Places Visited:

Florida: Bonifay, Florida Caverns SP in Marianna, Falling Waters SP,
Ponce de Leon Sorings State Rec area, Vortex Springs, De Funiak
Springs & Marianna

Friday, October 4, 2002
Drove 108 miles from Pensacola to Bonifay, Florida along U.S. highway 90. Florida Springs
RV-Resort, Bonifay, FL at intersection of I-10 and highway 79.

Our last trip was interrupted by Tropical Storm, Isidore. As you
recall we were evacuated from Henderson Beach SP in Destin, Florida.
We have been at home in Pensacola since then. As Isidore went ashore
drenching Pensacola with more than 6" of rain Hurricane Lili was
battering Cuba and heading into the Gulf. Lili made the third storm
in a row to go ashore on the Northern Gulf Coast.

While in Pensacola I returned the motorhome to my mechanic since his
last attempt at getting cold air to come out of the dash air only
resulted in the motorhome spending a few days at his shop and me
donating some plastic toward his beer fund or whatever he is doing
with my cash. This time I left the motorhome with him for another 4
or 5 days. When I left his shop this time the dash air was cooling
like a champ. However, when we hit the road this morning it was just
circulating humid air. I finally calmed down long enough to call and
break the news to them. While on the phone I vented a bit also.
Venting is good for the soul. Without that outlet I think I would
have a coronary. Oh well, enough of that. The ride was cool enough
because it rained most of the way. Pensacola did not get much rain
out of Hurricane Lili before it made landfall but now that it is
located on the Arkansas, Mississippi border we are finally getting
rain.

We headed to Bonifay looking for something to do. A pro-rodeo is in
town this weekend and we thought this should attract some attention
from far and wide. Most folks would travel I-10 from Pensacola to
Bonifay but not us. We exited Pensacola on U.S. highway 90 and stayed
on it all the way to Bonifay. Highway 90 parallels I-10 across the
panhandle of Florida. Before I-10 it was the east/west route across
the panhandle. Now almost everyone speeds by on the interstate. Joyce
and I wanted to experience some of the small towns along highway 90
that have been bypassed in our headlong rush to get there faster.

Driving along highway 90 reminds us of the highways out west with the
odd named small places most not large enough for a stoplight. Out of
Pensacola we pass through Pace, Pea Ridge, then the metropolis of
Milton, Harold, Holt, Milligan, then another metropolis in Crestview,
Deer Land, Mossy Head, Alpine Heights, De Funiak Springs, Koeber,
Argyle, Ponce De Leon, Westville, Caryville and finally our
destination in Bonifay. The Spanish influence is evident in some of
the cognomens. Other influences are not so evident, at least to me.

I do remember that Ponce De Leon was the Spanish explorer that
discovered Florida around 1500 when he was searching for the Fountain
of Youth. That explains the moniker for that town but where did Pea
Ridge and Mossy Head come from? Can you imagine the conversation
between Jim Bob from Pea Ridge when he meets Sally Mae from Mossy
Head? "Say Sally Mae where you from?" "Why I 's from Mossy Head." As
Jim Bob scratches his head I can hear him ask Sally Mae "by chance did
they name the town after your beautifully coiffed noggin?"

When we arrive in Bonifay it was evident that a BIG event was
happening. It was also evident that the big event had to do with
horses. We watched the Grand Rodeo Parade that contained what must
have been every horse and mule within 100 miles. It was a hoot. I
think every girl in town that was not on a horse was on a saddle in
the back of a pickup truck with a sign designating her as "little miss
something". If they were not little miss watermelon, peanut, rodeo,
Bonifay, Cottondale, Walton County, Jackson County they were the
Junior miss of it, the pre-teen miss of it or the miss of it. If they
were a Mrs. they drove the trucks with all these misses because the
dads and brothers were following on horses and mules. In all fairness
most of the mules were pulling buggies and there were lots of them. A
good number of individuals were riding mules instead of horses.
Grandmothers, rode in the truck bed with the little misses.

