Wow, this is the end of our third week on the road. We can’t believe how fast the time has flown by! We’ve really enjoyed ourselves so far and I think the dogs have as well. They now jump into the car by themselves when we’re ready to leave. I’m sure they believe their home is the trailer, and they are just letting us share it with them. We can leave them for four hours in the air-conditioned trailer, and all we have to do is make sure we don’t leave anything out that they can get into.
I’m convinced Coco is the instigator of all mischievous activity, since she’s the one brave enough to jump up on anything to explore it. Molly is more inclined to stay on the ground and hope Coco will share the fortune of her spoils. Molly is more like the kid in school we all remember that was never caught for their misdeeds. Coco tries really hard to give you an innocent look, but it doesn’t work. Molly has got it down pat!
Around 10am we head out for Wakulla Springs, which is the longest and deepest known submerged freshwater cave system and one of the largest and deepest freshwater springs in the world. It was also the setting for two of Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan movies and it was the home for The Creature from the Black Lagoon. On a side note -- this is the second “Black Lagoon” movie site I’ve stumbled upon, the other one is near Solvang, CA.
As we were driving into the Wakulla Springs State Park parking lot, we had to detour around a large turtle crossing the road. It turns out the females turtles are all out looking for a place to lay their eggs.
We then headed straight for the boat tour dock. According to Mike and Jan, both the glass bottom and the bigger tour boat rides are worth the $6. The glass bottom boats weren’t running but we were able to sign-up for the 11am tour boat, this gave us about 40 minutes to check out the Wakulla Springs Lodge, a 1930’s era hotel with large fireplace and dining room. And a gift shop for Marianne, which even sold ice cream – for me!
Shortly before 11am we got in line to begin the boat tour. These boats can probably seat 40 people, and ours was full, but not overly so. Our guide, Jason, was an amicable chap, who grew up along the banks of the Wakulla River, so he was very knowledgeable about all the area flora and fauna. He reminded me of a tour guide at Disneyland’s Adventure River, non-stop chatter with lame jokes.
But the scenery was great, and we finally got to see our first alligators, along with an assortment of colorful birds and flowers – a photographer’s delight.On the way back to the campsite was a Wal*Mart where we picked up everything from groceries, dog treats, and RV TP. All morning the weather was gorgeous; when we entered the store it was starting to cloud up a bit, but 20 minutes later as we left the store the heavens opened up. It was pouring cats and dogs - the reason I know this is because I stepped in a poodle! I had to get the truck and drive it to the entrance to pick-up Marianne with the groceries, and as you all know, she’s so sweet, if she gets caught in the rain, she’ll dissolve!
This was our first Florida rainstorm; we hadn’t seen rain like this in a very long time. It was raining so hard it was tough to see the road. But within driving 10 miles, the roads were totally dry and our campsite never had a drop of rain.
When we checked into this campground we were only able to stay Friday and Saturday nights of a three day Memorial Day weekend. I asked if we could get on a waiting list in case anyone cancelled. When I got back to the campground, the management let me know that there was a cancellation, but I would have to move from my spot on the bay to one not as prime.
It takes as much work to move a trailer 100’ as it does 100 miles, the only difference is the driving time, so while we mulled the move, I checked on a campground 150 miles further south in Florida at Homosassa Springs, which was also highly recommended by Mike and Jan, I booked us for two nights there. Then I let the management here know that I would be leaving.
I once again walked the dogs along the shoreline and watched the sun set behind the horizon.
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