DAY #48
The weather was in the low 70s, sunny, and low humidity. Just a flat out courageous day!
Decided to spend a laid back day around the park, with a leisurely drive into High Springs later in the afternoon.
Did a quick walk around the park, including the spring. There looks to be some interesting trails and the springs themselves, while not a “blow your mind” experience, is still a pretty cool phenomenon. I think some of the trails go from the springs to the Santa Fe river, I’ll have to check that out (I’ll let you know what I find).
OK, where’s a photo of the springs? Isn’t that what the park is all about? Patience grasshopper, time will show you what you asked. (truth be told, I haven’t gotten around to taking any photos yet).
I decided to take a shower before heading into town. The bathroom/showers were adequate, though they fell short of some of the other parks. Reviews have said this place gets super crowded in hot weather and the bathrooms/showers are shared (compete) with the campers. A park overrun with people resulting in having to wait to use the bathroom/showers is not what you look for when camping, definitely not cool. Argh! There’s no WiFi and my Verizon service is lousy at best, so that’s kind of a bummer (OK, hard core camper I’m not ), OTA TV stations limited to four (out of Gaineville, FL). You don’t miss it until you don’t have it (gee, that’s profound), really applies here, and it’s kind of a sad statement that it does.
Went into High Springs and after some trial and error, found the post office, needed to mail a couple of bills. While driving around trying to find the post office, wow, the roads are so narrow and many in poor shape. I felt like I was driving down an alley.
Stopped and had a late lunch at Bev’s Burger Cafe, and then off to Winn-Dixie for some grocery’s. I did do a quick once over of the town, and put it on the list to check out again later in the week.
Headed back to the park and settled in for the night. It was interesting to watch the caravan of weekend campers come into the park. Many had big (30′-35′) trailers and what with the rutted sandy roads and cramped sites, it made getting around for them dicey. The park really filled up by nightfall and with the sites so close together, well lets just say it wasn’t an ideal arrangement. The campground went from quaint and quiet to congested and chaotic. Not a good scenario for camping (at least not for me). I guess this is one of those times that you have to “roll with the flow.”
initial impressions of the park; It’s has potential and a lot of positive things going for it. It also has a lot of deficits that the State needs to address before it can become a first class park & campground. Only time will tell of my experience here at Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park.
The Journey. 