March 19, 2008 (Wed)
Englewood, FL to Ocean Pond CG, Osceola NF (269/3098 miles)
The last 5 days have been no more, nor less, eventful than the last 10. We all did about the same things. But time moves on and home is calling. So after packing Q with all the stuff we'd taken into Bom's condo over the last two weeks (actually 15 days), changing the dressing protecting Bom's minor facial surgery (Joy), and saying a tearful good buy, we struck out for I-75 and points north (sunny 80° at 9:45). At about 11:30 and north of the intersection with I-4 we saw a sign for a Steak-n-Shake restaurant. We had $4 worth of coupons from the fiasco the other day so we stopped there for lunch. Our next stop was Books-a-Million (a large chain bookseller similar to Barns and Noble). Mark wanted to look at guitar instruction books but didn't get one.
After getting off the interstate we began to see Dogwood in bloom along the road and the slower pace of the traffic was certainly welcome. Ocean Pond campground is in the Osceola National Forest in northern Florida. We'd been here for one night back in 2001 and thought we'd check it out again. The seems to have made some changes since 2001. Site #13 where we were then is now in the high rent district - water and electric hookups for $18 as opposed to dry for $8 back then. We chose a water hookup only site for $12 ($6 for us old folks) because the premium sites were all occupied and the "primitive" sites were too primitive (although acceptable in a pinch).
We have a very nice site almost right on the lake - we can see it out our dining room window through Spanish moss draped trees . It's one of the larger sites so we have plenty of room around us and no real close neighbors. And we have our own private path to the beach - although others will probably use it too. It's very windy this evening, coming right off the lake and blowing the wrong way for our roof ventilators - we're having to keep them closed. The campground host promises that it will die down over night and be beautiful tomorrow.
Just before going to bed last night Mark checked the utilities monitor panel - he'd meant to do that before we started this morning - and found the propane level at 0! OK what do we do? Well, the refrigerator was still on so it wasn't really completely gone. We can wait until morning to make a decision.
March 20, 2008 (Thu) Ocean Pond CG, Osceola NF (2) - The flame under the coffee went out just it began to perk and the refrigerator quit soon after. Our decision had been made for us. We left a chair and our "campsite occupied" sign at the end of our parking pad and headed for the closest populated area, Lake City 20 miles away. The fellow at the first propane seller we found struggled and struggled with trying to attach the filler hose to Q's tank. After swearing more than once and declaring that this to be the least favorite tank he'd ever tried to fill, he gave up. The next guy had only the normal struggles and succeeded - at the cost of over $64 ($4.25 a gallon), Ug!
It was chilly enough for sweatshirts when we got up and was slow warming up. Finally by noon it was warm enough to sit out in shirt sleeves but only in the sun. There was a breeze just cold enough keep us active otherwise. An old fellow stopped by on his tricycle to talk as Mark was playing his guitar. And talk he did! Among many other things we learned that he started learning to play a guitar (country style) about a year ago, he has it with him but hasn't played it for a month, there are a couple of fellas near his campsite who play but don't have their guitars with them, It's good practice to play with other people etc. etc. His wife came by on her tricycle after a while and sat silently behind him. When they finally went on their way, Mark retreated indoors so as not to be out when they came back.
March 21, 2008 (Thu) Ocean Pond CG, Osceola NF (3) - It was chilly (50°) again this morning. In fact it was much colder than yesterday morning. We even turned the furnace on for a little while to warm things up before we got up. It has served to remind us that we will need to get our cold weather clothes down out of the pod before we start out tomorrow. We have decided to head for home a week early. A problem that prompted Joy to see a doctor last week, persists. She thinks it best, since we are so close to going home anyway, to see her own doctor and be stationary for any follow up that might be necessary. We will miss seeing nephews Luke and Jake as we pass through North Carolina but now that the decision has been made, we want to get on home and try to get an appointment for Monday.
The start of a long holiday weekend began to become evident in the activity here in the campground. There have been an increasing number of RVs cruising back and forth looking for "the perfect site" - which are becoming fewer. Kids on bicycles, on scooters, and on foot parade by in larger numbers also. And the noise level is increasing. Even so this is a very nice campground and we will definitely come back and stay longer.
Q043015 Ocean Pond CG, Osceola NF #20 w $6.00 B (x3)
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March 22, 2008 (Sat)
Lake City, FL to Manning, SC (308/3406 miles)
There is a very distinctive tree on the beach near our campsite. Both of us thought it looked familiar so we looked at the pictures we'd taken back in 2001 and there it was! By studying the pictures we determined that we had actually been in the site next door back then. What was #13 then is #22 now. Interesting.
The campground has shower facilities but they were a hike away and not in the best condition so we decided to use Q's on-board shower instead. After showers, breakfast and dumping we got on the road at 9:25am (58°) and headed west on US-90 and I-10. Hildene was directing us to I-95 North but we turned onto US-301 before we got there - much to her dismay. She then set out to annoy us with constant attempts us to get us back onto I-10. When we did finally get to I-95 and turned north she happily announced would now continue for the next 549 miles before needing to turn again.
We crossed into Georgia at about 10:50 and ten minutes later stopped for gas. Florida gas prices had been running $3.23 to $3.37. We paid $3.18. Not as much better as we had expected but we'll take anything we can get. Had we waited we could have paid $3.13 but who knew? Most of I-95 through Georgia is under construction to add a third lane each way but traffic moved along quite well - maybe because it was Saturday morning. After a stop in a Camping World in Pooler, GA and another at a rest stop up the road for lunch we rolled on up to Manning, SC where we found a Walmart willing to let us hang out in their parking lot for the night. We thanked them by picking up some supplies.
Q043370 Camp Walmart, Manning, GA B
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March 23, 2008 (Sun)
Manning, GA to the Delmarva Peninsula (387/3793 miles)
Easter Sunday. This is only the second time in recent years that we haven't gone to church. Strangely, we feel very little guilt. We were up and off by 7:30 (52° clear), got gas ($3.07) at Walmart's USA Murphy, and got back on I-95. At 10:20 we crossed the border into North Carolina. Although we didn't need it, we went on and got gas at the Kenly, NC Flying J ($3.18) thinking that Virginia prices are alway higher. The weren't this time! Almost as soon as we crossed into VA at about 2:00 (59°) we began to see prices at $3.13 and lower. In Norfolk we saw several stations advertising $3.09.
Those who don't know about it may be interested know that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel across Chesapeake Bay (dah) is a 17 mile long water level bridge interrupted by two tunnels, a high arch and a small natural island. It is considered one of the modern engineering wonders of the world and a spectacular drive. While crossing we saw several oil tankers out in the bay - waiting for the price of crude to go up - and other smaller boats. There were a couple of small groups of brown pelicans (we didn't know they came this far north) and Joy saw two dolphins swimming in unison toward us. (Mark missed seeing those because he was too busy trying to stay on the road and trying to avoid hitting oncoming traffic.
We usually avoid staying overnight in rest areas. They are notoriously dangerous and it's usually illegal. But this one at the southern tip if the Delmarva Peninsula is set up for overnight parking - specifically for long-haul truckers. There are signs limiting parking to 48 hours - which, I guess means it's OK to park overnight - and there is a police cruiser constantly parked either at the restrooms or at the toll booths just outside the rest area boundary. Every once in a while a police car cruises through the lot, maybe on its way to or from the police barracks across the highway. We're giving it a try.
Q043757 Delmarva Peninsula rest area.
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March 24, 2008 (Mon)
Delmarva peninsula to Home (321/4114 miles)
Well, that wasn't one of our quieter nights! Trucks came and went all night. Unlike most truck stops, there was no way to know where the trucks were most likely to park so that we could be somewhere else. And, as is often the case, they sat idling for hours as their drivers slept. There was one parked a few spaces from us in the early morning hours that was so loud that it sounded like a big street sweeper right outside our window waiting for us to get out of its way. Conclusion? It's OK in an emergency but not a good destination stop.
