Ospreys at the end of the lane
Pine Island, FL
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We left Pine Island before dawn and were fortunate enough to have a perfectly clear morning sky - which had not been the case for most of our stay. It allowed us to finally see the spectacular line up of planets now visible in the southern sky.
Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter were brilliant with Mercury, just above the horizon, starting off this ascending parade. And- if you catch it at the right time - the Moon ( full when we saw it) will top it all off right next to Jupiter!
If you have not seen this yet you have until @ Feb 6th to find yourself a clear view of the southern horizon approximately 30-40 minutes before sunrise ...... It is worth it!
Daryl, Bill, Kim and Tim
Kim and Claudia had been terrific hosts and we all had a great time together - lots of shared cooking fun! Good talks and lots of laughs. And two of their friends from Arkansas - Bill and Daryl - visited for a week as well. (The yard was beginning to look like a pop-up RV resort!!) Tim had met them before but they were new to me. Interesting people!! So nice to meet new friends and share so much immediately. Thank you! Looking forward to our paths crossing again.
But - It was definitely time to move on. We headed back up 75 toward Ocala. I hate using BIG, annoyingly FAST highways but we wanted to get to Ocala quickly for a very specific stop - more on that in a later post.......
With the Ocala mission accomplished we headed west on smaller county roads into the panhandle. The panhandle is really pretty. Having been through there last year we wanted to return and explore some new roads and new camp spots. The coast of the panhandle is mostly small, older beach towns. The interior is much more rural and filled with lots of old growth cedar and pine. The area was over logged in the early last century and now most of the Pecky Cypress and Yellow Pine are gone. Logging is still a big thing here but luckily it is now done with sustainability in mind.
We drove along the coast heading to the state park on St Georges Island, a barrier island in the Gulf. Connected to the mainland by a 4 mile bridge, the island is around 16 miles long and maybe 1 mile wide at its widest. A sand spit! We wanted to check out a state park there.
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Miles of beach on St. George Island
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WOW!
St George State Park is almost 2,000 acres at the eastern end of the island. There are 9 miles of pristine, undeveloped beach and dunes, along with salt marshes, small ponds and sloughs. It was spectacular! We have added it to our "need to return to" list possibly for next year - and hoping to stay at least a week.
State parks are really the best deals for camping. Extremely well kept, tending toward people who really enjoy and respect the outdoors, friendly park rangers, and much cheaper than commercial parks!
The beach was perfect for shelling - huge sea scallop ang oyster shells, sand dollars, and tons of sponges! I however had to pretty much refrain as there is only so much one can acquire in the POD. I did add one small piece of perfectly worn driftwood and a sand dollar to my dashboard gallery.
Dunes separated the wooded campground from the beach.
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Fish cakes and salad
Dinner in the POD
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just a Hi to our friends....
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Once again we woke early hoping to catch the morning parade of planets. But unfortunately we could see there were clouds on the horizon. We walked to the beach anyway knowing full well the beauty that we would find with or without the help of the atmosphere.
Sunrise
St George Island State Park, FL
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