I have been asked a few times what I like about RV adventures. After much thought, I would say I like our RV adventures because each adventure is different and yet the same. The differences are the places we go and the sights we see. And the same is the comfort of our own tiny home, travelling with Lizzie (our cat), campfires and kayaking. I wake up each day in our own home, then open the door to a new fun place.
Brian and I started our RV travelling adventure last year in our first travel trailer with trips to several Florida parks and a longer trip up to Ohio. The first travel trailer was nice, but Brian and I both admitted we need just a little more room. In January we bought a new 2018 Shadow Cruiser travel trailer at the Tampa RV show. It wasn't an impulse purchase, we researched the different layouts and went to the show to check our options. We bought a 30' Shadow Cruiser. Not only a little longer, but the slide gives extra width. The trailer has a comfortable small sofa...big enough for Brian and I with room for Lizzie.
We took a couple trips in the new trailer to shake out any problems. Our first trip was to Rodman State Park...a couple hours from home, at the north end of the Ocala National Forest. Brian does the driving and is the project manager for the RV setup. The campsite at Rodman was not level and with the new trailer, I am sure we put on a good show for the neighbors...with me trying to direct Brian into the campsite. We made it after several attempts.
The Rodman State Park is on the Rodman Reservoir (aka Lake Ocklawaha), created by the Rodman Dam (aka Kirkpatrick Dam). Not only are the names controversial, but the dam and reservoir have been a hot topic from the beginning. The dam was erected in 1968 as part of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal. The canal project was never completed and the controversy continues today. The environmentalists want the dam taken down because it serves no purpose (hydropower or water control) and the dam supporters want it to stay because the area has the best bass fishing in the state.
We packed a lot into our short 3-day trip. We visited the Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka, Florida. The park has a nice hike up and down the ravine (not common topography in Florida). The azaleas were in bloom...very scenic.
In the afternoon, we launched our kayaks at the boat launch in the state park. The best part of the trip was the half mile inlet from the boat ramp to the reservoir. There were lots of birds and wildlife in that short area...and the water was very calm.
On the second day of our adventure we went to the Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's State Park. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' was the Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Yearling and the park is her homestead. She was a northerner who enjoyed the Old Florida lifestyle which inspired her books. Our tour guide of the homestead was a big Rawling's fan. He had great insight into her life, her writings and how she was inspired by the Old Florida.
Even though this was our first trip in the new trailer, it felt like home from the start. I like to start the day drinking my morning coffee sitting outside, watching and listening to the birds. And I end the day with a campfire, while the sun sets. This beautiful tree and catbird made being outdoors fun.
Our second trip was to the Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center State Park in White Springs, Florida. Just as the name has a lot going on...so does the park. There is a carillon tower, museum, craft square with a gift shop, a bat house...and the Suwannee River.
On this trip we avoided the "Trailer Backup Show" because we had a pull-thru site...nice and easy. We will save the encore show for another trip. We checked out all the attractions in the park. The carillon tower is being repaired, so we didn't hear the bells. There are a couple places to visit outside the park. One is the remains of the White Sulpher Springs bath house. A once popular health resort built in 1908 around the spring.
Another place we explored was the Big Shoals State Park. I hiked a couple miles to see the Big Shoals rapids on the Suwannee River. Brian and I have paddled several times on the Suwannee River...at Juniper Springs and Manatee Springs...each time in very calm water. Most of the 250 mile river is a slow moving, black water river. At Big Shoals, when the water levels are high, the rapids earn a Class III White Water designation and are recommended for expert kayakers (not me!). When I was there the water level was too low for rapids, but I saw some beautiful rocky outcrops and sand bars.
The hike was fun. I think I have Nature ADD. I stop to take a picture of every plant, lichen, fungus, sign and misshapen tree. A hike takes me twice as long as it should. This hike was the same until I saw this guy...a pine snake.
I like nature, but I don't like snakes (or spiders or bugs). The only time I like them is when they are moving away from me. This guy would not move! I waited...and waited..then took a deep breath and stepped over him. When I looked back he finally started to slowly slither into the woods. After that experience, I spent more time looking where I was walking. It didn't help that every root looked like a snake. I survived and so did the snake...and the tree roots.
The second day, Brian and I kayaked on the Suwannee, far up stream from the rapids. We headed up against the current first...so we could relax and float downstream. The world is different sitting on top of the water. We paddled past the White Spring bath house that we visited the day before and under US 41 bridge.
We started a new tradition on this trip...campfire cooking. I brought a cast iron pan and cooked a couple meals on the campfire.
This park has a bat house. I have been to the world's largest occupied bat houses at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The UF bat houses have an estimated 400,000 bat population. At Stephen Foster State Park, the bat house was much smaller but just as fun to watch.
The new trailer gets two thumbs up from Brian and I. Also very important, Lizzie likes it.
