The trip back: Florida to Austin, TX

We left Indian Rocks Beachand headed north, stopping the first night at Manatee Springs State Park, FL, where we kept our eyes pealed for manatee but only saw this deer. The second photo is our camping spot with Lorri sticking her tongue out. Manatee Springs is upon the Historic Suwannee River which floods every so often. The third photo is me pointing out the various flood levels. The fourth photo is of Lorri and the famous vulture sign. We had no idea what the warning was all about but we thought it was interesting. We were happy we weren't wearing anything plastic or vinyl.

This is a photo of Manatee Springs.

Out in the middle of  Nowhere, FL, we came upon the Dakota Winery where we stopped and bought presents for all our California wine connoisseur friends but unfortunately we drank them all on our way home.

We stayed three nights at Grayton Beach State Park on the Florida Panhandle over Easter weekend. The beach there was the best I've ever seen as far as clean, white powdery sand is concerned. From left to right: our camp spot; Lorri on the beach (notice the dunes!); Jack & Lorri amidst the back dune growth and Jack wishing everyone a happy Easter bunny.

We stayed a night in a hotel in Biloxi before heading into Louisiana where we visited this plantation house along the Mississippi River south of Baton Rouge. It's called "Nottoway" and is the largest surviving ante bellum plantation house in the south. A little north along the same road is the Madonna Chapel which is the smallest church in the world. You can look it up.

We spent a night at North Toledo Bend State Park, LA, where I got to split my own fire wood. What fun! If you look closely you can see the resultant fire in the photo on the left. North Toledo Bend is on the west side of Louisiana near the thriving metropolis of Zwolle.

Next we rambled into Texas, passed through Nacogdoches, and stayed in the Davy Crockett National Forest. Yes, there is such a place and I took a photo of the sign to prove it. There we were adopted by a dog belonging to Mr. Charles Hendrix, according to its collar. He stuck around all afternoon, evening and the next day until we donated him to some forest rangers whom we found painting a handicapped parking stripes in the parking lot (it's true!). We had a great camp site there. We were one of only three groups in the whole area of over 50 campsites. They had a good trail system with bridges and everything.

Next stop: Austin. We're staying at a hotel for a couple days to recuperate from all that hard camping. We visited the state capitol building as well as several bars and restaurants in the 4th, 5th and 6th Street areas. We will continue our cultural research tonight and leave here tomorrow, Monday the 23rd, as we "work" our way back to San Diego.