Dead River Landing

Enough of the mushy stuff... Thanks for being there virtually to hear me the other night. I appreciate knowing that we have friends at home who care.

We just left Florida. We spent almost a month there. There are so many different landscapes to take in. Our last stop was Dead River Landing in Ponce de Leon. We were out on Florida's panhandle, half way between Tallahassee and Pensacola, and about 45 minutes north of Panama City Beach.

This campground can be reserved through the Northwest Florida Water Management District's website. It is free to stay, but you do need to reserve your site in advance. You are capped at 7 consecutive nights,  and 14 nights in a month. The district has several different locations to choose from. These are unimproved sites, so no water, sewer, or electric. There were 2 porta-potties, but we didn't use them.

https://www.nwfwater.com

We found this location months ago through a YouTube video. We saw the pictures and I fell in love. So as we were planning our exit from Florida, I booked us some time there.

The folks at the reservation office were super helpful and sweet. We were asked to cut our visit short because the state was shutting down all these sites until April. So we headed out on Monday morning as requested.

The park had 2 other sites in use with tenters when we arrived. Those people were something else! One couple (with 2 very little kids) drove down from Wisconsin and said they had been there for 2 weeks. The other couple (no kids) lived permanently in their tent, moving from place to place all the time. I can't even imagine!  And drunk! Oh my. It definitely was more interesting to watch than anything on tv!

Everyone packed up and left the day after we arrived so we had the whole place to ourselves... just us and the MOSQUITOS!  Oh my, they were vicious and didn't stop biting even with bug spray! Mike and Callie got the worst of it. It looked like chickenpox on their legs!

The pugs went for their first ever swim on the boat launch. Nugget loved ther water (and he's the one who won't pee if the grass is wet...) Ruby & Lady Bird took quick dips. Emmie... not a fan. Oh well, she's still a puppy.

So, Dead River Landing was great. I highly recommend staying there if you get the chance. Just bring bug spray!

And just in case you've been wondering, in all of Florida we didn't see a single gator, snake, or screaming spider! Stay tuned!