4th July, 2008
The 4th of July was Independence Day in the US and it being a public holiday the long weekend was a perfect opportunity to go exploring in the neighbouring states. A group on MeetUp was organizing to go to Florida for a 3 night and 4 day car camping trip.
I came over to Reagan’s house to carpool and pack the car. I was so surprised by how little she took with her for food. I think she had some hotdogs (staple American diet) and Philadelphia cream cheese and that was pretty much it. I was a bit embarrassed by what I brought and tried to put the stuff in her car asap so she wouldn’t see it.
Falling Waters State Park
There were 7 of us that drove from Atlanta to Florida on Thursday night after work and set up camp. The only person I know in the group was Reagan (whom I met in my caving and spelunking expedition) and I didn’t know the rest of the group so I was a bit nervous about camping with people I never met before. John built a campfire and sat around getting to know each other. I brought some purple yams and we cooked them in the campfire, it tasted amazing and everyone liked it!
We were all pretty tired from the 4 hour drive and so we hang out a little before we got told off by our neighbour that we were too loud. An old and cranky man came by and told us what he thought of our laughing and talking. We made fun of him and kept laughing as we did. Come on people, it’s a public holiday and it’s not even midnight! We went to bed shortly after that.
In the morning we woke up early, ate breakfast and went to the Florida Caverns and did a short hike through the area. We then went to a natural spring to swim and snorkel. The water was too cold to snorkel but we all went into the water to relax.
Florida Caverns
Ponce De Leon Spring
Half a group photo: Left to right, Jeremy, Lori, myself and John.
The water was crystal clear and was extremely refreshing as it was so cold I couldn’t stay underwater for long.
That evening it rained cat and dogs, we all huddled in the larger tent and swapped food and played cards. There was a lot of silly talk and laughter, it was incredibly entertaining.
Panama City Beach
The next day we drove for around 1.5 hours to Panama Beach and had lunch together then we hit Panama City Beach. The area was very touristy and crowded. There are condos, hotels and tourist attractions everywhere.
The water was full of algae and was too murky to snorkel, we tried but it was useless. The water was nice and warm and it was relaxing to just lie back and look at the blue blue sky.
St. Joseph Peninsula Beach
We arrived at St. Joseph’s Peninsula beach around 5ish and we immediately set up camp before it got dark. As soon as we finished setting up the tent we went to the beach to snorkel. The snorkeling was so much fun even though we didn’t find anything in the water, I enjoyed swimming around and just floating in the warm Florida water. As I was floating around looking for fish, I came up for a breath and didn’t see anyone in the water, they were all on the shore looking extremely concerned. A couple of our camping mates were stung by jelly fishes…I quickly got out of the water as I saw a couple in the water but thought they were harmless.
That night we again cooked our dinners in the campfire and all sat around just enjoying our beautiful surroundings. Some of us decided to go down to the beach to look at the stars and maybe stumble upon nesting turtles. We were ASTOUNDED by the number of stars that were visible that night. It was so beautiful, I have forgotten how magical the outdoors can be. We sat on the beach singing corny songs that we knew and as John played his harmonica I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. This is what life is all about. Even though initially I didn’t know any of the people that went on the trip other than Reagan I now feel so much closer to everyone. We all lay on your backs till the wee hours of the morning listening to the gentle waves, enjoying the gentle breeze, searching for shooting stars and sharing stories. I was so happy to be alive.
I am going to make sure I get all the gear I need to continue to hike and camp in the outdoors. Life is too short to waste on competing with others material objects, bigger houses and larger saving accounts…I must remember that. All of life’s beauty is easily forgotten with our much enlarged egos and lust for what is not ours.
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