March 24, 2009 (Tue) Lakeland, FL to Ocean Pond CG, Osceola National Forest (178/2988 miles) - Off at 9:30 (66° clear) and proceeded up US98. At many places along the way pinkish-purple wild flowers covered the sides of the road and as we moved north the azaleas in the woods and yards grew more brilliant. We debated whether to get to the campground before eating lunch or stop along the way. We stopped - in Orange Heights Baptist Church's Souled-Out Youth Center on US301. There was a "for sale" sign out by the road and the building looked abandoned but we were assured, by another very large sign, that Jesus Saves - good to know had we been picked up for trespassing.
At Starke, FL we turned West on US100 then North on US231, a beautiful 2 lane road through forest. There was evidence of logging having been done in many places and also areas where replanted trees were well on their way. In some of the older stands, cattle stood as if waiting for the trees to be cut so that their grasses would return.
We stopped at Ocean Pond Campground on our way south. We're here again - backing into site #25 about 2:00. It's a lot warmer this time and there's hardly any wind. It's a nice big site with a good view of the lake out our dining room window. Too bad we're here for only one night.
Q048984 Ocean Pond CG, Osceola National Forest #25 w $6.00 B
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March 25, 2009 (Wed) Ocean Pond CG to Appling, GA, Petersburg Corps of Engineers CG (293/3281 miles) - After on-board showers and a granola breakfast we retracted the TV antenna, rolled up our water hose and got back on the road at about 8:40 (54° clear, sunny) soon passing through the Quail Management Area - we didn't know that quail needed managing - on our way to Lake City. Again the roadsides US441 were aglow in a haze of pastel colors from the wild flowers. Almost every yard along the road, no matter what the apparent income level of the homeowner, was rich in the bright reds and oranges of azaleas. Even many wooded areas sparkled with their color. As we moved further north on US221 the purple and white haze of budding Red Bud and Dogwood trees began to turn the roadside woodlands into storybook landscapes. Farmers on various sized machines were turning under old cotton fields in preparation for planting new. We wondered if maybe some of the fields might be for peanuts since so many come from Georgia. It was a truly beautiful route this time of year - and hardly any traffic.
Bob, Pat and Sheila greeted us as we backed into site #84 in the Petersburg Corps of Engineers CG at about 4:00. They had a fire going in their fire ring which did a good job of fending off the humidity from a misting rain as we sat under their awning swapping experiences of the last 3 weeks. Later they treated us to delicious chicken and rice for supper and hosted a grueling game of dominoes.
March 26, 2009 (Thu) Petersburg CG (2) - Bob and Pat, fearing that what they consider the best sites in the campground might be gone before we got here, had reserved a site for us. And what a beautiful site it is. It sits moderately high above J. Strom Thurmond Lake giving us a beautiful view out our dining room and rear windows. We have a nice gravel "patio" with a picnic table, fire ring, barbecue and fish cleaning stand (which we are particularly glad to have).
Joy sat out by the low wall the defines one corner of our site for a while this morning counting American Coots swim by on the lake. She thought there may have been 50 of them in one group. The rain started as a light sprinkle about mid-morning just after Mark took his guitar out. But the awning was good shelter so he played watching the rain on the water and the Coots swimming back and forth. Joy chose the more enclosed shelter of the motor home to work on her quilt and play a game of solitaire or two. We spent the afternoon reading and napping to the sound of off and on light rain on the roof. It let up long enough to let us enjoy a late afternoon campfire.
March 27, 2009 (Fri) Petersburg CG (3) - The showers here are pretty good but 58° is cool for unheated shower rooms - but tolerable because the water was hot. The walk back to Q in the rain made us wonder why we'd bothered to bring towels though. Joy and Pat decided to get away for a while and took off for town in the car leaving Mark and Bob to their own devices - guitar and banjo respectively - in their own motor homes.
The light rain persisted off and on all day making outside activities a washout (so to speak). We were able to have a campfire in the late afternoon again though. A misty rain came up about the time the fire was going good but Bob and Pat's motor home is close enough to the fire ring that we were able to sit under their awning and enjoy the fire anyway.
