The Q Chronicles #81-08

January 25, 2008 (Fri) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (3) - Our exciting activity for today was to go into "the big city" in search of a WiFi signal - the big city being Umatilla (population 9,034). The signal we'd found last week, across the road from a large RV resort, was too weak to use today. We finally went to the library - why we don't just seek out the local library to begin with is a mystery. After getting our email and sending out the last installment of The Q Chronicles, we headed for the bigger city of Eustis (population 17,923) where Bob found a banjo instruction book and we all had lunch at Applebee's.

We are discovering that playing a guitar in a campground has at least thing in common with walking a dog - it stimulates social contact. A woman stopped while riding by on her bicycle and asked Mark if he was the one who'd been playing the guitar. She thought he'd be interested in knowing that the fellow in the campsite next to her was playing a dulcimer. Another time a woman (coincidentally also riding a bicycle) stopped to say that she was learning to play a violin.

January 26, 2008 (Sat) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (4) - Late yesterday afternoon a group ranging in age from about 7 to mid 20s (maybe 7 or 8 people) and a young dog who knew neither leash nor boundary lines moved in next door. Some of the them were drinking beer as they set up 4 tents, a dining fly and much miscellaneous equipment and toys. We thought we were in for a long noisy night. It turned out not to be. As we went to bed it was obvious that there was a group gathered around a large campfire over there but they weren't boisterous. Around midnight we were awakened by lights against our window. It turned out to be the "Security" vehicle. We can only guess why they were there. They weren't disturbing us at all. This morning they all piled into their rented U-Haul van and took off for the day.

January 27, 2008 (Sun) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (5) -  The woods are spotted with the highlighting of twinkling campfires and the smell of woodsmoke fills the air. The sounds of children mix with that of louder than necessary adult voices. Somewhere in the distance rock music adds its special touch and occasionally a dog barks. Next door neighbors extend their camping experience to well past midnight. It's night time in a public campground on a weekend. It makes us appreciate the quiet and relative solitude of the weekdays.

The exodus started about mid morning today with cars and campers parading past on the main artery road. And the cleaning crew began moving from site to site raking and removing ash from fire rings. The crew, normally one person, had to call in reinforcements to pick up all the cigarette butts and dog poop from the site next door. The amount of trash left behind in and around the fire ring, including something that might once have been a piece of clothing, half filled a large garbage bag. But it didn't include the 2 plus cases of beer bottles that the young folks had kindly carried over to the dumpster before they left.

Although it was too chilly to just sit around outside much, we did enjoy the quiet. We walked a boardwalk trail along the spring run and watched ducks, turtle, herons and anhingas from a platform at the end. On the way back we stopped to watch amateur scuba divers hunt for visual treasures in the small lake at the source of the spring.

January 28, 2008 (Mon) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (6) - Canoing on the Alexander Springs run is a much more relaxed than on the Juniper Springs run. We rented canoes this afternoon and took a nice leisurely paddle. Like Juniper Springs it is about 7 1/2 miles long but we didn't go nearly that far - we only had the canoes for two hours and  this time, we had to paddle our way back. Along the way we saw several alligators, including two babies, out sunning themselves. Bird life included ducks, herons, ibis, limpkins, anhingas and the ever present Black Vulture. It was a great way to spend our last afternoon there.

In the evening we sat around a warming campfire and chatted until the chill drove us inside.

Q041193 Alexander Springs RA, Ocala National Forest, FL #38 & #31 dry $8.50 A+ (x6)
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January 29, 2008 (Tue)
Alexander Springs RA to Lakeland, FL (143/1602 miles)

The older couple (about our age) across the way who had a tent for shelter were in their pickup truck with the engine running when we got up this morning. We don't blame them. It was 39°! Although better than the night before (37°), that's pretty cold unless properly equipped.

Housekeeping chores before we were officially on our way at about 11:00am included dumping the holding tanks, replenishing the propane, and restocking the cupboards.

This is Primary Day in Florida and we saw lots of Huckabe lawn signs as we made our way South on SR19, West on SR50, and south on SR471. There were a few promoting Mitt Romney and occasionally a sign or two for the other Republican candidates. There was also a sign for the Holy Ghost in the Hills church - but that had nothing to do with the election process. We also passed one area that was obviously a reforested orange grove - there were old orange tree, heavy with fruit, scattered there and through the young hardwoods.

Q041336 Ed & Kathy's yard