Late April NoFlo camping trip

SO later this month I am going on a short camping excursion with a good friend Kelly. Nothing too fancy, we will be staying at 3 different state parks by Tallahasse and along the panhandle gulf coast. This will be my first camping trip of the year and my first ever girls only camping trip. I am not opposed to more people attending but I am looking forward to it being just the two of us independent types just to say we can and did. :) I will leave out any actual photos of the parks because I will be posting my own soon enough.

First we will be departing Tampa on the 21st early in the morning to head out for Torreya state park. Here you can see an overview.

Our camping is situated along one of the bluffs and I picked a spot based on a book review that states there is an actual Torreya tree on the site's border.

The botany geek inside is very excited about this.

We will be doing lots of trail hiking here. I am excited because I think there will be some excellent photo ops as well as some good exercise to be had.

The next day we will head SW to St George Island

I have always wanted to go here but this is the campsite I am least excited about. The park was almost booked out- we got the last site for the night and I fear it's going to be nestled between two giant moving homes and with little privacy. However, with 9 miles of undeveloped coastline I am not looking to spend too much time at my campsite. Nearby Apalachicola will hopefully satisfy my craving for some cheap local seafood on the road. It's waters are supposed to be some of the cleanest and most producing in the nation. Hoping our drive back home takes us back through here so I can pick up some bags of Oysters for my friend Erin who is obsessed with them. (I'm not a fan).

Then we will head further West into the panhandle and stay the night at Grayton Beach.

I have a feeling this will be the most scenic. I mean we will have the gulf, the lake, all the coastal dunes, etc to help frame some excellent photos. I am hoping they have kayak rentals (need to do some research) so we can explore in some of the waterways. I really wish we were staying here two nights but alas, we are not. Originally in planning this trip the first stop was to be at a park in Gainesville and there was to beonly one coastal spot. We decided to shave some time off the trip and go for two nights on the coast but had already commited to here being our last night and unfortunately no sites available for the night prior. I read excellent reviews about the campgrounds but I have a feeling the beach itself is going to be packed.

I purchased a sunshade for the trip (and surely to get much use this summer and beyond!).
and it's supposed to be getting here today. BTW, if you're not familiar with Overstock, I highly recommend it. The prices are fair and the shipping rates are flat at 2.95 and oftentimes free for promotions. I have purchased many heavy items that I can't find around town without breaking the bank.

Another item I purchased for daily life but will definitely be coming in handy is a Nexus One!

I always intended to purchase a GPS when I got a new car and as it turned out I got a new car due to mine being stolen (r.i.p.). It was definitely nice to lay my '95 civic to rest but alas! My handheld garmin for camping and was also in my car. Ultimately did I want to buy 2 new gadgets or just incorporate them all into one? The answer was obv.

The phone will provide turn by turn assist and has a geocaching app among a billion other useful tools. It's expected to arrive tomorrow and I can't wait.

Later y'all :)