Three Rivers Side Trip #3 – Florida Caverns

After spending New Year’s Day 2020 at Three Rivers State Park, we headed a half hour west for a visit to Florida Caverns State Park on January 2. The park is a few miles outside Marianna, Florida.

As we entered the park, the effects of Hurricane Michael were still very visible. Once dense forests that lined the road to the visitor center parking area are gone and the terrain is much like Three Rivers State Park – wide open areas with haggard trees here and there. Homes and other development are visible not far away. It will take years for the forest to recover.

At the visitor center we purchased tickets for the one-hour guided cave tour. Tours fill quickly, so it is a good idea to get tickets when you first arrive and then tour the visitor center and park store while waiting for your tour to begin.

The Caverns

Florida sits atop layers of limestone and caves are pretty common. Most of Florida’s caves, however, are underwater connected to beautiful freshwater springs and reached only using SCUBA equipment. Florida Caverns is the only air-filled cave in Florida to offer tours.

The main cave entrance and portions of the tour were inaccessible due to flooding from recent rains, so we entered the cave through a secondary entrance nearby. We descended down more than 30 stairs, and once inside, we enjoyed stunning rock formations, including limestone stalagmites and stalactites, flowstones, soda straws, draperies, and more.

Formations 3 — View of amazing cave formations

Beginning in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps excavated the tour cave using pickaxes and hand tools. Most of the cave passages were originally only a few feet tall. Tours of the cave have been offered since 1942 and span an area of nearly two acres under the surface.

Interesting artifacts that can be viewed in the cave include CCC lanterns and white bowls embedded in the ceilings to reflect the lights.

We learned various animals call the cave home – bats, mice, cave crickets, salamanders, cave spiders and occasionally snakes and frogs. Fortunately we didn’t encounter any of these during our visit.

Here are additional views of the cavern formations:

The cave tour takes you up close and personal to the formations in a dozen or so cave rooms, unlike tours of much larger caves like Carlsbad Caverns and Mammoth Cave.

Tour Group — Our tour group in one of the cave rooms

Dont Touch — Visitors were allowed to touch only one formation in the cave, so I took the opportunity!

Florida Caverns are an enjoyable and cool way to spend a morning or afternoon while in the area.

Next week: we take a blog break as we head to Juniper Springs and Anastasia State Park in search of new rabbit trails!

Three Rivers Side Trip #2: Havana and Thomasville

It was a cold morning at Three Rivers State Park.

We put a hold on outdoor activities and decided to take a day trip to Havana instead. Not THE Havana in Cuba, but Havana, Florida, some 45 minutes away.

Downtown Havana — Fountain Entry to Havana

Havana is a small town located a few miles outside Tallahassee. In 1906, the town was named for its Cuban cousin because of shade tobacco, a major crop grown in the area. Shade tobacco was used to wrap fine cigars and Havana was one of two areas in the United States suitable for growing the tobacco.

In the 1960s, the town fell on hard times when shade tobacco production moved to Central America and elsewhere. Some 20 years later an antique shop opened in Havana, and the town has since become a quaint destination for antique stores and art galleries.

We visited on 2020 eve, planning to enjoy a relaxed lunch as we looked around. Christmas displays, lights and large painted wooden greeting cards throughout the town gave it a friendly and inviting appeal.

However, except for a couple furniture galleries, all of the other shops, galleries and restaurants were CLOSED! We presume this was to get a head start on New Year’s Eve celebrations.

A bit disappointed, we decided to continue our day trip to Thomasville, Georgia. We resolved, however, to return one day to enjoy what Havana has to offer.

Our route to Thomasville took us through rural Florida into rural Georgia. We passed by fertile farmlands, dense woods and numerous creeks.

It was lunchtime when we arrived and we stopped at Fallin’s Real Pit Barbeque. Fallin’s is an old time barbecue that serves mouthwatering ribs, pork, brisket, chicken and much more. We left completely satisfied.

Our next stop was downtown Thomasville.

The town’s central shopping district is nicely done, with interesting shops and restaurants. We visited a few open shops and before long, decided to head back to the campground.

There is a LOT MORE to see in Thomasville and it would be a great weekend destination for an anniversary or other special occasion.

