3.31.2006

Alarming Armadillo

The night before last Moxie & I camped in tropical Tomoka State Park, just north of Daytona Beach. It was good to be back on the road and great fun to set up the tent again. But a few hours after I fell asleep, Moxie went berserck... barking, growling, jumping against the screened back of the tent. I quieted her down long enough to hear footsteps outside. They were slow, seemingly deliberate -- not the scurrying I'd associate with a harmless animal.

As I lay wondering what do next (and allowing Moxie to bark!), two men were dispatched from the family tents next door. I heard them talking... look at it! it's huge!... and called out from my tent, too nervous to open the flap. "It's a big armadillo," one of them called out. And I still didn't know if we should go back to sleep or run for our lives. Fortunately my Treo was in the tent with us and a quick Google revealed there was nothing to fear. Armadillos are primarily insectivores that will feast on flesh only if they're lucky enough to stumble upon something already dead (which fortunately we were not). The men chased it away and we went back to sleep. My only regret is missing the chance to see a huge armadillo myself.

Yesterday we explored St. Augustine's historic downtown area, then hung a west. Whereas the drive up the coast from Tomoka to St. Augustine was beautiful in a beachy way, the journey westward was beautiful in a green way. The rolling scenery of farms and forests made it feel like driving through Pennsylvania... except with palm trees. We set up camp last night at Suwannee River State Park, which claims to represent "the Real Florida." I'm not sure what makes it more legit than the rest of the state, but it's a nice place. We'll do some hiking before pushing off today.

Tonight we're looking forward to meeting up with family in Tallahassee, where we plan to spend a night or two. Then it's off to Pensacola and beyond. Please note the destinations list that I've added on the right side of the page. I'm hoping it will inspire you to offer tips about these places, or other ones nearby. (I'm also working on enabling a way to comment directly on that list about specific places... stay tuned.) Some of our best experiences so far have been based on such insider tips!

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Glad we were able to scare away the armadillo, he was a big one. Enjoy your journey... travel can be very cleansing.
Thanks for the wine. It's a great travel companion.
Your neighbors at Tomoka State Park.

21:58  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Armadillo! All I really know about them is that they look funny and they're not extremely smart. Apparently they're very popular roadkill down there, not because they actually get hit my cars but because when they get scared thier instinct is to jump up, so they kill themselves by hitting the bottoms of cars. Silly armadillos!
~SG

13:52  

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