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-