Pebble Hill Entry — Pebble Hill Plantation

On our return trip we stopped at Pebble Hill Plantation, located a few miles south of Thomasville.

The plantation was established in the 1820s and now includes a beautiful mansion with horse barns and finely manicured grounds. We took a guided tour of the multi-roomed mansion and an amazing upstairs art collection that included several original Picasso paintings.

After the tour, we walked through the horse stables and several other buildings, and then around the grounds for more than hour.

Pebble Hill has an interesting history. The plantation offers a nice half day diversion while in the area.

Blackeyed peas and greens — Black-eyed peas and greens – starting 2020 right!

Back at the campground, we ate dinner and settled down for a quiet New Years’ Eve. Our New Years’ Day dinner plans included black-eyed peas and collard greens – for good luck in 2020 of course!

Next week: after a low key New Year’s Day. we travel to Florida Caverns, Florida’s version of the famous cave located near Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Three Rivers Side Trip #1: Woodruff Dam

After setting up at and exploring Three Rivers State Park, we wanted to know more about Lake Seminole. This meant a short drive east from Three Rivers State Park toward the small town of Chattahoochee and the Apalachicola River.

As we crossed the Apalachicola River, the impressive Jim Woodruff Dam was to our left. It captured our attention as such a dam is rather unusual for Florida.

Jim Woodruff Lock-Dam Aerial View — Aerial View (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo)

Completed in 1952, the Woodruff Dam includes a single lock for boats and hydroelectric generators that can power 43,000 homes!

Lake Seminole backs up behind the 1000 ft long earthen dam. The lake is located where the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers originally came together, covers 37,500 acres and has a shoreline of more than 350 miles. There are plenty of recreational opportunities in the more than 30 parks and 5 campgrounds all around the lake.

We wanted a closer look at the dam and drove a few miles from Chattahoochee to the dam itself. We crossed from Florida into Georgia, and then back into Florida before arriving.

After parking below the dam, we followed a steep sidewalk to get a closer look at the multiple spillways and power generating plant. From the high sidewalk, several persons held study fishing poles hoping to catch one of large catfish said to live in the deep water below the powerhouse.

Apalachicola High Waters — High waters below the dam

There is also a sidewalk and a few covered tables next to the river, but these were temporarily flooded as excess water from recent rains was being released from the dam.

From another parking area nearby, we had a broader view of the dam, lock and spillways, and the bridge we had driven across earlier.

The dam is a nice half day diversion from Three Rivers State Park, with opportunities to walk a bit and look around. A small Corps of Engineers visitor center is nearby with additional information about the dam and Lake Seminole.

Next week we’ll explain why the best time to visit Havana is NOT just before New Years. We had to continue on to Thomasville, Georgia – a beautiful southern town with great bar-b-que, a scenic downtown and historic plantation nearby.

Three Rivers State Park: A Healing Landscape

Philip Spyckaboer hunkered down in his solid brick home waiting for Hurricane Michael. It was October 10, 2018 and the hurricane was approaching Three Rivers State Park from the Gulf of Mexico some 75 miles away.

As the hurricane eye passed overhead, he emerged to inspect the damage. In the eerie stillness he knew his job as head ranger would be dramatically changed forever.

Pat and I spoke with Spyckaboer during a recent five-night camping trip to the state park. Although considerable recovery efforts have been taken place over the last 15 months, damage from the category 5 hurricane is still very much evident. Recovery will continue for years in the future.

He explained recovery efforts have included debris removal and replanting. Some cleared areas now have growths of new grasses and small trees, while tree removal continues in other areas. Some areas will be burned to stimulate new growth.

We proceeded slowly along the potholed entry road and enjoyed views of Lake Seminole. The popular fishing lake was formed in the 1950s by Jim Woodruff Dam built at the confluence of the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers. The dam empties into the Apalachicola River on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Lake View — Lake Seminole from our campsite

Our campsite had views of the lake, a small fishing pier and threadbare trees nearby. We could only imagine how the park looked before the storm and how it will appear as the forest recovers.

From the campground there is a half mile trail that leads to a picnic/playground area for day visitors. Although we can’t report seeing any animals during our visit, we did see various birds, including lots of ducks, several woodpeckers and a bald eagle. We hoped to rent a canoe or kayak to try our luck at fishing, but the weather and strong winds made us decide otherwise.

