January 20, 2011 (Thu) Alexander Springs RA to Clearwater Lake RA (24/1802 miles) 44/73° - The showers here are controlled with push buttons. Which means that you turn them on by pushing in a button on the wall. The water is supposed to stay on for a (reasonable) length of time then automatically turn themselves off. To save water? Apparently they have outlived their usefulness. Now they stay on for about 6 seconds before needing to be pushed in again! Hardly time enough to pick up the soap! It makes for an active shower.
Clearwater Lake campground is as beautiful as we remember it from when we were here several years ago. We tried to get in a couple of years ago but found the reduced capacity (for restroom construction) full. This time we were lucky to have the choice of two sites - why the other empty non-reserveable sites are not available to us is a mystery. After settling in we made a shopping trip into Eustace and Mt Dora to pick up a few things we'd forgotten the other day - we've got to make sure everything is on the list! Then we came back and watched the sunset through the trees over Clearwater Lake.
January 21, 2011 (Fri) Clearwater Lake RA, Ocala NF (2) 60/70 ° - The predicted rain came early in the night and kept up all night. At least it was raining whenever we were awake. It's been gloomy all day with brief periods of rain - even though forecasters said they would end around noon. There hasn't been much we could do but wait for better weather - and all those people who are suppose to be coming in to fill up the campground. We found some wild oranges on the ground outside our door that the rain (or squirrels) apparently knocked down from the tree in our site. We shared one for lunch. It was delicious.
When we came in yesterday the gate keeper hinted that the campground would be full this weekend. It appears that it might be headed in that direction. All but one of the sites on this loop, where the new restroom and the showers are, is occupied. The only exception is the site we were on the last time we were here. The other loop, which is more primitive - it has an old restroom and no shower facilities - was only about half full when we walked through late this afternoon.
January 22, 2011 (Sat) Clearwater Lake RA, Ocala NF (3) 50/53 ° - Our campsite is quite a large one with the pad set at a 45° angle to the lake through the trees. There is more than enough space to put another campsite or two on our starboard side but the site on the other side is close. In fact when the people came in yesterday afternoon we thought they were going to pitch their tent right outside our door - some distance away from their car. They ended up moving it but it was a worry for a while. This would be a much better site if it were move over ten or fifteen feet.
The thermometer never got above 53° this afternoon. The sun was warm but the breeze made it too cold to sit outside, especially since there is very little sun actually reaching our site through the forest canopy. There was plenty of warming on the trail around the lake though. We remember it from our last time here as being in a rather thick forest. Now it is sparse with evidence of fire having passed through in the last year or so.
January 23, 2011 (Sun) Clearwater Lake RA, Ocala NF (4) 37/54 ° - Another cold night! But not as cold here as in as Ocala to the northwest. TV reporters said it was 27° with a wind chill of 28°. We are wondering how that could be. After a quick trip into Eustace to pick up the New York Times and a couple of bagels for lunch we settled in to wait for the sun to warm things up. Around noon Mark was out with his camera when he heard someone ask if he was taking pictures of the squirrels. He turned and saw Rick and Lynn, hosts from Alexander Springs, sitting in the host golf cart. They are here to fill in for Carol whose husband is in the hospital. It was good to see them again.
Q072938 Clearwater Lake CG, Ocala National Forest. #18 dry $8.50 A (x4)
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January 24, 2011 (Tue) Clearwater Lake RA to Lakeland, FL (101/1903 miles) 45/70° - There were three Sandhill Cranes wandering around in the road by the restrooms this morning but they were gone before we could get the camera out. It was too cold to spend any time looking for them so they went unphotographed.
We only had a few miles to go today so we took our time getting ready and pulled out about 8:50 (50° clear). The trip to Lakeland was relatively uneventful except for missing a turn in Groveland. As we approached what must have been where that turn was there was a boy on a skateboard riding down our driving lane toward us. To go out around him as meant we were forced to ran over a board with nails sticking up. No puncture that we know of yet but the distraction caused us to miss the road sign for the route we wanted to take. Hildene guided us down another road which turned out to be better. We found out later that we would have hit many miles of road construction the other way.
We got to Ed and Kathy's about 10:50. Bob and Pat arrived at 12:10 and we all went out to Five Guys Burgers and Fries for lunch. We will be here enjoying a bit of civilized living for 4 days then head on down to Englewood to visit Joy's 99 year old mother.
Q073039 Ed and Katy's yard
QC11-05 Clearwater to civilization
QC11-04 Alexander Springs RA
January 13, 2011 (Thu) Juniper Springs RA to Alexander Springs RA (34/1278 miles) 30/50° - Turkeys have been seen wandering through the Juniper Springs campground now and then but only in groups of 5 or 6. Today we saw a rafter of 18, one being a male proudly strutting his colors. They were interesting to watch as Mark approached them to take a picture. The females would skitter off but the male would continue to strut - a little faster, maybe, but strut none-the-less.
We got off at 11:30 (clear sunny 42°), dumped and headed west on US 40. Oops, we should be going East! Getting turned around is not an easy task with a car in tow - especially on a road through a national forest. You can't back up. It meant unhooking on a busy highway with no shoulders or continuing on out of the forest until we found a business that had two entrances/exits in its parking lot, which we did. It's 20 some miles between campgrounds so we got here to Alexander Springs RA at about 12:20 - 40 minutes before our reserved site would be empty. So we ate our lunch in the day-use parking lot and waited for them to leave. This campground is all but empty too. One rig in loop A, one in loop B (us), one in loop C and 2 in loop D (our friends Bill and Margaret from Michigan and Dora from up state New York).
January 14, 2011 (Fri) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (2) 32/57° - When we came in yesterday, our site was one of the 5 being occupied - thus our having to wait. This morning, as we sat waiting for warmth to penetrate the forest, at least 3 separate cars came by, slowed down to look our campsite over and then move on. We don't think that we or our rig is that interesting or unusual so the interest must be in the site itself. Why this particular one when there are nearly 70 empty ones in the campground? It reminds us of the time when we were two of maybe 6 people in a movie theater and a couple came in, squeezed by us in our row and sat a couple of seats away. People are strange sometimes.
The campground is beginning to fill - in other areas. We have one new neighbor across the way, a single guy, but we can see no one else from where we are. It will be interesting to see how many more will be around in the morning.
January 15, 2011 (Sat) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (3) 41/64° - Early last evening, shortly after dark, our neighbor across the road was joined by another car. The group soon had a roaring fire going. At 6:00 this morning we looked out and saw that the fire was still going, or going again, and there was a lot of activity around the site. When it got light we could see that the group consisted of two adult men and two (maybe 3) mid teen boys - father and sons? They packed up and were gone by the time we finished our breakfast.
Bill and Margaret invited us to their campfire tonight. They spend their winters here every year and have worked out a way to keep their wood pile well supplied. They go around the campground (usually Monday mornings) and collect the wood left behind by weekend campers. Sometimes the campground hosts even help them. They have collected quit a pile in only a few weeks. In addition to Bill and Margaret and us, our circle consisted of Dora, Hardy and Caroline from Fort Wayne, IN and two of the volunteer campground host couples (Bob & Betty and Rick & Lynn). It was a lot of fun listening to stories of campground hi-jinks.
January 16, 2011 (Sun) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (4) 47/63° - We had thought that our propane would last until we passed by the Ace Hardware in Umatilla on Thursday. It should have but all the cold weather has caused us to use the furnace more than we'd expected to. Last night the indicator light dropped to "empty". There is more propane in the tank, as there is when a car's gas gauge shows empty, but we don't know how much or how long it will last. So this morning we took off for Umatilla for a refill. We also went on and got gas ($3.06) while we out since we didn't have Lamont (our toad) with us to make getting to the pump more difficult.
It's been a relatively warm day - not shorts and T-shirts weather by any means but comfortable being outside. We went over to Bill & Margret's campfire again tonight. Joy learned, to her great delight, that two of the women in the group are quilters also. One of them brought a quilt that she is working on to show off. Very nice.
