Owlbebak

03/2003 St. Joseph State Park As usually, any trip we attempt to undertake that has a specified departure time encounters delays. We wanted to leave for St. Joseph State Park around 1:00 pm Friday. We finally hit the road for the two hour trip around 3:30. The park closes the gate at sundown, but since the days are growing longer, we arrived in plenty of time to set up camp. We reserved a campsite earlier in the week by phone and at that time there was only one site left. The park seems to be highly utilizes, so be sure to make a reservation. St. Joseph State Park is located on the Gulf of Mexico in the area I believe is called the Emerald coast. The park is on a thin sliver of land that separates the ocean and creates a bay. This creates a nice situation for campers by providing an ocean experience as well as the bay for calmer activities. The park provides access to the bay by way of a boat ramp.  Since the entire family was going t...

Torreya State Park is located about 60 miles west of Tallahassee, Florida in the “Big Bend”. This park is noted for its varied terrain, ranging from hardwood to swamp wetlands and an area we Floridians could call “canyons” (large washed out clay hills). It’s the closest thing we can find around here that is similar to the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. The park has a nice network of trails to explore. My 13 year old son and I arrived at the park on Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm, the first day of spring. We had made reservations ahead to ensure our sites in the primitive camp areas. Because our region had been receiving abundant amounts of rainfall, we knew the mosquitoes would be in full force. We were not disappointed. We came prepared with plenty of bug repellent.  This trip could be called an "Introduction to Backpacking" for me and my son. We have done car camping, but yearned for a taste of “true” camping. Having enjoyed accumulating our assortment...