He did it again

Escapee along Florida’s Panhandle

It was time to leave Florida. We had spent a month in the Sunshine State and it definitely put happiness in our hearts, but it was time to start heading West – to places we had never seen! However, if you’ve looked at a map, you know that there is a long panhandle in Florida that you must get through if you want to head West – kind of like a Las Vegas Casino, it seems to be designed to keep you in. 

We decided to make one stop along the panhandle and we found a little place called, “Torreya State Park.” It sat on top of a bluff, that to the native Floridian probably seemed like a giant mountain. There were no more than 20 spots for tents and RV’s around a little loop. That was it. We loved it! It was such a small, simple place to camp and it was very similar to our days of tent camping – but with power! The first night we were there was the Super Bowl. None of us were particularly drawn to any of the teams – but Ben is a big football fan, so we set up a laptop and watched the game outside by the campfire. Kind of a nice way to watch the big game. The only mishap was when Sloan was kindly trying to carry out nachos to the table and she slipped and fell on the the camper steps. Ouch! She scraped her back down the metal steps and screamed like a banshee! Poor girl. After some tears and some food, she felt better and the night continued.

The park had great trails that were just the right amount of challenging and a paved road with little hills that led to a playground and historic home (which Sloan and I decided we could absolutely live in) that were great for bikes and scooters. We watched the sunset from our site and the top of our camper. Everyone enjoyed the natural beauty of the area. We spent 3 peaceful days there and then it was time to head on toward Alabama.

We were all packed up and ready to go and what do you know….the cat gets out again. As Ben was tying his hiking boots at the door to walk the dog, Raleigh pushed past him and ran straight out the door and down the ravine. Fudge. Of course we went looking for him, tried all of the tricks. Cat food, yogurt, treats. We climbed down and looked – but he’s an orange tabby, made to blend in and hide. He will only be found when he wants to be. 

While our fear in South Carolina was alligators, here our fear was copperhead snakes. Yup. And the children knew it too. He ran out the door at 6:30 in the morning, we looked and we waited – 11 am came and went, that was when we wanted to hit the road. Then 1 o’clock came and went as well, that was when we were supposed to check out. I let the Ranger know our situation, he was very understanding and told us to take the time we need. All of the other campers had already been looking around for our darn cat too. At 4 o’clock I had Ben come to take a walk with me. We were scared, we thought there was no way it would end well. 

As we returned from the walk, resigned that we would spend another night there and keep hope in our hearts that Raleigh would return, another camper stopped me to chat. Ben kept walking and then a man overlooking the bluff asks Ben, “Do you have children?” and Ben answers, “yes.” The man then says, “I’m so sorry.” Ben went running and asked, “Where’s the body?” The man looked at him in confusion, there was no body, he was just sad for our children. As the relief washed over Ben, he heard a meow. That little sucker had returned. Well, almost. He was hiding in a log near the top of the ravine, Ben still had to climb and get him. And he tried to wrangle out of his arms again! Kitty almost had a new home in the “mountains” of Florida! 

We put him in his cat bag and threw him in the truck. We packed up our odds and ends from the day. It was 4:30 and we were heading out. We had a three hour drive ahead of us and we would arrive in the dark, something else that would be new to us, but there was no way we were letting the cat get out again!