January 17, 2011 (Mon) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (5) 53/69° - The rain started during the night. At wasn't a hard rain but enough to be of concern to tent campers if they hadn't planned for it. It kept up fairly steadily until about noon. By then about everyone in the campground had given up and gone home. Our walk around through the park this afternoon revealed a total of maybe five other units left. We have the campground to ourselves again.
January 18, 2011 (Tue) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (6) 59/70° - We took off for Umatilla this morning to do a laundry and get a hair cut for each of us. (Actually we went on and got them all cut :-)) Then we went on south to a Publix food market in Eustace to restock the larder. We are now set for another week or so.
It was supposed to get up the 74° today. Maybe it did in places but here in the forest it only got up 68. And we got a little rain. It wasn't enough to cancel the campfire in the evening though. Fred & Jean from NJ, joined us tonight. It's interesting sharing a campfire with campground hosts. They have such interesting stories about the aggravating and sometimes disgusting things people do. For instance there has been a fellow (man? boy?) taking some kind of perverse delight in filling the toilet in the men's rest room with toilet paper - great wads of it. Mark saw the evidence one morning. Another story was about investigating a small tent that remained on a campsite several days beyond when the site was to be vacated. They found that someone had been sick in it and apparently chose to leave it rather than pack it up to take with them.
January 19, 2011 (Wed) Alexander Springs RA, Ocala NF (7) 59/68° - There was a bit of rain during the night and the day started off gloomy. But the sun came out after a while and it turned into a pleasant day to sit out and read. There was another campfire this evening.
Off to Clearwater Lake campground tomorrow.
Q072880 Alexander Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #30 dry $9.50 A (x7)
QC11-03 Juniper Springs
January 7, 2011 (Fri) Juniper Springs CG, Ocala NF (2) 34/64° - Our campsite here in Juniper Springs is one of the better ones we've had. In years past it has been the home of one of the volunteer campground hosts. Last year and this, it being used by paying campers. We wonder if this reflects the poor economy (lack of volunteers) or moving the volunteer staff into a separate area. We think it is a loss. It was comforting to know that there was staff in the area if an emergency (or question) comes up. The site is on the corner where we can watch campers coming and going.
It was cold this morning, 34°, so we saved our showers until this afternoon when it was warmer. The rest of the day we spent resting and adjusting to not traveling and to being on our own again. For most of the day it was too cool to be outside unless we were active in some way. But by mid afternoon we were able to sit and read without shivering - as long as we were sitting in the sun.
January 8, 2011 (Sat) Juniper Springs CG, Ocala NF (3) 49/69° - Here it is a Saturday and the campground should be full to overflowing. It's not. In fact there were very few here until mid to late afternoon. A cruise around the campground about 5:00 showed many sites full but there are still a surprising number empty. It warmed up nicely this afternoon even to the point where we could take our sweatshirts off for a while - if we were in the sun.
January 9, 2011 (Sun) Juniper Springs CG, Ocala NF (4) 30/54° - There is a small travel trailer over near the restrooms with a rather sizable and very noisy generator that seems to be always running. It's in the area of the campground where we usually are and makes us glad we are at the other end of the loop this time! It was running at 7:30 this morning (generator hours are from 8:00am to 8:00pm) when we walked by - and the people weren't even there! How's that for campground etiquette?
We got some good pictures of the spring on our walk over there this afternoon. We shared two of the better ones on Mark's Facebook page. Part of the "Nature Trail" follows the stream that we have canoed in other years. We wondered if the three young, probably college-age people just setting on their adventure would make the whole 7 1/2 miles without turning over. The helmsman seemed to know what he was doing but the others looked very inexperienced. It would be a cold adventure indeed if they went over.
