Stephen C. Foster State Park in Fargo Georgia is sometimes confused with Stephen Foster Nature Center and State Park in White Springs Florida by first time SBA festival attendees. They're 50 miles away from each other, and Stephen C. Foster is in the Okefenokee Swamp which is the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers. White Springs has a distinction of having two of Florida's 13 bridges crossing the Suwannee.
So we packed Ernie T and headed off to two nights in Georgia. The forecast was wet and cold, cold being relative. The morning lows would be above freezing, and the afternoon highs would be sweater jacket weather. Rain was a fair chance, but with luck we'd miss it. With an electric site we should be fine.
Yeah, we're not gonna miss the rain. Thursday arrived, and it was raining in Neptune as we loaded up our trip stuff. We decided not to bring the kayaks, since the forecast didn't seem conducive, and I am fighting a bit of a sore throat, and wasn't really interested in adding more cold wet to the equation.
The drive was pleasant and traffic free. We got off I-10 in MacClenny and headed north for Georgia and the Okefenokee Swamp, where we turned west along the edge of the swamp until arriving at the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge, and Stephen C. Foster State Park within it. The rain continued in varying degrees during the drive and setting up at our campsite (taking the power cord and surge protector out of the back of Ernie and plugging into the site's outlet).
It's difficult to start a bike ride in the rain, especially when the cold is so biting. So we turned on our little space heater and relaxed amidst our upgrades to Ernie T. We were delighted to turn on the new Pioneer receiver and find that we could pick up WJCT FM, our local PBS station in Jacksonville, a hundred miles away. The original receiver had abysmal range, delivering static while still in town. The Pioneer did a yeoman's job grabbing what remnants of a signal it could and delivering a static-free audio experience. There are circuits in there that make the AVH-4200NEX a superior choice. Thank you, Tony!
We learned that one of the upgrades didn't fare so well. I installed a new faucet, and then with Steven's help a water pump to drive it. The electrical connections are perfect, the switch to send power to the pump easily accessible but out of the way. And we ran the water to the cold water tap of the faucet, and plugged the hot water tap. We ran our testplan, and found everything worked with no leaks. But in Georgia, water seeped out of the plugged tap. My new plan is to split the water coming out of the pump into two lines, and connect them both to the faucet. This will allow for a relatively simple upgrade to put an instant water heater on the second line! The idea of adding a port on the side to allow for using campsite water is tempting, but I am loathe to cutting a hole in the side of the van.
It turned in early, lulled to sleep by rain on the roof, glad that the fiberglass of the roof and the insulation and beadboard made the sound quietly soothing and not loudly tinny. We awoke to temps a degree or three above freezing, depending on your units, though the rain had stopped. My sore throat migrated to my sinuses during the night, but denial isn't just in Egypt, so he took off in the morning light for a hike into the swamp. We met some deer not 50 meters from our site, who seemed nonplussed by our presence. Along the boardwalk in the swamp we saw several more keeping the groundcover neatly trimmed. (Would a Program to maintain a Lawn using Deer be a PLD? It might be better for the smaller areas than a goat array. Points to anyone who gets this. :) There were a myriad of small birds cavorting and denuding bushes of edibles, and one hawk lording over his domain. No alligators, though, I expect that the cold kept them lethargically holed up and sleeping in.
After breakfast we broke out the mountain bikes and explored all (both) of the trails in the campground. "Trails" is marketing term, rather we rode the mown swaths of mostly dry grassland around the camping area. The softness of the earth precluded Ernie from making it along these paths, but certainly not their width. We did verify that there are a lot of deer hanging out around the park.
Two outings were enough for me. I was chilled and sniffling and achy, and perfectly happy to stay in the relatively warm confines of Ernie. Sharon ventured out for a hike through all the areas we hadn't already visited, and some we had. We had planned to rent a canoe for a few hours, but I wasn't up to it, and Sharon was easily dissuaded by the cold damp weather.
Friday night was even colder than the last, though our heater pretty much did its job. Though I insulated the floor, it wasn't enough to keep a persistent chill from emanating up. Sharon will find a nice runner to provide another layer of insulation and foot warmth. Saturday was supposed to a long paddle, but the cold just didn't make it the slightest bit appealing. We had a list of list of some 20 things we forgot or otherwise needed to address before our next venture, so we had a leisurely breakfast and put away our power cable and left the park.
But not the Wildlife Refuge. There was a side road that I visited years ago with my friend Edwin, and we drove down it to see where the Suwannee River starts. We were the only people there (but there were turkeys and buzzards), and enjoying the purity of the Okefenokee like that was a privilege. There was a grove of cypress and water oak with a water line about seven feet high, reminding us of how variable water levels are here.
The drive home was serene, randomly choosing more back roads circling the swamp before taking US 301 to Baldwin and the US 90 into Jacksonville. Our luck continued, letting us drive by the stadium without slowing for Taxslayer Bowl traffic.
What did we learn on this foray? We need to get more incidentals for Ernie, and not rely on memory to move them from home. We also need to pay more attention to securing everything, better techniques to keep drawers or cabinets from opening on turns, dishes from rattling, and the like. And I need to refine our water system, it is so close! Overall, with 22+ mpg for the trip, and staying relatively warm and dry, and well fed and entertained, this trip was a great success. Life is good, Yippee!
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