RV Havin Fun!

Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach, Florida

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ~ Matthew 4:7     As far as I know, there is only one verse in scripture where God says it’s okay to test Him; Malachi 3:10.  There, God is talking about the Israelites not trusting Him to care for them because they’re withholding their tithes and offerings.  He tells them to return to that act of worship and allow Him to show them that He is faithful and will bless them when they put their trust in Him.  But this is a little different.  Here, Satan has blatantly called Jesus to put God to the test.  Will He or won’t He protect Jesus from killing Himself when He jumps off the top of the temple?  This would also be a blatant act of self-aggrandizing as everyone – thousands of people – would see this happen.  This is not why Jesus came.  We oftentimes put God to the test in a negative way when we ask Him for things and then make promises if He answers our selfish prayers.  When we pray, we need to check our motives.  Is our request selfish, or does it truly have God’s glorification in mind?  Psalm 37:4 tells us, “Delight yourself in the Lord and (then) He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Because if you’re delighting yourself in the Lord, His desires become your desires.

This morning, we shared our sunrise with a bevy of seagulls, many of whom were bathing in the ocean and preening.  This evening, we shared our dinner with a gopher tortoise.  Those things move faster than you think!  Still, slower than a hare, though.  😊

As we were wandering and soaking up God’s Love for us displayed in the sunrise, and even our enjoyment of the gulls, we made a spontaneous decision to kayak this morning.  It was foggy, warm, and the air carried a soft breeze.

It was a nice paddle. 

We reached the end of the canal, and a man was preparing for his tour group of SUP riders.  That’s those surfboard-looking things people stand on and paddle like a canoe.  He told us it’s good we caught the tide at the right time because it changes 1” every 10 minutes!  We could’ve never paddled against that!  But we knew we were in a good time slot because Blaine checked it before we made the decision to go.  We just never imagined it would rise and drop that much.  We hardly paddled at all on the way back except to steer.

One of the things the tour groups boast about on this patch of water is a view of the lighthouse.  Well, just wait till you see the view!

While we were out, we drove over to Florida’s smallest State Park – Fort San Carlos. 

The movie The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, was released in the summer of 1988 and was based on the children’s classic book series about a young, adventurous girl named Pippi Longstocking. The Pippi Longstocking house and other exterior shots for the film were all shot in Northeast Florida.

Are you wondering why I’m sharing this random piece of information?

The movie was filmed here and the house in the movie is right across the street from the State Park.  Blaine saw the credit online, and mentioned it when we arrived.  There are no signs.  The only nod to the filming is a Pippi doll hanging on the owner’s front door.  😊

Tonight’s dinner was shrimp pizza and for some reason, Blaine enjoys it so much he took pictures. And since he took pictures, I’ll share the recipe. 😊  It’s really yummy!

SHRIMP PIZZA

1# shrimp, peeled and deveined and cut in half

¼ C. small curd cottage cheese

¼ C. Miracle Whip

1 T. balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. fresh basil, chopped

1 T. olive oil

1 ½ T. Cajun seasoning

3 individual pizza crust with a raised edge

1 C. feta cheese

½ C. roasted red pepper, chopped

1 C. Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, OR grill over medium heat.

Combine cottage cheese and Miracle Whip in a small bowl.  Stir in the vinegar, garlic and basil.  Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet.  Sprinkle shrimp with the Cajun seasoning, then sauté just until pink.  Set aside.

Spread a thin layer of cottage cheese mixture on each piece of bread, getting as close to the edge as possible.  Sprinkle on the Feta and then the shrimp.  Top with the pepper and cheese.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese melts and begins to brown, or place pizza directly on the grill until hot and crust is crispy on the bottom.

Serves 3

Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach, Florida

Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple.  “If You are the Son of God,” he said, ‘throw Yourself down.  For it is written: “‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” ~ Matthew 4:5-6     Does it surprise you to know that Satan can quote scripture?  This is Psalm 91:11-12.  I think we tend to forget that Satan was once very close to God (Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:12-17).  More than that, I think we tend to forget that he is real, or we don’t take him seriously.  If he had no qualms about tempting the very Son of God, what makes us think that we’re above his temptations?  There are many verses that speak to us being aware and cautious of his schemes.  Here are a few if you want to look them up:  I Peter 5:8; James 4:7; Ephesians 6:10-18; II Corinthians 11:3, 13-15; John 8:44; II Timothy 2:24-26; Matthew 16:23; I Chronicles 21:1-22:1.  Even today, Satan is very real.  He cannot snatch salvation from men and women of true faith, but he can still tempt us to do his bidding to draw other’s away from God by our choices of words and deeds.  We must always be mindful of how we appear before others.  In addition, he can tempt us into living and thinking as the world does, rather than as God would have us.  Our best defense?  Knowing God’s Word.