January 10, 2011 (Mon) Juniper Springs CG, Ocala NF (5) 54/70° - We have been having a problem with the performance of our house batteries. They don't seem to be holding their charge and the use of almost any appliance drops the voltage reading considerably more than we think it should. So this morning we took them into Silver Springs to have them tested, when we went in to do some laundry. The lady who tested them said they were fine. There must be something else going on. Mark did make an interesting discovery after putting gas in the CRV, though. When he pulled away from the gas station a dark blue McSedan (Lincoln, Cadillac, Chrysler, ??) almost hit him. The front license plate read "God is my pilot". Does that mean that God is not a very good pilot?
January 11, 2011 (Tue) Juniper Springs CG, Ocala NF (6) 53/68° - The batteries seem to be working more normally now that their positions have been switched. Or, more likely, now that the terminal connections have been tightened.
We're hearing in the news that there is another big storm headed for the northeast. We sure are glad we are here not there. We do worry about our house though.
January 12, 2011 (Wed) Juniper Springs CG, Ocala NF (7) 30/49° - It worked! We are using FMCA mail forwarding service this year. It's the first time we've used them, opting in the past to have our neighbor collect and send it on. We'd heard that it works well but we were nervous until we picked up our first package in Astor, FL this afternoon - 2 days after it was sent. Other than the quick trip into Astor - we had to wait 45 minutes for the PO to reopen from their lunch break. We spent a quiet, albeit cold, day. Mark tried to spend some time outside with his guitar but the frigid air soon drove him back inside where Joy had stayed with her reading and knitting. A group of teenage hikers a couple of campsites down don't seem to mind the cold at all. One of them is even wearing shorts! Ah, youth.
We're off to Alexander Springs Recreation Area tomorrow.
Q072877 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #33 dry $9.50 A (x7)
QC11-02 A few mountain days
January 1, 2011 (Sat) Mars Hill, NC (2) 31/54° - Happy New Year! It's been a quiet restful day sitting around in front of the fire. A drizzling light rain kept us from doing anything outside - if we'd had any thoughts about that. In the late afternoon Sam and Clair (Bob and Pat's daughter and granddaughter) stopped by for a game of dominoes.
January 2, 2011 (Sun) Mars Hill, NC (3) 43/48° - Another lazy day in the mountains. In the evening we watched a good DVD about a woman who began the documentation of the folk songs of North Carolina mountain people. Songcatcher. Very good.
January 3, 2011 (Mon) Mars Hill, NC (4) 21/37° - It's been another cold day without much incentive to go outside. But this morning Mark and Bob went to Asheville on an errand while Joy and Pat went to a yarn shop in Burnsville. In the afternoon, we sat around and read/knit/napped/talked by a warm fire in the family room. Mountain living? Not quite but enjoyable. Dominoes in the evening.
January 4, 2011 (Tue) Mars Hill, NC (5) 24/43° - Joy went into Marshall, NC to help Pat at My Sister's Place, a second hand store where donations are sold to benefit women's counseling and support activities. She volunteers there on Tuesdays. Bob and Mark met them for lunch at Zuma's, a small restaurant in town. In the evening Kaye provided a delicious dinner for 9 in her home. Thanks, Kaye, we had a great time.
Q072313 Bob & Pat's Driveway (x5)
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January 5,2011 (Wed) Mars Hill, NC to Savannah, GA (339/1020 miles) 24/50° - It was still another cold morning in the mountains, made worse because we had to walk back and forth to the house several times and hook up the car getting ready to leave. We could have put on warmer coats but...! We finally got off at 10:00 - thanks Bob and Pat for a great time! - and made our way down out of the mountains into a blistering 43° (when we crossed the state line into South Carolina). The thermometer did manage to reach 50° by the time we got to Columbia, SC but then the rain started, cooling things off again. The rain also revealed a small leak in the seal of Q's recently replaced windshield! We'll have to see to that before the next rain!
We pulled into the Savannah, GA Walmart parking lot at 5:11. After shopping, eating, and watching Jeopardy and fellow travelers find spots to park, we converted Q into a bedroom and retired.