We took several interesting day trips during our stay. More on these next week.

Three Rivers State Park Essentials

Location – 53 miles west of Tallahassee, easy access from I-10 (9 miles)

Closest town – Sneads (3 miles). Chattahoochee (8 miles) or Marianna (21 miles) have a better selection of restaurants and supplies, however.

Campground amenities – the campground has 30 campsites (each with 30/50 amp electric, water, picnic table, fire ring), dump station, clean restrooms with showers, washer/dryer and dish washing sink. Firewood and canoe/kayak rentals. Fishing pier and boat launch. One cabin is also available.

Connectivity – 4G AT&T cell service very good (4 bars). I tethered and completed a blog update during our stay. We received nearly 30 over-the-air TV channels

Hiking/Biking – there are several short hiking trails. Biking on park roads only, closest rail trail is 50 miles away, near Tallahassee.

Lasting Impressions – beautiful lake view, awesome night sky, peaceful and quiet. Several interesting day trips available in the area.

Watch out for bumps on the entry road!

What Happens Between Camping Trips?

Unless you are a full-time RVer, life is what happens between camping trips.

Life for us involves catching up with friends and family, a lot of camper and auto maintenance, chores around the house and multiple doctors’ appointments. Of course, we spend time planning for our next journey as well.

We also take shorter trips to find rabbit trails closer to home, often camping at Florida and Georgia state parks and visiting nearby places of interest. We enjoy exploring and relaxing during these outings almost as much as on longer trips.

Starting next week we will share experiences during recent trips to two Florida state parks: Three Rivers State Park, west of Tallahassee, and Blue Spring State Park, near Deland. During each trip we found an interesting rabbit trail or two we will tell you about.

Lake Seminole from our campsite at Three Rivers State Park

Manatees at Blue Spring State Park (Google image)

I’ll be adding a State Parks selection to the menu as well for future reference.

What’s Next

In addition to RabbiTRAILS blog posts about shorter trips, future posts will include:

how we research, plan and organize our trips
enhancements made to Max and Oscar to make them more efficient and comfortable as we travel
links to videos on our RabbitTRAILS Youtube channel (after some needed equipment/technology upgrades)

Our next journey will be in late summer/fall to Newfoundland, the easternmost province in Canada. As we return home, we will follow the fall colors south through New England and the Carolinas.

Grand Teton Wrap Up

(2019 Grand Teton Ep 23)

Oil and Wind — Old and new on the Oklahoma Panhandle: oil wells and windmills

After an other-worldly visit to Earthship Biotecture near Taos, NM, our next eight days were spent returning home to Florida. Some days were longer than others as we crossed the Oklahoma panhandle, southern Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia (map points 16-20).

(Quick aside: we recently learned about the 230 Rule from a fellow RVer. According to the rule, one should drive no more than 230 miles or stop by 2:30 pm on travel days. Sounds like a good thing – we will have to remember this on our next trip!)

After driving east for several days, we enjoyed two days at Monte Sano State Park (map point 21), atop a tall mountain near Huntsville, Alabama. We visited the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville where we learned the importance of German rocket scientist Wernher von Baun to the US space program following WWII. The museum has lots of interesting displays including a full-scale Saturn V rocket/Apollo capsule and space shuttle mockup. The museum is well worth visiting if you are in the area.

We visited Liz, Josh and Henry in Georgia on our last night before returning home. What fun it was to see them all and enjoy our grandson now that he is walking and beginning to talk. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Henry’s baby sister in April!

Grand Teton Journey: by the Numbers

6960 / $1647.17 – total miles driven/total fuel costs (23.7 cents/mile)
1380 – photos of trip (actually there were a lot more but we deleted duplicate and unflattering photos)
$1155.54 – campsite fees ($33 night average)
35 and 22 – days of trip and different places camped
23 – Grand Teton Journey blog posts
18 – states visited (including our #50 Nebraska)
10 – national parks visited (camped at 4)
9 – state parks visited (camped at all 9)
1 – dislocated finger (ouch)

Grand Teton Journey Faves

Favorite Place Camped

Both – Devils Tower National Monument. Perfect weather and unparalleled views.

