Saturday, April 3, 2010
We're out on the road again. Zelda is with us this morning as we head south on US 17. Caroly is contemplating her first sketch of the day,..green, sienna, blue, yellow, and, of course, the haze of the morning...a splash of wash across the horizon. Mary points out the small side roads that seem to disappear into the woods, mysteriously.
Low, modest cinder block homes framed by oaks draped with spanish moss. The road cuts through open fields from time to time and Mary envisions dinosaurs, maybe even sabre tooth tigers roaming the landscapes. I can see them too in some of the cypress swamp interludes. And then, we see some beautiful horses and an occasional long horned steer.
Mary is quick to point out a rusted out 1963 Ford Falcon pickup, half embedded in the front lawn of a quaint shack...along with other remnants and numerous objects...iron oxide encroaching every exposed surface.
We are now driving across Florida on US 10. The landscape is monotonous. Every now and then we spot activity; a cattle ranch, a hitchhiker, a vast open field, an overpass, saw palmetto undergrowth, a sign for Osceola National Forest, pine trees, skinny, tall, and close together....a seemingly endless road and finally swamp...then back to saw palmetto, an old tower, etc., etc....
The sun has broken through the haze...blue skies...windy clouds! The sky has become the most interesting feature to us.
We have turned Zelda's voice back on. We want her to guide us through Lake City onto a smaller road, something that will take us to Old Town. She speaks...we get ready to exit onto
Route 441.
Now we see homes, many mobile homes. Lake City, FL...a mobile home city dotted with old cabins, hidden by spanish moss, rooms for rent signs, gas stations and fix 'em up shops. The old part of town has a ghostly feeling.
Agricultural lands. We cross the Suwanee river for the first time. Countryside, old homesteads, partially abandoned towns, signs of Easter.
We're out on the road again. Zelda is with us this morning as we head south on US 17. Caroly is contemplating her first sketch of the day,..green, sienna, blue, yellow, and, of course, the haze of the morning...a splash of wash across the horizon. Mary points out the small side roads that seem to disappear into the woods, mysteriously.
Low, modest cinder block homes framed by oaks draped with spanish moss. The road cuts through open fields from time to time and Mary envisions dinosaurs, maybe even sabre tooth tigers roaming the landscapes. I can see them too in some of the cypress swamp interludes. And then, we see some beautiful horses and an occasional long horned steer.
Mary is quick to point out a rusted out 1963 Ford Falcon pickup, half embedded in the front lawn of a quaint shack...along with other remnants and numerous objects...iron oxide encroaching every exposed surface.
We are now driving across Florida on US 10. The landscape is monotonous. Every now and then we spot activity; a cattle ranch, a hitchhiker, a vast open field, an overpass, saw palmetto undergrowth, a sign for Osceola National Forest, pine trees, skinny, tall, and close together....a seemingly endless road and finally swamp...then back to saw palmetto, an old tower, etc., etc....
The sun has broken through the haze...blue skies...windy clouds! The sky has become the most interesting feature to us.
We have turned Zelda's voice back on. We want her to guide us through Lake City onto a smaller road, something that will take us to Old Town. She speaks...we get ready to exit onto
Route 441.
Now we see homes, many mobile homes. Lake City, FL...a mobile home city dotted with old cabins, hidden by spanish moss, rooms for rent signs, gas stations and fix 'em up shops. The old part of town has a ghostly feeling.
Agricultural lands. We cross the Suwanee river for the first time. Countryside, old homesteads, partially abandoned towns, signs of Easter.
On to Old Town.
