To Ocala National Forest - #61-07

February 12 (Sun) The Great Outdoors (5) - It was cold (42° over night, low 50s mid morning) and windy so our activity for the day was to venture into the outskirts of Orlando to hunt up a super Jo-Ann's Fabric store and a bead shop. Dorcas is learning the technique of combining beading with knitting to make mini purses that Joy has been doing on this trip. We couldn't find the bead shop - it has moved - and Jo-Ann's came up short on needed supplies. But a stop at Barnes and Noble yielded a sudoku puzzle book - something for Mark to do while Joy is working crossword puzzles - and a copy of Knit.1 magazine which has a pattern designed by Dorcas. On the way home we had a late lunch at Chile's. (The Olive Garden was our first choice but the wait time was 30+ minutes.)

Watching the Olympics occupied our time during the late afternoon and evening.
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February 13, 2006 (Mon) The Great Outdoors (6) - Colder last night (38°) making for a chilly walk this morning. Other than that it has been a "inside" day - too cold to be comfortable outside - except for Mike who went golfing with some friends. Joy went over and spent some time with Dorcas, knitting and beading, while Mark stayed home to work on taxes and reconcile our bank accounts.

The Great Outdoors #443 Oak Cove Dr (x3) #440 Oak Cove Dr (x3)
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February 14, 2006 Valentine's Day (Tue)
Titusville, FL to Orange City, FL (149/2237 miles)

Even colder last night (36°) and again a cold walk! This is supposed to be Florida! It had warmed all the way up to 48° by the time we got off at 10:36. Dorcas and Mike have been super hosts - thank you guys, it's been an adventure.

Our destination was Blue Spring State Park about 35 miles north of Orlando. To get there we started north on I-95 but left the heavy traffic after only a few miles to head cross-country to Sanford and then to Orange City. Along the way we stopped in Geneva - a nice little town, very friendly - to mail a package.

When we made reservations last week we could get one night - we wanted two. As we checked in today we tried again for two nights and got them. Apparently there had been a cancellation.

This park is noted for its manatees. In the winter they come into Blue Spring run to hang out in the relatively warm spring's water. After getting set up we walked down to the viewing area, a long boardwalk beside the run, where 25 or 30 of them were doing just that. For those who don't know, manatees are large mammals (air breathing) who, like dolphins and whales, live in the water. They are the elephant's closest biological relative and, although not very pretty, are the original mermaids.

Q029465 Blue Spring State Park #31 w/e $22.50 A
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February 15, 2006 (Wed) Blue Spring State Park (2) - It just keeps getting colder - 32° when we got up this morning! We decided not to walk - because it was cold and because we had logged 8 1/2 miles yesterday. Even so we managed to cover 4 1/2 miles going back and forth to the rest rooms, the dumpster and the manatee viewing area. We took our first trip down to the spring at about 10:00, after it had warmed up some. We thought we'd be ahead of the crowd. Nope! Reminiscent of our trying to see the bears fishing for salmon in Hyder, Alaska, we could hardly get to the rails to see the manatees. It was more crowded than yesterday! There were a lot of manatees though and all kinds of fish in the clear water. We walked down again before supper and the crowds were gone. So were most of the manatees! There were a few though and it was fun watching them - although they didn't do much or move very fast. The water was so clear that we could even watch the cormorants swimming under water as they went after fish. A great blue heron caught and tried to swallow a big fish and a large alligator moseyed along the shore on the other side of the run.

Blue Spring State Park #31 (x2)
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February 16, 2006 (Thu)
Orange City, FL to Paisley, FL (45/2282 miles)

It was warmer last night, 42°, and had warmed up to 64° by the time we got off at 9:30. After restocking the cupboards from a Publix supermarket in Orange City we headed for Paisley (isn't that an interesting name?) where a new campground, for us, is located. Clearwater Recreation Area is located next to Lake Clearwater (appropriately) in the Ocala National Forest. The campground is small, 42 sites, and rustic (no hookups). Most sites are large enough for the biggest of rigs - although some would give automatic levelers a workout. In fact there is a bunch of snowbirds - as the gatekeeper called them - in one area, some with class A motor homes and toads. We are in a site away from most other campsites so it should be very quiet here - no nearby generator noise or late night parties. But we are right next to the day-use area so there may be some activity during the day this weekend. We can see the small lake through the trees from both our living room and dining room windows and a small sandy beach is only a short walk away. The showers - just big rooms, one for men and one for women - are reminiscent of locker room showers except that these are roofless. We have opted to use Q's on-board shower facilities. But it's really beautiful here in this forest of live oak trees decorated with swags of hanging Spanish moss and palmetto. This should be a good place to spend a few days. We'll be here until Tuesday.

Q029510 Clearwater Recreation Area #22 dry $7.00g B (x5)
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February 17, 2006 (Fri) Clearwater Recreation Area, Ocala NF (2) - This has been a lazy day of reading, beading, and napping. We tried to get our email but the cell phone signal here is marginal to none. We walked around the campground this evening and explored a trail that must go all the way around the lake. We turned back because it was beginning to get dark.

We don't normally watch television while we are traveling but we've really enjoyed the Olympics on this trip. Even here the TV reception (from Orlando) is excellent - we don't even need to put the antenna up - so it has become our nightly entertainment.
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February 18, 2006 (Sat) Clearwater Recreation Area, Ocala NF (3) - The day use people began to come into the area next to our site at just before noon today. Although there were several cars in the small parking lot very few of the dozen or so picnic tables were occupied. And then everyone spent most of their time down on the beach.

The trail we started to explore yesterday does go all the way around the lake. It was quite a pleasant walk. There don't seem to be any other trails in the area. that's too bad. There are "service roads" that we could explore but we're reluctant to do that as there are "authorized personnel only" signs posted.
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February 19, 2006 (Sun) Clearwater Recreation Area, Ocala NF (4) - The weather was chilly, high of 60°, overcast and dreary. Even the day-use people stayed home. We couldn't help comparing this President's Day weekend to last year when we were in the grossly overcrowded Highland Hammock State Park.
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February 20, 2006 (Mon) Clearwater Recreation Area, Ocala NF (5) - Again no one here to take advantage of this beautiful park - not that we are complaining. The sun came out in the early afternoon and the temperature made it almost to 80°.

We think our phone is having a problem. We should be getting a better signal here and surely should have gotten a good signal somewhere as we drove here Thursday but it remains at the lowest level (one bar). Even our booster doesn't help it. So tomorrow we're off in search of a Verizon store to, maybe, get a new phone. At over 5 years old it's about time anyway.

Clearwater Recreation Area #22 (x5)