Day 1 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

We are normally the "take it slow in the morning kind of travelers", but today, it was all about getting north in Florida before the lovebugs woke up. For our northern friends, love bugs are a May and September, sometimes late April and late August pest. Twice a year, pesky, invasive lovebugs swarm Florida. They are my least favorite clingy pair that spend 12 hours having intercourse and at some point they splatter their gooey insides on car hoods and windshields, flying into people’s faces, and even clinging to your clothes, thus bringing a few inside with you, yuck! They traveled to the Gulf Coast and Florida, from Central America. I wish the border had been closed when they crossed! They thrive in Florida, because of our warm humid weather and our ample decaying plant matter.

All that being said, it was 6:15 am, yes, you read that right! I am normally up and walking at this hour, but not Charlie. So, it was dark for the first hour of our two-lane adventure. So, pictures are limited and my narration will have to do. We passed through Zephyrhills on US Route 301 N. Our community began as the town of Abbott on April 18, 1888 and consisted of 280 acres. A voting district was established in 1893 followed by a post office in 1896. In 1909, Captain Harold B. Jeffries, a Civil War Union veteran from Pennsylvania purchased 35,000 acres and created the Zephyrhills Colony Company. Zephyrhills was officially founded in March of 1910 and incorporated in 1914. In 1999, the City of Zephyrhills conducted a city-wide historic resources survey, finding over 400 historic resources. Who knew Zephyrhills is so rich in history?

In the 1870s there was a small town known as Fort Dade. In the 1880s, the railroad bypassed Fort Dade a few miles to the east; the whole town packed up and moved to be next to the railroad. In 1884, the town was incorporated as Dade City. We took the 301 Bypass and skirted along the south side of the town’s centerpiece, the historic Pasco County Courthouse. It was built in 1909 and has been restored a couple of times and it is on The National Register of Historic Places. A prisoner of war camp was located in Dade City during World War Two. The camp was for German soldiers who had been captured in North Africa as part of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korp. The camp operated from 1942 to 1946. It old camp site is now the location of Pyracantha Park Civic Center.

We passed through Bushnell on 301. I kept clicking pictures of the sun rising. Interesting fact about the next town we came to Sumterville. It was the original home to the first County seat and courthouse in Sumter County. However, the only thing that remains of that original building is the historical marker, located alongside US 301.

In Belleview, US 27 and US 441 joined us on Route 301. I never noticed that US 27 was on this route before, and we have traveled this route a great deal. We continued into Citra. Along US 301 is The First Baptist Church of Citra. In December of 1876, Florida was sparsely settled and Baptist were few and far between. It was originally built in 1880. The original church building consisted of one room with three windows on each side and seated about 100 people. By 1893 the membership had outgrown the original building so a new house of worship was erected which forms the main part of the present structure.

Citra is known as the home of the pineapple orange, originally it was called the hickory orange. The name Pineapple Orange was coined in 1883 for the orange with an aroma reminiscent of a pineapple. 

The “Orange Shop” signs boasted that it was inside the orange grove, sadly that is not the case anymore.

North of Citra, we started to see smoke from the wildfires in the area. 

It stayed with us for the remainder of our drive to Cary State Forest. We did take the 301 Bypass around Starke and the new 301 Bypass around Baldwin.

We have passed this State Forest many times... never knew that had camping!

Cary State Forest was established as Florida’s second State Forest in 1937. Cary is known for its scenic mature flatwoods, sandhill and basin marsh. Using sound forest management, the Florida Forest Service provides for multiple uses of the forest resources. The forest is managed for timber production, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation and ecological restoration. 

Cary State Forest offers the public a variety of passive, resource-based recreational opportunities, including hiking, RV and primitive camping, wildlife viewing, horseback riding, environmental education and hunting.

There are six water and electric sites. They are spaced far apart around a loop and each RV site has a double side concrete pad. Our site was easy to back into, because it was on a curve.  

We are here for only one night. Our quest to leave early and beat the love bugs was a success, there were only a few dead pairs on the front cap of the RV! The screen we put on in front of the radiator helped too!

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures!