The Pickup

They say waiting is the hardest part.

After about 3 weeks of phone calls, emails, and patiently waiting I have finally taken delivery of my 2018 Runaway Camper RangeRunner travel trailer. Simplicity at it's best! No toilet. No running water. 

Honestly, what more can a man ask for? It's a bed in a box with air-con but more importantly it's an upgrade from sleeping in a tent on the ground. And at 44 years old that gets more difficult with every passing birthday. At under six thousand dollars this is about as cheap and as good as it gets.

After twenty hours of driving from North Texas to Florida we arrived at my grandmother's place. The trailer was waiting patiently for my arrival, safe and secure with a hitch lock supplied by my father.

Pine Log State Park. Ebro, Florida

Pine Log State Park is a state forest. The array of neatly lined trees create a shady retreat from the Florida sun. These Pinus elliiottii are as ubiquitous as the drunken college students found on the beach during spring break in Panama City Beach.

Among the pine trees can be found two ponds that are calm and quite ready to be paddled. So, off with the kayak I ventured. I had the whole place to myself.

Dividing the ponds is the gravel road into the camp. The first pond (the one the camp sites surround) is round, possibly due to being an ancient sinkhole, and adorned with St Augustine grass and Nymphaeceae water lilies. A wooden pier with a gazebo at the end creates a stunning visual at sunset and is a great place to listen to the chorus of tree frogs looking for a mate.

The second pond is more stark in appearance with dormant cypress trees surrounding still, dark waters. Navigating among the cypress trees is possible, but the knees of the trees bump and rub the underside of my kayak as I paddle through them making it precariously close to tipping. But, venturing into the trees reveals shallower water and eventually an elevate boardwalk can be found on the south side of the pond. The boardwalk is part of a nature trail system that meanders throughout the park.

So, my first camping trip with my Runaway Camper was uneventful, other than a minor rewiring job that needed to be done on my Nissan Frontier in order to get the marker and tail lamps to work properly. While under the rear bumper I snapped this photo of my dog supervising my work while enjoying the sounds and sights of the park from the tailgate of my truck.