February 20, 2012 (Mon) Alexander Springs (7) 55/67° - As we walked around "A" loop, this morning, we heard a large vehicle coming from behind. It turned out to be a very large, very old school bus painted (mostly) various odd shades of dark green, almost olive green. Some of the windows were decorated like stained glass windows. It sported a safari type roof rack (maybe two) piled high with all kinds of stuff, including spare tires. It pulled a long utility trailer also loaded down with odd stuff. We guessed it was from the Rainbow encampment down the road. Others who saw it agreed that that's what it was.
The Rainbow people as they are called (by themselves?. By locals?) are an odd assortment of Viet Nam (Iraq?) war veterans, homeless people, junkies, modern day hippies, etc. and hangers-on. (maybe a 1000 or more of them) that have sought and obtained permission to congregate in the forest about a mile East of our campground entrance road. Their access to the campground is severely limited (though the bus had apparently come in to use the dump station) and there is an almost constant police presence near where they are camped according to people who go out in that direction.
February 21, 2012 (Tue) Alexander Springs (7) 47/71° - Cold start - we even pulled out our feather bed last night) but it warmed up nicely during the day. We went into Ocala and met Joy's cousin Bill & his wife Gail for lunch. It was really good seeing them after 35(?) years. Catching up in so short a time after so many years resulted in little lag in conversation and much laughter .
February 22, 2012 (Wed) Alexander Springs (9) 53/75° - Over all the years we have been camping we have railed against people who disturb the quiet with generators, often trying to conjure up spells on them. We have avoided using our own generator except in extreme need situations and given much thought to adding panels to our solar power generation. But we camp mostly in forests where direct sun exposure for them is rare, meaning a big expense for probably little gain. In recent years we have been impressed by the near silence of the small Honda generators. Often they can't be heard unless you're right next to them, especially the real small ones. Right now, after nearly 4 weeks without hook-ups and a lot of cloudy skies, our house batteries are near exhausted and neither running Q's generator nor his engine is enough to put a decent charge back on them. Conclusion? It may be time to think seriously about getting a little Honda generator - inviting the wrath of extremists like we once were.
February 23, 2012 (Thu) Alexander Springs (10) 67/81° - We went into Orlando to meet Joy's sister Fran who is there to participate in an outing of her high school class. President Obama was also in Orlando today but we didn't see him - though we'd hoped to see Air Force One come in to Orlando International Airport. Reality check: Not really much chance of that either because the airport was on the other side of the city from where we were. We had a wonderful visit with Frannie.
February 24, 2012 (Fri) Alexander Springs (11) 66/86° - Another quiet day in the forest but the weekend influx has begun. All the sites around us are occupied. Unlike last weekend most seem to be of the quiet persuasion. Although there is one group a few sites down that seemed to be just getting started when we came back from Bill and Margret's campfire but they weren't boisterous. Dennis, in a tent across from them, may be slow in getting to sleep though.
February 25, 2012 (Sat) Alexander Springs (12) 60/66° - Apparently the noise got pretty bad over on D loop last night. Bill and Margret told us that they finally got up and walked up to ask security to do something about the "party" going on in the site across from them (next door to Dora). The large group had apparently come in late, after 10, and immediately begun chopping and splitting wood for their camp fire - not a soothing sound to sleep to - and the noise level went up from there.
We are off to Lakeland tomorrow for a week in civilization.
Q083523 Alexander Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #42 $10.50 dry B (x12)
QC21-06 More from Alexander Springs
QC21-05 A week at Alexander Springs
February 14, 2012 (Tue) Juniper Springs to Alexander Springs (105/1441 miles) 40/77° - It was only 10 miles here from Juniper Springs.We racked up 95 miles getting Lamont's IV drip last week and getting gas this morning. Our favorite site is occupied again, as it usually is. Apparently other people like it there too. Oh well this is a good one. It's sunny, visually secluded and reasonably near the rest rooms.
We found Alexander Springs unchanged from last year. Joy ran into Bill and Margaret while she was out on her bicycle and they invited us to spend the afternoon with them on their patio (the driveway in front of their motor home). Dora (the elderly widow we see here every year) joined us later. Sitting out by the road like we were, we met many interesting people passing by - some stopped to chat. David from NJ (a dirt motorcyclist) and April (an enthusiastic young campground host (hostess?) among them. We joined Bill and Margaret at their campfire in the evening along with Dennis (a lone camper two spaces down from us) and Dora.
February 15, 2012 (Wed) Alexander Springs (2) 60/81° - A day in the big city of Umatilla - well, not the whole day and it's not a very big city but we got some laundry done and picked up supplies. The fish at the Fish N Chix place was good but not super and the fries, though hot, were soggy. We'll probably find another place next time. It's been a nice warm sunny day.
February 16, 2012 (Thu) Alexander Springs (3) 62/82° - There is a black bear in the campground. We haven't seen him yet but other campers have. Park law enforcement is being very strict about not leaving any form of food laying around. Apparently he (the bear) has even been seen going after an empty soda can sitting on the picnic table. A few days ago Dennis found a candle he'd left out one night molested beyond usefulness in the morning.
February 17, 2012 (Fri) Alexander Springs (4) 66/73° - Last year when we were in this site there was a small vine hanging down in and across the path through the woods leading to the restrooms. Being mindful of the law not to cut anything down in a national forest, we pushed it out of the way the best we could so we wouldn't get tangled up in it in the dark. It was still there this year - strange that people who think nothing of littering the woods with soda cans and water bottles or cutting living trees for fire wood would avoid cutting down a potentially dangerous vine. We decided to go on and cut it down this time instead of just pushing it out of the way to fall back in the slightest breeze. Joy pulled down as Mark reached up with his pocketknife - and the vine fell out of the tree branches above, without even needing to be cut! It had been hanging there for over a year and all someone had to do pull on it a little.
February 18, 2012 (Sat) Alexander Springs (5) 66/74° - Our quiet campground with only a few residents has turned into bustling community of kids, dogs, cars and campfires - and the requisite delinquents/vandals. We woke last night to the sound of (probably) the teen boys from the site across the road running up and down the access road making far too much noise for 11:00 at night. This morning Mark found the men's room littered with piles (yes piles) of toilet paper. This and the amount of mud on the floors and in the shower stalls in both the men's and ladies restrooms reflects not only on those creating the mess but also on the management's lack of adequate personnel to police and maintain the park. It's a sad situation and makes us appreciate how well run the Juniper Springs campground was.
February 19, 2012 (Sun) Alexander Springs (6) 67/74° - We woke last night about 2:00 when the light of the security patrol (a golf cart) stopped up the road a couple of sites where teenaged boys were camping. There was a huge fire in the site that looked like it was burning outside the fire ring. The cart left after 5 minutes or so but the fire continued to burn as before. There was much laughter from the teenagers and apparent efforts to put it out producing great displays of sparks. The fire eventually died down to a reasonable level but later it was back to scary. We lay in bed making plans about how we would get out of here should it begin to ignite the trees. Long weekends in a national forest are to be endured with the anticipation of everyone going home soon.
The wind has come up and we're hearing trees creak. Not too long ago we heard a loud crack and crashing that could have not been anything other than a tree coming down a little way off. Others in the campground heard it too. There is a dead tree near us here. It doesn't seem to be swaying in the wind so doesn't seem dangerous but we may find another site when we re-up on Tuesday. Good grief, that sounds dangerous, doesn't it? but right now it is relatively quiet and cooling off!!
Q083523 Alexander Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #42 $9.50 dry B
QC21-04 Q gets an IV drip
February 7, 2012 (Tue) Juniper Springs (8) 58/78° - We spent the day in Ocala primarily working on the problem with Lamont's battery discharging while being towed. The Hitching Post, experts with the SMI supplementary braking system, said the system should not be using enough amperage to draw down the battery so quickly but could find nothing wrong that might be causing it to do so. They suggested that it was probably the battery itself needing to be replaced. Two independent shops (Pep Boys and Hurricane Battery) both said the battery is fine. A discussion back at The Hitching Post led us to the conclusion that while there must be something somewhere causing the battery to go dead, the best solution for now is to run a live wire from Q to Lamont to keep it charged. They have done this for other rigs, they said. We'll be getting that done over the next week or so.
While in the Ocala area we picked up supplies, did a laundry and found an excellent Mexican restaurant.
February 8, 2012 (Wed) Juniper Springs (9) 55/76° - Just another day in the park.
February 9, 2012 (Thu) Juniper Springs (10) 46/66° - Temperatures are on a down trend. TV weather said that it was 52° in Orlando this morning but our thermometer read 46° when we got up. Hot showers felt good. It's hard to get excited about doing things when it's cold (though those at home probably wouldn't think 66° is all that cold) so we didn't do much.
February 10, 2012 (Fri) Juniper Springs (11) 54/83° - We've been forced to watch something other than the NBC Today show in the mornings while we have been here and find that CBS This morning is what a morning news show should be. Charlie Rose is doing a really good job with it.
We spent the day in Ocala again. This time it was to have a wire run from Q to Lamont's battery to keep it from discharging while being towed. We also looked into hitch modifications to level the tow bar. There doesn't seem to be any practical way to do it though. The welder says no to the tow specialist's solution, the tow specialists say no to the welder's solution. We were hearing costs of over $300 to do anything. Probably the only solution (and the most expensive by far) is a new motor home (without a rear step). HA!
February 11, 2012 (Sat) Juniper Springs (12) 55/68° - The sun was warm but the breeze makes sitting out uncomfortable. Mark rigged a volt meter into Q's cab so we can monitor the voltage level in Lamont. It shouldn't be necessary to do that now but it will be good knowing that his "IV drip" is working.
Forecasts are that it will be getting cold tonight. It seems to be already headed in that direction.
February 12, 2012 (Sun) Juniper Springs (13) 35/56° - 31° over night in Orlando 50 miles (or so) to the south of us. We registered a 35° here, maybe because of the trees. Either way it's cold for Florida. We turned the furnace on and warmed the inside up to 50° before we got up and dressed fast.
