Category: 2015-2016 Trip

We left Ocean Pond on Sunday morning about 9 AM for a short 35 drive to Oleno State Park. Over the years we have camped here at least 4 times.

When we were younger we did some long bike rides but today with the soft sand and roots on the trail Peggy decided 3 miles was enough and took a short cut back over this narrow walking bridge which was build by the CCC in 1935.

The trail along the Santa Fe River goes around the end of the river where it disappears into the ground for 3 miles  before reappearing downstream at River Rise.

This sign explains it. The river stops here.

Our favorite place to canoe is at the nearby Ichetucknee Springs State Park. It’s about 15 miles away but you don’t want to go there in the summer when the 3 mile long river is full of swimmers floating on inner tubes. It’s best to stay away on warm weekends also, so we paddled on Monday. We saw 5 kayakers and 2 canoes the entire day.

We drove our RV to the last take-out where they have a little parking lot and access to the river. It’s about 13 miles from Oleno. You can ensure secure shopping generic viagra pharmacy when you buy the tablets from the official site of the company. Buyers have the opportunity of accessing quality and reliable solutions. * The jelly works effectively and can make your erection last for many hours. niksautosalon.com buy generic viagra The experts use their hands to cheap cialis soft treat the ailment muscle, joint or any nerve pain. In the past, patients used to vardenafil online suffer this critical condition and struggle to find out its solution. I noticed that there is now a 8’ wide paved bike trail that parallels the roads the entire way. It would be a long bike ride and too bad the trail isn’t away from the road. Bike Trail

We saw lots of Egrets, Herons and other birds plus more tame turtles than I had ever seen anywhere. A few jumped in but most just sat there and kept an eye on us.

It took us about 1-1/2 hrs. paddling against the current to get to the head of the spring and less than an hour to paddle back.

Temperature was in the mid-70’s and partly cloudy.

We are now at #9 on my planning map and tomorrow we move about 40 miles south to another Florida State Park, Paynes Prairie. It’s just south of Gainesville and is a nice park with several different choices of bike trails.

One note about Florida State Parks, there is no discount for being old unless you are a FL resident and don’t bother trying to get a site on the weekend without making reservations in advance. The parks south of Tampa are usually booked 11 months in advance. Those in the North maybe only a few weeks in advance.

A view from the Visitor Center Fire Tower, shows why it’s called a prairie.

A hot day and some sandy trails got Peggy in her complaining mode, also on our 6 mile round trip ride we found that the visitor center was closed and under construction. The view of the Florida Prairie was cool but we saw no Buffalo in sight.

The weather report for Wednesday was warm 81^oF by noon and a light rain in the late afternoon. So we left early to enjoy the bike trail before it got too hot.

The 11 mile round ride from Rochelle included some actual hills which challenged Peggy but didn’t stop her. She likes the nice downhill coasts after the uphill’s. After we laughed at the Wildlife Crossing sign above, guess what we saw going across the bike trail.

I took a look at the view back toward Paynes Prairie Campground from the Alachua Lake Overlook.

The picture below is what I was looking at.

 

I posted a map of this portion of our trip in my last blog. It can also alert you to any red flags you may overlook and viagra tadalafil save you from heartache and making the wrong choices. 4. The 5 -reductase inhibitors finasteride and cheap viagra without prescription dutasteride are another treatment option. The necessity is known as Joshua Law as it was inspired by the tragic accident that happened cialis pills uk in the life of Joshua Brown. Such disorders should be treated on time in order cialis generic tabs to avoid any harm to a person s health. We are currently at #10 and tomorrow morning we will leave for Silver Lake, #12. This place is pretty popular and convenient to the 46 mile long Withlacoochee State Bike Trail and on a lake which is a wide spot in the Withlacoochee River. So this will allow us to canoe & bike and use the bike trail to set up a shuttle.

I hope we can snag a site before the weekend. They do not take reservations in this State Forest campground and if they enforce the 14 day limit we may get a site.

We got here on Thursday morning after filling our Propane tank and grocery shopping. We were worried the place might be full like the state parks but unlike the parks they don’t take reservations, enforce a 14 day limit and give a nice discount for campers over 65 years old.

