Winterpaloozafestathon, January 16th-21st

 I know what you are thinking. Where are the Sasquatches you mentioned in the last "nail biting " episode of the "on the edge of the seat" post you promised us. There are parts of Florida that are full of trees and forests and not very populated. That's where we are. Torreya State Park on the panhandle of Florida. Did you know that the elevation here is a whopping 240 feet above sea level. We have been at sea level for so long that being at this altitude is giving us nose bleeds.

Back to Sasquatch's. I am very sorry but we will not find any Sasquatch's here in Florida. We did not know that. So back to "The Google" we went and discovered something even better. In the southeastern part of the United States they have what they call "Skunk Apes". Now we have something to look for. In fact I have heard of the term "Skunk Ape" before. I just thought it was the pet name for Jethro that Bambi would call him.

Our view out our back window. Nothing but woods as far as you can see. Very remote and very rugged.  Torreya state park is named after the Torreya tree. This area is the only place this species is found.

It is the rarest of Conniferous trees. What does it look like you ask?

Majestic for sure.

Behind this tree sits the Gregory house. It was moved up onto this bluff to preserve it and keep it from flooding. It was down on the shores of the Apalachicola River.

It was moved by the Civilian Conservation Core (CCC) board by board and then re-assembled on this site high above the river.

Well that is it for sight seeing here in this area. Lisa said to me, "What are we going to do for the next five days here?" 

"Five days !" I said. "There's not even any decent TV reception here."

As luck would have it, Lisa did some calling and booked us into a park that we have been hoping to get back to for years. St. George Island state park. 

The park is on the end of the island and the beaches are 8 miles long. It really is a beautiful place to be.

We walked for hours looking for shells, watching the birds and just enjoying the solitude of an endless beach with so very few people. The sea shells are everywhere.

During one shelling expedition I found a horseshoe crab. I put it back in the water to set it free. I also found two shells of the crabs. So I am bringing them home to try and save them.

These creatures are living dinosaurs. They have not changed in millions of years. Very cool. Everyday we went out for shells. Lisa was happy.

Lisa smiling.

A very cool sunrise this morning. 32 degrees and windy.

Our last day at St George Island was going to be cold and windy. Perfect day for a drive. So we took a drive to the St. Joseph Peninsula where there is another state park with camping and more beaches. The campground looked like it was brand new. The beaches were long and empty this time of year.

St. Joseph's beach.

Our time on St. George island has come to an end. Now we are moving onto the most magical place on earth. 

We are so excited we peed our pants!