Get Away to Silver Springs

State Parks in Florida in the winter usually need reservations months ahead. Or you can be very lucky and find a cancellation in January and jump on it.  With luck we landed five days in Silver River State Park near Ocala, with all the hiking the puppers could ask for. Liz was busy getting cataract surgery started and wasn't available for kayaking. She thought being able to drive her rig down the road in the future might be more important.  At least I didn't have to admit that the temperatures were about 5-10 degrees cooler than I like for kayaking. So now no one needs to know.  I wouldn't want those northern folks so feel sorry for me with the temperatures and all.

First you park and then rest up for the tomorrows....

After being parked in McIntosh for weeks it was very nice to have solid dry gravel under the wheels and walk around the loops admiring all the beautiful rigs. Not one of them had moss or mold growing on the sides.  It reminds me that the RV life style has many different styles and economic levels.  There are those that are just thankful to have a roof over their heads (even if it probably does leak) and then there are the owners of the 40 foot Class A and all the shiny vehicles in between.  I am blessed to be somewhere on the higher side of that siding scale even if I am only 25.5 feet long.

 

First day, first choice. Stuart wasn't worried. He had already figured out he had enough days to walk them all. To the Swamp he said.

And off we went. Spaniels in the lead.

Remi walking quietly off to my side as usual. He wouldn't need a leash but I wouldn't want him to be the rule breaker and then there was that sign about the bears.

At the swamp Remi moved up to walk closer to the other two dogs.  Safety in numbers is a concept he has always understood.  He is no fool. Strange creatures could live in that swamp.
 

"You talking about me?" asked Remi.  "I remember this place. I've been here before and nothing jumped up on the board walk that time. I got this!"

"And I remember who helped me be brave the first time, my Herschel. He never let bad things happen to me..." whispered Remi.

Well "Please Do Not Feed the Wildlife"...and please don't let young Audrey dogs walk through the fences.

I mean, really, don't let them!

Make her just stand there and watch the waters and promise her she can swim again sometime back in Ohio.

"Hey, Gray Haired Lady, if I can't swim can we start walking again.  I may be almost 9 but I don't need these rest stops."

Back across the boardwalk and through the swamp.

Just so the "not in Florida" folks don't get confused....not snow.....white sand.  :-)

Stuart, can you read the small print?  Tell me again, what sizes of creatures do these Grey Foxes capture and eat?   Should I be worried? 

"Not worried, really I'm not worried but then I won't ask to run off lead either."

Love the pine needles covering the trail.   And they smell good, too!  Walking some of the trails you can occasionally hear the traffic from the not too distant heavily traveled roads of Ocala.  The trails make you think you are out in the wilderness while in reality the closest Wal-mart is only a couple miles from the front gates.  I appreciate that the state of Florida has preserved so much of its beautiful wilderness and wild places.   Florida is not all Mobile Home parks and Condos.....

The sink hole of the Sink Hole Trail.

The leaning tree that is instantly identified as the beginning of the River Trail.

And when it rains, Stuart sends his laundry out....  Not the Truck Stop laundry with fancy chairs but half the cost.  

But in the afternoon the rain was gone and the sun back out again so we hiked the last park trail.

Are any of you guys ready for a nap?

"If you insist," says Stuart.  "I'll watch the camp ground loop from my bed on the dash until my eyes get heavy, wake me in time for dinner.....zzzzzz."