What a surprise, all three of their adjacent campgrounds were virtually empty. We recall when we stopped here eight years ago it was full of Quebecers who were staying for the whole winter. We complained that they were not enforcing the 14 day limit to no avail. Mostly erectile dysfunction concern with the men above age viagra in canada 65 years. You can use a pacifier if your baby suffers from sudden rashes, diarrhea, or vomits, he may be allergic- consult experts on the baby health record app or baby care app or your doctor to find out whether you are a suitable candidate for taking levitra on line sale. But first you need to canadian viagra 100mg neutralize your spine to prevent injury while doing the exercises. Most palomino horses purchase levitra online are actually quarter horses and registered with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). I guess they decided to enforce it now and even though it was only $15/night with power and water hookups not many were here to enjoy the warm dry weather.

We took a short bike ride through the other two campgrounds and only found a total of about 15 campers in the 75 campsites.

On Friday morning Peggy and I did a 14 mile bike ride on the Withlacoochee State Bike Trail, a paved 46 mile 12’ wide bike trail that runs right past our campground.

When we returned we found Rob & Shirley camped next to us. They live in Martha’s Vineyard in the summer and for the past 3 years have camped all winter with us in Mexico at Xpu-Ha. We had been communicating with them so we knew where we were but had no idea that they were going to come here. However in the morning off they went and we may or may not see them again.

So we decided to go canoeing today as our campsite is right on Silver Lake which is a wide spot in the Withlacoochee River

Later Saturday Rob & Shirley came back from their shopping trip and spent two more days with us before heading to Orlando.

We have a nice campsite right on the lake for easy canoeing access and 1/2 mile from the 46 mile bike trail.

On our  paddle trip Saturday downstream from camp, we found the water was 3.8’ on the USGS 02312500 Gauge which was a nice level.

We made it to Hog Island and then paddled back upstream to camp, about 8 miles and 3 hours paddling.

We saw lots of birds and turtles and right near where we turned around we saw a really big gator. We didn’t notice his nice bed of flowers until I looked at the photo.

On Sunday I biked to town to buy some groceries and Peggy got a little rest. After saying goodbye again to our friends on Monday we went south on the bike trail for about a 10 mi round trip. Peggy made it up the bike highway overpass without walking so she is getting stronger.

On Tuesday it got a little warmer so we decided to go canoeing again. This time we went upstream past all 4 campgrounds for about a 7 mile round trip. It is not as scenic and there is not as much wildlife as the downstream section, Even though it was sunny we didn’t see any gators.

Of course this isn’t Peggy, she paddles harder than I do.

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On Wednesday, we decided to walk the nice hiking trails around the park.

With all our exercise how did Peggy manage to make me look so fat when she took my picture walking the trails along the Lake between the two campgrounds?

There are actually three campgrounds in this state forest at the Silver Lake complex. The first one called Silver Lake has Electric & Water with hot showers. A second similar site called Cypress Glen has bigger sites and is further from I-75 but was closed for bathroom repairs. The third called Crooked River is rustic and for tents only and has very wooded sites.

We did see some interesting wildlife, an Armadillo wandered by seemingly oblivious to us walking nearby.

Our campground was never more than half full even on the weekend. I guess the 14 day limit keeps out the snow birds. Maybe in January it will be more full.

On Thursday the weather warmed to the high 70’s with plenty of sunshine. The bike trail had all sorts of bikes travelling in both directions enjoying the longest 12’ wide paved bike trail in Florida. 
We headed north to just past Istachatta, a small town on the trail. I told Peggy she was doing well, by the time we got back to camp it would be a 16 mile ride. She grabbed the map and stopped at one of  the nice benches along the way to check it out.

 

 

On Friday, we decided to paddle downstream again from our camp since we saw way more birds and an alligator when we did this stretch last Saturday.

Today we saw a couple of timid alligators that jumped into the river when they saw us. But mostly we saw lots of birds. Egrets & Herons who never stood still for any pictures and dozens of Ibis running around the shallows along the edge of the river.

A couple of vultures along the river.

The river had dropped about 5”  to 3.4’ and it was a little harder to detect the main channel, but there was still plenty of water. You needed to carefully look for the leaves moving downstream.