Juniper Springs - #61-09

February 26, 2006 (Sun) Alexander Springs Recreation Area, Ocala NF (6) - What a difference a day makes! Yesterday was warm and busy. Today it's too chilly (61°) to sit out unless in the direct sun (not much of that) and by early afternoon the campground was deserted. Our neighbors who like to have a campfire every night went out on their bicycles and collected all the wood left by the departing campers. It took several trips with it stacked and bunged to the bicycle racks. We went out to help, to repay their hospitality some, but by the time we realized what they were doing they had it all done - no wood left anywhere in the campground.

Tomorrow we're off to do laundry, some shopping and to check out another campground.

Alexander Springs Recreation Area, Ocala NF #47 (x6)
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February 27, 2006 (Mon) Altoona, FL to Silver Springs, FL (59/2431 miles)

The priorities for today were to refresh our holding tanks (dump and take on fresh water), grocery shop, and do laundry. We went to a laundromat in Umatilla, FL (8 miles south on State Road 19). Among the discarded reading material there was a discount coupon for a used book store in Eustis, FL in a mall with a Publix supermarket. So we drove another 5 miles south. Then, fortified with food (including lunch at Applebee's), clean clothes, and new books to read, we headed back north into the Ocala National Forest and to Juniper Springs Recreational Area.

Q029659 Juniper Springs Recreational Area, Ocala NF #22 dry $8.50g A
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February 28, 2006 (Tue) Juniper Springs Recreational Area, Ocala NF (2) - It was the coldest night so far in the current cold snap - 40° - but it warmed up nicely. This campground seems neater then the Ocala NF campgrounds we've been in. We can't put our finger on why. Maybe it's the better condition of the paved roads through the campground, or the wider spacing of the campsites, or the openness, or the lushness of the greenery, or maybe even that the rest rooms are newer. At any rate it's enjoyable here. The fighter jets we heard from Alexander Springs fly over here too but here we can hear the explosions of their practice bombs. They do wonders for an afternoon snooze!

One of the reasons we came here this trip was to rent a canoe and explore Juniper Run through the forest. We did that this morning. It was 7 1/2 miles from the source of one of the springs - the stream barely wide enough and deep enough for the canoe - to a pick-up area in a wider and deeper river. Along the way we zig-zagged back and forth to follow the sharply meandering waterway. There has been minimum effort put into clearing fallen trees so in addition to constantly working to avoid hitting the banks - not always successfully - we had to duck under downed trees - many very low and one so low that we had to literally lie down in the canoe to get under it. Mark has bruised ribs from hitting a branch at another obstacle and a lump on the head from not ducking low enough at another. And we both have exhausted arm muscles that will be lame and sore tomorrow. But the beauty of the scenery and the abundance of wild life made the experience well worth while. Among other things we saw, maybe, 100 turtles, several species of of bird, 3 or 4 white tail deer and two alligators - one a 14 footer so close to the canoe that we could have touched him with our paddles.

We spent the afternoon, guilt free, doing nothing.
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March 1, 2005 (Wed) Juniper Springs Recreational Area, Ocala NF (3) - We didn't actually go anywhere today except from one campsite to another even though Q's odometer shows 94 more miles. In the process we checked out Salt Springs Recreation Area north of here and went into Silver Springs to do some shopping and get fuel.

The Salt Springs RA is huge, at least the camping area is and we assume the rest of the area is too. There are 106 full hookup sites that is full all the time. The gatekeeper said that there was one site opening up in about an hour if we wanted to wait. We asked about the non hookup sites. "Oh, no problem," she said. "I thought you'd want hookups." She gave us a 10 minute pass to see the site that would be opening up and the "primitive" tenting area. The primitive area was practically empty but a little too primitive for our liking right now and more set up for tents than RVs. The RV area, on the other hand, was a typical RV campground - sites packed together in rows - and not really to our liking right now either. We had thought this might be a good place to meet up with Ed and Kathy next week but we discovered that there may or may not be space for one or both of us there at the same time. There is no maximum stay limit so the turnover isn't as predictable as it is in most places. We decided that Alexander Springs RA might be a better place.

Our trip to Silver Springs, after registering again here at Juniper Springs RA, wasn't at all exciting. We got gas and a few groceries. The Six Gun Plaza (a small shopping center) just east of the Walmart Supercenter on SR40 is worth stopping at sometime.

As we sat out reading this afternoon a cute little raccoon wandered into our campsite. Mark chased him away but he came back a few minutes later to retrieve his mate who had apparently been watching from the safety of a tree.

Q029753 Juniper Springs Recreational Area, Ocala NF #15 dry $8.50g A
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March 2, 2006 (Thu) Juniper Springs Recreational Area, Ocala NF (4) - We hiked another part of the Florida National Scenic Trail this morning (the other part was at Alexander Springs RA). This is an area hit by a couple of the hurricanes in 2004 so there was a great deal of damage done to parts of the forest. The National Forest Service sold off the trees, downed and otherwise, to commercial interests which has left some areas very barren. There must have been some control because the areas are few and small. Unfortunately many of the downed trees were not harvested so the places that were clear cut look pretty bad. Most of the time we were in the forest though which made for a pleasant and scenic walk.
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March 3, 2006 (Fri) Juniper Springs Recreational Area, Ocala NF (5) - A few campsites down the road from us there are two motorcycle camping units - two motorcycles with trailers. The trailers, each about 6 feet by six feet, cleverly open out into fair sized fabric (tent) living quarters. We were a bit concerned when we saw them pull in but they don't at all fit the stereotype - except for the long hair and tattoos. They are quiet as are their motorcycles. About the worst we can say about them is that they seem to have cigarettes hanging from their lips all the time and they don't bother to pick their little dog's poops. Yes, one of the couples apparently carries a dog with them.

We hiked the part of the Florida Trail we were on yesterday and also explored about a mile of it in the other direction. On the way back we stopped by the canoe launch area and watched a couple begin their adventure. There are signs all over warning that the canoe run is for those with experience only and not for beginners. We expect that that couple had a long tough go of it and probably got dunked more than once - it's a very rough course. As they started down the run the the park volunteer, also there watching, yelled to the woman in the bow to switch hands on her paddle. She was holding it backwards! We thought some of driving down to the pick up point to see how they made out but decided against it because it might have been a long wait.