February 12, 2004 (Thu) - It rained all night again last night - not hard but enough to let us know that it was. It was still rainy at 5:10 when we got up, and still dark. Breakfast was cozy after the furnace took the edge off the chill. Fort McAllister must be in the middle of a huge bed room community because when we got out to US-441 from the spur to the state park, the traffic was bumper to bumper. We waited over five minutes for an opening to get out onto the road - and it's a small "country" road! Then it was stop and go all the way to US-17. Most of them must have been headed for Savannah because there doesn't seem to be industry enough in Richmond Hill to support that kind of migration.
The trip up I-95 was wet and tense. The traffic was heavy with 18 wheelers kicking up blinding mist. The rain was more or less constant, some times heavy, sometimes light. It was much better sleeping weather than driving. The trees along the sides of the highway from the middle of South Carolina and into North Carolina were bent and broken. Limbs littered both shoulders. We're guessing that it was damage from the recent ice storms that hit the south. We hadn't heard that it was so destructive.
We stopped for lunch in a rest area about 1:00 and at the Carolina Prime Outlet Mall at around 2:30. We pulled in here about 4:30. This isn't really a campground. Rather it's a motel back lot set aside for overnight RVs. It's not quite the ambiance we've become used to but it's a place to call home for a few hours.
Q058962 (414 mi) Weldon (Roanoke Rapids), NC Interstate Inn RV area w/e $14.98
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February 13, 2004 (Fri) - We awoke at 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep so we got up, showered and had a leisurely breakfast. At 310 small amounts of water had frozen, condensation on Q and neighboring rigs, the shallow puddle below Q's step, and remnants from yesterday's rain in the TV antenna mechanism! Mark had to haul out the ladder to climb up and free it up while Joy cranked it down from inside. After dumping we headed across the highway to a Walmart where we bought, among other things, a couple of rugs for Q. In Fredricksburg, we dropped off the I-95 in search of a parking lot for lunch. A Radio Shack in the strip mall yielded a microphone headset for the computer. While waiting to get back onto US-1 a Chinook Baja went by - our first sighting in the wild. The Baja has a body like Q's and the same living quarters inside but it sits high on a four wheel drive frame with oversized tires and a front end winch. This one had a safari type luggage rack on top. Cool!
Rather than asking Jim and Sue to send directions to their house, we chose to rely on "The Voice" to get us there. It worked flawlessly. Q is 21 feet long. Jim and Sue's driveway is 22 feet long (maybe 23). We had to take the bicycles off the front to fit and not intrude on the sidewalk. It didn't seem like a neighborhood to tolerate overnight motor homes but we were assured that it was OK. After a walk around the community they gave us a delicious seafood dinner - shrimp, scallops, and salmon steaks with mixed vegetables, rice, and great conversation.
February 14, 2004 (Sat) Gaithersburg, MD - Nature hikes were on the agenda for today. After pancakes for breakfast we packed sandwiches and headed for Little Bennett Park. There was still snow and ice on the trails and the air was chilly but not enough make the hike unpleasant. A pair of bald eagles sat high in a tree across the lake in Seneca Creek State Park - a real treat as information in the visitors center said that sightings were few. We didn't see any beaver but at one place on the lake we saw the stumps of many trees they had cut to build their lodge. Interesting but also destructive!
In the afternoon Jim showed us his basement workshop where he makes split bamboo fly fishing rods. He is a superb craftsman and his rods are works of art. He has also been know to use them on occasion and has even caught a fish or two with them. For dinner Joy fixed pizza with some delicious pepper salami from Trader Joe's - where we'd gone to shop after arriving at a Amish market 10 minutes after it had closed. We exchanged slide shows in the evening and enjoyed getting to know one another better.
Q059180 (218 mi) Gaithersburg, MD - Jim and Sue's driveway
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February 15, 2004 (Sun) - This morning "The Voice" directed us over back roads to I-70 - Yesterday Jim had helped Mark with a route to avoid the horrendous Washington, DC traffic. We had no idea so much open space was so near the city. Traffic was heavy on I-70 and I-95 but not too bad. The trip went very smoothly except for a gas stop at the south jersey Flying J It seems that RVs have to use special pumps there - no exception! (Welcome to New Jersey!) Also draining and winterizing all of Q's tanks and pipes was a cold miserable task - as it always is. In Freehold we stopped to see daughter Jennifer and her husband Dave and to pick up our mail. We found all well at home when we got here at about 5:00. The snow that we heard so much about while we were in Florida is about gone. But it's cold!
Q059415 (235 mi) - Home
North to home - #41-13
Okefenokee Swamp - #41-12
February 8, 2004 (Sun) - It was cold last night (42°) and didn't warm up much during the day. Our designated assistant navigator guided us easily along a series of county and state roads to the Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (Okefenokee Swamp) with only one minor misstep - recent construction had created a turn he didn't know about. We got here shortly after noon and had our lunch in our camp site. This is a lovely park. There are canoes, kayaks and jon boats to rent, guided tours into the swamp, and rental cabins. There are nature trails for walking and water trails through the swamp for canoeing etc. The sites are large and secluded - separated by wide swatches of natural tropical brush. The neighboring sites are empty (as are most in the campground) so we don't see any other rigs from here. Hookups include water, electric, and TV cable. All this for $15.20 a night!
After recuperating from our grueling 69 mile trek here, we walked to the marina and concession area, wandered around the museum/interpretive center, and explored one of the nature trails. Now we can watch some cable TV tonight without feeling guilty.
Cell phone service here is analog and there is no modem hookup facilities in the park so we'll be out of touch for a while.
February 9, 2004 (Mon) Stephen C. Foster State Park (Okefenokee Swamp) - When we were here several years ago we took the guided tour through the swamp. We decided then that the next time we were here we would rent a canoe. Well this is the next time and we rented a canoe.
We expected to see lots of alligators but they like the sun and the sky is overcast. We did see three and got some pictures. Along the waterway, Black Vulture watched from the tree tops and small birds fluttered here and there in the foliage. But the main attraction of the trip was the swamp itself. It was beautiful. The tropical plants and tall gray spanish moss draped Cyprus trees reflected brilliantly in the mirror smooth water in spite of the cloudy sky. It was hard to tell where reality ended and and reflection began. It was a living post card in every direction and around every bend. And quiet! It was so quiet that we could hear even the subtle sounds of nature, the faint gurgle as an alligator slipped into the water, the rustle of movement in the brush, a far off call of a small bird. The only intrusion was the sound of a jet plane high overhead.
In mid afternoon the campground host came by to invite us to a fish fry at their site. She said her husband had been out fishing all day and they wanted to share the catch. "Just bring forks, glasses, and chairs," she said. We joined four other couples, campers, and several of the park staff. The fish, perch and pic (apparently this is a long thin bony fish that probably most people throw back, but if it is cooked right the bones soften up) was delicious. They also served real southern hush puppies - made from mix and grits with cheddar cheese -- yum! Talk around the campfire was interesting, informative and, at times, hilarious. We had a great time.
Faithful readers of these epistles will remember that the campsite we were originally assigned in Manatee Stark Park was already occupied. It turned out that the couple sitting next at the campfire, Dave and Donna Keach, were the ones who were in site #70 last Thursday. They had also been in the Everglades (in the other campground) and Collier Seminole State Park about the same time we were. They are interesting people. Oh, And they're from Frederick, MD, where we stopped to replace our tires on the way down.
February 10, 2004 (Tue) Stephen C. Foster State Park (Okefenokee Swamp) - We were going to ride our bikes back out the access road 5 miles to a wildlife area. Apparently there is a long dam there supporting a trail into the swamp. But as we got ready to go and started out rain threatened so we cut the ride short. Although we were on the main road - the only road - in the park, only one vehicle (and a bicycle) passed us in our 45 minute ride - Dave and Donna on their way out. The rest of the day we sat around, read, and played games. It never did rain much but it felt like a rainy day.
