The last time we were here was in 2006 right after a prescribed burn had gotten out of control. Oddly enough, they had another prescribed burn several weeks ago. But this one stayed controlled. It's just a little eerie being in a blackened forest. The lime green of new Saw Palmetto leaves adds color to the area.
The burn encompassed the area around River Campground. We had never stayed in River Campground before, so we chose this one over Pine Grove Campground on this visit. It was almost full (and with lots of tenters), whereas Pine Grove was almost empty. In hindsight, we would probably have been more comfortable in Pine Grove. We walked some of the trails along the river one night. I just loved the roots on this tree:
Eventhough the weather turned against us, we were able to squeeze in a mountain bike ride on Saturday. We rode the three miles from camp to Camp Murphy (the trailhead) on paved trails or the road.
It's been at least a year since we last went mountain biking, so it took a little while to get comfortable again on trails. But the trails were in good shape. Recent rains had firmed up the sandy areas, and Club Scrub has added lots of man-made devices to make it easier to maneuver the soft spots. Mulch, wooden bridges, and plastic netting are just some of the items added to the trails to help when riding in this white pixie dust. We were just getting comfortable on our bikes, when we came upon a lake that had overflowed it's banks burying the trail under water. We tried to paddle-pedal through it - the water was up to mid-shin and every rotation of our pedals sounded like a slap of a paddle - but then Andy dropped as deep as mid-thigh when we aborted the trail. Actually, there's no leaving the trail without a machete, so we had to turn around and go back. That's when things got interesting...we got lost! Ha! We could see civilization, but we couldn't agree on which trail would take us home. After several attempts, and recognizing the same landmarks over and over, we finally escaped our maze. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it had started to rain? And, Andy did an endo (flip over the front wheel)right into a Saw Palmetto? If you're not familiar with our Saw Palmettos - they are large palms with toothy edges on each frond that can cut you like...well, a saw. He'll survive - he's just getting funny looks from our neighbors in the condo because of all of the cuts on his legs. I know you'll think we're crazy, but we had a great time! Our wildlife sighting for the weekend included: several snakes, frogs, our normal water birds, a deer, and a barred owl. The owl was great to see and watch for awhile. Big, yet soooo quiet in flight.
We took a drive along Jupiter Island (instead of road biking in the rain) and stopped at Coral Cove Park. It has similar rock outcroppings (ancient reef) along the beach that Blowing Rocks Preserve has. This beach also had lots of shells, too. It was a nice distraction, even in the rain.
2 comments:
We are RV’ers, data storm users and traders as well. We were gone 10 months and left our manufactured home (in FL) with the AC on 87. We came home to a real mold problem. I am very allergic. This product worked wonders. We also bought a Hunter air purifier we use in the RV now (just went fulltime 9/17). Base Products Corporation (16oz jar Hygienic Aire No Scent) www.basepump.com or call and talk to them (Gary) 800-554-1426. Hope this helps.
Marilyn, thank you! I did consider Damp Rid, but this sounds even better. I'm sure our problem is due to being stored & sealed over the humid Florida summer. I had joked with Andy that it would be awfully lonely traveling in the RV...without him!
We'd love to hear about your successes trading and full-timing, so please feel free to email us at dianeorandy@diandy.com. Thanks again, Diane
Post a Comment