Florida White

We moved from our Gulf Shores State Park site in Alabama to a more remote state park in Florida on the northern panhandle. What a difference in campgrounds we experienced.  The coastal park was very popular and civilized and held a few hundred uniform campsites. We were provided with a cement pad to park on and full service: electric, water, and sewer connections. And don’t forget the storm shelter.

The Ochlockonee River State Park in Florida holds only 30 sites, none with sewer connections, and no two are the same shape, length or size. Instead of having landscaping around a developed area, this campground has created sites around the natural landscape.  Mature trees are given priority over big rigs, making manoeuvring into certain sites difficult. We only had sand to park on and not necessarily flat sand at that.

But the sand was white. Beautiful, fine white sand that gets into everything.

Over the next two weeks, white became a theme.

The isolated location of our campground gave us many opportunities to see wildlife. Some were even proactive in our relationship and came out to meet us. The unique white squirrel of the park greeted us early in our visit, curiously investigating our rig and campsite, and posing sweetly for pictures. The more numerous grey squirrels were shy and watched from the trees, often jumping onto the top of our trailer and scampering noisily around.

Deer was plentiful and we saw many on our walks around the hiking trails. These are white-tailed deer, and often the only thing you saw of them were the white tails waving back at us as the deer scampered for the bush.

Then there was the big white boulder in the woods. At least, that’s what we thought it was until her head popped up from where she had been grazing. Among all the normal coloured deer was a doe with a brilliant white body.  A unique discovery that made our day.

At this point we wondered if there was something in the water.

Indeed there is. White manatees float around the warm Wakulla Springs just north of our campground. We spent a day there, taking a boat tour and walking the trails.

The boat tour was fabulous, taking us around an isolated river to show us the white ibis and white egrets. Finally, however, we escaped the singular colour scheme. Black vultures crowded the shores of this warm river, sitting on the banks and tree branches and overshadowing the herons and grebes paddling the shallows. Grey alligators soaked up the sun, often directly under the watching vultures.

Though we were not right on the Gulf itself, we were close enough to reap its benefits. In the little town of Panacea we enjoyed browsing through an aquarium before a seafood lunch. And we picked up shrimp from a blue shack on the road where the catch was so fresh that they were pouring it out of the back of the fisherman’s truck as we stood there watching.

For two weeks we spent most of our time around the campground, spending only a couple of days in the city of Tallahassee. This despite the fact that we had no cell service, Wifi or TV at the state park. The peaceful setting of the park gave us long walks, easy bike rides, and meandering canoe routes through marshlands.

We paddled down the Ochlockonee River to fish and soak up some of that abundant white sun for ourselves.

Hopefully, we will leave our winter white skin behind. 

Or at least one of us will.

W