Q058364 (69 mi) Fargo, GA - Stephen C. Foster State Park #50 w/e $15.20s (x3) A+
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February 11, 2004 (Wed) - It rained all last night - not heavily but enough to discourage even the thought of going out. And it was still that way as we broke camp and dumped our holding tanks. It was warmer (59°) than it has been though, making the jobs a little easier than they could have been. We stopped at a Winn Dixie in Waycross and while Joy picked up supplies Mark "did" email. It was early for lunch but Captain D's Seafood (fast food) was right there and the Double Twelve Shrimp platter beckoned. It was quite good - especially at $3.99 apiece.
There is a lot of logging in this area of Georgia, trucks loaded with logs were on the road going in both directions. (We wondered why the companies didn't just buy each other's logs so they wouldn't have to truck them so far.) There were several log product mills along the way - every thing from telephone poles to fence posts - with huge piles of logs lying around. We passed International Paper Inc's Atlantic Division plant. At one point the logging operation was close enough to the road for us to see the cranes lifting the log onto the large flat bed trucks.
This campground is an old standby for us. We've been here several times. It seems to be well placed for a stop. It's clean, pretty and quiet with large well spread out camp sites.
Q058548 (184 mi) Richmond Hill, GA - Fort McAllister State Historic Park #11 w/e $17.20 B
A surprise encounter - #41-11
February 5, 2004 (Thu) - Before leaving Juniper Springs Recreational Area this morning we took a walk along the paths down to and along the springs. What an interesting place! At points along the stream water is bubbling up through the ground leaving deposits of sand to mark their existence. Water vapor rises from the larger pools as if they were heated and the water is so clear that it looks only a couple of feet deep where it is really 20. There is an area for swimming (unprotected) and an area to launch canoes. We vowed to come back some day and rent a canoe. The stream, at least what we could see of it, is about 8 feet wide or so and lush with palm and palmetto greenery. It looks barely deep enough for a canoe. A sign at the launch point warns not to feed the alligators. They must hang out close enough to feed!
Just before entering the village of Chiefland on US-27A, Mark spotted a sign for the Levy County Quilt Museum. We turned back and drove a mile down a small road to it. It turned out to be the home of the local quilting club (not guild - club) - the realized dream of it's founder, Winnelle Horne. It was a museum in name only. There were quilts on display, some old for display only but many were new with price tags. There were also many crafty items, again some old, some for sale. Joy's comment, "Nice building". It was.
We were assigned site #70 as we came into Manatee Springs State Park but it was already occupied. On the way back to the ranger station for a new site we passed a small dark car that looked very much like Bob and Pat's Saturn, It was! We had no idea they'd be anywhere near here. And to add coincidence to coincidence they were in site #71, right next to the occupied site we'd been assigned! We ended up in #49. If either of us had been on that road a minute or two earlier or later, we would not have know the other was there. Instead, we shared a hot game of dominoes and Bob's wonderful New England style clam chowder made with fresh clams. An armadillo and a couple of deer came by to watch and to join us for dinner but Thandi, Bob and Pat's poodle, shooed them away.
Q058203 (96 mi) Chiefland, FL - Manatee Springs State Park #49 w/e $17.44 (x2) B
February 6, 2004 (Fri) Manatee Springs State Park - Before Bob and Pat left this morning we all hiked one of the many trails in the park then went down to see the manatees. They are very often seen in the Suwannee River off the end of the boardwalk here. But not today! The water was too rough to see them this morning although one of the workmen said they were around. We did see lots of turtles soaking up the sun and hundreds of Black Vultures (with dark gray heads. Turkey Vultures have red heads). We spent the first part of the afternoon relaxing, reading, knitting, napping, etc. Then we walked back down to check out the manatees. The water was still too rough. In fact the coming storm was really stirring things up. We couldn't see into the water at all.
