Last Few Days in Florida...

 Tuesday, March 29, 2022 - We rode our bikes to Campbell Lake and then hiked the Deer Track Trail to the Morris Lake Trail.  It was a 3 mile round trip hike on a lot of soft sand.  We had a picnic along the way, and enjoyed the bike ride back to the campsite on the Campbell Lake bike trail (we sure use that trail a lot!).  Then Kev and I decided to make it a triathlon- day and we swam some laps in the campground pool.

Deer Track Trail

Eric birding

lots of soft sand, makes for a challenging hike on the Morris Lake Trail

I love the boardwalks

Cypress trees

campground pool

We found a no bake key lime pie mix that was soooooo good!

Yum yum

Wednesday, March 30, 2022 - We rode our bikes to the beach and enjoyed an early morning walk.  The double red flag was up, saying that no one was allowed in the water.  After the beach we did a 2 mile hike on the Gopher Tortoise Trail to the Turpentine Trail.  These trails were hard packed sand, so it was a much easier hike than yesterday.  After lunch we biked the Timpoochee Trail to Pecan Jack's ice cream.

Double red flag day

The park has done controlled burns and it's fun to see the bright green new growth in among the charred ground

Turpentine Trail

The much used Campbell Lake Bike Trail (which is shared with a beach tram)

Cheers to great ice cream

Thursday, March 31, 2022 - We walked to the beach this morning (2 miles round trip).  I love a cloudy gray beach day, it makes for some great pics.  In the afternoon we walked to the camp store for ice cream and a game of shuffleboard.  For dinner we went to Stinkey's Fish Camp.  We've ridden our bikes by there and it's always crowded so we figured it must be a good spot.

the rain is coming

Short hike to No Name Lake

Some type of lichen, maybe Reindeer Lichen?

why did the turtle cross the road?

The campground shuffle board

  We had fun talking to these new Nova owners who were also camping at Topsail.

Dinner at Stinkey's Fish Camp, lots of great seafood options (and steak for me)

A few pics on the lake behind Stinkey's

Friday, April 1, 2022 - Our last day!  We decided we needed one more morning fishing on Campbell Lake.   It wasn't quite the best day for me, but at least the guys could try to catch up.  Kevin had a monster day, with at one point, 5 casts yielding 5 fish.  After lunch we took the tram to the beach and enjoyed a few hours on the beach.  After a quick dinner we packed up and drove 5 hours to the Guy Hunt rest stop in Alabama to break up the 12 hour drive home.  This rest stop was where we spent the first night of this trip two and a half months ago!

ready for some fishing?

beautiful morning on the lake

We love to fish!!

Kevin was HOT today!

Last beach day

We were right under the flight path of a nearby Naval base.  It's been fun to watch them fly overhead all day in all sorts of aircraft.

The beach parking lot was full 

We decided to be lazy and try the Topsail tram 

So sad to be leaving Florida, but we sure had a GREAT time.  So glad we got to spend two weeks camping with Ann and Erich!

Saturday, April 2, 2022 - We woke up early this morning and got back on the road...should be home by 1:00. We have to rest up and get ready for our weekend trip to visit Elaine and Ian in a week and a half.  Hard to believe it's only 2 months until we leave for Alaska and we just heard this morning that Canada is loosening it's requirements for visitors...Alaska here we come!!

Last sunrise of the trip

The rocket at the Huntsville, AL welcome center.