Hot temperatures and endless beaches

Not meaning to rub it in for my Alaska friends (and I AM missing skiing, so I have mixed emotions about being a "snow bird"), but it's down right warm (OK, hot and muggy!) in Florida and Georgia!  The pics above are my campsite and wanderings at Little Talbot Island State Park, FL. I camped 3 nights there and did some nice beach walking and biking before I headed to Cumberland Island in southern Georgia.

Heading out to the island required taking a passenger ferry and leaving my van for the first time since I moved into it on August 31.  As I was securing my van to catch the ferry, I realized I couldn't lock down one of my sliding windows. You could slide it open from the outside. The problem was the latch was missing a screw, so I thought I'd put in another one and fix the problem. Unfortunately, the screw was too long and shattered the window. So I quickly taped it up (it was going to rain while I was away) and trusted humanity not to crawl into my van (now that it was obvious that you could!) while I was away. I spent over 6 hours on the phone on 2 different days on the island getting past the "It will take 6-8 weeks to get a replacement window shipped" (where am I going to be in 6-8 weeks?) to getting one out of production at the Winnebago factory and finding a place to install it.

Thankfully, my patch job was still intact when I returned to the van, I added a solid covering of duct tape to be able to drive 60+ mph. Now, 10 days after I broke it, I'm using fast internet while waiting to get it replaced. AMAZING what a difference it makes to use a good connection rather than my phone's hotspot linked to my computer and 2 bars of coverage!  So I'll take advantage and get started on catching up here...



Cumberland Island was home to the Carnegies and several other very well-to-do families. Some of those family's descendants are still living on the island, but the rest of the island is now a National Park.  One mansion stands in ruins but they recreated a statue that was originally there; if I recall correctly, this is a Greek God of wealth and opulence.


 The island is also home to wild horses but they are in much rougher shape than those cute ponies I posted pictures of in November. The average life span of these horses is 9-10 years; just a little over a third of the age that some domestic horses live to. They mostly die of parasitism. The herd is not managed at all (no veterinary care or population control). Apparently these guys will kick and bite if you get near; they didn't approach me and I didn't approach them very close.

The trail between campsites on the island.

Plum Mansion; they give free tours.

My campsite was great. Lots of room and a trail to the top of a sand dune behind it, where I could look down on the waves and hear them in the distance.  There was LOTS of noise of critters in the crunchy leaves around camp but they were all little critters -- a plethora of armadillos, some squirrels, and a few raccoons.

A squirrel meticulously peeled this tangerine after it harvested it from the tree in my campsite. I was surprised when it left it -- wanton waste by wildlife! But when I returned to camp later that day, it had been completely eaten.

Raccoon tracks in the sand behind my campsite.

It was a short stroll to the beach. This is sunrise.

This is a church at the first free Black African community in Georgia. 

The most amazing bike riding on hard-packed sand and endless miles of undeveloped beach. I rode 30 miles on the beach and hiked in to see the little church and remains of the community.

A pair of cardinals visited my camp regularly. I thought maybe someone had been feeding them, but maybe it was the squirrel? I ate one of the tangerines and it was extremely tart and full of seeds. I spit out the seeds and there was still a bit of fruit; the birds happily ate it.

My campsite. To the left of the pink in the background (rain fly on my backpack) is a food box to keep the critters out.

Armadillos everywhere; they root around under the leaves and pretty much ignore you.

These big trees (Cyprus I think?) are amazing! They are draped with Spanish moss and host epiphytes.

Between hiking and biking (mostly biking) I covered 90 miles (not counting numerous walks from my campsite to better cell coverage to solve my window problem). I rode the full length of the beach; parts of it several times. There were more trails I could've hiked, but I hiked a few loops on the southern, central, and northern ends so I got a pretty good idea of what the island was like. It was very peaceful because I was there off season and on the island for 2 days with no ferry service. You can head out for a day tour or camp 1/2 mile from the ferry terminal or backpack to wilderness camps along the island. A HUGE group of campers got off the ferry that I was leaving on, on a Friday morning. 

Sunset at the ferry terminal.

I'm going to post this now while I have great internet coverage. Who knew posting could be so efficient!