QC91-03 Ocean Pond and Transition

January 10, 2009 (Sat) Ocean Pond CG, Osceola National Forest (5) - We turned the furnace on and opened the bathroom door before we got up this morning. 47° isn't all that cold for sleeping but it needs to be warmer than that for showers. Mark turned on the water in a nice warm bathroom found no hot water. We'd forgotten to turn on the water heater! Oh well , breakfast first. It turned into a pretty nice day - temperatures in the low 70s and more or less clear skies. There was a bit  of a breeze at times but not bad. We spend the day doing a lot of nothing. A walk in the late morning took us out a nearby forest road (dirt) to the "main" road to the park. Other that that it was reading, knitting and napping by the fire.

The campground hasn't filled up as we'd expected it to for the weekend. We are still the only units the semi-hookup area other than the host. There are a couple of tents in the primitive area but that's it for this end of the park. We haven't been in the high rent area (water and electric hookup) recently so we don't know what's happening there. Maybe tomorrow.

January 11, 2009 (Sun) Ocean Pond CG (6) - Warmer last night (60°) and kind of overcast this morning. We heard some light rain on the roof before we got up but scant indication of it when it got light. The actual rain held off until after lunch and then it didn't rain all that hard - it was enough to bring Mark and his guitar in under the awning though. The heavier rain came in the evening while we were playing dominoes. The daytime temperature only made it to 68°. (When life is slow there's not much to talk about other than the weather.)

We had been debating whether we would need to dump the holding tanks before moving to Juniper Springs on Tuesday. The debate ended when we saw the flood in the bathroom. The gray water (sink and shower waste water) was more than full. That was no problem, other than a soggy rug, because the bathroom is basically a shower stall with a sink and toilet. There is a drain in the floor. We did have to go over and dump though.

January 12, 2009 (Mon) Ocean Pond CG (7) - In the past and even last year we've been able to go several days without needing to worry too much about the charge on the batteries. This year we've had to either start the engine or the generator at least once a day to keep a good charge. This may be because there is hardly ever any sun on the solar panel or because the batteries are losing their vitality even though they are only a year old. Or it may have something to do with CD player problem. Then again it may be the need run the furnace so much more. Or all of the above.  It's a mystery to keep our minds busy on these long cool afternoons.

It was 47° over night and it got up to a blistering 52° this afternoon. It's not very nice weather for lounging around outside but not bad for hiking.

Q047217 Ocean Pond CG, Osceola National Forest #44 water $6.00g B (x7)
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January 13, 2009 (Tue) Ocean Pond CG to Juniper springs CG, Ocala National Forest (119/1353miles) - What a day to stay in bed under warm blankets listening to the rain on the roof. But the road beckons. This was moving day. It was good that we'd done most of our breaking camp duties yesterday. All that was left for us to do this morning was to stow the bicycles, disconnect the water and bring in the flags. Even so it was soggy work.

We got under way at about 9.25 (47°) - with some objection from Q. The truck battery was nearly dead (CD player problem again?) and the house batteries were so low that they barely managed the job of getting the engine started. Oh well, traveling should take care of that. It didn't! The problem was as bad or worse after stopping for groceries in Starke, FL. Time to check out the truck battery. It clearly wasn't holding a charge the way it should. A new battery from Walmart (replacing the one we got in Alaska in 2005) is making a big difference.

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful. We got to Juniper Springs Campground at about 2:00 and settled into site #14 without bothering to set up. That can wait until tomorrow when it stops raining. We did deploy the awning a bit, though, to keep the rain out should we want to open the window - fat chance! It's going to get cold again tonight.

Q0473336 Juniper springs CG, Ocala National Forest #14 dry $8.50g B+