Needless to say, we were up early. At 6:30 (42° wispy clouds) we got under way and went in search of a McDonald's for our traditional last-morning-on-the-road breakfast. US-13 up through Virginia, Maryland and Delaware (Delmarva) took us through mostly open farmlands and small communities. It was a very pleasant change from the super rush of I-95 and we avoided the madness of commuter traffic around Washington, DC and Baltimore. We crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge into New Jersey at about 12:00 noon and stopped at the first rest area on I-295 to dump and flush our tanks and to eat some lunch. The thermometer had made it all the way up to 54°. The rest of the way home was in frantic interstate highway traffic but it was nice to see that spring is on the way in these parts. Many of the trees are aglow with buds and below them daffodils and forsythia were in bloom. We pulled into our driveway at about 3:00 - home at last.
Q044078 Home
The Q Chronicles #81-16
The Q Chronicles #81-15
March 14, 2008 (Fri) Englewood, FL (10) - The last 10 days can best be described as unremarkable, meaning there has been very little worth entering into these chronicles. A week ago Wednesday, the big events of the day were a walk on Englewood beach in a brisk wind and looking at the pictures Gail and Phil took on their recent whale watching trip (very interesting). On Friday, Mark got together with George, from a few doors down, to play some guitar together. On Sunday, a couple of ladies from Bom's (Joy's mother) church stopped by to share Holy Communion with her (and us).
On Monday evening Mark went to the "Bluegrass" jam session in a local city park. (Apparently it's a weekly event). It turned out to be more country than bluegrass There was only one song(?) that could be call bluegrass and one that bordered in it. He wasn't familiar with either. The rest was what one might hear on a country/western radio station that doesn't play the new country rock kind of stuff. There were maybe 15 musicians milling around "on stage" at any one time - some playing, some not. There were others standing around in the background kind of strumming along to themselves. Of those on stage - actually one end of a picnic pavilion - four (guitar, fiddle, harmonica, bass) played about every song. Oh, and there was on old fella standing in the back playing the washboard. The others came and went depending on the song. The "soloists" normally did only one number while the rest accompanied. It could not come near being mistaken as "professional" but they were having fun even to the silly extent of one old fella hitting himself on the head with castanets as he did an inappropriate "jig". The singing was often off key and lyrics forgotten - at one such occasion the audience filled in until he got back on track again. It was just a bunch of old folks - this is a retirement area - getting together to entertain an audience that numbered maybe 50 to 75 people who seemed to be regulars. They chatted among themselves, sang along now and then and occasionally one or two would go up to the microphones and sing a number. The atmosphere of a Rocky Horror Picture Show event came to mind although not really similar.
Tuesday was the day another space shuttle was launched from Cape Canaveral. It was a night launch, 2:30am, and we were told it might be visible from here. Not to us! We set the alarm and got up to watch. It was overcast, so there wasn't a hint of anything going on out that way. Another space program related disappointment.
We have no transportation here other than bicycles and Q who is parked out in the bank parking lot so we don't go out much. We've bicycled down to the Publix supermarket a couple of times and brought groceries back bungied to the back of the bicycles and in backpacks. One trip was very windy and cold! We also hoofed it a couple of times. We have used Q too, when Bom needed to go out. At 96, we didn't think she'd want to sit on the back of a bicycle.
Other than that Joy worked on her quilting, played SkipBo and worked jigsaw puzzles with her mother, did crossword puzzles and read a few books. Mark tried to catch up on the computer work (banking, taxes, etc), played his guitar, and read a couple of books. Very relaxing!
