St Joseph's Peninsula State park

It is now Wednesday the 18th, and we are in a state park right on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico!  We had been here at St. Joseph Peninsula our first trip to Florida three years ago and it is a park that we really enjoyed.    We broke camp at Hillsborough and were on the road by 09:00 yesterday making only stops for groceries (yes, a Key Lime Pie), fuel, and lunch/wi-fi. We decided to avoid all Interstate roads and opted for a more direct route albeit a bit slower.  Sure, we had sections of traffic lights but not for long and were happy to be off the beaten path.

Our route, for those of you who are interested, was north on 301 and 98 through Zypherhills, Dade City to Perry where we were then only on 98 and heading west to 19 where we really began to go north coastal.

We drove through a lot of timber country, which we are assuming is owned by Georgia Pacific, due to the large complex we saw along the way.  And there were cattle ranches too.  As we neared the coast we were seeing homes built up on stilts in the event that there was high water (or as the Florida governor would call it, "nuisance flooding"). Then it was water we were seeing, and it was exciting to know that for five days that is what we would hear and see and be in.

This campground is at the end of a peninsula, more than 20 miles from where it departs the mainland.  Driving out, we were able to nearly always see water on both sides.  When we pulled into the park entrance station we noticed another View camper, identical to ours, even with a Maine license! And there was a man standing in the road looking at us in disbelief that a other camper just like his was pulling in.  They we both looked at the man and realized it was Bob Sands who had been our dentist for many years until he retired!  Amazing.

This campground is very crowded...meaning that not only is it full, the spaces are smaller than in Hillsborough but there are more palms and we are nestled under them.  For the first time we are not near to Dee and Paul, which is cramping our social style somewhat.

After our dinner we all walked over to the shore and were first treated to seeing three small deer crossing over the board walk.  

Granted, this was shot with Marty's iPad, but look along the boardwalk and on the left you can see one of the deer.

People enjoy watching the sunset here just as in Acadia they watch the sunrise.  As we walked down the the boardwalk we saw this wonder kite overhead.

And then there was the remaining light from the sunset.

This morning David saw deer on the path to the bathroom, something that surprised both him and the deer.

Our campsite