As mentioned yesterday, we decided to put off our departure from Florida for one more day to camp on the beach. Fort DeSoto has a beautiful campground that sits right on the water. All three of us were enthusiastic about camping for the first time on this trip. The scenery here certainly made the decision to stay and camp very easy.
After checking out of our hotel and a quick trip to the super market for supplies, we headed out to the campground area. We reserved our campsite and then went directly to the beach in lieu of setting up camp right away. It was about 2pm and we wanted to get our beach time in before it got to late. The water that borders the campground is not safe for swimmers (strong currents and deep holes), so we headed for the official beach which is about a mile away.
We swam at a different part of the beach from yesterday. The water was a little cooler, but much more shallow. This enabled us to go pretty far from the shore. At about 4:30 the wind sparked up all of a sudden. The calm pristine water suddenly turned into a choppy wave filled mess. With the wind so strong we worried a little bit. I knew that setting up a tent in such strong wind wouldn’t be much fun. At 5pm we headed back to the campground with the wind still blowing hard. We wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to set up camp before dark.
I am sure our neighbors didn’t know it was going to happen, but at 5pm today they were the audience to quite a show. Watching the three of us try to set up a tent in 40MPH winds was enough to make even the saddest person laugh. We struggled for over an hour, but in the end the victory was ours. The tent was up correctly and it was handling the wind just fine. Exhausted from the battle, we decided to get in the tent and eat our dinner. Shortly after we finished dinner, the wind completely died. Oh the irony.
Just about the time the wind died, the sun started to set. It should be no secret by now that I love sunsets. I especially can’t resist them when water is involved. Who could? The sunset was exactly what I needed after the mishaps of the prior hours. It was stunning and left me quite relaxed. I think I enjoyed it more than the one on the Florida Keys, because we didn’t have any power lines blocking the view.
After a couple of games of UNO we settled in for the night. Shortly after we laid down, a high pitched squeeling noise started coming from the trees above our tent. Naturally, I decided to investigate. It turned out to be a couple of racoons up in the tree talking to each other. They must have been discussing their plans to steal all of our food. What they didn’t know, was there are signs all over the campground warning campers to secure their food, so ours was locked up. I did manage to run back and get my camera before they saw me and ran away.
On another note, a head cold has been creeping up on me the last couple of days and my body is working hard to rid me of it. I am already on a daily multivitamin but I upped my dose of vitamin C in order to aid my immune system in the fight. I believe it will go away soon. None the less, the combination of swimming, the head cold and wrestling with the tent for over an hour, has left me quite tired. I plan to sleep well tonight! At least the weather has calmed down and the temperature is perfect. When it is all said and done, this was another day I just can’t complain about. Thanks for being there!
We want to thank everyone for the comments and emails. Your support is truly appreciated and keeps us going.
The Coomer Family
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SHAWN WHAT A GORGEOUS SUNSET!! WOW I TO LOVE SUNSETS AND THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ONES I’VE SEEN. THIS TRIP IS SO EXCITING AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO CAMP OUT. WELL WHERE’S THE CAMPER???? JUST KIDDING!! KEEP UP THE GREAT TRAVELS AND THE GREAT WRITING I’M LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT. LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU TOO. LOVE MOM AND GRANDMA XOXOXOXOX
What a great picture of the racoon and ofcourse the beautiful
sunsets, I too am a sunset fan and when ever I traveled would
always try to be in a place to watch the sunset.
Try Zicam either pill form or liquid seems to do the trick for me
hoping for a quick recovery for you.
Really enjoying this what a great idea, memories for life!!!
Have fun,
Best to you all, Sandy