Q042680 SunTrust Bank parking lot (parked)
The Q Chronicles #81-14
February 29, 2008 (Fri)
Lake Kissimmee SP, FL to Plant City, FL (112/2718 miles)
Today was one of those days that just didn't seem to go right. It started almost as soon as we got up. Sometime before we got under way at 9:00 (sunny 53°) Mark's glasses fell apart in his hands - the temple broken. So we would need to hunt up a Pearle Vision store. Hildene found one in Brandon, a few miles beyond Plant City. Posted gas prices as we started out ranged from $3.15 to $3.35 a gallon so when we saw a sign showing $3.13 we stopped - even though we really didn't need to. When the tank was near full, Mark discovered that the pump showed that the price was $3.17. It turned out that $3.13 was the cash and proprietary credit card price. If we won't talk about the difficulty we had getting turned around on busy Brandon Blvd, the stop at Pearle Vision was entirely successful. Costco was our next stop and by then it was lunch time. A Steak and Shake across the street seemed a good choice. It wasn't! The food was OK but the bill got screwed up. Among other things, they charged us full price for the discount burgers we'd bought. Then the waitress/cashier couldn't figure out how to make the correction in the cash register. Instead, she gave us coupons good only in Steak and Shake restaurants in Florida. We probably won't use them!
Finding a library with a high speed internet connection was our next job. One "library" turned out to be the offices for Tampa area library administers. An other was a recreation park - not much more that a building with a few tight parking spaces - without a hint of a WiFi signal. We knew that Plant City had a library but Hildene didn't. We stopped at a visitor's center and asked directions. Although connected to the internet in the library, Mark could neither send nor receive email. He was able to update our financial data though. One small step.
We got to Ruth and Gordy's about 2:30pm - and found we hadn't needed to hunt up a library at all. They had DSL and a neighbor's WiFi signal was strong enough to use.
March 1, 2008 (Sat) Plant City, FL (2) - Alafia River State Park is a park we've considered staying in but never have. It has hiking (and biking and horseback riding) trails and was our day trip destination today. Ruth and Gordy like to hike and have checked out several of the parks in the area to do so but had not been there. Apparently the main attraction of this park is its mountain bike trails. The place was overrun with colorful spandex outfits. The trails for the bikers were graded as to difficulty and looked interesting but too challenging for us. Fortunately the walking and multipurpose trails were more suitable for us older folks. The trail we chose to take first was shown on the maps to be a 3/4 mile loop but we must have missed a turn somewhere because we ended up walking much further than that.
Q042535 Parked (x2)
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March 2, 2008 (Sun)
Plant City, FL to Lake Manatee SP, Bradenton, FL (74/2792 miles)
Plant City is the home of Florida's annual week long Strawberry Festival. This was the week. There would be some, many perhaps, who would think that being so close and missing it demonstrates some kind of character flaw. Well so be it. Actually we didn't miss it by much. We got off from Ruth and Gordy's at about 11.15 (sunny 74°) and went in search of a Publix Supermarket. Hildene suggested several. We chose the closest south of where we were at the time. We should have been suspicious when she turned us North but we (Mark anyway) tend to trust her directions. We ended up driving right by the main(?) entrance to the festival - along with everyone else in the state. Much fun!
March 3, 2008 (Mon) Lake Manatee State Park (2) - We think this is the park where Bob and Pat stayed a month or so ago. (If so, Frau Tinka must have moved on, Bob). It's a beautiful park with both high and low vegetation separating the moderately spaced sites. We thought for a while this morning that the sound of power boats on the lake might be a problem - it was as if they were trying to make as much noise as possible while not going anywhere. But it didn't last.
At about 10:00 Joy's sister called and suggested that she come up and take her back to her mother's while Mark waited for Q's appointment in Sarasota - he was having have his refrigerator looked at. Joy agreed and at 11:30 took off leaving Mark to fend for himself. Joy had a great time. Mark just hung out.
Lake Manatee State Park #10 e/w $17.00 A+
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March 4,2008 (Tue)
Lake Manatee SP to Englewood, FL (71/2863 miles)
Q's appointment was for 10:30 so there was no hurry getting off. At about 9:30 (overcast 74°) Mark and Q pulled away from the holding tank dump station and headed West on SR64 toward Bradenton, then South on I-75.
