December 30, 2016
What better way to spend a long weekend off work than to go state parking and camping? A friend and I thought it would be wonderful so off we went! The plan was to leave Friday and follow the parks all the way up and then camp throughout the panhandle. As time went on the plan changed and we decided to camp in one spot and just day trip to the other parks. Little did we know what would actually take place! Those adventures are a story all to themselves!
We got up super early and headed to Lafayette Blue Springs. We must have picked the coldest day of the year to explore North Florida! It was 37 degrees at 9 am! Cold or not the still water with the fog just sitting on top was a pretty amazing sight to see. The cold just didn’t matter much. I feel like it actually made that experience better. We got to see this park like few people do and we had it all to ourselves!
The next park was a museum, Forest Capital. It was small and interesting. The visitor’s center was opened but the others parts were under construction. It was ok because we explored the inside of the building for a bit, thawing out from winter.
Econfina River State Park was beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. The water levels were so low. I thought it was cool to see the bottom of the river but it was also so sad because it should be covered with a lot more water. There seemed to be a drought all over the state in the months prior and nature was really making a shift. I am thankful for being witness to the beauty of this shift but I wonder, to what detriment to animals and people’s livelihood did it cause.
I’m not sure if we caught this park at the wrong time or if it was just recently purchased and possibly going through renovations. I would like to come back at maybe a different time of year & find those lush islands and sand dunes the book talks about when hiking on one of their amazing trails. I can’t help but to think we must have overlooked something.
