St. Andrews State Park, Panama City Beach, FL

January 7, 2016

We left for St. Andrews State Park at around 10 a.m. and arrived at 2:30 central time. It was a pretty drive and very remote; part of the way through Apalachicola National Forest. The campground is beautiful; our site is #10 in the Lower Grand Lagoon section; right on the water.

We set up camp and had just put out our camp chairs and talked to our new neighbors (Jackie and Lou) when it started raining. So into the RV we went. Dave also found a small leak under the kitchen sink so he tried to figure out what he has to do to fix it. Wasn’t able to fix the leak today. Have to make a trip to Walmart.

Rained all night so just relaxed and watched tv.

 Site #10 at St. Andrews State Park

View of the sunrise from our living room window

View of some snowy egrets from our living room window; hopefully the most snow we see. ;)

January 8, 2016

This is supposed to be the best weather day for the entire week we’re here (70’s and partly sunny). Figured this would probably be the best day to kayak. We were able to launch the kayaks right from our campsite which was pretty cool. We hugged the shore of the campground into the wind (not a strong wind, but a good workout) so we could get a leisurely ride back. The sun struggled to come out, but never really made an appearance.

After lunch we hopped on our bikes and rode around the entire park. The beach in the park (where we brought our kids ~15 years ago) had a steep drop due to erosion, about an 8 foot drop. It looked crazy when we first saw it.

Headed to Walmart for plumbing supplies for Dave, groceries and fire wood. After dinner Dave built a fire.

Dave launching his kayak from our campsite

Kayaking on the Lower Grand Lagoon

Wendy kayaking along the shore of the campground

The steep bank had treasure hunters digging for, well, treasure.

January 9, 2016

Hiked around the state park today. They have a few trails you can walk along. Also stopped by the little museum they have at the park registration office. Learned about the Hermit of St. Andrews. Dave worked on the kitchen sink leak and fixed it…we hope. Watched football the rest of the day. :)

Interesting story about the hermit of St. Andrews

 Watching football

January 10, 2016

We drove to Conservation State Park this morning and hiked a bunch of trails. It was a chilly morning (high 50’s) and a bit windy. I think we did about 3 miles. Watched the playoff games.

Cypress Pond Trail looked like a scene from the apocalypse

Osprey Trail at Conservation Park

A few more days in Panama City Beach and then we'll be heading to Pensacola on Thursday. We'll have access to internet there! (We're using the wifi at the local library to put this out today.)