Florida

The original feel of the KOA was not impressive, but over the last few days it did what we needed it to do.

The wagon covered us when it rained, the kitchen was usable, the pool got used and the view of Perdido Bay was lovely when it wasn’t windy.

We met many Florida locals, at the KOA and at the beach over the last few days. The theme seemed to be that there are just not enough well paying jobs down here and people are struggling. Most people seem genuinely friendly and always love a chat.

We left the KOA, not really having a specific route. We just need to get to Panacea which without stoping on the highway would be 3 hours or so.

We are in the Florida panhandle which seems to be bridges everywhere and lots of different bodies of water. Lakes, bays, springs, oceans, bayous. If you lived here you would have to take up fishing.

Before heading to our main destination we drove by the graffiti bridge where anyone is allowed to graffiti. We met a couple who got engaged here 40 years ago and they were graffitiing in it in memory of their 40th.

Our destination was Ponce De Leon Spring Florida State park, where had a short walk along the spring and an early lunch. It was $4 to get into the state park and we had an hour or so. The Spring was cold so we didn’t get in. We did end up making up our own volleyball game with a small basketball and had fun throwing the ball around.

We then stopped at Mexican beach, past the airforce base. It was so white that it hurt your eyes and needed sunglasses. The water wasn’t as nice as Pensacola but it was still lovely.

On our travels Josh saw a baby black bear on the side of the road, and we also saw a bald eagle which was amazing. A normal drive would have taken just 4 hours but we took the long route taking over 6 hours.

The last part of the drive was noticing that the highway is very close to the ocean and the area over the next decades will be covered with water due to rising waters.Read more