We left Alafia River State Park in Lithia, Florida on Tuesday, January 13th around 10:15 am for what was supposed to be a 3-hour drive to Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Florida where we would be spending 14 nights. The drive was closer to 5 hours because of the route our GPS chose, which took us through heavily-trafficked U.S. 1 north of Hobe Sound for 30 miles. Traffic lights every two blocks along that strip of highway did nothing to help our forward momentum. Sometimes I think AI has infected our GPS and it takes sick pleasure in mapping out weird routes for us to endure.
Jonathan Dickinson State Park was a new campground for us and the farthest south we had been on the East Coast of Florida, as far as camping goes.
While we were on I-95 south we saw a travel trailer go roaring past us with one of its cargo cabinet doors open. The driver was going so fast (70+ mph) that we had no chance of catching up to them to let them know it was open. Hopefully they didn’t lose anything that could have fallen out along the highway.
Jonathan Dickinson State Park
Jonathan Dickinson State Park is named after a Quaker merchant, Jonathan Dickinson, whose vessel was sailing from Jamaica to Pennsylvania and shipwrecked nearby in 1696. The park opened to the public in 1950 and, at 10,500 acres in size, is the largest state park in Southeast Florida.
During World War II, the land that the park now occupies was home to Camp Murphy, a then top-secret radar training school. Local residents and landowners, whose land was either quickly purchased or condemned and taken from them, knew nothing more than that the U.S. Army had built a secret base. More than 1,000 buildings quickly sprang up from the scrub and more than 6,000 personnel were stationed at the camp, which had its own power plants, sewer system, church and theater.
Today’s Pine Grove Campground, where we were staying on this trip, was originally the site of Camp Murphy’s hospital complex. The area was extensively planted with non-native Australian Pine trees, which had grown to impressive heights and made great cover foliage to hide the buildings from airborne surveillance. Those trees were lost after the severe 2004 hurricane season and have been replaced with native plant species.
After only two years of operation, Camp Murphy was deactivated and the whole complex was shut down and cleared out in 1944.
Vince “Trapper” Nelson
The area is also known for one of its most renown figures, the legendary Wild Man of the Loxahatchee, Vince “Trapper” Nelson.
Nelson is best known for his trapping skills and for establishing a homestead-turned-zoo on the shore of nearby Loxahatchee River. Filled with exotic and wild animals, his zoo was a popular tourist spot in the 1940s and 1950s, visited by local and national celebrities, including actor Gary Cooper and boxer Gene Tunney. The zoo was eventually shut down by state health inspectors in 1960. Following the closure of his zoo, Nelson became despondent, suffered from an unknown illness and lived a hermit-like existence in his cabin. In 1968, he was found dead in his cabin by a friend from a shotgun wound. His death was ruled a suicide.
Today, his cabin and homestead are a tourist attraction, which you can see via a boat tour. Cindy and I didn’t take that tour on this trip, but if we return we might do so.
There are 16 distinct natural communities within Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Coastal sand hills, upland lakes, scrub forests, prairie and the Loxahatachee River are among some of those ecosystems that make up the mosaic of Jonathan Dickinson State Park. There is off-road biking, horse trails, and hiking trails for those who enjoy the land, as well as boating, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing for those who enjoy the water.
Pine Grove Campground
As mentioned above, we were staying in the Pine Grove campground. This is the campground closest to the park entrance off U.S. 1 and contains 90 campsites with full hook-ups of water, electric and sewer. There are also 4 bathhouses with toilets and showers, as well as washers and dryers. In addition there is a large pavilion for group gatherings and a playground.
The full hook-ups will give me a chance to really flush and clean the black tank. Having a sewer allows me the time to use our sprayer-wand down the toilet to scrub the drain as well as the tank farther down to thoroughly rinse out the entirety of the tank and drain it into the sewer. Something you don’t usually have the time to do at a dump staton when others are waiting to dump their tanks.
