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