Tuesday January 9. 2024 - We had errands to run in Ocala, so after lunch we headed there. It rained in the afternoon and the weather forecast said that there were tornado warnings for our area. We decided to hang out in Ocala in a parking lot for a few hours while the storm passed, since there were so many trees around our campsite. It got pretty windy at one point during the storm, but in general it was just an hour and a half of some heavy rain.
We made salmon melts in the air fryer
We watched Oppenheimer in the Winn Dixie parking lot while it rained
and rained
Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - Today we're headed to the keys. We have a campsite reserved at John Pennekamp SP on Key Largo, for two weeks. It's a 5.5 hr drive from Ocala NF, and we will be passing close by Biscayne National Park, so we decided to stop on the way. It is a NP that is mostly water, they have snorkeling, paddleboarding, kayaking and sightseeing boat trips. We stopped at the Visitor Center and found there was a short 1 mile Jetty Walk, which we did. If we have time later in the trip we'll maybe come back and do a boat trip, but this at least broke up our drive to Key Largo. After the NP, it was a 45 minute drive to John Pennekamp. This park has a relatively small campground (about 50 sites), 2 beaches, several hiking trails, a small aquarium and lots of boats that take people out scuba diving or snorkeling. The park was established in 1963 as the first undersea park in the US. John Pennekamp, was a Miami newspaper editor, who worked to set aside the Everglades and what would become John Pennekamp SP. The SP extends 3 miles into the Atlantic and is approximately 25 miles in length. It covers a vast amount of coral reefs.
Biscayne NP
A manatee bench!
the boat dock at Biscayne NP
It was a gray day
Our walk out to the end of the Jetty
We made a low-cal key lime pudding with yogurt, jello mix and graham crackers. It was quite good!
Thursday, January 11, 2024 - We did a few laps around the park for some exercise in the morning then headed to the Visitor Center to meet up for the Thursday morning nature walk. There were about 10 people on the walk, and the leader, Susan, was a lot of fun. She could hardly walk 2 steps without running across something else that she was excited to tell us about. We learned quite a bit about the park and the local habitat. After lunch we rode our bikes to the grocery store, which was 6 miles round trip. The bike trail along the Overseas Highway was for the most part separate from the highway, but there aren't a lot of stop lights so it makes it a bit challenging to cross the 4 lane highway (but doable).
Site 26 - the sites here are pretty packed in. I think ours is the worst site in the campground! We don't have ANY vegetation in between us and the sites on either side of us. We're happy to have this site for two weeks though, so I'll try not to complain too much
View across the cove, of the John Pennekamp boat dock
There are cannons on Cannon Beach!
Grove Trail
Susan telling us about the mangroves along the Grove Trail
We found a Rosy Wolfsnail on the walk
nice wide bike trail next to the highway
groceries in our backpacks and strapped to the back of the bike
The road into John Pennekamp
Friday, January 12, 2024 - It was quite a humid morning, since it rained during the night. We did our morning walk, and then rode our bikes south on the Overseas Hwy to find a CVS. Kev was bit by the no see-ums on the first night, and last night they were pretty itchy. We'll see if we can find some cortizone to help with the itch. We also need a new inner tube to take to the beach, since one of our tubes has a hole in it. It's supposed to be in the 80's today, so it seems like a beach day! We walked up to Cannon Beach and Kevin and I did a little snorkeling. The park has dropped a few things in the swimming area, to give snorkelers something to look at. I saw an anchor and a cannon. There were some fish, but nothing too tropical looking
eggs and sausage for breakfast
we ran into these Ibis' on our walk
It's a humid morning!
Headed to CVS
In the Keys they use cement power lines, since this area is so prone to hurricanes
The John Pennekamp sign
Our new inner tube
Kevin headed out for some snorkeling
Nice mask lines on our faces!
Saturday January 13, 2024 - It's going to be another 80+ day, so another beach day is in order. First we'll ride our bikes to the Publix grocery store, (which is only a 4 mile round trip ride), to pick up a few things. Then we're headed to Far Beach for some snorkeling and hanging out. The park was pretty crowded, since it's the weekend, but not too crazy at Far Beach
On our morning walk there were already a few people swimming at Cannon Beach
More morning walk views
Far Beach is empty this morning
Kev's ready!
We went back to Far Beach in the afternoon and it is still pretty empty
The Green flag is blowing in the wind, saying it's a good day for a swim
