It finally happened – we packed up the RV and left the Keys. Those of you following along on Instagram or Facebook already know this, but we’ve been back on the road and actively traveling for about ten days now. Rather than bore you with the activities of the last two months on Geiger Key, I’ll relay a quick summary and a few photos and call it done. We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary in early April with happy hour and dessert downtown, I finished out the month of April playing Sunday morning sax at the marina, and I was hired to sing and play mandolin for two nights in May at the same location. We moved Cecil to a new address because our gracious hosts changed locations and we helped with their move as much as we could. In the spirit of expanding my rod-building skills and as a thank you to my father-in-law, I built a custom gaff for him to use on his fishing boat whenever the need may arise.

We spent a few sunny days floating in the canal and soaking up some rays on the nearby sandbars thanks to our close (and now dearly missed) friends. I attended the re-enactment of the Battle of the Conch Republic on a windy Key West afternoon and Ashley furthered her Meandering Stitcher pattern design business. I engaged in an impromptu tour of Duval Street with my sax on one evening, sitting in with various musician friends at The Green Room, Captain Tony’s, and the newly-opened I.C. Doubles. While it’s hard to beat life in the Keys, I was ready for a change of scenery after the past six months (Ashley, too – although possibly with a bit more reluctance).

Our travel plans for the summer include attending a few Old Time and bluegrass music festivals in the Carolinas and Virginias, as well as a foray into Pennsylvania to visit our families and friends up north. The first stop on this leg of our journey was South Bay RV Campground at the southern end of Lake Okeechobee for a single night. We saw the Everglades in 2017 and we try to avoid the Miami area as much as possible, so this park is a convenient stop if you’re driving through the middle of Florida. South Bay is a county park, but resembles most state parks as far as amenities and cleanliness go. You’ll find a playground for the kids, a full bathhouse, laundry facilities, full hook-up sites, and a small lake on premises. Our neighbor mentioned the alligator living in the lake, and we spotted two small gators soon after. Don’t let your tiny dogs or small children wander freely around the lake.

The park was nearly empty, with only ten of the 100+ sites occupied during our stay. It might be packed to the gills during the winter busy season, but our visit was quiet and largely uneventful. Each site is in the open without much separation, but they aren’t plastered close enough to look out your window and see into the neighbor’s kitchen. The park has free WiFi which worked well enough for loading websites and even streaming YouTube videos, so that was an added bonus. We’d stop here again and I’d recommend any RVers traveling around Lake Okeechobee to consider South Bay RV Campground as a stop on your itinerary – especially during the off-season.

The next morning brought an unexpected surprise during our routine visual pre-departure inspection. The rear passenger tire had a suspicious bulge at the bottom, and the tire pressure gauge soon confirmed that it was indeed flat. We found a truck tire service center less than six miles away, so we packed up quickly and hit the road – fingers crossed that the tire would make the trip without incident. The crew at Tire Service Plus repaired our tire and had us back on the road in less than an hour with a very inexpensive bill to show for their efforts. This was our second flat since we started officially RVing in May 2017, so one every other year isn’t so bad I guess (although we only have about 13,000 miles on Cecil at this point).

We departed South Bay with a repaired rear tire, heading north along the eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee. The quiet back road wound through sleepy little towns and past a few scattered gas stations with growing spans of sparse forest and swampy marshland in between. Insects splattered across the windshield with increasing frequency until we were soon driving through a blizzard of fornicating lovebugs. The central Florida scourge filled the air and exploded against the RV windshield eventually rendering the wipers and washer fluid useless. Cars and trucks driving in the opposite direction were covered in sticky lovebug molasses, a clear indication that our situation wasn’t going to improve any time soon.

Lovebugs resemble fireflies without the attractive glowing bit on the end. Mating lovebugs resemble two-headed insects from a Lovecraftian horror story, each end pulling from the opposite direction while being completely oblivious to their surroundings as they fly through the air and crawl across surfaces. The RV was a snowplow clearing the way through the onslaught for any other vehicles following closely behind. We were eventually forced to pull over after about half an hour because we simply couldn’t see through the thick goopy smear of bug guts on the windshield.

These insects aren’t native to Florida. Scientists agree that lovebugs emigrated into Texas and Louisiana from Central America in the 1920s, and then likely reached Florida across the Yucatan in the 1940s. They’ve since become an invasive species but pose no threat to humans or animals, other than being an extreme nuisance twice a year during the swarm season. For a week or so every May and September, lovebugs swarm when the temperature rises above 68 making a mess of automobiles and homes and annoying joggers and bikers. The bugs splatter on hard surfaces, leaving behind black carcasses and a sticky white fluid which is apparently their eggs. The fluid is harmless, but when left in the sun over time, microorganisms and other bacteria grow in the goop which eventually raises the acidity and can etch automotive paint. Experts recommend soaking the residue in water for about five minutes, then scrubbing until it’s gone. We didn’t know any of this at the time – we just wanted the RV exterior to be relatively clean again in the near future.

