http://www.blogger.com/html?blogID=4316350785635987648 Cave Dwellings: “Tucked In” at Lake Griffin State Park…LITERALLY!
Cave Dwellings

Buckhorn Creek, Lake O' The Pines, Jefferson, TX

Sunday, January 20, 2013

“Tucked In” at Lake Griffin State Park…LITERALLY!

  Yep, that’s what we are…tucked in….

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HOLY SQUEEZE PLAY, BATMAN!!!  THIS IS TAKING “BEING NEIGHBORLY” TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!!

And, no, this is NOT a buddy site…Let  me just say that we very nearly didn’t find our site #16 in this park…There are not any really DEFINED campsites..What you might think is a road could be a camping site…All the sand here looks the same…road, sites, dump station…We got ourselves in a tight spot or two..OK, OK…got us in a tight spot or two!! Hey, thankfully McGyver can maneuver this Hiker pretty well…This is one of the hardest campgrounds to find your way around that we have ever been in…It isn’t that it is that big…it just all looks the same..Everywhere is sand., with an occasional post of electric and water thrown in your way for good measure…

Don’t get me wrong, it is a neat park, lots of hanging moss and Live Oak trees mixed in with Palmetto.  Oh, and did I mention that there has been a black bear wandering around digging through the dumpster..? We received the “ warning paper” from the gate guy when we checked in.."A Florida black bear has been seen in the park.  While bears usually try to avoid people, food ,”( LIAR, LIAR) “garbage left outside can easily draw them to where people are.” Just great.  This means that walking to the one and only dumpster , which is a bit of a walk, carrying said garbage bag could become very interesting if Yogi Bear sees smells you …That little tidbit of bear information, combined with this sign…

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….could make for an extremely wild safari adventure…I just might have to send McGyver on the dumpster run….

 

 

 

To make things even more exciting, right after we got all set up we heard sirens…and Den spotted a squad car or two parked just across the road/campsite from us…

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It’s amazing how many nosey people come out of their campers to peer at a police car in the campgrounds…While I was standing there, (alright, I was one of the nosey campers too), one of the campers told me that two teenage boys had wandered off one of the trails and were now lost in the jungle-like brush somewhere..unable to find their way out.  To make life at Lake Griffin even more exciting, the search helicopter was circling by now..

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…The gentleman in the huge Allegro next to us, by the name of Peter, had walked over to where the police were gathered. Peter came back and asked McGyver (alright, McGyver was one of the nosey campers too!) if he knew how to convert degrees, minutes and seconds to decimal degrees…I need not tell you that OF COURSE HE DID!.   These boys had a cell phone, but their location was given only in degrees, minutes and seconds…(DO NOT ASK ME HOW THIS WORKS, I AM CLUELESS.).. Den wrote down the info Peter gave him, went online and converted it,  then gave the conversion back to Peter.  Apparently, Peter took it to the cops and about 15 minutes later the boys were located…As I said, this could be the beginning of a very interesting 2 weeks…

This morning dawned without incident…good.  We took our walk around the park…

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Griffin Lake State Park is home to one the largest Live Oak in the state of Florida…

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Den, you take my picture and I’ll take yours, OK?…………………………You could try to act more excited, McGyver!!

A great plus we found here at this park is the fact that they have a coin laundry on the grounds…It is at the end of the bath/shower house…

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Now THIS is what I call “airing out your dirty laundry in  public”…the laundry room is open air, with  lots of folding tables,a sink, 3 washers and 3 dryers…As is usually the case in most laundries, one of the washing machines was “out of order”…Whatever…So far Den and I have not had the pleasure experience of having to go into town and to find a laundry at a “Laundromat”..Usually that trip involves meeting some very unique characters, accompanied by washers that overflow, dryers that over heat, or do not heat at all…AND… never an attendant on duty..Baring teeth smile

Soooooo…this is already been MORE than just our run of the mill campground visit…If we came here to lower our blood pressure, that idea could be compromised a bit if past experience means anything…I hope you kids in the GMC don’t wander off the trail and get lost…DON’T MAKE ME COME OUT THERE!!!…and DON’T take any food with you, for GOD’S SAKE!!…McGyver and I will be here for 2 weeks and I will continue blogging about our already memorable camping at Lake Griffin…Stay tuned…

“Someone once threw me a small, brown, hairy kiwi fruit, and I threw a wastebasket over it until it was dead.”

                                                                                                                                                                                        ~Erma Bombeck

12 comments:

  1. Hooray for Denny. Good work, those kid's at least were smart enough to know their phone had a gps locater function. Hope your next two weeks are more relaxing than your welcome to the neighborhood.Those Sheriff's will be wanting to deputize Denny. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna....

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  2. !BUT it looks like a nice place to stay... i saw that laundry & says to myself, that is open air!! Like OPEN.. no closed walls.. neato...

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  3. Can Den tell me how many cord's of wood in one of thoes trees?

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  4. Good work Den! We could all think up LOTS of questions that he could answer...wouldn't that be fun?!?!

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  5. sure sounds like there will be tons of 'blogger fodder' at this spot! enjoy your stay, I think?

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  6. Yes, I certainly want to hear more of the goings on at that campground. I wish you a good stay there though in spite of it all.

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  7. butterbean carpenterJanuary 20, 2013 at 7:40 PM

    Howdy D&D,
    When all else fails just ask McGyver!! I bet y'all'll be glad to get back to 'normal' 'park' camping!! Donna, are you wearing your 'good' ensembles down there?? Be sure and carry your camera so we can see the bears & alligator & 16 foot PYTHONS!!! They swallow deer WHOLE!!! My cuzzin', who lives in FL says just don't reach into any bushes for your golf balls; you may pull back a 'nub'!!! Enjoy Florida, Donna!!!

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    1. butterbean...thanks for the tip..I will be attached to McGyver's velcro like body the whole time we are here....He'll have to rip me off when we leave.

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  8. You guys are sure crammed in there alright. Yikes & double yikes!!

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  9. I love those big old oak trees. What stories they could tell!

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  10. Glad Denny was able to help those kids before the bear or gators found them. The next 2 weeks at this campground should be a real adventure. Be careful on any hikes you take.

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  11. butterbean carpenterJanuary 24, 2013 at 8:15 PM

    Howdy Donna,
    ARE Y'ALL STILL ALIVE OR DID AN ALLEYGATER GIT'CHA???

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