Did I mention that it was raining? It was! It was raining hard. That
did not slow the parade down one whit. I guess the rain did not slow
it down because all of the horses were several miles from their
respective horse trailers and the only way to get to those trailers
was along the parade route. Thankfully, the rain subsided and the
parade continued for another hour or so. Did I say there were a lot
of horses and mules and little misses and for every one left there was
the ubiquitous four-wheeler? I would have said that everyone around
here was riding a horse but all kinds of teens and pre-teens were
riding four-wheelers. I guess that a four-wheeler is a mandatory
accessory for pre-teens in these parts. Anyway, it appears that on
this one day driver's licenses were not required to operate vehicles
on the streets of Bonifay.

Later in the evening the announcer at the rodeo said that there were
in excess of 450 horses in the parade not counting the mules. All of
the horses and a few of the mules participated in the opening ceremony
at the rodeo tonight. This rodeo was just a ho-hum old rodeo with no
exciting sideshows like out west. I was looking forward to a good old
mother's tag team greased pig wrestling contest in a mud pit. It was
not to be. The only sideshow worth commenting on was the sheep dog
demonstration. Someone drives a trailer load of sheep into the arena
and turns them lose. Anyone who has tried to get a single sheep much
less a flock of them into a pen knows it is a daunting task. For a
few moments the sheep challenged the sheep dogs ability and authority.
However, in short order the sheep dog proved he was in charge. After
the sheep were pinned the dogs handler would take him to a far corner
of the and do some kind of performance with a monkey riding on the
sheep dog while some helpers were letting the sheep out of the pin and
moving the pin to another spot in the arena. Then the handler would
give the dog the command to put those sheep in the pin. Amazing,
amazing, amazing is the only way to describe how efficiently that dog
rounds up those sheep and puts them into the new pin.

Rodeo clown are renowned for the clean family jokes they tell to keep
the crowd entertained between events. The only one I remember was
when he started relating how one time two women had started fighting
over him and how he was hollering for the police to break it up. The
announcer broke in to ask him why he called the police. "Cause the
ugly one was winning" was the reply!

Not everyone in the area was at the rodeo. Across town under a huge
tent (approx 1-acre) in the middle of a pasture they were having a
rodeo dance. The music started around 7:30pm and continued until
5:30am. The headline group was country music recording artist Chad
Brock who did not start playing until 11:00pm. The place was packed
with a totally different crowd than the rodeo. Most of the people
were under 35 years of age. There were a few couples our age but most
were younger, all were having a good time. We are not sure how many
folks made it to 5:30am. Joyce called it quits around 1:00 and we
headed back to the motorhome. Something tells me that most of the
ones we left behind would be there when the sun comes up.

Saturday, October 5, 2002
Florida Springs RV-Resort, Bonifay, FL at intersection of I-10 and
highway 79.

We were going to do some sightseeing in some of the neighboring
communities today but it became apparent to us that the Rodeo Parade
we saw yesterday was just a warm-up for today's parade. Today Joyce
helped me remember some of the titles of the Queens and Misses
featured in the parade. It was even funnier with both of us looking
for the most unique. Some of the ones we remember from today are:
Teeny miss American rose queen, miss pre teen Independence, Little
make-a-wish Dream World Queen, miss Bethlehem along with Jr. miss, the
runner-up and little miss, miss Team Sunburst, miss Panhandle Love
Bug, Peewee miss Cottondale, miss northwest Florida Sunshine, Jr. miss
Fun Day, Firecracker Queen, Little miss Tiny Tot, the Two Toe Tom
Festival Queen and float, Tiny miss Stars & Stripes and finally the
Teeny miss American Rose Queen from 2001.

Small town parades are fun. People watching at parades can be more
entertaining than the parade itself. We watched this parade from the
middle of downtown Bonifay half way between the two traffic signals.
We stationed ourselves in front of the auto parts store that was
flanked by the local bank and the farmer's services store.

Shortly after the parade started a volunteer fire truck died in the
middle of the street. For a while the parade just skirted around the
stalled vehicle then a good-ol-boy arrived with a Dodge dually-350,
attached a chain and pulled the fire truck through the remainder of
the parade. That may have been a staged advertisement. An hour into
the parade a train rattled through town cutting the parade in half.
Go-carts, dirt bikes and three wheelers joined yesterday's four-wheel
contingent. Also a section of kids on regular bicycles were added.

I notice that cooler redneck boys fly a Rebel Flag with a big green
largemouth bass in the middle. I am not sure what the message is but
it seems to be popular with the redneck crowd just old enough to have
a driver's license. I know that I am not the first to make this
observation but it bears repeating, "Fat girls don't need belly
rings". Help me here; is it possible to ride a horse in a parade
without a cell-phone?

