A Cold And Dreary Week #81-06

January 17, 2008 (Thur) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (5) - The sound of rain on the roof (and mild temperatures) made for good sleeping last night and we slept quite late - for us - this morning. On the down side, some of the run-off collected in a puddle under Q where we'd put our folding chairs to keep them out of the rain. The water had to be dumped from the storage sack when they were rescued!

Last night Bob and Pat found that they were not able to start either their generator or their vehicle engine to recharge their batteries. So this morning, before breakfast, we took Q over to their campsite to jump start their motor home. We learned later that the folks in the site next to them also had power problems. They had thought they could keep the "house" batteries in their trailer charged by running the truck engine like we do, but it doesn't work that way with trailers! They had to go out and buy a battery charger. Their long term solution has to be to either go out and buy a generator or camp only where they can hook up to shore power.

January 18, 2008 (Fri) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (6) - Friday is the start of the weekend and the character and sounds of the campground are changing - probably more apparent because of the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday on Monday. There is more activity, people walking by, and the sounds include those of children in addition to generators and the occasional barking dog. There seem to be a lot more tents here than in Juniper Springs - maybe because of the holiday weekend, maybe because it's the general character of this campground.It's been a dreary few days. The sun has come out only for short periods, not enough to make it seem warm. And there have been periods of misty rain - usually about 5 minutes after Mark has gotten his guitar out. Joy shivers a lot as she works her crossword puzzles and watches for the sun to come out. It is supposed to be cold, for Florida, the next couple of days then warm up again next week. We are looking forward to that.

January 19, 2008 (Sat) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (7) - The campground didn't fill up last night as we'd been told it would. It's probably because the weather forecast has been so bad. It was dreary almost all day and the temperature never got above 60° until mid afternoon. And that's when the sun also put in an appearance - for a short while. About the only thing we've done today is take a walk around the campground.

We and Bob and Pat collaborated on pizza for dinner tonight and the preparation began just as the storm hit. Thunder, lightning and torrential rain provided the "background music" for the festivities. The pizza was the best and the dominoes game lively.

January 20, 2008 (Sun) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (8) - They said it was going to get down into the 30s in this area last night. Our thermometer showed a low of 41° which is close. The high today was 51° - not a good beach day, if there were a beach to go to - good for hiking, though. We explored a small part of the Florida Trail the goes by near here.Three young students of the recording arts - CDs and such - school came by while Mark was practicing his guitar this afternoon. They said that they could hear him from the other side of the campground loop and came over to check it out. They asked him to play something for them. He did, reluctantly. One of them applauded politely and they left unimpressed. So much for his first audition!Q is back in travel mode - except for the chairs that we used for the campfire tonight.We move on tomorrow, probably to Blue Springs State Park, stopping along the way to do email, shopping and laundry.

Q041028 Alexander Springs RA, Ocala National Forest, FL #31 dry $8.50 (x8)