The rain came about 6:00 and beat a soothing rhythm on Q's roof through the evening and into the night.
February 7, 2004 (Sat) - No manatees this morning either! The water was still too rough to see anything. But the vultures were there. They had taken over the boardwalk. They lined the railing and gave up their spots very reluctantly as we walked up to them. Mark got a real close up picture of one brave fellow.
Winnelle Horne from the Levy County Quilt Museum spoke (with some disdain as she favors inexpensive fabric) about a new quilt shop having just opened in Trenton. It was only a little out of our way so we swung by there. Joy went in while Mark stayed in Q doing some maintenance work in the computer. He also figured out why we haven't been able to send email with the cell phone and fixed it. Joy's comments about the quilt shop "Fabulous old building - former Coca-Cola plant. Shop includes classrooms, stained glass workshop, lunchroom, and room to expand. Wonderful fabrics, a definite place to stop when we are in Florida!"
There was a huge mail box by the side of US-129 in front of a pet grooming establishment. We wondered if it was for packages from customers who mailed their pets in to be groomed.
This is culture shock! We are in private pack-um-in campground. After several days in the beauty of national and state parks this is a bit too residential. We're here for two reasons, to do our laundry and because public campgrounds tend to fill up on weekends. It's only one night. We'll make it. The campground is up the Suwannee River from where we were the last couple of nights. We took a walk down to the river after setting up. It's as peaceful and beautiful here as it was in Manatee Springs. Manatees never make it up this far.
Q059295 (92 mi) White Springs, FL - Suwannee Valley Camp Ground #D12 $10.90p C
To Ocala National Forest - #41-10
January 30, 2004 (Fri) Englewood, FL to Plant City, FL - Our mail came yesterday so we're on the move again. It was good to see Joy's mother and sister and sad to think that it may be several months before we are back here again.
The trip from Englewood (North on I-75 and East on I-4) was straight forward and uneventful except "The Voice" got very confused at one point (giving Joy the hope that her job wasn't in jeopardy after all). When we stopped at the discount mall in Ellenton to pick up a few necessities, Mark decided to test one of the GPS features he'd discovered - the voice command instructing the computer to recalculate the route from the current position as in "I'm lost. How do I get back 'On Track'?" The trouble was, the mall parking lot was unknown to The Voice. He didn't know where we were and directed us hither, thither and yon until we really were lost. Another "On Track" command from a known road got us back to I-75 and on our way. Also when mapping the route to Ruth and Gordy's we discovered that the roads in their community weren't in the map program so we estimated the location of their address. Later, when reviewing the residual GPS track on the map, the roads were there. Strange!
The roads in Ruth and Gordy's park are so narrow and space is so limited that large vehicles are understandably prohibited from overnight parking. So Q was relegated to a spot near the pool. He wasn't happy but it was only for one night.
Q057747 (91 mi) Community swimming pool parking lot (parked)
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January 31, 2004 (Sat) - It was good to be able to be with Ruth and Gordy without the feeling that we had to rush off to stay on a tight schedule. We had a real good visit with them, they are so relaxed and easy to be with, and got on the road for Lakeland shortly after lunch. This is going to be a quick visit with Ed and Kathy as they are off for a week long FMCA rally tomorrow morning. Mark had programmed The Voice to take us "the back way" from Plant City to Lakeland and he performed flawlessly bringing us right to Ed and Kathy's gate.
February 1, 2004 (Sun) Lakeland FL - It rained last night and the sound of it on Q's roof was soothing and restful. It was only the second time it's rained in the nearly 5 weeks we've been on the road. The morning temperature 64°, up from 54° when we went to bed, but it still seems colder. We are meeting Mike and Dorcas (Mark's sister) in Okeechobee tomorrow and rather than searching out a campground to hang out in, we've accepted Ed and Kathy's kind offer to stay here in their yard. They got off at about 9:30, leaving us to our own devices. We took advantage of day off by catching up on our reading.
