Alafia River After the Holidays

December 28. 2024-January 1, 2025                       Most Recent Posts:
Alafia River State Park                             Back at Alafia and On to the Holidays
Site 5                                                                             An Unfortunate Surprise
Lithia Florida

As I mentioned in my previous post, after returning from the hospital to Blue Springs State Park where Winnona was patiently waiting, I had only two days to get things packed up and move on to Alafia River State Park.  Looking back, I’m amazed. 

Then I had three days to get ready to fly to Maryland to spend the holidays with Carrie and her family.   I spent the those days doing the balance and eye exercises they gave me and the day after I arrived I tackled the easier of the two trails in the park that are hiking only.  I was pretty pleased to be doing some light weight hiking 4 days after discharge.

Some trails are shared by hikers, bikers and horse back riders.  In that case the right of way rule is – horses have it and bikers do not.  Bikers must give way to both hikers and horses.  But for now, I didn’t think I wanted to try shared trails.

I hiked the Lonesome Lake Trail several times in addition to the loops of the campground in the few days before my trip.   The trailhead goes off from one side of the campground loop I was in so it was very close.  Although it does have some elevation, it is mostly wide and an easy hike if you watch the roots.  In years past, I had never used a hiking pole here but I did for 2 of the days.  By day 3 I was able to do it without.  It was excellent exercise for my balance.

On the day before I left for the airport, I walked right by this guy just off the trail which is perhaps 5 or 6 feet from the lake.  I only saw him out of the corner of my eye as I walked by.  I’m more concerned about alligators on land than I am in the water.  For short bursts they can really run.

So I kept walking and he stayed there.   I came back just to a spot where I could get this picture of him but I was out of his eye sight.  I hoped.  When I came back around the trail a second time to see if I could get a better picture safely,he was gone.

I had 4 days after returning from Maryland before my next move.  So my time at Alafia was spent in small chunks.

Alafia is very well known and popular as a mountain biking park with  17 miles of  trails ranging from beginning to advanced.  The advanced ones are in an area of the park that was once a phosphorus strip mine.  This means the trails are narrow and go sharply up and down and around this disturbed are.  The trails were originally created and maintained by the SouthWest Association of Mountain Bike Pedalers (SWAMP) club, but are now maintained by the Friends of Alafia club.  They are rated Epic by the International Mountain Biking Association.  You bikers know what that means, I don’t.   The state took over the 7,717 acres that became the park in 1998.

There is one trail in the old mining area for hikers only and I hiked that one after I returned from Maryland.  This particular mine site was abandoned by the Agrico Company  before 1975, leaving a rugged, pockmarked landscape which reforested on its own.   Thus this trail name.

This trail has been aptly described as being  “along plummeting bluffs and water-filled pits”  a  “knife-edge walk atop narrow ridges, (it) scrambles over rocks and roots.”  It does all this in about a mile but that makes a 2 mile hike out and back plus the hike along shared trails to get to this trailhead.   In addition there are dead end side trails to be added if you wish.

There are many old mining pits that have filled with water.  Not sure if Lonesome Lake is one of them but these clearly are.

This last shot is from one of the shared trails on the way to and from Agrico.

I’ll be ringing in the New Year by moving further South to Oscar Scherer State Park in Estero Florida near Venice on the gulf coast.  The goal is warmer and it turned out to be a very good plan as I’m sure you are all aware by now.   More on that in my next post.

Back at Alafia and on to the Holidays

December 22-27, 2025                                                 Most Recent Post:
Mostly Reisterstown, Maryland                         An Unfortunate Surprise 
                                                                                 For David, Happy Birthday

I returned home from the hospital on Sunday and was thankfully well enough to pack up and leave Blue Springs on Wednesday for Alafia River.   I was happy to have a pull through site since backing Winnona into campsites is the hardest thing for me about doing this traveling alone.

Very nice site but other than the necessities, level, slides, water, electric, I didn’t really set it up since in another 4 days I drove to Tampa left the car and flew to BWI to visit Carrie and her family for the holidays.  I did do some hiking during those intervening days to practice having no balance issues.  More on that in the next post.

It was plenty chilly in Lithia Florida the day I left.  39 degrees at 8am.  Brrrrr 
But not that cold inside as you can see.  My little space heaters do a great job.

Given my recent hospital stay I wore an N95 mask for the trip.  Lovely take off view over Tampa.

