QC31-08 North Into The Forest

February 10, 2013 (Sun) Kissimmee Prairie Preserve SP (5) 64/76° - It's been a fairly pleasant day although a bit windy. Our people watching this morning consisted of watching almost everyone around us pack up and move out. A couple of the sites filled back up almost immediately as if they'd been over in the horse area for the weekend waiting. They probably had been.

February 11, 2013 (Mon) Kissimmee Prairie Preserve SP (6) 60/83° - A completely unremarkable day.

Q087674 Kissimmee prairie preserve state park #13&12 w/e $16g (x6)
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February 12, 2013 (Tue) Kissimmee Prairie Preserve SP to Ocala NF, Juniper Springs CG (188/2012  miles) 74/87° -  Man, is it dark here! New moon and lots of trees. We walked out to deposit trash in the dumpster on the corner and to make our pit stop for the evening and it was good we had flashlights.

We got off from Kissimmee Prairie at about 9:00am this morning (hazy 63°). As we approached Yeehaw Junction, a cross roads in the middle of nowhere where 18 wheelers come to turn left, turn right or go straight, Mark remembered that he had forgotten to lock the bicycles on the from of Q. This is not a problem in itself because we'd be with them for the duration of the trip but the cable and padlock had been temporally hung on the bike rack and might have bounced off or hung down and dragged for 60 miles. We pulled off into what once must have been a parking lot for the thriving community of Yeehaw Junction (an Inn, a gas station and maybe three other buildings) but was now not unlike a collection moon craters. It was no place for a motor home with a car in tow! The cable and lock were found to be unmolested and were properly secured. Q and Lamont made it back out onto the road none the worse for the experience.

Apparently today was the day to pull out in front of other cars - and trucks. It was unbelievable! Most could have waited out that one more car (or truck) and had a clear safe road. We had our share of adventures, 3 or 4. Most required that we only slow down or pull into another lane but one woman almost got Q up her tailpipe. She pulled out, crossing her acceleration lane, right into the lane in front of us. Mark slammed on the brakes, glad we'd spent the money to equip Lamont with a supplementary brake system, laid on the horn and swerved into an non-driving part of the two lane road (a painted median for a left turn from the other direction). The lady was getting off the road as we blasted by. We don't know what happened to her after that because we had to go on but since the traffic behind us also continued on we think she probably suffered little more than a good scare.

February 13, 2013 (Wed) Juniper Springs CG (2) 71/74° - Every Tue, Wed, and Thu is "free dry day" at the laundromat we use in Silver Springs. We'd forgotten that until the attendant came over and started feeding quarters into our dryers. What a surprise. We needed hair cuts so we took advantage of the barber shop next door to the laundromat and the beauty salon two doors down. Lamont needed a bath after following Q so closely on that 5 mile gravel Kissimmee Prairie access road so we treated him to an automated car wash. We also stopped at a used book store and exchanged some of the books we've both read for some we haven't. We celebrated all these great accomplishments by patronizing our favorite Chinese Buffet in the area.

February 14, 2013 (Thu) Juniper Springs CG (3) 56/61° - Rainy day, the first since we left home six weeks ago. We've had sprinkles now and then but no real rain. We were looking forward to a do-nothing day without guilt and it was good for a while but it got old and has made for a long day. The high temperature for the day (61°) was showing on the thermometer when we got up. It went down as the day went on.

February 15, 2013 (Fri) Juniper Springs CG (4) 48/64° - It's getting cold! It was 48° when we got up and the forecasts are for it to get down into the 30s by Sunday. As Joy fixed lunch she discovered that we'd neglected to get an essential ingredient when we shopped the other day. We decided to run in to the Winn Dixie (not our first choice in supermarkets but the closest) to get some. As we walked into the store a young lady stopped us and asked if we'd like to give blood. We said we would but our doctors had told us we couldn't, Joy because she has had cancer, Mark because of his blood thinning medication. The young lady said they weren't problems so we did our duty. It has been many years since either of us gave blood. It feels good to have done it.

February 16, 2013 (Sat) Juniper Springs CG (5) 48/82° - A Dodge Caravan (a minivan) with Florida plates pulled up at the head of our drive-through pad in front of Q. A man got out of the driver's side and put on gloves. A woman got out of the passenger side and put on gloves. Three young kids (ages maybe 6 to 12) got out of the back and put on gloves. They all started walking toward us. Do we know these people or do they have something sinister in mind? It turned out to be more sinister than friendly. They went into the woods across the road and began to collect "fire wood". They must have discovered that it was pretty rotten and soaked from the rain yesterday because they abandoned it and chopped down a small living oak, which is illegal, and took it away even though it probably wouldn't burn any better than water soaked rotten wood. The young man in a nearby campsite was so incensed that he must have reported it because about a half hour later the authorities began circling.

February 17, 2013 (Sun) Juniper Springs CG (6) 35/48° - Atypical Florida weather. Our thermometer reads 35° but the official temperature in Ocala, 30 miles west, is 30° with wind chills as low as 20° along the coast. The cold was the lead story on the local TV news this morning - it even beat out the overnight shootings, killings and car crashes.

We like to get the New York Times newspaper on Sundays - and bagels to have for lunch if we can find good ones. Today our quest took us into Ocala where we eventually found a Panera Bread, which has consistently good ones if not completely up to New York area standards, on US 200 west of I-75. And lo and behold there was Peggy's quilt Shop two doors down. It being Sunday it was closed! If Joy has her way, we'll be back before we leave the area.

February 18, 2013 (Mon) Juniper Springs CG (7) 28/64° - 28° on our thermometer this morning (25° officially in Ocala). It took over a half hour for our furnace to bring the inside temperature up to a "comfortable" 37­° so we could get up and get dressed. Mark commented on the weather to a family down the road packing up their tents at 7:30am. The response wasn't a happy one.

After our hike on the Florida Trail loop today, we stopped to watch a rather sizable group of teenagers (probably the ones making so much noise the last couple of days) board their canoes and start down Juniper Run. The start of the run can be a challenge for even moderately experienced canoeists - we know, we've done it - but some of these kids didn't even know how to hold a paddle! We wondered how many of them would reach the take-out point without getting wet. It did look like they were having a good time.

Q088029 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #13 dry $9.50g