Joy fixed chicken enchiladas to share - aiming, successfully, to duplicate the dish Donna fixed the other night.
March 28, 2009 (Sat) Petersburg CG (4) - We found the corner of one of our blankets wet this morning when we converted our bed room back into a living room. Q had leaked! How could that be with a full fiberglass shell - no joints at all except where the shell meets the cab and that is below and away from where the leak seems to be. The expected thunderstorm came about 9:30am. Although there is thunder there wasn't much lightning and what there was seemed to be a long way away. But it's been raining! - much heavier than it has been the last few days and almost constant. Having neglected to do it earlier, Mark hauled out the ladder during one of the rain's lighter periods and with Joy's help holding the ladder and handing up tools, tried to find and fix whatever might be leaking. One of the marker lights seemed to be wet inside so he proclaimed that the problem and covered it with duct tape - that wouldn't stick because of the wet surface. Dripping wet he proclaimed the operation a success and they went back inside. We'll see how wet the blankets are tomorrow morning.
We seldom get into a campsite that is absolutely flat and level. We often need to prop one or more wheels up with leveling boards to get the motor home close to level. Not here. The whole site is one big puddle - no run-off at all until the water level reaches an inch or so over the whole site. So going outside means not only getting soaked from above but from below as well. Talk about washout! What does one do in weather like this? Not much. We sat around and read most of the day sweltering in the heat from our little heater brought into service to dry things out. The warmth and the sound of the rain on the roof made us both drowsy so we did some napping too.
Tomorrow we push for home with a stop along the way to see nephews Luke and Jake.
Q048277 Petersburg Corps of Engineers CG, Appling, GA #84 w/e A (x4)
QC91-15 Wet Pause Northbound
QC91-14 The I-4 Corridor
March 18, 2009 (Wed) Englewood, FL to Plant City, FL (98/2603 miles) - Another difficult departure! After 2 weeks it was hard to say good bye to Bom, although not as hard as in times past. At 97 she is remarkably healthy and more than capable of living on her own as she does. In fact, maybe even more so this year than last. Also since we have made a commitment to come back to Florida this summer it won't be a whole year as it usually is. Difficult or not, we had to do it and we did, getting on the road at 9:40. headed for Plant City for a visit with Gordy and Ruth.
Our first stop was at the Prime Outlets discount mall in Ellington. Ruth had said that if we were stopping there, she'd like us to pick up something for her. An excuse to stop at a discount mall is something Joy doesn't ignore. We stopped made a small contribution to keeping the economy afloat. At Costco we were able to sample enough of the products they were pushing to call it lunch. We also did some shopping.
We got to Gordy and Ruth's at about 1:30 and, after offloading our suitcases and computer, took Q over to the swimming pool parking lot. He wasn't happy but at least there were more interesting things going on there than in a bank parking lot.
Q048597 Parked (x2)
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March 20, 2009 (Fri) Plant City, FL to Titusville, FL (120/2723 miles) - We spent the day yesterday (Thu) mostly visiting. It was good to be able to sped this time catching up on family doings. And as always is was good to spend some time with Gordy and Ruth. But the time was too short and again today we were on the road. It might have been a rather straight forward run to Titusville up I-4 and across on US50 except for the city of Orlando. Other times we have run into unbelievably heavy traffic through Orlando so we decided to try and go around. Not possible! Going south through Kissimmee on surface roads with traffic lights was as bad if not worse. But once we got out of the cities, we found roads where barely a car passed us. It was a somewhat longer route and with a stop for groceries in St. Cloud and for gas, it took somewhat longer so we're not sure what we gained.
We pulled into The Great Outdoors at about 2:30 and backed into a site across the road from Mike and Dorcas that a neighbor is kind enough to let us use free a couple of nights. (Sites here are individually owned and are often rented out to transients when not in use.) Mike and Dorcas (Mark's sister) have a new 5th wheel - some two weeks old - a tour of which was top priority. Very nice! It's a little bigger than their previous one but seems a whole lot roomier inside. It will be a very comfortable winter home for them.
