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)
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