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| Alafia River State Park one of many small lakes |
Alafia River State Park has more tricks up its sleeve than you can shake a stick at. Derived from a old phosphate mine, this extreme bike trail park has many miles of single track riding from extreme double diamond 40 ft jumps to winding bumpy river loops with wooden bridges and sandy pine flats. All in all Alafia River State Park is a very good place for trail riding or horseback riding, hiking, canoeing, camping and birding. The weather was warm to hot in the day and cool to cold at night, but then all hell broke loose.
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| Campsite #15 before the storm |
It pretty much started the second morning after we arrived in between bites of my apple-wood smoked bacon and my farm fresh sunny-side up eggs with *Damper toast ( *see Spaceships and Dampers). We kinda knew the weather was brewing but not what was about to happen. First a series of high wind gusts came up and blew just about everything off the table, our canopy was about to go airborne. I did everything I could to hold it down with one hand while the other hand was clutching my rasher of thick-cut bacon. Thank gawd my last egg was still on my plate only to keep it from going Apollo. Trixie had her hands full, stretching her arms across her plate and making sure that the last of the coffee would remain planted firmly on the table. Then the rain came, we started gobbling down the remainder of our breakfast only to make a mad dash to button up our campsite and retreat into our rooftop tent.
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| Sunset in the Park |
While the rain came down and I do mean "down", we stayed huddled up on the roof until well after 5pm, each of us taking turns on storm watch. As we listen to the rain finally letting up and conditions improving,
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| Trixie getting her morning Chi on! |
Trixie comes up with the bright idea of pizza. But who would deliver 10 miles outside of the nearest town in a state park #15 campsite, "Hungry Howie's" that's who. After several phone calls to local pizza joints, "sorry no, out of our delivery area" only Howie's came through, a bonus for me I didn't have to cook in our soggy rain swept campsite.
With tracks winding through the tree lined canopy, over rivers and along small lakes,
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| Spaghetti Bike Trails |
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| Extreme Excavation Extreme Recreation |
biking along the many loop trails we encountered deer, birds of prey, turtles, and the clip clop clop of horse
hooves as the many equestrians in cowboy gear take full advantage
of trails.
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| Arrowhead swamp potato bloom |
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| Alafia Lake Hydrophytic plants and Cattails |
Do this park with a Mountain bike or Gravel bike as it makes it all the more challenging and Trixie has the bruises to prove it! "BTW" having "Hungry Howie's" phone number on speed dial won't hurt...
Tomorrow morning heading out to
Sun 'n Fun International Fly-In & Expo at
Lakeland Linder Regional Airport, see you on the road.
🚙......