March 21, 2009 (Sat) The Great Outdoors (2) - It turns out that this is a good weekend for us to be here. TGO is holding what they call their Fun Fair. In addition to the booths and kiosks you'd expect to find in a community Fair - crafts, baked goods, 50/50s, chances to sign up to join worthy activities, etc. there were displays of antique cars, motorcycles and radio controlled model boats and airplanes restored/owned/build/operated by the residents. One boy about 12 or so held a python in his lap (and coiled around his arm). Joy petted it with her finger. A man dressed in jungle gear calling himself Jungle Jim held an adolescent alligator in his arms - maybe 4 feet long with its mouth taped shut. Joy didn't pet him.
After seeing all there was to see at the Fun Fair we drove over to Christmas, FL to the the annual Bluegrass Festival being held there. Bluegrass bands from all over preformed for 30 to 40 minutes each on a portable stage set up in the woods of the Orange County park. We set up our chairs and enjoyed the music of several groups. We also took advantage of two of the festival's other attractions, barbecued pork sandwiches and homemade ice cream (which was actually being made in the background). Delicious! There were also the usual craft and vendor booths willing to make a sale or two.
We were well ready to put our feet up, relax and bask in the memories when we got back in the late afternoon.
Q048717 The Great Outdoors, Titusville, FL #443 w/e/s/c free A (x2)
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March 22, 2009 (Sun) Titusville,FL to Lakeland, FL (87/2810 miles) - The Plantation House Restaurant - part of the TGO (golf) clubhouse - has had a spotty reputation in the years we've been visiting The Great Outdoors. We went to dinner there the first time the first year we visited Mike and Dorcas there and found it quite good. Since then the management has changed hands a few times, as has its quality as a restaurant. Recently it apparently has been getting better so we decided to try their breakfast buffet - more a brunch than a breakfast because it was served between 9:00 and 12:00. It was good but not spectacular. Even so one could easily fill up to the point of not having to eat for the rest of the day - which we almost did.
We got back on the road at about 10:45 (clear, sunny, windy 69°) and headed back to Orlando and I-4 via US50. Thanks Mike and Dorcas for your hospitality and good meals. We will try to get up to see you on the 4th of July. We ran into construction on US50 and the usual tight traffic through Orlando but once on I-4 it was easy going.
Karl and Donna, friends of Ed and Kathy, are visiting them in their Safari class A motor home when we got to Lakeland. We had a good time getting to know one another over delicious chicken enchiladas that Donna had prepared and a rousing game of dominoes.
March 23, 2009 (Mon) Lakeland, FL (2) - The big event for the day was lunch at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. Well not exactly "at". Karl was expecting a delivery of a replacement for his faulty wireless modem that he'd have to sign for, so we went over and got take-out to eat at home. It's good we decided to do that because FedEx came while we would have been away.
Tomorrow we start north. It will be slow as we have a week to get there. We don't know yet where we'll be tomorrow night. We'll know when we get there. That's part of the adventure
Q048804 Ed and Kathy's yard, Lakeland, FL (x2)
QC91-13 A pause in Englewood
March 5, 2009 (Thur) Englewood, FL (3) - It's beginning to warm up a bit but still too cold to swim in the morning. So we spend most of our time inside reading and visiting. It was good to see Gail even for a short time. Living on opposite coasts like they do makes it difficult for sisters to see each other. Two days is a gift. Gail left for Seattle this morning with promise of visiting us in the summer.
March 6, 2009 (Fri) Englewood, FL (4) - A positive aspect of Gail's leaving, if one needs to be found, is that we have been able to move from sleeping in the living room on a sofa bed to the privacy of a bedroom. A welcomed change. Joy took advantage of the afternoon lull to ride her bicycle over to the quilt shop - alway an enjoyable, if costly, experience.
March 8, 2009 (Sun) Englewood, FL (6) - We seem to have settled into a easy relaxed routine. We have a 3 1/2 mile that we are walking as soon as we get up. After breakfast, Joy sits at the table with her mother reading the morning paper or working a crossword puzzle until it's time for them to walk over to the pool for a swim - although it's barely warm enough. Then she's back to the crossword puzzle or her quilting. Mark spends the morning at the computer processing the mail, both email and smail, and catching up on the many jobs neglected while we've been isolated in remote campgrounds.
