Traveling in Mississippi

From Service, we drove the back roads into Mississippi. Bob and I prefer the back roads to Interstates as there is usually more to see along the back roads. Our destination was North Abutment COE Campground in Grenada, Mississippi. We visited this campground once before and knew it would be a good stop for us. Our campsite was on an eyebrow overlooking a small lake.

The lady in the visitor center recommended Lost Bluff Trail. It just so happened that there were geocaches hidden along this trail, too. Lost Bluff was not as long as the trail at Torreya, but it was still an excellent workout!

 Here we are at the top of  some steep stairs going down one of the ravines.

 And  we have found that this is true when hiking....what goes down, must eventually go back up!

 And then there were even more steps!

 I took a rest on the bench at the top of the last staircase. I had a bit of a problem getting on the bench. Erosion took away the dirt just under the bench. Luckily, whoever built it used some deep foundations. It really was a sturdy bench!

 At the top of one of the hills was an old Confederate cannon placement. The kiosk explaining it had been around so long that it was covered in moss.

 It was a good hike and we were glad we finished when we did. Later in the day the park workers did a controlled burn at the trail head and the smoke all went toward the trail!

We spent two nights here and then moved on to Arkansas.

Hitting the Road.....Again!

Preparations are done, RV is packed and good-byes are complete! Alaska here we come!

Bob and I still don't like to travel too far in one day. Our first stop on this trip was Torreya State Park southwest of Tallahassee, Florida. We stayed here several years ago and enjoyed hiking the trails so we were doing it again. We had great travel weather until we pulled into the park--it started to rain. We were able to get set up quickly, but had to wait for the rains to stop so we could get out and stretch our legs. Bob took this down time to get the geocaches downloaded for our hike the next day.

We started our hike the next morning, going to get the geocaches along the trail connecting to Torreya Trail....an 8 mile hike including the connector!

 The trail was well traveled and we found many geocaches along the way.

 There was a geocache located near this tree, but all we found was this snail. The geocache turned out to be one of four we couldn't find.

 Unfortunately, the snail was not the only critter we saw. I almost stepped on this one and another just a bit bigger. Any time Bob sees me step back quickly on a trail, he knows there is a slithering critter in my way. The picture is not clear as I wouldn't let Bob get too close. He ended up having to remove it with his walking stick so we could continue on down the trail.

 The trail crossed the main road at about the 5 mile mark. We took time out for a snack and a rest.

 All along the trail were signs of spring. In some places, the dogwoods had finished blooming and the petals of the flowers lined the trail.

When we left Torreya, we realized we had forgotten to take a picture of our campsite. When we arrived at Coffeeville's Service COE campground the first thing we did was get a  couple of pictures. The first taken from the river side.

 The second was the view of the river from our site.

Service COE Campground is one of our favorite stops in Alabama. There is not much near the campground, but it is a very restful stop. This trip we only stayed one night and then we hit the road again, moving into Mississippi.

Getting Ready for the Big Adventure

Once we arrived home, we decided we needed to keep up our hiking. While we were in north Florida, we were hiking at least 6 miles a day. To continue this at home, we started hiking The Florida Trail in Ocala National Forest. Bob checked on geocaches and found that they were hidden along the entire trail. We parked and hiked a different three mile section each time we went geocaching...getting in 6 miles each time.

 This boardwalk near Alexander Springs held two separate geocaches.

 We enjoyed our hikes and found quite a few geocaches...we're still working on getting to 5000 finds.

While at home, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with our Irish lass.

I also ran in my first 5K with the Irish lass and her mom. I didn't do too bad for an 'old lady!'

Time to finish packing for Alaska!

More Florida State Parks---February 2015--Part 2

When I was growing up, I had heard of the caverns at Marianna, Florida.  I couldn't remember if I ever visited. Well, now I have!

The weather warmed a bit and we were able to ditch the jackets for a few days. There were geocaches along the trails in Florida Caverns State Park. We set off to find some of them as soon as we had set up camp. Florida Caverns was less than 30 miles from Three Rivers State Park.

 The only wildlife we saw along the trails was this small gopher tortoise.

