The weekend started with my younger brothers graduation from UF and then a casual wandering of the Ocala National forest! My wife, son and I slowly made our way down to the north west Side of the forest to Lake Delancy east where we found an almost empty campground with the exception of two others!
Shortly after arriving and setting up camp, the camp host came by and said that the bears have been around and to keep an eye out since we have a young(18mo old) running around. No more than 5 minutes went by and we hear some rustling in the bushes...... Out pops a momma black bear and two cubs! 25 ft behind the tent. I scooped up the little one, not just to keep him from running up to them, ie no fear of anything, but so that he could get a good view of them while safe in my arms! I hope these are the are th e experiences he will remember throughout his life. I have some pictures I will upload later when I get them off my phone.
To continue on, we went for a late afternoon exploration tour through the forest. Nothing technical, just some sandy trails and fresh air. When we got back the bears had disappeared and we cooked a highly gormet dinner of hot dogs, baked beans, corn on the cob, and some Doritos! We sat by the fire and soon fell asleep!
The next day we packed up our camp site and went for a drive through the sandy roads of ONF. Got some pin striping on the truck from the narrow jeep trails, probably won't go back down some of those, but it was a lot of fun just exploring! Next time I will actually stop and take some photos because I know all of you are photo junkies like me!
Shortly after arriving and setting up camp, the camp host came by and said that the bears have been around and to keep an eye out since we have a young(18mo old) running around. No more than 5 minutes went by and we hear some rustling in the bushes...... Out pops a momma black bear and two cubs! 25 ft behind the tent. I scooped up the little one, not just to keep him from running up to them, ie no fear of anything, but so that he could get a good view of them while safe in my arms! I hope these are the are th e experiences he will remember throughout his life. I have some pictures I will upload later when I get them off my phone.
To continue on, we went for a late afternoon exploration tour through the forest. Nothing technical, just some sandy trails and fresh air. When we got back the bears had disappeared and we cooked a highly gormet dinner of hot dogs, baked beans, corn on the cob, and some Doritos! We sat by the fire and soon fell asleep!
The next day we packed up our camp site and went for a drive through the sandy roads of ONF. Got some pin striping on the truck from the narrow jeep trails, probably won't go back down some of those, but it was a lot of fun just exploring! Next time I will actually stop and take some photos because I know all of you are photo junkies like me!