Beautiful Juniper Springs – a Mini Tour Around Central Florida

Hello and welcome back! This is my second post about Juniper Springs. To catch up, click here for yesterday’s recap of my arrival and a few of my favorite pictures.

OK, can I just say this real quick: I am not familiar with camping in state parks and the first night, it was very dark. You might think, “Yeah, it was night time.” No, no, I mean it was like Adam and Eve’s first night in the garden dark. That’s because there were only a few campers along with myself. No street lights, no city lights within dozens of miles, not even the moon was on.

One thought I had about me and the other campers: “I guess we’re all just gonna trust each other in this pitch blackness, huh?” I’ll be honest, it was a bit scary. It was just so, SO dark.

But anyway, nothing murdery happened the first night so that was good. If anything did happen, would I call it, “Only Murders in the Park”? OK, that’s a decent reference to the Hulu show I’ve started watching starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez.

There I go again in a direction I didn’t plan on going!

OK, so let’s get to the beauty of this park. There are two main springs within the park. Yesterday I tried to build up for you the anticipation for what I saw that first day. It wasn’t anything I remember seeing in my entire whole life, and here it is:

Technically these are called “boils.” Crazy, aren’t they?

Being in nature, tucked away from city lights and city noise, barely any internet and no TV… I could really get used to this. As I explored the area, I found the springs the area is known for – Juniper Springs.

I loved getting to this “swimmable” spring early in the morning to see the steam coming off the 72-degree water.

I camped here for four days and I’d say that was just about enough. I had time to check out everything I wanted to, take the dogs on a million walks (and pick up all their poop, and yes, they pooped near a few campsite entrances :/ ), and ride my bike around the entire area.

The drawbacks. There are only two drawbacks I can think of… 1. On the third night, in the middle of the night, I got up to pee and when I flushed, the camper started beeping and the water pump wouldn’t shut off. No pun intended, I thought, “Oh crap.” I knew it was because the battery was really low but with it being the middle of the night, I felt terrible about what I was about to do. I had to turn on the generator to get full power to the trailer. It was only for a few minutes and I really hope I didn’t disturb the two campsites that were sorta near me. I’m thankful I have a quiet generator, and also thankful this resolved the water pump issue. I also just went ahead and shut off the refrigerator, but turned it back on in the morning, with the generator support. Yikes! The second draw back was that, unfortunately, the canoe run was closed off so if you come out to stay, that might still be the case. I think taking a canoe down the nearby river would be interesting too, once they open it back up.

Entrance to the canoe launch

Next stop on my mini-tour is near Daytona Beach, Florida. I’m really excited to get coastal for a few days. Check back soon for my experience at an RV park and how it differs from a state park. I will also answer these questions: Did my dogs poop on a beach? Did a lifeguard use a megaphone to get my attention? What kind of bird has bright yellow feet?

-Out of the Wilderness

Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Commercial – The Music and More!

This ad makes it clear Microsoft is going for the hip and cool crowd, from the way it’s edited, the cast, and the music. Check it out.

The Music. The song featured in this ad is “Don’t Lose Sight” by Lawrence. Follow them on Instagram and listen to more on Spotify. Check out the clever music video below.

Featured Artist. The commercial (once it’s past the “boring” Apple computers) features Daisuke Okamoto, a Japanese artist living in Los Angeles at the moment. Check out more about Daisuke on Instagram or the artist’s main website.

How do you feel about the ad? Do you like the music? Does the commercial compel you to buy a Surface Pro 8 (currently around $900).

Thanks for dropping by…

-Out of the Wilderness

Mini-Tour of Central Florida – Juniper Springs State Park

Like I said recently, this mini-tour camping around central Florida started with a pit stop in Gainesville to visit an old friend, but then I was off to the first state park.

Juniper Springs Recreational Area, to be exact.

I booked this trip about a month in advance so the anticipation was killing me, especially as I drove in to find my campsite.

Site 011, to be exact.

I felt like such a newby. A lot like the time I took a Suzuki cruiser for a test ride on a real road. Like this: Does anyone know I have no idea what I’m doing? I ended up buying the motorcycle and I feel just as fresh now, camping alone in my own travel trailer for the first time. Such a newby.

If the guard at the gate could tell I was brand new to camping, at least he didn’t show it. He probably knew after I asked about 17 questions. He gave me the rundown of what to do, where to go, all that jazz. They’re very particular about parking on the blacktop. As in, not the soft ground. Also as in, not pavement. I said, “OK, I need to park on the pavement.” He said, “Park on the blacktop.” Very interesting how much they like using the term: blacktop.

