Thankful and Content

Perfection, isn't it? That's all that comes to mind when I see the above photo that I took New Year's Day from our campsite on Rock Springs Run. Perfection. I'm thrilled that I got to start my new year full of awe and gratitude.

We had originally made plans to spend the new year in St. Augustine with friends, so we arranged for a friend to pet sit. When those plans were changing, we decided to utilize the pet sitter and go camping at a campsite I'd passed on the river and gazed at longingly a billion times, but had never actually been to since you can't camp with dogs there. So we booked it, packed the canoe up and set out.

The water on the upper stretches of the run surprisingly seemed even clearer than it usually is. With the sun shining and the temperature reaching the mid-70s as well, I just felt so damn content. I knew it would be a good trip. Steven and I weren't even fighting over canoe navigation either.

 

 

I can't even think of a caption for these photos. Just more perfection.  

 

We took our time paddling downstream, enjoying a beautiful "winter" day in Florida. Though by paddling, I mean Steven paddled and I busied myself taking photos of important things like mirrored palm trees on glassy water. But before long we realized it wasn't actually summer, despite the weather, and we needed to get to the campsite before dark, so I put the camera away and started paddling. It's too bad I put my camera away, though, because not far from our campsite we passed a very noisy palm tree on the bank. I thought a big vulture was making noise, but Steven guessed it might be a bear. He was right, because at that moment we just happened to see a black bear "fireman-pole" down the palm tree and crash into the palmettos below. How awesome is that? In all my paddling on this run, I've never seen a bear before. I leave that to Dave and his early morning paddles. 

We made it to the campsite just as the sun was beginning to set. And what a campsite it was.. Right on the river on a very clear, sandy spot, nestled in the palmettos and pines, and with an amazing oak tree hanging over the river. I was initially very impressed with what good shape it was in, considering that a majority of people I've encountered know (or care) nothing about leave no trace camping ethics. But then I found a few impromptu "bathrooms" on the outskirts of the site and realized this one was no different. Oh well. I wasn't about to let it spoil our wonderful night.

 

Yep, you guessed it, more perfection.

We grilled our dinner over the fire, a filet mignon for Steven and veggie kebabs for me, and followed it up with s'mores. A camping requirement, really. Unfortunately I'm a wuss and didn't stay awake until midnight, but plenty of people did and I could hear their fireworks all around us all night. I don't know where they were, though, since the other river campsites and even the illegal ones were unoccupied. I guess sound just carries.. 

For as warm as it was Saturday, the temperature dipped down to the low 50s that night. We nestled into our 40 degree Coleman sleeping bags and were fine, though. I'll take snuggling up in a warm sleeping bag over dying from heat like we did on our last camping trip to Canaveral, though.

 

My camping breakfasts usually consist of granola or something similar, but with chilly weather and the celebratory nature of New Year's, I opted to try out "ziploc omlets". You scramble eggs (and whatever else you want, I did cheese and veggies) and put them in a ziploc bag. You then submerge the bag in boiling water until the eggs are cooked. It's convenient for camping since there's relatively no cleanup, but it's not recommended to do often since ziploc bags aren't intended to be boiled and studies haven't been done to see what, if anything, is leaching into the food. I have to say it worked superbly, though, and breakfast was awesome. 

 Paired with freshly-squeezed tangerine, orange, and pink grapefruit juice, and some Florida reading material, while overlooked a spring run, it was.. yes.. perfection. I love juxtaposing this New Year's with last year's in London. I enjoyed them both, but think this one is slightly more my style.

I brought a yoga mat intending to do some campsite yoga, because how awesome would that be? But before I knew it, it was getting to check-out time and I had lazed the morning away. Oh well. I have no regrets about that whatsoever. We packed up and took off again, intending to leisurely float the rest of the way to the take-out. 

 Mid-river view of our site on New Year's Day before we left. Amazing, right? Throughout our trip, I kept uttering to myself "I can't believe this place exists", which is hilarious considering the number of times I've been here. But it's true. Where else do you get this? I love Florida.

Oh, and since we didn't stay up until midnight, we had our New Year's kiss before leaving the site.

We stopped off in the river to play some more since we weren't in a hurry and the bottom stretches of the run are so clear and lovely. And also because I'd rather spend the remaining time before the shuttle arrived on the river than at Wekiva Island- the bane of my river-going existence. Oh that retch-worthy redneck riviera.. what a crappy way to end such a perfect trip. It's like a Bud Light Lime commercial mated with a country music video, which is normally something I would steer clear of at all costs, except that it vomited itself right onto the Wekiva River at (what used to be) one of my favorite put-ins. I miss the old Wekiva Marina and I hate supporting the monstrosity that took its place. But Wekiva Island rant aside, it still wasn't nearly bad enough to spoil our amazing, beautiful, perfect camping trip. I can't wait to go back. 

Happy New Year, guys. I hope you had a great one, and wish you all a wonderful and healthy and fulfilling 2012.