Good Bye Florida, Hello Mississippi & Louisiana

Last blog were we in Sarasota visiting with Susan and Pat. We had a great time with family and from Sarasota we traveled over 200 miles to O'Leno State Park in northern Florida. This State Park is on the site of an old town called Keno later changed to Leno. There used to be a cotton gin and sawmill there but after the railroad bypassed the town it became a ghost town. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built most of the structures in the park back in the 1930's. It amazes me how much of our national parks the CCC built. O'Leno is made up of sinkholes, hardwood hammocks, swamps and the Santa Fe River runs through the park. The Santa Fe runs into the Swanee River.

O'Leno Campsites, Nice!

Woodie?

The River Sink

The River Sink is where the Santa Fe has 900 million gallons of water a day disappear and appear 3 miles down river. Where the water comes up is called (surprise surprise) the River Rise. The next day we went to Blue Springs State Park for a day trip to swim in the spring.

Blue Springs Swimming Hole

The springs in Florida are beautiful but it was time to travel on to Panacea, Florida for a few days at the Panacea RV Park. The RV park is right on the highway but does quiet down at night. We rode our bicycles and had a late lunch on the water. Great scenery and decent food. We also visited the local aquarium and rode the hell out of our bicycles. A fish jumped out of one of the tanks onto the floor and I got to use my old ski patrol skills to rescue the fish. Panacea is a small town and we were ready to move on after a few days.

Lunch View

Someone is Hungry

Shark Attack

Our las stop in Florida Outback Springs RV Park in Bonifay, Florida. They are Australian and try to bring a aussie vibe to the Park. The Park is very nice but we didn't find too much to do in Bonifay, so we traveled to a local park to look at the tallest waterfall in Florida. There was also a pool and pool table so Ruth and I took two full days to relax here. We tried to ride bikes but were chased by a few loose dogs so we gave up on the idea.

Falling Waters State Park

Tallest Waterfall in Florida, 73 feet

Ruth and I are ready to leave Florida behind. We traveled to the Davis Bayou Campground in Mississippi and then to a private campground near Lafayette, Louisiana. Bike riding took up most of our time in MS with over 5 hours of riding and exploring. Ocean Springs MS is beautiful and I had a great crawfish dinner one night with a new old fashions to wash it all down. Louisiana is a one nighter and from here we travel to Texas.

Crawfish Boil (1/2 eaten already)

Davis Bayou Campground (grateful for some shade)

Message for my Honey

Beachfront Ocean Springs