We reluctantly follow a sandy road, having turned into the Suwanee River Hideaway Campground. We arrive at the office, a "quaint" frontier style shack ( a converted double wide) with antique style lettered ads painted on it sets the mood...FRONTIER FLORIDA! We request that we see the primitive campsite that we reserved. The weathered
old gentleman who greeted us is happy to obl
ige and gives us a map and sends us off in the general direction of the bath house and....he wasn't sure after that but he said he thought we would probably find it.(OMG!) After driving around for about 15 minutes, we take take a narrow sandy path, covered with tiny oak leaves and pinpoint where we think our sight is. We return to the office and pay, park gingerly on a diagonal to the site and walk. We explore the 1/4 mile boardwalk straight through the swamp, admiring tall, mature cypresses, beeches, gums, and river birches to the banks of the Suwanee River and a small dock overlooking the broad, sultry waterway. After some additional exploration of the grounds we return to our campsite and pitch the tent (strategically, to avoid an ant colony), build a fire, set up the lantern, and warm up some soup on the tiny stove we brought.
The night brings a chorus of creatures, most of them taking backstage to the Barred Owls. Can you say LOUD? At one point during the night we believed them to be right above our tentsite. A magnificent low, rumbling and unmistakable series of exchanges...and then deft fluttering...they would move on to another spot. A reptile of some sort runs past the tent, under the rain fly, into the nearby underbrush. What was it? Fast, noisy, night loving?
The night slowly transforms to predawn bringing heavy dew, cold temperatures and a setting moon. Caroly sleeps for 3 hours...Mary on and off all night. We pack up by 8:30am and head out for Cedar Key.
We reluctantly follow a sandy road, having turned into the Suwanee River Hideaway Campground. We arrive at the office, a "quaint" frontier style shack ( a converted double wide) with antique style lettered ads painted on it sets the mood...FRONTIER FLORIDA! We request that we see the primitive campsite that we reserved. The weathered
old gentleman who greeted us is happy to obl
ige and gives us a map and sends us off in the general direction of the bath house and....he wasn't sure after that but he said he thought we would probably find it.(OMG!) After driving around for about 15 minutes, we take take a narrow sandy path, covered with tiny oak leaves and pinpoint where we think our sight is. We return to the office and pay, park gingerly on a diagonal to the site and walk. We explore the 1/4 mile boardwalk straight through the swamp, admiring tall, mature cypresses, beeches, gums, and river birches to the banks of the Suwanee River and a small dock overlooking the broad, sultry waterway. After some additional exploration of the grounds we return to our campsite and pitch the tent (strategically, to avoid an ant colony), build a fire, set up the lantern, and warm up some soup on the tiny stove we brought.The night brings a chorus of creatures, most of them taking backstage to the Barred Owls. Can you say LOUD? At one point during the night we believed them to be right above our tentsite. A magnificent low, rumbling and unmistakable series of exchanges...and then deft fluttering...they would move on to another spot. A reptile of some sort runs past the tent, under the rain fly, into the nearby underbrush. What was it? Fast, noisy, night loving?
The night slowly transforms to predawn bringing heavy dew, cold temperatures and a setting moon. Caroly sleeps for 3 hours...Mary on and off all night. We pack up by 8:30am and head out for Cedar Key.
Mystery Moment #1: For about 2 minutes at dusk, loud cackling, barking, whooping, cheering, bellowing...then silence. A large rowdy group and raucous outburst? Woodstorks? Cranes? It was deafening and scary.
Mystery Moment #2: We stumble across an old graveyard...brush covered mounds but no markers but a very nice, fancy gate. Whose family?
This day also found us discovering small roadside stands that sold fresh pecans and cold homemade cider. Right across the road was an architecturally interesting Piggly Wiggly store. This store was set back off the road in a hammock of oaks next to 2 old silos (more alien clues?) Here's Caroly at both sites.
Mystery Moment #2: We stumble across an old graveyard...brush covered mounds but no markers but a very nice, fancy gate. Whose family?
This day also found us discovering small roadside stands that sold fresh pecans and cold homemade cider. Right across the road was an architecturally interesting Piggly Wiggly store. This store was set back off the road in a hammock of oaks next to 2 old silos (more alien clues?) Here's Caroly at both sites.
You have to look closely to see Caroly next to the silo.
On to Tampa!
I can almost smell the flora and fauna...and mystery creature!! What a great blog- I read your first post on my cell phone while sitting on the beach. Have a safe great time, I'll look forward to more!
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