Q072653 Camp Walmart Savannah, GA
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January 6,2011 (Thu) Savannah, GA to Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest, FL (224/1244 miles) 47/64° - We got off at 7:30 this morning and headed for Walmart's Murphy USA gas station $(2.95/gal) near the highway. An inappropriately parked Coca-Cola delivery truck made for a tight turn into the gas pumps - not a problem for Q but our shadow was in danger of clipping the trash barrel - it too was out of place - so Mark moved it.
Shortly after getting back on I-95 (via US 17) the Magnus Racing Team passed us in their big 18 wheeler. We wanted to catch them to say that we know some of their kin, but they sped away too fast!
Billboard: "Who is John Galt?" weird if not obscure.
We crossed into Florida at about 9:30 (54° and cloudy). There have been some wet patches along the interstate here and there leading us to believe it had rained recently but we didn't see any. The Publix parking lot on Fleming Island (Orange Park, FL) was an interesting experience with a car in tow. The turns were tight and finding 6 consecutive empty parking spaces to park in was a challenge - met and conquered.
Q072877 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #33 dry $9.50 A
QC11-01 From snow to warmth.
December 30, 2010 (Thu) Home to Winchester, VA (291/291 miles) 18/45° - Our fears that we might have to do more snow shoveling were unfounded. As was our fear that we would get hung up on Mechanic Street unable to either make it out onto the street or back into the driveway out of the way. It turned out to be no problem. We were able to get off by 10:22 (30°). We drove separately over to the Applebee's restaurant parking lot in Eatontown where we attached the CRV to the motor home thus initiating an interesting new experience.
Towing a car turned out not to be as stressful as we thought it would be. In spite of all expectations the car followed faithfully behind without trying to take control (very often) and Mark gradually gained enough courage to speed up to normal highway speeds. By the time we reached Winchester, VA we were old hands at towing. But getting there was an adventure in other respects. The toll for a passenger car to cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge at the south end of New Jersey is $3.00 for a car, for a motor home towing a car, it's $16.00!! The next toll was a reasonable double the single vehicle rate. And the traffic was heavy, frantic and often congested. The recently liberated snowbound masses were out releasing their pent up frustrations. We'd chosen this route to avoid the unreasonable Garden State Parkway tolls but the toll at the bridge more than made up for them and added many miles of heavy traffic. We won't take that route next time.
The depth of the snow grew gradually less as we went south and the temperature went up slowly reaching an eventual high of 45° as we crossed the Potomac River into Virginia. We pulled into the Winchester Walmart parking lot at about 5:30 more than ready to kick back and recover from a very stressful day.
Q071921 Camp Walmart, Winchester, VA
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December 31, 2010 (Fri) Winchester, VA to Mars Hill, NC (390/681 miles) 30/64° - We had a very restful night, unusual for the first night in a "strange" bed. It was probably because of all the physical activity of the last several days. We were up at 6am and after a leisurely breakfast got off at 9:15. Gas advertised at $2.95 a gallon at a Hess station seemed like a reasonable price for the area so we stopped and filled up. The mountains on each side of us as we drove down I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley were beautifully cloaked in a hazy blue. The continually rising temperature (as high as 64° in the mid-afternoon) added to our euphoria. The snow is pretty much gone from the sides of the road and in the hills - completely gone in most areas. There is snow in the north side of some hills in the higher altitudes but it's rare. It's hard to imagine now how much snow there is at home.
The police have been out in force most of the way, some even on motorcycles which we've not seen before. And they are busy pulling cars over. We think the coming New Years celebration is contributing to the increased enforcement.
We got to Bob and Pat's at 5:00 just as Bob was finalizing the sale of their motor home. We will miss traveling with them. Soon after we were settled, their dinner guests began to arrive - eleven in all. We know most of them from our visits in the past so it was good to see them all and to celebrate New Years Eve with people we consider to be our good friends as well as Bob and Pat's. Most of us being "of a certain age" the party broke up well before midnight. We missed the dropping of the ball in Times Square, as we usually do.
Q072313 Bob & Pat's Driveway
