QC31-09 More forest time.

February 19, 2013 (Tue) Juniper Springs CG (8) 43/71° - Mount Dora is a small touristy little town about 30 miles south of here. It would have been closer had we been at Alexander Springs CG but we are here. We did the touristy thing there, wandered the streets, visited small shops and ate lunch at a restaurant in the middle of the action. The restaurant was called The Lost Parrot and specialized in Key West/Caribbean sounding menu items - Mark had an Island Burger (a pineapple slice made it fit the theme). Joy had a Buffalo chicken salad (we're still trying to figure how that one fit). The background music featured a lot of Jimmy Buffet. In one of the shops, Joy got an appliqued, decorated sweatshirt similar to one she'd seen in Key West at twice the price.

One of our missions for tomorrow was to  shop for a microwave to replace the one in Q that was having issues. When we took it out to make measurements we concluded that only an exact replacement would fit. We knew from looking at them a week or so ago that the odds aren't good for finding one of those! So we took it completely out of its hole, dismantled it and Mark with Joy's help (Screw driver, screw driver....flashlight, flashlight.... scalpel, scalpel, etc.) fixed it. We have a microwave again! YES! But no electricity! Boo!

February 20, 2013 (Wed) Juniper Springs CG (9) 55/79° - We found a good Mexican Restaurant in Ocala - maybe not the best we've ever eaten in but the best in this area. We will go back to if we are in that area of Ocala again. And we will be because it is just down the road from Peggy's Quilt Shop - which turned out to be one of the best we've found in the Ocala area as well. Joy reports a fabulous collection of batiks and other fabrics. For those of you who are interested it was large, well lit and beautifully laid out. There were not so many fabrics as to be overwhelming, just enough to inspire (to buy).  And to add to the wonderfulness there is a Panera Bread two doors down!! We also found a very good used book store - relatively small but a good selection.

February 21, 2013 (Thu) Juniper Springs CG (10) 47/78° - Kind of a lazy day. We did take the opportunity to refresh our plumbing system, dump and take on water, after 9 days. A small problem at the dump station, the sewer was plugged up, caused that activity to take longer than we expected. Management had to come and snake it out.

Late this afternoon a fellow, who has been here since December, stopped by and said that he had heard Mark playing his guitar and thought he might be interested in knowing that there is a "Country Jam" every Thursday night at the Civic Center in Forest, FL if he was interested. It was too late to do it today but maybe next time we are here. He also suggested that they might want to get together in the campground and jam some time. He, like Mark, is shy about playing in public, but a small group of two or three might be OK.

February 22, 2013 (Fri) Juniper Springs CG (11) 57/81° - A day of reading and watching people come in for the weekend. As far as we can tell the campground is full again this weekend.

February 23, 2013 (Sat) Juniper Springs CG (12) 67/83° - We got up to take our showers early this morning. Teenagers have a habit of taking over the restrooms when they are here on weekends - especially in the ladies side where one teenybopper is apt to spread her stuff across the entire two person counter. Not a problem this morning though. Instead it was Mark who had to fight for space - he barely beat out another older fellow to one of the shower stalls. Apparently all the long--timers were trying to avoid the weekenders.

A Canadian couple (Bruce & Linda) from near Michigan's Upper Peninsula pulled into the site next to us this afternoon. They came over for happy hour and we really hit it off. It was really good to talk with someone whose mindset about camping and many other things is so close to ours. And they are sailors. They have a 36 foot sloop that they, among other cruises, have sailed from Lake Huron down the inland waterway, with side trips into Chesapeake Bay and The Great Dismal Swamp etc,  and out to the Bahamas (I think that's what he said). It's a shame they will be leaving tomorrow.

February 24, 2013 (Sun) Juniper Springs CG (13) 69/72° - We had our sometimes usual Sunday lunch, bagels with cream cheese. It was a bit more expensive than usual today though. We had to drive 30 miles into Ocala to the Panera Bread to get them. We also got a quiche to try. Delicious.

Larry, the fellow from PA who spends the winter here, came over with his guitar this afternoon. He and Mark "jammed" for a couple of hours before the rain came. They knew only one song in common but had great fun struggling through several others.

February 25, 2013 (Mon) Juniper Springs CG (14) 68/79° - John from Vermont and Wyoming makes guitars (and at least one ukulele). Mark heard him strumming his ukulele as he rode by on his bicycle and stopped to talk. Later he joined our jam so we had three guys who knew no common songs struggling to make music together. Half way through the session it began to rain, I mean RAIN, complete with thunder. They retreated to under the awning and continued to play, although the natural sounds tended to drown out the man made.

The evening news is reporting a tornado watch for our area. That sounds like fun.

Q088029 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #13 dry $9.50g (x14)
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February 26, 2013 (Tue) Juniper Springs CG to Hudson, FL (116/2128 miles) 66/74° - We were still under a tornado watch this morning although there was no sign of any unusual weather - until we began to break camp at about 8:30am. It was only rain and only just enough to make getting ready to travel miserable. By the time we got to the Silver Springs it was almost nighttime dark and raining so hard we had to wait in Q for it to let up before going into the laundromat. I say let up because it was still actually raining as we lugged our laundry bags and soap across the parking lot.

It finally stopped raining and turned into a relatively pleasant day - although the drive itself got harrowing as we approached the Tampa area, heavy traffic and construction. But we made it and here we sit, a little guy amongst the big boys (i.e. class B+ amongst class A motor homes) in an RV repair facility parking lot. At least we're at the end of the row where we have a view on one side better than a huge painted fiberglass wall 3 feet away. We'll be spending the night here so they can start bright and early (6:45) tomorrow repairing/replacing the window in our rear door which has gotten so foggy that we can't see out of it. They have electric hookups here but the reciprocal is for a 50 amp plug, ours is a 30 amp, so another night dry camped.

Q088145 Hudson, Fl Suncoast Designers parking lot