TD Bank offered us 5% cash reward for 6 months if we got and used their VISA card. We did and have been using it for everything we buy ever since. Today we learned that there was a problem and to call them. Why? We could envision all kinds of unpleasant reasons. It being Sunday the offices were closed until 4:00 so we had to wait and worry. Then it was explaining the problem over and over again to various people who "weren't authorized" to help us before we found someone who was. Apparently our credit card statement was returned to them because we are having our mail forwarded and that made them nervous.
February 13, 2012 (Mon) Juniper Springs (14) 29/63° - 29° outside this morning, 35° inside, and no warm house/home to retreat to! A mid-morning hike on the Florida Trail warmed us up some which made things tolerable but not completely pleasant.
More problems with TD Bank. We got an e-mail saying we'd be getting no more electronic statements! We need electronic statements because mail forwarding may cause paper statements to get to us after the due date! Another call to customer service. We can start getting them again if we sign up for them in April. "America's most convenient bank" my foot.
We're off to Alexander Springs tomorrow. We'll be there 12 days or so.
Q083418 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #9 $9.50 dry A
QC21-03 Ocala National Forest
February 1, 2012 (Wed) Juniper Springs (2) 56/77° - Ah, it's good to be able to get up and not freeze as we dress. It was 56° this morning. So inspired were we that we even walked up to the unheated bathhouse and took showers before breakfast. And speaking of breakfast there were 6 wild turkeys wandering around our campsite as we ate.
We had a quiet day hanging out enjoying the sunshine.
February 2, 2012 (Thu) Juniper Springs (3) 58/78° - The Hitching Post, the outfit that created a video for SMI to demonstrate the installation of its supplementary braking system in towed cars, is located in Ocala. Since we are still having trouble with ours draining Lamont's battery, we decided to look them up for some advice while we were in Ocala today. Hildene found two "Hitching Post"s for us. One was the campground where we tried and failed to get propane last year - a less than desirable place to camp in our opinion - so we thought it must be the other one. Off we went 30 miles out of our way (it turned out) to the address on US301 that was about 500 yards beyond where we'd turned off Tuesday on our way here. The sign said "The Hitching Post" but it was faded and half gone. The building itself was a strip mall with a couple of vacant stores, neither of which could have ever supported an RV or trailer business - no large vehicle doors. When we got back to Q, after laundering our cold weather gear and picking up some supplies, we did an internet search, which we should have done in the first place, and found the right one. Next trip.
February 3, 2012 (Fri) Juniper Springs (4) 56/77° - A relaxing day in camp. We did take a walk through the campground and the nature trail down at the springs. They have taken the waterwheel at the old mill out and are repairing it. Interesting.
February 4, 2012 (Sat) Juniper Springs (5) 58/75° - Joy woke up feeling ill during the night and spent most of the morning in bed (on the sofa actually) and was under the weather the rest of the day. It is doubtful that it was something she ate since Mark feels fine. A bug maybe. But Mark has been fighting a cold the last few days so resting was the order for the whole day for both of us. We didn't take our walk.
February 5, 2012 (Sun) Juniper Springs (6) 57/78° - What passes for Sunday morning news in these parts is 5 minutes of "The stories we'll be covering this morning" (local headlines with video clips and a weather tease followed by 10 minutes of commercials. When they finally get to the actual news it's an almost exact repeat of the "headlines". Then there is another 10 minutes of commercials. Fools that we are, we leave the TV on through it all hoping to hear more. The more turns out to be some movie star's divorce - reported in great detail. Arrrgh!!
Mark's cold seems to about gone but Joy's stomach virus, if that's what it is, lingers. It's much improved but not gone.
The weekend was hopping with almost every campsite full - kids yelling and running around, campfires here and there through the trees, radios blasting all manner of music and generators droning. This afternoon things have quieted down. The sounds we hear are the birds, the occasional chatter of a squirrel, an accordion somewhere in the distance and Mark on his guitar. (Oh and the obligatory generator next door.) Running around are squirrels and two feral cats who run through the campsite now and then. The light we see through the trees is the moon. We have our campground back.
February 6, 2012 (Mon) Juniper Springs (7) 63/81° - We couldn't watch the Superbowl last night because we couldn't get an NBC TV station but the outcome was the first thing we saw when we turned the TV on this morning. It must have been a great game. The quiet today has been almost overpowering but not so disturbing as to make us want the weekenders back. In fact it wasn't disturbing at all.
When we went up to the gate to re-up for a week, the gate keepers were discussing how the pool (at the springs) was going to be drained so that some work could be done tomorrow. "Have you ever seen them do that?" one asked another, "It's spectacular - and floods out, down the canoe run". We thought that should be interesting so we raced down to watch. It turned out to be less than spectacular - as we should have figured. They took a couple of boards off the dam which increased the flow over the spillway but that was it! When we questioned the lady in the gift shop, she said, "Heavens no. They're just lowering the water level a couple of inches so they can do some work." She didn't seem to know what they were going to do. As we were about to go back this afternoon to see what was happening, it began to rain. Right now our yard is flooded.
Q083418 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #9 $8.50 dry A
