Camping Trip: Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park

All of today's pictures are courtesy of Daddy and Momma.

We missed our March camping trip, we were just too busy, but in April we camped at Payne's Prairie Preserve State Park. Located between Ocala and Gainesville it was the state's first preserve. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and set up in a tent only site. These were nearly all empty so we had the area to ourselves, and just a short hop to the bathhouse, which was impeccably clean. We quickly set up the campsite and I let Ruth take the younger kids over to the playground, as Gary started on supper and Britt set about collecting and chopping up limbs that the park service had recently cut from the trees. Meanwhile I laid out sleeping quarters and such inside.

As a rather late lunch, or perhaps a very early supper we had Porkchops cooked in a cast iron skillet with barbeque sauce and the kids had a boisterous time telling stories, arguing, and being themselves. Gary let them pop popcorn over the fire and they ate boo-kooddles of it. We tried to get them to bed earlyish, but everyone was having too much fun. So we put the three littles in their section of the tent, and we got in bed, while we allowed the older three to put a last log on the fire and had permission to set around it to it burned down to coals. They had a good time together, and I love seeing how their relationship has changed from that of little children playing together, to teens debating everything from the merit of video games, to who could survive a zombie apocalypse.

The next morning we ate a delicious breakfast, using those shake and pour pancake mixes, fried eggs, and bacon. When asked on a different trip what she liked cooked best over the fire, Rebecca answered those pancakes cooked in bacon grease. because they get crispy around the edges. All I know, is it maybe a heart attack waiting to happen, but it sure tastes good. Then we headed up to the Ranger's Center. The Ranger on duty was incredibly kind, even for a Ranger (after all we've never met a mean or indifferent one). After telling us about the park and some of the trails he took the kids over to the massive window with a sweeping view out over the prairie, lined up the telescopes, and told the kids that there were 4 bison in view. We all took turns gazing at them. Then we watched the video about the park, and headed on our way.

Our first stop was to the observation tower that is much higher than the Ranger Station and gives you a chance to really stare out over the prairie, it is so vast, I can only image what the prairie's of Laura Ingles Wilder's day were like out in South Dakota. Then we set out on our trail it is a 4 mile hike out into the prairie but we didn't follow it the entire way out only about 2 miles out, and back, still a 4 mile walk is the longest we've done, and poor Will was really feeling it as he dragged his feet out. Then Gary told them they could beat Kate with a stick and everyone took off on a hot chase, except us. We weren't lucky enough to see any bison up close, but we did see about four or five Spanish mustangs together at a distance, and two deer just steps off the trail grazing.

After a trip to the grocery store to pick up some lunch and supper items, we came back and grilled hamburgers for lunch. Afterward, Britt offered to take the kids to the park and let us get a small nap. It all worked out great, and then we were ready for the evening. I sat doing my bible reading in the peaceful evening as the sound of the kids playing drifted over from the playground. Gary got busy cooking sausage dogs for supper and soon they all trapsed back starving to death.

Right around sunset Gary took us all over to the Lake to the west and we watched the sky with it's oranges aflame and golden light spilling over the trees. One of the prettiest sunsets we've had on a hike or camping weekend. That evening Daddy let them play with fire. Though it made Momma nervous, he cut them palm branches without the fronds showed them how to set them alight down in the coals and then wrote in the dark sky. So the kids looked like a group from Harry Potter with their wands alight and making figures dance in the night air. They all did very well and when the sticks got too short they were thrown in the fire and green palm branches were gathered for marshmallows. Everyone was ready to head to bed early Thursday night as they had a very full day.

A dirty boy is a happy boy.

The next morning we took our time packing up and drove around the park some more before heading out. It was a wonderful bonding time with the kids. Especially after the bustle of our move the week before and the long stressful weeks of packing and moving boxes to one of Mom and Dad's barns in Lithia. It is a place we'd highly recommend, and will probably visit again as we didn't get to do all the trails we were interested in.

We loved the campground itself it's really well maintained most of the sites are private from one another with plenty of trees for shade and to divide and cover the spaces, there are good facilities and there are so many trails. The address to Payne's Prairie Preserve State Park is 100 Savannah Blvd., Micanopy, Florida. The park is open 8 am until sunset, for $6 a car load, camping arrangements can be made online, but we had a small snag with ours and were able to call and get it straightened out over the phone.