Mobil Service Inc., just North of the Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport, is probably one of the best RV repair there is. They were able to diagnose and repair a refrigerator problem in Concourse Q (Q1) that other facilities had charged many dollars to guess at without fixing. When the refrigerator in Destiny Q (Q2) developed a similar problem - apparently a chronic problem with Domenic refrigerators - that's where we took him for the 30 minute circuit board replacement. We knew the cut and paste (literally) repair we'd had done in Miami was temporary. There was never any doubt that Mobil Service would be the place to place that knew what was going on and how to fix it. The owner(?) took one quick look and determined at once that it was part of the "recall" package we'd installed before we left home. Domenic should have know what that part was!! It took him 45 minutes on the phone with Domenic to first explain what the part was, what the problem was and to get the authorization to install (free to us) a new recall package. The fellow who actually did the work looked in the compartment and said, "What a hack job." Not only had the service people at home (Risco, Ed) done a poor job - installing some improvised parts instead of those supplied by Domenic and installing others, including the blown thermal fuse, improperly - but broke the 120v connection to the cooling unit and covered it up by bending the broken part in such a way as to allow the ends of the broken wire to connect. He couldn't believe the refrigerator actually worked while on shore power. We had to buy a new cooling unit and have it installed! While there, Q also had a new water intake check valve installed and the TV antenna fixed - it wouldn't rotate.
Mark drove into Englewood at about 3:00 sans lunch and very hungry. Joy fixed him a reuben.
Q042680 SunTrust Bank parking lot (parked)
The Q Chronicles #81-13
February 22, 2008 (Fri) Ed and Kathy's yard (2) - Again as King George III said on the day the American Declaration on Independence was signed, nothing of importance happened today. Joy did some laundry and reading, Mark and Bob practiced their respective stringed instruments individually and together, the four dogs played individually and together, Pat continued her recovery from a "bug" that kept her in bed most of yesterday, Ed ran his trains periodically, and Kathy hung out doing her thing.
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February 23, 2008 (Sat)
Lakeland, FL to The Great Outdoors, Titusville, FL (92/2520 miles)
There was another difficult departure this morning. After almost two months of traveling, off and on with Bob and Pat, we would be going our separate ways. We pulled out of Ed and Kathy's yard at 8:46am (cloudy 74°) and went out to US98 to get gas. Although probably the lowest cost in the area, the $3.13/gal seemed high to us especially since we'd seen much lower prices last week. We thought Hildene would direct us south down US98 to the I-4 intersection from there. Instead, she sent us back the way we'd come, past the turn off to Ed and Kathy's house and down Socrum Loop Road. The I-4 interchange has been relocated since Hildene was programed so we missed a turn and took the the long way - as we always do!
We found the I-4 traffic through Orlando much better than we'd expected and made good time on that leg of the trip. But US50 between Orlando and the Cape Canaveral (Kennedy Space Center) held us up several times with heavy traffic and, at one intersection, an accident. We arrived at The Great Outdoors RV Golf Resort at about 12:30 and found Mike and Dorcas (Mark's sister) sitting under the overhang of their fifth wheel waiting for us - and another couple as it turned out. Friends of theirs - or more appropriately, their son's - were vacationing near Disney World and came by for a visit.
February 24, 2008 (Sun) The Great Outdoors (2)- The Painted Bunting is a very colorful little bird - for a finch - being green, blue, and red - and it is quite rare in these parts. We saw two, a male and a female, today at a feeder in the resort. Dorcas took us over to one of the homes in the park where they hang out and we were rewarded with their being there. It was interesting to note that they seldom occupied the feeder with the Cardinals also feeding there at the same time. Instead, they waited in the nearby greenery until the Cardinals went away.
Earlier in the day we went over to the museum in Christmas, FL. This is the site of Fort Christmas - named for the day the construction was started in 1837 - built during the Second Seminole War. The museum occupies the replicated fort and surrounding residence buildings and features the life and lifestyle of the people at the time. Very interesting!
