Blessed are the Intrepid, Day 5:
Springs in the Rain

A peaceful morning in the swamp wouldn’t last all that long as I hit the road once again, enduring nonstop torrential downpours. Now… this rain… it is starting to damper my days! I continue to honor my itinerary, but it is just much more… soggy.

But I guess the moisture is to blame for all this lush green.

My morning meander brought me to the stargazing field. The proprietor of Pastimes Cabins organizes viewing parties where he sets up telescopes. But alas, the clouds.

It was a quick drive to the state line. Florida, here I am! This is the swamp entrance off of State Road 23, which passes you through a sad sprinkling of abandoned bars and creepy-looking game rooms. I was on my way to get a proper meal in…

Jacksonville to the all-vegan Murray Hillbilly, an adorable hillbilly-themed space with some fantastic sandwiches. Great service and I totally love that they don’t do packaged cheeses.

I got the Darn Tootin’ …delicious BBQ tempeh from Gainesville’s Arto Morotopped with their house-made mac n’ cheeze and BBQ sauce on a bun with lettuce and tomato. I devoured it with ferocity. It was perfection.

Every bite.

Did I mention the hush puppies? My goodness, I want to eat here everyday. But it was time to head south.

The plan was to swim at this beautiful spring and set up camp at an astronomy field not too far from it. But I knew that the evening would be completely overcast, making three lost opportunities for astro-pics! I was determined to enjoy the Fanning Springs State Park springs even in the rain. Look at that color!

Before changing into my bathing suit, some of the gorgeous trees at the spring, rooted totally in the water.

The springs were freezing without the sun!

But of course beautiful…

They are very deep for a not-great swimmer like myself. A very nice man let me use his daughter’s float, because he took pride in being a problem solver. And sometimes you give folks the opportunity to be their best. Omg, that reminds me that the school year is going to start soon. Cuz I get paid to do that on the reg. Anyway, these pictures were from the Minnie Mouse float, way out deep to the 20-foot hole.

Though there weren’t many fishies, I had the ridiculous snorkeling mask to play with.

In an act of stubbornness, I still continued on to check out the astronomy field. It was very much in the middle of nowhere… there was even a bunch of confused roosters strutting around thinking, “Why is that car turning down here?”

Look at these cluckers…

So The Chiefland Astronomy Field is very intriguing. It is at the end of a court with some private residences lining the way. And it seemed every house had some sort of astronomy-type equipment on its property.

It is unclear if the public is even welcome at the field. There are “No Trespassing” signs elsewhere along this little astronomer’s village, but the field at the end does have signage stating rules and regulations. I emailed the listed address weeks before my trip and never got a response.

There are stars all about.

The CSPG Observing Field… I just learned that this stands for Chiefland Star Party Group. Also check out the sign under–Astronomy Land For Sale. Confirmed! This is a little astronomer’s village. Even though I wouldn’t illegally set up camp here tonight, I was glad I got to check it out.

Without a stay in Chiefland, I would head farther south so I’d be closer to my first shelling destination tomorrow morning. Time to head out of Florida’s Boondocks!