Way Down Upon the Suwannee River
By Ross
We spent a relaxing few days at a private campground on the Suwannee River in the midst of the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. We set up camp right on the river among the cypress and oak trees overlooking a multitude of cypress "knees" on the river's edge. The river is wide this close to the Gulf. We're only 15 miles from the river's outlet on the coast.
The entire area feels sleepy, unrushed, and unpopulated. It's rural to be sure. And the nearby wildlife refuge is protected land. From Wikipedia, "the 53,000-acre wildlife refuge was established to protect one of the largest undeveloped river delta systems in the United States. It includes twenty miles (32 km) of the Suwannee River estuary and twenty miles (32 km) of coastline. The constant influx of nutrients from the Suwannee River combined with numerous off-shore islands and tidal creeks create excellent wildlife habitat which supports kites, bald eagles, manatees, sturgeon, deer, and turkeys, to name but a few of the species which take refuge there."
There are established double track trails running through the refuge. As I rode along the dirt and sandy trails looking for alligators in the adjacent marsh I felt far away from the news and chaos of today's world. One of trails dead ended at a secluded spot along the river and I took a moment to breathe it all in — the lazy river, the beautiful trees, the birds, the sky, and the wind.
Meanwhile back at the campground we were facing tough times: no cell service and terrible campground WiFi. Robin and I have a saying, "No internet is better than slow internet." You would think given our lovely, peaceful setting that we would just relax into our disconnected situation, but let's face it, the digital life is awesome. We love the news (both of us), staying connected with our friends (Robin), and YouTube (Ross). I watch a ton of adventure and educational videos. We both listen to loads of podcasts. And while Robin plows through paper and Kindle books, I always have an audiobook going.
So without internet I went to my backup plan: a hammock and paper book. It's funny how we have to add the adjective "paper" before book these days. I'm reading "Red Notice" by William Browder, an expose on the atrocities of modern Russia perpetrated by the asset plundering oligarchs and Putin himself. It's fascinating and highly recommended. Hammocks are a lot like university libraries, it's hard to be in one without taking a nap and waking up in pile of drool. And that's lazy river life for you.
Our campsite view of the Suwannee.
Camping setup (with hammock).
A local swamp panther we captured.