Q042254 The Great Outdoors, 443 Oak Cove Rd, dry Free (x2)
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February 25, 2008, (Mon)
The Great Outdoors to Titusville, FL (30/2468 miles)
Mike and Dorcas had things to do today which gave us a chance to get some errands done, which accounts for 28 of the miles put on Q's odometer. We browsed several stores in the area, including Walmart, Target, Dollar General, and the Ultimate Sewing Store (a quilt shop), etc. and were able to pick up a few things we'd been putting off getting and were back at The Great Outdoors with Mike and Dorcas by 3:30pm. We had to vacate the site we'd been borrowing the last two nights because the owner needed to use it. Although we had permission to park at another site, we chose to move to a nearby Walmart instead. One of the reasons for doing this was find out if we could consider using it in the future if no sites are available in TGO.
Q042284 Camp Walmart, Titusville, FL
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February 26, 2008 (Tue)
Titusville, FL to Lake Wales, FL (138/2606 miles)
We found the Walmart an acceptable alternative to a site in The Great Outdoors if we need it. It wasn't nearly as plush, of course, but it was quiet and conducive to a restful night's sleep - with one exception. At about 4:00am the whine of a street sweeper woke us from a sound sleep. For an hour it moved back and forth across the parking lot until it finally faded into the distance.
We got off at 8:20am (cloudy 62°) and headed South. The straight line distance between Titusville and Lake Kissimmee State Park is 50 miles but there is no straight line way to drive it. It turned out to be a 138 mile, 3 hour trip. It was an easy, relatively traffic free trip - even on US 192 where construction vehicles involved in changing a perfectly good 2 lane road into a 4 lane divided highway outnumbered the rest of us. Wildlife along the way included vultures, caracara (birds), cranes, hawks, osprey, and several gaggles of turkeys.
We have been at Lake Kissimmee State Park a couple of other times. We like it here. The sites are large and well separated and there is plenty of vegetation between them. According to Reserve America (reservation service), this site isn't suitable for RVs as long as Q is (24 feet) so we had to lie to reserve it on line. We have learned that length limitations are usually well understated. We fit easily. In fact, a 40 footer might fit - barely. Since we were here two hours before checkout time and the previous occupant hadn't left yet, we went over to the
picnic area to eat our lunch and hang out.
In the late afternoon, as we sat reading, a large male turkey strutted through our campsite with his harem (two females). At one point he paused, looked at us and spread his tail feathers like a real Thanksgiving turkey as if to say "Look how lucky I am." Joy had seen one doing the same thing earlier across the way. It must be turkey mating eason.
February 27, 2008 (Wed) Lake Kissimmee SP (2) - There were dire weather predictions for last night including heavy winds, thunderstorms and tornadoes. We heard thunder off in the distance before we went to bed and it rained heavily during the night but there was nothing particularly dangerous. The predictions were actually for the storms to go north of us and that's what they did. As Mark sat playing his guitar this afternoon, a large (4 ft) Sandhill Crane wandered into our campsite and up to Q's door. He looked at Joy who was standing in the doorway and let out a loud squawk. He squawked several times and, when she didn't give him anything to eat, turned and wandered away.
It's been a little cool today. We tried to stick it out in shorts and sweatshirts but finally gave up and put on jeans. It was the first time in nearly a month. There are freeze warnings for tonight and tomorrow night in a couple of counties north of here so it will probably be jeans and sweatshirts again tomorrow too.
February 28, 2008 (Thu) Lake Kissimmee SP (3) - 40° was the low here last night but according to the news, it got down to below 30° in some areas north of Tampa. The sky was clear in the morning but it didn't warm up all that quickly and never got over 57°.
This part of Florida had quite an active cattle business not unlike that in the "Old West". Cowboys called Crackers, established camps in the wilds to round up and brand local free roaming cattle. A replica of a 1876 camp, consisting of corrals, a fire pit and a crude living shelter,is located in a remote part of the park. It is located where nothing of the modern world can be seen. Even bicycles are required to be left on the approach path out of site. The area was actually closed today - meaning there was no reenacted activity nor Crackers in costume doing their thing - but being there gave us a real good feel for what it must have been like back then.
Q042422 Lake Kissimmee State Park #16 w/e $18.00 A+ (x3)
