By Lino Cappelli

The next day, we took our time making breakfast before leisurely heading down to Hopkins Prairie, hoping to avoid the frequent guests of this popular campsite. If you are not familiar with rainbow people, the easiest way to describe them is, in a word, hippies. I have not had any run-ins with them personally, good or bad; but the internet is littered with stories about theft, intimidation, and even a shooting. We actually wanted to make Hopkins Prairie our campsite for the second night on the Florida Adventure Trail, but it is a “first come, first serve” site. The limited number of spots and popularity with potentially undesirable neighbors caused us to opt for another, just as scenic, campsite in Alexander Springs.  

 No rainbows meant a brief but scenic lunch stop before we made our way to Forest Road 26, Pats Island. This trail cuts east to west in the middle of Ocala National Forest. There is a fun, optional section halfway on the west side, which we decided to use for technical off-road driving. Our vehicles went down steep side hills and lifted wheels on washed-out climbs. Wanders of modern engineering, traction control, and electric lockers maintained forward momentum even with cross-axle wheel lifts. 

Once we got tired of playing around, we started putting miles of orange clay and sugar sand behind us, eventually coming upon a fallen tree. All too eager, I deployed an electric chainsaw. We made quick work of the fallen branches and cleared the way. 

From there the plan was to zig-zag across secondary trails to Blue Sink, another beautiful natural watering hole in the forest, but the secondary trails were so tight that the branches sounded like nails on a chalkboard against the paint. This section is not part of the Florida Adventure Trail and agreeing to cut it short over radio was music to my ears. 

We detoured to a nearby primary trail and got to the gate of the Navy bombing range. With the sun setting on us, we took some pictures and drove to camp. 

Alexander Springs, which is a suggested campground in the Florida Adventure Trail file, had very strict rules about where vehicles could park within designated camping spots. They emphasized that even a single tire off the pavement could incur a hefty fine. Needless to say, we parked carefully. A tradition my dad and I have is to always make a Venezuelan-style dinner when Overlanding: Tri-tip sirloin, or punta trasera (you may know it as picanha) and plantains cooked in their peel. After a brief father and son debate on how to slice the steaks, we shared this wonderful meal with our friends.

 If you’ve never tried either, I highly recommend you make friends with a Venezuelan or go to a Venezuelan meat restaurant. The trip tip sirloin (which feel weird to write, after all, it’s a “punta”) has a fat cap about 3/16” thick, just on one side. The preparation requires one ingredient: Coarse Salt- Lots of it. Searing the salted fat cap creates a crust. The meat is then flipped, seared again, and sliced into small steaks, which can be cooked to individual preference (medium-rare.) This simple, salty cut of meat is perfectly complemented by whole plantains cooked in their peel, which are even easier to cook (hopefully you’re taking notes): Put the ripe (should be black) unpeeled plantains on the grill, let it sit there under it peels open, and the starch starts oozing out. 

Full bellies made sleeping on thin pads with mummy bags a bit more tolerable, for now. 

Stay tuned for part 3 (a two parter)