O'Leno State Park

Like Florida Caverns State Park where we camped at earlier, O'Leno is one of the oldest State Parks in Florida. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930's. How do I know all this? Gary told me. How does he know? He reads all about the places we camp at. As for me, I think all that information is interesting, but I really don't care about the details as long as I'm camping. This was a nice enough place, but far from being one of our favorites. If you're into hiking, this is the place for you. There are trails EVERYWHERE. Other than that, it's not all that pretty, and the campsites are just average. One couple came over to look at me, and they were nice. Gary said "Hi" to a few others, and they wouldn't even respond. I've heard of happy campers, but there were more un-happy campers here than anyplace else we've been. It was a decent stopover point on our way home, but we wouldn't think about going back again. Since we were only staying for one night, and strong chances of rain were in the forecast, Gary didn't bother getting the bike out of the van. He walked the full length of the River Trail, and took some of the pictures you see above. It was almost dark by the time he returned. He warmed up some leftovers in my microwave, took a shower, and watched TV for awhile. The rain held off until 6AM the next morning. It didn't rain all that hard, but it made it difficult for Gary to get me ready to go. I had stayed pretty clean during this trip, but mud splashed up on me during the rain. In addition, the large potholes in the campground road on the way out were full of muddy standing water. I was DIRTY by the time we got to the paved road leading out of the park. Gary decided to stop at a very large antique store not far from the park. It was still raining when he went in, but it was sunny and dry by the time he came out. We had some nice roads to travel on the way home. A really cool thing happened on a four-lane section of one of the highways. A young couple in an older Toyota Camry was following close behind us for several miles. It took awhile, but they finally pulled up next to Gary's door, and gave him the thumbs up. Then they fell back behind me again for a short time, and when they pulled up to Gary's door for a second time, the young woman had my blog displayed on her smart phone. One more thumbs up from the couple, and they pulled away and out of sight. That was GREAT!!! It made my day, and I know Gary was pretty thrilled about it too. We're heading out in the morning for three nights of camping at Lake Griffin State Park. This will be another new place that we haven't been to before. We will welcome in the New Year there. I'll let you know how things went when we get back. Happy New Year, everyone.