Favorite View From The Road

Ed – first view of Grand Tetons to the west as we crossed the Togwotee Pass

Tetons - First View — Our first view of the Tetons.

Pat – bison herds and donkeys at Custer State Park

Favorite Hike

Ed – Notch Trail in Badlands National Park

Pat – Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook Trail in Yellowstone National Park

Otherworldly Sightings in NM: Earthship Biotecture

(2019 Grand Teton Ep 22)

We headed east across northern New Mexico (between map points 15 and 16). From sagebrush covered mesas we enjoyed panoramic views of distant mountain ranges.

Near Taos we encountered a bizarre looking community spread across the arid valley floor.

There were dozens of houses that looked like a cross between Captain Nemo and Lost in Space. Or perhaps Star Wars Tatooine come to Earth. We stopped to take a look.

The houses are part of a community that is the home of Earthship Biotecture.

Earthships are passive solar houses made of natural and upcycled materials such as earth-packed tires, bottles and more. Pioneered by architect Michael Reynolds, the houses offer unique solutions to (what they say) are six needs for harmonious living on earth: food, energy, clean water, shelter, garbage management and sewage treatment.

At the visitor center we learned about eco-construction and self-sufficient living. There are examples of interesting construction methods and implementations of systems for food production, solar energy collection and storage, and waste-water management.

Earthships have landed in dozens of locations around the globe. Sustainable living concepts and how to build the structures are taught at Earthship Academies at the headquarters near Taos, in distant locations like Haiti and Puerto Rico, and online.

Want to experience life in an Earthship? You can rent one for a night or a week!

Max and Earthship Oscar — Max and Our Earthship Oscar

Oscar is our more conventional version of an Earthship. As we left, we programmed in our GPS coordinates, engaged Max’ propulsion systems and headed on to the next rabbit trail.

Next week – we take a blog break. RabbiTRAILs will resume on January 29 with a wrap up of our 2019 Grand Teton journey. Until then…keep taking the LONG ROAD!

Mesa Verde NP: Where Did The Cliff Dwellers Go?

(2019 Grand Teton Ep 21)

A few miles east of the Canyonlands there are archaeological sites containing dwellings and relics of ancestral pueblo people that lived in the area until around 800 years ago. Many of these sites are preserved at Canyons of the Ancients and Hovenweep National Monuments, Escalante Pueblo (at the Anasazi Heritage Center) and Mesa Verde National Park.

We could only spend a couple days in the area (map point 15) before continuing home, so our visits had to be short.

Escalante Pueblo and Distant Mountains — Escalante Pueblo Ruin

After seeing a hand therapist in Cortez, Colorado for my dislocated finger, we toured the Anasazi Heritage Center, a short distance from town. The center has interactive exhibits on archaeology, local history and Native America cultures, and includes a full-scale mock-up of an Anasazi pit house from around 1000 AD. We then walked a half mile trail up to Escalante Pueblo, a partially excavated surface ruin that has at least 20 rooms and a kiva. From the hilltop, we enjoyed views of the Delores River and McPhee Reservoir, and several distant mountain ranges.

The next morning we drove to Mesa Verde National Park about 30 minutes from Cortez. I first visited the park with my family when I was teenager. Pat, our children and I have visited the park a half dozen times over the years.

Although Mesa Verde is Spanish for Green Table, the park actually slopes to the south. From the visitor center at the park entrance, added since our last visit, a steep winding road scales the face of the mesa and continues nearly 25 miles to the ruins. The park is the largest archaeological preserve in the US, with over 5000 sites and 600 cliff dwellings.

Tickets are required for ranger-led tours of three of the most well-known and visited cliff dwellings (see below). Unfortunately tickets were sold out the day of our visit, so we settled for two self-guided tours.

We visited Step House after hiking 3/4 mile via a steep and winding trail that descends 100 ft. The dwelling has more than a dozen rooms and several kivas. We enjoyed cool shadows during an otherwise warm late September afternoon.

Several miles away, Spruce Tree House has 130 rooms and 8 kivas. It the easiest cliff dwelling to access via a 1/2 mile round trip trail that descends only 100 ft with no steps or ladders. Unfortunately we could only view the ruin from the mesa above – the trail and cliff dwelling were closed due to rock fall from the cliff above the ruin. The view was amazing none-the-less.