Joy and her mother have set up a jigsaw puzzle out on the back porch where they can enjoy watching the wildlife and listening to the fountains in the small pond as they work. They may spend some time in the morning out there but usually it's an afternoon activity. After lunch Mark retreats to the motor home out in the bank parking lot where he can play his guitar without fear of disturbing neighbors. He might be caught reading or napping too if a visit is timed right. He enjoys the time alone. And with Joy out working the jigsaw puzzle, Bom has her condo to herself for a while too - important for someone who is used to living alone.
In the evening Joy and her mother play Skipbo (a card game) while Mark reads.
March 9, 2009 (Mon) Englewood, FL (7) - As last year, and apparently for many years, a group of mostly experienced (retired semi-professionals and serious armatures) musicians get together every Monday night in Indian Mounds Park to jam. And as last year, Mark rode his bicycle over to hear the live music. Billed as "bluegrass" the numbers they played were more country/western than bluegrass - although there tends to be a fine line between the styles. In addition to those who seemed to know every piece of music anyone chose to come up with so played almost every time and sounded pretty good, there were some, mostly out of the audience, who brought karaoke to mind. Almost everyone there, both performers (15 - 20) and audience (75 - 100), seemed to know everyone else - there was much handshaking, hugging, and air kissing as people came and went. And the chatter is constant. At one point a professional who had performed at the Englewood Elks Lodge Friday night was introduced and sang three numbers (and hawked his most recent CD). In spite of the amateurishness and the Rocky Horror Picture Show/Gong Show atmosphere at times, the music was mostly pretty good and Mark enjoyed being there and listening to it. Might he sit in sometime? Not likely. Some that did shouldn't have either!
March 10, 2009 (Tue) Englewood, FL (8) - This being a retirement area second hand stores abound. They range all the way from junk shops to fairly high end consignment shops. It might be surprising to learn that a high percentage of the clothing is "winter" type - wools, heavy cottons, coats and such. It was for us until we thought about it. People move down here not realizing that how little it will be needed. So off it goes to be recycled. It's not all winter clothing though. The change in lifestyle for retirees encourages a downsizing of their less casual attire. As a result some real bargains can be found. Joy took off this afternoon - walking instead of riding her bicycle - intending to find some of them. And she did, a backpack full, in a new consignment shop open only since mid December.
March 17, 2009 (Tue) Englewood, FL (15) - Another week of relaxed routine. The weather has been spectacular - cool for the most part in the evenings and at night and comfortably warm during the day. The sun has dominated the skies the whole time we've been here except for today. Although it threatened rain most of the day, we never got more than a few sprinkles. It's been a good 2 weeks with one exception.
There was to be a manned space shot from Cape Canaveral last week. Although quite a way from here, these launches are sometimes visible so we were all set to go out that night at 9:00 and watch the sky. But it was scrubbed and rescheduled for Sunday night. OK we'll do it then. We forgot! Well that was disappointing but not too bad because we've watched for them from here before and they've not been visible. We probably wouldn't have seen anything this time either. Wrong! This morning's paper had pictures of it taken by some local people. #@!*#! :-(
Tomorrow we're back on the road bound for Plant City, FL.
Q048488 Englewood, FL, SunTrust parking lot parked. (x15)
QC91-12 Kissimmee Prairie
February 25, 2009 (Wed) Fort Pierce, FL to Kissimmee Prairie SP (93/2370 miles) - It was a very quiet night for a Walmart parking lot. No highway noise, no cars racing here and there and very few trucks. So quiet, in fact, that at one point we woke to the sound of running water. If we'd been at home, we would have been sure that a pipe had burst in the basement but that couldn't be in a motor home. The pump would be running. A look outside showed that it hadn't been raining although there was some water rivulets on the asphalt. It turned out that a nearby sprinkler head was broken and water was gushing out of it like a fountain. Q was parked directly over the storm sewer drain.