With neither of us being equestrian people we just enjoy everything
from a distance. However, we do have our favorites. Joyce likes
palominos with their golden coat and light blond main and tail. I am
partial to the appaloosa with the white-rimmed human like eyes and the
small dark spots. Both of us like a spirited piebald all fixed up.
These folks are as fussy with their ponies as many people are with
dogs.

We chose to do the Rodeo Dance tonight and skip the Rodeo. Again the
organizers had a variety of good bands playing under that big tent in
the middle of a pasture. Ken Melons was the celebrity artist tonight.
His best know hit is Juke Box Junkie I think. There were even more
people tonight than last night. Where did they all come from? We
headed home around 1:00 again tonight so we will never know how many
of them made it until 5:30 in the morning.

Sunday, October 6, 2002
Florida Springs RV-Resort, Bonifay, FL at intersection of I-10 and
highway 79.

For RV'ers traveling I-10 across the Panhandle of Florida looking for
a good boondocking spot here it is. From I-10 take the Bonifay exit
north .3 miles turn east at the Bonifay Inn. Immediately behind the
Bonifay Inn is an extremely large paved area truckers use to drop off
empty trailers. What more could you ask for? Wal-Mart stores at the
Marianna and Cottondale exits do not allow overnight parking. The
Chipley exit has a good roadside park to stop for lunch less than a
mile south of the interstate (no overnight parking). Also a miles
south of the Chipley exit is Falling Waters State Park complete with
RV-campground with 30-amps and water and central dump station.

We toured the area in our Saturn today. Although we are less than
50-miles north of the world's most beautiful beaches this is red clay,
rolling hills, farm and ranch country. Cotton and peanuts reign
supreme although we saw some corn and sorghum/maize interspersed among
cattle ranches and dairy farms. As we drove around the small towns we
spoke fondly of friends that grew up in some of these places. In the
town of Cottondale we though of Pat and wondered how she made her way
to Pensacola from Cottondale. Later in Marianna we thought about
Jenna and wondered where her childhood home was as we drove up and
down side streets admiring all of the turn of the century homes with
their camellia and azalea gardens. In Graceville we thought of Frank
that spent some time taking classes at the Baptist Seminary there.
Small towns have a charm all their own, no one seems to be in a hurry,
stores close on Sunday, everyone knows everyone.

Although we stopped by Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna we did
not time our arrival to coincide with a tour of the caverns so instead
of waiting an hour for the next tour we headed on down the road. We
decided to stop by Florida Caverns SP later in the week rather than
wait around another hour.

We enjoyed Falling Waters State Park just south of the town of
Chipley. Most of Florida's State Parks are appropriately named but
none more so than Falling Waters. This is really a unique area that
the state has preserved. We entered the park from a pine upland.
>From the parking area we walked down a boardwalk into an unbelievable
world of sinkholes. Sinkholes are common phenomena around Florida but
these are different from others I have seen. As the boardwalk drops
off the pine upland the pines quickly give way to hardwoods like white
oak, Southern magnolia, sourwood, American beech, sparkleberry,
dogwood and wild azaleas. The boardwalk meanders around many of the
sinks giving you an amazing view down into the chasm 70 to 100 feet
below. The sink with the waterfall is supremely unique. Most sinks
form a cone but this one is a completely cylindrical shaft or chimney
about 30 feet in diameter that drops over 70 feet straight down. A
small stream deposits a stream of water out over the cylindrical,
smooth walled chimney, hole where the water disappears into the
Florida aquifer. I think this is surely one of Florida's most notable
geological features, a surface stream and sinkhole complete with a
waterfall disappearing into the aquifer.

Back on the boardwalk we walk around and gaze down into a variety
these chimney shafts that lead through a serpentine tangle of small
limestone caves to the Florida aquifer.

For RV'ers Falling Waters State Park would make a good stop over on
your way to or from Central or South Florida. They have a nice enough
25 site RV-Park 30-amps and water including a centrally located dump
station (850-638-6130).