In a bit of a difference from other state park campgrounds where hosts live in sites throughout the campground, ALL of the hosts/volunteers live in one strip of sites along the main campground road in an area called, appropriately, Volunteer Village. You can see it on the campground map in our photos.
This is also the first Florida State Park we have stayed in that actually recycles. It was nice to see recycling containers when we stopped by the dumpster area. We wish ALL the state parks would practice recycling.
After getting Nomad set up, we decided that we would treat ourselves to our favorite travel-day meal; pizza. We were going to have a pizza delivered from a nearby non-franchise pizza restaurant, but the young lady who answered the phone was such a non-stop talking airhead we decided to just go get it ourselves. I mean, Cindy explained we were at the state park campground, but the girl asked if delivery was to a home or apartment and when we finally made her understand it was a campground she could not tell us for sure that it could be delivered to our site or if we would have to go to the front gate. It just seemed a smarter move to go pick it up. Then Cindy spelled her name to her twice, but when we picked up the pizza the box had “Sydney” written on it. I took a photo just for proof, lol.
At least the pizza was good.
We Meet An Old Acquaintance
Wednesday morning we took Bella for a walk around the loop we were staying in. We always do this so we can get a better idea of the campground layout and where things are in relation to us. Because a lot of time the maps they give you are not to scale and something may look close and be far away or vice versa.
About halfway around the loop there was a woman standing out in front of her RV and as we approached she remarked what a beautiful girl Bella was. We thanked her and then she said, “You folks were at Payne’s Prairie last March, weren’t you?” When we confirmed that we had, she said that she and her husband met us and remembered Bella because they had just lost their own beloved dog shortly before. Cindy then remembered them because of the conversation they had about losing their dog and how we thought we would lose Bella soon due to her kidney failure.
The woman and her husband had told Cindy they would not get another dog because they could not stand the loss again. But Cindy’s view (and we have disagreed about this many times), as she expressed to them at Payne’s Prairie, is that the amount of love and companionship our furry family members give us more than makes up for the devastating loss we feel when they pass away. And while, at the time, we expected that to happen to Bella soon, (and, sadly, still do, but we’ve been so very fortunate) Cindy would always want to have a dog to love and be loved by.
Just then, the husband came out of their RV with a beautiful white American Eskimo breed pup that they had rescued a few months after our meeting. The woman and her husband said that after seeing how much we loved Bella and she us, as well as Cindy’s moving words, that they just couldn’t continue without another furry family member.
Or, as the husband said with a smile, “It’s all YOUR fault that we got another dog.” And we all laughed.
So that was quite an experience and we loved that they remembered Bella.
Exploring The Park
After our walk Cindy and I decided to hop in Voyager and go explore around the park. Not all 10,000 acres, mind you, but some of the main areas.
We stopped by the Observation Tower (closed for the day) and the Visitor Center (closed for the day). In addition, we stopped at the dock for the boat tours on the Loxahatchee River and visited the store that was there. When we left our campsite I thought we were just driving around looking at things, but of course the store had ice cream cones and Cindy wanted one. I said, “Sorry, hon, I didn’t bring my wallet.” But the young lady who was a clerk helpfully mentioned that they took Apple Pay and I DID have my phone so…Cindy got her ice cream cone.
Then we checked out the River Campground, which is much farther away from busy U.S. 1 and SO much quieter. However, the sites are smaller and tighter and right on top of each other. And I would not want to try and back into any of their sites due to how narrow the roads/sites are and the abundance of palm trees that would make it like threading a needle. They did have a couple of pull-through sites, but their orientation would have your front door opening onto and facing the park road, so not optimal. Once again, Cindy made a good choice in selecting a park and site for us.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Thursday it rained all day. We watched the first episode of the new “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” TV series. Boy, the anti-woke people are REALLY going to hate this one, lol. I laugh when I hear people say something like, “I wish the new Star Trek shows were like the original and not so ‘woke’ in their storytelling” and I laugh because if Roddenberry were alive today they’d crucify HIM as ‘woke’ for every show.
