiet night in a familiar park. The next morning we drove north through St Augustine and over the bridge to the barrier island to Anastasia.

Greg discovered that the next morning there would be a launch of a SpaceX rocket, so we got up and were over the dunes and on the beach before 9 am. We were excited since we would be closer than when we used to watch the launches from Kissimmee Prairie much farther south. The launch got scrubbed, but it was a gorgeous day and our first chance to spend a little time on a Florida Atlantic beach. We reluctantly went back to the rig and began the chores and packing we needed to do in order to store the trailer and head north the next morning back again to Maryland and family for the holidays.