The geology of Florida began many millions of years ago when Florida
was a giant coral reef. Coral and shells deposited calcium-forming
limestone. This limestone base covers much of Florida. Sinkholes, or
sinks, are common in Florida. Their evolution begins when weak acids
in rainwater seep through cracks in the limestone. The acid slowly
eats away at the limestone beneath the ground, forming an underground
cavern. If and when a cavern collapses the result is a sink. Some
sinks are dry others are wet. The namesake sinkhole at Falling Waters
State Park is particularly unique in that the underground cavern is
fed by surface stream water. This would make a good game show
question don't you think?

Monday, October 7, 2002
Florida Springs RV-Resort, Bonifay, FL at intersection of I-10 and
highway 79.

We started out the day with a full schedule and accomplished most of
it.

The first stop was Ponce de Leon Springs State Recreation Area in
Ponce de Leon both honor the eponymous Spanish Explorer noted for his
search for the Fountain of Youth. The spring is located less than a
mile south of U.S. highway 90. It would be a nice place to take a
group of middle school kids in the summer. A concrete retaining wall
and small dam a few yards downstream have enhanced the natural spring
area. The dam holds back enough water to maintain the depth necessary
for swimming and other recreational activities in the one-acre
impoundment.

Joyce and I were able to see a 5' diameter cavity in the limestone out
of which flows more than 14 million gallons of crystal-clear water
each day. The spring maintains a constant 68 degrees winter and
summer. Over the years the upwelling flow has delivered white sand
that covers the bottom of the swimming area around the spring and
continuing down the spring run. Water from the spring connects to a
series of creeks that flow into the Choctawhatchee River,
Choctawhatchee Bay and finally into the Gulf of Mexico through the
Destin pass some 40 miles to the south.

Vortex Springs is located 4-miles north of Ponce de Leon. Vortex
Springs is popular with Scuba divers and swimmers alike. It is a
privately owned spring with a small admission charge. Swimming
facilities include several diving boards and a rope swing. The owners
even have a small campground complete with 50-amp hookups. This would
be a fun place to stop with a group of teenagers. In addition to the
spring and swimming area they have go-carts (on an asphalt track), ATV
riding trails, horse trails and nature walking trails. If you are
interested check out: www.vortexspring.com 850-836-4979.

DeFuniak Springs was our next destination. DeFuniak Springs is known
for three things, Defuniak Lake lays claim to be one of only two
perfectly round lakes in the world. Add to this the rich and
fascinating history including the winter home to Chautauqua and a
major stop for the railroad in the 1800s and early 1900s. The
perfectly round lake is something to behold. It is not your ordinary
pond. It looks to me to be about ½ mile in diameter. Circle drive,
another perfect circle sweeps around the lake. Stately old homes many
of which are on the National Register face Circle drive, however, none
are between the street and the water. That area has been preserved.
The town of DeFuniak is situated north of the lake, as is the railroad
that runs east and west between the lake and town.

This is where I learned more about the term Chautauqua than I ever
imagined possible. Don't laugh so hard, what do you know about
Chautauqua? What we discovered was that DeFuniak Springs was a hot
bed of activity for the Chautauqua movement. At the height of the
Chautauqua movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s the railroad
brought thousands of "enlightened" individuals to DeFuniak Springs for
the "winter" lecture series. Now let me see if I can explain
Chautauqua.

In the 1800's public education in this country was lacking. Educated
and enlightened individuals were experimenting with a variety of
methods to expand their knowledge base. An assortment of
adult-education institutions developed. Some of the most important of
these institutions were study groups called lyceums. The members of a
lyceum attended debates and lectures and held discussions. Another
important educational movement was the Chautauqua (pronounced shuh TAW
kwuh) movement. The original Chautauqua was promoted by members of
the Methodist church as training for Sunday school teachers but
quickly expanded to teach other subjects. The building for this was
on Lake Chautauqua, New York. As they added summer school and
correspondence courses a "winter" Chautauqua assembly building was
constructed on the shores of Lake DeFuniak next to the railroad
station in order to continue their lecture and concert series when it
was too cold to do so in New York. This assembly building seated
4000. The Chautauqua program in DeFuniak continued from 1885 to 1922.
Hurricane Eloise destroyed the auditorium in 1975. The word
Chautauqua also referred to traveling groups that went from town to
town presenting lectures and entertainment.

