It all started with a How-To video we did about planning a trip. To show an example of how we use the app RV Parky we created a trip up the Forgotten Coast of Florida. We had all intentions of continuing down the Atlantic side of Florida until we reached sunny beach weather. We planned to spend a few weeks fishing and soaking up the sun and head over to the Gulf coast of Florida, visit with friends and then head back to our NC home.
What changed? Well, the trip looked so interesting to us we decided to think about changing our plans. Then so many folks commented about what fun things there were to do if we were to do that trip that well… they talked us into doing it. So off we went.
The first leg of the journey from the east coast of Florida to the Panhandle took us to Central Florida (sort of). O’Leno State Park, where we took a 12-mile hike and experienced for ourselves the wonder of a river that disappears underground and the reappears 3 1/2 miles later.
We then continued west, with a planned stop to swim with the manatees at Crystal River. Warm weather came early to the Gulf coast and the manatees took to open water to find an abundance of grass and practice their version of social distancing. So we saw one manatee (which was still pretty cool) and lots of snakes.
From there we continued north and west to the SopChoppy area of Florida. Haven’t heard of SopChoppy? Well, it’s a small community on the Ochlockonee River that has a great city park and an awesome small Florida State Park. The fun here was getting to experience the famous White Squirrels at our campsite as well as the peaceful rivers and hikes.
And with that we arrived at the official Forgotten Coast of Florida. Even though we’d driven by here many times it was the first time we’d stopped to get to know the area. The highlight of this portion of the journey was the time we spent in Apalachicola. While there Maggie, our sweet little rescue pup, got dressed up and took part in their annual Mardis Gras Dog Parade. We took a few detours while we were here too. The first was to cross the beautiful bridges over to Saint George Island and take a hike on the beach and trails at Saint George Island State Park. We also drove out to Cape San Blas and visited one of the most pristine sugar-sand beaches we’ve ever seen.
VAN TREKKING lifestyle 