In the morning, our friend Jack picked us up at his house in Stuart and took us to the assisted living facility to visit Olive, then to lunch at one of their favorite Italian restaurants. Thanks, Jack. It was really good to see you both.
After two days in the congested bustle of the Florida east coast, transition to the interior was both stark and abrupt. Within just a couple of miles the landscape of chain stores, gas stations,and fast food restaurants becomes vast expanses of prairie, dotted here and there with lollipop shaped palm trees. This is an area of large cattle ranches and many of them are beginning to show signs of the recession and several are for sale. After miles and miles of seeing nothing but an occasional house - some barely visible in the distance at the ends of their incredibly long driveways - we came to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. The campground is some four miles into the prairie on a washboard rough (this time) dirt road. We were well shaken by the time we reached our campsite and well ready to kick back and relax.
February 26, 2009 (Thur) Kissimmee Prairie SP (2) 49/74° - Laundry was our first order of business when we got in last night. The machines here cost less than most laundromats and tend to be faster - except... There is only one washer and one drier. And the lady ahead of us had honed inefficiency to a very high level in order with the goal of spending all her retirement years standing in front of public laundry machines. We brought the wet laundry back to our campsite and hung it on a jury rigged clothes line. This morning it was wetter than when we'd hung it! Dew. And some was dirtier - from a dirty clothes line! Back to the machines we went and while they did what the open air could not, we took showers. For Mark it was a very pleasant change from Q's cramped water-restricted shower stall. For Joy it was not. She couldn't get any hot water in her shower! Not a good start for her day.
But for this it was a very pleasant day to sit and recover from the stress of the last few days. Although cool in the morning, the sun was warm enough for short sleeves and bare feet. The "breeze", as they call it down here in hurricane country, was a bit chilly when a cloud passed over and made it impossible for Mark to practice his guitar outside. It not only flipped the pages of his music book, but blew over the music stand itself.
February 27, 2009 (Fri) Kissimmee Prairie SP (3) 51/78° - As I sit here looking out our dining room window I can see Bob and Pat's motor home maybe 40 feet away across a mown grass "lawn". Beyond them are a couple of trees, some low tropical shrubs and miles and miles of flat prairie all the way to the horizon. The scene out the cab window is almost the same except that after a stretch of lawn across the road, there are 16 horse paddocks, some with horses (this is the equestrian part of the campground) and a hard-wood hammock (woods) a mile or so away. The scene out the back door is also similar but no paddocks and the trees are closer. There are two empty campsites out our living room window and beyond them a compost toilet. It's peaceful and relaxing here and enough away from others that Mark can play his guitar and Bob his banjo (alone or together) without disturbing people, being invited to jam session with them or to entertain at their campfires - all of which have happened and either ignored or politely declined.
Compost toilet? It's basically a high-tech outhouse - no water, no chemicals and surprisingly free of odor. It seems to serve this area of 15 campsites quite well, even on weekends, we hope, when the sites are full. There are more modern facilities about a quarter mile back in the "family" campground. The rest rooms there have flush toilets, hot showers (except for Joy's the other day) and laundry machines.
February 28, 2009 (Sat) Kissimmee Prairie SP (4) 53/82° - The stars in these remote areas are something to behold. In fact amateur astronomers come here from all over the state because the viewing is so good. The last couple of nights have been cloudless and the sky brilliant with their display. The moon has been a bright crescent highlighting the faint image of dark side (the old moon in the new moon's arms) with Venus (or maybe Jupiter) hanging out nearby. Last night it (the moon) lay red on the horizon as we made our final potty run of the day.
One of the activities in this park is the guided swamp buggie tour of the prairie. We've been wanting to do it since we started coming here five years ago. Today we did. Our guide turned out to be the park manager himself - substituting for the regular guide who was unable to be here. He was very good and obviously loved what he was doing. On this 2 1/2 hour, 15 mile ride out into the 54,000 acre prairie we learned more about this ecosystem than we can possibly remember - and probably just enough to be incredibly boring if we tried. Alligators were scarce because of the dry conditions but in one pond (puddle?) we did see a mother with at least five babies. We stopped at one point where we could see nothing but prairie all the to the horizon for 360° around. We could see nothing man-made, except the buggie, in all that vast space - not even a phone tower. And the quiet was deafening. There were small hammocks here and there and a scattering of single palm trees - which are considered invasive and may be taken out in an effort to return the area to what it was like "before the Europeans came". Suffice it to say, it will be the experience of the trip - well worth doing again.