Here is some information about ranger-led tours – we have visited these dwellings several times previously.

Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America, has 150 rooms and 23 kivas, and supported around 125 people. You must follow a steep trail with four ladders to descend to the ruin and ascend back to the parking lot.

Not far away, Balcony House has 40 rooms. You descend a LONG (and scary!) ladder to reach the ruin, crawl through a short tunnel, and then ascend a steep cliff face back to the parking lot. This tour was one of our favorites!

Long House is located several miles away on the Wetherill Mesa. After hiking more than two miles to reach the ruin, you must climb two ladders and a steep staircase to the 150 room cliff dwelling.

There is much more to see at Mesa Verde, and at least two days are needed to take it all in. The park is a fascinating place to visit.

Our homeward drive to the east continued the next day. Near Taos, New Mexico, we encountered a different type of fascinating and rather unique dwellings.

Canyonlands NP: Dry, Desolate and Deep!

(2019 Grand Teton Ep 20)

We left the goblins and traveled on toward Moab, Utah.

Moab is the gateway to Arches and Canyonlands national parks and is very popular for various types of outdoor adventure, including mountain biking, hiking and 4-wheel-drive driving.

We arrived in the early afternoon and learned all of the campgrounds in town were full. With cooler fall weather, there were lots of visitors in the area. Camping reservations are necessary during spring and fall months – something we will remember for our next time.

We continued 55 miles south to Monticello, Utah (map point 14). In 2013, we stayed at a bed and breakfast in Monticello and know what the area has to offer. With Monticello as a base, one can enjoy interesting day trips to the four corners area (where Arizona/New Mexico/Utah/Colorado touch), Monument Valley, Natural Bridges National Monument and the Canyonlands National Park Needles District. Longer day trips to Moab, Arches National Park and the Canyonlands National Park Islands in the Sky District are also possible.

Canyonlands NP — Canyonlands Park Entrance

We camped in Monticello and decided to visit the Canyonlands Needles District during our one full day in the area.

The temperatures were rather warm during our late September visit so we brought plenty of water and wore hats during two hikes in the park. We enjoyed four overlooks along the 2.4 mile Slickrock Foot Trail that had views of canyons, pinnacles and reddish peaks of the Needles area. We were unable to see where the Colorado and Green Rivers join at the bottom of the canyon however.

Later that afternoon we hiked the nearby Cave Spring Trail, a short trail that included relics from a 19^th century cowboy camp tucked under cliffs of a low mesa, interesting petroglyphs and rock art, and a couple ladders that one must climb to reach the top of the mesa. From the top we had a panoramic view of the Needles area.

As we drove back to Monticello, we passed by Newspaper Rock, a sandstone rockface that has hundreds of petroglyphs of human, animal and material forms. It is said to be one of the largest, best preserved and most accessible collections of petroglyphs in the Southwest. Perhaps this was the pre-Internet Internet…

We had reached the point in our journey to begin the long return to Florida. Our next planned stop would be at Cortez, Colorado, where I would have my dislocated finger checked out and where we would visit some amazing Indian cliff dwellings.

Beware – A Valley of Goblins!

green goblin — Fortunately we didn’t see any of these

(2019 Grand Teton Ep 19)

From Capitol Reef National Park we headed northeast towards Moab and Canyonlands/Arches national parks. About half way there were signs for Goblin Valley State Park and decided to sidetrack a few miles.

Located in a remote area about eight miles off the main highway, Goblin Valley State Park has thousands of hoodoos, referred to locally as goblins. The goblins are mushroom-shaped rock formations that are 10-20 foot in height.

Across several valleys, hundreds of these formations cast interesting shadows that look like goblins advancing on the visitor.

2019-09 Grand Teton 1026 - 1909271227 — Goblin Valley

After lunch, we took a few moments to walk in one of the valleys, among the goblins/hoodoos.

Here is a short video taken during our walk (please bear with us as we learn how to create and post Youtube videos).

After a safe escape from Goblin Valley, we continued to on Moab, where we found ourselves among many other visitors during one of the busiest times of the year.