A drive around Circle drive takes you back into Victorian times.
Elaborate architectural details were incorporated into the grand
homes. The interesting mixture of architectural styles includes
turrets, double verandas, classic fluted columns, gingerbread trim and
window dormers. While taking the driving tour and admiring these old
Queen Anne style homes mixed with classical Revival and Colonial
Revival styles we could not help but think of our antique aficionado
friends Jack and Barbara. Jack have you toured the homes in this
area? If not we need to get together and do it some weekend. You and
Barbara could teach Joyce and I some of the finer points of these
architectural styles.

Our next scheduled stop was Vernon where we were going to visit an
Ostrich farm and Cypress Springs. It was an interesting drive to
Vernon but the Ostrich farm was out of business and Cypress Springs
had recently changed owners and was temporarily closed.

As most of you know it does not take much to amuse the two of us. Some
signs we have seen in the past day or two need to be shared. Pigeons
for sale, "New African American Methodist Episcopal Church", and "we
buy furs, hides and pecans" are the ones we liked best.

Tuesday, October 8, 2002
We drove 31 miles from Bonifay to Marianna, Florida along U.S. highway 90. Arrowhead RV-Park,
Marianna, FL on Merritt's Mill Pond and U.S. highway 90

We moved the motorhome from Bonifay to Marianna this morning before
setting out to accomplish Joyce's list of things to see and do. We
are staying in Arrowhead campground located in Marianna on Merritt's
Mill Pond. Those of you familiar with fresh water fishing in Florida
will know about Merritt's Mill Pond. It has long been a hot spot for
bluegills, crappie and largemouth bass. We plan to return here and do
some fishing.

Our first destination was the small town of Greenwood located a few
miles north of Marianna. They have some stately old plantation homes
with magnificent yards plus Pender's store. We learned of Pender's
store from a write up in "Hidden Florida" a 13-year old book. The
heart pine floors and sturdy shelves date to 1869, when the place was
built. Although Pender's no longer had the old cooler filled with
soda we did get to rummage around a bit. The owner was the third
generation of Pender to run the store. His great grandfather was the
one that built and lived in the "Great Oaks" plantation home just
south of Greenwood. What a story he had to tell.

This is farming country, mostly cotton and peanuts. Joyce and I
stopped by the local peanut processing plant located in downtown
Greenwood. The freshly dug green peanuts were being graded then
loaded into dryers. I was fascinated by the operation and Joyce was
good to let me watch it for a time.

The small town of Two Egg is located just 5-miles east of Greenwood. I
have heard of "Two Egg" all my life. Now was my chance to actually
see it. As you might expect Two Egg is NOT a major metropolitan area.
I think the signs announcing entering and leaving Two Egg may be
mounted on the same post. There was not a stop signal but there was a
service station that sold soft drinks. Mr. Pender told us a story
about how Two Egg got its name but I had a hard time following it.

This is our 5th day in the area and some things are have jumped out at
us. First, most of these people are not in a hurry. That trait does
not extend to overloaded logging trucks. Logging truck drivers in
these parts are practicing for the Florida dirt track championship.
Next we have noticed that virtually all-common folk have the
obligatory pecan trees and catalpa trees planted in their yard. It
seems that every house and mobile home has at least two of each.

Our last adventure of the day took us to Jim Woodruff Dam 20-miles to
the east on highway 90. The dam is at the confluence of the Flint and
Chattahoochee Rivers creating an impoundment known as Lake Seminole.
The Apalachicola River emerges from the dam and makes its way to the
Gulf of Mexico.

This paragraph is for my RV friends traveling I-10 across the Florida
Panhandle. There are a number of RV-Campgrounds in this area that you
could use. Since all of us are attracted to campgrounds with
different accommodations thus recommending one campground over another
does not work well. Here is what is available: In Marianna there are
two good campgrounds, Arrowhead a private campground with 30-amps,
sewer and cable for less than $22 and the Florida Caverns State Park
Campground for $18 with 30-amps and water. In Chattahoochee there is
a private campground, in town and the Corps of Engineers has a nice
campground a few miles north of town on Lake Seminole for $16
per-night. If you are in a hurry stay in the private campground
otherwise the Corps of Engineers campground (30-amps & Water) would be
nice. In Sneads there is Three Rivers State Recreational Area with a
good campground but it is located a few miles north of town so if you
are in a hurry this would probably not be the place. All of these are
within a few miles of I-10.

Mike & Joyce Hendrix