 In the late 1930s this house was built for the manager of the National Fish Hatchery at Marianna. The hatchery failed after about 4 years, but the house is still in use today.

 Bob and I walked the trail to the Chipola River.....

 ....which was flooded in places. We carefully found our way around the flooded trail.

  This trillium was starting to bud when first arrived and by the time we left at the end of the week, it was in full bloom.

 During one of our drives, we found Hinson Conservation and Recreation Area. It had a loop trail of about 4 miles with geocaches hidden along the entire trail.

 One day we drove west to Falling Waters State Park.

 It is home to Florida's only waterfall.

I have to say I was disappointed with Falling Waters SP. Most of the boardwalks and trails were closed for repair. Hopefully the next time we visit we will be able to see more of the park.

 We used the warmer days to hike and saved our last day at Florida Caverns to tour the caverns as the weather was going to turn cold again.

 

We enjoyed the tour of the caverns and learned that unlike most other caverns in the U. S., no mishaps occurred while developing the caverns for visitors.

Alas, our trip to north Florida came to an end. It was time to head home and get ready for the big trip to Alaska!

More Florida State Parks---February 2015

Okay, Bob and I can't stay home more than a few months before we get wanderlust. We got the Florida Gazetteer out and decided to head north to check out two Florida state parks we had never visited. Well, let me clarify, we had driven through Three Rivers State Park near Sneads, FL, but had never camped there. It was our first stop on this trip.

 Our campsite overlooked the water and if we had a boat, there was a place to tie it up at night.

 Now this was Florida in February, but it was not warm! Bob and I bundled up and went hiking on the trails.

 Along Eagle Ridge Trail, we sighted the eagle's nest. It was not as large as the one's we have seen out west, but it was big. The eagle was not at home when we found it.

 Another day hiking at Three Rivers, we startled this white tail deer. It continued down the trail in front of us for about a hundred yards until it decided we were still following.

 One day we went geocaching near Chattahoochee. We found this boardwalk and the two caches along it.

We enjoyed our week at Three Rivers and were looking forward to our next unexplored park.... Florida
State Caverns.

Visiting Jacksonville and a Florida State Park: Fall,2014

In October, we decided we needed to take a road trip to visit my siblings in Jacksonville. We made reservations at Mayport NAS for a week. While we were in the Jacksonville area, we rode the ferry across the St. John's River.

 Of course, geocaching was involved with this trip. We are planning to go to Alaska in 2015 and we want to have 5000 caches before we go.

 Another day we explored Ft. Caroline National Monument. It had changed quite a bit since I visited as a child.

A pleasant discovery at Ft. Caroline was the Timucuan Trail that wound through woodlands to the marsh overlooking the St. John's River. We enjoyed the hike so much that we did it several days in a row.

From Mayport we traveled a short distance southwest to Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park near Keystone Heights.

 There were some great hiking trails at Gold Head. There were great hiking trails with geocaches along them.

 This is the boardwalk to the ravine. One of the caches involved counting the steps from bottom to top.

 While we were at Gold Head we walked over to the tractor show that was set up near the picnic area.There we saw some interesting old tractors......

 ...and other contraptions.

While at Gold Head, we continued our search for geocaches and hiking trails. We found Etoniah Creek State Forest and discovered the Florida Hiker's Program. Now we are in search of campgrounds near state forests so we can earn a Trail Walker Patch.

After spending a week at Gold Head, we headed home to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Our Next Trip--September,2014

 I couldn't believe it! Sydney was going to be one year old! That called for a trip to Disney World!

In honor of the special occasion, Aunt Audrey came to visit from Ohio. Our first park was Epcot. Sydney and I both got birthday buttons!

Pluto was the first of many characters that Sydney met at Disney.

In the Canada exhibit, we caught these characters in their totems.

While the big kids were riding a ride at Animal Kingdom, Sydney and I found some dinosaurs.

 

Then it was time for Magic Kingdom!

Of course, during any family trip there has to be a group photo.

Sydney's favorite character, of course, was Mickey Mouse!

Our trip to Disney was awesome, but alas, we had to return home to get ready for the big birthday party!