I mean, Star Trek was the first TV series to have people of color (Uhura and Sulu) as command officers on the bridge as regulars. The second season even had a Russian on the bridge when we were in the midst of a Cold War with the Soviets!
Remember when Kirk tried to stop two people from killing each other because they were both half-white and half-black…but on opposite sides of their bodies? They could not understand how Kirk couldn’t see that the other one was completely unequal to themselves.
Hell, Kirk even participated in the first interracial kiss that was shown on TV at the time! Talk about ‘woke’!
So yeah, some folks are really gonna hate this new series for all its ‘wokeness’ but we found it enjoyable enough to stick to our usual “give it three episodes” rule before we decide whether or not to continue watching a series.
Friday morning we awakened to a temperature of 38 degrees. This is in South Florida, for god’s sake. So glad we’re not staying farther north. There’s a reason we hang out in Florida this time of year.
Cindy spent part of the day practicing her new Kalimba that I gave her for Christmas. Her goal is to master playing “Happy Birthday” by the following day so she can play it for Jade on her 16th birthday. I think she’s going to nail it.
Happy 16th Birthday To Jade
Our youngest granddaughter, Jade, was born 16 years ago this date. I was remembering being in the hospital when she was born, watching her dad come out with her in his arms.
We recorded a video of Cindy playing “Happy Birthday” on her Kalimba so we could send it to Jade before calling her to sing it in person over the phone. She has grown into such a lovely young lady.
That night we watched the second episode of “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” because we didn’t realize that they released the first two episodes at the same time on the 15th and we had only watched the first that night.
Sunday morning we hiked 2 miles on a nearby trail and saw the Brightline commuter train go roaring by at 80 mph. We heard it coming from a distance, so I got my phone out and recorded it flying by us on its tracks. Well, I thought I recorded it. When I was going to replay the video later, I found that somehow I did NOT record it.
But I did get some video of off-road bikers on their trail and a photo of a tiny, baby Ringneck Snake that was crossing the trail as we passed by. Cindy screamed and jumped because she almost stepped on it, but as you can see in the photo, it was no bigger than a fishing worm and would not have hurt us, or even Bella.
It was also National Thesaurus Day and I wrote a post about it on my writing and book blog.
I also wrote a post on my personal blog about my new windshield cellphone holder that Cindy gifted me for Christmas, Now Cindy has decided that she would like one for HER side of the windshield so that she doesn’t have to look down to the console at the cellphone holder for FaceTime calls and watching her tatting instructional videos when we’re driving.
And it was a very windy day as another cold front was coming in. So glad we installed magnets to hold the door open when we were in Michigan.
MLK Jr. Day
Monday was, of course, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. When I was working for the government, we were encouraged to use that holiday as a day of service. Some would join litter clean up drives, some would volunteer at food kitchens for the homeless, some would help out at local food banks. But almost all of us found something to do in service to our fellow humans that was beyond the service we performed in our jobs. I’m not sure if they’re still encouraged to do such, but I hope so.
I spent most of the day with my leg elevated to ease the pain in my knee from our hike the day before. Except that this time it was my right knee behaving the same as my left knee has been since last January. This getting old sucks, lol!
One thing we’ve noticed this winter season in Florida is a drastic reduction of campers from Canada. As we’ve travelled around the state we have only seen a handful compared to past years. I understand why, I wouldn’t want to go to Canada if they treated my country the way ours has treated theirs this past year. But we have seen SO many empty spots at campgrounds that are usually full with visitors from the north at this time of year that we can’t help but attribute it to how unwelcome we have made foreign visitors feel. And this state runs on tourism, so that can’t be good for the tourist-driven economy.
Blowing Rocks Preserve
Wednesday morning, just before high tide, we drove down to Blowing Rocks Preserve on Jupiter Beach so Cindy could get her dose of beach sand and waves. Since my knee was still aching I skipped walking through the sand and stayed on the observation deck while Cindy made her way down to the water’s edge.
