#249 Naples state forest

We left Monument Lake and went a familiar stop for us. It's our elderly couple camp hosts we enjoyed meeting a while back. Its below Naples in a State Forest kind of a boondock equestrian camp. We've been there several times now.

Our elderly friends from Canada are always there and they stay about 6 months at a time. When I say elderly I know I'm not no spring chicken but they are about 80. They are fit as a fiddle. The husband said he walks a five mile most days to check for litter out on the trails. They said they go back home to Canada every time it warms up around March or April. They come back when it gets cold around November. They're always the campground hosts and they love doing it. They’re real laid-back and I really enjoy their company.

Keep in mind that we have returned to them with our tail down between our legs. We had dropped by on the way to the Keys where we shared our vision of staying for a month or a year. Now we at their door a week later as it didn’t work out so good down there.

For a moment I considered staying here but the problem with this particular place is you really are isolated and remote.

The positives are of how cheap it is it's about five bucks a day there's water available because its equestrian. They say it's not potable but what that really means is its well water and they can't promise you that there's not a microbe in it. We've been drinking well water for 20 years and we don't care. They did tell us that it's not particularly bad at all it's just not treated with chlorine. They couldn't tell you it's okay to drink for liability reasons. If it were Mexico, I probably wouldn't be so eager but here I thought if it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger. In Mexico it just kills you.

So, you got unlimited water you got plenty of sun for solar power. Things are generally very good because it's so cheap and the staff is crazy nice but then after that. It would be hard to get used to being this far out in the country for several months. In about 20 minutes you can be at a gas station post office and small diner. To Naples it would be a 45 minute one way.

I know I shouldn't be such a big baby but that's kind of hard on me as a semi civilized person.

There were no TV stations available but I hoisted my other antenna up a tree and I was able to get a few stations. Somehow I have a T-Mobile signal so we can stream internet shows.

Well, we hung out there not knowing quite what to do next. I figured my plan B would be to look for RV lots for rent in Florida. I didn't really want to live in an elderly trailer park or a retirement type community. Places like that seem to stare at your every move for rule violations.

I assume the people mean well but they have nothing to do. You can imagine the lady going on a nice leisurely walk every morning and with a clipboard and legal pad writing down all the infractions that she might notice. Then sending out letters to people about how they got the wrong color flowers. Maybe they can't have that kind of car in the yard because it's goes against the HOA. They’re also usually so congested I mean like 10 feet apart. Some people take comfort in this because you get to know your neighbors incredibly well. It's hard on me because I prefer the great outdoors.

Looking back I was right where I needed to be but couldn’t see it.

We looked and I looked and there was nothing we liked. I saw an ad on Craigslist for a place in Hudson Florida which was about 3 hours north.

It was on a canal meaning waterfront kayak access within a nice one-mile paddle to the Gulf of Mexico. It was 600 a month and pretty tempting.

We have already been defeated at the Keys. Trying to be snowbirds in Florida was proving to be hard arriving on short notice. The guy from Hudson said this would be a monthly rental. You can stay one month, three months or a year he didn't care. We were kind of pretty tempted so we booked a room overnight in a town called New Port Richey. We told the guy we were interested but it was a pretty long drive up there. We drove up the next day to take a look.

We arrived at our room and the area had all the predictable town things. Lowes, Walmart, restaurants and a movie theater. The next morning we went 15 minutes more to Hudson. My first impression was it was kind of a run-down area. Maybe it had been a little better once and now it was partially closed. We took aleft turn off the highway at where a bowling alley had died and was boarded up. From here you go down a dirt road and take several left right turns and then you arrive at Connor road.

After turning onto Conner on the right is an abandoned trailer up on pilings. It ain’t much but it’s ours and we like it way up high. The old RV on the left looks like the crazy hoarding lady. The next he person on the left directly across from the lot we are looking at is called Connie. She is a friendly but later we would find she’s the crazy lady with a pit bull on a 2-foot rope tied to a tree. There are people sprinkled left and right going down a road about a quarter mile connecting back to the asphalt. It was kind of a personally-owned trailer park with no more than six or eight trailers if you will but mostly trailers almost no RVs.

Denial is an important friend to have in these situations. The only thing I could see was the waterfront access all along the back of the site. It was about 50 ft long with easy canal access. There was an elementary school beside us and we had hoped India could volunteer there. We could fit in there diagonally and we told him yeah, we'll take it. My point is I was willing to overlook the sketch factor because it was water front in Florida in winter and that’s like not being defeated anymore.

We headed to Naples and moved in a few days later. We would end up staying there for 2 months plus

Picayune Strand SF - Miller CG

Leave a Review This is a PAY campground. ($12 or less)

The price is $5/night

Address

56th Avenue Southeast

Naples, Florida

GPS: 26.133191, -81.561599

Elevation: 118'

Management

Public - State Park