It was a great day to meet the sun on the beach!

And it was the perfect day to explore Fort Clinch.  The crowds were waaay down from the weekend and the weather was beautiful!

A part of the park system since 1935, Fort Clinch is one of the most well-preserved 19th century forts in the country. Although no battles were fought here, it was garrisoned during both the Civil and Spanish-American wars. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps began preserving and rebuilding many of the structures of the abandoned fort. 

Fort Clinch was named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, an important figure in Florida’s Seminole War of the 1830s. Construction of the fort started in 1847 by the federal government and continued during the Civil War.

It was designed to garrison 500 soldiers and 78 pieces of artillery.

Although incomplete, Fort Clinch was occupied by Confederate forces when the war began in 1861.  By December, 1,524 troops were stationed here.
It was taken by federal troops when a withdrawal was ordered by Gen. Robert E. Lee the following year.

The garrison operation was greatly reduced in the years following the Civil War and eventually ceased altogether. In 1898, the fort was reactivated for several months during the Spanish-American War. Today, it remains in a remarkable state of preservation.

In 1935, the state of Florida purchased 256 acres which included the abandoned fort. It was the beginning of a program to acquire adjacent lands and begin development of one of the first and finest state parks in Florida. The civilian Conservation Corps was responsible for the initial building and development of the park. It was formally opened to the public in 1938.

During World War II, Fort Clinch served its final mission as a joint operations center for surveillance and communications. At the end of the war it was given back to the state to open to the public. ~ stateparks.com

It was a nice place, but the one thing we missed were sign boards telling you history or how the various rooms were used, what life was like, etc.  Maybe it’s because it never saw any combat and men were only stationed here for a short time?  Or it could be because the first weekend of every month they have re-enactors on the grounds.

We’d ridden our bikes here, and after our tour, stopped by a trail on the way home.  This one you have to walk.  It was pretty much just a walk through the marshy woods, although Blaine was startled by a large black snake.  Or maybe the snake was startled by Blaine?  Either way, it disappeared so fast, there wasn’t even time to think about taking a picture.  Darn!

That’s our day!

We received pictures from our son, Kyle and his family on vacation in Florida!  Looks like they’re having a grand time!

Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach, Florida

Jesus answered, “It is written; ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ~ Matthew 4:4     Jesus answers Satan with the Word of God. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3)  If Eve would’ve done this, there wouldn’t have been a problem in paradise.  If we would learn to do this, we wouldn’t give in to temptation.  God doesn’t want self-reliance from us.  He wants God-reliance.  He wants us to trust in His provision.  Trust Him at His Word.  But to do that, we must know His Word.  And Him.

We crossed off another, “Have you ever” from our list today.  We road our bikes on the beach for the first time!  (Blaine’s ride while I was in Ohio in January doesn’t count)

Always before the sand has been too soft, but not here.  So much fun!!

As you can see from the pictures, it was overcast today.  There were just a couple of spits of rain when we first got up this morning, but that’s all.

We began with a walk to the beach, and after a few minutes, decided to try riding. 

Great decision!  We headed to the right, away from the Fort first; rode until just before an area where there were quite a few people set up to enjoy the beach and fish, then rather than trying to go through them, we turned around and headed to the Fort.

I looked through all our pictures during the time we were at Fort Clinch, but neither of us took one of the rock jetty that goes way out into the water.  So you’ll just have to imagine it.  There’s a bunch of pretty good sized rocks strewn out into the water in a close, straight line.

As we approached the area where the jetty ended on the beach, my back tire hit a rock and tipped me into the jetty; my guardian angel placing me (but not gently 😊) just between two large rocks. Yep.  It was my turn to crash.  Blaine came flying back to check on me, but I was standing by then and announced that I was fine.  Not completely, but I didn’t share that with him for various reasons.  The worst part at the time, was my left foot.  Somehow my cheap flip-flop plastic strap dug into my foot behind my big toe and, while no skin was broken, it really hurt – not bone, just skin.  I also noticed some ‘road rash’ the length of my forearm, but no blood.

We’re so grateful that I fell where I did.  It could’ve been much, much worse!

We continued riding to the Fort, spent a few minutes walking on the beach there (the sand is too soft to ride), then headed back home.

When I regaled our clumsiness the past two days to our oldest son, Chris, he jokingly asked if he needed to take our bikes away.  😊

Later in the day, other sore places were discovered – my left bicep was really sore, hindering my arm’s use and a spot on the inside of my left knee also hurt when touched, but neither of these places showed any wounds.

I rarely bruise, but I think I just might this time.