March 1, 2009 (Sun) Kissimmee Prairie SP (5) 50/65° - We had a cool but not uncomfortable bike ride over to the shower facility at about 7:00 this morning but by 9:00 the breeze had begun to pick up considerably. An hour later we were battening down to keep things from blowing away. The awning was already in but we stowed the chairs, the mat and the flags and even loaded the bikes onto the rack to hold them secure. Dust from the road blowing into our eyes made working outside all the more adventurous. Once in travel mode, except for the TV antenna which we left up, we hunkered down inside to wait it out. Q was faced into the "breeze" as he sat on the pad but we could feel the gusts as if being hit from the side. There were a few sprinkles of rain now and then but not enough to settle the dust that was blowing past the windows. It was an interesting few hours. Things settled down in the afternoon but it was still too windy for the campfire and s'mores we'd planned for late afternoon.
March 2, 2009 (Mon) Kissimmee Prairie SP (6) 42/66° - It was a cold night last night. We'd talked about bringing the featherbed down from the attic but never did. Instead, we piled on all the blankets we normally have available. They were more than enough. It's supposed to get even colder tonight, frost warnings in some areas, so we may have to rethink the featherbed.
Bob and Pat left for parts north and west early this morning. It was sad standing in the cold morning breeze watching their motor home move slowly down the road into the prairie. Thanks for your company these last two months, guys. It's been great sharing the adventure with you. See you again this summer.
The young lady in the office told us that site #1 was open and available for one night so we decided to move. It is right next to the facilities so we took advantage and did a laundry. With a shower so close we went on and got those out of the way too - sparing us the need to suffer an unheated bathhouse in the morning. This site is shady but there are spot of sunshine and it doesn't have the breeze the other one had so is comfortable. It feels strange, though, turning on the water without hearing the pump and not having to worry about how much electricity we are using. There are those hook-ups here. Ah, the feeling of luxury!
Q048353 Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park #22 dry $13.00 B (x5) #1 w/e $13.00 A+ (x1)
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March 3, 2009 (Tue) Kissimmee Prairie SP to Englewood, FL (135/2505 miles) 41° @ 6:00 - There was a beautiful sunrise over the prairie this morning. Q's orientation in the new site allowed us to watch it as we lay in bed. But all good things must eventually end so we had to get up and prepare to venture back into world. At 8:25 (43°) we began the drive out the long dirt road to civilization. Well not quite. We didn't see civilization for another 30 miles - a few houses and ranches here and there and loads of orange groves but that's not really civilization. The large open topped 18 wheelers loaded with oranges that we'd pass occasionally apparently lost a few because the road kill consisted mostly of oranges. It looked more appetizing than the animal type but we didn't stop to pick any up.
The best gas price we saw was $1.87 at Walmart's U.S.Murphy. We stopped but the station was closed - no sign to that effect, just a young woman in a reflective vest going from car to car telling each confused customer in turn. She was still at it when we passed back by after doing some shopping. We ended up paying $1.93 at a 7-11 several miles later. Lunch was at Ci Ci Pizza buffet because we couldn't find a 5 Guys Burger and Fries. Bom and Gail (Joy's mother and sister) were waiting when we pulled into Englewood's Quail's Run at about 2:00.
We found new "no parking" signs posted all over the SunTrust Bank parking lot where Q hangs out while we are here - strange things for an active commercial business to display! Mark went in and talked with the Bank Manager. She said they are meant to keep large trucks from leaving their trailers out there - a proliferating problem we'd been noticing. She said it was OK for us to store our motor home there while we are visiting. Q was hoping we'd have to go find a campground!
Q048488 Englewood, FL, SunTrust parking lot parked.
