Colvins revisited...Jacksonville Florida

Sunday August 1st, we picked up our trailer, and left Orlando, heading for Jacksonville Florida. Derek's friend Eric was joining us again. This time he was coming with his mother, Suzi. I think she had heard how much fun Craig and Eric had when they visited, and wanted some fun of her own! They were leaving on a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale, so this was not completely out of the way. Anyway, we got to Jacksonville and set up camp at Little Talbot State Park. It was a neat place! Suzi dropped Eric off after they arrived. She had to work the next day, so she needed space and connectivity, so she was hoteling it for the night.

The next morning Marcus was up early, and came back to get us all. There was a river running through the campground that folks were fishing in. On the banks of the river were gazillions of tiny little fiddler crabs all scurrying around. They would pop into a nearby hole when you walked by. It was very fun!! The three boys had a great time with that for quite a while.

After breakfast we headed to the beach. To get to the beach, we had to walk on a long boardwalk over the dunes. Eric noticed a tortoise walking on the dunes. We stopped to watch. The tortoise chomped on the vegetation growing on the dunes, and ended up walking right across our path!! Eric had just read about Gopher Tortoises and their being endangered. When we did our research later we found that sure enough, we had encountered one right there on our way to the beach! Once we got to the beach, one of the first sights we saw was an area roped off with posts and caution tape. A bright yellow sign pronounced that this was the site of a sea turtle nest and not to disturb! How exciting! I had always wanted to see sea turtle nests!! Very cool!

At the beach, the water was perfect! The waves were perfect! The weather was perfect!! It was all perfect!! It was so perfect that Marcus went back and made us lunch so we could continue our fun. It was during lunch that I noticed how red Derek's shoulders were getting. We were all feeling a bit sunned out, so we headed back to the trailer. Sure enough, Derek had quite a sunburn! Colin did too on his arms, and cheeks, and Eric on the back of his neck! Ah well, the price we had to pay for such perfection! That evening Suzi came to the trailer for dinner. We thought perhaps she would stay with us that night, but it was too hot to make the boys sleep in a tent as they had the last visit, and between the limited room, and the need for connectivity, she opted to hotel it again. Perhaps I should have joined her!! That night, I decided not to walk all the way to the bathroom. I would be brave, and pee behind a bush... apparently, I peed on a big root. It caused much splashing action, splashing it right into my face and all over my legs!! I was so grossed out!! I ran into the trailer and washed my face and legs and changed my jammies! How does one pee in their own face? I found a way! Yes, perhaps I should have joined Suzi in her hotel!! I'm sure she didn't have the same issue!

The next morning, Marcus woke up bright and early and took off for a bike ride on the beach (notice a pattern here?). When he came back, he said there were fresh turtle nests and we all had to go see them. I drove the car while he led the boys on bikes to the beach. Then I climbed on my bike and he ran, showing us the way. On the way we saw a giant horseshoe crab washed up on the beach. The sand was firm and easy to ride on. It was a beautiful morning! We found the sea turtle nest. It looked like an ATV had come up out of the ocean, to the dunes, churned up the sand some, and then headed back. It turns out those were Loggerhead Turtle nests! According to the rangers, you can tell what kind of nest it is, by the pattern leading to it. Most turtles move across the sand with both front flippers moving at the same time, (like the dolphin stroke in swimming) but loggerheads alternate their flippers. Also, they have little tails, so they don't have the middle drag mark from a tail. They dig a hole and bury the eggs making it smooth, vs. other turtles, that leave mounds. The eggs take 60 days to hatch. The baby turtles hatch at night and make the dangerous trek to sea. We rode for about 2 miles on the beach. Marcus had already done it once, then ran the whole way with us the second time. He was sweaty, but still full of energy, but the boys were all pooped out! Perhaps we need to increase our training regimen!

One additional nice thing we noticed about Little Talbot State Park was there were fewer mosquitoes! Perhaps we would heal after all! Maybe we wouldn't need to buy stock in the cortaid company after all. We thought we might have an insider tip for you all! Never mind!