Q057769 (22 mi) Lakeland, FL, Ed and Kathy's yard. (x2)
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February 2, 2004 (Mon) Lakeland, FL to Okeechobee, FL - US-98 goes pretty much directly from Lakeland to Okeechobee. After breakfast and showers we got off at about 9:00 (63.5°) and headed South. We're still feeling a slight vibration (wheel balance?) that Mark wanted to have checked out so we stopped at McGee Tire in Lakeland (no time for us) and Big T Tire in Sebring (balanced the 4 rear wheels). It didn't help much. It may be the front wheels after all. We'll keep trying.
Here we are in Okeechobee again - but this time on the other side of the tracks. For a mere $57.20 a night Q gets a 50 foot long concrete parking pad and a narrow strip of grass shade with his awing while we get the privilege of looking out our windows upon row after row of large fifth wheel trailers and $300,000 motor homes. To be fair, we do have the opportunity here to play golf on their beautiful 18 hole par 3 golf course, swim in one of their 2 large heated swimming pools, play tennis, shuffleboard, horse shoes, or petanque (what ever that is), or use their rec hall, game room, playground, showers, laundry, or hot tubs. This is a huge place, 756 RV (and 2 tent) sites and almost as many semi permanent trailer sites. When we called for reservations we were told none were needed - which seems strange because there are very few empty spaces. Since Mike and Dorcas are here for a month (at a much more reasonable rate), we asked for a site near them. That put us in the "high rent" district for short termers. This truly is an experience but not one soon to be repeated.
Q057888 (119 mi) Okeechobee, FL - Okeechobee KOA Campground #351 w/e/s $57.20 B
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February 3, 2004 (Tue) Okeechobee, FL to Lake Wales, FL - It was good to be with Mike and Dorcas and to catch up on all the family news. But we had to be on our way (if for no other reason than we couldn't afford to stay). Five minutes before the 12:00 check out time we pulled onto US-441 and headed North. Joy saw an animated elephant in the roof of a pickup go by as we got gas at Walmart ($1.61- up from $1.59 last night). At US-60 in Yeehaw Junction, we turned West for Lake Wales. Both US-441 and US-60 were arrow straight (causing some drowsiness in the driver) but the road to Lake Kissimme State Park was narrow, twisting, and beautiful.
This is a beautiful park. Our site is huge (Okeechobee KOA designers would have put 25 to 30 big rigs into this space with room left over for a swimming pool and a small golf course). Except for the barely visible roof line of one neighboring rig, we can see nothing but palms, palmettos, and a field of spanish moss draped live oak trees. There are hiking trails and plenty of low traffic roads for biking. We'll have to come back and stay for a few days next time.
Q057976 (88 mi) Lake Wales, FL - Lake Kissimmee State Park #26 w/e $18.70 A+
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February 4, 2004 (Wed) Lake Wales, FL to Silver Springs, FL - We got up before dawn this morning and took bath house showers - very nice, hot water, clean, and roomy - had Plant City strawberries on our cereal - delicious. Mark's grandparents retired to Mount Dora in the mid 1900s. Now it's an antique/gift/junk shop tourist mecca - it may have been back then too but probably not - complete with sightseeing trollys and an historic rail car ride to the next town and back. We stopped to perused some of the shops and bought some fudge.
National Forest campgrounds can range from extremely rustic - barely passable roads and pit toilets to fairly respectable. This one is quite nice and well worth the $8.00 plus tax that we're paying even though that's pricey for National Forest campgrounds. We have no hookups but there are supposed to hot showers in the bath house. Our site is large and very secluded. We look forward to another quiet restful sleep.
Q058107 (131 mi) Silver Springs, FL - Ocala National Forest Juniper Springs Recreational Area #39 dry $9.10s A-