Blowing Rocks Preserve, owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy, is a 73-acre expanse of land on Jupiter Island, which is a barrier island between the Indian River Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean. Nature Conservancy manages about 400 preserves in the United States, but Blowing Rocks is by far the highest-visited with an average of 55,000 people per year.
It gets its name from what the ocean waves and rocks along the shore do during rough seas at high tide (that’s why we arrived at high tide). Waves of water hit the coquina rocks and spurt skyward through holes. Some have stated they’ve seen the water shoot 50 feet into the air. I guess the ocean wasn’t rough enough while we were there because we didn’t see anything go that high.
But what we did see was still pretty spectacular looking, as you can see in the photos and the video accompanying this post.
Before leaving Blowing Rocks Preserve we took a stroll along the 1/3-mile long dune trail that runs parallel to the beach. This trail wends its way through an intermittent tunnel of Sea Grape trees and various other vegetation, which makes for a wonderful experience as you walk in and out of the tunnel. What is even more amazing is when you learn that this dune trail used to be the original A1A road through the area.
Jonathan Dickinson Visitor Center
Thursday we made our way back to the Jonathan Dickinson Visitor Center which had been closed the first time we tried to see it. Cindy just wanted to get some trail brochures, but we found lots and lots of educational displays about the history and nature of Jonathan Dickinson State Park. We ended up spending more time there than we expected, but it was time well spent and we always enjoy learning about the areas we visit.
Friday we watched the 3rd episode of “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” and both came to the conclusion that the series had passed our “give it three episodes” rule and we would be watching it each week going forward. I wasn’t sure I could picture Holly Hunter as a ship’s captain, but she has filled the role nicely, if not a bit quirkily.
Saturday we continued watching “The Good Place” and I think we have 3 or 4 more episodes to go before the end.
Sunrise Sunday
Sunday morning we were up at 5:30 am so we could be down at Jupiter Beach to see the sunrise. I’ve always thought sunrises and sunsets were beautiful, but seeing them with Cindy makes them both even more so. Cindy loves watching the sun come up and I love seeing her happy, so it works out nicely.
I tried taking a timelapse photo/video for the first time, and it didn’t turn out too bad. Take a look at it in the video accompanying this post and let me know how you think it looks.
Anyway, this stop is probably the last time we’ll be on an east coast beach for quite a while so we wanted to take advantage of it. Next weekend we’ll be on the west coast of Florida and Cindy will get to see a sunset, weather permitting.
After enjoying the sunrise we went to breakfast at Lighthouse Diner, not far from the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. It had good reviews, however I was not impressed. But Cindy enjoyed not having to make breakfast at the campsite.
That afternoon I took down Cindy’s screen room because it was supposed to rain the next day in advance of another cold front. Three in two weeks is more than enough.
That night we watched the final three episodes of “The Good Place” and it was a good show with fun performances and a really strong, heartfelt message for the concluding episode. Many thanks to our friends Kirk and Laura for recommending.
Monday I filled our fresh water tank because, while we have full hook-ups at our next stop, the water there is non-potable. This is from our post when we were there last year:
“The campground has been having problems with high levels of certain radioactive elements in the water for a couple of years. Or at least that’s what testing shows. We were told that it might just be a problem with the Culligan water treatment system they have and that the park is going to have all that removed in the near future to see if it eliminates the problem.”
Then I drained and flushed the black tank. Since, as I mentioned, we have full hook-ups at this stop, I used our washing wand to do a deep rinse of the black tank and the pipe from the toilet to the tank. It’s not pristine like it’s brand new, but it’s close. We filled our 5-gallon blue container with fresh water and we have 6 gallons of drinking water which we’ll supplement with gallons of water the campground provides for drinking.
We also got most of our outside things packed away. A cold front was coming in the next day before we were leaving and it was supopsed to be much chillier than it had been. Going from 80’s to mid-50’s. Brrrr!!!! But at least it wasn’t as bad as the massive 2300-mile snow storm that impacted 200 million people a few days earlier.
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