On Our Way West!

Cue Willie Nelson: On the road again......

Yes, we are back on the road.This time we are headed west, first to get our older two grandchildren and their dad in Oklahoma. Then we will continue west to Washington.

Our first stop was in Crawfordville, ,Florida. We spent the night in the driveway of our friends house even though they are already in Colorado to spend the summer at their cabin.

 Not long after we arrived, Bill called and asked us to check on the plants that Boni planted before they left. We did...they were growing and getting ready to climb the trellises Bill made.

 After dinner we walked around the neighborhood and had to run from yellow flies in one section. The next morning we were on  the road again. The next stop was Bear Lake Campground in Blackwater River State Forest. This was a new to us campground. The weather was hot and sticky and rains were in the forecast. When we got up on Saturday morning, we immediately got ready to hike Bear Lake Loop Trail. We wanted to get started before it got HOT and before the rains arrived.

 The trail was a four mile loop around the lake. There were boardwalks and observation decks along the trail. The first observation deck overlooked a small field of white pitcher plants.

 Of course, there were other flowers blooming along the trail, but the white pitcher plants intrigued us. There were more than we had ever seen in one place on any of our hikes. The dark stick in this picture is Bob's walking stick. I hope it gives you an idea of the height of the pitcher plants.

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I really enjoyed seeing all the native plants along the trail. These pink ones as well as the following white one were the most prevalent.

Bob and I both agreed that this was one of our favorite Florida trails....and we have hiked a lot of them!

One boardwalk zig-zagged through the trees.

We completed the hike just before the rains! After eating a late breakfast we decided to drive into Milton, the closest town of any size. One of our stops was Blackwater Heritage Trail, a seven mile paved multi-use trail. We had our bicycles, but the weather didn't look promising, so we headed back to the campground.

Sunday was going to be a travel day, but we decided to hike Sweetwater Trail before we packed Sol for our trip. I have to say, Sweetwater Trail was also a pleasant surprise. The trail started as a piney woods trail and then turned into a boardwalk that went over Sweetwater Swamp all the way to Krul Lake. Krul Lake is the site of another campground that has swimming only in the lake, no boats, no fishing, no pets.

About halfway to Krul Lake, we crossed a suspension bridge over Sweetwater Creek. 

We enjoyed our stay at Bear Lake Campground even though we had no cell service or Internet. It was a nice getaway for a few days. It was time to get on the road---next stop Collinsville, Mississippi.