They don’t serve any food on airlines any more and my budget doesn’t permit airport lunches so I brought my own.   The sun was setting when I arrived in Maryland.

I never seem to manage any pictures of them picking me up which is always fun although they almost didn’t recognize me in my mask. 

When I took my suitcase up to my bedroom, they had arranged for a welcoming committee on my bed.

David was a BIG polar bear fan.  He once arranged an educational trip to Churchill Manitoba and we stayed at a research station.  The giant polar bear had been his.

This is what that same bed looked like the next morning when they piled in with their books to be read.  A morning ritual when I visit them or they me.

And I thought the temperature was cold at 39 degrees when I left.  39 is actually cold for Florida but no comparison with 14 in Maryland.

That morning we hit the bakeries for Christmas morning pastries.  I forget what it is that Matthew loves from this one but we went there first.

My favorite was Simons the second one we went to and apparently that’s true for lots of folks since the case was heading toward empty when we arrived before 10am.

They have a great window display complete with polar bear and a little town in the snow at its feet.  Now why didn’t I take a picture of it from outside.  Who knows?

The rest of the day was spent playing games like Connect Four and actually going outside for a walk around their cul de sac.  We were obviously bundled up.

The kids of course wanted to do my hospital prescribed eye exercises with me.  Too funny.

Celia decided she did not want me to take her picture at this point.  I can’t remember if she was upset with me for some reason.  Usually she’s a willing ham.

Next day - T’was the day before Christmas and Nana and Colin are playing with his magnetic building tiles.

Behind them, Celia is waiting for her turn to have Nana all to herself by standing on her head in Colin’s room.

Matthew is baking cookies.  YUM!   Look at those ingredients.  Lucky Carrie, who isn’t much of a cook, married a man who can and does.   I recommend this plan.

Wish I had broadened this picture just enough to get all of Celia on the right wearing the apron I made for her mother as a child. 

The attire for today’s walk.

A few years ago I started giving the kids a present on Christmas eve, a pair of matching pajamas.  They actually liked this so I kept it up and this year expanded to include all 4 of them.

Colin places Santa’s milk by the cookies and the two then set to work on their notes to Santa.

Finally it is Christmas day.  Celia is very happy with all the outfits she got for her American Girl type doll.  she can change their clothes to her heart’s content.

Little did we know that the phrase on their pajamas would come too true just over two weeks later.

It’s hard to wait your turn to open another present so you help Mommy with hers.

Take a break to read a Christmas book present and then help Daddy.

For me, it turned out to be a Winnie the Pooh Christmas.  I officially have enough  Winnie the Pooh paraphernalia to last a life time.

And  now for some of those pastries and then more presents; including the annual Sierra Club Calendar she’s been getting from “Santa” for years.

That was just Christmas morning.  Around noon, the rest of Matthew’s family started to arrive.  His mother and father, his two brothers and their families, his sister and her family, his uncle, his aunt, cousins and their families.  30 people in all, no 31 with me including 16 children.  The adults were outnumbered by 1.

Food food food and I took no pictures but these two. One of Matthew’s mother Joan with her brother’s two granddaughters and the other of Joan in her Beatles sweatshirt.  Joan is a life long BIG TIME Beatles fan.  Beyond anything you can even imagine.  That’s a Beatles cover on her ipad.

My two grandchildren have a tiny family on their mother’s side and a huge one on their father’s and two very unique grandmothers.

I have no recollection of how the day after went.  Recovery and clean up as best I recall.  The following day it was time for me to head back south.

I took my new friend Bisoke on the plane with me in my backpack.  She didn’t have to wear a mask.   Her story is that Joan, shopper and gift giver extraordinaire, gave each of her grandchildren and some others an endangered species animal to follow from an organization called Fahlo.  Each  Fahlo  purchase helps support wildlife through their official nonprofit partnerships with organizations such as Polar Bears International, Sea Turtle Conservancy, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, The Sloth Conservation Foundation and many more.   What great gifts.  Hats off to Joan.  Take a look at the Fahlo website.

She’s adjusting nicely to her new home.   Notice in the second picture that she is a Silverback Gorilla.

 

So now there are 3 of us wandering around looking for 70 degrees.  Thanks Joan!

Back to Alafia and on to Oscar Scherer next post.  I’m ready for life to slow down and return to normal.  If there is such a thing any more.