Stop #1: Moonshine Acres RV Park, Fort White, FL

February 5th marked day one of our journey. We finished packing the RV at our VRBO early that morning and then headed north west towards Fort White. We were initially aiming to be closer to the Orlando/Tampa area but the campgrounds we liked were booked - it is high season in Florida and truth be told, we had been warned. However, Fort White and Moonshine Acres RV Park proved to be a perfect first stop for us.

The campground itself was nicely laid out and kept really clean. Staff running the campground were really welcoming and helpful to us newbies. We only had immediate neighbors on two nights, so our space felt nice and airy. We chose a pull through site since it was our first time towing our RV and why make it extra challenging, right? ;) This campground is surrounded by trees so it provided a beautiful setting and nights were cool, which allowed for awesome campfires in the provided pit.

Ginny Springs is beautiful!

Walking around @ Ginny Springs

Lion at Single Vision

Our goal for our first stop was to finally make it to some of the blue springs we often saw on our social media feeds. Fort White provided plenty of opportunities for that. While there, we visited Ichetucknee Springs, Ginnie Springs, and Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park. They were all beautiful but if only able to do one, we'd recommend Gilchrist. Being a state park, fees are much lower than Ginnie and it's just as beautiful. We rented canoes in order to paddle down the spring and saw tons of turtles along the way. Though the water was on the chilly side, we couldn't resist diving in and were so glad we did.

Canoeing at Gilchrist

About to take a dive!

Our son paddling around.

We were close to Gainesville so we also to the opportunity to visit Single Vision, an animal sanctuary where we got as close as we've ever been (and probably will ever be) to endangered species. We fed and were allowed to pet some of the smaller creatures and also stood pretty close to the staff as they bottle fed lions, bears, and jaguars. It was a really fun experience for us all! Overall, it was great to start our trip on such a good note.