After what has turned out to be a long day, we are currently camped out in the “Riverside R.V. Park” outside of Bristol, FL. The temperature currently feels a hair above 20 degrees farhenheit. Joey & Kady cooked a lovely dinner of bean & rice burritos with cheese. Thanks to the weather we are all shacked up in our tents reading, writing, and talking. . .
Around 9 AM this morning I woke up to the sound of Kady yelling at Joey to “Wake Up!” Within 5 seconds I could hear Joey, again, snoring fast asleep. Unzipping my tent I came to the re-realization that we were not in a beautiful campground or on a breathtaking beach. Instead we were in the middle of a rednecks paradise. Surrounding our tents were campers which each had their own fleet of lifted up toyota pick ups with oversized dogs cages in the beds as well as dog kennels surrounding the campsites. These hunters were in it for the long haul. Hunting what? We’re not really sure.
Soon all of us are up and mozying around, before I know it, our campsite is packed up and again everything is loaded onto the car and we are headed to Wal-Mart, the only “local” store, to pick up some much needed food for our few days ahead. This errand was short and sweet.
Wakulla Springs State Park was our last destination via car, it was a chore to find. One thing I can give props to Missouri for is having the state parks clearly marked. Florida, on the other hand, I can not speak so highly of. Shortly though, thanks to Kady’s iPhone, we have found the state park and begin the unloading of the car and the loading of the bikes. After a few quick hours of messing with Jessi’s new rack, we’re rolling. Nothing like a noon start!
The miles came quick and easy thanks to a beautifully wide shoulder provided for us by the Florida Department of Transportation. Something I can say Missouri has never even thought of looking into for rural areas. Our ride was accompanied by a low amount of cars but a very high amount of Logging Trucks. For the most part everyone was very respectful of us and allowed us plenty of right of way.
Quickly, sunset was approaching and we had not yet decided on a place to camp. Our options were A.) Torreya State Park (as planned) or B.) Call the local sheriff and see where we may be able to camp in the town. Around 5:15 we came across a Torreya State Park sign saying “13 miles,” a few more than we had accounted for. Since we were surely not going to make it by sunset we decided to book it into town to see what we could come up with. Within a few miles we saw a sign “Riverside RV Park - - Turn right at signal.” We were quick to assume that they were not going to let us camp their or that it would cost us $30, which is more than we want to pay at all. So, we call them, the phone is answered abruptly by a gentleman who lets us know that he has a “special spot” for tent campers like us. After our biggest and fastest descent of the day, we arrive at the Riverside RV Park. Looks like we’ll be having a good climb first thing in the morning. . .
This Riverside RV Park we are shacked in for the night is something extraordinary! All of these “RV’s” have apparently been parked here for a few years accompanied with heaps of years of trash piled all around them. Every home is partnered with at least one dog that prefers to bark at thin air, or maybe it’s those crazy bikers in tents?
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