I arrived at site 011 and parked… guess where? On the grass. Kidding, I’m not that much of a rebel. Here I am… on the blacktop.

I was just about to bust with excitement, knowing I’d be seeing the springs as soon as I got settled and got the dogs situated. At this campground, there are two main springs… one where people can swim, and one where people can get eaten by gators (so…. no swimming).

I was curious about both but went with the “no swimming” location first. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and you might not believe it either. I won’t spoil the surprise but just to not freak anyone out unnecessarily, it WASN’T a swimmer getting eaten by an alligator.

It was just as natural, though, but beautiful (I threw a “but” in there because while someone becoming a gator snack IS natural, it’s not beautiful (unless you’re the gator, I guess?). Ok, this is going a direction I didn’t plan.

For this naturally occurring beautiful thing I saw, come back soon. I post every day at 1pm Central. I hope I’m building up the anticipation because you won’t be disappointed. Until then, here are a few photos of the springs.

-Out of the Wilderness

A Florida Camping Mini Tour – Pit Stop in Gainesville

Welcome to my blog. If you’re new to the site, I write about all kinds of things from dating to dogs (not dating dogs, let me be clear) to music and TV and many other things. This particular post is the first one in a series of posts about a mini-tour camping around central Florida.

This little adventure launches from Tallahassee (my home base), and takes me to a couple of state parks in the Ocala National Forest, RV parks near Daytona Beach and Orlando, and even a few overnight stays in random parking lots (don’t worry, business owners were fully aware)!

So much will be going on during this 3-week adventure but before I even reach my first campout, I have to stop in Gainesville to catch up with the friend I’ve had for the longest. He and I met a thousand years ago in middle school at a little church in Miami, Florida.

This friend of mine (I sometimes call him Timber), along with his brother, started a coffee shop in Gainesville and their hard work has paid off, as now they have multiple locations and dozens of employees. It’s Gainesville’s best coffeeshop, Opus Coffee, so you better do a taste test to find out why those pesky Gators loves this coffee (sorry, my immature loyalty to Florida State is showing). But college rivalries aside, I have a feeling you will become a fan, too (of the coffee, not the Gators, I hope).

I actually don’t drink coffee (I know, I’m so unsophisticated), but I stopped in anyway to see my friend at that location pictured above. It’s where they do all their roasting, unlike me – I do all my roasting on the internet.

Anyway, next door to their roasting headquarters is a place called Satch Squared and we took a chance on their vegan waffles.

Yeah, those breakfast waffles did not disappoint (thanks for the recommendation, Timber)! While we were trying to savor every bite, we also had to talk, so he and I caught up on each other’s lives. He has always been able to make me laugh with just a few words or a gesture, and that holds true today. What a good dude!

So this particular Opus Coffee location serves their customers from an old Airstream. How cool is that? There’s also lots of space to hang with your besties (as the kids say, I think?).

More photos from this pit stop are just a scroll away (scroll down, silly), but I must go onward now to my first camping location – Juniper Springs State Park in the Ocala National Forest.

Check back soon for a rundown of my time there. What did I see that blew my mind? Did my dogs poop in someone else’s camping area? Was I forced to take cold showers? Answers, along with some photos of the gorgeous location, coming soon!

-Out of the Wilderness

DoorDash and PetSmart – The Music, The Actor, and The Pup!

DoorDash is driving home (with the windows down so the pup can smell the fresh air) the idea that they can deliver more than food. Of course, I’m talking about this basset hound ad, but also the ad below featuring a very earwormy song. Take a look…

The Music. The title of this song is pretty self-explanatory. It’s “I’ve Got A Dog And My Dog’s Name Is Cat” by Barry Louis Polisar. Here’s the full track.

As you can see from the video, the album title is intended to be funny. “My Brother Thinks He’s A Banana and Other Provocative Songs For Children” was released way back in 1977 and includes quite a few songs… intended for children. Check out the track listing (and download a few if you’re brave!) by clicking this Amazon link.

The Actor. The guy who shows up at the end, well, I guess you can call him an actor. It’s Nascar driver Bubba Wallace. He’s sponsored by DoorDash so it makes a whole lot of sense (unlike a dog named cat) to have him appear in the ad. Great integration of Petsmart, DoorDash, and Nascar on this commercial!

The Pup. Asher the dog belongs to Bubba Wallace and there’s even a cute story about how he “helped” with Bubba’s marriage proposal. Check it out here.

Which do you like more, the ad itself or the music? For me, I can’t get the song out of my head, nor do I want to. Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness