Day 6: Gulf State Park and Tampa-area, Florida
Although I tried to schedule most of my trip not have a full day’s worth of driving, there are a few parts where I couldn’t avoid this. Today is one of those days, as I had a 9 hour drive from Gulf State Park to a family friend’s house just North of Tampa. Although the drive was long, it is important to remember that it is less about the destination and more about the journey. This trip, all 14,000 miles of has no singular destination. It is a journey. An adventure that doesn’t end when I arrive at a place I call home. It will enlighten, educate, culture and inspire me for the rest of my life.
I took one last look over the lake at the Gulf State Park campgrounds before I left for the day. I was soon to find out there is much more to Gulf State Park than what I saw at the campgrounds. Beaches line the highway as you start heading east towards Florida. They are your beautiful sand-dune trimmed beaches with white sand and wood picket and wire fences to keep troublesome tourists from trampling the dunes and the sea oats. It was beautifully sunny, so I had taken the top on my Jeep down again after faring the rains of Louisiana. I was certainly enjoying the sunny rays of the sunshine state when I crossed state lines.
Driving along I-10 there were several rainstorms I passes through, including one thunderstorm. Something amazing takes place when you are driving on the interstate going 70 mph: Most of the rain just sweeps right over you. I had to use a towel to wipe off the inside of the windshield a few times, but I was having the time of my life- both because of how refreshing it felt to smell the rain and experience the storm without getting soaked, and observing all the strange looks I got from other drivers along I-10.
As I headed south along I-75, and then along a county road, I started seeing more of the stereotypical Florida: Large trees draped with Spanish moss and orange trees both in groves and randomly dotting the side of the highway. I met up with family friends, who treated me to a dinner at Ruby Tuesday, and then we chatted around the TV about all sorts of things. It turns out one of them makes some spectacular soap, homemade of goats milk. If you are looking for some great organic soaps, visit www.simplycaprine.com. They also make quite a few other products, all organic and made by hand.
Florida is a very large state, with a transition that you can experience if driving from the northern part to the southern tip. It starts as a stereotypical “deep south” climate, as I just described, to a palm-tree covered tropical environment surrounded by the bright blue Caribbean. I may have only been able to experience the driving of Florida today (and the hospitality of local friends) but tomorrow I get to drive across the state to its eastern coast, to stay in a place I absolutely adore: St. Augustine.
