Jen’s Journal – February 18, 2020

Day 234: Florida Welcome Center, Campbellton, FL

Cloudy, warm, humid.

The Forgotten Coast

Today felt a little weird. It felt like summer at the Visitor Center, where we parked overnight. I felt humid and a little out of sorts because of it.

We drove straight south to the Apalachicola National Forest. On the way we passed some real hurricane damage, and this was far inland.

It was already way past noon, because we slept in. We stopped at the “Bloody Bluff Unit” to have some lunch and look at the informational signs. No one else was around: just us and lots of palmettos and pines. Then these giant bees were flying all around and we didn’t dare get out of the rig. For some reason I felt like it was Jurassic Park. We had a sandwich and moved on. I took a video of the bees circling and I got this still in front of the information board.

It was foggy at the gulf shore at Eastpoint. Large groups of ducks floated together on the water, with barely any space in between each other.

We found a great place to camp in “Tate’s Hell State Forest.” Here are three campsites and two were taken. Perfect! We drank hot toddies on the dock of the creek and chatted with our neighbors while swatting mosquitoes. Allison, our new friend from Ohio, shared some new bug spray. It was mildly effective.

It was a beautiful evening. The clouds cleared away and we watched two bats come out and begin their night’s work. We listened for a manatee to emerge for a breath of air.

Then we went in for dinner and Tom treated my nine mosquito bites.