The first service station was completely out of windshield washer fluid, as were all other locations in a 50-mile radius according to the woman behind the counter. We didn’t really need any, but I thought I would ask just to be prepared. Our plastic bucket in the storage bay came in handy as we filled it with water from our holding tank and a little soap to help clean the front window. I’m not sure if my writing has yet conveyed the extent of the lovebug infestation – maybe this photo will help. Remember, this is just after only 30 minutes or so of driving through the swarms. This continued for at least another hour.

We were first amazed at the natural occurrence, then concerned, and finally disgusted by the time the lovebugs dissipated. Poor Cecil the RV was covered in more insect debris than he ever had been in his entire automotive life. We arrived at Wekiwa Springs State Park in shame, our home on wheels featuring a uni-brow of dead insects and a mustache of drying detritus. We tried to give the RV a quick scrub at the campsite, but soon realized our efforts were futile given our current tools and circumstances. We required professional help.

Trying to ignore the insect situation, we instead chatted with our friend Randall from Geiger Key who decided to meet us at the park during his own trip north for the summer. We plugged in the RV as we talked, only to discover the electricity at our site wasn’t working. A quick call to the park office soon sent a couple of guys from the maintenance crew our way and they were able to repair the power pedestal in about 20 minutes.

We chose Wekiwa Springs State Park because of Randall’s recommendation that we kayak somewhere around the Wekiva River (yes, the park has a “w” but the river has a “v”). He had three kayaks loaded in his truck in preparation for our adventure, an excursion we likely wouldn’t have experienced without his generosity. King’s Landing is a paddling outfit about ten miles away from the park which offers kayak and canoe rentals as well as a launch area for a small fee. We piled into Randall’s truck our first morning in the park and headed up the road intending to paddle Rock Springs Run back into Wekiwa Springs – an aquatic journey of about eight miles. Ashley decided she didn’t want to join our flotilla because her arm was in pain that morning (a repetitive stress injury from knitting – yes, it’s a thing) so we unloaded the truck and she drove back to the park while Randall and I set off down the river.

Rock Springs Run is a freshwater river flowing into the Wekiva River, very much different from the saltwater kayaking we’re used to in the Keys. The springs flow slowly yet steadily through shady tree-covered passes and occasionally expansive pond-like areas. Where saltwater kayaking tends to focus more on the sea life you might spot underwater, this freshwater springs kayaking was more about the scenery and wildlife you might spot above the water’s surface. Randall and I leisurely paddled the river, taking in the sights as birds glided overhead and perched on branches, tiny alligators lounged along the banks, and a few fish swam below the surface. We passed through very distinct ecological systems – one resembling a tropical jungle, while another looked like a deciduous forest. The water was clear and cool, perfect for wading to wash off the sweat and accumulated heat of paddling. We made the turn into the state park after about five hours of paddling and were faced with a short upstream journey to reach the launch area. The park is the source of another natural spring (hence the name) which flows out to join Rock Springs Run and eventually the Wekiva River.

Ashley met us with Randall’s truck after we hauled the kayaks out of the water and carried them up the hill to the parking lot. I wish she could have enjoyed the trip with us, but in hindsight it was better she chose not to. While certainly not a whitewater rafting trip, the float down Rock Springs Run required more paddling than I anticipated and made for quite a long day which would have only aggravated her arm. And yes, I do joke with her about giving herself an old lady knitting injury. We loaded up the kayaks and Ashley and I cooled off in the swimming area while Randall grabbed some refreshments from the snack bar. The park is fully outfitted with everything you might want for a day away from the city (it’s just north of Orlando) and the natural springs swimming area is probably one of the best we’ve seen at a state park.

We spent two nights at Wekiwa Springs and the amenities are typical of what you’d find in any state park. Nice separation between sites, clean bathrooms, excellent natural swimming area (maybe not that common in other parks) – not much else to say, other than that the staff was incredibly friendly in general and very efficient in solving the electrical issue. If you’re looking for an escape while in the Orlando area, check out Wekiwa Springs State Park. And definitely plan to kayak because it’s a unique opportunity that shouldn’t be missed (unless you have a knitting-related arm injury). Thanks again to Randall for facilitating the adventure!

We packed up the next morning and hit the road with an exceptionally long drive ahead of us – about seven hours into South Carolina. We were on a schedule to reach Union Grove, North Carolina by Thursday with one stop in between. Up next – a night at a winery thanks to Harvest Hosts, followed by our very first Old Time music and fiddle festival! See you down the road.